Chapter 15:
Return to Darkness: Part 1
Tai felt the familiar sensation of waking up. He went to rub his eyes as he always did, but noticed that something was wrong. His arms weren't moving correctly, and his body felt..weird. When he opened his eyes he noticed how weird he really was. He was in a cage, a very small cage. He glance down as best he could and would have gasped if he were able...he was a dog, a tiny puppy.
"Great!" he thought,"This has got to be the Digimon Emperor Tai world, but why am I inside of a dog? What am I going to do now, and where the heck is Kari?How am I even going to find out?"
"Over here, Mom."
Tai froze when he heard that voice, he knew who it belonged to. He looked outside of the cage bars and saw a familiar pink haired girl starting at him. "Oh...this's one's so cute! I'll take him!"
The woman behind the girl nodded. "If that's the one you want Mimi."
A second later the cage door opened and Tai was lifted out by a young woman in a white lab coat. He could see that he was in a kennel or pound or something. A second later he was in Mimi's hands, pressed firmly up against her chest. He tried not to get too comfortable as Mimi's mother was signing papers at the desk.
"You're so cute!" Mimi cooed to Tai,"You're so cute!"
"What are you going to name him?" Mimi's mother asked.
Mimi thought for a while, glancing at him, then nodded. "I like the name Akai."
"Great, then that's that!"
"Perfect!" Tai thought as Mimi carried him out the doors,"I'm stuck as a puppy, I have no idea where Kari is, and now I'm Mimi's pet! This can't get any worse!"
When Kari opened her eyes, she noticed that everything was so much larger then usual. She was afraid that she had become someone too young to do any real good, when she realized that she was lying on her stomach. She got up, but found that her hands and feet were both on the ground. She glanced at herself and almost shouted in surprise, but it came out in a strange sound, a meow. She had become a cat.
Kari started moving around, finding that it had become quite easy to walk around on four feet. She looked around, trying to find out where she was. It appeared that she was in an alley, roasting under her fur. She slowly walked to the sidewalk. The sun seemed so bright to her little eyes. She was able to catch a glimpse of the street sign and knew she was only a few blocks from her apartment. She turned her head down and started to walk down the sidewalk. She wasn't use to her new body, so she stumbled a few times before running into a pair of legs.
She nervously looked up and saw Ken's face staring down at her. She didn't move as he knelt down. "Hi, there," he said, smiling slightly.
Kari didn't move at all.
Ken started to lightly rub her back. It felt so good to her cat body, that she couldn't help purring. Ken chuckled and lifted her up. He checked her neck,"Hmm, no collar...and you were stumbling around...maybe I should take you home with me."
Kari tried to struggle free, but Ken's grip was solid as he started walking in the opposite direction.
The Emperor Tai stood atop a building and looked over the city. "I'm back again," he said,"Back to my own world." He frowned,"Looks as hopeless as it did when I left."
He walked to the other side to stare at the other side of the city. Then he grinned. "Maybe if I try again, Sora will see that I'm the right guy for her." He frowned."No, this Sora hates me, Kari is dead, I hate this world. As soon as I get what I came for, I am leaving."
He glanced down at the street and saw Ken. "Ah, well, first prey." He was about to jump down to him, but he saw something in Ken's hands-a cat, but one that he saw as it truly was. "Kari?" he asked, slightly confused,"How can she appear here? It most be those two girls that are helping her. I wonder where my 'double' is."
He watched Ken and the cat Kari cross the street. "Looks like I'll have to wait, but, mark my words, Ken Ichijoji, your energy will be mine!"
Evil Tai's double was trying not to throw up as Mimi threw him in the air with her arms before pulling him back down. She was lying on her bed, repedidbly moving Tai up, then pulling him to her face. "Oh, you're just so cute!"
She pulled him close to her face and started snuggling him. "You're just so cute!" If Tai was in his own body, he probably would have thrown up.
Mimi gently placed Tai on her pink covers, then jumped onto the floor. "I've got to show you to Sora! She'll just die!"
Tai felt a weird feeling in his stomach. The Sora from this world hated the Evil Tai of this world for what he did to Matt. She wasn't going to be happy to see him. Then again, he was a little puppy, not the human that killed Sora's lover.
Mimi picked up her phone and dialed the number. "Sora!" she cried,"I...oh....this is Mimi. You're probably in the Digital world, so I'll head there now. Bye." She clicked the phone off and turned to Tai.
"That was the machine. It looks like we're going to take a trip into the Digital World," she grinned. She grabbed her bag with her digivice. She walked over to grab Tai, but noticed herself in the mirror. "Hmm, maybe I'd better change first."
Tai's eyes widened as Mimi removed her blue shirt, then slid the white skirt off. Tai almost fainted as Mimi walked around in her room in nothing but her under garments. She pulled on a pair of tight fitting jeans and a stripped tank-top. "That's better," she grinned. She grabbed the comatose Tai, then opened a portal with her computer.
"...and that's that," the vet said, smiling slightly as he removed the syringe from Kari's furry body. The new kitten was beginning to realize how Meko use to feel when ever it was time for his shots.
"Thank you, doctor," Ken said, picking up his new pet kitten. He started petting her, and Kari couldn't help but start purring, it was a reflex action of her new body. The two walked out into the waiting room. While Ken started to pay the receptionist, Kari's new cat ears were picking up every sound that was in the immediate vicinity. One particular sound caught her attention, a voice that she knew well. Turning her head around, she saw a young man wearing a trench coat and a hat, sitting in the waiting room. He raised his head so that Kari could see his face-it was her brother! As she watched him grin, she knew that it was the Evil Tai. Ken said goodbye to the receptionist, then exited the building. Kari's heart started beating faster as the Evil Tai got up and followed them.
She climbed up over Ken's shoulder so that she could watch behind her: the Digimon Emperor Tai was still following them. He had to be after her...wait, he was searching for the Crest energy from certain digidestined, he got Sora in the last world, so he must be after Ken! She had to get Ken away from him, but how, she was just a little cat? Wait, that's it!
She quickly struggled free of Ken's grip, then started running. "Hey, where are you going?" Ken asked, running after her.
Behind him, Evil Tai swore. "She's smart, then again, she is my little sister, but I must have Ken's energy!" He started running after them.
Mimi and Tai arrived inside of a a large metal room with about a dozen computers along the wall. A girl with short brown hair was seated at a desk to the side of the door. She jumped up and ran over to them. "Hi, Mimi!" she grinned.
"Hi, Noriko, how are you?"
She shrugged. "I got stuck on receptionist duty. Luckily it hasn't been too busy." She looked down at Tai in Mimi's arms. "Oh, who's this?"
Mimi grinned as she held Tai up to her face,"This is Akai."
"Hi, Akai!" Noriko said in a baby voice."He's so cute."
Mimi giggled. "I know! I want to show him to Sora."
"Oh, sure." Noriko walked over to the desk and pressed a large button. The twin doors behind her unlocked. Mimi made Tai wave goodbye with his paw, and they walked out of the room and into a long hallway. Tai was amazed at the structure of the Digidestined in this reality. It was the kind of army and resources that he always dreamt of. Too bad the Tai in this world went bad, they probably could have done alot of good.
Mimi suddenly shrieked."Yolei! Hi!"
Tai turned his head and saw the purple haired girl running down the hall to see her. "Hi, Mimi!" She looked at Tai,"Who's this?"
"Akai."
"He's so cute!"
Tai rolled his eyes, but the two girls didn't notice. "I was on my way to show him to Sora," Mimi said.
Yolei nodded. "Yeah, that might help cheer her up. She's still kinda depressed over the..execution."
Mimi's smile faded. "Yeah, I know. Even after all that he did, Tai once was her best friend."
Yolei nodded,"But did you notice how weird he was getting at the end? Remember when he woke up crying? He thought he was that little girl?"
"And when he thought he was that five-year-old boy?" Mimi asked,"Or the baby?"
Tai was now listening inattentively. If the body of the Digimon Emperor Tai of this world was acting like that, it must have meant that the others Tais were being flung to his body. So, now that that body was dead, where were they now going?
Yolei nodded."I guess he was always a little unbalanced. I still think we should have got him treatment. If you're insane, that's a liable defense."
Mimi just sighed. "He was given an evaluation. They determined that he was fit."
Yolei just frowned. "Well, we can't do anything about it now, huh?" She smiled again and petted Tai,"Sora's in the lounge. Bye, handsome! See ya' later, Mimi."
The pink haired girl waved goodbye and walked further down the hall and entered a room with a couple of chairs and a few televisions. The red-headed girl was on one of the couches watching t.v. "Sora!" Mimi called, quickly sitting down next to her,"Look what my mother got me today!" She held Tai up.
Sora's sad face broke into a smile. "Owe, Mimi, he's so cute!"
Tai would have shouted that he was sick of hearing that, but could only bark a reply. Sora laughed as she hugged him. Even though he was now a dog, he didn't want to break free.
Kari lead Ken, and behind Ken, the Emperor Tai, on a long chase around the park. She ran across the playground, ignoring the children that were there, and quickly started running along the brick wall. She would have been able to jump to the ground, but a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, the Evil Tai.
He reached down and quickly picked her up. "Kari," he said,"You are my little sister, and I love you, so I will give you the chance to leave this world. I promise I won't try to harm Ken today, but if you're still here tomorrow, I'm sorry."
He dropped her, then ran away in the opposite direction. She figured that it meant she was safe for now. She was about to lead Ken back to his house, when she ran past one of the many green bushes that surround the path. She felt a pair of hands reach down and grab her, pulling her inside.
Tai was starting to enjoy resting in Sora's arms as the two girls talked. He really didn't care about anything at this point, he just wanted to stay in sora's arms forever. That was not to be, as his dog ears picked up a sound from in the hall. Someone was walking by, the person's voice was in a low whispered, low enough that Mimi and Sora couldn't hear, but Tai's dog ears could. "I will kill them! I will kill them! Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya will die, and then we will finally be even."
Tai jumped out of Sora's arms and ran into the hall. He could make out a shadow turning at the corner of the hall. He started running after it as fast as he could, but when he rounded the corner, he came face to face with a 15 year old Derwood.
The Time and Space Policeman grinned. "Mr. Kamiya, how good to see you. I think that maybe you should come with me."
Tai turned around and ran down the hall, Derwood was right behind him. The young puppy rounded another corner and saw a familiar blond haired girl standing in the hall. It was Sara. She opened the door to a janitor's closet or something, and mentioned for Tai to run inside. As soon as he did, she shut the door behind him. Derwood ran right past them.
"That was close," Sara breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to Tai, who was sitting on the floor next to her. "You didn't notice our companions yet?"
Tai turned his attention to the back of the closet and saw Sam holding a white kitten. "Tai, the puppy," she said,"Meet Kari the cat."
The cat and the dog stared at each other for a second, then at the two girls. "I'm sorry," Sara said,"This was not suppose to happen. The best way I can think to explain it to you is that...there was an..anolmy, when we sent you here, which resulted in both of you ending up in animal bodies. Now, the rip between realities is still here, and the Digimon Emperor Tai won't try anything until tomorrow, which means you two will have to remain here tomorrow as well."
They both barked and meowed.
"Don't worry," Sara said with a smile,"We'll move you into human bodies, but, since we are having some trouble creating human bodies lately, we'll just move you into bodies that already exist here. Such as a..possession, you could call it."
The two animals glanced at each other, then back at them. They heard Mimi calling out her puppy's name. Sara reached down and lifted Tai up. "We'd better give you back now, I will see you guys tomorrow."
Sam picked up Kari,"I'll take you back as well."
Sara opened the door and walked into the hall. She walked into the lounge where Mimi was sitting on the couch crying. Sara walked over,"Excuse me, is this your's?"
Mimi broke into a smile and grabbed Tai. "Oh, thank you so much! I was afraid that I lost him!" She grabbed Tai and hugged him tight. "I'm never letting you go again."
Sara said goodbye and left.
Ken lightly scratched the back of Kari's ear as she nibbled on her food. It tasted disgusting, but she was hungry. After she was done, Ken lifted her up and brought her over to a little cat bed that he prepared in his room. Kari laid down and fell asleep.
Over in Mimi's room, she was having a hard time sleeping, all she kept doing was staring at Tai as he laid in his little bed. "I just love you so much!" she giggled, then finally crawled onto her bed and turned the light off.
Tai closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
to be continued....