DISCLAIMER: Neither I or The Digital Gate own Digimon.
A golden tail thrashed irritably against the ground. "I hate this," the owner of the offending tail growled. "Is there nothing we can do?"
A fire-red bird gnashed his beak together in frustration. "If there was, we would have acted already, now wouldn't we have? The Digital World is ruined beyond our abilities are capable of handling!"
A great tiger rose. "Do not speak to Huanglongmon in that manner!"
"I will speak any way I choose, Baihumon!"
"Silence," the dragon roared. "We must think of a way to save the Digital World."
"Ah, but there is."
All heads swiveled to a giant tortoise.
"Then speak," the bird cried impatiently.
"Patience, Zhuqiamon. In fact, it is simple," the tortoise said. "Call forth once more the Chosen Children. They will be able to aid us."
"Yes, but how?" snapped Baihumon. "There is no way to reach them—we saw to that when we barred all the gates!"
"But there is," a voice rumbled. An azure dragon rose to his feet. "I have already acted upon it."
"You dare act without first consulting Huanglongmon?" Baihumon exclaimed.
"Quiet," Huanglongmon ordered. He turned back to the other dragon. "Continue, Quinglongmon."
"There is a game," Quinglongmon said, raising his head and staring remorsefully at the starry sky, "in the human world. I have implanted a portal into six different copies. The Chosen Children will be brought forth once they play it."
"The power it must have taken," the giant tortoise murmured in awe.
"But how do you know that the Chosen Children, whoever they are, will play the game?" Zhuqiaomon demanded.
"Because," Quinglongmon said, "it is all the rage in Japan. They will not be able to suppress the urge to play."
"Huanglongmon, do you support this?" the tortoise asked.
"In fact, I do, Xuanwumon." Huanglongmon sighed. "I am weary. Too weary. I cannot help the Digital World now. We must rely on the Chosen Children...and the Zenith Stones, that is..." He trailed off.
And although Huanglongmon abstained from saying the last few words, the thought echoed throughout the Shiseijuu's minds:
...that is, if we wish to survive...
Alias
Prologue: Dawn
"Alias,the announcer said, "the hottest rage in Japan. Reviving once more the lost game of Digimon, Alias brings the term 'virtual reality' to a whole new level! With realistic graphics, state-of-the-art-animation, and realistic sound effects, you'll feel like you're actually in the game!
"Each game is different for each player. No two journeys are the same. Well," the announcer chortled,"the plot is, but don't let that stop you! Based on your decisions and your actions—and sometimes even your inaction—the path you take will be like no others'!
"A quiz will match you with your most compatible partner. And don't worry: if you don't like it, you can take it again—a maximum of three times—and your journey begins! Buy your copy today!"
With that, the announcer flashed a cheesy grin, and the weatherman took over.
Fourteen-year-old Masaaki Suzuki stepped back from the TV inside the technology store. Brushing his messy brown hair from his brown eyes and snapping his goggles to his forehead, he grinned excitedly. "Awesome! I'vegotto get it."
He plunged his left hand into the pocket of his tan cargo pants and felt…nothing. Cursing, he pulled his hand back out and fished in his other pocket. Still nothing.
"Shoot! Have to run home first..."
With that, he dashed off for his apartment building as fast as he could.
Wonder if Minori wants it too...
Something was strange that day as Minori walked home from school. Sure, she had been declared best in her class for writing, but that was only because of the story her teacher had found lying out on the table one day. And she had also won a race in a gym, which was unusual. And had actually managed to get through the day without feeling tired and grumpy. Maybe it wasn't her that was strange. Maybe it was more the fact that things seemed to be a bit too happy.
She didn't mind the things that were happening, but she knew that in every good thing, there must be a bad thing. And with all these good things happening, something really bad must be just around the corner.
As she walked home that day, she passed by a shop full of televisions in the window. Normally she wouldn't pay any attention to them, but someone was on there shouting something. "Alias! The newest and most realistic Digimon game to hit the markets! Get yourself a copy today!"
What an idiot, Minori thought to herself as she scowled at the televisions. Any fool would get that game just to make you shut your mouth. She shook her head. Advertisers. Any fool would buy that game.
"Happy birthday, Aya," her brothers sang, shoving a game into her hands.
Thirteen-year-old Aya Li looked away from the television to stare blankly at the badly wrapped present in her hands. "But it's not my birthday," she protested, looking up.
"Too bad," her middle brother, Jun'ichi, said. He plopped himself down beside her and stared at her expectantly. "Open it up, you geek."
"You're one to talk," Aya muttered. Fifteen years old, Jun'ichi was at the top of his class, and was known as the family computer nerd. Eyeing the package distastefully, she asked, "Who wrapped this?"
"I did!" Ichiro, the oldest at sixteen, waved both arms in the air excitedly. "Don't you just love it?"
"Not really. It's a mess." As if to prove her point, Aya held up the package: it was crudely wrapped, with tape everywhere and pieces of badly folded corners jutting up every which way.
At that, Jun'ichi and her other brother, fourteen-year-old Hikaru, whooped and slapped Ichiro on the back. "Told you!" he crowed.
"Just open it already," Ichiro said irritably, picking up their youngest sibling, five-year-old Kayo, and bouncing her around.
"Open it!" she chanted. "Open, open, open!"
Rolling her eyes, Aya opened the package and found a brand new copy of Alias.
"Sikke! Your room's a sty!" His mother daintily picked up a pair of dirty laundry that had been lying on the floor. "How are you able to find anything in here?"
"Simple," Sikke had his usual happy-go-lucky grin on his face as he walked, or possibly even bounced, into his room where his mother was glaring at all the possible things that were wrong with his room. "I use memory."
His mother shook her head. "I swear child, you're so…"
"Unpredictable?" Sikke asked as he plopped onto his bed, arms stretched behind his head in a resting position, where he closed his eyes with a smirk.
"No," his mother continued searching for the right word. "Un—…"
"Don't hurt yourself 'kaa-san," Sikke stated.
He peeked open his eyes to see that she was about to say something when the doorbell rang. His mother sighed. "I'll get it."
A few moments later after she had left the room, she returned, saying it was for Sikke.
"What now?" he asked as he made his way to the door of the small house. He almost froze where he stood when he saw who it was.
"SIKKE!" a voice exclaimed before pummeling him to the ground in a hug. He struggled to get up. Finally giving up against the thing that was on top of him, he let his head hit the floor.
"Nao? Can you get off of me?" he murmured.
"Whoops! Sorry 'bout that!" a squeaky voice exclaimed, slowly getting up, allowing him to get up. But the second the he was standing, Nao had shoved something into his hands.
"Happy early Christmas! Or birthday! Or whatever holiday is next!" she exclaimed.
He looked down at the neatly wrapped gift in his hands. He could of swore that it had been store wrapped. But then again, Nao was quite the crafts person, so he couldn't tell. "Er…Thanks?" he said, unsure of how he should react.
"Open it! Open it!" she exclaimed, already grabbing to open it for him. He let her go ahead and rip it open. It was better to just go along with it than fighting back. After getting it handed back to him after it was unwrapped, he looked down to see some sort of game. It couldn't be…
"Alias?" he asked rather quickly. "Why'd you get me—"
Nao looked like she was going to cry. "You hate it? I thought you liked Digimon…"
"Don't cry Nao! Don't cry! Of course I like it!" Sikke said rather quickly.
In truth, Sikke hadn't paid attention to Digimon for years.
Katuso had never really paid attention to school. Didn't care for it really. Nor did he have any friends to pass the time away with. So school days became dull and boring. And when school was out for the day, it seemed like the rest of the day after school was rather dull and boring too.
He never wanted to show his father that his grades were slipping slowly. He knew what would happen. Yelling, lectures, the usual. It was the normal way for his father to speak to him when he did something wrong. And it seemed like he was always doing something wrong.
"Alias! Buy it or I'll come after you!"
What? Katsuo turned his head and looked up at one of the humongous screens that were placed on the buildings that were always advertising something. Even the news.
"Ever wonder what a new journey would be like? Well, have your own new journey in Alias, the newest installment in Digimon gaming. Take the quiz to be pared with your own Digimon partner and journey through this game. Every journey is different, so don't expect the same journey each time."
Katuso wondered briefly what a new journey would be like. Would it be much better than the boring life he had now? Perhaps. It was worth a shot.
And so, he made his way slowly around town, looking for a game store that would supply him an adventure.
Pop.
Fourteen-year-old Shiro Fujiwara jumped. Annoyed, he turned to see his older sister, Katsumi, behind him. "Would you mind?" he asked irritably, slamming his book shut. "I'm trying to study."
Katsumi shrugged, chewing on her piece of gum. "Not my problem," she said, right before she tossed something into his lap. "Kotone got this for you. She's too shy to give it to you herself, though. Have fun."
Shiro snorted. At age fifteen, Katsumi had developed what his parents liked to call her "little gum problem." Kotone, on the other hand, was eleven and had what his parents liked to call her "little sleep problem." As for him, he had a "little attitude problem."
He picked up the rectangular item on his lap. It was Alias. The new Digimon game everybody was talking about. How had Kotone known that he wanted it? He would've bought it for himself if he had the money.
He set it beside him and reached for his book once more. But it was hard to concentrate; his thoughts kept returning to the game. Finally, he gave in and grabbed the game and headed for his room. Just for an hour. Then I'll study some more.
Once in, he shut the door, popped open the case, stuck the disc inside the computer, and waited for it to boot up. To pass the time, he shot a rubber band around the room while it loaded. When it had, he sat up.
Welcome to Alias, the screen said.
Then, without warning, the screen and everything around him went as black as night.
Okay, we're only going to play this once, for Nao's sake, Sikke told himself as he sat at his mother's computer.
"Oh, but Sikke, it will be a lot of fun! Didn't you say you liked Digimon?"
Sikke smacked himself mentally. Whatever you tell your parents always seems to come back and hurt you.
His expression lightened a bit. "What if it is fun? It could be," he told himself, wondering what the game would be like. He was resting back in his relaxing position with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed in his chair when he saw some lights on the computer shine and looked down at it.
Welcome to Alias, it said.
And then everything went white.
Masaaki raced back from the store, clutching two copies of Alias in hand. Their mother had said to buy two, since she didn't think Minori would want to share the same journey progress as he did.
He burst through the door, yelling, "Thanks, 'kaa-san!" and bolted for his room. He stopped by Minori's, threw open her door without bothering to knock, and chucked a copy of Alias in at random.
"Enjoy!"
Then he raced back into his own room and, inserting the disc into his computer, waited for it to load.
It was surprisingly quick.
Welcome to Alias,the screen read.
And he was plunged into a world of darkness.
Sitting on her bed reading a book, Minori was in a peaceful state in her mind when she heard a loud, "Enjoy!" and a hard, square-ish thing landed by her feet. Cursing her brother mentally, she put her book down to see what it was and looked at it curiously until she realized it was a copy of Alias. Looking at the wall the divided her brother's room and her's, she wondered to herself if he was a mind reader. Nah, she thought as she went to the side of her bed and pulled out her hand-me-down laptop that had once been her dad's. She had claimed it when he had left the house. He didn't seem to mind.
Placing the disc into the computer, she waited, and it didn't to take too much time until she had her fingers tapping the keyboard, an impatient glare looking at the screen. And finally, she sighed as words popped up on the screen.
Welcome to Alias.
But she didn't even get to tap another key. Bright light had flooded over her.
"Are you going to play it now?"
"No," Aya said.
Hikaru paused, fiddled with his thumbs, stared at the ceiling, then said, "Now?"
"No."
Ichiro, who had been counting all the leaves in their apartment building, glanced at his wristwatch, returned to counting the leaves, looked at his watch again and asked, "What about now?"
Scowling, Aya dropped her pencil. "Look," she said, "if I play it, will you two shut up and go away?"
"Yes!" both Hikaru and Ichiro chorused.
Aya glared, then groaned and closed her books. "Fine. But you can't watch." They opened their mouths to protest but she cut them off. "Or I won't play."
So they sulked, wandering off to presumably bother Jun'ichi instead. Sure enough, as she headed for her room, she could hear him shouting at them to get a life and bug off. Aya groaned again and put the disc into her computer. And she'd wanted to catch up on her homework, too...As the game began to load, she picked up her pencil and began writing once more.
The screen blinked to life.
Welcome to Alias.
Before she had time to put down her pencil, everything around her went pitch-black.
"'Nee-chan?"
A tall, skinny figure looked almost surprised. "Katsuo…is that you I hear? You're actually speaking to me?"
Katuso almost wanted to yell at her for making it such a big deal. "I was just wondering if you could help me with the computer. It's doing a bunch of weird things."
His sister sighed and agreed, showing him that he had plugged some of the wires in wrong. "You've got to learn how to plug in Dad's computer if you want to play this game, alright?" With that said, she left, glancing at him before disappearing out of the room and out of sight.
Good, now I can play alone.
He put the CD into the hard drive and waited for it to boot up. He sat there and caught himself fidgeting multiple times. And just when he was about to give up, he saw some words appear on the screen.
Welcome to Alias.
And that was when he fell into what he thought was endless white light.