Chapter 22: Rock Star
When Tai woke up the next morning, he couldn't believe his eyes. He was lying in a king sized bed, while a giant 32 inch t.v. was on a large stand in front of him. A huge closet was on the right, and a desk was on the left. Judging by the room, this reality's Tai must be filthy rich.
"I hit the jackpot!" he grinned, jumping onto the floor. He opened the door and stepped into a giant living room, which must mean that his apartment was gigantic.
He ran into the bathroom and looked himself over. He looked like he was eighteen. "I'm a guy and even older!" he cheered,"Yes!"
"Tai?"
He was quiet as Kari stepped into the bathroom. She was her normal age and gender too. When she saw Tai, she smiled. "I'm a girl again! Yes!"
Tai smiled. "Are Mom and Dad home?"
Kari shrugged. "I just saw your room and my room. I don't know where they are."
Tai nodded. "But did you see how rich we are? This is incredible!"
"Don't get too attached, you'll be leaving soon."
The two siblings spun around and saw Sam standing in the living room. She was a sixteen-year-old girls dressed in revealing skirt and top. "Oh, it feels good to be a girl again!" she said, rubbing her arms.
"Why are you dressed like that?" Tai asked.
She shrugged. "Fan girl usually want to get noticed."
"Fan girls?" Tai and Kari asked at the same time.
"Yeah. you know, those groupies girls that..."
"That's not what we meant," Kari said, "Why a fan girl here?"
"Because, Tai is a famous rock star, and you Kari, are his manager and agent."
Tai looked around the room. "Well, that explains the apartment."
"That's right," Sam nodded, "Sara and I wanted to get here as soon as possible considering what's at stake."
"Emperor Tai," Kari said, "He's going to open your world."
"Yes, and while I'm eager about getting back home, we have to stop him. Whatever destroyed our reality hasn't been defeated yet. Sometime today, we'll have to get you away from practice and to the sealed entrance to our reality."
"Hey," Kari said, "Where's Sara?"
"She wanted to come with me, but I thought that one fan girl here would be safer. And we decided I would play the part better because Sara's such a serious stick in the mud."
"Safer?" Tai asked, "What do you mean safer?"
The door bell rang. "Open the door and you'll see."
"I'll get it," Kari said, running over. She opened the door, and Tk and Davis stepped inside.
"Hi Kari," they both said, walking into the living room. When they saw Tai and Sam, they grinned.
Tk mentioned to her. "And whose this?"
"Did you meet her last night?" Davis asked with a smile.
Sam walked up to Tai and whispered, "See what I mean?"
"Well, if you're going to bring her, you'll have to provide your own back stage pass," Tk sighed, "I can't insure everyone."
"Tk's your stage manager," Sam whispered, "And Davis plays the drums."
Tai nodded.
"Come on," Tk snapped, "Get dressed! The others are waiting!"
Tai and Kari nodded, then ran into their rooms. They emerged a few seconds later, Kari in a professional skirt, shirt and jacket, while Tai wore a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. They joined Sam and quickly followed Tk and Davis downstairs were a limo was waiting. They climbed inside and the car took off.
Emperor Tai waited until the wind and light faded before he glanced around. He was in a grassy field that was surrounded by trees. "I'm in the park," he said, looking around.
"Yes," he heard Alice say from behind, "Now, hurry up and get to work. We've got to find that sealed hole before your double tries to stop us."
Emperor Tai growled. "Where is it?"
"I don't know," she said, "I wasn't there when they sealed it! The best I can do is that it's in this city. Just find it."
"What about you?" he asked, looking at her from over his shoulder.
She smiled. "Those two reality hoppers are already here. I can feel them, and they have no doubt felt our arrival. I'm going to guard this area, find the entrance. I'll join you when you find it."
He started to walk out, but then turned back around, "How I am suppose to find it?"
"Use the crest powers that you have taken. It'll be like a magnet, drawing you towards the seal."
He nodded. "Fine, don't get yourself killed."
She chuckled. "Don't worry."
They arrived at a large auditorium where the other Digidestined were already practicing. Matt was standing in the front of the group, strumming chords on his guitar. Ken was warming up on an electric piano, Cody and Izzy were checking the amplifiers and sound equipment and Sora, Mimi, and Yolei were all singing to themselves in the corner. Davis ran up to his drums and Tk grabbed Kari and pulled her towards a pile of papers, leaving Tai and Sam alone.
Tai turned to Sam. "What do I do?"
"You play the guitars," she whispered.
"But...I can't!"
She smiled. "Don't worry. We took care of that."
"What do you mean?"
Sam sighed. "Well, in the previous worlds, you were pulled into the other Tais because of the rips in reality. Think of it like a hole in a dam, the water will keep flowing through that hole until it's fixed, right?"
Tai nodded. "I guess."
"But you closed those rips in reality, so you won't keep being pulled from world to world. In fact, if we hadn't of taken you out of the female Tai, you might have remained there for the rest of your life."
He shivered. "A girl for the rest of my life? No thanks."
Sam sighed. "Anyway, Sara and I took you put you in this Tai's body because this is the reality that contains the hidden entrance to our reality. And since Sara and I were the ones that moved you, and not reality, we could give you..extra abilities."
Tai raised his eyebrow. "What kind of abilities?"
Sam grinned. "You can play the guitar."
"I can? Really? Wow."
"You don't have time to play with it," she sighed, "You've got to hurry through this practice so we can find the Emperor Tai."
"But where are we going to start looking?"
"Sara's out there now, don't worry. She'll find him."
Sara was in the guise of a sixteen-year-old girl and was walking through the park. She had felt someone entering this reality, and she knew that it wasn't Tai, Kari or Sam, so it had to be the Emperor Tai. If she could find him quickly, maybe she could stop him without having to wait for the others.
She walked further into the park clearing. No one was here, so why did she feel that a reality entrance was here.
She spun around and saw Alice floating behind her. The witch smiled. "Hi."
Sara growled and stared at her.
"What's wrong?" Alice asked, "No hellos?"
"I'm not happy to see you," she hissed, "I'll never forgive you for what you did to Jeri, Never!"
Alice chuckled. "I did only what needed to be done. She stood in my way. It's as simple as that."
Sara held out her hand and a staff appeared. "I'm stopping you here and now."
Alice laughed. "You can't stop me!" She fired a ball of black at Sara.
She quickly raised her hand and blocked with her forearm. As the ball impacted a transparent image of a black and yellow gauntlet appeared, then vanished. Sara swung her staff, which shot a wave of light at Alice, but the witch raised her palm and the wave vanished.
"If you're still attacking with that power, you'll never hope to defeat me."
Sara growled at her. "I'm going to stop you!"
Alice threw another black ball, which Sara barely dodged. She tried to fire her staff again, but Alice shot to the ground before Sara could react. With simple ease, she encased Sara in a set of red circles. She struggled, but she couldn't move.
"Now," Alice laughed, raising her glowing palm," Good bye."
Sara's scream shot through the entire park.
Back at the concert hall, Tai was enjoying his new-found talent. He was easily leading the band as they practiced their songs for the night.
"Come on Matt!" he shouted with joy as he played a note on his guitar.
Matt shook his head. "No, I'm beat. I can't play anymore."
He turned around and looked at Davis and Joe. "What about it? Come on!"
"Tai," Joe panted, "I don't know why you're so pepped up, but you're wearing us out!"
Tai turned to Sora, Yolei and Mimi, but the three girls turned away quickly. "Not a chance," Sora said, "We're exhausted."
Tai frowned. "Owe, come on!"
"What's with you?" Davis asked, "You're acting like you've never played before!"
Tai coughed a little. "Well, I.."
"Tai!" Kari shouted from the seats. He looked down and saw his sister standing next to a very worried Sam.
"What?"
"Sam needs you to talk her home."
"O..kay," he looked to the other Digidestined, "I don't think I can miss practice..."
"Go!" they all shouted.
"All right, all right," he said, gently placing his guitar in the stand. He jumped off the stage and ran over to where Kari and Sam were standing, "What's wrong?"
Sam sighed. "Something's happen to Sara. I can feel it."
Tai gasped. "Are you sure?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah."
Tai looked to Kari. "Are you coming?"
"Sure!" she smiled, "Tk had been filling out all of these papers that I had no idea what to do! I just hope that after today, this group doesn't loose all of its money."
They found Sara at the park, barely breathing. "Sara!" Sam shouted, "Sara!" She ran to the blond girl's side, "Sara, talk to me, please."
Kari felt Sara's neck. "She's got a pulse."
Tai lifted her into his arms. "We've got to get her to a hospital."
"No," Sara said weakly, "No hospitals, I'll....I'll be fine."
Kari shook her head. "No, you've got to.."
"I'll be fine!" she snapped, "Put me down."
Tai sighed, then placed her back on the ground. "What happened?" Sam asked.
Sara coughed. "Alice and I had a little encounter. You've got to find Emperor Tai, before it's too late."
"But where?" Tai asked, "Where's the entrance to your reality?"
She was having trouble speaking. "Performance hall..." Her head fell to the ground.
"Sara!" Sam shouted.
"We're taking her to the hospital," Tai ordered, "Now!"
"But what about Emperor Tai?" Kari asked, "Sara said to hurry."
Tai turned to Sam. "Where's the entrance?"
"I..I don't know," she shook her head, "Sara knew...She said Performance hall . We should check it out. I think there was a theater in the city."
"I'll take Sara to the hospital," Kari said, "You guys go."
"Allright," Tai said, "Come on Sam."
Tai and Sam ran down fourty-fifth street to reach the theater. "I don't know," Tai said, looking at the rotted door, "I think this place is abandoned."
"It's the only clue we really have," Sam said, "Come on, let's go inside."
They ran through the doors and stood inside of the run down theater. There were rows of rotted and crumbling seats, while the stage had a giant crack through the center and I-beams lying across the floor. "I guess this place was condemned," Tai said.
"Yeah," Sam sighed, "But I don't see anybody."
Tai smiled. "Good. That means that we beat them."
The two turned to each other. "Now what do we do? Just wait?" Sam asked.
"I don't think that will be necessary."
They two swung their heads to the stage and saw Alice and Emperor Tai, a serious look on Tai's face, but a smirk on Alice's. "Welcome," she chuckled, "I assume that you are here to find the sealed entrance? Well, you're wasting your time, it's not here."
"Who cares?" Sam shouted, "You're here, and that's enough!" She fired a stream of glowing red at Alice, but the witch raised her hand and blocked it with ease.
Sam growled. She was about to run to the stage to tackle Alice, but Tai stopped her."Don't," he said, "She'll cream you!"
"I don't care!" she shouted.
"Sam!" Tai shouted, "Sara doesn't want you to die for her!"
Sam stopped struggled and took a few deep breaths. "Tai...I..I.."
Alice laughed. "Awe, how cute! Ha!"
Tai stared up at the stage, but his attention was focus on his double. "Tai," he said, "Why are you doing this?"
The Emperor Tai just stared at him.
"Please," he said, "We've both traveled through so many different worlds, but in every world that I've been in, the Tai has always been a good person."
Emperor Tai smirked. "I guess I'm the exception, huh?"
"No, I don't believe that, and I think you don't either. I saw what happened to you, I know why you became the Digimon Emperor. Tai, please, what happened to Kari wasn't your fault!"
Emperor Tai's stone face cracked slightly.
"And what happened to Matt...well, everyone gets a second chance. Please, don't do this."
Emperor Tai shook his head slightly. "Don't try to stop me, or you'll be sorry."
Tai started to run towards him, when Alice fired a thin red beam into the ground directly in front of him. "Another step, and I'll take off your head," she smirked.
Tai stepped back slightly, then shook his head. "Tai, can't you understand? You're nothing but her pawn! She's using you!"
Alice's smile faded and she became very angry. "Quiet!" Her eyes flashed for a second and the chairs exploded around Tai and Sam. They came crashing down on top of the duo. She smirked, then turned to Emperor Tai. "Come, Taichi, we've got to find that entrance."
After they left, the pile of chairs remained motionless. A figure ran inside and jumped over to pile and started throwing chairs aside. A few seconds later, Tai and Sam shot their heads up. "Are you okay?" the figure asked.
The two of them rubbed their injured arms. "Yeah," Sam said, slowly standing up. "I..I think so."
Tai turned to the figure. "Yeah, thanks. I...Derwood?"
Sam gasped and stood beside Tai. "What are you doing here?"
"Tracking Alice and your double," he answered.
"What?" Tai asked, "Why?"
He chuckled slightly. "It could be that I just want revenge on Yamaki and who ever is behind him, but maybe I learned a few things from you and your friends. Whatever the reasons, I'm here to help."
Tai and Sam glanced at each other. "What do you think?" he asked.
Sam shrugged. "I guess we could trust him."
Tai sighed. "Well, the entrance isn't here. Now what?"
Sam coughed slightly. "Maybe we should talk to Sara. Maybe she's awake."
Tai nodded. "It's worth a try."
Derwood nodded. "I'm going to try and follow Alice and the Digimon Emperor Tai. I'll meet you guys later if I find anything."
"Um okay," Tai said, "Do you know where we are?"
Derwood grinned slightly. "One of the most popular rock stars in this world? Yeah, I think I can find you. Later."
Tai and Sam were able to find Sara and Kari in the hospital room. The blond girl was lying on the bed, with a dozen different machines connected to her. Kari was sitting next to her. "What happened to you two?" she asked.
"We met Alice and Emperor Tai, but that witch almost killed us," Tai said, rubbing his shoulder, "That entrance isn't there."
Sam mentioned to Sara. "How is she?"
Kari sighed. "Still unconscious. They don't know how long she'll be like that."
Sam just nodded.
Kari looked at her watch. "Um Tai, we've got to get back to the concert. They're going to...Hey, Sara said 'performance hall,' do you think...?"
"It's worth a shot," Tai said, "But what do we do if Alice shows up? It doesn't look like Emperor Tai has any extra powers that I don't, but that witch is so powerful."
Kari walked over and held Tai's hand. "We'll do our best to stop them."
Tai nodded. "I hope so."
By the time Tai and Kari reached the concert hall, there was already a group of screaming people outside. They were mostly girls, all trying to cram into the hall. Tai and Kari both looked at each other with worry. "Kari," he said, "If I die here, promise me that you'll tell Sora when you get back home?"
She chuckled. "I don't think they're that bad."
Tai sighed and stepped out of the cab. A few of the girls in the back turned and saw him. "It's Tai Kamiya!" they shouted. All of the other girls began to scream and chase after him.
"Ah!" he yelled, running through the crowd to try and reach the back entrance. He grabbed the handle and was able to open the door. He jumped inside him and panted. "That was close." He glanced down at his clothes and saw that they were rip apart. "Man, I didn't know girls could be like that."
"Tai!"
He looked up and saw Tk standing in front of him. "Where have you been?"
"Visting someone in the hospital."
"I don't care!" Tk snapped, "Hurry up and get dressed. You've got to go on in a half and hour!"
Tai quickly ran past him and into his dressing room. Matt, Davis and Joe were already there. "You're late," Matt said as Tai ran to his set of clothes.
"Sorry! Jeeze!" he said as he got dressed.
When he was ready, he ran onstage with the other guys. The three girls were already there, and Kari and Tk were off stage watching them. Tai looked to everyone, then nodded. "Break a leg," he whispered to himself.
The curtain opened and the group stared out at the filled audience. Tai took a deep breath and nodded slightly to the others. Tai strummed on his guitar, and the others began playing. Music filled the concert, and Sora, Mimi, and Yolei started singing.
You've got a boy, you've got a girl,
Sittin' underneath a tree.
They sit there everyday.
And even though, you may think, that this is the way to be,
It may not always be that way.
You can't take nothin' for granted
You gotta live like today.
I turn around and I can see what's behind me,
And I turn back around and I can see what ahead.
And if you don't believe I'll be here all along
Just turn around.
The crowd was cheering and screaming as the Digidestined continued to play. Tai had completely lost himself in the moment, if he had been paying attention he would have seen Alice, Yamaki and Emperor Tai step inside. Unfortunately, he didn't noticed them until Alice's power sent a tremor through the concert hall.
The crowd started screaming again and they quickly ran through the fire exits. The rock group were next, all except for Tai and Kari. "Come on!" Tk shouted.
The two Kamiyas were right behind him until they reached the exit. Tai quickly threw a fallen I-beam across the entrance. "A beam fell in front of us!" he shouted, "We're stuck inside!"
He turned to Kari. "That should buy us some time." He turned back around to Alice and Emperor Tai. "What are you doing here?"
Alice laughed. "Why don't we can the small talk? You know why I'm here, and I know that you know."
Tai frowned, then turned to his double. "Still her lap dog, huh?"
"I wouldn't talk to her like that, it seems dangerous."
"Derwood," Kari said in shock, "You really are here to help us?"
He nodded,"Yeah, and I ran into some others outside." He mentioned to the door, where two girls walked inside.
"Sara!" Kari shouted, "Why aren't you in the hospital?"
The blond girl leaned on Sam's shoulder. "I couldn't. I promised that I would help you, and I'm going to."
"Besides," Sam smiled slightly, "We couldn't pay for the room, we don't have any insurance."
Alice laughed. "Well, it's nice that you're all here, on this special occasion."
"What occasion?" Derwood asked.
"Shut up!" Yamaki snapped, "No one's talking to you."
Alice held up her hand to tell Yamaki to be quiet. "Well, let's not wait any longer." She grinned with anticipation as she turned to Emperor Tai, "Now, use the powers that you have rightly taken! Open the seal!"
"Don't do it!" Tai shouted, "You don't have to!"
Emperor Tai just stared at him. "I must! This is the way it has to be!" He held his hands to the ceiling as eight glowing beams shot into the sky; four from each hand. They smashed into each other and created a glowing vortex in the sky.
"Excellent!" Alice laughed, "Come, Yamaki, Taichi, into the vortex!"
The evil group grinned and jumped into the air. The vacuum of the vortex pulled them inside where they vanished.
"We've got to go after them!" Tai shouted.
"You can't!" Sara said, "If you and Kari jump through, you'll remain in those bodies, but the Tai and Kari of this world won't have any bodies to return to!"
"Wait," Sam said, over the roar of the vortex, "Can't we create bodies for the Tai and Kari of this world?"
"It could work," she said, "but it's risky! What time is it?"
"6:00!" Derwood answered.
Sara thought for a minute, then grabbed a small item from her pocket.
"Is that a cell phone?" Kari asked.
"Yeah, we're wireless," she smiled slightly. She put the phone next to her ear, "Yeah, it's me. I need you to create two bodies and hurry. Yeah, the Tai and Kari of the world I'm currently in. After you do that, get to the concert hall as soon as you can. The vortex should still be unsealed, just use the Trans-dimensional Unit to open it. Alright." She disconnected.
"Who was that?" Tai asked.
"Now isn't the time," Sara said, looking at the vortex, "It's going to close soon. It's now or never."
Tai held onto Kari's hand. "Let's go!"
Sara looked at Derwood. "Are you coming?"
"I wouldn't miss it."
The quintet got a running start before jumping into the twirling circle.
to be continued....