Last Time: Things got a little confusing. Kari went to the prom alone, but with Sora, Mimi, and Gomamon following right behind her. After a little encouragement from Patamon, TK also decided to go alone. Yolei and Ken arrived together, with Cody taping their whole night, and met up with her. Later Yolei, Ken, and Cody ran into Davis…and Kari's clone. While things got mixed up over there, Sora, Mimi, and Gomamon were still hiding behind the bush…when Tai, Matt, Izzy, and Joe showed up. What none of them know is that Davis is about to open up a port to the Digital World…and you know what that means.


Double Play: Part 9


Still by herself, Kari looked everywhere in the crowd of kids inside the gymnasium (conveniently converted into a dance floor for tonight's purposes) for any signs of Davis. He was nowhere to be seen. Kari was beginning to feel frustrated. She wanted to know what was going on. Unfortunately, as she walked towards the punch bowl, she didn't run into Davis. Instead, she ran into another handsome young man in a tuxedo.

"TK?"

TK Takaishi didn't look too happy to see Kari. "Kari. So where's Davis?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

"You mean you can't even keep track of your own date?" he asked bitingly.

Kari immediately felt her blood boil. "I wasn't coming to the prom with Davis! Why won't you get that through your thick head?!"

"I think that kiss you gave him said a lot!"

"I DIDN'T KISS HIM!!"

Just then, Kari heard something from behind the wall coming from outside. It was an outcry coming from a very familiar voice.

"Did you just hear Davis right now?" Kari asked.

TK scowled. "You'd know the answer a lot better than me."

Kari glowered. "That's it! I'm getting this settled once and for all!"

Kari started storming towards the exit, but TK wasn't letting her go alone.

"I have a few things to say myself," TK grumbled.

Kari angrily headed towards the exit, with TK in close pursuit, both of them determined to find Davis and get some answers.

Davis had no idea why Kari wanted him to open a port to that specific part of the Digital World. But when he opened the port up with his Digivice, he was immediately met with the view of an oncoming truck. He immediately dove out of the way as the truck drove out of the port and into…the real world. The truck honked with an extremely loud horn that nearly shook the ground. And it didn't stop until it hit the side of the gymnasium, nearly driving right through the wall.

Davis checked up on Kari. "Are you ok?"

"Davis Motomiya!!"

Davis was being called by…a very familiar voice. He turned around to see who was heading towards him.

It was Kari.

At first, Davis thought he was dreaming. Kari was walking towards him…yet he looked to his side…and saw Kari there, too. He was seeing double. The only difference was that this Kari that was walking up to him had her hair styled.

The styled Kari helped Davis to his feet. "Davis, what's going on?"

Davis looked at that Kari…then the other Kari. "That's a good question. How could you be over here if you're over there?"

The styled Kari noticed…the other Kari. "What the…?!"

The other Kari turned around and gasped. Both Karis walked up to each other and stood face-to-face. Davis could swear one of them was looking in a mirror, with the exception of the different hairstyles. They gazed into each other's eyes and then began testing each other. They both waved their hands around at the same time, made a couple of quick faces, and then looked into each other's eyes one more time before gasping again. Feeling a bit hysterical over this sudden shock, the Kari who didn't have her hair styled immediately leaned on Davis's shoulder, but looked right at the other Kari.

"Y-Y-You look…like me," she said nervously.

A fourth person joined in. It was TK, who shook his head upon seeing Kari and Davis. "I knew it! I knew you two couldn't keep your hands off…"

TK stopped in his tracks when he saw the styled Kari and the other Kari. His jaw just about dropped open.

"There's two of you!" TK exclaimed.

The styled Kari didn't know what to say. "What's going on?!"

"Maybe *I* can answer that!"

Davis's attention was suddenly focused back on the truck that drove into the real world. Someone came out of the driver seat. Davis didn't recognize him, but the styled Kari and TK let out a shocked gasp.

"It can't be!" TK shouted.

It was a big monkey with sunglasses and a teddy bear at his belt buckle. He pressed a button on the truck and it unfolded to reveal an enormous stage, set up with large speakers and a huge number of black wires.

"That's right, kiddies! It's time for a comeback! The king lives!"

Davis took a step back. "Who are you?!"

TK answered that question. "Etemon!"

After the long explanation of why Kari and TK were coming to the prom alone, Sora didn't hear a barrage of questions from either Tai or Matt. That was because a huge commotion was coming from the direction of the gymnasium.

"Do you guys hear something?" Sora asked.

"I thought I heard a truck horn," Izzy replied. Then they heard a crash. "And that sounds like a TRUCK!"

"How does a truck get into the high school?" Mimi asked. "Especially in the middle of prom?"

Tai didn't want to wait. "Let's find out!"

Tai ran off without even waiting for anyone else. Sora and Matt got up to run after him, with Izzy and Mimi in close pursuit. Joe, carrying Gomamon, brought up the rear.

Tai was just as fast as he ever was, but Sora wasn't a slowpoke herself. She kept pace with Tai, despite seeing the crowd, which was quickly fleeing in terror. She soon saw why. There was a huge stage set up by the side of the gymnasium. And on the stage, by the mic stand, was a very familiar enemy.

"Please tell me that isn't who I think it is," Izzy moaned.

Sora couldn't believe what she was seeing, but unfortunately…it was true. The one on the stage…

…was Etemon.

Yolei couldn't help but notice that there was a huge disturbance coming from outside. The noise began to grow louder as a deafening truck horn sounded. The noise grew louder still, until something crashed into the side of the gym's wall. After the crash, it didn't take long for the crowd of high school kids to start clearing out of the gymnasium.

"What's going on?" Yolei asked.

"It's coming from outside!" Cody noted.

"Let's go see what it is!" Ken added.

Trying to push their way through the crowd, Yolei, Ken, and Cody made their way through the dispersing crowd until they finally reached the double-door exit. They ran out and made a detour towards the side of the gym…where they saw a giant stage had been set up from the back of a truck.

The first thing Yolei noticed…was Kari and TK…along with Davis and…Kari. There were two Karis. She then noticed that the older DigiDestined were quickly arriving at the scene. And then she looked up at the stage and the mic stand…

…to see a monkey in sunglasses.

This was the moment of truth for Etemon. He couldn't have set this up better himself. He looked over to see all the DigiDestined were heading his way. They had all come to him and they were there ripe for the picking. Etemon was ready to annihilate them once and for all.

"Ah, what a wonderful audience we have gathered here for my comeback!" Etemon boomed over the mic. "It's been years in the making, but after years of settling for the rest, now it's time for the return of the best!"

The impulsive Tai stepped forward. "When did YOU come back, Etemon?!"

Etemon laughed. "Reconfiguration is a wonderful thing! Not only does it ensure that the hits will never die, but it also means that the hits will always keep on coming!" He looked out at the infernal DigiDestined. "It's nice to see you've all come out for this special show. I must say, you've all grown up since my last performance. It's a shame that the time has now come for your final swansong!" Then he looked out to see they weren't alone. "But I also see some new faces. Probably some lost spectators. This is between me and them. You all can go away and leave us alone. I'll deal with you and the rest of your pathetic town later."

"We're not going anywhere!" another impulsive boy, who looked like a younger Tai, shouted. "We're DigiDestined!"

Another black-haired boy whom Etemon didn't recognize stepped forward. "They're our friends! And we're all a team! If you want them, you'll have to take us too!"

Etemon chuckled. "So you've all joined a losing team. So I take it you all have names? Well in a matter of moments, your names won't matter. You'll all be dust anyway. And now…it's time for your final concert!"

"We're not going down without a fight, Etemon!" Joe said boldly. "Go get him, Gomamon!"

Etemon noticed that the DigiDestined did have ONE Digimon with them. It was the rookie Gomamon, who had Digivolved to defeat him last time. Gomamon rushed forward and got ready for a fight.

**Gomamon…Digivolve to…Ikkakumon!**

Gomamon had Digivolved, but Etemon would soon fix that. He held up his microphone. "And now for my first piece, it's an oldie but a goodie! A good old fashioned Concert Crush!"

The impulsive brown-haired boy who looked like Tai blinked. "You're gonna sing to us?"

TK covered his ears. "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd have to hear your lousy singing again!"

"LOUSY?!" Etemon repeated angrily. "I'll show you LOUSY! Uh huh huh!"

Etemon brought the microphone to his lips as Ikkakumon began to charge forward. The music blared and Etemon began his old hit.

"Yeeeeeeeeeah, yeah! I'm the coolest cat there is and if you don't watch out…I'm gonna get you 'til you scream and shout! 'Cause I'm the hippest Digimon in town! Oh yeeeeeeeeeah…yeah!"

Ikkakumon was soon stopped in his tracks and before he could even launch an attack, the power of Etemon's Concert Crush had him devolving back into Gomamon. The rookie still looked like he had some fight left in him, so Etemon stomped on a nearby button.

Sure enough, a handy new feature emerged. A piece of the stage opened up, from which a fishing net sprang out and covered Gomamon. The rookie-level Digimon was unable to escape and without a Digimon on their side, the DigiDestined were now at Etemon's mercy.

Etemon stomped on another button. A series of wires expanded and shot into the sky, landing all around the area surrounding the DigiDestined. The wires created a net of electricity, leaving the DigiDestined trapped. Etemon stomped on another button and the net started closing in, threatening to fry those infernal humans upon contact.

"This is even better than the last time I had you like this!" Etemon cried triumphantly. "This time, there's NOTHING that can save you!"

Seeing they were all trapped, the twelve DigiDestined all huddled up closely. However, the net continued to close in, leaving less and less breathing room.

"How did you get here, Etemon?!" Tai demanded.

"A stroke of genius, if I do say so myself!" Etemon grinned, beginning the explanation. He figured they were done for anyway, so an explanation was in order so he could feed his ego. "I knew there had to be a way I could get my revenge on you little punks for destroying everything I had! You destroyed my Dark Network and because of you, I lost control of Server! I craved revenge! And that's when I saw…YOU TWO!" Etemon pointed at Kari and TK. "I saw you two walking through the Digital World without a care in the world, not knowing that I was watching your every move. And then…I saw you, the eighth child, prick yourself on a lone rose. You didn't think much of it, did you? Just pricking yourself on a lonely little rose. But for me, it was a chance at vengeance!

"So I took that blood sample…and with it…I created a clone of you! A clone that I took under my wing, slowly gaining her trust. Soon, I had her turned against all of you! Though I didn't account for NEW Digitwerps, it turned out that it didn't matter, because my plan ultimately succeeded. I succeeded in pulling a bait-and-switch, sending the clone here while the real thing was left behind in the Digital World. And once the clone was here, it was an easy matter of her finding a way to open a port to the Digital World and giving me the opportunity to come in!

"Now I have you right where I want you! You're all at my mercy! But don't think the revenge stops there! Oh no, no, no! You see, now that I'm here with my new stage, it'll be time for me to set up a NEW Dark Network…here in YOUR world! And I shall be this world's ruler and king, uh huh huh! I can see it now! Millions of pitiful humans bowing at my feet! Shrines of ME around every corner! And my music shall cover the land…with NIGHTLY concerts!"

"The people would rather stab their eardrums out than hear your so-called singing, Etemon!" Matt expressed indignantly.

"They'll have no choice but to LOVE my singing!" Etemon continued. "It's just a shame YOU won't be around to see what happens to your world!"

"Etemon?"

Etemon was in such an evil groove, he hated to be interrupted. But he noticed someone tugging at his arm. He turned his head…to see the clone, who looked confused...and hurt. Tears were coming down her cheeks.

"W-What's going on?" she asked timidly. "Etemon…what did you just say? Did you really say…I'm just a clone? I'm…not real?"

Etemon couldn't help but laugh out loud when he saw the clone's expression of sadness. "You are real. A real TOOL! But don't be sad, little lady. You played your part to the letter. I couldn't have risen to the top without the little people. Thanks…loser!"

Etemon put his hand to the clone and fiercely pushed her aside. He jumped off the stage and started walking towards the net, which was still closing in on the DigiDestined. This was his moment. It was time for him to savor it.

Having fallen off the stage, she rose to her feet. After weeks of confusion and uncertainty, she started to see clearly for the first time in her life. She finally had a reason for her fuzzy memory. It was all making sense to her now. But a cold hard fact hurt her more than any other.

She was NOT Kari Kamiya.

She was nothing more than a clone. She was just a tool of this evil, malicious monkey known as Etemon. The weeks of love and care were all nothing more than a ruse to gain her trust. The stories were all false. She was starting to see that now. She also saw that she unwittingly been a pawn to evil.

But now it was time to set things right.

The clone started running towards the gymnasium…looking for something she could use to set things right.


Next Time: The clone's looking for a way to make amends. Can she save the DigiDestined? Come back next time for the big finale!


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