Alright. Iterum is set in an original universe with original characters. It does not follow the show's cannon, it will never have any of the cannon characters, it will only have original characters that no one has ever seen before. Iterum is based, very losely, off a futuristic version of the Digital World provided at an RP called Digital Dreams. Big plug for that place right here, considering a lot of these human characters are member characters. All of the Digimon that appear as of right now are mine, however. I will give credit to the members when I use their characters at the bottom of every chapter. If you'd like to learn more about Digital Dreams, the link is: .?. Iterum is also posted up there.

No flames, no calling any characters involved a Mary Sue and, again, this is an original universe based off Digital Dream's Digital World. The year this fanfiction is set in is 2036 so not terribly far into the future.

Digimon is owned by Bandai/Toei but the characters in this fanfiction are owned by their respective owners; not making any money off this what so ever.

Beta'd by Admin, Vn70072 at Digital Dreams and written solely by Otterly Lost, the Otter portion of Tapir and Otter.

Chapter One

She's been missing for a week now…

Tired, bagged blue-green eyes stared listlessly at the empty desk situated in front of them. Claire, the owner of such down trodden eyes, sighed and laid her head on the desk. Her best friend, Kaoru, had been gone for sometime and it was believed that she'd been kidnapped. The police had been looking for her for a while now, while her loved ones all gathered round and waited for news well into the night. As of late though, it almost felt like they were giving up. Claire had been the last to fall into a fitful slumber last night after Kaoru's mothers had returned home about midnight. The young, sixteen year old, however, had stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, watching the phone as she had for previous nights.

"Ms. Evans, do attempt to pay attention."

Claire sat up and looked toward her homeroom teacher, withholding a scowl. "Yes ma'am,"she said, too tired to glare at the snickering boy at the back of the class. The teacher resumed teaching, scribbling something in neat, loopy writing on the dry erase board. Claire sighed again and slumped her shoulders.

Kaoru… where are you?

She felt a buzz against her pants leg and her eyes jerked open. Idly her hand moved to quiet the cellphone in her pocket as a feeling of whoozy anticipation swept through her. Kaoru was the only one that text her with any regularity. Her heart jumped with excitement and beat strongly against her chest. Her hand shot into the air and the teacher gave her an irritated look.

"Yes?"she said tersely.

"I need to go to the restroom,"Claire said, a little breathlessly. "Please excuse me." She stood and rushed from the classroom before the teacher could stop her. She entered the nearest, empty girl's bathroom and quickly locked the swinging door. She was quivering as she grappled for her phone. Managing to wrestle it into her fingers, she stared at it and felt bile rise in her throat.

The number that stared back at her wasn't one she readily knew and it definitely wasn't Kaoru's because she readily knew that one by heart and soul and body. Slowly she leaned back against the cool metallic door, beginning a downward slide to the floor. She inclined her face forward and cupped it in her free hand, the other holding the sleek silver and red phone in a lose grip.

She didn't cry; she'd never admit that she did. But her eyes did water and she was angry. Angry at who, she didn't know. Just angry in general at the injustice of it all.

After what seemed like an eternity, she stirred and finally gathered the strength to look at the text. Her eyes were bloodshot when she glanced over the words and for a moment, she was confused by them. It was a question.

Do you know the Digital World?

y/n

Digital World…

No.

She waited, almost nervously for a response, only to have it come near instantaneously.

Would you like to?

y/n

Again she hesitated, unsure where this was going. This whole business reminded her of the games that were sent around cellphones. Most of them were automated and made up by complete asses who were only out to give your phone a virus. Anyone who ever got through them always ended up needing a new phone and SIMs card.

She frowned and rubbed the fingers on her free hand together. She could always wheedle a new phone out of her parents later…

Yes.

Suddenly her phone jerked to life, morphing into some kind of band before her eyes before latching tightly around her wrist. She gasped sharply before there was a jerk around her mid drift. After that, everything went dark around her and there was a moment of freefalling through oblivion.

Everything suddenly jerked to a halt and Claire jerked awake, green-blue eyes flying open. She sucked in a sharp breath and felt dizzy and sick as she lay on what felt like a cool tiled floor. Above here, the entire ceiling was made of glass and arching into a large dome around her. On the other side of the glass, blackness dotted by twinkling lights stretched as far as she could see. Every now and again, one would blink off, only to come back on about a second later.

Claire sucked in a deep breath to steady her stomach and sat up slowly. She examined her surroundings more thoroughly and found that the dome was just a small part of a much larger infrastructure. The dome room itself looked to be more of a waiting room, with hard plastic chairs seated in six rows in the middle of the room. Claire was on the floor, three rows from the front facing the exit. The exit itself looked to be a long glass tube that lead into a much larger, triangular building.

Carefully, with her hand holding the back of one of the chairs, Claire pulled herself to her feet. Her hands idly brushed off her pants and she bent down once more to grab her black cap. She brushed the beret off and set it back on her short, spikey black hair. Just as her fingers were pushing her blonde bangs from her eyes, she saw a creature approaching her quickly.

It was a short, squat creature with wings for ears and big blue eyes. Half of it was orange(the top half) and that coloration extended down to about the level of its mouth(which was small and rounded, almost like a three with a wider middle). The bottom half was a light creamy color and extended down over four, fat little legs that ended with three toed paws in black color.

"Heeeey!"it cried out, even more surprising to the girl. Claire quickly began to step back only to trip and fall back into one of the hard chairs. She growled and struggled to get back up but it was too later. The creature was already on her, and holding up its front paws in a placating gesture.

"Whoa! Wait, wait there, Claire!"it squeaked.

"Where am I?"she growled, eyes narrowing. "And what are you?"

"Calm down,"the rat with wings said softly. "You're in the Digital World; you're safe. I'm a species of creatures called Digimon. I'm a Patamon named Seph…"

Claire continued to glare but had calmed down slightly with the explanation. "What is the Digital World and what is a Digimon?"she said gripping the armrests. Seph sighed and brought a paw up to rub at its(his? Seph was a boy's name right?) fat, squishy face. "Oh boy,"he said softly before fluttering to sit down on the back of the chair in front of Claire's own.

"Okay. The Digital World itself is where Digimon live; its… its complicated but its more or less what it sounds like. It is a world made digitally. A Digimon is a Digital Monster… Its complicated."He sighed again and hid his face in his paws. "Look, that's the best I can explain it to you,"he said sharply, moving one paw to the side to glare at her via a single blue eye. "Just know that you're currently on the Digital World's moon. At the very top tip. Beyond that hallway is the space station that will take you down to the surface. You have to wait here for the next transport to be prepped. Before you leave, you will meet your partner-"

"Partner?"Claire interrupted, eyes suspicious. She ignored the irritated look Seph passed her.

"Yes. Partner. You will have a Digimon companion who will protect and serve you during your time here in the Digital World. He will join you shortly. Now, I'm afraid I must go."

He pushed off the chair and took flight, leaving Claire gob smacked. He was gone before she could really stop him. This left her seated in the domed room, staring ahead. Carefully she slumped back in her chair and looked around idly.

Whoever decorated the room had obviously attempted to make it more comfortable, going as far as to place brightly colored, potted plants at the four corners of the square of chairs. Behind her, nothing but space stretched out, almost as though the land ended right as the building did. Under her high tops, the floor was black, shiny tile. And upward and off to the side, she could see a flat ellipse that she could only guess was this Digital World.

Sighing, Claire looked forward and stared at the dark blue chair in front of her. Her eyes were growing heavy and it wasn't long before she fell into a light doze. Her last coherent thought was of Kaoru and where she could possibly be.