Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

A/N: Well, before I say anything else, this chapter is dedicated to FallenArchangelDD who asked me if I wouldn't mind embarrassing Mickey in one of my chapters. Also, there are two new stories now posted for the FTFOD challenge, so check them out! They are 'A Window to the Past' by FallenArchangelDD and 'My Brother's Keeper' by CrestOfHealing. And make sure you take a look at them because I'm tired of threatening people! Voting is going to be open to everyone. For details check my forum. That's it for news. Enjoy!

Following the Footsteps of Destiny

Chapter 128: Bad Karma

Masato 'Matty' Takaishi

Odaiba, Japan, Earth

"Mickey, will you hurry up? We're going to be late!"

"Well, I wouldn't have to hurry if you hadn't taken so long in the shower before me! Next time I'm going first!"

Masato Takaishi crossed his arms and frowned at the bathroom door, but apparently Mickey's twin psychic abilities weren't kicking in at the moment because the door remained firmly shut and the shower kept running. Growing impatient, Matty proceeded to bang heartily on the aforementioned door and gave it an enthusiastic kick for good measure. "Mickey, I know Mrs. Hanari likes you, but even you're not going to get out of detention if we're late!"

"I'm trying to hurry as fast as I can!"

"Well, you're not hurrying fast enough! Forget Mrs. Hanari. Ryoko's going to kill us if we're late!"

"Matty!"

Matty turned to see Rina coming down the hallway towards him, and he gave her a big smile. "Hey, little sis, you'd better get downstairs before Mom starts yelling at you."

"Mommy's going to yell at you before she yells at me! Why are you banging on the door?"

"Mickey's being really uncooperative today."

"So what? You're like that everyday!"

Matty rolled his eyes and gently ruffled his sister's dark hair. "Get out of here, would you? Mom's probably waiting for you downstairs."

Rina stuck her tongue out at him, and turning towards the bathroom door, she gave it a cheerful bang with her fist. "Bye, Mickey!"

"See you, Rina," came the reply from the other side of the door.

"Say goodbye to Goldmon and Palelymon for me!"

"I will!"

Speaking of Goldmon, where is he?

Matty watched Rina scurry down the stairs with a frown on his face and slapped the palm of his hand against the door. "Mickey, do you know where Goldmon is? I think I've lost him."

"He's in here with Palelymon. They're playing in the sink."

"Really? Goldmon, how did you sneak in there without me noticing?"

"Playing in the water is fun!" Goldmon said happily from the other side of the door.

Matty let out a groan, and stepping away from the door, he proceeded to bang his forehead against the wall. "Great, detention here I come."

"Sorry, Matty," Mickey said sheepishly over the noise of the shower. "Goldmon came in here with me when you were busy running around looking for your shirt. I think he's having too much fun with Palelymon right now to bother paying attention to anything else. Neither he nor Palelymon even stopped playing long enough to say bye to Rina!"

Matty was about to answer when the sound of his dad's voice captured his attention. "Matty, Dai and the others are here. You'd better tell Mickey to hurry up. If you guys don't get moving you're going to be late for school."

"I hope you two don't plan on making this a habit," his mother shouted up the stairs.

Well, at least this time it'll be Mickey's fault instead of mine!

Matty smiled at the bathroom door in amusement and raised his fist, but before he could start pestering his twin again, the door suddenly burst open, and he stumbled directly into Mickey's outstretched arms. "Yuck! Mickey, you're all wet!"

"Well, what did you expect?"

Matty allowed his twin to push him out into the hallway, but before he could get a word in edgewise, Mickey crossed his arms over his bare chest and gave him a disapproving look. "You shouldn't bang on the door like that. One of these days it's going to break because of you!"

"You're so silly, Matty," Goldmon chirped, hopping into the hallway with Palelymon and beaming at him.

"At least someone's having fun today."

And it definitely isn't me! Then again, I guess that depends on whether or not I can avoid getting detention...

Matty glanced at his twin and raised his golden eyebrows. Mickey was standing in the middle of the hallway wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and the carpet was soaked beneath his feet. Smiling slightly, Matty pointed at the pale blue carpet and gazed innocently at his brother. "Uh, Mickey, you're dripping all over the floor."

"Don't you think I know that?"

"Mom's going to have a fit when she sees-"

"Will you make yourself useful and bring me some clothes?"

"Why didn't you bring them with you in the first place?"

"I was going to, but you kept trying to hurry me up and I forgot!" Mickey wailed, glancing over his shoulder and gazing anxiously at the clock ticking steadily away on the bathroom wall.

Matty laughed and gave his brother what he hoped was a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. He turned in the direction of their bedroom, but the sound of sudden footsteps on the stairs captured his attention, and instead of responding to Mickey's request, he proceeded to make his way over to the stairs. Ryoko appeared at the top of the steps before he could get very far, and the look of utter disbelief on his cousin's face made him smile.

"Mickey!" Ryoko shouted, disapproval radiating from his body. "What are you doing wandering around half-naked up here when we're supposed to be on our way to school? In case you didn't notice, we're running out of time. Will you stop fooling around and get dressed before Mrs.Hanari forces me to spend all afternoon in detention with Dai?"

"I'm not fooling around! Matty's the one who-"

"We don't have time for excuses!" Ryoko interrupted, crossing his arms and glancing impatiently over his shoulder. "Really, Mickey, I thought you cared about the Digital World enough to at least be on time for school! We can't find the Spirit Chips if we're stuck in detention you know!"

Mickey blushed and gazed miserably at his feet. "It's not like I'm trying to be late on purpose! Besides, we still have a little bit of-"

"Hey, guys! Are you ready to take down Vampiramon and spoil all of DarkAngelicmon's plans?" Dai asked cheerfully, coming up the stairs and throwing his arm around Ryoko's shoulders. "Uh...Mickey, you might want to put some clothes on before we leave."

"You shouldn't drip all over the carpet like that," Sam added, coming up behind Dai and smiling in amusement.

Mickey let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "Why won't anyone let me say something?"

"What's going on up here?"

Matty let out a gasp and grabbed onto his twin's arm, but before he could shove his brother back into the bathroom, Takara, Ami, Ema, Miya, and Taniko appeared at the top of the stairs. Takara was the one who had spoken, and she did not look at all impressed by the commotion taking place in the hallway. Thankfully she did not appear to have spotted Mickey yet, but that was due mostly to the fact that Dai had stepped in front of the female Digidestined and was waving his arms in front of her face in an effort to keep her attention focused on something other than Mickey. "Kara, you might want to go back down-"

"Dai, will you get out of the way! If you don't quit it you're going to hit me in the nose!"

"But-"

Quick thinking, Dai, but I know Kara and if I'm right, then I doubt your plan is going to work...

Sure enough, Takara pushed the goggle-headed leader out of her path and stepped into the middle of the hallway with a frown on her face. Matty glanced frantically at his brother, but unfortunately Mickey appeared to have lost his ability to move.

Uh oh...

"Mickey!" Taniko squealed, catching sight of the older twin standing in the hallway without any clothes on.

Takara frowned at Taniko before turning to look at Mickey, and spotting her cousin, she promptly clapped her hands over her eyes and let out a gasp of horror. "Mickey! Why didn't one of you boys warn me!"

"I tried but you wouldn't listen to me!" Dai protested.

"Kara!" Mickey cried, his face turning bright red.

"Kara, you'd better get back downstairs before Mickey loses all of his dignity," Ryoko snorted, giving the female Digidestined a gentle push towards the stairs.

Matty smiled sympathetically at his twin, but Mickey was too busy trying to hang onto his towel to notice.

"Mickey, you look like your face is on fire!" Ema giggled.

"Get out of here, Ema!" Dai snarled, grabbing onto his female cousin's arm and dragging her towards the stairs. "Kara-"

"The last thing I needed to see was my cousin in a towel!" Takara moaned, turning on her heel and racing back down the stairs.

Well, it's never boring around here. I guess that has to count for something!

Matty smiled to himself, and taking pity on his twin, he quickly stepped in front of Mickey and glared at the group of giggling females who, with the exception of Taniko, were all trying to catch a glimpse of his brother. "Do you guys mind?"

"Nice towel, Mickey. You might want to hang onto it before we see what's underneath!" Miya snorted, bursting into laughter.

"You look so cute wearing pratically nothing!" Ema giggled.

Matty didn't think it was possible, but somehow Mickey's face turned an even deeper shade of red than it had when Kara had first appeared in the hallway.

"Please go away!" the older twin cried.

Unfortunately that only made Ema and the others laugh even more, and Mickey covered his face with his hands.

"But-"

Matty cut Ema off with a wave of his hand and glared at the blue-haired female. "You heard him! Get lost, Ema. And that goes for the rest of you, too!"

"Hey, Matty, you should be just as embarrassed as Mickey," Ami said slyly.

Huh?

Matty glanced at his twin, who was cowering behind him, and frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, you are Mickey's identical twin, and now that we've seen Mickey without any clothes on, that means we've pretty much seen you, too!"

Matty blinked in surprise and felt his face heat up. "Ami! That's it! All of you leave, now!"

"Oh, Matty, we're really sorry!" Taniko gasped.

"Don't worry about it. Just get Ema out of here at least."

Taniko blushed and smiled shyly at him. "Of course."

"What is going on up here?" Noah demanded, appearing at the top of the stairs with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Noah, will you get your sister out of here?" Dai groaned.

"Why?"

"Quit trying to spoil my fun!" Ema shouted, glaring at Dai.

Noah glanced at Mickey and his dark eyebrows narrowed into a frown. "Come on, girls, leave Mickey alone and get back downstairs."

"I don't have to listen to-"

"Now, Ema!"

"Fine, we're going," Miya grumbled.

"We're really, really sorry, Mickey," Taniko said softly.

"See you guys downstairs!" Ami giggled, winking at Ryoko.

Ryoko blushed and glanced anxiously at Dai, but the goggle-headed leader didn't seem to notice.

Miya proceeded to drag Ema down the stairs with enthusiasm, and as soon as all the girls had left, Mickey let out a small sigh of relief. "I never sould have gotten out of bed this morning."

"You won't save the Digital World with that kind of attitude!" Dai smirked.

"Come on, Mickey, we'd better get you back to your room and into some clothes before Ema tries to sneak up the stairs and steal your towel or something," Noah said sympathetically, taking Mickey's arm and leading the older twin away from the bathroom door.

Matty was about to follow Noah, but the sound of sudden footsteps on the stairs again captured his attention, and he spotted his father coming down the hallway towards him. "Hey, Dad, what's up?"

Great, now we're really in trouble!

"Aren't you two ready yet?"

Matty smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we would be if-"

"Mickey! You shouldn't be wandering around like that when we have guests in the house!" his father scolded, ignoring him and frowning disapprovingly at Mickey. "You'd better hurry up and get dressed. I don't want you or Matty sitting in detention all afternoon."

"Dad!" Mickey meekly lowered his eyes to the ground and let out a soft moan. "Why does everyone think I'm doing this on purpose?"

"We'll be down in a few minutes. Come on, Mickey," Dai said cheerfully, shoving the older twin down the hallway. Matty led the others into the room he shared with Mickey, and closing the door behind Ryoko, he proceeded to throw various clothes at his brother. "Hurry up. Mom's going to start yelling at us if we don't leave soon."

"Why do I have a feeling it's your fault?" Ryoko smirked, leaning against the door.

Matty glanced at his cousin, and frowning slightly, he turned to gaze thoughtfully at the ceiling. Normally Ryoko was the type of guy who always appeared cool and calm, but today there was something about the golden-haired Digidestined's expression that seemed a little odd. Despite the comfortable atmosphere in the room, for some reason Ryoko kept glancing nervously at Sam, but the raven-haired Digidestined didn't appear to notice, though that was due mostly to the fact that Ryoko would quickly look away every time Sam's eyes shifted in his direction.

I wonder what's going on.

"Thanks for helping me out, Noah," Mickey said shyly, trying unsuccessfully to pull on his jeans and socks at the exact same time.

Growing impatient, Matty grabbed his brother's favorite shirts and pulled them over the older twin's head with enthusiasm. Ignoring Mickey's protests, he somehow managed to wrestle his twin's arms through the sleeves, and smiling in satisfaction, he took a step back to survey his handywork. "There, all set! Let's get going."

"Mickey, why were you acting all funny when the girls came upstairs?" Palelymon asked curiously, hopping into his partner's lap.

"It's a little embarrassing to be seen without your clothes on, especially when it's a group of giggling girls who feel the need to start making jokes about it," Sam explained, smiling in amusement. "It works both ways, though. Ami or one of the other girls would have had a fit if a group of guys, namely us, had accidentally seen one of them in a towel."

"Did you have to mention Ami? What are you trying to do, give me nightmares?" Dai groaned.

"I don't get it. Humans are very strange," Goldmon said, his fluffy ears fluttering lightly above his head. "Where are DemiEmbermon and the others?"

"Downstairs. We'd better get them out of here before they eat everything in the house," Dai snorted.

"But-"

"We'll explain why humans are so weird later," Noah interrupted, scratching Goldmon's ears and smiling to himself.

Matty quickly pulled the little gold digimon into his arms, and grabbing onto Mickey's sleeve, he proceeded to drag his twin down the stairs. Dai and Ryoko were walking just ahead of them, and surprisingly enough, Ryoko did not even attempt to leave Dai behind. In fact, now that Matty thought about it, Ryoko hadn't made a single sarcastic comment towards Dai since the two of them had come up the stairs earlier, and Dai, too, had not made a single attempt to get on the golden-haired Digidestined's nerves.

That's weird. They usually don't act this nice to one another, and when they do finally manage to get along, it's usually not this early in the morning.

The thing that surprised Matty the most, though, was the way Dai had thrown his arm around Ryoko's shoulders and the golden-haired Digidestined hadn't done a thing about it. Normally when Dai tried something like that, Ryoko would roll his eyes and shove the goggle-headed leader away, but this time he had merely stood there gazing quietly at his feet.

I wonder if Dai even noticed. Probably not. He never notices anything.

"Hey, guys, are you ready to go?" Taysuke asked, getting up from his seat at the table.

"Can we bring some food along?" DemiEmbermon asked hopefully.

Matty glanced anxiously at his mother and winced at the look on her face. "Sorry, Mom."

"Why don't I believe you? Your father's going to take Rina to school. I'd take her myself, but if I do, I'll be late for work. As for the rest of you, get out of my kitchen and get yourselves to school!"

"Yes, Aunt Kari," Takara sighed.

"Don't forget, we're all supposed to meet and Dai's house after school," Kenzo reminded them.

Matty nodded in agreement and turned to look at his father. "Will you be there, Dad?"

"Yes, I'm coming along for moral support. Davis, Mimi, and Jun are also coming. Cody, Rosa, and Noriko probably won't arrive until after you guys go to the Digital World but they're coming too. Remember, Tai, Sora, Mina, Izzy, and Matt are going with you guys so you'd better be on your best behaviour!"

"No kidding," Ryoko muttered, making a face.

"We're all coming, too," Taysuke piped up, gesturing to himself and waving his hand at Noah and the others.

"I'll bring Rina and Nao," T.K. offered.

Taniko beamed at everyone and brushed her long, dark hair out of her eyes. "I know we've got a really serious situation on our hands, but still, this is going to be fun. Don't worry, guys, I've got all the computer work covered."

"See you all later!" Patamon called cheerfully from his seat on the kitchen counter.

Matty waved goodbye to Patamon and his parents, and he quickly left the house with his large group of friends trailing behind him. Somewhere inside his backpack he could hear Goldmon muttering something about being treated like a piece of baggage, but he was too busy watching his friends to pay much attention to his partner's complaints. Mickey was walking with his eyes lowered to the ground, and there was still a faint blush on his cheeks, but luckily the others seemed to have forgotten all about him.

"Hey, Noah, why don't you ever walk around in a towel?" Miya giggled, her lips twitching into a sly smile.

"He does," Ema smirked. "The next time I catch him I'll be sure to snap a picture and give it to you as a gift out of the goodness of my heart!"

"Ema!" Noah blushed and gave his sister a dirty look. "If you do-"

"Can we please talk about something else?" Mickey mumbled, his face turning and interesting shade of purple.

Matty grinned and wrapped a comforting arm around his brother's shoulders. Clearly Mickey was still embarrassed about what had happened earlier, but obviously that didn't seem to bother Ema.

"Will you guys stop fooling around?" Ryoko muttered, wrinkling his nose.

Matty blinked in surprise and frowned when he suddenly realized Ryoko was doing everything he could to stay as far away from Sam as possible. At first Matty thought it was just his imagination, but then he noticed Dai was also giving Ryoko a funny look.

Maybe Dai's not as blind as I thought he was. I wonder what's going on with Ryoko, but more importantly, I wonder exactly what it is he's hiding...