Chapter 16:
Return to Darkness: Part 2
When Tai opened his eyes, he found that he was staring up at the ceiling of a bedroom. He turned his head and spied an assortment of half-dressed female posters on the wall, while a Playstation and a fair assortment of games were underneath a television. He assumed that he was human, and, thankfully, male.
He climbed out of bed and stepped on something soft. There was a shot yelp and he shot his foot back onto the bed, there was someone lying on the floor, wrapped in a sleeping bag! He gasped, then held his breath as the figures started to move. The top of the sleeping bag opened and a familiar looking head "Kari?"
"Tai?" the girl asked,"Why do you have that funny looking hair cut?"
"Why are you wearing glasses?" Tai asked back.
The two siblings looked at each other, then jumped up. "How do we know what bodies we're in?" Kari asked.
Tai looked around the room and spied a mirror on the other side of the door. The two ran over and glanced at their reflections, or, rather, their bodies' reflections. "I...I'm Davis?" Tai gasped.
"I'm Yolei?" Kari shouted. "Wait a second, why was Yolei in Davis's room?"
All the color drained from Tai's face. "Oh no, did we...."
Kari took a few deep breaths. "Well, I mean, they would have had to be awake to do...that, right?"
Tai nodded. "R..right."
"And...and we enter the bodies when they're are asleep. So it couldn't have been us,"
Tai shook his head. "No.. no..."
"That is, e..even if they did, right?"
Tai chuckled. "Yeah, why would Davis and Yolei...right? Ha..!" Kari joined him in laughing. A second later the door knocked. "Davis?"
"Um..yes!" Tai shouted out.
"Oh, good, is yolei awake too?"
"Um..yes!"
"Good, Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."
"O..okay." Tai turned to Kari. "Well, if Davis's mother knows you're here, it's probably not what we think. Ha ha ha."
Kari just nodded. "Come on, we'd better get dressed."
The two turned to face the opposite walls as they undressed. "We've got to find that reality rip," Kari said,"And Ken is the focus of Emperor Tai's attack."
Tai nodded. "Yeah, and that murder is going to kill our parents. We've got to do soothing."
Kari pulled on a white t-shirt and a pair of blue shorts. "Are you decent?"
Tai was wearing Davis's usual attire and turned around. "Yeah. I'm really worried about Mom and Dad, even though their not our Mom and Dad."
Kari nodded."Yeah, I understand."
"After breakfast we'll head back to the Digidestined base. We might be able to find something there."
The Emperor Tai felt the rays of sun flow onto his face. He sat up and stretched, then looked around the alley he had spent the night in. "I could have probably afforded a hotel room or something, why didn't I?" He chuckled slightly,"Maybe I am going crazy."
"We'll, you are talking to yourself."
Emperor Tai spun around and watched as a figure flowed out of the shadows on the ground. The figure was dressed in a black hood and cloak. Emperor Tai reached for the sword around his belt,"I don't know who you are, but if you want a fight, you have no idea who I am."
The figure laughed in a young woman's voice. Emperor Tai hovered his hand over the zapper gun as the figure reached up and pulled back the hood to reveal a young woman's face with long blond hair in two pigtails on either side of her head. "Alice?" Emperor Tai gasped.
The young woman chuckled. "Welcome back Tai, it's good to see you again."
"What are you doing here?" Tai asked,"Oh, I get it, repayment time, huh?"
Alice laughed. "As long as you find those crest powers and open the ultimate realty, your debt will be paved in full."
"But why do you need to enter that reality? I know why I'm going."
She laughed, then pulled her hood back on. "All in good time." She vanished back into the shadows.
"I haven't seen her in five years," Emperor Tai mumbled,"Now she shows up out of nowhere. Why is she here?"
At the Digidestined base, Tai walked around cautiously, but trying not to look like he was being cautious. He walked past everyone in the hall, replying hello when they said hello first. He was actually quite amazed at the amount of Digidestineds that were working that early in the morning. In fact, he was even more amazed that there were that many Digidestineds at all!
He finally found Davis's office, but when he walked inside, he found that Catherine was waiting for him. She was not wearing the same red dress she had been wearing at Emperor Tai's trial. This time, her outfit consisted of a red min-skirt and a tank top that barely fit her. She was sitting on Davis's desk with her legs crossed. "Bonjuor, Monsieur Motomiya"
Tai started to sweat. "Uh, B..Bonjuor," he replied. He gulped. "Um, c..can I h..help you with something?"
Catherine looked confused, then laughed. "Oh, I zee, I zee." She walked towards Tai, but he moved away. She trotted over to the door, and Tai moved towards Davis's desk, keeping the same amount of space between them. She locked the door, then grinned at him.
Tai was so nervous he was almost shaking. "Um, w..what did you close the door for?"
"For privacy," she grinned,"You don't want anyone walking in on us, do you?"
Tai shrugged his shoulders. "I..ah..it depends..."
"On what?"
"On what you're here for..."
Catherine's grin suddenly turned into a wild look. She leapt across the desk and landed right in Tai's lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, while he was trying to break free. "Why are you playing hard to get?" she asked, fluttering her eyebrows at him,"Iz t'is a new game t'at you are trying to play wit' moi? It is a little, how do you say...odd, non?"
Tai gulped again,"Well, I..ah.."
Catherine just grinned and slammed her lips into Tai's. Both of them crashed to the floor.
Emperor Tai stood above the city, resting on the rooftops. He had been waiting for far too long, his prey should have emerged by now. He was about to move on, when he saw the building door across the street open up. He was surprised to find that his heart was started to beat in anticipation. Ken emerged through the doorway and started walking down the sidewalk. "Yes!" Emperor Tai laughed. He was about to jump down, an attack, when he saw a familiar looking girl with glasses run up to him.
"Kari?" he asked,"What is she...?" Suddenly, the image of his younger sister in glasses and a blue beret shimmered for a second, and he saw Yolei. The image flashed back to Kari.
"So, she actually inside someone else's body?" he rubbed his chin,"Does that mean my double is somewhere else too? Hmm..I have no idea we were able to do that! This is quite.. intriguing." He watched as Ken and Kari walked down the sidewalk. "I'll wait until he's alone, then I'll make my move."
Tai quickly ran out of Davis' office, straightening his jacket. "Oh Man!" he thought, running to the men's room,"How could Davis have scored with a girl like Catherine? And Catherine always struck me as a nice girl, I had no idea she was like that! She was so professional at the trial. Talk about your 'work' person and your 'play' person. Jeeze!"
He made it to the men's room and walked inside. He glanced at his reflection and saw that there were lipstick marks on the left side of his face. He quickly scrubbed them off, then took a deep breath. "Glad that's over."
He was about to walk out, when the door opened and Veemon walked in. "Davis! Oh good," he panted,"I found you."
"What?"
"Catherine's waiting in your office! I think she's...playful, if you get what I mean."
Tai nodded. "Yeah, I know..."
"Oh, you went there first," Veemon sighed,"Great, what are you going to do about Mina?"
"M..Mina?" Tai asked, as an image of the Indian Digidestined flashed through his mind.
"She's waiting for you in the sick bay," he explained.
"O..Okay, thanks."
Veemon nodded. "Sure thing buddy. Listen, I'm going to be in the training room if you need me."
Tai nodded. Then Veemon walked out. Tai took a deep breath,"I wonder what Mina wants from me? Or Davis, rather?"
He walked out of the men's room and almost ran into Cody. "Good morning, Davis."
"Cody!" Tai called,"Listen, I something I want you to do."
He nodded. "Okay."
Tai lowered his voice to a whispered."I have reason to believe that someone here is going to plan a murder."
"A murder?"
"Shh! Yes, I want you to give me a report on the people that would most want Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya dead, then who would also have the motive and resources to do it."
Cody nodded. "Okay, I should have it for you tomorrow..."
Tai shook his head. "No, today."
Cody nodded again. "I'll get right on it."
Tai smiled, then sighed. "I've got to go meet Mina in the sick bay..."
Cody looked at his watch. "Oh, Anna's looking for you too. She's in the kitchen."
Tai nodded."Thanks." He followed the floor signs until he reached the sick bay. No one was inside, but there were a row of door along the back wall. One of them was closed with a sign on it. It read:Davis, in here. Tai shrugged and opened the door, then gasped. Inside was a typical hospital room, complete with a bed. Mina was lying in the bed, sheets up to her neck. Her clothes were lying on a chair to the side. She flashed a smile. "Davis..."
Tai gulped."M..Mina, what are you doing?"
"Waiting for you."
Tai started to back up out of the room, when Mina just nodded slightly and the door closed and locked.
"H..how did you do that?"
"I'm a mystic, remember?" she grinned. She climbed up onto the bed on all fours. She started to crawl forward. "What do you say we try and get through two pages of the Kharma Sutra today?"
Tai spun around and tried to force the door open, but Mina tackled him to the ground.
"Hi Ken!" Kari called, waving her hands.
Ken looked and smiled slightly. "Oh, Yolei, good morning."
Kari ran and stood right beside him. She glanced around, but wasn't able to see Emperor Tai anywhere. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where you expecting someone that you're glad isn't here?" Ken chuckled.
"No, I mean...um...it's nothing," she smiled,"Are you, ah, going to be heading to the Digital World soon?"
He shook his head. "No, I have the day off today. Unless there's an emergence, I was just going to relax today."
Kari nodded. "So, how's your new cat?"
Ken flashed her a suspicious glance. "How did you know I just got a new cat?"
She shrugged. "I..uh..I saw the cat hair on your shirt, so I..."
He looked at his chest and frowned. He started to wipe the fur off. "Yeah, I found her yesterday. She need her shots and everything, but she's doing okay."
Kari nodded. "That's good. I was afraid that when I left that cat body last night, she would die. I'm glad that Ken still has his pet."
Ken finished cleaning his shirt. He glanced back up, then gave a loud gasp. "What?"
Kari stopped and looked where Ken was looking. Standing in front of them was the Emperor Tai. "Oh no."
"Tai?" Ken shouted,"H..How can it be you? W..we killed you."
Emperor Tai chuckled. "What can I say, I'm more than meets the eye!" He launched forward and knocked Ken into the ground. He quickly hit a specific spot on Ken's neck, knocking him unconscious. He moved so fast that Kari wasn't able to stop him. She did try to prevent Emperor Tai from taking Ken, but it was no use. He easily threw her to the ground.
"Please," he said,"I don't want to hurt you. Just left me do what I have to, and I promise that you won't be hurt. What I'm doing, isn't evil..."
"You're hurting how many people, and you don't call that evil?" Kari asked. She jumped up, but Emperor Tai threw her into a pile of garbage cans.
Emperor Tai just looked at her, then sighed. "Please, don't follow me." Before Kari could get back up, Emperor Tai was already too far ahead for her to reach.
Tai charged out of the sick bay, pulling her shirt back on. He rounded the corner, but almost ran into a red-headed girl wearing a pair of tight red pants and a thin tank top. "Davis!" she shrieked. Tai shook his head and ran down the other hallway. He spied an open door and dove inside, locking it. He breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned around he found that he was in the kitchen.
"Great. Maybe Anna's left already."
He stood up, but saw the Russian girl was still there. She was standing behind one of the tables, wearing nothing but a whipped cream and chocolate syrup bikini. "Davis!" she grinned.
"Oh no!"
Kari ran into the Digidestined base, peeling a banana peel off of her hair. She ran through the halls and passed Mimi, who was holding a small puppy in her arms. She ignored her and kept running down the halls. She eventually ran into the person she was looking for.
"Ta-er, Davis!"
Tai looked up. "Ka..Yolei?" he asked.
Kari stopped in front of her brother and panted. "Why are you wearing whip cream on your face?"
Tai crossed his arms. "Why are you covered in garbage?"
Kari shook her head. "Never mind. Listen, Ken's been kidnapped by the Emperor TAi. We've got to find him."
"How?" Tai asked,"Do you have any idea where he is?"
She shook her head. "No, but we've got this entire facility at our command. We should be able to track down one digivice signal."
Tai sighed. "I hope you know how, because I don't."
Kari nodded. "I've watched Izzy and Yolei do it hundreds of times back home. We've just got to find the computer room, come on." He ran after her as she lead him down the halls. After checking through a dozen different doorways, they finally reached a room full of computers. Tai closed the door and Kari ran over to one of the terminals. She started typing,"Let's see if I remember this..."
Tai leaned back against the wall as he watched his younger sister, even though she was in the body of Yolei Inoe. He was amazed at how computer literate she really was. He never had any idea.
She suddenly stoped typing. "Darn it," she said,"I can't find that program." She sighed, "In this world, they must not have a 'Digidestined Locator," Like they do back home."
Tai sighed. "Now what?"
"There is a way to find him."
Tai smiled when he saw the two fourteen-year-old girls that had entered the computer room. "Sara, Sam, I'm glad you're here."
Kari looked at the two girls. "What do you mean, there's another way?"
Sara walked over and placed her hands on Tai's shoulders. "He can."
"What?"
"Tai, because you and the Emperor Tai are basically the same person, you should be able to read his mind. You'll be able to find out where he is that way."
"I..I can read his mind?" Tai asked,"But, how?"
Sara and Sam forced him into a chair. "Just relax and we will tell you," Sam said, "Close your eyes."
Tai did as he was told.
"Now, focus your mind, try to picture your evil self, can you do that?"
Tai nodded. "Yes, I can see him."
Sara smiled. "You've got some strong inner powers if you're able to do that so soon."
Sam continued,"You've got to feel him too. Can you feel his presence, his...aura?"
Tai hesitated, then nodded. "Yes...yes...I...woah!"
"What's wrong?" Kari jumped up.
"I..I'm inside him," Tai smiled,"It's...it's weird. He..he doesn't seem to notice that I'm in his mind."
"Where is he?" Kari asked.
"Somewhere...trees...alot of treess...the park! He's in the park!"
"Is Ken there?" Kari asked.
Tai nodded. "Yes, I can see him, he's tied to a tree...wait, there's someone else there."
"Some one else?" all three girls gasped.
Tai nodded. "Yeah, a witch."
"A witch?"
"A girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, wearing a weird black dress, a..a dark hooded cloak, blond hair...in two pigtails on both sides of her head...Wait, she's looking right at me, she...she's raising her palm..."
"Break away!" Sara shouted,"Break away right now! Now!"
Tai opened his eyes and started panting. "W..what?"
"You could have been killed!" Sara shouted,"That girl is extremely dangerous."
"Who is she?"
"Alice," Sara sighed.
"Alice?" Kari asked.
The blond girl nodded. "Yeah, and Tai's description was very accurate. She is a magic user, and a reality jumper like ourselves. Only because she uses magic to travel between worlds, she's able to keep her own body."
"So how do you..reality hop?" Tai asked.
"Ours is an..inborn talent," Sam said,"But we should get to the Emperor Tai before he drains Ichijoji."
Tai stood up. "Right, let's go!"
The group used the Digital Gates and quickly returned to Earth. They quickly ran through the city until they reached the park. After they searching, they found the Emperor Tai and Ken in a hidden grove surrounded by tall trees near the center. The four sets of eyes peered through the bushes. Ken was tied to the tree, unconscious, with the Emperor Tai standing over him. He had his hands crossed in front of him, and was uttering a weird chant.
"What's the plan?" Kari whispered.
Tai turned to their two guides. "Do you have any ideas?"
Sara frowned. "That chant is going to drain Ken's crest powers. We've got to stop him before he takes all of the Crest of Kindness."
Tai nodded. "Alright, we hit him fast and quick. Now!"
The quarter tore through the bushes and into the clearing. The Emperor Tai stoped his chant and spun around. "You're here!" he gasped,"Well, I know I shouldn't be surprised." He growled. "I'm warning you, if you interfere, I will kill you."
"We'll see about that!" Tai said,"By my count, there's four against one."
"Against two!" a figure shouted as it appeared in a flash of light, a figure in a black cloak.
"It's...it's you..!" Tai gasped, pointing his finger,"It's you!"
"Alice!" Sara growled,"What are you doing here?"
The sorceress laughed. "I can ask you the same question."
Sara growled."It's obvious that you've been helping the Emperor Tai."
She crossed her arms,"And what if I am?
"We're not going to let you steal the power from Ichijoji!" Sam shouted.
Alice uncrossed her arms. "Tai!" she shouted to the Emperor Tai,"Finish your spell. I will hold them off."
"A..are you sure?" Emperor Tai asked,"It's four against one."
Alice smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be more than okay. Ha!" Emperor Tai turned back around and begin to utter his chant.
"We've got to stop them!" Tai shouted,"Go!"
The group charged forward, but the witch raised her hands. A dark ball of energy quickly formed in her hands. "What's that?" Tai asked.
"Get out of the way!" Sara shouted, but it was too late, the quartet was hit by the dark ball and thrown to the ground.
Alice laughed. "That was too easy. Ha!"
The quartet watched from the ground as the Emperor Tai pulled the power of the Crest of Kindness out of Ken. He turned around and grinned at the group. I now have his power! Two down!" He grinned at Alice,"I'm done here."
The witch nodded. "Allow me." She made an odd set of movements with her hands and a glowing circle appeared.
The Emperor Tai nodded. "Thank you. I hope to see you again. He jumped in and the portal vanished. Alice turned to face the injured group. She gave an evil grin, then she herself vanished.
Tai shut the door to Davis's office as the quartet walked in. "Tell me, how powerful is that Alice girl?"
Sara took a deep breath."Well, if you had some sort of inborn power, I don't think it would have hurt as much."
Tai nodded. "So, what you're saying is that we don't have a chance unless we have our digimon with us?"
Sara and Sam looked at each other, then nodded. "Yeah, just about."
There was a knock on the door. "Davis, it's Cody. I have that report you wanted."
Tai ran over and opened the door and snatched the report. "Thanks." Cody glanced inside and saw the three girls. He grinned at Tai, then left.
Tai walked back inside and opened the manila folder. "Let's see what he gave me....what? No, that..that can't be!"
"What?" Kari asked.
Tai looked her straight in the eyes. "According to Cody's report, there was one Digidestined that had the resources and the motive to kill Mom and Dad, but also checking the back accounts, this person wrote two checks for a thousand dollars, and one had been cashed."
"Payment now and after the kill," Sam gasped,"W..who was it?"
Tai gulped. "Sora."
"What?!" all three gasped.
Tai nodded. "Sora might not be the murder, but she hired him."
The room was silent. Sara coughed,"Well, it's getting late. Tomorrow we'll try to prevent Sora from making the biggest mistake of her life."
Tai just nodded. "Sora..."
Later that night, Tai lay in Davis's bed, staring at the ceiling. "How could Sora do something like that? I don't believe it! Why would she do something?"
He sighed, then closed his eyes. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow. Sora, I'm going to save you from yourself. I swear."