"Hello, everybody! I'm Whose Liner, the author of this story, and I'm about to introduce you all to a friend of mine. His name is Mr. Disclaimer!"
"Hello-lo-lo, all! I'm just here to read along with the rest of you, so let's get this show on the road!"
Digimon - Second Chances For Sora
Chapter 3 - Sora Times Two
The group of kids known as the Digidestined couldn't have been more shocked this day. Paired up with their digimon, they were undertaking yet another crazy adventure in the Digital World.
Their destination was Etemon's pyramid, one of their less than favorite places to (re)visit. Of course, being held captive there over time and having your life placed in danger was sure to cause some dislike for this old place.
But what was happening somehow beat everything else they'd previously experienced all hands down. Having discovered sort of energy signature originating from this pyramid, Izzy and some of the other Digidestined decided to investigate. They did their best to mentally prepare themselves for whatever they found...but unfortunately it was futile. For what they discovered appeared to be the spitting image of one of the kids who had come along.
It was a double of Sora Takenouchi, the Digidestined of Love.
For some reason, Sora found it hard to blink. She just couldn't take her eyes of this girl with her face. And neither could the Digidestined. Sora slowly and cautiously stepped towards the girl, circled her and finally stopped and locked eyes with her, face to face. A blind man might have thought that a girl was talking to herself had he been listening to the oncoming conversation.
"Who...who are you?" Sora asked.
The girl answered with the exact same voice...and astonishment.
"I might ask you the same question!"
Everyone else walked towards the pair of girls.
"M...my name's...Sora. Sora Takenouchi."
"That makes two of us."
Sora studied this mystery person, from head to toe. Whoever she was, she truly looked liked Sora and sounded like her. Even though Sora had her hair tied back, this girl clearly still recognized her.
She wore a sleeveless yellow shirt (which seemed to be coming apart at the seems), dirty blue jeans (with holes in the knees), and worn out dark gray sneakers. She also saw a pair of muddy pink gloves stuffed into her back pocket. What looked like scratches, burns, bruises, and dirt covered her arms and her face. Her hair was severely in disarray, as well. It looked as if it hadn't been combed it for months.
Izzy stepped forward to make some inquiries of his own, since Sora by now had gone completely (albeit temporarily) speechless.
"Excuse for interrupting this peaceful silence, but I have something I'd like to ask you."
The girl nodded.
"H...HOW did you get here??"
"About four years ago, at summer camp, some...huge force pulled me and six of my friends here, to this place called the 'Digital World'. We were given something called a 'digivice' and we kept exploring this world until we found this gigantic upside-down pyramid. Two creeps named Etemon and Datamon lived here they kidnapped me."
Izzy was certain that her story would definitely be similar to Sora's, yet different in its own way.
"And then what happened?"
"My friends tried to come to my rescue...everything gets a little fuzzy from here on...all I can remember are shouts, the sounds of explosions...and lots of lights. After that...I don't remember anything. I found myself lying out somewhere in this vast desert...alone. For the next few years I wandered and traveled the Digital World by myself. And then about nine months ago, my travels came full circle and I found myself back at this pyramid. So...I sort of made myself at home here."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"So you're saying you were trapped here in this world?" Cody asked.
"Well, yeah..."
"Uh, didn't you know that there were a whole truckload of televisions spread out all over the Digiworld that you could've used to get yourself outta here?" asked Davis.
"Don't you think I would have done that already if I could? During my travels, my digivice got busted."
"Huh?"
"This."
The girl reached into her right jean pocket and pulled out what looked like one the "old school" digivices. Izzy saw though, that it did indeed looked busted. It had some dirt and mud stuck to it, the screen was loose, and the outside casing looked bent and chipped. Overall it didn't look much better than who it belonged to.
"Looks like it's in pretty bad condition," Izzy noted.
"Over the past couple years I've managed to become something of 'fix-it' person, but when I tried to repair my digivice, I couldn't. The circuitry was too complex and unfamiliar."
"Well..." said Izzy, wanting to be useful, "...let me have a shot at it. I'm very familiar with them. Do you have any screwdrivers or tools lying around here?"
"Umm...yeah, there's a old tool box just behind that console," she said, pointing.
Izzy nodded, and bent over to rummage through the rusty tools. Thankfully they were still good enough for usage. He placed the digivice (and some of the tools) on a table, and he sat down to tinker with the device.
Davis and Veemon started to hear a disgusting sound. But immediately they discovered that it was the really the call of a much greater power than anything they had ever faced previously - the supreme power of their starving stomachs. Unfortunately, Davis's next words exited his mouth out of purely strict hunger than anything else.
"C'mon, Izzy, how much longer is this gonna take? Veemon and I are gettin' real hungry!"
"I told you to grab more food during lunch!" Cody gently scolded. Armadillomon just lightly chuckled.
Sora's double turned her head at their predicament.
"Oh, hey...I just stocked up on some food last week and put it all in that fridge over there and, well...if any of you guys are hungry, there should be plenty of food left."
Before the entire sentence could finish, Davis and Veemon were already halfway into the refrigerator. Sora and Cody just laughed at the scene.
"Okay, that's it!" Izzy half-happily exclaimed. "I got it!"
Cody, Armadillomon, Sora, and her "twin" turned their heads.
"Is it fixed?" Cody asked.
"Not completely," Izzy replied, handing it back to its onwer. "But I did manage to rig some of the inner wires together. It has partial power, so it should activate properly enough to work."
The double looked at it and then at Izzy.
"Oh, thank you so much..."
"Don't thank me yet...we still need to see if it works or not."
"Well...only one way to find out!" she said. "Let's get outta here! I've been stuck here long enough!"
Izzy turned to the "real" Sora and whispered into her ear.
"Sora, look...I'm gonna take her back with me. I've got some devices that I received from Ken today, and I can use them to verify her identity. Why don't you stay here for a little while longer to see if you can find anything useful. If nothing turns up within fifteen minutes, then return home."
Sora nodded in agreement, but her face still wore a look of caution. Though she would never try to sabotage one of Izzy's "investigations", she was really hoping that they WOULDN'T find anything.
"Let's get a move on!" Izzy said.
The girl followed, but suddenly motioned for Izzy to "hold on." He watched as she quickly made her way to the bed Cody had sat on recently and pulled out a small package, wrapped in green, with a worn out red ribbon around it. The box was partially bent and had some dust and dirt on it, but the girl was confident that whatever was inside had preserved.
"Okay, lead the way!" she said half-excitedly.
As Izzy and "the double" exited the seemingly abandoned pyramid, it goes without saying that Izzy still had plenty of questions that he wanted the answers to. But the girl did, too.
"I had no idea that there were other people here!" she began. "How did you find me?"
"Well, I picked up the energy signature from your partially functioning digivice, and here we are...um...gee, I'm not even sure what to call you..."
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Look, I have no idea who 'SHE'was back there, but MY name is Sora, okay?! I mean, I won't hold it against you if you decide to use my actual name every now and then!"
"Okay, okay!" Izzy replied, putting up his hands in protest.
"Now that you know my name, who exactly are YOU?"
"Oh, well...I'm Izzy. Izzy Izumi."
The girl's eyes immediately went wide.
"Oh, my...Izzy, it's YOU?! I...I'm so sorry! I can't understand why I didn't recognize you at first! I...I...why am I stuttering?! Gimme a hug!"
Disregarding whether or not Izzy would comply with her instructions, Sora immediately pulled him into a fierce embrace, all the while being careful not to crush the present in her other hand.
"Thank goodness, a familiar face! Ever since I got separated from the rest of you guys, I always wondered where you all went! But I never stopped hoping that I'd find you again! I missed you all so much!"
"Uh, don't take this the wrong way...Sora...but I can't exactly say the same."
Sora thought for a couple seconds, then slowly nodded, understanding what he meant.
As they finally made their way back to the television that the group had originally exited from, Izzy's attention suddenly switched to the gift in Sora's arms.
"Umm...what's that?" he asked, pointing.
Sora looked down at the gift, and quickly blushed a bit.
"Wh...this? Oh, uh...well, it...no, it's secret!" she said hastily, cutely sticking her tongue out.
"Uh, okay...whatever you say...oh, here we are! Here's the television!"
"This is it...the moment of truth..."
"Let's give it a shot!"
A very thirsty Mimi slurped up some nice cool water from one of the school water fountains nearby the computer room. Her ears quickly activated as she heard two faint voices (coming from out of nowhere) yelling. As she listened more, the sounds became clearer. And she immediately knew what was going on.
"Oh, they're back!" she said to herself, returning to the computer room to greet them. But it wasn't exactly going to be who she thought it was...
"Izzy! Sora! Welcome ba-huh?!"
Her senses shut down as she cause sight of "what" Izzy had brought home with him.
"Sora?! Wh...what happened to you?!"
"Hey, guys!" yelled another familiar voice, belonging to Matt.
"Matt??" went a half-surprised Izzy. "What are you doing back here?"
"Oh, I meant to ask you about tomorrow's test...WHAT THE!? SORA?? What in the world...are you okay!?"
Matt reacted more intensely than Mimi did, but just as fast. But that was to be expected if one comes into a room with their girlfriend looking like they just went five and a half rounds with Godzilla.
"Geez, you all right??"he went, quickly wrapping his arms around Sora in alarm.
But THIS Sora pulled away just as fast.
"Get your arms off me, creep! Just who do you think you are anyway??"
Izzy decided to step in to prevent any further confrontations.
"Sora, calm down! It's just Matt, remember? And here's Mimi."
Once again, Sora was happily reunited with two more of her friends. And like Izzy she gave them each a hug. Nevertheless, Matt was still pretty dumbfounded by whatever was going on.
"Izzy, if you've done anything to Sora...!"
"Matt, Matt! Take it easy! Listen to me...this isn't who you think it is!"
"You mean...this ISN'T Sora?" asked a disbelieving Mimi.
"Izzy, would mind telling us what the heck is going on??" asked Matt.
"To make the long story short, me and the others tried to track down the energy signal I detected earlier today, and we found...this."
Sora shot Izzy a funny look.
"What exactly am I to you...a science experiment, or a hamster?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." Izzy replied, laughing a little.
It took some faith and patience, but Izzy and Sora managed to successfully convince and Matt and Mimi about what was happening.
"So, where will you be staying, Sora?" Matt asked. "That is, it WOULD be kinda awkward for you to just stroll into your home and let your parents know that they've suddenly had twins."
Sora scratched her head at the realization of Matt's words.
"Uhh, gee...y'know, I hadn't really thought about that..."
"And you won't have to, either!" Mimi happily chirped. "Sora, your staying with me and I won't take 'no' for a answer!"
"What?!" went Matt, caught off guard for a second. "But Mimi, you're only here on vacation. How long can-"
"Long enough to help Sora get back on her feet," Mimi firmly replied.
"Umm...thanks," said Sora, a bit stunned by Mimi's generous offer.
She became even more stunned when she got a good look out the window.
For the first time in four years, Sora experienced her first glance at the "real world." It was still pretty much as she remembered. From the school window, she saw many things throughout Odaiba. Sora smiled as she witnessed cars swiftly racing up and down the streets, children running around and playing with each other, while adults went about their business. This was it! One of her greatest dreams – finally making it home – had been achieved, and Sora was happier than she thought she would be.
"Wow..." she went, still accepting the undeniable fact that she was-
"HOME! I...I'm home!" she almost yelled. She couldn't do anything but smile.
"Hey, hold up," Matt interrupted. "Where are all the others?"
"Back in Etemon's pyramid, where else?" Izzy responded. "And speaking of which, I'd better contact the rest of our friends and let them know what's going on...but first..."
Everyone grew curious as Izzy held up one of the devices Ken had delivered earlier, and motioned for Sora to come over and sit in the chair. She did as she was told, while Izzy set down the device on a nearby table and clicked a few buttons on its panel. Immediately, a small beam of light streamed out of its lens and struck Sora. The beam of light stretched out to a wide one, and continuously changed color from second to second, as it kept moving up and down Sora's body.
"Uhh, Izzy? What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, it's only a advanced genetic tester that I managed to obtain. The ray being emitted upon you is a powerful, but harmless laser that will scan your body and its DNA. Once it's done, your DNA will be recorded on its miniature computer."
"Oh...then what?"
"Well, after your...counterpart returns, I'll use it to scan her. Then I'll compare both of your DNA patterns to see if they match."
"Umm...okay, then. I have nothing to hide," Sora said, shrugging. "I mean, I know who I am. But are you sure that this contraption isn't gonna burn my hair off?"
"Positive," Izzy assured her. "It's no more harmful than an X-ray scan. Just try not to move."
"You're sure this won't hurt?"
"Trust me. Won't even itch."
"If you say so."
Izzy smiled and nodded. "Well, if you'll excuse me?"
Sora let her friend tend to sending a message to the others, while she now was face to face with two of her old friends whom she hadn't seen in a long time. Tiny beads of sweat began to trickly down her forehead as Matt and Mimi looked her over with definite suspicion in their eyes. Needless to say, she felt feel like a dissection specimen.
"Okay!" Izzy exclaimed.
"What's the deal, Izzy?" Matt asked.
"I've told everyone else down there of the situation, and Sora says that Mimi should take her double over to her place to pick up some spare clothes."
Mimi and Sora nodded.
"Anything else?" Mimi asked.
"They said that they'll be back in about ten minutes. Davis and Veemon are still...eating."
"Uh-HUH...gotcha. Shall we go, Sora?"
"If it's okay with Izzy here."
Izzy turned his head. "Oh, yeah...the scans should be complete by now. Just let me deactivate it."
Walking towards where Sora was sitting Izzy tapped a couple of buttons, and the ray fixed on Sora's body turned off as quickly as it turned on.
"That's it. You're free to go," he went, handing Sora's package to her.
"Thanks, Izzy. Let's go, Mimi."
Mimi smiled and took Sora's hand, giving it a playful squeeze. The two girls giggled and swiftly exited the school.
Matt sighed and ran his hand through his blonde hair.
"So whaddya think?" he asked.
"Think about what?" Izzy asked back.
"If she's really who she says she is."
"If you want my personal opinion, then the truth is...my mental acquisitiveness - however immense - has categorically been piqued, but not complacent. I haven't aggregated a sufficient abundance of erudition to warrent a circumspect denouement...much less an elucidation, preferrably comprehensive and coherent."
"Huh?!"
"I'm not sure at this point."
"Oh."
However, Matt continued to display his confusion.
"It doesn't make sense! I mean...I know Sora got kidnapped by Datamon, who tried to copy her in order to control the power of her crest, as well as Biyomon. But we managed to get her outta there, so the question is...how could there possibly be an exact double of her living down there?!"
"I can't even begin to hypothesize until I can figure out how this all happened in the first place. But as far as that girl is concerned...she's telling the truth. At least she thinks she is. She appears to have Sora's physical features, as well as some of her memories."
"So what do we do now?"
"I'm gonna go back down there and take one more crack at that pyramid's computer. It might somehow be able to make some sense how all of this happened."
"Well, Izzy...I wish you the best of luck. Because I also wouldn't exactly mind hearing how this happened!"
"So, um...Sora, uh...how have you been?" Mimi asked on the way to Sora's apartment.
"Just fine, thanks. And you?"
"Uhh...just fine. Peachy even."
"It's okay, Mimi...you don't have to pretend like you just saw me yesterday. It's been a while since I've seen any of you."
Mimi nodded and then pointed.
"Oh, look! We're here!"
Sora was forced to close her eyes a bit from the sun and looked up at the apartment building where she (once) lived.
In no time, they were at the doorstep. But now Sora seemed reluctant to knock on the door, and Mimi couldn't figure out why. Instead, Sora suddenly remembered that a spare door key was kept under the "WELCOME" mat. And she was right.
The door opened and the two girls were inside.
"Hello?" Sora yelled. "Good, Mom's not home."
"Huh? Why's that?" asked Mimi.
Sora shook her head. "Forget it."
"Well, if I recall...your bedroom's over here," Mimi said, pointing to a door.
Sora opened it and whistled. Not too much had changed and everything still seemed to be in place. Except for that one thing that used to be on top of her dresser...
"Hey, Sora! Are you gonna pick some clothes or what?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Right..."
Sora did indeed pick out some clothes but at the same time, and decided not to be picky about what she chose. All she took were a group of white socks, a few blue jeans, ordinary T-shirts, and a few pairs of "you-know-what."
"Hmm..." was all that came out of Mimi as she looked through Sora's closet.
"What is it, Mimi?"
"Nothing, just...uh, you sure you don't wanna bring along a couple dresses?"
"You're kidding, right? My double actually owns some dresses?"
"Well, yeah."
"I bet you'll be the Queen of England before I'm caught dead wearing one of those!" Sora partially joked.
Mimi giggled a little bit as put the clothes Sora gathered into a small plastic bag.
Sora locked her front door as they exited her home. She then placed the door key back under the mat. Mimi wasted no time getting chatty as they now headed for Mimi's home.
"...and there you have it."
"So you really moved all the way to America? Then who's living back at your old apartment?"
"My aunt moved in there a while ago. She's been taking pretty good care of it ever since my family moved away."
"I see. Matt said that you were here on vacation, right? How long will you be staying?"
"Long enough," Mimi stated, not wanting to think about the partially sad and stressful concept of constantly traveling back and forth between America and Japan.
Sora nodded as they crossed the street.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the crosswalk...
"I'd love to chat away the day, but I need to get back to my home, not to mention my flower shop."
"Well...nice talking to you, dear!"
Sora's mother, Mrs. Takenouchi, waved goodbye to her friend as she prepared to cross the street. Unfortunately, while crossing, she accidentally bumped the shoulder of a girl. Though they didn't get a good look at each other, quick apologies were made even as they kept on walking...
"Oof! Excuse me..."
"Oh...I'm sorry, dear!"
"So anyway, Mimi, go on..."
Mrs. Takenouchi kept on walking for a few more seconds until the full realization of just WHO she may have accidentally bumped into crossed her mind. Stopping dead in her tracks, she immediately whipped her head around to see if she was correct. But that girl and her friend were long out of sight by now.
"Nah," Mrs. Takenouchi went, as she quickly shook her head and walked on.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Yep, that's it! Sorry that Tai was once again missing, but worry not! He makes his valiant, dignified (yeah, right) return next chapter! And so do the other Digidestined! Bye, bye!
P.S. You wanna see what happens next? Then I'll need at least five more reviews! Later!
"So what have we learned today, Mr. Disclaimer?"
"We've learned that I don't own Digimon, I never have, and I never will!"
"Well, I suppose it's a start..."