Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon...oops! Wrong show! I meant Digimon! DIGIMON!!
It seemed to be an innocent trip into for Izzy and some of the other Digidestined when they decided to investigate a strange energy source coming from somewhere in the Digital World. But things turned strange when they discovered a double of Sora Takenouchi living in Etemon's pyramid. This "other" Sora had identical features and similar memories of past events regarding the Digidestined's first adventure into the Digital World. Izzy brought her back to the real world and examined her. Mimi, who was visiting, offered to have Sora "room" with her at her old apartment. Izzy then returned to the Digital World in order to find any possible existing evidence concerning the origin of the "second" Sora.
Digimon - Second Chances For Sora
Chapter 4 - Welcome Back!
"This is it!" Mimi beamed as she almost slammed open the front door of her apartment.
"Uh, Mimi..." asked Sora. "Are you sure that it's okay with your aunt if I stay here for a while?"
"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it, Sor. My aunt is hardly ever here. She's a busy woman, usually out on business meetings and stuff. So she probably wouldn't mind much if I had friends stay over."
"But I don't even know how long I'll be-"
"Trust me, Sora...my aunt'll be cool about the whole thing."
"Well, okay...if you're sure."
Mimi closed her eyes, smiled, and nodded almost vigorously.
"So, you hungry?"
Before the sentence was completely out of Mimi's mouth, Sora could already feel and hear her stomach growling. Even Mimi heard it. Sora blushed a bit, as this was a little embarrassing.
"Umm, I guess I am...a little. I haven't eaten very much in about two days," she said holding her stomach with one hand.
Mimi nervously giggled. "Well, you're in luck, Sora! Lately I've been turning out to be a great cook!"
"Oh, yeah?"
"Mm-hm! So in celebration for your coming home, I'll make a small feast for the two of us! The sky's the limit, so whatever you want, you can have it! Is there any specific dish you'd like me to make for you?"
"Oh, I'm in the mood for just about anything right now...surprise me."
"Okay! But you'd better clean up first! The shower is through the second door on the left. Complete with towels, soap, shampoo...everything you need."
Sora briefly looked over herself in a nearby mirror. "Hmm, yeah...I guess I do look pretty dirty. Thanks, Mimi."
"Don't worry, Sor! I'll start cooking while you take a nice, hot bath!"
"Actually, I think a nice, hot shower will do. Besides, the sooner I'm done, the sooner I can eat!"
"Hmm, good point!"
"Thanks again, Mimi!" said Sora, entering the bathroom.
Mimi happily sighed and giggled.
"I'm such a good girl," she said to herself, and pulling out a cookbook.
Izzy once again was crouched over at a computer. The only differences were that this time, it was Izzy's own laptop, and in the comfort of his own home. Joe and Ken were invited over to give a second (and possible third) opinion on what had occurred previously in the last hour or so. Though the two of them were thoroughly informed of the situation, Ken and Joe were still pretty amazed.
"Boy, Izzy...from what you've told me, this is way too bizarre. Two Soras?!" said Ken.
"Yeah, and that's not the only strange thing that's been going on!" Izzy replied.
"Did Ken's genetic testers draw any conclusion?" Joe asked.
"It's still comparing Sora's DNA and structural cell patterns to her double's. In another half hour, the tests will be complete, and then we'll be able to find out who this girl truly is."
"You really think that she's someone else?"
"Believe me, I'd like to think that she's telling the truth, but we've been fooled too often before. Like you've said before, it's always better to be safe than sorry."
"Keep in mind, that back then I used to be a nervous hypochondriac."
Izzy and Ken flashed a half-smile and turned their attention to the screen of Izzy's laptop.
"So what are you doing now, Izzy?" Ken inquired.
"Well, I just can't seem to turn my attention away from Etemon's pyramid. It seems that I learn something new and fascinating every time that I...wait a second."
"Something wrong?" went Joe.
"Not exactly," said Izzy. "But I've picked up another energy signal coming from the pyramid. Not from a digivice, but-"
"Should we tell the others about this, too?"
"No, not yet. I want to gather as much information as possible before telling anyone else. Anyway, guys...we need to make some calls. Get the others over here. They at least deserve to know about Sora's double. That is, if the tests turn 'positive' and all."
Joe and Ken nodded, and made their way to the phone.
Sora walked into the room, with a light pink towel around her body, and another small one around her hair. Though certainly drier than when she stepped out of the shower, tiny beads of water could still be seen slowly crawling down her skin.
Mimi turned around to face her friend.
"Hey, Sora!"
"Hi, Mimi. How's that dinner coming along?"
"It's, thanks. Sit down at the table, and I'll tend to your hair."
"Okay."
Sora unraveled the smaller towel around her head, and waved her hair back and forth a couple times.
"Ooh, Sora...your hair has gotten a little longer. I'm surprised I didn't notice it before."
"Yeah...hey, you wouldn't happen to be a good hairdresser, would you?"
"Well, not professionally. But I've given some of my friends in America a few makeovers before."
"Then, uh...would you...?"
"Shorten your hair a bit? Of course!"
Sora picked up her old pair of jeans, and pulled a small pink wallet out of one of the back pockets. Inside the wallet was an old photo of her at age eleven. She wasn't dressed up, but she also wasn't wearing her lucky helmet, in which the photo gave a good, clear shot of her "old" hairstyle. She showed the picture to Mimi.
"Not a bad photo," she said, starting to squint her eyes and scratching her chin. "But I think you would've looked much more cute with a dress on."
Sora shot her a wry smile.
"Don't even start. Anyway, I'd prefer it if my hair were about as short as it is in that picture. I never liked growing it long. "
Mimi smiled as well.
"No problem...just let me fetch some scissors, a brush, and a comb."
Within the next ten minutes, Mimi went to work on "fixing up" Sora's hair. Mimi cutely hummed a tune to herself while she cut, combed and brushed .
Wow, Sora thought. Mimi really seems to know what she's doing. She's cutting and combing my hair like those pros at the mall my mom used to drag me to...
"There!" Mimi exclaimed finally, holding up a small mirror for Sora to look into. "How's that?"
"Hey, not bad!" Sora happily replied. "Your own opinion of your hair dressing skills doesn't do you justice."
"I'll take that as a complement and a 'thank you' at the same time. Anyhoo, the food's nearly ready, so go get dressed."
Sora nodded and pulled a set of clothes from the bag taken from home.
RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!
The ever-insistent telephone rang at the Kamiya's. Kari and Tai picked up different phones. It turned out to be Joe, so neither Kamiya would have to hang up.
"Hello?" went Joe.
"That you, Joe?" asked Tai.
"Uh huh. Look, I'll be brief. I need you and Kari to quickly head over to Izzy's right now. Is that workable?"
"Uh, yeah..." said Kari, with some hesitation clearly in her voice. "But it would be easier if you could tell us what's so important."
"Sorry, Kari. But I think I'll let Izzy explain it when you two arrive. See you later!"
CLICK!
"Well, that was short," Tai noted.
"He sounded kind of anxious, though. Let's go see what Izzy wants," Kari added.
And with that, the Kamiya children immediately put on their sneakers and headed out the door.
The phone rang at Mimi's place, as well. Mimi quickly set down a plate full of food on the table, and grabbed a portable phone.
"Hello? Oh...hi, Izzy!"
Sora stepped into the room, while putting on a yellow T-shirt (with a pocket on the left side), just in time to hear Mimi to chatting away.
"Yes, she's right here...no, I'm...no, not at all...uh, huh...uh, huh...yes, of course...everyone's meeting there...well, yeah...sure, I could..."
Sora didn't know why, but Mimi briefly put the mouthpiece of the phone against her arm, glanced at her, then spoke back into the receiver.
"Actually, she's pretty tired...AND hungry...yeah, I...okay...okay...all right, then...yeah, I'll be over as soon as I can...uh, huh...sure! Yeah, you too...! Bye!"
With the sound of small beep, Mimi turned off the phone and took a second, closer glance to her friend.
"Sora! Now THAT'S what I call an improvement! You're looking much more together!"
Sora once again glanced at her own reflection in a mirror and realized that Mimi was right. She was wearing a new shirt, a fresh pair of blue jeans, and clear, white socks.
"So who were you talking to?" she asked.
"Oh, that was Izzy. He wants me to head over to his apartment for a meeting with the others. He asked if you felt well enough to come along, but I told him that you were too tired."
"Well, it would be nice to join you and see everyone else...but then again, I am getting hungry."
"Help yourself, then," Mimi said cheerfully. "The food's ready and waiting to be eaten! Sorry I won't be able to eat it with you. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?"
"Gotcha, it's cool."
"Oh, yeah! Izzy said for you to give me your digivice. He wants to take another shot at fixing it."
Sora nodded and handed over her broken digivice to Mimi, then immediately and eagerly sat down at the table to eat. She rubbed her hands together, wondering what tasty morsel she should sink her teeth into first. Mimi was now sitting down by the door, tying her sneakers.
Suddenly, Sora remembered something important and quickly called out to Mimi right before she walked out the door.
"Oh, wait! Mimi?!"
"What is it?"
"Umm...well, while you're there...I want you to say 'hi' to someone for me..."
"No problem. Who?"
Tai and Kari were glad to see everyone together again as they entered Izzy's home, minus Davis and Cody who went to visit Yolei, being very much sick. Mimi's unexpected return was a small cause for celebration. Those who didn't know of her visiting were extremely glad and greeted the girl warmly with open arms.
After the excitement of her reunion died down, Izzy informed everyone about Sora's twin were pretty stunned. Curiosity permeated their minds, Tai especially. Upon the unbanning of this news, he was shocked into utter silence for some unknown reason.
"I...I can't believe what I'm hearing!" T.K. exclaimed. "Man, do I wish I'd missed basketball practice today!"
"Even though you already told me, Izzy, I still can't imagine such a thing!" Joe declared. "I mean...there are actually-"
"TWO Soras?" Kari finished for him.
The Kamiya daughter suddenly wondered how this would affect her big brother, who was sitting next to her on the right, so she glanced up at his face. He didn't look sad, nor did he have a reason to be. But he definitely looked like he was deep in thought, with his arms crossed. And yet he still heard every word that Izzy had said.
"Hey..." she whispered to him. "You okay, big bro?"
"Huh?" he went, jerking his head and eyes towards her. "Oh, uh...yeah, I'm fine. I'm just...trying to take this all in."
Kari nodded, put her right arm around his left, and then leaned her head against him. In a roundabout way, she was trying to comfort Tai, who briefly averted his gaze to her, and couldn't resist smiling. He then too wrapped his own arm around her.
Meanwhile, everyone else was asking all kind of questions at once about how this happened, and where this second Sora came from.
"AHEM!!" went a familiar voice.
Everyone went silent as Ken cleared his throat, and pulled out what looked like a single sheet of computer paper. There was clearly quite a bit of data printed out, but no one could read it from wherre they were sitting.
"Now, if you would please refrain from your family squabble for a moment, I'd like your undivided attention."
"What's up, Ken?" asked Matt.
"I've ran a couple more tests with my equipment, and I've reached the same conclusion over and over. So without further ado, here are the test results. The DNA of Sora and her counterpart are..."
Sora held her breath while Matt held her hand.
"...identical."
"Ooh..." Sora, very stressed out by now, bent over and rubbed her temples.
Matt rolled his eyes and very gently patted Sora on the back.
"I...I just can't...WON'T believe it! There's gotta be some mistake...!"
"And why should there be some mistake, Sora?" asked Kari in a VERY sharp tone, full of conviction that snapped everyone's attention to her. Sora stared (wide-eyed) at Kari, who was "supposed" to be sweet, kind, and usually gentle.
"I'm all ears, Sora. Tell me, what's the reason that she CAN'T be real?"
Sora heard every bit of what Kari said, but could give no answer. Instead, she focused her attention on Izzy.
"Wait a minute! When Datamon kidnapped me, he tried to make a copy of me in order to control Biyomon! Could that girl be..."
"Is that even possible, Izzy?" asked Matt. "Could that copy have somehow survived?"
Izzy and Ken looked at each other, and quickly shook their heads.
"No, that duplicate was created IN the Digital World. Usually anything originating from there would be marked with some sort of faint digital signature, like our digivices are. We used Ken's devices to see if we could find one. There wasn't any."
Sora sighed in utter confusion.
"This is giving me a headache."
"So then...how did this happen?" Tai asked.
Izzy sighed too, and shook his head. "I still haven't been able to piece it together, but even though Sora's twin isn't the same copy that Datamon tried to create, Ken and I have reason to believe that he DID have something to do with this. However, this is still pretty inconclusive."
Izzy and Ken briefly went into the next room, and pulled out some very old, rusty, and inoperative-looking pieces of machinery.
"These are some remains of the apparatus used on Sora by Datamon. He needed them to scan her body to create a replica of her image, provided that his little 'experiment' eventually worked out. When they were activated, it generated an unusual variety of radiation, unknown to Earth."
Everyone was clearly listening. Izzy paused briefly, thinking about how nice it was that he actually had their complete attention for once.
"From everything I've been able to gather so far, the radiation did something strange when it struck Sora..."
"Yeah..." Sora added, slowly beginning to remember. "When the radiation hit me, my body felt weird...I felt hot, dizzy, nauseous...and it was like my entire body was beginning to...split in two or something."
"Well, you probably had good reason to feel as sick as you did," Ken said.
"Yeah, those symptoms were probably just some side effects of the machine recording your image, inside and out, similar to Ken's contraptions," Joe added.
"But I didn't feel any pain when that was used on me," Sora noted.
"Datamon and his machines were arguably more grotesque than Ken's," said Izzy. "Do you honestly think that he was concerned about bedside manner?"
Ken decided to jump in and keep talking about what really mattered here.
"Anyway, we don't pretend to know how this happened. But what we do know that something happened during the original destruction of the pyramid. Somehow, the radiation inside Sora's body, though dissipating, rendered her body susceptible to all kinds of different side effects. Possibly the combination of that and energy exchange of fire between sides actually SPLIT Sora in two."
"Not actually splitting her body in half-" Izzy started to say.
"But separating her into two different people." Matt finished.
"Well, like it or not, she's here now, and after meeting her up close, she seems VERY real to me," Mimi noted.
"Yeah!" said Tai, finally joining the conversation. "Look, whether she's real or not, that doesn't change the fact that she's like us...she's a Digidestined! We have to respect that and treat her with the same consideration and dignity that we would with...THIS Sora."
Everyone was silent, but nodded in agreement. Except the person in question.
"I just don't know," she said suspiciously, more to herself than anyone else. "Can we really trust her? I mean...sure, she had a convincing story, but it's just not-"
"I think Tai's right!" Matt said almost vigorously, jumping in.
"HUH??" everyone said, shocked that Matt agreed with Tai.
"What?! I got something up my nose?? Anyway, Tai has a point. Granted, we have been deceived before, but 'she'hasn't given us a reason to doubt her yet."
Everyone nodded again, took a deep breath and prepared to leave.
"Good, then it's settled," Izzy said firmly, but smiling. "In ther meantime, I'm gonna keep trying to gather more data on that pyramid, so if any of you would like to stay a little while longer to observe, feel free to do so."
"Sorry, Iz, but I got band practice," Matt apologized.
"Yeah, and I have a tennis lesson today," added Sora.
"Umm, T.K. and I had plans," Kari said, somewhat shyly.
"T.K., you stud!" Matt said, gently and playfully elbowing his little brother, who was blushing furiously.
"H-hey! Knock it off, bro!" he said nervously, obviously embarrassed.
"Well, I should probably get back and check on Sora, but I can stay a little while longer," Mimi said.
"I gotta get going, too," said Tai.
"Hold on, Tai..."
"What's up, Mimi?"
"You think you could make a stop by my place and say hello to Sora? I know that she'd really like to see you," she asked, taking Tai's hand.
Tai had a somewhat uncomfortable feeling in the back of his head, and something was telling him that going to visit Sora wouldn't be such a great idea. So he prepared to tell her "I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Sure, Mimi...I'll go," Tai said nervously.
Mimi smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Tai...I KNEW you'd see things my way."
"Uh, huh...now could you kindly let go of my hand?"
The perky girl continued to smile, and giggled as she let go of piece of skin on the back of his hand that she was pinching...tightly.
As soon as she turned away, Tai fell to his knees and grasped his hand, trying not to yell out in pain. Kari, Matt and T.K. saw this and laughed.
Sora saw this scene and rolled her eyes as she prepared to leave. It agitated her at how Tai was so reluctant to visit her double.
Thankfully, Tai hadn't heard what Sora said next...but Kari did. And it made her MAD.
"I don't believe this...Tai STILL isn't over me and Matt? Why doesn't he just grow-"
"SORA, SHUT UP!!"
"Sweet n' innocent, little Kari" looked angrier than she'd ever been in her entire life. And she was. Everyone took a step back, except Sora, who stood still in complete shock by Kari's raging outburst.
"K...Kari?" Tai and Sora timidly asked.
Everybody except Sora took another step back as Kari moved forward to face her, firmly locking eyes.
"Sora, that's it! I've had it with this lousy attitude of yours towards my brother! He doesn't deserve to be treated this way at all! Tai's put himself on the line for me, for the rest of us, for the fate of two worlds...and especially for you more times than I can remember!!"
"But Kari-"
"Don't you 'but Kari' me!" Kari angrily interrupted. "Now you listen up and you listen good! Because I'm only going to say this once."
Everyone held their breath as Kari slowly came closer to Sora until the two girls' noses were almost touching. Her next five words came in a whispering, yet chilling tone...
"Stay away from my brother."
Kari swiftly and coldly turned away and prepared to leave. Matt came from behind and tried to comfort his girlfriend, putting his hands on Sora's shoulders. Unfortunately, it was somewhat irritating to have someone younger and shorter telling you what and what not to do. Sora's next response came from annoyance to Kari's outburst, rather than emotional hurt. Glaring at younger Kamiya sibling, she vocalized a question which would prove to be most definitely not the smartest thing to say...
"And what if I don't stay away?"
Though still turned away, her single heavy breath couldn't be masked. Her eyes widened and her face turned red with anger. And before anyone knew it-
SMACK!!
Tai went wide-eyed and Mimi covered her mouth with both hands at what just occurred.
Everyone else gasped as Sora fell to the ground, her face (specifically her eyes) seemingly shrouded in shadow. She slowly put her hand to her red cheek, stinging with pain, from where Kari had harshly slapped her. A single tear immediately appeared, crawling down that same cheek.
"If you don't leave him alone...or if something horrible happens to my brother because of you...I will NEVER forgive you!!"
By now, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Kari to hide her own tears, so without another word, she pushed everyone (in her way) aside, and slammed the door closed.
"Kari, wait...!" T.K. said, following her.
Matt pulled Sora up from the floor and asked if she was okay. Sora said absolutely nothing, gently wrestled herself out of his grip and left, too.
"What are you standing around here for?" Tai asked Matt. "Go after her!"
"Huh?! Oh...uh, r-right!" Matt replied, hurrying out the door.
Though still in shock from what Kari had done, Matt bore no ill will towards Kari.
Mimi once again took Tai aside. But this time, it was to ask about his little sister.
"Tai...is...is your sister...?" Mimi tried to ask.
"I don't know...it's just that...things are kinda complicated right now. I'll talk to her-" he sighed, preparing to leave.
But Mimi grabbed him by the back of his collar before he could take another step.
"-AFTER you talk with the other Sora first, right?"
"Uh...right, Meems...of course..." Tai agreed.
"Of course," Mimi echoed, in that all-too familiar "silent but deadly" sweet voice.
Sora, who was now a lot more cheerful, took another bite out of the delicious meal Mimi had prepared for her. Setting aside some food for Mimi was hard, considering that Sora had barely eaten anything for a while. At the same time, she tried not make a pig out of herself while she chewed.
I'm so glad I was finally able to leave the Digital World!, Sora excitedly thought while chewing. I can't believe I'm actually home! And tomorrow...well, who knows what tomorrow will be like...I just wish that-
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
Sora briefly glanced up at the door, realizing who (she thought) was at the door.
"It's open, Mimi."
The female went back to her dinner, not watching as the door slowly opened.
"So how did it go at the meeting?"
"Hey there, Sora."
Sora immediately dropped her fork and her eyes opened further than ever before in her entire life at the realization of WHO was calling her name. She took a deep breath and glanced up and couldn't believe who standing before her...
Tai Kamiya.
Sora could barely speak, but she summoned each and every remaining ounce of her strength to try.
"T...T...T...Tai?" she said, quickly becoming misty-eyed.
"Hi, Sor...long time no see."
TO BE CONTINUED!
DAMN!! Finally finished! Whoo-baby! I apologize if you had to wait long, but I haven't had too much time to write...y'know, school and whatnot! But I'm on vacation for two weeks now, so hopefully I'll get the next chapter out soon! Well, you know what you have to do, so go to it, loonies and jellybeans! Ha, ha! See ya!
P.S. Oh, and by the way...have any of you seen Mr. Disclaimer? I think he ditched me...!