Page 191: TK and Kari! Race Swap with Digimon

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[edit] Episode

We all thought about it. I mean, how could you not? Watching them fight, sharing their energy, being their friends…how could we not think about what it would be like? To be a real Digimon?

I used to think about it a lot. If I could switch places with Angemon, fight the forces if evil, for real! It’s a cool dream.

Doesn’t mean I wanted it to be real.

<Season 10 Opening>

It all started with a simple trip to the Digital World. It was summer, and at the same time, it was sweltering.

“Jeez louise!” Davis groaned, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He’d already removed his flame-decorated jacket and his gloves, both which were sitting next to him on the grassy hill. “It must be a hundred degrees out here!”

“Actually, it’s a hundred and two.” Ken muttered, checking his watch. It was a real fancy one that had a thermometer and everything.

“Thanks for telling us, Sherlock.” Davis snapped. He didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just that the heat made him grumpy and irritable.

Yolei put her gloves into her helmet with a sigh. “Who cares how hot it is.” she groaned, dropping to the ground next to Hawkmon. “Can’t we figure out a way to get out of it?”

“We could always go to the ice region.” Cody suggested. A slight growth spurt had happened, now he was about as tall as Kari and Davis.

“Nah.” T.K. muttered, pulling his hat down over his eyes. “That’s too cold. We need an in-between place.”

Patamon lifted his ears up so they wouldn’t make him so hot. “I know a bit of a river around here.”

“A river?” Kari asked, sitting up.

“Yeah!” Veemon sat up. “I know what you’re talking about!”

“It’s a great place to cool down.” Patamon explained. “And it’s got the widest beach anywhere, with soft white sand dunes as far as you can see.”

“Sounds good to me!” Davis said, standing and everyone quickly agreed.

After a fifteen-minute walk, and an extra ten across the dunes, they reached it at last. Patamon was right, the smooth white sand was almost blinding when it reflected the harsh light. But around the river were lots of tall, branched-out trees. The kind with big, glossy green leaves and spread-out limbs that reached out over the water, some making a kind of curtain and all providing some great shade around the river.

And what a river it was! It was at least a mile wide and perfectly crystal clear and glass-like, in a way that you could see all the way down to the very bottom. Parts of it were at less than two feet deep, others over ten. And it was cool and gentle and oh so refreshing.

Quite soon the edge of the bank were littered with stacks of discarded items, including six multi-colored D-3s, six D-Terminal pocket computers, Yolei’s brown helmet with her gloves and glasses inside, Davis’s flame jacket and yellow gloves, Kari’s camera, T.K.’s hat, Ken’s watch, and the various different kinds of shoes with socks stuffed inside them.

The kids rolled up their pants legs and waded into one of the shallow parts of the river. It was quite enjoyable to feel the cool water rushing against their feet and ankles, but it was rather dull until Davis ‘accidentally’ knocked into T.K., who wound up face-first in the direct current.

“Whoops.” Davis said rather fakely. “Sorry, T.S.”

T.K., still on his hands and knees, spat some water out of his mouth. “Davis?” he said, looking up sneakily through his sopping bangs. “It’s T.K.”

With that, he grabbed Davis by the ankles and flipped him onto his back into the water. Davis sat up, sputtering, then almost immediately sent a wave of water at the other boy. T.K. splashed back, and soon they were going at it like a couple of ten year olds.

Yolei rolled her eyes. “Thank goodness some guys mature when they get older.” She shot a glance in the direction Ken had been, but he wasn’t there anymore. He’d decided to get into the act and was now splashing and laughing right along with them.

Yolei heaved an exasperated sigh. “Really!” she muttered to Kari. “Those boys just don’t know when to quit.”

Kari grinned at her friend out of the corner of her eye. With a quick movement, she kicked Yolei’s legs out from under her, sending the older girl splashing down. She’d asked for it.

With a quick movement from Yolei, Kari was right in the water with them, and now almost the whole group of kids were laughing and splashing each other, except for one.

“Come on in, Cody!” Kari called, dog-paddling in the deep water. “The water’s great!”

“Uh…no thanks.” Cody denied, sliding the other way. “I’ll just wade over here…”

Davis looked at T.K. T.K. looked at Davis. The locked eyes and nodded. At the same time, they came from behind Cody, picked the boy up under the arms, and dumped him into the river with a SPLASH!

The only ones who stayed out of the water all together were Gatomon and Hawkmon. When asked why, they had only to comment each in one sentence:

“Wet feathers make for bad flying, Yolei.” replied Hawkmon in his deep English-accented voice.

“I’m a cat.” said Gatomon simply. “What makes you think I wanna go swimming?”

So they remained on the side and relaxed in the shade while their partners and friends splashed in the river. After a while their clothes started to get heavy, so the boys pulled off their shirts and swam bare-chested. The girls, being unable to do such a thing in polite public, just had to live with the heavy sagging of their clothes and tried not to drown in the deeper waters.

After an hour of this, the group pulled themselves on-shore and lay out on the bank to dry off. In half an hour they were semi-dry and, besides being covered in sand, feeling quite good about themselves as they put their stuff back on and began the long walk towards the DigiPort home.

It was halfway through the dunes that they were attacked.

“Do you think we can come back tomorrow?” Yolei was asking, when a purple blur zipped forward and knocked Patamon off T.K.’s head, sending the Digimon flying into the dunes and knocking the boy to the ground.

“T.K.!” shouted Patamon, flapping his wing-like ears to steady himself over the dunes.

“You okay?” Kari asked as T.K. sat up, rubbing his head.

“I’m fine…” he groaned. “What was that?”

There was a deep, feminine laugh. In front of them suddenly stood a purple, human-like Digimon. She had pale skin and dark purple robes that covered her entire body. The hair was black and reached to the waist, with black gloves and creepy green eyes. In one hand was a tall, silver staff, topped with a purple orb.

“What in the name of…” Cody started.

“What is that?!” Yolei blurted out.

“Allow me to introduce myself.” The Digimon gave a bow as T.K. stumbled to his feet. “I am the almighty Sorceressmon, the Lady of the Dark Arts.”

“Dark Arts?” Kari asked as T.K. stood.

“Witchcraft and sorcery.” Ken explained. “Old magic.”

“But of course.” Sorceressmon stood. “Now, to discuss the conditions of your surrender…”

“Surrender?!” Davis scoffed. “What makes you think we’d surrender to you?”

Sorceressmon’s eyes narrowed. From her finger tips, she shot a spark of purple fire at Davis, and it missed him by about have an inch. “Because.” she said simply as he dodged it. “If you don’t I shall be forced to destroy you.”

“Over my dead body!” shouted Veemon.

“That can be arranged.” hissed Sorceressmon, flying high, high up into the air with no wings. She began to concentrate her energy on the orb of her staff, getting ready for the attack.

“Um…anybody else think we should Armor Digivolve about now?” Armodillomon asked.

Cody nodded. “Right.” each of them, except Ken, took out their D-Terminals.

“DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!”

Veemon, Armor Digivolve to…Raidramon!

Hawkmon, Armor Digivolve to…Halsemon!

Armodillomon, Armor Digivolve to…Digmon!

Gatomon, Armor Digivolve to…Nefertimon!

Patamon, Armor Digivolve to…Pegasusmon!

Wormmon, Digivolve to…Stingmon!

“Spiking Strike!” Stingmon slashed at Sorceressmon with his blade. She dropped back, and the orb stopped glowing.

“Why you…” she growled. “Purple Flame!”

A ball of fire hit Stingmon in the chest, knocking him back. Raidramon roared forward. “Thunder Blade!” he fired the attack for Sorceressmon, and at the same time, Digmon fired a Gold Rush.

The two attacks hit at the same time, but neither did anything. Sorceressmon had blocked both. “Have to do better than that!” she taunted.

“Darn! She blocked it!” Davis muttered under his breath.

“We’ll never get anywhere this way.” Pegasusmon whispered. “If we can get a Golden Noose around her, she should be easy picking.”

The others nodded. “Okay.” Yolei agreed from Halsemon’s back. “Kari, you and T.K. circle around back, we’ll keep her busy down here ‘til you make it.”

Kari and T.K. nodded at the same time, then mounted their Digimon partners and slid in among the sand dunes, crouching around back of their foe.

Sorceressmon grinned as she felt the two creatures circle around her. She’d been studying these kids a long time, as she slowly built her army of Digimon slaves. She knew these tactics. When she heard two great pairs of wings soaring up behind her, she knew it was time to strike.

“Sorcerer’s Spell!” she shouted, spinning around and swiping her staff in the direction of the two children and their partners.

For a moment nothing happened. Nothing they could see or hear anyway. Nefertimon and Pegasusmon hovered in mid-air wondering what the trick was.

An invisible force suddenly struck them at the same time. And not just the Digimon, but their partners as well. They cried out in pain as the Digimon were thrown on their backs, T.K. and Kari only clinging on by a hair. They crashed into the dunes fifty feet away.

“Kari!” Davis shouted.

“T.K.!” called Cody.

“Nefertimon! Pegasusmon!” shouted the Digimon.

Stingmon spun around. “Where’d Sorceressmon go?!” he called, and indeed, the purple Digimon was gone.

“No time for that now, Stingmon!” Ken called, hurrying up the side of the dune. “We have to make sure T.K. and Kari are okay!”

The Digimon returning one-by-one to Rookie form, the group scrambled up the edge of the first dune, slid down the next, and ran up the side of the one closest to where their friends had crashed.

“T.K.! Kari!” the called, coming to the top. “Are you guys…”

They stopped short and nearly fell down the dune. Two humanoid figures sat in the crater, but they sure weren’t their friends.

The first was a girl, just about their age, and strangely familiar. Her eyes were a most remarkable, almost unnatural, shade of bright blue. Her hair was waist-length and white, parts of it streaked what looked like a very pale purple. She wore a sleeveless white shirt with a yellow neckerchief, yellow shorts, white shoes with purple laces, tall white socks, and yellow gloves with odd orange stripes on them.

The other was a boy, also their age, but just as oddly familiar. He had those same bright, remarkably blue eyes. His hair, however, was short and shaggy, and a bright orange color. He wore an short-sleeved orange T-shirt with a red stripe around the middle, slightly baggy blue jeans, and white and black shoes.

These two oddly familiar kids were looking at their arms and bodies with wide eyes, like something amazing had just happened or they were just getting used to their life. The DigiDestined on the hill looked at them, then at each other.

“Do you know these kids?” Yolei asked.

“I’ve never seen them before.” Cody shrugged.

“This is where they crashed, isn’t it?” Davis asked, looking around.

“I’m sure it is…” Ken began, but about that time both kids looked up at them.

There was an uncertain silence for a moment. Finally, Davis spoke. “Uh…hi there…”

The two kids on the ground turned to each other. “Gatomon?” the boy asked the girl.

“Patamon?” she responded.

This time, Yolei really did fall down the dune.

The two kids stood shakily, getting used to their legs. Then they guy reached down to help Yolei to her feet. No one could think of anything to say, until Veemon came cautiously up and sniffed the air around the girl.

His eyes widened. “It is you, Gatomon!” he cried in surprise.

“WHAT?!” The DigiDestined all stared at the two kids. Now that they thought about it, they did look quite a bit like the two Digimon.

Cody tried to work it out slowly. He turned to the boy. “Patamon?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.” he agreed.

Cody turned to the girl. “Gatomon?”

“Yup.” the girl looked up sheepishly.

That’s when it spilled. “You’re…You’re human!!” cried Davis in shock.

Patamon and Gatomon waved their arms around. “Don’t look at us!” Gatomon cried.

“We don’t know how it happened!” Patamon insisted.

“But…But if you’re human…” Ken scanned the area. “Where are T.K. and Kari?”

There was a burst of sand from the side, followed by another. Two tiny Digimon came rolling down, head-over-heels, and came to a stop on the ground, spitting up sand and rubbing stuff out of their eyes.

One was a cat, clinging to Kari’s pink D-3 in her mouth and a D-Terminal in her paws. She looked exactly like Gatomon, except it was that same auburn-brown color of Kari’s hair, and its eyes were a deep, rich brown. There was no tail ring or gloves. The other was a Patamon, but a Patamon with deep golden-blonde fur and crystal-clear blue eyes. He held T.K.’s green D-3 and D-Terminal, both of which were much to big for him.

Gatomon and Patamon knelt down next to them, and the others leaned over their shoulders. “T.K.? Kari?” they asked.

The two Digimon looked up. “Gatomon?” asked the cat in Kari’s voice.

“Patamon?” asked the other, in a voice distinctly T.K.’s, if a bit higher.

Patamon picked T.K. up and brushed the white sand out of where the tiny arms couldn‘t reach. “Gatomon?!” Kari insisted. “What the heck happened? I’m a cat!”

“More like a Digi-Cat.” Gatomon muttered. “We switched places.”

“How?” T.K. asked. He was now sitting in Patamon’s arms. “How’d it happen?”

“It must have something to do with Sorceressmon’s attack.” Ken muttered. “Just before she fired it, she called ‘Sorcerer’s Spell’. Somehow or another, it must have done this.”

Cody shook his head. “We‘ve got a problem.”

Tai hurried down the hall towards Davis’s apartment. He’d been soccer practice, but the message had said ‘Emergency Meeting’ so he’d had to hurry over.

He rang the bell. Davis answered. “Hey Tai.” he greeted the older boy. “Come on in, you’re the first one here.”

The two kids quickly slid back to Davis’s room. Tai had expected to see all the younger DigiDestined, but instead he was met by Yolei, Ken, Cody, and two new kids he’d never seen before, while T.K. and his sister were no where to be seen.

“Who’re these guys?” he asked.

The kids already in the room glanced at each other uncertainly. “So we don’t have to tell the story over twenty times…” Yolei began

“Maybe we should keep the introductions until after everyone gets here.” Ken finished for her.

So Tai sat on the bed and waited patiently. Slowly the older DigiDestined trickled in a took their places. They were all impatient to know what was happening.

“Alright then.” Yolei sighed, shutting the door behind Joe when he hurried in from class. “That’s everybody.”

“Hold on a sec.” Sora said. “Kari and T.K. aren’t here yet.”

The younger DigiDestined glanced at each other nervously. “Well…” Ken started.

“Actually…” Yolei muttered.

“They are.” Cody finished.

The older DigiDestined glanced around. “Where?” Tai asked. “Are they hiding in the closet or something?”

“Down here Tai.”

Tai looked around. “Where?” he finally asked.

A brown cat with brown eyes pushed its way up into his lap. “Right here.” it muttered in his sister’s voice.

Tai looked down in surprise. The cat grinned at him sheepishly. He picked it…her…up. “Kari?” he asked.

There was a bit of shocked silence, then Matt laughed. “Okay, okay, great joke you guys.” he said with a grin. “Now where’s the microphone?”

“It’s not a joke, Matt.” sighed the new boy. He glanced down at his partner, sitting in his lap, then back up at the older boy. “I’m…Patamon.”

The reaction was…to be expected. I suppose we should just about leave it at that, because it consisted mainly of a lot of yelling, fighting and disbelief from all the DigiDestined, until the younger ones finally got the story out.

“So let me get this straight…” Joe messaged his temples. “You were hit by that attack, and then switched places?”

Gatomon, Patamon, Kari and T.K. nodded. “This is wild.” Sora shook her head. “Gatomon and Patamon are human…Kari and T.K. are Digimon…”

“Any ideas on how to switch us back, Izzy?” T.K. asked. He was attempting to get used to the ears-as-big-as-he-was part and finding it very tiring.

Izzy shook his head. “We’d have to get the exact opposite frequency of the one used to switch you in the first place. And even then we’d have to be extremely careful.” he brushed his hair back, talking more to the others than to the subjects at hand. “Even if a mistake didn’t kill them, we could switch them permanently, or, rather embarrassingly, do something like turning Kari in a boy and T.K. in a girl…”

The two Digimon both blushed deep scarlet. Matt quickly made an attempt to change the subject. “So…what can we do?”

“Nothing right now.” Izzy sighed. “I’m afraid we’ll have to find Sorceressmon and get her to reverse the effects somehow.”

“In the meantime?” Gatomon asked, and even as a human she purred slightly as she talked.

“In the meantime…” Izzy sighed. “We’ll just have to let do. I suppose Gatomon and Patamon can work the Digivices because they’re sitting here, so we’ll just have to search until we find…”

Kari suddenly let out a gasp, sitting straight up in Gatomon’s lap. “How’re we ever gonna explain this to our parents?!” she cried.

“Oh, shoot!” T.K. was suddenly alert too. “I forgot about that! Mom’s gonna freak!”

Tai and Matt had both gone slightly pale. It was obvious they’d forgotten about the fact that it would probably be up to them to explain exactly why their siblings were stuck like this.

“Well…” Tai swallowed slightly. “I guess…we’ll handle it…”

~ * ~ * ~

“Sorceressmon.” the dark figure hissed. “Have you done your work?”

“As you commanded, my lord.” the Digimon was knelling. “The whole group is in a state of mass confusion.”

“Excellent.” her master hissed. “I so do love watching such an entertaining show. I hope they enjoy themselves.”

“Your orders, sir?” Sorceressmon asked, standing.

“Yes…Tomorrow, as soon as you see them. Send your slaves. That should take care of them, once and for all..”

~ * ~ * ~

Kari awoke early in the morning. She and Gatomon, as well as the boys, hadn’t had a very good night. Her mother had fainted on the spot, while it took Matt an hour and a half to calm Ms. Takaishai down. After that came a long time of explaining and scolding and yelling and crying. By the time they finally got to bed, none of them could figure out how to sleep right.

Gatomon still wanted to curl up on top of the bed, and often knocked her partner to the floor. Kari wanted to stretch out under the covers, got too hot during night, and sometimes scratched Gatomon’s legs up with her claws. Patamon’s head felt cold the whole time, and T.K. kept rolling over and getting caught in his own ears. Sum it up to say that none of them got a very good night’s sleep.

Restless, Kari jumped to an open window. She had no idea Digimon had this much untapped energy in the Real World. She didn’t like being cooped up. She wanted to get outside.

She checked the clock. It was 6:25. Gatomon wouldn’t miss her for about half an hour or so.

Kari pushed the window open and jumped to the ledge just beneath, then after a few more leaps, landed on the fence that separated an alleyway, and finally onto the ground.

She yawned and stretched as she began around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful morning, with crystal clear blue skies and only a couple of small clouds crossing over. So calm…so peaceful…

Until she ran head-first into a small pack of stray dogs.

~ * ~ * ~

T.K. yawned widely. He sat on the rail of the apartment’s balcony, gazing over the city. He was bored. 6:45 PM, and he’d been lying around after a sleepless night. But he wasn’t really tired, just bored out of his skull. Maybe Digimon didn’t need a lot of sleep. Maybe it was just because he’d never Digivolved. Whatever. He was wide awake.

There was the loudest commotion from down below him. From the sounds of it, a bunch of dogs were casing some poor cat around the neighborhood.

He glanced down, and nearly fell off his perch. “What the…That looks like Kari!” he gasped, and indeed it was. She’d stumbled into the gang of dogs and they’d chased the little cat around mercilessly.

“Hang on, Kari!” he called, hoping she could hear. He then glance up, and tried to compose himself for flight.

There was just one little problem…He hadn’t quite gotten the hang of his ears yet. He’d practiced the night before, while Matt tried to get their mother to calm down. First he’d gone backwards for quite a bit, then run into the walls for a while. Now he was going forward, and had a pretty good sense of direction, but he was still a weak flier and at the mercy of every stray wind. Of course, he didn’t pay attention to any of this, and simply jumped into the air and hoped for the best.

First off, he plummeted two stories down without doing much of anything. Then he finally caught a cross breeze and went tumbling forward, head-over heels. Then flap… flap…flap…and finally going in the right direction, while bouncing up and down quite a bit.

“Okay.” he muttered to himself. “Maybe we take the stairs next time…”

Meanwhile, Kari was cornered in the back of an alley, facing the pack of snarling, snapping, barking dogs. She back up against the wall, and automatically her fur bristled all over.

Okay, okay…just think. she urged herself. I’m a Digimon, not a cat. I’ve got to have some sort of strength or power or something. Just what is it?! Oh, come on girl… Think think think think think think think……

With a sudden rush, a ball of clear air burst through the dogs and hit the wall above Kari’s head. The dogs and Kari were more surprised then scared at the odd spectacle. “That looked like…Patamon’s Boom Bubble…” Kari muttered to herself.

With a loud cry, something that looked like a ball of gold came barreling into the dogs, crashing into three of them. The dogs, not knowing what exactly this thing was, decided not to risk it for a cat and bolted, as the yellow ball hurled into a stack of boxes with a disgruntled OOMPH!

Kari blinked, then hurried over and peeked inside the mountain of collapsed cardboard. “T.K.?” she called uncertainly. “You still in one piece?”

The blonde creature sat up, shaking the dust out of his ears. “Did I get’em?” he asked dizzily.

“With the Boom Bubble? No.” Kari grinned. “But your flying scared ‘em off.”

T.K. stood on his fours and shook everything off. Kari giggled at him. “Okay, okay, I need a little more practice.” he grinned sheepishly.

“Anyway, you got me outta a tight spot there.” she said, smiling. “You saved my life.”

“N-No problem…” he muttered, turning red under his fur.

My gosh, he’s shy. she thought with a giggle.

He took to the air a moment later and hovered above her. “Need a ride home?” he asked, grinning again.

“I think I’ll walk, thank you.”

T.K. perked his ear up a moment. There was a faint call from a couple of streets over. “T.K.! T.K., where are you?!”

Patamon. And he felt fairly certain Gatomon was calling the same thing out Kari’s bedroom window at the moment, so they split up and went back to their partners.

~ * ~ * ~

“I do not believe you two!” Yolei exclaimed when she heard the morning’s fiasco. Kari and T.K. grinned sheepishly at each other. They were in the Digital World, searching for Sorceressmon.

The others were quiet enjoying the little story, although Gatomon and Patamon were rather vexed by it. They’d already told Kari and T.K. they’d been worried to wake up and find no one, although it was quiet obvious.

But before anyone could mention more, an explosion sounded from over the hill. With a crash, a Drimojimon leapt out from behind the grassy mount, roaring and growling.

“What in the…?!” Davis gasped, leaping back.

“Maybe it’s having a tantrum!” gulped Yolei nervously.

They ruled out that idea as the Drimojimon crashed one of his paws into the mountain side, missing Gatomon and Ken by a couple of inches. In about ten seconds, Hawkmon, Armodillomon, Veemon and Wormmon had Digivolved to their Champion forms, leaving Gatomon, Patamon and their partners to watch.

After a bit of battling, however, the Drimojimon implied a tactic that including burrowing below the hills, then popping up unexpectedly.

“You can feel the tremors underground!” Ankylomon said. “He’s moving that-a-way!”

“I bet he’s from Sorceressmon!” Cody called. “Which means if we follow him, we could capture her!”

“Then let’s get moving!” Stingmon buzzed, scooping up Ken.

Davis, Yolei and Cody either climbed on or were carried by their partners, respectively. But as they hurried off, the two remaining humans and their partners ran after them. “Wait a sec!” Patamon shouted. “What about us?!”

“You guys stay here!” Ken yelled back at him. “You could get hurt if you come along like this!”

The group of four slide to a stop. Gatomon glanced at Patamon out of the corner of her eye, then tossed her white hair back angrily. “He could’ve just said ‘you’ll just get in the way’ and it would’ve sounded better.”

About half a mile away, the rumblings underground finally stopped. The kids slid off of their partners and glanced around, but they saw nothing. “Where do you suppose he…” ExVeemon started, when the Drimojimon burst out of the ground and threw him into the air.

“ExVeemon!” Davis shouted, but the Champion landed on his feet.

The Drimojimon roared back. “Drill Spin!” he shouted, and fired the attack for Ankylomon.

“Tail Hammer!” shouted the yellow Digimon, an attack that would have easily overcome the Drimojimon’s. But this time, the Drill Spin not only made in through, but destroyed the Tail Hammer and threw Ankylomon to the ground.

“What?!” Yolei gasped.

“Something’s very wrong here!” Cody gulped.

~ * ~ * ~

Meanwhile, despite all warnings, the four that had been left behind were trudging across the hills. T.K., sitting on Patamon’s head, suddenly perked up his large ears. “I hear it.” he muttered. “Doesn’t sound good.”

“What’d you mean?” Kari asked. Gatomon was carrying her, and she was looking up at T.K. “What’s the matter?”

T.K.’s ears were raised, listening and trying to put it into words. Patamon tried to put it more spessificaly. “What do you hear T.K.?” he asked. “What kind of attack blasts, how often and how strong?”

“There’s one big one.” T.K. explained. “Then several small ones, very weak. I think the strong one’s Drimojimon.”

“But that’s impossible!” Gatomon insisted. “Drimojimon just aren’t that strong!”

“Well, whatever’s happening.” Kari muttered. “I have a feeling they need help. There‘s got to be something we can do.”

Trying to pick up the pace a bit, they all had the same wonderings through their minds. Then finally, T.K. got an idea, and he jumped so suddenly he almost fell off Patamon’s head. “I’ve got it!” he shouted, flapping his ears to hover near his partner’s head.

“Got what?” Gatomon asked.

“You two have our Digivices, right?” T.K. was so excited he wasn’t listening to much else. Gatomon and Patamon nodded. “Well then, I think we can Digivolve!”

Kari hit the ground in shock, then sat back up. “What?!” she shouted. “T.K… We’re not really Digimon!”

“So?” T.K. grinned and landed next to her. “We’re still in Digimon bodies! I bet we could do it! All we have to do is share energy, just like we always do! Only this time we’ll be the ones that change!”

Patamon knelt down so he could look his friend over. “You’ve wanted to do this a long time, huh?” he asked.

T.K. just gave him a look. Patamon nodded. Gatomon and Kari locked eyes, and they both knew it too.

“Alright then.” Patamon stood. He gripped the green Digivice in his palm. “Let’s go for it!”

The Drimojimon struck out and threw Aquilamon to the ground. Yolei ran to her partner, and with a flash he turned back into the Rookie form. “Hawkmon!” she gasped, scooping him up. “Hang in there!”

“Something’s really wrong here, you guys!” Ken called. “Drimojimon just aren’t that strong naturally! This is a set up!”

“Man, now what?!” Davis insisted. “They‘re about to get crushed, and we can‘t do anything!”

Drimojimon was, in fact, raising his head for one last attack against Stingmon, who was already on his knees and keeping Ken back. The Digimon roared, then aimed his attack. He opened his mouth to call out the name…

“Hand of Fate!”

The golden blast knocked Drimojimon back, and everyone’s minds for a loop. It was defiantly Angemon’s attack, but sure wasn’t his voice. And, looking up from where it had come from, they still didn’t understand.

“Hey guys!” Patamon came scrambling down the hill, Gatomon behind him. “Isn’t it wild?!”

“What…the..?!” was all Davis could manage.

“T.K. and Kari Digivolved!” cheered Gatomon.

“Digivolved?!” the humans gasped, then Cody added “So…They’re…”

Patamon pointed up. “T.K. turned into an Angemon, like me!”

“And Kari’s an Angewomon!” Gatomon was grinned from ear to ear.

And indeed it was true, but not Angemon and Angewomon as they knew them. On Angemon you saw more of T.K.’s taunt basketball mussels than the body-builder type, and Angewomon was no where near as developed. Not to mention, Angewomon’s hair was brown, while Angemon’s was golden and a richer yellow. And their clothes weren’t as tight. What it really looked like was that Kari and T.K., in their normal bodies, were dressed up as Angemon and Angewomon for Halloween or something. But there was the odd fact that they still had wings.

Currently, they were flying together over the battle field. Kari giggled at her friend. “You have to admit, this is cool!”

T.K. nodded. “I never thought we’d actually do it!” he cheered. “But here we are…flying! On our own!” he did a quick roll. “No help…No hands!”

Kari grinned and nodded, about to answer, when she noticed Drimojimon was getting his stride again. “My turn.” she grinned, and flew above their opponent.

Concentrating her energy the way she’d seen T.K. do, she managed to make the silver arrow appear in her right hand. Automatically, the small, decorative wings on her left wrist extended into the familiar white ‘bow’, onto which she set her arrow, pointing it at Drimojimon with careful aim.

“Steady now…” Gatomon muttered. “It’s not easy.”

But Kari looked determined. “Celestial Arrow!” was called, and she released the shot. It hit Drimojimon head-on, and the Digimon cried out in pain.

“There!” Patamon laughed. “Now we got ’em beat!”

But, to everyone’s surprise, the Drimojimon pulled himself back up. He fired a Drill Spin at Kari, but she dodged it easily. “Dang!” Davis muttered. “That guy just won’t give up!”

“Something doesn’t feel right!” Kari called down. “I don’t feel the same way about this Digimon like others!”

“What?” Yolei asked. “What do you mean?!”

“She means, it’s not a real Digimon!” Stingmon buzzed. “I feel it too!”

“And me!” Ankylomon put in. “I think the only way to beat this guy is to destroy him!”

T.K. glanced sideways at Kari. “Shall we?” he asked.

“Lets.” she muttered, and readied her bow again, while the other Digimon also prepared their attacks.

“Ready?” Davis called. “One…Two…Three!”

“Vee Laser!” called ExVeemon.

“Tail Hammer!” Ankylomon shouted.

“Hawk Beam!” Hawkmon, though back in Rookie form, put in his two bits.

“Spiking Strike!” Stingmon threw his in, releasing the blade.

“Hand of Fate!” T.K. thrust the golden ball forward.

“Celestial Arrow!” Kari finished the wave, and all six attacks hit at the same time. With a cry, and rather strongly, a puff of smoke, the Drimojimon vanished. At the same time, the Digimon returned to their Rookie forms, including T.K. and Kari.

“I repeat.” Kari said as Gatomon scooped her up. “That was cool!”

T.K .was still sitting on the ground, but he noticed something. “Hey! Guys, look at this!” he called.

Patamon picked him up, along with the small thing he had with him. He was just as confused. “It’s a doll.” he finally stated. “Made outta wood. And check it out…It looks like a Drimojimon.”

At it was…A tiny wooden doll, about half T.K./Patamon’s size, shaped and carved perfectly like a Drimojimon out of oak. “Where’d it come from?” Veemon asked.

“I dunno.” Yolei muttered, looking at it closely. “I think I’ll take it to Izzy. Maybe he can figure it out.”

“I wonder…” Kari muttered.

“What?” Gatomon asked.

Kari shook her head. “Nothin’.” she responded. “Nothin’ at all.”

~ * ~ * ~

“I’m sorry, Lord.” Sorceressmon whimpered. There were long red marks on her face and arms. “I won’t let it happen again, I swear.”

“See that you don’t!” snapped the dark form. “Remember what happened on your last great failure!”

“Yes, sire…” whispered Sorceressmon. “Never again…”

~ * ~ * ~

“You’re WHAT?!?” T.K. cried, falling off the desk he sat on.

“Gatomon and I are going to a movie.” Patamon muttered, turning a little red as he tried to make his hair behave. “And then down to that ice cream shop you and the others always go to in the summer…”

“You’re going on a date?!” T.K. cried. He had once again taken to the air, and was hovering about the same level as Patamon’s head. “With Gatomon?!”

“Somethin’ wrong?” Patamon asked coolly.

T.K. tried to recompose himself and landed on the bed. It was Saturday afternoon, after all. It was perfectly normal for a teenager to do. A teenage human, that was.

“It’s just that…” he stuttered, trying to get it into words. “I…I hard no idea…I mean, you and…and Gatomon… I had no idea…”

“What?” Patamon turned. “I guess I do a better job of hiding it than you do with Kar-ee.”

T.K. turned red. “You said you wouldn’t mention that!” he snapped, and Patamon laughed. He’d once found a picture of Kari, doodled absentmindedly on the back with hearts and scribbles that read ‘T.T. + K.K. 4ever.’

“Alright, alright.” Patamon said, still laughing a bit. “I said I wouldn‘t tell anyone, and I won‘t.” T.K. calmed down, disgruntled.

“Besides…” Patamon continued, turning away. “She’s coming over.”

T.K. started again. “Who’s coming over?!” he squeaked.

“Kari.” Patamon said simply. “Gatomon’s bringing her over. We figured you two would enjoy staying over while we‘re out…”

T.K. turned so red that it shone brightly through his blonde fur. “Kari?” he gasped. “She’s…staying over…why?!”

“No one’s home at her place, either.” Patamon explained, picking his partner up. “And it’s very lonely, not to mention tiring, staying by yourself and all.”

The doorbell rang. “That’ll be them.” Patamon said cheerfully. He set T.K. down on the counter, and the creature nervously, absentmindedly, stroked down his ears, like trying to get his hair to done.

Patamon opened the door and grinned. Gatomon was there, smiling, with Kari’s backpack over her shoulder. “Hey Patamon.” she grinned. “Ready to go?”

“I am.” Patamon nodded.

He took her bag and set it on the couch. Kari’s fuzzy brown head popped out of the top. “Gah!” she spat out what looked like a ball of lint. “I had no idea it was so uncomfortable in these things!”

“It’ll make you think next time, huh?” Gatomon taunted.

“At least I clean it out for you!” Kari argued. She pulled herself out of the bag and shook a few candy wrappers, a crumpled note and some lint out of her fur. “Yuck-olla.”

T.K. laughed and flew over to the couch next to her. He picked up the note to throw it out, when the letters ‘K.K….T.T…’ caught his eye. What the…Does she? Could she…?

But before he could look further, Kari snatched it out of his hand, blushing. Holding it in her mouth, like a mama cat with a tiny kitten, she ran to the trash can and threw it in.

“We’re outta here.” Patamon called to T.K. “You guys have fun…Watch a movie or something.”

T.K. gave him a rather helpless why-are-you-doing-this-to-me look. Patamon grinned at him, then lead Gatomon out the door.

T.K. groaned inwardly. What now? From the look on Kari’s face, she was awkward too. T.K. flew to the rack of tapes, picked a comedy from the top, put it into the VCR, and settled down next to her on the couch to watch.

~ * ~ * ~

Patamon and Gatomon, meanwhile, picked a rather nice movie to watch. It was a horror film, involving a serial killer, some screaming girls, and one really stupid ‘hero’, but they were both tickled pink. It was their first film, for either of them.

As it wore on, it was obvious that Gatomon was more of the flirt than Patamon could ever be. Maybe it was the body, maybe it was a cat thing. Whatever it was, around a more scary part in the film, she went for it.

First she roped his leg in with her foot. Patamon glanced down at it, turning red. Then Gatomon, quick as a flash, grabbed his arm and put her head on his shoulder, just as the woman on screen screamed. “I’m scared…” she said, fakely and pitifully.

Patamon continued turning red. He pulled at his collar, which was starting to get tight. She looked up at him, smiling pitifully. “What da matter?” she asked innocently. “Don’t ‘cha like me?”

Patamon gulped. Then, taking a deep breath, he set his head on hers, trying not to be so darn awkward.

Gatomon grinned, getting cozy. She couldn’t Digivolve, but maybe this human thing wasn’t so bad after all…

~ * ~ * ~

Kari and T.K., however, were not having near as fun a time. They laughed at the jokes of the comedy show, but in between were long lulls. T.K.’s ears drooped and Kari’s head rested on the couch, both were totally wiped.

“I had no idea it was so tiring…” Kari yawned. “Being without your partner…”

“I know what you mean…” T.K. muttered. “When we’re back to normal, I’m never leaving Patamon at home again.”

“Ditto for Gatomon.” Kari sighed. “If we ever get back to normal.”

“Don’t be so negative.” T.K. grinned. “We’ll get back to normal! I’m sure we can!”

Kari turned and smiled at him. They locked eyes, then realized their lips were inches away from each other. Their eyes traveled up and down the other’s body, then they both turned away.

This body stinks…They thought simultaneously.

Rats! T.K. muttered to himself. I finally get her alone long enough, and I can’t do anything!

My heart’s telling me to go for it… Kari thought. But how do you ‘go for it’ when you’re a cat?!

She took a deep breath, gazing at him out of the corner of her eye. Oh well… she grinned to herself. I’ve got’ em all to myself…I might as well get a little closer…

She edged over to him, then settled down so that they brushed against each other slightly. At first he glanced at her, wondering what she was doing, but then he smiled. The floppy orange ear draped over her and they slowly…easily…dropped off.

When Patamon and Gatomon came back about two hours later, they saw a welcome sight. Their partners, snuggled against each other, sleeping, as the VCR griped at them about rewinding the tape.