Introduction: I really don't know how many people are actually going to read this story. This story is an update to the series of Digimon fanfics that I started years ago when I first made an account on this site, and I've only just recently decided to continue working on it again. In fact the last story in the series had been on hiatus for over a year due to personal issues. Still, with the Digimon franchise having a bit of a comeback thanks to Digimon Tri, I've decided to start this series back up again and see what happens. So to those who may be a bit unfamiliar with my previous Digimon stories, there will be a bit of a recap in this first chapter. But I highly recommend going back to at least read my previous two Digimon stories, Child of Hope and Light and Sakura Knight to completely understand what's going on. Of course if there are those among you reading who are familiar with the previous stories in this series, I gladly welcome you back
Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.
Chapter 1: The Dark Knight Strikes
It was around noon as Kari Takaishi spread out a picnic blanket on a field by a lake in this Digital World. Sitting at the lake's edge looking into the water as though trying to catch a fish was Kari's Digimon partner, a large white cat with yellow gloves on her front paws and a purple stripped tail with a gold ring on it known as Gatomon. With the blanket spread out, Kari looked towards the tall tree that was growing by the spot. Sitting under the tree reading a book was a girl who appeared to be about twelve years old. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and brown eyes, and her outfit consisted of a white t-shirt with a pink jacket and a tan skirt with pink shoes. The girl in question was Kari's daughter, Norn. The picnic they were on was Norn's first trip into the Digital World, and Kari was happy that so far the trip was going smoothly.
Kari was not a person who anyone would expect to have a twelve-year-old daughter. She was still in her twenties and only just finishing college, and though she was by no means a virgin she had never once in her life had given birth. Yet Norn was the daughter that Kari shared with her young husband, T.K. And though on paper Norn had simply been adopted, she still carried hers and T.K.'s blood. The reason for all this was because Norn's birth was far from being a normal one. Norn was the creation of a man named Neo Saiba, made using digital copies of Kari and T.K.'s DNA and a fragment of the core from the Digital World's dead protector god, Yggdrasill. In addition to being an artificial human, Norn was also Yggdrasill's reincarnation, gifted with special powers and the knowledge and memories of the dead god. Yet despite the strange way that Norn had come into the world, Kari and T.K. still considered her their child.
As Norn turned to the next page in her book, two small Digimon ran up to her. One was a small yellow tyrannosaurus-like creature with green eyes and crisscrossing red straps around the wrists of his well-developed arms. The other was a bipedal blue and white dog with yellow eyes, wearing a red headband and a pair of red boxing gloves. These two creatures were Norn's Digimon partners. The yellow dinosaur as an Agumon simply called Agu, and the dog was a Gaomon referred to as Gao. Agu and Gao were artificial Digimon who were created at the same time as Norn and had somehow become bonded to her.
"Hey Norn! Gao and I just found some old factory or something in that forest by the lake." Agu informed the blonde, causing her to look up from her book. "We don't know what it was used for, but it has some cool-looking stuff in it."
"We checked, and there didn't seem to be any enemies hiding in it." Gao interjected. "You wanna go take a look?"
"Mom, may I go explore that factory with Agu and Gao?" Norn requested.
"Well… okay." Kari agreed. "But you be careful, and don't be gone for too long. Your dad should be here soon with Ken and Yolei."
"Thank you." Norn responded as she put down her book. "We'll try not to be too."
With that, Agu and Gao led Norn off towards the forest where the abandoned building was supposed to be. Kari kept an eye on the three as they rushed off.
"Hey Gatomon, you think it's okay to let Norn go off like that?" Kari asked.
"She'll be fine." Gatomon answered, not once taking her eyes off the water's surface. "Agu and Gao may be idiots most of the time, but they're really good at protecting Norn. Besides, the Digital World is fairly peaceful these days."
"That's true." Kari admitted. "Guess I'm just being a little overprotective."
Suddenly the surface of the lake rippled slightly and Gatomon immediately pounced on the spot. Whatever had disturbed the water had escaped the feline's grasp though, causing Gatomon to grumble something under her breath.
Kari chuckled at the sight. "You know, I did pack some tuna sandwiches for you in the basket."
"I know, but nothing really beats free range." Gatomon replied.
Suddenly the screen of a computer that was embedded in the side of the tree Norn had been reading under turned on and projected a beam of light. Walking out of the light was a young man with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing a black t-shirt with the name of a band written in white letter on the front and a pair of grey jeans. Perched on top of the young man's head was an orange mammal with an almost hamster-like body, large blue eyes and a pair of large bat-like wings where ears would normally be placed. The young man was Kari's husband, T.K. And the creature riding atop his head was T.K.'s Digimon, Patamon.
"Hi." T.K. spoke as Patamon flew off his head and went to where Gatomon was. "Sorry we're a little late. Where's Norn?"
"She off somewhere exploring with Agu and Gao." Kari answered. "Where are Ken and Yolei?"
"They should be along at any moment now." The blonde answered.
As if on cue, the tree computer projected another beam of light. Walking out of it was another young man with slightly long straight dark hair, wearing a grey t-shirt with a black vest and black jeans. Perched on the young man's shoulder was a green larva-like creature with large blue eyes, black mandibles and a pair of long feelers. The young man was Kari and T.K.'s fellow Digidestined, Ken Ichijouji. The insect that was riding on his shoulders was Ken's Digimon, Wormmon.
Following Ken and Wormmon out of the beam of light was a young woman with long plum-colored hair that went half way down her back wearing a pair of large brown glasses, along with a white short-sleeved shirt with buttons and a short lavender skirt. Walking at the young woman's side was a hawk-like Digimon with a large white head and a brown body. Around the bird's head was a back leather headband that had a silver buckle and a yellow feather with a red tip. The young woman was Ken's wife, Yolei, and the bird was Yolei's Digimon, Hawkmon.
"Hey there, you two." Kari greeted.
"Now that the newlyweds are here, I guess we should get started." T.K. decided. "Except we're now missing Norn."
"Where'd she go?" Yolei asked.
"She went off towards the forest with Agu and Gao." Kari answered. "Guess I should've told them to wait until after the picnic to go off like that."
"I'll go find them and tell them it's time to eat." Hawkmon decided, and with that the little bird Digimon flew off.
"I still can't believe that you and Ken are married now." Kari spoke as she and the others sat down on the blanket. "Whatever happened to waiting until after college?"
"You guys were kind of the reason why decided to go ahead and get married." Ken revealed.
"Yeah. You two seemed to have the right idea by getting married before that fight with Lucemon." Yolei told the couple. "Life is short, and with CountMyotismon lurking around out there with his new friend, Bagramon, who knows what could happen? So Ken and I thought we'd go ahead and seize the day. You know… in case the worst happened."
Kari frowned a bit at the dark topic that Yolei had brought up. Only three and a half months ago, the Digidestined's most powerful enemy, Myotismon returned from the dead in the form of the powerful CountMyotismon. By a twisted irony, CountMyotismon was the reason Norn even existed, as he had manipulated Neo Saiba into creating her so he could take Yggdrasill's power from her and get revenge on Kari and T.K. at the same time by killing their only child in front of them. Fortunately the vampire lord's plan had backfired, as Norn's body seemed to be pure poison to him. Not long after that incident, CountMyotismon had gone to the alternate version of Earth that was home to the Digimon Tamers. There, he teamed up with another evil and powerful Digimon called Bagramon for reasons that were unknown. The evil duo was still at large after T.K. and Kari had helped the Tamers fight them in their world.
"So when do you guys plan on having a honeymoon?" T.K. asked.
"We haven't quite figured that out yet." Ken answered. "It'll probably be once classes finally settle down again, assuming we figure out where we want to go for it of course."
"Good luck with that." Kari told them.
"So Ken mentioned that you and T.K. are going to be sending Norn to school soon." Yolei recalled, changing the subject. "Have you decided what school she's going to attend?"
"Just about. We're thinking it'll be a fairly normal school." T.K. answered.
"I'm not really sure that Norn needs school though." Ken interjected. "Izzy mentioned to me that Norn scored really high on that I.Q. test he gave her. He even said something about Norn being smart enough to at least attend an Ivy League college in America."
"Why not send her to one of those special schools for the gifted?" Yolei suggested.
"We thought about that, but those schools are pretty expensive." Kari pointed out. "Besides, T.K. and I think it would be good for Norn to be around kids her own age. Well… kids who're the same age as she is, physically."
"Good point." Yolei agreed. "Everything's still pretty new to Norn, so it'd be good for her to make friends with kids who're, well… more normal."
"Yeah. I just hope she doesn't have too much trouble fitting in with other kids." Kari told them.
"Relax. I'm sure Norn won't have any trouble making friends." T.K. assured her as he put an arm around her. "After all, she certainly isn't shy."
Norn followed Agu and Gao until they at last came to a small square building made of crumbling stone. Attached to the building's side was a large garage with a metal door, and the few windows on the building's side, which were towards the top, were broken.
"You said that this was some sort of factory?" Norn asked the two.
"Yeah, but we've got no clue what they made here." Gao answered.
"I'm hoping they made food." Agu declared.
"If you were that hungry, we should've just stayed at the picnic area, you dumb lizard." Gao told him.
Just as Norn was about to head for the building's open door, a figure suddenly stepped out of it. The figure was a human girl who appeared to be about twelve or thirteen. She was tall for her age and had fair skin long brown hair that was tied up at the top by a yellow hairclip, making it look almost as if she had rabbit ears that dangled down on each side of her head. Her outfit consisted of a very light lavender jacket over a purple dress and a pair of off-white cowboy boots with pink trim at the top.
Curious and seeing no danger, Norn walked up to the girl. "Hello."
"Oh, hi." The girl responded upon noticing the blonde. "I wasn't expecting to see another human kid here."
"Nor was I." Norn replied as she gave her a bow. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Norn Takaishi. Might I ask what your name is?"
"I'm Nene." The girl answered. "Nene Amano." She then noticed Agu and Gao standing behind Norn. "Are those two Digimon yours?"
"Why yes." Norn confirmed. "These are my two partners."
"Hi. I'm an Agumon, but you can just call me Agu." The yellow dinosaur greeted.
"And I'm a Gaomon, but I usually go by Gao." The blue dog added.
"Agu and Gao, huh?" Nene repeated. "Cute nicknames. Did you come up with them, Norn?"
"Inadvertently, yes." Norn confirmed. "I actually had some difficulty saying their full names when I first met them. It's a long story. Do you have a Digimon companion Nene?"
"I do, actually." Nene answered. "He's not around right now though. But if you like, I can call him here to meet you."
Before Norn could answer, Hawkmon landed near were she and the others were standing. "There you are, Norn. The others are ready to have the picnic. You should head back now."
"Oh! We'll be right there." Norn told him. "Nene, would you like to join us? I'm sure my parents would be happy to have you eat with us."
"You're here with your family?" Nene asked.
Norn nodded. "And some friends of my parents. Would you like to meet them?"
"Um… sure. Why not?" Nene finally agreed.
With that, Hawkmon flew off and Norn and the others followed them from the ground. Within a few short moments, Norn's group arrived back at the picnic site.
"I apologize for keeping you all waiting." Norn told them.
"It's fine, Norn." T.K. assured her. "Looks like you brought back a friend."
"This is Nene. I met her at the building Agu and Gao took me to." Norn explained. "I hope you don't mind inviting her along."
"It's nice meeting all of you." Nene told them with a bow. "I hope I'm not intruding or anything."
"Not at all. It's not every day that Norn brings a friend back with her." Kari replied. "Come on and join us."
With that, the group sat down on the blanket as Kari began passing out the food. The conversation during the meal had been quite light, though Nene had hardly said a word. In less than half an hour, the picnic basket had been emptied.
"So Nene, did you come to the Digital World alone?" Ken asked.
"…I did come here with someone originally, but… right now it's just me." Nene answered.
"You did you get separated or something?" Yolei asked with a look of concern.
"No. I know where she is." Nene answered. "It's… complicated."
"Well you must be a Digidestined if you're here in the Digital World." Patamon assumed. "Of course I don't see a Digimon with you."
"Oh! That's right, Nene. You said that you could call your partner here to meet us." Norn recalled. "Why don't you do that now?"
Nene's lips curved into a smirk. "Okay. I guess it is time for you to meet him."
From inside her jacket, Nene produced a fairly large rectangular digivice that was primarily black in color. It had a small square screen in the middle, and much of the top part was silver and resembled a microphone. Nene pressed a button on the device, and suddenly a large swirling black vortex opened up behind her. T.K. and the rest of the older Digidestined immediately got to their feet when something large began to step out of it. In moments the group saw the creature that Nene had claimed was her Digimon partner.
The creature in question was a very large and imposing knight clad in black and silver armor. The knight's helmet gold with two short gold curled horns on the side and a silver faceplate. Hanging from his back was a long tattered black cape with a dark-blue underside, and the silver armor on his chest was fashioned to look like the face of a skull with a large piece of gold armor shaped almost like a lightning bolt on the skull's brow. On the knight's right shoulder was a large black axe blade, and in his right hand he carried a staff with a large red lance on each end. The tips of the knight's metal boots were adorned with pointed gold blades.
"What a lovely little setting this is." The knight spoke. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am DarkKnightmon."
"Hey Norn. Something about this Digimon doesn't sit right." Agu told her as he glared up at DarkKnightmon.
"Yeah. This guy smells rotten to me." Gao agreed.
"For once, I agree with Agu and the fleabag." Gatomon spoke. "Whoever this Digimon is, he's dangerous."
"Nene… is this Digimon really your partner?" Norn asked.
"In a matter of speaking, yes." DarkKnightmon answered. "We are currently coconspirators. You did a good job, Nene. At last I'm meeting Yggdrasill's reincarnation face to face. I never imagined that the great god would ever return in the form of such a weak little girl."
"How do you know that about Norn?" T.K. demanded to know.
"We meet once briefly in her former life." DarkKnightmon answered. "Though I doubt she recognizes me. It was so long ago, and I've no doubt changed much since that encounter."
"You… you do seem a little familiar to me." Norn admitted. "What do you want?"
DarkKnightmon chuckled. "What do I want, you ask? There are many things that I want, Yggdrasill, power being chiefly among them. But for the moment I wish to test your powers in battle. I challenge you to a duel, Yggdrasill! Face me, or I shall annihilate your little family right here and now!"
"Nene, you… you really don't want to fight me. Do you?" Norn asked.
"Like DarkKnightmon said, we either fight or your family dies." Nene answered with a cruel smirk. "Now let's do this!"
Please review and let me know what you think.