Yes, I know, I'm starting another Digimon story when I should be working on my older ones. Especially since not only those, but a majority of my stories haven't been updated for nearly a year or more.

But for now I'm doing this. I hope for the idea to get further than a few of my past stories, and maybe spark interest to go back to them as well.

Anyway, here we go once more!


Digital World, Fifteen Years Ago

When two giants clashed atop the peak which bore no name, the entire Digital World shuddered in fear.

To the north stood an enormous green being known as Titamon, whose incredible size was matched only by the sheer power of the enormous sword he carried. Eyes blazing with murder, he faced his opponent in preparation to enact total destruction.

His foe was Ogudomon, an enormous black beast which stood on seven spindly legs. Through each of these legs, a sword had been driven hilt-deep, and was topped by a floating symbol in one of the seven colors of the visible spectrum.

The two had been fighting for weeks, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. But now at the crown of their world, the final battleground was set.

Ogudomon was-to pardon the expression-on his last leg in the fight. Though the two had been evenly matched at the start of their conflict, it was obvious now that Titamon had the upper hand.

"Catedral!" The Super Demon Lord called, causing the crests floating in the air to glow and rotate. One by one as each passed over the giant mouth on its chest, they fired shots of blackness tinted with their respective spectral color. The shots homed in on Titamon, who raised his sword in defense.

"Konpaku Shingeki!" The Titan bellowed, charging forward. His blade swung high, crackling energy surrounding its form. With a roar, Titamon swung, unleashing his full destructive force with the blow.

Unable to dodge completely, Ogudomon twisted to the side. The blade completely severed two of his legs, as well as continuing its arc until the entire mountain had been cleaved asunder.

"Surrender and I will make your death a swift one!" The Titan roared. "You cannot hope to defeat me."

Ogudomon knew that his foe was right. "True enough, but I can still take you with me!" He lunged forward with his remaining strength and grabbed ahold of his foe.

"Demon Lord Sacrifice!"

A shrieking wind split the air as dark energy wrapped around the foes. Titamon bellowed in agony as the black energy drained away his power.

"Fool," He hissed. "You'll destroy us both!"

"That is the only way this conflict will truly end," Ogudomon replied. "Our power will be divided throughout the world. And perhaps this time...it will be used for good."

With that, the Demon Lord dissolved into data, the seven crests which had surrounded him shrinking to points of light and soaring away.

Titamon's roars rose in strength as he began to shrink away. Like Ogudomon, points of light burst from his body and soared away, but his diminishing form remained.

"Mark my words," the now diminutive form declared. "I will regain my former power, and then I will use it to destroy yours! I will not rest until you have been forever stricken from this planet!"

And with that, silence fell. Only a small gold-clad figure would hear those parting words.

"Then I must make sure that never happens," He vowed. Then he soared off to inform his master.

Seattle Washington, 6 September

The universe seemed to have some sort of vendetta against Alex, who was currently running across downtown Seattle through a huge downpour. His electric hair looked as though he'd just gotten out of a shower, and his green hoodie and navy jeans were almost completely soaked through.

Behind him, his sister Annalise was protected beneath their single umbrella against the onslaught. The younger girl wore only a yellow cotton blouse and white shorts against her brother's advice. Luckily, not a single drop was landing on her golden hair, which she had insisted on braiding before they left.

Typical. She spent so much time just fixing her hair when she should have been finding more weather-appropriate clothes.

But Alex couldn't worry about that now. His first concern was reaching the arcade before his friends gave up on him. They were already thirty minutes late.

"Can't you slow down just a bit please?" Anna called. "I have short legs!"

Grudgingly, Alex slowed his pace enough that they were soon walking side-by-side. Anna tried to shield her brother from the rain with her umbrella, but it was only large enough for one person and she simply wasn't tall enough to reach up over his head.

Soon enough, they had reached the arcade and were able to escape the downpour. Stepping through the doorway, they were greeted by two figures-a boy and a girl-who waved them over to one of the machines.

"There's your girlfriend," Anna chuckled, much to her brother's annoyance.

"Way to be mature," He muttered back. "Remember, you were the one who volunteered to come with me. I don't have to bring you."

Anna nodded quietly, shaking out her umbrella and stepping into place behind him. Alex grinned before heading over toward the two. The boy, Noah Butler, was red-haired and wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with a silver stripe running from the shoulder down on the right side.

The girl was Jennavive Myers, or Jenna as her friends called her. She wore a red knit sweater and black skirt. She had a knit hat matching her sweater placed atop her deep brown hair, which was pulled back into a ponytail. Currently, she was beating Noah at his favourite game in the arcade, Global Kung Fu Showdown 3. Alex watched as the small pixilated figure on her side of the screen sent out a snap-kick to knock the other fighter over, winning her the round.

"That's hardly fair," Noah complained. "Maybe you could ease up just a bit?"

"And break a 41-win streak? Not a chance," Jenna gloated. "Come on, loser pays."

Noah frowned. "That was the last one I brought with me today. You've already driven me broke."

Jenna checked her pockets for coins but to no avail. "Aw man! I can't stop now, I just have to win once more to break the record!"

She jumped slightly as a coin was placed on the machine next to the buttons used to control it.

"This one's on me," Alex grinned. "Now beat that record."

Noah groaned. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sanders."

Jenna nudged her glasses further up her nose and nodded. She then proceeded to thrash Noah once more.

"Forty-two straight wins," The redheaded boy moaned, letting his head sink to land on the console. "I give up..."

"You put up a noble effort," Jenna consoled him.

"I wasted ten bucks letting you thrash me," Noah countered. "And I still wanted to play more games..."

"I think you've blown through enough of your allowance for one day," Alex said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Besides, I was under the impression that we were going to the park today."

"In this weather? You're insane," Noah grimaced.

"How about someplace warm then?" Anna piped up. "There's a cafe around the corner; we could get hot chocolate with marshmallows there."

"Sounds fun," Jenna nodded. "Alex is buying though, since the two of us wasted all our money here."

"Just try not to break my wallet," Alex joked.

The four hurried out of the building, making every attempt to remain under the overhangs above various shop entrances to keep out of the rain. Soon they had reached the cafe and were about to order.

It was then that Alex's day became very strange.

The first sign that something was amiss was the tingling sensation which ran down his spine as they waited to order. Like a military unit snapping to attention, the hair on the back of his neck prickled, sending goosebumps down both arms.

"Did anyone else feel that? Like a sort of tingling on your necks?" He asked quietly so as not to disturb the other customers.

His companions shook their heads, none of them having noticed that anything was off.

"Probably just you, dude," Noah declared. "Some kind of reflex; you know, like when you're trying to sleep but you suddenly jerk and wake yourself up for no reason?"

Alex nodded, though the feeling had been nothing like that at all. He looked around for a second, wondering what could have caused that feeling. As he glanced toward the window, his attention was drawn to a boy standing outside the cafe. He had jet-black hair reaching his shoulder, and wore what appeared to be a black longcoat. Beside him, a large brown dog sat at attention, eyes sharp.

Both sets of eyes-the boy's green and the dog's black-were focused directly on Alex.

"Hey, is it just me, or is that kid looking straight at us?" Noah spoke up, following Alex's gaze. As soon as he did so, the boy abruptly turned and left.

"Something about that guy gave me a weeeeeird vibe," Alex declared. "I say we go talk to him, find out why he was spying."

"But what about our hot chocolate?" Anna complained. "We'll lose our spot in line!"

"We can wait a few extra minutes," Jenna nodded. "Besides, this could be fun! Maybe he's some kind of spy."

"Or just a stalker..." Anna muttered. Regardless, she followed her brother and his friends onto the street.

Later, Anna would spend many nights wondering how things would have been different if she had insisted that they stay inside, that they shouldn't follow the boy and his dog. Maybe that would have stopped what came next.

The second they reached the street, Alex's entire body seemed to tingle with static. He looked around wildly for the boy,trying to locate him. But amid the rain, he saw nothing.

BANG

A bolt of lightning, large enough to take a good sized chunk out of Alex's head, crashed to the earth a mere ten feet away from him.

Anna screamed, grabbing ahold of his arm, while his friends moved closer, scanning the sky frantically, as if they would be able to see the next bolt before it landed.

With no warning beforehand, the world around them dissolved into splinters of brilliant light as electricity coursed down from the sky as though sent down by some angry giant. Distantly, Alex thought about how they ought to try to get back inside, to seek refuge.

That was when the largest bolt of all came down directly on top of him and his friends, driving any thoughts at all from his head in an instant.

-X-

The black-haired boy watched all of this from the sidelines, nodding quietly as the group vanished, leaving no evidence that they had ever stood there in the first place.

"Some of them might not survive this journey, Isaac," The doglike creature at his side growled. "They all may very well be dead."

Isaac shook his head. "Worry not, Dobermon. We chose each one of them with absolute certainty. Not only will they survive, they may even be what we need to save both of our worlds."

With that, he turned toward the wall and slashed his arm downward in an arc. The device strapped to his forearm flashed and a glowing portal opened in front of him. Without another word, the two calmly stepped though the portal and out of our world.

-X-

Alex wasn't quite sure how he was still alive, considering that he'd just been hit with enough lightning to turn him and the others into piles of ash. All he knew was that the four of them were floating through a black tunnel filled with tiny green ones and zeroes. And they were heading toward the end at incredible speeds.

He held tightly to Anna, fearing that if his grip loosened even a fraction of an inch, she would be torn away. Nearby, Noah and Jenna had joined hands, the fear apparent on the former's face. Oddly, Jenna's expression was one of excitement, mixed with just a slight hint of confusion.

"Wherever this thing is taking us, try to stay together," Alex called to them. "I don't think we can get to you, but we'll try to find you!"

The others nodded, looking forward toward the tunnel's end. A single bright point was the only indicator that there was an end at all, but it continued to grow larger by the second.

Eventually, Alex began to feel other presences, as though they were not alone in this void. Concentrating, he began to make out the outlines of others traveling along the tunnel, separated by translucent walls of binary. All of them seemed to be moving in the same general direction, but in slightly different trajectories.

"Other people must have gotten caught," Anna deduced, noticing the figures. "When the lightning hit everything. Maybe they died and we're all going to Heaven..."

"I don't think so," Jenna decided. "If we were all dead-" She reached up and pinched Noah's arm "-Then this wouldn't hurt."

"Yeowch!" Noah protested.

"So whatever this is, it's not just happening to us," Alex declared. "Get ready, we're nearly to the end."

Each of them braced for the impact, still gripping their partners. They hit the wall of white as though they were diving into a pool, and immediately flew off in random directions. Alex was instantly glad for his choice to hold onto his sister, as she was nearly torn from his grip as soon as they were freed from the tunnel.

The next few seconds were a whirlwind of action. They seemed to be falling downward, but the increasing momentum which should have resulted did not take effect. Alex watched in disbelief as they touched down softly in a grove of trees.

"What...just happened?" Anna asked after a few seconds. "Are we alive?"

They stood slowly and drank in their surroundings. The grove of trees in which they had landed ended abruptly a few meters away in the form of a sheer mountain. There was no way they were getting down anytime soon.

Looking around a bit more, he noticed something else. Two other figures were descending lazily from the sky toward them.

"Those must be some of the other people from that tunnel," Anna noted. "Wonder why everyone is landing right here?"

"Let's go see if it's anyone we know," Alex suggested. Anna nodded and the two set off to intercept the falling figures.

-X-

Bree was sure she was dead from the moment the bolt arced down from the sky and hit her. She had practically felt her body burning into nothingness, followed by a coldness which must have been oblivion. So the pastors had been wrong all a long-Heaven was just a happy thought for people who wanted to be optimistic as their lives ended.

But then everything changed when she felt something firm against her back, as though she was lying on top of something. Was there ground in limbo? She had assumed that she would be floating through emptiness for eternity, or at least until she ceased to exist.

"Hey, are you alright?" A voice asked, cutting through the static in her ears. "C'mon, please don't be dead..."

Well that settled it. Somehow, impossibly, it seemed that she was still alive. She groaned softly, trying to open her eyes.

"Well she doesn't seem to have any broken bones as far as I can tell," A second voice noted from nearby.

"My brother is studying to be a doctor, so he knows all about this kind of stuff," Came the sound of a young girl.

Bree finally worked up the strength to open one eye. Above her, she could see a boy of about her age with slick brown hair and deep caring brown eyes. His skin was a soft tan, in a way to give the impression that he was of Native American or possibly Mexican descent, but she had heard no accent in his voice.

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty," The boy joked as she sat up slowly. "We were starting to get worried for a minute there."

"Where am I?" Bree asked, deciding to cut straight to the chase. "And who are you guys?"

The boy who had woken her gestured to himself. "My name is Gareth Pineiro. Those two are Alex and Anna Sanders. I just met them both myself," He leaned in a bit closer. "And who might you be?"

"Bree Moors," She responded grudgingly. "Not that it matters to you."

"Gee, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed," The boy, Alex, noted. "Or more appropriately, the wrong side of the universe."

Gareth shot the kid a glare. "Cut her some slack; the last thing she probably remembers is getting hit by lightning."

"Right, sorry," Alex nodded. "So you were there when the accident happened too?"

Gareth gave him an odd look. "OF course I was there-I was right in the middle of it."

"That can't be," Alex frowned. "We were right in the center, but I don't remember seeing you."

"Maybe the lightning didn't just hit in Seattle," Anna chimed in. "It may have happened in multiple places. Where are you from?"

"Michigan," Gareth replied. He turned to Bree. "And you?"

"Why do you care?" She asked grumpily, sitting up.

"Well seeing as how we're sitting in a forest on the top of a mountain, I see no reason why we shouldn't get to know each-other," Was the boy's response.

Bree huffed in annoyance. "I'm from Montana, if you must know."

"Cool," Alex gave her a thumbs-up. "Guess we're from all over the place then. Isn't it strange, then, that we all got zapped here at the same moment? Must be fate or something."

Bree scoffed. "There's no such thing as fate. There's obviously someone behind this-someone who planned to bring each one of us...wherever we are."

"If you say so," Alex shrugged. "By the way, are you two hungry? We saw a tree with some berries in it on our way over here."

Bree was prepared to decline when her stomach suddenly gave a loud growl, giving any pretense away.

"That answers that," Gareth chuckled. "Wait right here and Alex and I will go pick a few." The two quickly stood and walked off, leaving Bree alone with the kid, Anna.

"So you said your name was Bree?" Anna asked conversationally. "Is that short for Brianna, by any chance?"

Bree nodded. "Why, is that your actual name too?"

Anna shook her head. "My full first name is Annalise, but it's cool that we both have it in our names."

"Guess so," Bree sighed.

Anna sat there for a few moments, just looking around. "This place really is beautiful, isn't it? I wonder if we're still on earth or not? Alex thinks this is a different planet because we saw some big rocks floating in the air in the distance. What do you think?"

Bree considered the idea. "Well, I've never given much thought to the idea of other worlds, but seeing this, I guess it makes sense."

"I wonder if there are people here too," Anna continued. "And if there are, do you think they look like us, and do the same stuff we do?"

"They could be aliens," Bree allowed herself to smile. "Big green bug-eyed aliens with six fingers."

Anna giggled. "You seem a lot nicer now than when you woke up."

Bree paused. She hadn't even noticed it happening; she had gone from snapping to smiling in a matter of minutes. "Guess I'm just glad to be alive. It's a nice feeling."

-X-

"They should be somewhere around here," Alex assured his new acquaintance. "Big blue berries the size of my fist."

Gareth was hesitant. "Are you sure they're even edible? Who knows what kind of poisonous stuff there is around here."

Alex considered it. "To be honest, I'm not even sure how to find out."

"You're in luck then," Gareth grinned. "My grandpa is really big on wilderness survival. He knows all about that kind of stuff and even taught me a bit."

The two reached the tree with the berries and Alex turned. "Alright then, if you're the expert, how do we find out?"

Gareth went to the tree and scanned around the trunk. "The first indicator is animals nearby, living or dead. If you only find dead ones, the berries are probably poisonous. If there are live birds or anything else in the nearby trees, that's a positive sign."

Alex glanced around quickly. "And if there are no animals at all?" Come to think of it, he didn't even hear birds chirping or see bugs crawling around.

"Well then we go to test number two," Gareth replied, picking one of the berries. "We take a bit of the juice and run it along our gums without swallowing any. If it starts to sting after a few minutes, it's probably poisonous. If not, it should be safe to eat."

Alex did so, swishing a small dribble of juice in his mouth before spitting the rest out. It was a lot like a blueberry-sweet with a hint of tartness. The temptation to try more was hard to keep back.

"You don't need to worry," A voice suddenly spoke from a nearby tree. "Those berries are harmless. To be honest, I'm surprised you found a tree with so many; most places they would have been gobbled up long ago."

The two boys looked around wildly, trying to spot the source of the voice. As they did so, a small figure dropped out of the tree in front of them.

"Nice day, ain't it?" asked what appeared to be a childlike creature with a pointed tail and curving horns. "Hey, what are you two dopes starin' at?"

Gareth was the first to recover from the shock. "S-sorry about that, but...what exactly are you?"

The purple creature huffed, straightening the red bandana around its neck. "The name is Impmon, and what I am is a Digimon. Sheesh, don't you people know anything?"

"Apparently not," Alex finally managed to speak. "I've never even heard of Digimon."

Impmon looked at him oddly. "If you've never heard of Digimon, does that mean...you're from the Human World?"

"What other world would we be from?" Gareth asked, obviously interested in the little creature.

Impmon took the question as a reply. "This is awesome! If you're from the Human World, that makes you guys Tamers, right? Where are your digivices?"

"Tamers?" Alex asked.

"Digivices?" Gareth's question carried the same tone.

"You two really don't know anything," Impmon sighed. "Do you have phones on you? Or any kind of electronic gizmos?"

The boys both nodded.

"Well pull 'em out and get ready to watch something really cool," Impmon chuckled.

Gareth was the first to respond, pulling out a sleek black smart phone. With a sudden crackle of energy, the phone morphed slightly in shape. It was still rectangular, but now sported bright yellow trim and three buttons along either side of the screen. On the bottom, a thin port the length and width of a quarter opened up. With a chirp, the power came on, displaying a green-lettered message in the screen's center.

"Digivice Excel," Gareth read. "I'm guessing this is the thing you were talking about?"

Impmon nodded enthusiastically. "That's a basic digivice, or at least the basic model of the most advanced type. You are now a full fledged Tamer," He hesitated. "That is, as soon as you find a Digimon partner."

"I get to choose a partner?" Gareth clarified. "And what exactly does that mean? What do I need a partner for?"

"To fight other Digimon and become stronger," Impmon explained. "When you partner with a Digimon, it's able to grow in strength much faster than it would on its own. From that point they're kinda like your own personal bodyguard."

"I like the sound of that," Gareth nodded. "Since you're the one explaining it all, why don't you be my partner?"

"For real?" Impmon asked in excitement. "I was hopin' you would ask, but didn't think you would actually do it!"

Gareth nodded. "If you'll help us out around here, then consider yourself partnered."

Meanwhile, Alex pulled out his phone as well, to see that it had also morphed into a digivice. His looked much like Gareth's, but the trim was an electrified green. As he turned on the power, the words "Digivice Excel" popped up as well.

"So what exactly are these things for," He asked. "And what is a Digimon?"

Impmon turned now to him. "Digimon is short for Digital Monster, and we exist in a world composed entirely of data. You two managed to cross over to our world somehow, probably because of that freaky storm at the temple earlier.

"Anyway, the digivice is like an all-access pass around here. It can store things like food, supplies, and even Digimon electronically. If you've got a partner, you can do even more stuff, like get your partner to digivolve in battle to beat strong enemies. Digivolving is where a Digimon transforms into a stronger form, and the more training and bond there is between you two, the higher level your partner can digivolve to."

The boys were silent for a while, trying to process what had been said.

"Not that this isn't a great place and all," Gareth spoke up, "But is there any way these things can get us back home? I was hoping not to be late for dinner tonight. I could take you with me, of course."

Impmon shook his head. "Not with the digivice you've got. You would need to upgrade it with Digiport functionality for that."

"But it's possible?" Alex clarified.

"Yeah, if you know the right guy. In fact, I met an Andromon in Codon City once who might be able to do it," He frowned. "But to get there you'd have to get off this mountain. Not exactly an easy thing to do, with sheer drops on all sides. But then again, most people have the problem of getting to the Temple of Jupiter, not the other way around."

"That's what this place is called?" Alex asked. "The Temple of Jupiter?"

Impmon jumped up on a stump. "The temple itself is off in that direction. That's where Jupitermon is said to rest. "The stories tell us that someday Jupitermon will rise up and leave the mountain, raining down justice on all the evil in the world."

Here's hoping we aren't on that list," Gareth chuckled. "I say after we bring back these berries, we take the girls there to check it out. Could be fun, and maybe someone there will know how to get us down from this place."

"Sounds like a plan, partner," Impmon cheered. "Let's go collect your friends and head to the temple! I smell the makings of a beautiful adventure here!"

-X-

Isaac and Dobermon watched all of this from the trees a distance away.

"That was fast," Dobermon commented. "The brown-haired kid has already found his partner. Next thing you know, those kids will all have partners who can digivolve. Then things will really get interesting."

Isaac nodded. "Assuming they don't die first. Come on, we should report this success to the council."

He slashed his hand through the air, opening another Digiport and stepping through.

I hope you're right, Dobermon, He thought as the vortex swallowed him. I hope these kids can survive. Because if not, this place is going to destroy them in the blink of an eye.


AN: With the summer season finally here, I have more freedom to write. I'll be making an effort to continue this story and as many of the others I should be working on as I can. Be prepared to hear a lot from me in the coming weeks.

Next time on Digimon Excel:

While Alex and his team try to find a way to escape Mount Voltan, an evil force is moving through the surrounding area, taking over like a plague. Unfortunately, Noah, Jenna and their new friends are caught right in the middle of it. It's a struggle to survive in a world they barely understand as they desperately attempt to reunite with their friends. You won't want to miss chapter two of this electrifying series!