Chapter 18
Twice Two
When Tai opened his eyes, he saw that his room was divided in half, one side pink and the other side blue. He turned to the right and saw another bed like the one he was in, with a little girl sleeping inside. "This is the world where Kari and I are twins," he smiled slightly. He jumped off of the bed and walked over to the girl. "Kari, Kari, wake up!"
The young girl slowly woke up and smiled. "Good morning Tai."
"Hi, Kari."
"What can you tell me about this world?"
"Well, we're twins."
"We're twins?" she smiled,"Wow, that's..different."
Their door opened a second later and their mother poked her head inside. "Oh, you guys are awake, good. Hurry up and get dressed, you don't want to be late again."
The twins looked at each other then back at their mother. "Uh, sure," Tai said. Mrs. Kamiya smiled, then left.
Tai turned to Kari. "Come on, let's hurry up."
The two children quickly dressed and walked into the kitchen. Tai had been in this world before, but it was a shock to Kari. She always had to be the 'baby,' but now neither Tai nor her were the 'baby' everything was exactly the same.
Tai climbed into the chair, while Kari climbed into her's. "What are you smiling about?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing," she giggled.
Tai eyed her strangely, but started eating anyway.
Emperor Tai hid in the shadows of the alley, watching the people walk by until he found the one he was searching for, Jou Kido, or rather, the Jou Kido of this world. He was a eight year old version of the Jou that Emperor Tai knew from his world. Since he was more than double his size evil Tai was grabbed Jou by the collar and yanked him into the alley. Jou stared up at the evil figure in front of him. The Evil Tai knew that the people on the sidewalk saw his abduction of Joe, so he had to be quick.
He held a device over the frightened boy. "I won't kill you, I just need something you have."
A glowing light flowed up from Joe and into the device. "Reliability is down, only a few more to go."
Tai and Kari stood in front of their building with their mother waiting until a blue van pull along side the curb. The passenger door opened and an adult Sora with long hair walked out. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully.
Tai and Kari climbed past Sora's two children and into the back seat of the van. He looked at the driver of the van and saw Matt smiling at them. "Hey, guys, how's it going?"
"Fine, thank you," Kari said quickly, remembering to be polite. After the car started driving, she turned to Tai. "Matt and Sora?" she whispered.
Tai nodded. "Yeah, in this world they're a couple."
"Wow, I bet you glad that this isn't our world, huh?"
"You have no idea," he mumbled.
The school day moved rather quickly. Although Tai was disappointed that Sam was not his teacher again, he was happy that for once he knew exactly what the teacher was talking about. The two twins were so focused on their school work, they failed to notice the five-year-old Derwood staring at them from the back of the room.
After school, Sora picked them up again and drove the twins, along with her own children, to the park to play for awhile. Arake, her daughter, was playing with Kari, but Tai guessed that he and Sora's son, Matsudo, didn't get along very well. Sora's son was playing by himself, so Tai decided to walk around on his own.
He started walking through the trees of the park before he found that he was pretty far from the playground. Sora was going to be looking for him soon. He started to head back, when he heard a rustling noise from the bushes. He walked over to look, when a group of young men jumped out and quickly tackled him to the ground. They held his arms and legs and tied a cloth around his mouth to keep him from screaming for help. Tai gasped to himself as Derwood appeared.
"Well, Tai, it seems that we've finally caught you."
Tai tried to break free, but it wasn't any use. He was their prisoner.
Derwood chuckled as he pointed his watch at the sky. A second later, a glowing portal appeared. The Reality Police threw Tai inside, then followed.
Matt said goodbye to his fellow office workers and made his way to the elevator. It was Friday afternoon, and he had two days off. It seemed like this week had gone forever.
When the elevator doors open, he saw that it was empty, except for a teenager who was standing near the back. Matt nodded slightly to him, then pressed the button for his floor. The doors closed, and the elevator started to move again.
Suddenly, the teenager leapt over to the control box and yanked it out. The elevator suddenly stopped. Matt turned to him, but the teenager slammed him into the floor. He held a device out over him, and white light flowed into the mechanical device.
Emperor Tai laughed."Friendship is gone, only a few more left."
"Don't get cocky."
He turned around and saw that Alice was leaning back against the wall of the elevator. "What are you doing here?"
The blond witch smiled. "Just making sure that you're proceeding on schedule."
"Schedule?" he asked,"Since when am I on a schedule?"
She crossed her arms. "Wasn't it I who told you how to find the reality to escape from your trial? And who do you think sent you that e-mail telling you to gather the energy from the Crests?"
"I figured that out!" Emperor Tai protested.
Alice grinned,"But I told you that at the most, two crest can be taken from one reality. Any more, and the fabric of that world's Digiworld would be torn apart. You never would have figured that out on your own, would you?"
Emperor Tai frowned. "Just help me out of here."
She chuckled. She said a few magic words, and a glowing circle appeared."After you."
Back at the playground, Kari noticed a beeping noise coming from her pocket. Arake had gone to the bathroom, so she pulled Sam's device out of her pocket. The small computer was flashing two dots, one Kari assumed to be the rip in reality that she had to close, so what was the other one? She was going to ask Tai, but suddenly found that he wasn't there. She remembered he walked towards the woods, but why wasn't he back yet?
She looked over to Sora only to see that she was talking to a woman about her age, with long purple hair and wearing a business suit "Hi, Yolei, what have you been up to?"
She shrugged. "Oh, you know, the usual. Being a business executive isn't easy. You're lucky you're a fashion designer. "
Sora was about to protest, when her cell phone rang. She answered it, but suddenly seemed really upset. She hung up and looked at Yolei,"Matt's just been attacked in his office!"
"What?"
"Yeah, and Joe was hurt this morning. Davis thinks they might be after Digidestineds. I'm going to take Arake and Matsuto to the hospital with me, can you look after Tai and Kari? Their parents will be home soon."
Yolei nodded. "Sure."
"Just watch yourself," Sora said,"Whoever this is, may come after you and your Crest of Light."
"You too."
Kari waited until Sora called Arake and Matsuto over. Once Yolei and Sora had their backs turned, she ran deeper into the woods.
"I bet Tai's where ever this other signal is coming from," she said,"But, why does Yolei have my Crest of Light? I must not be a Digidestined in this world, or do I have another crest?"
She ran around the corner and almost ran into a young woman with brown hair with a five year old blond girl. Both of these people, Kari instantly recognized. "Sara and Sam!"
The five-year-old Sara smiled at her. "Hi, Kari, where's Tai?"
"I don't know. He just disappeared, but look at the device. It says there are two rips in reality. What does that mean?"
Sara and Sam looked at each other. "I think it means that someone else is here."
"Someone else?" Kari asked,"You mean like Derwood or Alice? But, we never received another signal before."
Sam sighed,"It's a trap. Whoever it is, he or she wants us to follow."
"What do we do?"
"They've got Tai," Sara said,"We've got to follow." She held up her hand and a small glow appeared. When it faded, three Nintendo Zapper style guns had appeared. She threw one to Kari. "You'll need that."
Kari just stared at her. "How did you do that?"
Sam smiled slightly."We just brought these from our base. We really don't have time to explain right now."
"Right." Kari lead the group to the section of the park where Tai disappeared to. They found the rip-a small glowing circle. When they approached, the portal opened even wider.
"We've got to go in fast," Sara said,"Are you ready?"
Kari nodded."Let's go."
The trio jumped inside and found themselves in a dungeon filled with torture devices. An unconscious, Five-year-old Tai was strapped to the wall, and a group of five Reality Policemen were surrounding him, and Derwood himself was standing next to Tai on a ledge.
"The Reality Police," Sara sneered,"I should have known."
Derwood shouted with anger. "What are you doing here? No!" He turned to the policemen in front of him,"Get them! Get them now!"
The trio of girls jumped behind a rack and started firing red bolts at the Reality Policeman. They jumped behind a row of large metal boxes and started firing back. Sam mentioned to Derwood. "He seems to be in a bad mood today, doesn't he?"
The captain of the Reality policeman turned to a row of buttons and knobs on the wall beside Tai. "I am going to complete what we started, and seal the rest of the realities for him. He'll have no where to go, and I'll have won!"
"We've got to stop him," Sara shouted over the roar of the fire fight,"If he succeeds, Tai would be stuck in this world, and when nightfall comes, he won't have a body!"
Kari turned to her. "You mean, he'll be..."
Sara nodded."Yes."
Kari felt an anger and desperation rise up in her. "We've got to stop Derwood!"
Sara and Sam nodded. "We'll cover you, go."
Kari moved to the edge of the rack, then turned to Sara and Sam. The two girls began to fire at an incredible rate. They managed to knock three of the five into unconsciousness. The other policemen were too busy to cover themselves to spare to attack Kari. She ran over and placed her zapper firmly against Derwood's back. "Stop now!" she shouted.
Derwood's hand went up into the air. "Go ahead, kill me. It won't change anything. There will be someone else to take my place, someone else to capture you. If you let me finish this job, then it will be over."
"But Tai will be dead!" she shouted,"I won't ever make a choice like that!"
Derwood quickly spun around, but found that Sara and Sam had joined Kari. All of his policemen were gone, he was alone. He stared at the three girls,"Well, kill me and get it over with."
Sam was about to, but Kari shook her head. "Let him go, don't kill him. It's bad enough what you did to those policemen, please, no more."
Sam turned to Sara, who just nodded slightly. The blond girl turned back to Derwood. "Get out of this world, now, before we change our minds."
Derwood growled, but ran out of the glowing circle. The girls pulled Tai down from the wall. "Tai?" Kari asked, lightly shaking him,"Tai!"
He slowly opened his eyes. "K..Kari, what happened?"
They pulled him to his feet and they exited through the portal.
They found themselves back at the park. While Sara explained to Tai what happened, Sam and Kari closed the portal. "Now, we've just got to get to the reality rip, and we'll be home free."
The foursome started running through the park, following the signal from Kari's device. "So," Tai asked,"What has been happening with my evil twin?"
Sara looked to the ground. "He has struck again. He has taken the powers from Jou and Matt of this world."
"That's why Sora went to the hospital," Kari said,"Because Matt was hurt. Hey, I found it."
The reality rip was a small glowing disc on the ground by the forest. Kari quickly closed it, then wiped her fore head. "I'm glad that's over with."
The foursome heard Yolei calling for them. Sara and Sam turned to the twins. "Well, we'll see you next time," Sam waved. The two girls ran deeper into the park and disappeared.
Derwood stood in an office room, staring at a cloaked figure behind the desk. "So, you have failed again."
"I am sorry, sir, I will succeed next time."
The figure growled. "You have failed too many times!" He stood up and walked over to him,"I taught you everything you know. I trained you, and you have failed me miserably."
Derwood straightened. "Sir, I must ask, why are we spending so much time searching for this particular Tai Kamiya, when this..'Emperor' Tai is far more dangerous?"
The figure glared at him. "You dare question me? I founded the Reality Policemen, I am your master! Never forget that."
Derwood bowed,"Yes, sir."
"Your time is up, prepare for your punishment."
Back at their apartment, the twins received a lecture about running from babysitters and disappearing on their own. Mrs. Kamiya was furious with them for having to make Yolei look for them. All Tai and Kari could do was apologize. As a punishment, they were sent to bed early, without any desert.
As the two of them lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, Kari spoke to Tai. "I almost did it."
"What?"
"I almost killed Derwood to save you," she shivered,"I don't ever want to have to feel like that again."
Tai nodded. "Kari, I never told you this, but..."
"What?"
"I felt that way when Myotismon almost killed you. I felt that way when Wizardmon died for you. I wanted to kill Myotismon with my bare hands for what he did." He sighed,"But I didn't, I had to remember to fight out of justice, to save lives, not to kill because of revenge."
Kari smiled. "I'll remember that, thanks Tai." She yawned. "Good night Tai."
Tai smiled. "Good night."