Last Time: Kari, Davis, and TK made their delivery and no matter how much Yolei tried to cover for them, it didn't help. Matt and Sora discovered their little problem…and completely rolled over in laughter. But someone else wants to see what the fuss is about. It's TAI!
Three's Always A Crowd: Part 8
Kari would have given anything to be away from Odaiba High School at that moment. She desperately wanted to be anywhere else in the world. But with her wrists still stuck to TK and Davis, she couldn't escape. And a few seconds later…she was looking right at her older brother, Tai, who still hadn't noticed the problem yet.
"I just had to see what was so funny, Matt," Tai said. "I…………KARI?!"
Kari sweatdropped and sheepishly raised her wrists, revealing the handcuffs. Tai's jaw dropped wide-open. And there was no telling what he was about to do. But whatever it was, it couldn't be good.
She knew Tai wasn't really a violent person…not anymore, anyway. But if there was one thing he was, it was protective of his little sister. And it was safe to say that Tai was about to snap. Matt and Sora knew that and started to step back. Yolei took this opportunity to hide in the shrubs.
Tai started to inch closer to them and TK and Davis knew it was time to run for their lives. They immediately turned to run, but they were still attached at the wrist to Kari, so their running only resulted in the handcuffed threesome falling over. Tai reached over and picked them all up by each pair of handcuffs.
"What's THIS supposed to be?!" Tai demanded.
In the face of impending doom, Davis Motomiya could only think of one way to defend himself. He pointed at TK.
"It's all his fault!"
TK turned and shot Davis a death glare. "MY fault?! This was YOUR idea! YOU started it!"
Davis came back with the same argument from before. "But no one told you to do the same thing! No wonder Kari's mad at you right now!"
"She's madder at you!"
"No, she's madder at you!" Davis shot back. "And I'll prove it!"
Davis lifted his right wrist and moved it towards TK's face. Kari's left hand ended up striking TK across the cheek.
"See? She just hit you!"
TK was ready to explode. "Oh yeah?!" He lifted his left wrist and moved it towards Davis' face. Kari's right hand struck Davis across his cheek. "Well, she just hit YOU!"
Davis responded by slapping TK in the face with Kari's left hand.
In turn, TK responded by slapping Davis in the face with Kari's right hand.
Then Davis slapped TK with Kari's hand.
And then TK slapped Davis with Kari's other hand.
And it went on…
…and on…
…and on…
…and on…
"STOP IT!!!" Kari shrieked.
Kari finally put an end to the madness by elbowing both boys in the stomach. She hated to have to do that, but they were both being completely immature. And their attitudes weren't helping matters at all…because Tai didn't look happy at all. And he shot Kari a cold stare.
"Kari…you want to explain this?"
Kari could explain herself easily. "We're stuck to each other! And it's all because of Davis and TK!"
Davis now sounded like he was pleading for his life. "I just wanted to show Kari a magic trick! I didn't think I needed a key!"
"I thought I could do the trick, too!" TK added. "I didn't know Matt lost the key!"
"Those are your handcuffs?" Tai asked Matt curiously.
"I forgot all about those old things," Matt said casually. "Nice to see TK found a good use for them."
"You think using them to handcuff himself to my sister is a GOOD use?!" Tai demanded.
"Oh relax, Tai," Matt said calmly. "It's not like TK does this sort of thing all the time."
"But doesn't that bother you a little?" Sora pointed out. "This is unlike him. TK never does this sort of thing. Now DAVIS I'd expect this from."
"Hey!"
"Well, it's true."
"So TK hasn't been himself lately," Matt shrugged. "Isn't it obvious why?"
Sora blinked. "No…why?"
"Yeah, why don't you share with us?" Tai added.
Matt looked over at the handcuffed trio. Kari didn't know what to do. She honestly didn't know what to say and she didn't know how to respond to what she KNEW Matt was going to say. She looked to her right to see that TK was shaking his head, almost pleading with his big brother not to say anything. And then she looked to her left, to see Davis had an angry look on his face, as if he was ALSO aware of what Matt was about to reveal.
Matt thought better of saying anything out loud. So instead, he leaned over and whispered his theory in Sora's ear and then in Tai's.
Sora gasped and brought a hand to her mouth. "Oh…" She blushed.
Tai didn't quite react that way. "And you think that's an excuse?"
"I never said it was an excuse," Matt pointed out. "I just think that's why he might have done it."
"Well, I don't care WHY he did it!" Tai huffed. "I just care that he DID IT! Him AND Davis! And I'm not about to let them stay handcuffed! Kari, you take those handcuffs off RIGHT NOW!!"
"Brilliant idea, Tai," Kari grumbled sarcastically. "You think I haven't WANTED to get these stupid things off?! You think I WANT to be stuck like this?! You don't know everything I've had to go through! The eating…the bathroom…the sleeping…THE SHOWER!!"
A vein popped out of Tai's head and he turned beet red. "THE SHOWER?!?!"
"I didn't see a thing!" Davis squeaked. The infuriated Tai had him cowering in fear. "I swear! Maybe TG did, but I didn't!"
"I didn't see a thing, either," TK added. "We were blindfolded and even if we weren't…Tai, you KNOW I would never disrespect Kari like that! I'll ALWAYS respect her privacy!"
Kari almost realized she had just about signed her friends' death warrants with that. "Tai, calm down! They didn't see me! Yolei and Ken helped us through this. The only thing is…well…I can't really put a shirt on like this, so I'm just wearing this poncho."
Matt blinked. "Does that mean you're in nothing but a bra under there?"
Kari nodded sheepishly.
"And TK hasn't looked at all," Matt said matter-of-factly. "So there you go, Tai. He respects Kari and you know that, so there's no need for you to pound my little brother. You can pound Davis all you want, though."
Davis gulped. "NO! I'M SORRY!"
"Maybe we should worry about who's pounding who later," Sora said. "I think the important thing is helping them get those handcuffs off."
"But we've tried everything we could think of," Yolei chimed in. "It's almost like those handcuffs are unbreakable."
"Then you haven't gone to the right person," Tai responded. "I'LL break those handcuffs even if it kills me…and TK and Davis."
TK and Davis sweatdropped and Kari could only breath a sigh of somewhat-relief. Her big brother had come to her rescue…again. But she only wished he didn't have to find out about this in the first place. It was SO embarrassing.
Tai picked TK and Davis up by the ear and started dragging them into one of the high school's other facilities. Kari could only follow along, since she was still attached at the wrist.
Hopefully, that wouldn't last much longer with Tai on the case now.
"Tai…are you sure we should be in here?" Sora asked.
Kari couldn't believe Tai was about to go THIS far. It looked like things were about to get much more dangerous and it looked like TK and Davis knew it, too. Matt could only look on in amazement at Tai's brashness/stupidity. Yes, Tai Kamiya had dragged the handcuffed threesome into…
…Odaiba High's CHEMISTRY LAB.
"This HAS to work," Tai said confidently. "We have over 100 different kinds of chemicals in this lab. There has to be SOMETHING we could use to melt handcuffs."
"Those aren't your handcuffs, you know," Matt said dryly.
"And that's not YOUR little sister!" Tai shot back.
"I know it's your sister," Matt argued. "And that's why I can't believe you'd use something dangerous like chemical compounds around her…AND MY LITTLE BROTHER!!"
Davis sheepishly raised his left hand. "Doesn't anyone care what happens to me?"
"NO!!" both Tai and Matt shouted.
Tai shook his head. "Matt, you talk as if I don't know what I'm doing. Trust me. I know EXACTLY what I'm doing."
"I don't know, Tai," Sora said skeptically. "This sort of thing needs supervision from an adult, a teacher, or Izzy. I mean, you don't exactly look like the scientist type."
Tai reached over and grabbed three random beakers full of chemicals. "I'm a great scientist. And I'll prove it. Watch as I make something that'll melt those handcuffs in no time at all."
Tai started randomly mixing the chemicals together and then started shaking them…
**BOOM**
…until they literally blew up in his face. Tai's face was left black with soot and…
"TAI!" Sora gasped. "Your hair's on fire!"
Tai looked up and saw a flame had ignited on his head. "AAH!! Put it out!!"
Yolei quickly reached for the nearest fire extinguisher and handed it to Matt. He sprayed the white CO2 all over Tai's hair. The fire was quickly extinguished, but it left Tai's head white all over.
Sora crossed her arms and shook her head. "Great scientist, huh?"
"A regular Einstein," Matt added.
Tai didn't let that little setback get him down. "It was good for a first try. But we've got the rest of the day. And none of us are leaving until those handcuffs are off my little sister!"
Kari sweatdropped and from the look on TK and Davis' faces, they looked like they were expecting only the worst to happen. Tai went over and reached for a white lab coat and goggles. And he reached for more random beakers filled with unknown compounds. Kari's big brother had a look of determination on his face.
"Let's see what else we can do."
Next Time: So now we move on to the Chemistry Lab. Can Tai come up with anything to melt the handcuffs? Can he keep from KILLING everyone in the process? Or will this just turn out to be yet another in a long line of good-intentioned disasters? Come back next time to find out!
Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!
