You want the disclaimer! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE DISCLAIMER!
(But you could probably handle the fact that I don't own Digimon.)
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Second Chances For Sora - Chapter 14
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Tai Kamiya yawned as he got out of bed. Another day, another adventure…THAT always seemed to be the theme every morning he woke up in the Digital World fours years ago. But as life would prove for him…just as much adventure could be discovered in the here and now…if you knew where to look.
But currently, the only adventure that Tai wished to conquer right now was that aching, annoying, rumbling sound within his stomach. He had always been really hungry every time he woke up in the morning, and he thought about what he should eat for breakfast.
All decision was canceled as his nose picked up the delicious scent of food being cooked. Quickly throwing on some clean clothes, Tai walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, where the smell was coming from.
He yawned once more and he rubbed his eyes, before glancing at what was occurring before him. Sora and Kari were standing at the stove, apparently cooking breakfast. Tai's girlfriend whipped her head around, sensing that her boyfriend was close by. Sora had a handkerchief tied over and around her head, and wore a pale green apron.
"Hey, sleepyhead! You're finally up!"
"Yeah…" Tai said before yawning again. "What's all this?"
Sora smiled sweetly at Tai before answering.
"Well, Kari and I thought that it would be nice if she and I made breakfast for you before we all we all head off for the Digital World today! Hope you don't mind."
"Ah, forgiven," Tai said shrugging, playfully patting Sora on the head.
"We made pancakes, bacon and eggs!" Kari exclaimed. "Sora taught me a lot about how to cook breakfast!"
"Wait a sec…I thought you said you couldn't cook! Were you lying?" Tai asked, crossing his arms.
"Okay, I admit…I do know a few things about cooking. I meant to say that I don't bake COOKIES! That's small time!" Sora said laughing.
"So when DID you get so good at this!"
"Hey, working for Digitamamon in his diner for over two years'll do something for your cooking skills. Just because I was stuck in the Digital World doesn't mean that I didn't learn a thing or six. Now…Tai?"
"Yeah?"
"Before you can sink your teeth into this fine feast, I need you to go wash your hands!"
"Oh, really?"
"Really! Now move that butt of yours! Go! Shoo, shoo!"
"All right, all right!" Tai said, laughing it off.
"Wow, Sora! You're really tough!" Kari said, smiling at how energetic Sora was.
"Nah, not really. I just like messing with your brother."
Kari laughed, but then quickly sighed happily.
"Y'know…it seems like forever since you've visited us a lot and hung out with Tai like this. I've really missed you, too. You've always been like the big sister I've never had, but always wanted."
"Thanks, Kari. While I was stuck in the Digital World for four years…I thought about a lot of things I missed in this world. But the place I missed the most…was here."
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hm, Mom and I were always at odds with each other back then, but Tai always let me crash here when I felt bad. And him, you and your parents made me feel like one of the family. Not a single day has passed where I don't think about it."
Kari had nothing to say, so she just nodded.
"By the way…I don't wanna bring up any bad feelings, but Tai told me last night that you recently went postal on my sister. Am I right?"
The younger girl's expression immediately turned cold.
…
"She deserved it," Kari spoke in an equally cold voice. "I hate her for what y-I mean, for what…SHE did to my bro."
"I couldn't agree more," Sora said with some iciness in her voice, as well.
"I was just so afraid that I'd lost my brother…forever…"
"It's okay, Kari. I think I understand. I'm just glad some part of Tai hadn't given up on me. Your brother means everything to me."
The two girls slowly began to smile as they hoped with all their hearts that good fortune was ahead.
"Y'know, it's kinda funny…you're saying both good and bad things about me. I'm not sure whether I should feel flattered or insulted."
"You should feel praised AND flattered. You and her are COMPLETELY different."
"Well, to an extent, at least," noted Sora, chucking a little. "I'd like to think that I'm pretty different from her."
"Hey…in my book, you're BETTER."
"Whoa, there's a new complement I've never heard."
Kari just continued to smile, and without warning she quickly threw her arms around Sora and closed her eyes tightly.
"Hey! E…easy, Kari."
"Sorry, I…it's just that I haven't seen my brother this happy in a long, LONG, time. Thanks to you, I finally have him back. I can't thank you enough."
"Seeing how happy you are is good enough for me. I know how protective you can get over your brother sometimes…and believe me, no one's more grateful than me that I'm still on your good side…!"
"Still…thank you all the same…for being there when it really counted," Kari said in a strange soft tone that Sora had never hear before.
Wow, Sora thought. This girl has SO grown up…
"Will you do me a favor?" Kari asked, letting go of Sora at last.
"Anything," Sora replied in a very firm voice. "Name it."
"This may seem like a silly request…but would you…"
"Would I what?"
"…be my…big sister again?"
Sora smiled a lot at this request. Growing up with Tai, Sora was sometimes forced to help Tai baby-sit Kari once in a while. At first Kari was too young to fully understand how she related to Tai, and simply thought she was her older sister, since she saw her so often.
But even when Kari grew a little older, Sora continued to be her "big sister", doing her best to look out for her and help her whenever possible. So every now and then Kari would sometimes call her "sister", an unofficial title which Sora found quite acceptable and appropriate.
Besides, that innocence in Kari's eyes was just too pure and cute to resist. But even so, Sora didn't even have to think for a millisecond before responding.
"Of course I will," Sora said softly, hugging Kari again.
Both girls let go when they heard Tai's clapping from not too far away. Sora shot Tai a wry look at him.
"VERY good performance, girls. I think that rates at least six different awards."
"Oh, be quiet!" Sora said as she playfully punched him in the arm. "Let's just sit down and stuff our faces."
And the three kids did just that, having a peaceful breakfast. They chatted about this and that, despite the fact that they were all going to venture into ol' Etemon's pyramid later that day.
Among the multiple topics of discussion, Kari mentioned something about how she'd make a "perfect" wife for Tai, being armed with such good cooking skills. Sora didn't have much to say about that and tried to hide her red cheeks from (anyone's) sight.
There was still some time left after they finished eating, so Kari made a quick run to the store while Tai and Sora cleared up the table and loaded their dishes and eating utensils into the dishwasher.
The two teens then plopped down on the couch, where they and hugged, kissed and cuddled for a few minutes. They then talked a little more about anything that came to mind, but Tai felt that he had to discuss the business with Etemon's pyramid before they left.
"Hey…Sora…are you nervous?"
"About what?'
"About…y'know…going back to Etemon's pyramid?"
"Not as much as I should be."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Well, Tai…I've lived there for the past nine months, in case you've forgotten. If I was ever afraid of the place, the fear has been gone and buried for a LONG time."
"Makes sense," Tai said, shrugging.
"One of things I miss is fighting alongside everyone else when we traveled the Digital World for the first time. Let's face it, I was only there for like…what, a little less than HALF of your adventures?"
"Something like that."
"But you know what? All in all, I'm sorta glad things turned out the way they did. Y'know, being trapped in the Digital World for four years."
"And why's that?"
"Because, silly…" Sora said, playfully elbowing him, "…if I hadn't existed, you and sis might have gotten together instead of you and ME!"
The two best friends laughed and lovingly hugged each other again. Tai's thought drifted into the "what might have been" category. What Sora had just said gave him real food for thought. He wasn't complaining that fate had dealt him a second chance to be happy together with Sora, but what about FIRST chances?
Who know what may have happened between Sora and himself from Christmas until now? Would Sora have ever broken up with Matt and followed her heart in in his direction? Tai could have gone all day thinking about what could've happened.
Still, a part of him would always love Sor, no matter how much she would hurt him, and whether it was accidental, or deliberate. And he was quite sure that Sor felt the same way. But as of right now, Tai was with Sora, who showered him with such love, care and passion which was so sweet that it could be tasted, giving off a wonderful flavor sweeter than any candy or cake.
"Y'know what else?" Sora asked happily.
"What?" said Tai, equally cheerful.
"I missed YOU most of all," she sighed, closing her eyes and rest her head against Tai's chest.
Tai smiled and closed his eyes, and put his arm around his loving girlfriend. He leaned his head towards the top of her head and smelled her hair. He then softly kissed it. They breathed gently, wishing they didn't have to go the Digital World today.
And Sor passed up THIS, they both thought to themselves at the same time.
As they continue their episode of restful bliss, Sora opened her eyes halfway and her smile became a little crooked.
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At the school where (some of) the Digidestined attended, Matt, Izzy, T.K. and Sor were waiting for the rest to arrive, albeit a little impatiently.
"They're late," Sor complained, as she grabbed Matt's arm, checking his watch.
"Whoa, watch that arm of mine," Matt joked. "I heard that you only get two per lifetime."
Matt and his brother T.K. looked at each other and laughed.
"Actually, they're not late at all," Izzy said, looking at his own watch. "If we go by MY clock, and they had engaged in some sort of relay race, they'd have approximately six minutes, and twenty-seven seconds."
Sor just rolled her eyes, while everyone else laughed. She didn't mean to be a stick in the mud, but after what her twin said to her the day before, she was put in a particularly bad mood. But she smiled a little as more of her friends showed up. Joe, Mimi, and Kari arrived on the scene, half-jogging.
"Sorry you guys had to wait!" Kari half-yelled, partially out of breath.
Mimi was behind Kari and moving at a slightly slower pace. She was usually careful about what she did, but all the same, she didn't notice the stone sticking out of the sidewalk, which she tripped over.
"Wh-AHH!"
"GOTCHA!" yelled a voice.
Mimi closed her eyes very tightly and clenched her fists, but suddenly she felt a pair of arms around her slim waist. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw Joe bent over, holding her just a few inches away from an unfortunate encounter with a concrete fate.
Soon she opened her cute little round eyes the whole way, but they soon widened and she became a little nervous as she realized that she was locking eyes with Joe, who stared back with a somewhat blank stare. He gulped, and she did the same.
After a few seconds, she felt her cheeks go very warm. Mimi knew all too well what this feeling was, and her eyes widened even more (if that was possible). Her cheeks turned pinkish-red, but not as much when she was around Matt. She felt a little more embarrassed as she saw Joe blushing quite a bit too.
"Umm…could…could you let go?" Mimi nervously asked.
"Uhh…s…sure," Joe said, and complied with her wishes, albeit a little slowly.
While the two of them said nothing about this little scene, Mimi had a hard time mentally acknowledging and admitting that…it really felt nice to be held by Joe. Mimi wasn't really sure whether or not this was a sign that she was getting ready to move on and forget about her prospects about getting romantically involved with Matt.
"S…sorry about th…th-that…" Joe stuttered, looking away a little and scratching the back of his head.
"Oh, uh…s…s…s'okay…" she said back, also stuttering.
Ooookay, she thought quickly. Let's think about this for a sec…me and Joe? Joe and ME? THIS is certainly awkward…!
"Hey, where's Tai and my sister?" Sor asked.
"Oh, they're back at the apartment, last I checked," Kari said, grinning and partially trying to rub Sor's nose in it.
"WHAT!" Sor almost yelled.
Kari started to chuckle, but still grinning and winking at Sor.
"Matt!" she quietly hissed. "I don't wanna spend any more time in that stupid pyramid than I have to! I'm gonna go over to Tai's place and-"
Matt saw that Sor had clenched her fists, and rolled up her sleeve, but he quickly grabbed her and stopped his girlfriend from doing anything drastic.
"Whoa, take it easy, Sor. I'm sure you have good reasons for what you're doing, but your actions are a LITTLE premature. Here they come now," Matt said, pointing.
Sor looked in the direction that her boyfriend was pointing, and saw that Tai and her double were indeed on their way. But every else stepped out of the way, as it seemed as if the two remaining Digidestined were running at lightning speed!
The two of them stopped short to catch their breaths, since their little competition was at an end.
"Ha!" Sora declared, short of breath. "Th…(pant, pant)…there! S…see! B…(huff, huff)…BEAT you!"
Tai laughed as best he could, given the fact that he too was short of breath.
"Y…yeah, right! You ch…(huff)…you cheated! And you KNOW you did!"
Everyone (except Sor) laughed a lot a that scene, making the atmosphere a little more cheerful.
"Great! Look's like everyone's here!" Matt said casually, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Wait a sec…" went Sora, snapping her fingers. "Where are those, um…y'know, those OTHER kids?"
"Oh, you mean Yolei, Davis, Ken and Cody?" Izzy asked. "They all went with their parents on a camping trip together as soon as the vacation hit."
Sora nodded, understanding.
"Well, enough talking!" Tai said, with a serious look on his face. "C'mon, let's go, everybody! The sooner we go back to Etemon's pyramid, the sooner we can put this whole thing behind us!"
Everyone nodded and smiled, even Sor. It was then that the Digidestined realized that for the first time in a while Tai was acting like their unofficial, but brave leader. They didn't say anything, but to a degree, they had all missed this usual behavior of Tai's.
They also noticed that for the first time in about fours years…the eight (or nine, depending on how you look at it) of them were off on another mission in the Digital World, this time working together again as a unified team.
But before they entered the school, Tai turned to his girlfriend with something amusing in mind. He bent over slightly and made a gesture that said "hop on".
"What's this?" Sora asked, putting one hand against her hip.
"C'mon, Sora! I'll give you a piggyback ride into the school!" Tai exclaimed.
"Why?" she asked, with a wry smile.
"Why not?"
"Good reason," Sora stated.
She wrapped her arms and legs around Tai from behind, who held onto her tightly. Tai was surprised how light she appeared to be. Sora playfully kissed him on the cheek, and giggled.
"Oh, get real, you two!" Sor scolded them. "We're going into a high school! Do you REALLY hafta act like children!"
"Gee, sis…who died and made YOU queen of the Fun Police?" Sora shot back, laughing.
Tai snickered a bit, as well. Sor may have been able to handle that, if her sister hadn't shined it on and stuck her tongue out at her, going "Nnnnn!"
Sor got a little steamed and turned away from the two of them, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.
"Geez, can't they take anything seriously!" Sor started to complain.
"Sor, I think I know what's going on," Matt said calmly.
"What!"
Matt just smirked and said, "You're jealous."
Sor's eyes widened and of course, naturally tried to deny it at first.
"I most certainly am not!"
"Yes, you are. You're reeeally jealous," Matt said, strangely smiling.
"Ridiculous! Matt, that is the most ludicrous, stupid, dopey, crude…"
"Careful, Sor…you're running out of words…and they're getting smaller."
"But I…oh, Matt…who am I kidding! I AM jealous!"
Matt closed his eyes and nodded, understanding.
"I mean, it couldn't have been that long ago when that was ME! It was ME who was Tai's partner in crime, ME who was the only other person besides his sister who knew him better than anyone, and ME who was riding on his back!"
"I think I get it Sor. If nothing else…you want him back as your best friend, right?"
"Yeah…" Sora said, a little sadly. "…and what I miss most of all were the fun times we had together. But as long as SHE'S around…!"
"Sor, that's enough. Next chance you get, I want you to talk to Tai, apologize to him, and make up."
"You're right, Matt."
Sor smiled at her boyfriend and lightly kissed him.
Matt certainly was a great boyfriend when it counted. Sor was surprised that he wasn't sick of hearing about Tai this, and Tai that. But the truth was…Matt didn't mind one bit. He knew full well that, despite the distance Tai and his girlfriend had with each other right now, the truth was that…Tai knew Sor better than he did.
And even though Sor was Matt's girlfriend, Sor and Tai would always remain close friends, and share a very a special bond that only friends like them would have. Matt would never try to sabotage this, and just learned to live with it. But he was pleasantly surprised that it didn't bother him as much as it should have.
Meanwhile, Kari also saw what Tai and Sora were up to, and laughed at this. So she took a picture of Sora and her brother (in their piggyback position) with her trusty digital camera, which she almost always had with her. But then something clicked in her head that she needed to investigate.
"Hey…" Kari said to T.K., who was walking alongside her into the school.
"Hey what?" he asked, with a somewhat blank look on his face and in his eyes.
"How come you never offer ME a piggyback ride!" she half-seriously, half-jokingly asked.
"Yeah, bro…how COME?" Matt asked, joining in and grinning.
T.K.'s eyes widened and his head spun in different directions from all the funny looks he was getting from Tai, Matt, Sora, and ESPECIALLY Kari. At that moment he wished that could have shrunk to the size of a dust mote.
Although he and Kari had gotten together, he was still pretty new at being a boyfriend, and wasn't quite sure how to react to every new situation in a romantic relationship.
T.K. simply groaned and sheepishly pulled his white hat down over his eyes.
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Tai, Matt, Izzy, Kari, Sor, Joe, Mimi, T.K., and Sora casually entered the school, as it was open. Although the students were out on vacation, the staff was still there, and some extra-curricular activities were being held inside the school and outside on the school grounds.
Izzy peeked into the computer room and was relieved that there were no computer classes currently in progress. But before they could venture into the Digital realm, nature called. Mimi, Joe and T.K., and Kari ran off to the bathroom.
Tai slapped his hand over his eyes, causing Matt to laugh. Sor just stared at Tai, with mixed feelings inside her heart. Noticing that Matt was now chatting with Izzy about this and that, she figured that this would give her a couple minutes to talk with him, as that was something she missed…just being able to talk with him like old pals.
While everyone else seemed to be occupied, Sora looked into the computer room and saw one computer that was active. She quietly close the door, and carefully tiptoed to a computer monitor. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing the screen. Sora deftly reached down for her repaired digivice that was hooked on her belt loop.
Sora touched it with two of her fingers and flicked the digivice off the loop with enough strength to make it spin into the air. Her right hand automatically reached out and snatched it. Hardly displaying any emotion on her face, she slowly extended her hand towards the computer screen, still clutching the digivice.
The small screen on the device glowed, and a huge flash of light filled the room but only for a second. But within that second, she had vanished into the Digital World.
Outside the computer room, Sor nervously approached Tai, who was whistling to himself cheerfully and casually.
"Hey, Tai? You, uh…got a sec?" she asked in a timid voice equal to the one she used a couple days ago.
"Always, Sor…always," he said warmly.
Sor took Tai aside for a moment, and then she began to talk.
"Well, first…I'm sorry for being such a crab. My sister and I had an argument yesterday and she said a lot of…hurtful things to me…stuff that really made me think."
Sor felt even more ashamed that Tai was really taking the time to listen to her. He was looking at her, and paying close attention to her as best he could. As far as she was concerned, this was more than she deserved.
"I'm, sorry, Sor. I didn't know about this…if you want, I'll have a chat with her-"
But Sor quickly closed her eyes and shook her head. Tai smiled at how cute she always looked when she did stuff like that. But he became a little more concerned when he saw some tears escape.
"Hey, Sor?" Tai asked in almost a whisper.
"Yeah?" she asked, hastily wiping the tears away with her shirt sleeve.
"Um…are y-"
"HEY, GUYS!" yelled Izzy.
Tai nodded at Izzy's calling, and promised to talk about whatever Sor had to say after this mission of theirs was over.
"What's wrong, Izzy?" they both asked.
"I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, Sor…but your sister is missing."
"What?"
"Sorry, but she just disappeared without my knowing. I should have kept an eye on her…"
"It's not your fault, Izz…" Tai said, shaking his head. "Well, let's just find her first, then get to Etemon's headquarters!"
"Actually, Sora didn't go too far…well, so to speak," Izzy said.
"What do you mean?" asked Mimi, who had just returned from the bathroom with the others.
"It's reasonable to assume that she ventured into the Digital World by himself."
"But why would she go ahead of us?" Matt asked.
"Well, if she really did go back to Etemon's pyramid, then we'll run into her, right? And then we can ask her what's up," T.K. noted.
"That's probably a good idea," Matt agreed. "If there's anything in that pyramid that's causing trouble, then we need to shut it down!"
Everyone nodded, and within the next few minutes they too transported to the Digital World…and back to Etemon's pyramid.
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The concept and nature of evolution cause places and people to change their direction and growth, for better or for worse. But at the same time, there are small segments of life that either strive hard to stay the same or do the least amount of work just to remain unchanged.
And Etemon's gigantic, inverted pyramid stuck in the sandy desert of the Digital World fell well into that category. When the eight kids known as the Digidestined appeared there via television, they soon would agree.
"Boy…" said Sor, "Gives me the chills being around this horrid place. Let's make this visit the last one."
"Well, at least there isn't much wind chock full of sand, to get into our hair and shoes. At least I now know that even if I don't survive, my hair will be okay," Mimi half-joked.
Tai, Matt, T.K., and Kari shot Mimi weird looks, but their mouths curled into nervous smiles. But more laughing occurred among them to further lighten the mood.
The kids were a few sands dunes away from where the pyramid was. But being as big as it was, everyone could see part of it, even from far away. Sor was a nervous wreck.
"Tai, I don't know if I can do this," she whispered.
"Hey…c'mon, Sor…you're stronger than you think, and I KNOW that you can be stronger than what your showing me right now. It's just bad memories."
"Maybe you're right," Sor said, nodding.
"Besides," Tai partially joked, "Don't you feel somewhat obligated to visit the 'hospital' where your twin sister was born?"
Sor finally smiled and giggled a bit. She quickly tried (in vain) to hide it, though.
"Ha! Too late!" Tai said, pointing. "I saw it with my own eyes! You cracked a smile!"
"That was a mean trick, Tai…that doesn't count."
"Why not?"
"Because you're funny," Sora muttered, not being able to turn off that smile of hers easily.
Tai laughed again, and shot back, "What can I say? It's a gift."
Sor flashed a genuine warm smile for the first time in a while. Granted, she's smiled many times before, and they were honest smiles, but the difference was that THIS smile was really, truly meant for Tai…and Tai alone. She then closed her eyes for a second and took her friend's hand.
Tai got worried for a moment and looked at Matt in panic. Much to Tai's chagrin, Matt HAD seen the whole thing. Tai gulped, but Matt made some gestures to let him know that what Sor was doing was okay.
After breathing a sigh of relief, they all walked to the pyramid. Up close, it still looked as big as ever. Kari, who had NEVER been there before, pulled out her digital camera (again) and started moving fast around the pyramid, taking picture after picture. T.K. watched her as she did this and just smiled.
"Hey…wasn't there a door outside this pyramid the last time we were here?" Sor asked Izzy. "Or SOME sort of visible entrance?"
"There WAS...but if my memory serves me right, the very first time we came here-"
"One of the sides of the pyramid had a holographic wall, right?" Tai interrupted.
"Something like that, yeah," Izzy confirmed.
"So all we need to do now is find it again, right?" Matt asked.
"It shouldn't be that hard. But that's not what worries me," Izzy admitted.
"Then what is it?" Kari asked.
"What worries me most is that this entire place was almost completely deactivated when we came here not too long ago. It would have needed some sort of power source in order to even get the force fields and holographic walls to be active. Therefore, it's safe to assume that something or SOMEONE found an adequate enough power source and regenerated the pyramid's computer systems."
"Anything else you wanna report?" Sor asked.
"Why…yes, actually," Izzy said. "The energy signal that I detected before is still kicking. My laptop detected it directly inside the pyramid, but…now it seems as if the signal itself has stretched and has extended throughout the inside of the entire complex."
"Well, we'll worry about that later," T.K. said. "Right now, we need to find the entrance again!"
Tai felt a very bad feeling in his heart about what was going on, and had trouble breathing for a moment. There was a BIG thought going through his head, and Tai didn't like it at all. Because what he was thinking was IMPOSSIBLE…wasn't it?
Izzy eventually found the entrance and everyone entered the pyramid. They walked through many twists and turns, but it was hard to lose sight of where they were going. That's because since the pyramid's systems were back online, this also included the lights everywhere. When they had explored it before and discovered Sor's double, only a few lights were working, but just barely. Now, this place looked brand new.
Fortunately, Izzy remembered the layout of the building and found where Datamon's hidden chamber was.
As they entered, everyone felt a little worried and slightly scared. What struck them (especially Izzy) was that the room looked brand new. Granted the refrigerator, bed, and other various essentials that Sor's twin used were still there, but everything else seemed to be up and running. All the computers, lights, and knickknacks were functioning properly. It was if the pyramid had never been destroyed the first time around.
"This is REALLY freaking me out!" whined Mimi, lightly holding onto Joe's arm.
"Hey, what are you all doing here?" yelled a familiar voice.
Everyone turned their heads in surprise at who spoke.
"SORA!" they all hollered in unison.
"Whoa, lower the volume," she said calmly.
"Sora…it's you! We were worried about you!" Tai exclaimed, running up to her. He wanted to hug her, but…something was holding him back this time.
"Yeah, so why did you run away and go ahead without us?" Matt asked.
"Sorry, guys. But I was living here for a while before you all found me. I know more about this place than the rest of you probably ever will. So just felt that I had to check it out for myself, to make sure that it was safe."
"We understand, Sora. Just don't make me worry like that again," Tai said.
Sora closed her eyes and formally bowed.
"Pardon me…my apologies."
One of Tai's eyebrows raised a bit, as his mind wandered and wondered through uncharted territory, which he was extremely hesitant to map out. He took the girl aside to talk to her.
"Sora…" he said with worry in his voice, "…are you feeling okay!"
"What do you mean?" she asked eloquently.
"Well…I've been noticing that you've been acting kinda strange lately…and I wanted to know if you've been feeling all right. Because if there IS something wrong with you, I wanna know about it. Maybe I can help."
Sora paused, processed her current thoughts for a second, and responded truthfully.
"Believe me, Tai…if their were serious problems going about…I would let you know," Sora reassured him with a small smile.
Tai smiled too, but only a little. Something about Sora's smile seemed amiss. It looked…FORCED.
It wasn't the kind of forced smiles and positive gestures Tai always gave when he felt down, or when Sor rejected him last Christmas. This brand of smile seemed more like it was forced on her by someone else.
"Okay…" Tai said, doing his best to trust Sora.
The two of them rejoined everyone else, just as Izzy was finished tinkering with the pyramid's computer systems.
"Anything, Izzy?" T.K. asked.
"It's not much, but I do have something," Izzy replied.
"Whatcha got?" Sor asked.
"I have good news and bad news. The good news is, I've managed to use my laptop to partially connect with the pyramid's computer and downloaded as much information as possible onto my own."
"And the bad news?" she continued to ask.
"These information files are coded. And quite nicely, I might add. It could take forever to decipher the files."
"Anything else you can do?" Tai inquired.
"Well, there IS one more thing I managed to obtain," Izzy noted. "I've managed to unlock this one single file. It was a low-priority file, with near nonexistent coding. But whatever's in this file, it's still trying hard to fight back. However, my laptop is generating a de-coding system, which should decipher the information, but slowly.
"Will this tell us where my sister came from?" Sor inquired.
"I'm glad you asked, Sor."
"Why?"
Izzy took a deep breath before answering her.
"Because the file is named 'S.O.R.A.', and my laptop has uncovered that it's an acronym standing for…'Simulated Organism Replicated Artificially'."
Sor gulped, and Tai felt a very cold chill go up his spine. He glanced at Sora, who had a near blank look on her face. But her eyes were what Tai noticed the most. They had some sort of strange look….almost as if they were purely WATCHING everyone…studying them.
"Well, if that's the extent of our little tour here, we should just pack up and leave," Joe suggested.
"I'm with Joe, he's got a point. I don't think there's much else we can do here," Mimi agreed.
"Okay, we'll head for home just as soon as my laptop is finished copying all of the encrypted files from the pyramid's computer mainframe," Izzy stated.
Everyone nodded in response. Mimi then turned her attention to Joe once more and thought about the boy in front of her who was about two years older.
Boy this romance stuff is really complicated, she thought in partial frustration. After I cried it all out with Sora the other night, I think I'm finally starting to get over Matt. But THIS is something entirely different! This is JOE I'm thinking about here! This guy studies almost as much as Izzy, he doesn't hang out in the way I do, and he's never even shown much interesting girls for that matter…ah, maybe he's just shy…?
The girl looked at Joey from far away, and her heart filled with a little warmth, remembering how he decided to stay with her when she broke off from the group when they were traveling in the Digital World for the first time. Mimi smiled at the memory, knowing how sweet that was of him. At the same time, she really hoped that she wasn't turning boy crazy.
"Done yet, Izzy?" asked an impatient Sor.
"Don't rush him," Sora said in a plain tone. "To achieve exactly what you want takes time."
Sor got a little creeped out as she stared into her double's eyes, which looked nearly lifeless. She decided to back away a few steps and let Izzy do his work.
"That's it!" Izzy said. "I copied the entire database into my laptop! We can leave now!"
Sor exhaled and wiped some sweat off her forehead, while Izzy tapped on a few more buttons on his keyboard, and unplugged his laptop from a socket imbedded ni the pyramid's computer console.
"I'll have to stay up late again, if I want to decode this information. But I promise I'll find you the answers, Sora!"
Sor and Sora both heard what Izzy said, but Sora looked at Izzy with an emotionless expression still attached to her face.
"If that's what you want."
"Huh?" Izzy and Sor both said.
"Well, we better get a move on," Joe said. "If there really is somebody else hiding here, then I don't wanna wait around to find out who it is."
"Hey, bro…I'm kinda hungry," T.K. said. "What time is it?"
"Let's see…whoa, it's eleven already!" Matt asked , looking at his watch. "Well once we get back, let's grab some lunch!"
"YEAH!" most of the others yelled.
Everyone began chatting somewhat casually with each other as they prepared to leave. But Tai turned around, noticing that Sora wasn't following them.
"Hey, Sora…what are you waiting for? It's time to go!"
Tai felt very uncomfortable as he saw that Sora's eyes were hidden from sight. But he saw her lips, which slowly turned into an eerie grin.
"Leaving so soon, are you?" she whispered as she reached for the digivice attached to her belt loop…
"Sora?" Tai went, his eyes widening at her.
"Now that's weird…" Izzy said, glancing at his laptop, which was beeping.
"What's going on, Izzy?" Kari asked.
"Before we entered this place, I was detecting the energy signal flowing just about everywhere throughout the pyramid. But according to these readings…"
"Yeah?"
"The signal's in…this room…"
Sora pressed a small button on her digivice…
BOOM!
Everyone's heads shot up as they watched a giant slab fall into place of the arch they had walked through to get into the room they were in now.
"What the…?" Matt went.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of white light filled the room, which originated from a huge computer screen that was connected to the console that Izzy had been copying data from. All that could be seen on the screen for the first five seconds was nothing but static.
But soon the picture cleared up to reveal some sort of mechanical creature with two long robotic arms, four extremely short robotic legs, and a cylinder-shaped body, with the top half of it covered in glass, and the bottom wrapped in metal. On of its eyes glowed yellow, and the other looked normal, peeking through a hole through the metal. Small teeth were seen sticking out of the metal, as well.
"GREETINGS, DIDGIDESTINED!" boomed a metallic, distorted voice through some hidden speaker.
"No, it's…DATAMON!" Sor yelled with obvious fear in her voice.
"Not quite!" said the image of the digimon. "Think of me as an interactive video, programmed to activate by a special backup system I designed a long time ago."
"What's this all about, you robotic freak?" Tai yelled.
"Oh, I think you know EXACTLY what this is about, you scummy little human! This is payback for everything you and your miserable friends did to me four years ago. Before you all came to rescue Sora, I quickly used my technology to create a special backup program that would preserve a small portion of my consciousness into these very machines. Even though you succeeded in destroying the pyramid, my regenerative program had already been copied and integrated into the computer system. Slowly but surely, I used my recuperative abilities to rebuild this place, yet I tried my best to keep my whereabouts hidden, patiently waiting for the day that the Digidestined would return! And that day is NOW!"
"Oh, yeah? Just you try it, you big metal meanie!" Mimi screeched, waving her fist in the air and spinning it furiously.
"Mimi! Didn't your mom ever tell you NOT to provoke psychotic robots that hold grudges against people who killed them!" Joe warned, holding Mimi back.
"Your threats are empty!" Tai hollered at the video screen. "You've been dead for over four years! Like there's anything you could do to hurt us!"
"Well…actually Tai, Datamon's proven that he's previously been able to compose an impressive lasting backup system, capable of elaborate verbal and visual interaction, as well as initiating a powerful trapping mechanism, sealing us in here…possibly indefinitely," Izzy calmly noted.
"Izzy, you're NOT helping!" Tai complained. "What's all that supposed to mean, anyway!"
"We're toast."
Tai squeezed his eyes closed and covered them with his hand.
"I'm just stating the obvious," Izzy said.
"I think Izzy may have something there, Tai," Matt said. "I seriously doubt that Datamon would've gone to all this trouble if he didn't have a plan in mind!"
"Well, look!" Tai said. "We may not have our digimon, but I doubt that there's much else that this guy can do! We can't allow ourselves to be spooked by some robot's video legacy!"
"Heh, heh, heh…AS IF ANY OF YOU HAD A CHOICE!"
Matt, Izzy, and Tai whirled their heads in the direction of the eerie laughter that was coming from behind them.
Sora.
"No…no…this can't be…" Tai said slowly to himself.
Everyone else watched Sora with a fair amount of intimidation. Sora's entire body was emitting a strange red aura, and her eyes had horizontally stretched out a bit, glowing an eerie red, and her hair had gotten all twisted and tangled. Her mouth displayed a twisted grin.
"So…Sora…?" Tai said he approached the entity he believed to be his girlfriend. "Are, um…are you o-"
"BACK!" Sora cried.
Tai watched in utter disbelief as Sora generated a sphere of red energy the size of a tennis ball and hurled at him as he got "too close". The sphere moved at lightning speed and struck Tai in the chest so hard, it sent him flying all the way back into a wall.
"TAI!" Kari shrieked as she watched her brother get hurt. Without thinking, she rushed over to her brother, but was stopped by the female who was no longer human.
"BACK OFF! OR YOU'RE NEXT!" she ordered.
"How could you DO this to my brother?" Kari screamed. "You heartless monster! My brother trusted you with his heart, and you had the nerve to trick him and lead him on!"
"I SAID BACK!"
"HEY!" hollered an angry T.K., rushing over to protect Kari. "You do NOT threaten my girlfriend like that!"
Kari blushed a bit, unable to remember T.K. ever making such a bold statement before.
"Foolish human…" Datamon hissed. "You're defiance is unacceptable! You must be disciplined properly! Dispose of him, Sora!"
"NO! Not T.K., too!" Kari yelled, starting to cry a bit.
"Don't worry, my dear…" Datamon continued. "Your friend will get off easy. It's your brother I'm after, since HE'S the one who destroyed me!"
Kari looked at her brother with tears in her eyes. Tai was still slumped against the wall. Although the energy blast from before left no visible trace, Tai had a hard time breathing, since he had the wind knocked out of him.
"But first things first!" Datamon declared.
Sora obeyed and laughed as she shot a glowing red stream of energy at T.K. who yelled in horror. The beam didn't hit him back, as with Tai, but instead wrapped around him like a living rope.
"Let go of my brother!" Matt shouted.
"You're in NO position to make threats!" Datamon harshly noted. "Observe!"
Sora looked up at a higher section of a nearby wall and her eyes glowed white. Everyone gasped as a medium sized, circular-shaped hole appeared. Everyone saw the sky outside of the hole, since it led outside the pyramid, and T.K. was going to be the first to go through it.
Kari and Matt screamed as Sora hurled T.K. through the hole as fast as she shot that energy sphere at Tai, who was still half-conscious.
"Now! The next order of business! Sora…make sure that the others enjoy their stay here!"
Sora cackled as she raised her hand towards Kari, who closed her eyes, bracing for impact, but no energy came out of Sora hand. Instead, she was sent hurling backwards, like it was some sort of telepathic power. She screamed again as she hit the other five Digidestined who fell over, and they too, were pushed backwards into the wall as well. Then Datamon began to speak again.
"Wonderful, isn't she? She's what I call "Simulated Organism Replicated Artificially", or "S.O.R.A." for short! I created her for one purpose…to DESTROY the Digidestined! She responds to every one of my commands, without hesitation or question! All it took one that one quick scan of Sora I did years ago to create an artificial replica of her and I knew that she would prove useful to me! Realizing how much of a connection Tai had to her, it was only too easy to make him take the bait! And the fact that I reeled the rest of you in was an added bonus which I humbly accept!"
S.O.R.A.'s eyes glowed yellow, and a pale yellow (transparent) cube appeared around them, trapping them in place.
"A force field!" yelled Izzy from within the cube.
"There's no way out!" Mimi hollered, banging on the barrier surrounding her.
"Not to mention we're stuffed in here like sardines!" Joe complained.
Sor had said nothing for the past few minutes, and continued to be silent, as she watched Tai, who had started to move again. Slowly raising his head, she could see that he definitely noticed what was happening. But the truth was…he didn't care.
At first, when he had his initial suspicions about Sora, he thought had gotten strong and experienced enough to handle whatever conclusion arose from his discoveries. But as it turned out…he wasn't even remotely close to being ready to handle this turn of events. Tai would never, EVER have possibly estimated or imagined how hard this situation would have hit him.
Tai's thoughts were no longer processing as fast they normally would. His mind was filled with images of the most recent events concerning Sor's double…and Sor somehow knew that she and him were thinking the same things.
Everything…EVERYTHING from the beginning had been a lie…and all Tai could think about was everything that he had shared with Sora…
--------------------------------------------
"…it could be worse…Sora and I still friends-"
"And you're completely okay with this?"
"…things are fine the way they are right now."
"I STILL have feelings for you…doesn't that count for something!"
--------------------------------------------
"…there is ONE thing that I know for sure hasn't changed…I can still whip you good in soccer."
"…care to test those words?"
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
"You're on!"
--------------------------------------------
"…will you go with me to see my mom and dad? I don't wanna be by myself…"
"Sora…you know that I'd do anything for you…you can always count on me, Sor. Never forget that."
"…just checking."
--------------------------------------------
"…you're my everything, Sora…we NEEDED each other."
"I agree."
"When we met for that first time…I knew deep in my heart…that I wanted to be with you forever…I NEED you, Sora. I love you, and I don't ever wanna lose you again."
--------------------------------------------
"…please…ha, ha, ha, ha…please stop!"
"Then admit it! I'm better than you at soccer! Otherwise the tickling continues!"
"Ha, ha, haaaa! C…c…c-c'mon…eh, hee, hee, hee! Cut it out!"
"Make me!"
"Ah, ha, ha, ha! Okay, I give, I GIVE! You're better at soccer than me, happy?"
--------------------------------------------
"What's this?"
"Umm…it's a hair clip…you, uh, you put in your hair."
"…it's kinda cute. I like it. So…how do I look?"
"You look beautiful."
"Aww…you're only saying that 'cuz it's true."
--------------------------------------------
"I finally realized…that I've been given a second chance to make things right, and to bring my life to a happy ending."
"You're wrong about that."
"Oh am I?"
"Yep. There won't be a happy ending for us…just a happy existence."
--------------------------------------------
"Yeah…" Tai groggily rasped, finally waking up out of his daze. "So much for that…"
Tai remembered how much it hurt (the first time) when Sor picked Matt over him. He felt as if all of the life had been sucked out of his body. But comparing that horrible memory to what was going on NOW…this was a thousand times worse.
"Tai! Get up, man!" Matt yelled, trying to give his friend some encouragement. "That…THING is coming towards you!"
"I don't get it!" Mimi said. "Why doesn't he move! Is he THAT paralyzed!"
"No," Sor replied, realizing what was truly happening. "It's not that he can't move…the problem is that he WON'T!"
"C'mon, bro! You just HAFTA snap out of it!" Kari cried.
Everyone gasped as they saw the look on Tai's face. His eyes looked so…empty and hollow. The light and life had left his pupils. He could barely hear anyone. It was as if someone had used some sort of remote to freeze him in place. His body - to a certain extent - was shutting down and giving up.
S.O.R.A. flashed Tai a demonic and grotesque smile. It grabbed Tai by the back of his T-shirt collar and dragged him to the center of the room.
Back inside the cube, everyone except Izzy was too preoccupied with the situation at hand to notice the faint sounds coming from their digivices. Hearing a beep coming from his digivice, he pulled it out of his pocket to examine it.
In the center of its small screen, there a were multiple red dots. These were the converging signals of everyone's digivice. But as he watched closer…he noticed something odd. Not too far away from the other signals he saw another one approaching in their direction. Someone else with a digivice was closing in on the pyramid's vicinity. Izzy was sure he knew who it was.
"T.K., if that's you…I certainly hope that you have something big planned to get us all outta this mess."
"Excellent!" Datamon hissed over the monitor. "That's it, S.O.R.A.! Leave him right in the center, so everyone can witness his death!"
S.O.R.A. evilly grinned as she raised her right arm which glowed and transformed into a glowing red long object, which strongly resembling a weapon that was used…to CUT.
"At last, I will have my REVENGE!" the being on the video screen cried.
"Well…I'll be seeing you, Tai," S.O.R.A. cackled, locking eyes with Tai, even though he still out of it. "It was fun."
Tai was down on his knees, looking into nothing. The only thing that was partially functioning was his ears.
What he heard was a mixture and blur of sounds that were as clear as mud. He heard a blend of noises, consisting of Datamon's "last will" barking orders, the Sora drone hissing at him, and (what was left of) the Digidestined calling out to him.
This was it. It was all over. He had lost his heart that was full of courage to fuel his will. He had nothing now. He didn't have his digimon there to protect himself. Sora was no more. T.K. was gone. But worst of all, no more opportunities.
At the last second, Tai's eyes decided to function again just in time to witness his own execution. As well as a long, sharp glowing red blade moving faster than anything he had ever seen towards his neck.
No more second chances.
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THE END
NOT!
Man, I wish I could see the faces of you readers after reading THIS chapter! Ha, ha! I kill myself! Now if any of you were expecting me to tell you ANYTHING about the next chapter, FORGET IT! If you want to know what happens, then I'd better see those see lovely reviews come in by the truckload! (Either that, or inject me with a needle full of some VERY potent truth serum!) Well, until next time, people!