Last Time: The cloned Kari was taken back to Odaiba, where she ran into Davis and then Tai. Feeling some of her memory come back yet still feeling confused, she sent an e-mail to Etemon. Meanwhile, the real Kari is stuck in the Digital World and making things worse is the fact that she lost her Digivice, her only way home. As for Etemon, he's looking for the real Kari until he gets an e-mail from the clone…and quickly replies.


Double Play: Part 5


Kari gasped when she felt something grab her shoulder. She slowly turned her head…and found herself face-to-face…with a Digimon whom she recognized.

"Leomon?"

Leomon nodded. "Yes…it's me."

Indeed, it was the noble and heroic Leomon who had a hand on Kari's shoulder. It was all starting to make sense to her now. Last Kari heard, Leomon had died back during the DigiDestined's first adventures through the Digital World. Of course that was a long time ago and Leomon could have easily been reconfigured by then. It had to have been Leomon who rescued her.

"You're the one who saved me?" Kari asked.

Leomon nodded. "I saw someone falling off the cliff. I got there just in time to leap up and catch you…but we both fell into the river. By the time I caught you, you had already fainted. It took some effort for me to pull us both out of the river's current, but I got us out. Unfortunately, I saw something fall out of your pocket and start floating down the river. I thought about it for a moment and finally decided to go look for it, leaving you by my cave. I guess you finally came to."

Kari gave the big lion a hug. "Thank you for saving me, Leomon!"

"I only wish I found whatever it was you lost," Leomon sighed. "Was it important?"

Kari gulped. "My Digivice. I can't get back home without it. I was about to go out and look for it."

"Then I'd better help you find this Digivice," Leomon said. "It must still be in the river somewhere."

Kari didn't wait for Leomon to catch up to her. She rushed into the river and immediately dove in. The currents were somewhat calm, so searching the river wouldn't be so treacherous. Of course, that didn't necessarily mean finding her Digivice would be any easier.

In Odaiba, Kari just sat in her room…still feeling just as confused as she was five minutes ago. She was still trying to think about her boyfriend and her brother…who supposedly tried to kill her. They had been…awfully nice to her. Etemon warned her that they would try and put up a phony act to try and gain her confidence again. It just all felt so real.

However, she couldn't deny that someone WAS a lot nicer to her. That boy Davis seemed so sincere, as if he legitimately cared for her. She wondered how it was that she ended up with someone like that TK guy…who tried to have her killed.

After pondering her situation for so many moments, Kari finally noticed something go off. It was the communicator Etemon left for her. He was replying to her e-mail.

Kari quickly picked her communicator up and read the message.


Dear Kari,

It's great to see that you're holding up well. It was hard to let you go, but I knew letting you go back home would start to refresh your memory a bit. But I was afraid of what might happen when you got there. And sure enough, my fears are being realized.

I had a feeling that TK and your brother would wait until the right opportunity to try and kill you again. And it pains me to tell you this…but it's more than likely that they're waiting for your prom night. Kari, you can't let them know you're on to them, otherwise there will be no hope for you. They'll get it over with immediately if they suspect you know their plan. But there is ONE thing you can do.

I can help you, Kari. I can save you from them. All you have to do…is wait until your prom night…and somehow get one of them to open a gate to the Digital World. Trick them if you must, but it's the only way I'll be able to keep you safe. I hope to see you soon, Kari, because I'm worried about you. Take care of yourself and be careful.

Etemon


Kari was in shock after reading that letter. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she KNEW it had to be an act and this was basically confirming it for her. They really WERE plotting to kill her again. But there was something that made her feel a little better. Etemon was offering to protect her.

There was nothing Kari could do to repay Etemon for his kind offer. But realistically…Kari couldn't even remember HOW she got into the Digital World. And getting someone to open a port there sounded risky. She didn't know how she was going to pull this off. But she did know one thing.

She couldn't go to the prom with TK. All would be lost if she walked in with someone who was trying to kill her. She needed to go with someone she could trust. But she honestly had no idea who.

"Kari?"

Kari was startled when her door opened again. After the sudden revelation from Etemon, just looking at the doorway…scared her. She looked at her brother with a smile almost as big as his hair…and that scared her. She didn't know what his TRUE intentions were.

"We're going out to breakfast tomorrow morning," Tai said. "All of us. You coming along?"

Kari hesitated briefly. Did this mean…she'd see EVERYONE Etemon told her about? She didn't know if she could trust any of them. But then she remembered what Etemon told her. She couldn't act suspicious, otherwise they'd probably find a way to do away with her sooner.

Kari finally nodded. "Oh…ok."

Tai frowned. "Kari, are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah!" Kari grinned. "Never been better."

Tai smiled again. "Ok. I'll be sure to wake you up…unless you have to wake ME up."

Tai closed the door again, leaving Kari alone. Kari sighed deeply. She didn't know what to expect, but she knew she had to go. She looked in her mirror and began to realize that she was crossing that fine line between cautiousness and paranoia. She couldn't be so hysterical. She needed to calm down.

She couldn't let them see that she knew.

Another day was just beginning in the Digital World and it was time to take a relaxing swim. This was how Gomamon liked to pass the time and this was the way to get the day started off right. So the fishy rookie didn't waste any time in jumping in and taking a relaxing swim in the river. He was glad he got there bright and early because that meant none of the other fish had made it out that far just yet. The river was relatively empty.

After about five minutes, Gomamon was already starting to get hungry. If there was one Gomamon quality that stood out more than anything, it was his insatiable appetite, something that his human partner, Joe, would complain about more often than not.

Feeling his stomach growl again, Gomamon dove a little deeper to find some grub. But he didn't find any food. Instead…he found a small little device. It looked vaguely familiar, as if he had seen it before. And then it hit him.

Gomamon had stumbled onto a Digivice.

Gomamon scooped the Digivice with his mouth and brought it back to the surface. Gomamon got out of the water and dropped the Digivice on the ground. He wondered where it could have possibly come from. He didn't recognize whose Digivice it was. He just knew it belonged to one of his DigiDestined friends.

Gomamon tried to look closer to see if he could recognize who the Digivice belonged to. But he still couldn't tell. He did know one thing, however. The right thing to do would be to find whomever owned the Digivice and that meant looking around the Digital World.

Wasting no more time, Gomamon dove back into the river and swam down the river, looking for any signs of human life.

The next day, back in the real world, Kari wasn't feeling so much confusion anymore. The restaurant sure looked familiar to her, so it was safe to say she was getting at least SOME of her memory back. She wasn't worried as much about remembering the past as she was afraid of what the future had in store. If Etemon was right…then she didn't have much time left.

Tai sat right at the head of the restaurant's big table, while Kari stayed standing for a while, just to look at everyone that was there. It was everyone Etemon told her about. She was beginning to remember.

She recognized the blond-haired Sora, but she somehow looked different. She had let her hair down and she looked much more…ladylike. She wasn't the tomboy that Etemon was telling her about.

Sitting next to Sora was Mimi, looking as fashionable as she ever did. She looked the same as she did the last time Kari remembered seeing her. She and Sora looked to be examining a clothing catalogue together.

Then there was Izzy…who had his nose in his laptop…even in the restaurant. It was just as Kari remembered him. Anywhere he went, his laptop usually followed.

Next to Izzy was Joe, who was already sipping away at his soda. Joe looked like a nervous wreck and Kari couldn't imagine why. She couldn't forget that she wasn't around these past few weeks.

That was the other thing that confused Kari. Everyone was going about their business as if nothing happened. None of them had even noticed Kari was around, even AFTER a hiatus of several weeks. It all seemed so strange. Then she remembered everything Etemon tried to tell her. They were probably trying to just act natural…before something else happened.

As Kari's thoughts ran through her head, someone put a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Matt Ishida.

"What are you standing for?" he grinned. "Sit down."

Kari hesitated briefly and then took her seat, but Matt stayed standing since he had one more thing to say.

"I got a call from TK. He can't make it, but he said he'd call you later."

Kari blinked. "Oh…thanks, Matt."

That felt like more of a blessing for Kari. She didn't know what to do if she saw TK again, especially now that she knew he had malicious intentions. She didn't know how she'd react. The more she thought about it…the more afraid of him she was. She began to wonder how she even became his girlfriend in the first place.

So many thoughts were running though Kari's mind, but her train of thought was briefly interrupted when a few more joined in at the table.

Tai turned around and greeted the latecomers. "Hey, glad you could make it!"

Kari's memory was still fuzzy, but these others looked familiar to her. She searched her brain desperately to remember some names. But it wouldn't take her long, because the purple-haired girl sat next to her.

"Sorry it took us so long, but we had to wait for Cody to finish practicing with that kendo stick of his. I swear he can get so slow."

Kari finally started to remember…her other friends. She began to remember Cody and Ken…then she recognized Yolei. A small piece of her memory was coming back. And of course Kari recognized the fourth one. She remembered Davis, the one who was concerned for her safety earlier in the day.

Cody calmly took a sip of his soda. "Kendo takes practice and PATIENCE. It's not my fault it takes time."

"What you call patience, I call SLOW," Yolei growled. Then she cheerfully turned to Kari. "So…where's TK?"

Kari sighed deeply. The mere mention of his name sent chills down her spine. "TK…isn't here. He can't make it."

"Kari…is something wrong?" Yolei asked. "There's something different about you. You don't look like yourself."

Before Kari could even answer, she found herself surrounded by Sora and Mimi. The two girls were each positioned by one of Kari's shoulders. Mimi held the clothing catalogue in front of Kari's face.

"That's the one, Kari!" Mimi squealed.

Kari blinked. "Um…huh?"

"That's the dress we want you to model," Sora added. "Kari, you DO remember you promised to model for our new catalogue…right?"

Kari didn't remember such a promise. "I did?"

Mimi was taken aback by the response. "Kari! Three days ago, you promised us you'd model for our new catalogue. This is gonna be our first STMT catalogue and you agreed to model for us."

Yolei looked a little hurt. "Hey…why didn't you ask me?"

"We TRIED to call you, Yolei," Mimi sighed. "But you were too busy dragging Ken around looking for his tuxedo for your prom."

Ken sweatdropped when he heard that. Yolei looked like she was ready to kick herself. But Kari was feeling…confused again. She thought about everything and that's when…a thought had hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Um…I need some air."

Practically shoving anyone in her path out of her way, Kari quickly stood up and ran out of the restaurant.


Next Time: A huge LOGIC gap has presented itself and Kari's clone has realized it. What is it (as if you couldn't guess)? Meanwhile in the Digital World, Gomamon is swimming around with Kari's Digivice. Will he find Kari and Leomon? Will Kari and Leomon find HIM? Will Etemon find EITHER OF THEM? And beware…because in the next chapter, we'll get a HUGE shakeup in the Takari relationship. Come see what it is next time!


Any comments? Then mail me at AmericanCaptor@hotmail.com and don't forget to review below!