Last Time: Kari's clone was still feeling confused and she came to a decision. TK couldn't be trusted…so she decided to ask DAVIS to the prom. At the park, TK caught Kari's clone kissing Davis. While the clone ran away, Davis stuck around long enough to get a punch in the face from an enraged and heartbroken TK. Meanwhile, the REAL Kari was reunited with her Digivice thanks to Gomamon and Leomon. Now she's heading back home. As for Etemon, he got a signal from the Gazimon saying that his stage is finished and ready to go. With that news, Etemon quickly sends an e-mail to the clone.


Double Play: Part 7


The whole day was quickly turning into a debacle. After getting caught by TK, Kari didn't know WHAT to do anymore. TK was obviously furious and if he didn't intend to kill Kari before, he probably did now. Kari looked around to see that she was in a lone alley in the urban part of Odaiba, under the moonlight.

She didn't know how long she ran, but she did know one thing. It was probably time for her to go home. So she was about to head out…until she felt her communicator go off. Etemon was contacting her again. Kari received the e-mail and started reading it.


Dear Kari,

I know you must be feeling scared right now. Things have changed since I last wrote you. I've had sources come to me and say that your so-called friends are moving their plot along, but your brother isn't about to wait. He may try to finish you off TONIGHT. So it's important that you NOT GO HOME! You CANNOT go home tonight, Kari! Your life may depend on it!

I know this whole ordeal must be difficult, but I have some news that'll cheer you up. I'm ready to come visit. All I need is for you to find a way to open a port to the Digital World around the cave. I'm eager to see you again, Kari. And I can't wait to teach those nasty people a lesson. But none of it can happen if you don't open that port to the Digital World TOMORROW! Please come through for me, Kari!

Etemon


For Kari, this was the best news she could have received. Etemon wanted to visit her and at this point, Kari truly needed him. Hopefully, he could make things better again.

Until then, though, she just sat by a dumpster…and decided to spend the night there in the cold.

After coming back from the Digital World, Kari was never so glad to see home. After a few minutes of treasuring her room, her home, and pretty much life itself, Kari headed for her window and opened it.

"You can come out through here if you want, Gomamon."

Gomamon shook his head. "Don't you think it'd be a better idea if Joe came to get ME? What if someone sees me out there?"

Kari shrugged and shut the window. "That's true. I mean, I STILL don't think Odaiba's ready for another Digimon sighting after everything that's happened. I guess you can stay in my room tonight."

Gomamon sat on Kari's bed. "Thanks, Kari! Uh…Kari? Finding a lost Digivice builds up an appetite. Can you...?"

Kari giggled. "Sure thing, Gomamon."

Suddenly, someone knocked at Kari's door. She figured she could get some food for Gomamon after answering the door, so Kari walked over to see who it was. She smiled when she opened the door and saw TK.

"Hi, TK!"

"Don't you 'Hi, TK' ME!" TK said angrily.

Kari raised an eyebrow. "You sure sound upset. Is there a problem?"

TK looked at Kari in disbelief. "Is there a problem?! How could you actually stand there and ask me that question?! How DARE you ask me that question!!"

Kari stepped out onto the front porch and shut the door. TK was obviously angry about something. She didn't understand what. If anything, Kari felt like SHE should have been angry that TK wasn't out searching for her.

"What's the matter with you?" Kari asked. "Why are you so angry?"

"You want to know what's making me angry?! Why…did you KISS DAVIS?!"

Kari blinked. "Uh…what?"

"Stop playing innocent!!" TK snapped. "I saw you two at the park and I saw you run away as soon as I called you! You saw me and you ran away, Kari!"

"TK, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't you stand there and lie to me!! I know you kissed him!! How could you do this, Kari?! I thought we had something special!! We've been together for five years and friends for a lot longer!! And yet you STILL have to go and do…THAT?!"

Kari was beginning to get irritated by these wild accusations. "TK, I NEVER kissed Davis! I wouldn't do that to you! I don't like Davis, I like YOU! Don't you believe me?"

TK stared at Kari coldly. "NO! I DON'T believe you! I only believe what I SAW!"

Those words stabbed at Kari like a dagger. "You DON'T believe me? What are you trying to say? Don't you trust me? Are you saying I'm a liar?"

TK's stare only got colder. "Maybe I am!!"

Kari gasped. There were so many things she wanted to do now. She wanted to yell. She wanted to scream. She wanted to slap TK so hard that she'd not only knock his block off, but her handprint would remain eternally tattooed on his cheek. But instead…she just stepped back in her house and slammed the front door in his face.

"FINE!! Walk away, Kari Kamiya!! You can just forget about prom and forget about US!! It's OVER!! If you want a prom date, then go with DAVIS!!"

Kari's blood was boiling at this point. She had never felt so angry before in her life. She couldn't believe the unmitigated gall of TK Takaishi to accuse her of kissing Davis. Then the reality of what just happened was starting to hit her.

She had just been dumped.

The love of Kari's live was leaving her…and she wasn't chasing after him. Kari slumped down and started crying. Tears quickly flowed from her eyes and dropped to the ground as Kari sobbed loudly.

At this point, Gomamon was flopping over towards the kitchen. "Hey, Kari? You cooking with onions in there or something?" The fishy rookie paused when he noticed Kari crying her eyes out. "Hey! What's with you?"

Kari raised her head, her vision blurred by tears. "I…I…I…." She couldn't even finish before she resumed crying.

"Hmm…come on, Gomamon, think," the rookie muttered to himself. "You know how to cheer people up." Then he cheerfully looked up at Kari and grinned. "Knock, knock!"

Kari wailed loudly and ran into her room, shutting the door behind her.

"Was it something I said?" Gomamon asked from behind the door.

Kari ran to her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She had no idea what made TK act this way. He had completely gone off the deep end. And now…in a matter of moments, the loving couple was no longer. Kari found herself…alone…and she didn't know why.

But she knew someone who might be able to explain everything. She pulled her face out of her pillow, dried off her tears, and reached for the phone. She quickly dialed Davis's number.

"Hello?"

"Jun? It's Kari. Is Davis there?"

"Davis? He hasn't come in yet. I'll let him know you called."

"Oh…thanks, Jun."

Kari stoically hung up the phone. She desperately wanted answers. She wanted to know why TK would think she was kissing Davis. And the only person who could give her answers was Davis himself. But in the meantime…she just buried her face in her pillow and fell asleep.

A new day had dawned in the alley. Waking up next to the dumpster, Kari woke up and quickly thought about where her life was ending up. A week ago, she was under the care of Etemon, one of the most caring Digimon she knew. A month ago, she was living amongst horrible friends who cared nothing for her. In between that time, she had been pushed off a bridge and lost most of her memory. And last night, she slept in an alley, all alone, because she couldn't trust anybody.

However, there was one thing she could be happy about. Tonight…was her prom night. And she knew she was going with someone she COULD trust. She was going with someone she could confide in. She was going with someone she cared about.

Kari stood up and started walking around. She noticed her clothes were tattered. She needed to change. Yet Etemon told her to stay away from her home, since her brother was likely to harm her. But Kari realized that she couldn't go to the prom like this. She had to find a way home. She saw a dress in her closet and knew she had to get it before tonight.

So Kari decided to take a risk…and head back home.

Waking up in her bed, Kari still wasn't feeling better. She still wasn't over what happened last night. So she got up, grabbed a fresh set of clothes, and opened her door. Walking out and walking into her bathroom, Kari wanted to take a shower. But when she opened up the shower curtains, she got a rude surprise.

"AAH!"

"AAH!"

Kari, obviously startled, took a step back. "GOMAMON!"

Gomamon was sitting in the tub with a shower cap on his head. "A little privacy please?" With that he shut the curtains again.

Kari stomped over and opened the curtains again. "WHAT are you doing in there?"

"I had no other place to sleep," Gomamon answered. "You shut the door on me and I knew Tai would wake me up when he walked in, so instead of sleeping in his room, I slept in the tub. I don't know why Joe doesn't let me sleep in his tub. Tubs are pretty comfortable."

"You can't stay in here," Kari said dryly. "I need to take a shower. I want to be ready for tonight."

"Got something coming up tonight?"

The cold reality hit Kari. She no longer had a date for prom. She wasn't going with TK and she certainly wasn't going with Davis. Not unless she got an explanation from him, anyway. Kari had no one to go with. But she also knew it was her Senior Prom. Even if she DIDN'T have a date…she still wanted to be there.

"Yes, I do. If you need sleep, go ahead and sleep in my room. I'll be right there. And don't wake up Tai. Well…I don't an EARTHQUAKE could wake a sleeping Tai. But don't wake him up, anyway!"

Not giving Gomamon another minute in her tub, Kari started pushing the fishy rookie out the bathroom door. She proceeded to take the shower cap off his head as she shut the door.

Now that she was alone, Kari went to take a shower.

Gomamon grumbled as he flopped towards Kari's room. He was having such a nice rest in that bathtub and now he'd have to work to get back to sleep. So he nudged Kari's door open and slumped over by the foot of her bed and lied down there. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

About five minutes passed and Gomamon could feel he was picking up right where he left off in terms of sleep. But he heard the window start to slide open. At first, he dismissed the creaks as just some noise from outside.

But when Gomamon heard someone go through the nearby closet, his curiosity started going up. He opened his eyes and looked over at the window…to see Kari climbing out.

Gomamon shrugged. "You have a door, you know."

Kari didn't hear him. She just departed and left the window open. Feeling a gentle breeze, Gomamon just closed his eyes and started sleeping again. He didn't sleep for long, though, because the door opened. Kari, wearing her robe and slippers, walked back in.

Gomamon opened his eyes and shook his head fiercely. "I must have been dreaming. Didn't I just see you go out through the window?"

Kari looked at Gomamon skeptically. "I think you WERE dreaming. Why would I come out through the window? I was just in the shower."

Gomamon snickered. "I guess that DOES sound silly. Maybe I just need some more sleep."

The tired rookie-level Digimon laid his head down to sleep again, but was quickly woken up.

"Where's my dress?!"

Gomamon lifted his head up. "What happened?"

"My prom dress!" Kari wailed. "It's gone! TAI!!"

It didn't take long for a groggy Tai Kamiya to open the door, still in a white tank top and shorts and with a sleepy look on his face.

"Something wrong, Kari?" Tai yawned.

"My prom dress is GONE!" Kari cried. "What happened to it?"

Tai went over to inspect the closet. He looked left and right and shrugged. "I don't know. Didn't you have it here?"

"YES! It was right here! Tai, who was in my room?!"

"Why are you looking at me?" Tai growled. "I don't let anybody in your room; you know that." He suddenly noticed Gomamon and waved tiredly. "Hey Gomamon. When did you get here?"

"I just dropped by yesterday for a visit," the mohawked rookie grinned. "I wanted to say hello before dropping in on Joe."

Kari dropped to her knees and pounded her fist into the floor. "I don't understand it! Where could it be?"

"Beats me," Tai shrugged. He started wearily made his way out. "Good luck finding it."

After Tai walked out, Kari turned to Gomamon. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Gomamon cheerfully tried to add his two cents. "Well…"

"I got it!"

Gomamon sweatdropped, having been cut off before he could put in his suggestion. Kari reached over for the phone and started dialing.

"Sora? It's Kari. … Well…I've been better. It's a long story. Look, Sora, I need help. I need a dress for tonight. Do you and Mimi have any extra dresses lying around in that pile? … Uh-huh. … You do?! Great! Can I come pick it up later before prom? … Ok! Thank you so much, Sora! You're a lifesaver! Well… … Huh? … Of course I remember I said I'd model for you. I wouldn't forget anything like that. … What? What do you mean I said I forgot? … Look, Sora, can we talk later? I need to get ready. I have to get my hair done, my nails done, and… … Huh? … You and Mimi want to do that? Ok! Uh…is it all right if I bring a visitor with me? … It's Gomamon. … Ok, I'll be right there. Thank you, Sora! Bye!"

Kari hung up the phone and Gomamon knew what was about to go down, so he flopped over towards the door.

"Shall we go?" Gomamon asked.

Kari just frowned. She was still in her robe and slippers.

Gomamon sweatdropped. "Oh…I'll give you a few minutes. I'll just wait in Tai's room."

Gomamon left Kari to change and started flopping over towards Tai's room, letting out a big yawn on the way. He was still a little tired, but he'd get some sleep when he met up with Joe.

After all, today would just be another day.

Etemon looked at his stage proudly. It looked like a vast improvement over the last stage he used when he traveled the lands of Server. The black wires that were hooked up to the huge speakers looked like they were all in working order.

"Everything works, right?" Etemon asked the three Gazimon.

"It's all prepped and ready to go," the first one replied.

"The speakers and microphone are in perfect condition," the second one added.

"And the stage has a few nifty tricks we added ourselves," the third one finished.

"What kind of nifty tricks?" Etemon asked curiously.

The first Gazimon walked up to Etemon. The monkey leaned over so the Gazimon could whisper everything in his ear.

Etemon chuckled evilly. "That's beautiful! That ought to wipe them all out!"

"You can even trash the city with that new feature," the second Gazimon added.

"I'm not trashing the city!" Etemon growled. "Are you nuts?! After I'm done with the DigiDestined, that'll be my new kingdom! Tonight, the DigiDestined's hometown officially meets its new ruler…ME! And now all that's left…is to wait."

"Can we have a song in the meantime?" the third Gazimon requested.

"NO!" Etemon snapped. "My singing is reserved tonight. But you can come and see me sing my victory song…after I crush the DigiDestined once and for all!"

Etemon couldn't wait. The time was almost here.


Next Time: We look at the hours leading up to the prom. Kari gets prepared. So does the clone. So does Davis. But what about TK? Does he even have a purpose being there anymore? Will he even show up? And will Etemon crash the party? We're coming down to the wire, so come back next time to see what happens!


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