Chapter 11:
Sisterhood
Tai opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he was in the room of his ten-year-old female counterpart. Same bedspread, same pajamas, same room. He jumped out of the bed and walked over to the calender on the wall. He smiled slightly when he saw that it was the day after his birthday party, the day after he had been there earlier.
He pulled on the pink robe again and walked outside, only to be greeted by his older pink-haired sister Kari. She started down at Tai, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "Tai," she said,"You're...you're younger then me...and a girl?"
Tai frowned,"Yeah, but you can't let on like anything's different. We've got to pretend to be this Tai and Kari until we can leave."
Kari nodded,"Right, but did you see the closet that I have in this world? It's filled with all sorts of stuff that Mimi would wear!"
The two sisters walked into the kitchen, where they prepared a small breakfast for themselves. They sat down and started to eat. "So, what do you suggest we do?" Kari asked.
Tai shrugged. "I guess we're just going to have to wait until Sara contacts us."
"Will she?" Kari asked.
Tai nodded. "But I guess she appears whenever she feels like it, so we're just going to have to wait until she does."
"What, you think I'm selfish?"
Tai and Kari turned to see a 10-year-old Sara and a 16-year-old Sam walk into the kitchen. Both were dressed in robes over their pajamas. "What are you guys doing here?" Tai asked.
"Tai!" her mother said, walking in with her husband,"You don't remember your cousins?"
"I told you we could alter reality," Sara whispered into Tai's ears. He wanted to ask Sara more, but his 'parents' were now there, so he had to wait until after breakfast.
The meal was fairly normal, they talked about normal things that a normal family would talk about. It was the conversation afterwards in Tai's bedroom that was anything but normal.
Tai sat on her bed, her hands on her lap,"What is our first move?"
"We've got to find the rip in this reality," Sara said, sitting in a chair across from Tai.
"How?" Kari asked.
Sam reached inside her pocket and pulled out a device similar to a digivice. "This will help us locate the rip. It's only a matter of following this thing's signal."
Tai looked at her,"How long will that take?"
Sam shrugged. She pressed a button on the side, and the device's screen lit up. "I'm getting a positive reading for the area, but I won't be able to pinpoint an exact location."
Sara nodded,"And we'll need to find that rip before tonight."
"Why's that?" Kari asked.
"Because we'll change worlds, right?" Tai asked.
Sara nodded. "You're finally getting the hang of this."
Kari shrugged. "I guess we should get started then."
There was a knock on the door. "Tai? Kari?"
"Yeah Mom," Tai called.
The door open, and Mrs. Kamyia peeked inside,"Don't forget about ballet practice tonight at 5.""
Tai flinched slightly. Her mother turned to Kari,"And you have cheerleading practice."
"O..Okay Mom," Kari said. After their mother left, Kari turned to Tai,"I thought it was summer."
"So did I."
"It is," Sam said,"But according to the information we have on this world, the school has been have school-related activities in the summer."
"Great!" Tai sighed, falling back onto the bed with her hands over her face,"I've got to go to ballet practice!"
"Let's just concentrate on finding that reality rip," Sara said,"Sam and I are going to get dressed."
"I'll do the same," Kari sighed,"Although I'm sure I'm not really going to like the clothes I have to choose from."
"You can't complain!" Tai pointed to the closet full of dresses and skirts.
Kari smiled slightly,"Sorry, forgot."
Once Kari had left, Tai removed her pajamas and pulled on a pair of jeans shorts and stripped t-shirt. She pulled her hair into a ponytail, like she had seen Mimi do so many times before. She stared at her reflection in the vanity mirror, then sighed.
She walked out of her room and into the living room, where Sam and Sara were seated on the couch. A second later Kari came out of her room, wearing a brown cowboy dress, complete with a large pink hat. "Don't say anything!" Kari warned as Tai's face turned into a smile,"It was the only thing that covered everything!"
"Are we ready to leave?" Sara asked. Tai and Kari nodded. "Good, lead the way Sam."
The group followed the singal from Sam's device down the sidewalk of town. "It feels like we've been walking all day!" Kari sighed, sitting down on a park bench.
Tai glanced at her watch,"That's because we have! Man, I didn't realize how tired I was until now." She walked over and sat down next to her sister. "Are we going to have to do this every time?" She glanced over at Sara and Sam, only to find that they were staring at the roof of the building across the street. "What?"
The two girls suddenly dove at Kari and Tai, pulling them behind the bench. "What are you doing?" Kari shouted.
"Be quiet!" Sara hissed.
"Look at the building's roof, across the street."
Tai and Kari turned their heads to the building and gasped. "It's the Digimon Emperor Tai!"
The four girls kept their gaze on the Evil Tai on the roof. He had the gun strapped to his back, and kept glancing at a device in his hands. He seemed to be angry about something, well, angrier then normal. He took one last look, then walked into the stairwell.
"What was he doing up there?" Kari asked.
"It looked like he was...looking for something,"Tai said.
"I think we should leave before he finds us," Sam said,"We're not ready to face him yet."
The four girls started running down the street as fast as they could. Tai turned to Sara. "So, tell me, why is my double, still in his 'true' form?"
"Because he physically jumped through the rip in the last world, remember? Besides, he had that dark ring around his shoulder." Sara asked,"You fell asleep in your cat body, and so your spirit moved."
"Something else has been bothering me..."
"What?"
"If we close the rip in reality here, how are we going to change worlds?"
Sara thought for a second. "Okay, there are two rips in these worlds, like one entrance, and one exit, only each one is two-ways."
Tai was confused."What?"
"Okay, to get to this world, you came through the entrance rip, right?"
Tai nodded.
"Okay, but, you close the 'exit' rip with the device. When you fall asleep, you can see enter the next world through the 'entrance' rip, got it?"
Tai nodded. "How do you know so much about all of this?"
Sara hesitated,"You're not ready for that information."
"And when will I be ready?" Tai asked,"You've been here since the first time I changed worlds, and you haven't told me anything!"
"I will!" Sara snapped,"But you don't know what's really going on. You're not ready yet. You need more experience before....you do what you have to do."
"What does that mean?" she demanded.
Sam and Kari, who were in front of the two younger girls, suddenly stopped short, causing Tai and Sara to slam into them. "What did you stop for?" Tai asked.
"Sara," Sam said,"You'd better see this."
Sara stood up and walked around Sam. "Derwood!" she shouted.
"Derwood's here?" Tai asked, running around from behind Kari. Sure enough, the Captian of the Reality Police was standing in front of them, wearing a police uniform.
"I've found you, Tai Kamiya, but I see you've got allies." He turned to Kari,"Hikari Kamiya, Tai's sister in 95% of all worlds." He turned to Sara and Sam,"And you two. When Tai asked me about a Sara, I had no idea he was talking about you, but, if you want to be called 'Sara', and 'Sam', then fine."
Tai turned to them. "Those are even your real names?"
Sam threw her device into Kari's hands. "Run!"
Tai and Kari turned and started to run, but soon found that Sam and Sara weren't with them. They looked over their shoulders and saw Sara and Sam leading Derwood in the other direction. "Where are they going?" Kari asked.
"I don't know," Tai said,"But, Derwood wants me, why would he go after Sara and Sam?"
"Maybe he wanted them more?" Kari suggested.
"If Derwood ran after them, that means that they must be even greater 'criminals' then I am. Who are they?"
"I don't know," Kari sighed, then looked at the watch on Tai's wrist,"It's getting close to five. We'd better head home."
Tai shivered,"Perfect. I can't wait for ballet practice."
Tai tried her best to keep up with the rest of the girls as they jumped and twisted across the stage. She had never done ballet before, and frankly the tights and leotards she was wearing were so itchy that she had to forcefully keep herself from scratching.
The ballet teacher blew her whistle and the girls instantly stopped. It caught Tai in mid leap, so she landed hard on the ground. "Take a five minute break!" the teacher shouted.
Tai took a deep breath, then walked over to where her gym bag was. She heard her cell phone ringing, and quickly answered before the other end hung up. "Hello?"
"Tai!"
"Kari?"
"Tai, listen, you'd better get over to the high school as soon as you can. The Evil Tai is here!"
"What?" Tai shouted, sitting down on the bench,"Is he doing anything?"
"No," Kari said,"But I'm afraid he might recognize me. He's sitting right on the bleachers, watching us practice."
"What do you want me to do? You have the device!"
"I don't know how to use it!"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Tai clicked the phone off, then ran over to her teachers, thinking of an excuse to leave.
Kari huffed as she ran with the other girls up the relay. Once she reached the other end, she quickly did five jumping jacks, then ran back to tag the other girl for her turn. Kari panted as she walked to the end of the line. She had tried out for cheerleading once, but she didn't remember ever having to do this.
Kari glanced over her shoulder to the group of people on the bleachers. Evil Tai was still there, but he seemed completely uninterested in Kari or any of the other girls. He just kept staring at the sky, as if he was looking for something.
Kari turned her attention to the parking lot and was relieved when Tai came running in. She smiled at the leotard and tights she was wearing, knowing that Tai couldn't make fun of her anymore.
"Okay guys," the coach said,"Practice is over."
As the other girls were slowly starting to pick up their stuff, Kari quickly shoved hers into her gym bag, then ran over to where Tai was walking in. "Tai!" she shouted,"He's right there, up on the bleachers!"
"Alright, let's walk over there." Tai took a deep breath, then started walking, Kari was following close behind. By the time they had reached the bleachers, everyone except for Tai, Kari, and the Evil Tai had gone. Tai and Kari had reached the edge of the bleachers, but Evil Tai kept looking straight forward.
"You guys are here too, huh?"
Tai and Kari jumped. Evil Tai turned to face them. "But you're too late!"
"W..what do you mean by that?" Kari asked.
Evil Tai held up a square shaped device and pointed it to the sky. He pressed a button on the side, and a large glowing hole appeared in the sky. "See you in the next world!" he shouted in glee. He pressed a button on his belt, and he shot into the hole, a stream of smoke trailing behind.
"He's gone!" Kari shouted,"What happened?"
"He's gone into the next world," Tai sighed.
"Should we follow him?"
"No," Tai shook her head,"According to Sara, if we did, we'd end up in that world in these bodies, and I'd prefer not to be a 10-year-old girl for the rest of my life."
Kari smiled slightly, then held up the device Sam had given her,"What do I do with this."
The device suddenly shot out a colored stream of light that entered the center of the hole. Almost like a vacuum, the rip was pulled towards the stream of light until it was gone. The stream of light faded a second later. Kari looked at the device, then scratched her pink hair, "So that's how it works."
Tai smiled slightly,"Come on, big sister, let's go."
Kari wrapped her arms around Tai's shoulder,"You got it, little sister."
The rest of the night went like it would in a normal household. Tai and Kari talked about their practice over dinner, then spent a few hours watching t.v. Finally, it was time for bed.
Tai climbed into her bed, laying down on the white laced pillows. She was just pulling the covers up when Kari peeked in. "Tai, I just thought of something. When we change worlds, is that device that Sam gave me coming to?"
Tai yawned, then shrugged. "I don't know. If Sara and Sam gave it to you, then they must have it all planned out."
"I'm worried about them."
Tai smiled slightly,"They have a way of coming and going as they please. They'll be fine."
Kari returned the smile. "Good night, I'll see you in the next world."
"Good night."
Kari clicked the light off and walked into her room. Tai took one last look at her female 10-year-old counterpart's room, then closed her eyes.
to be continued....