Heeellllooo readers! RenamonRoxxx here, dropping another story at your feet. This one i feel is my best work and i have already written 12 chapters out on it that need to be edited weekly. I will be updating all my stories twice a week if i can, but plan on only once a week. :/ I love the reviews, don't stop sending them! I will change any and all things that you find wrong, be it plot holes or errors in logic. Just please click the favorite and follow buttons. Spam them. I love seeing people interested in my stories, and will continue to write as long as those buttons are being pushed. Tell me what you think of this new story in a review, and enjoy!
P.S.- If there are any DMO players out there, i am on lillethmon server under the name RenaDragon. Whisper me if ya get a chance!
Chapter 1
We all have a little darkness in us. Some hide it, keep it hidden. Others flaunt it, letting it out on those around them. The former are regarded as heroes. The latter as villains. The truth is, people are often judged by the darkness they hold. What my judgment is, well. That is for you to decide.
My story begins on a warm, sunny Saturday in northern Georgia. No work to be done, no commitments to fill, just me, the day, and aaaalllll the time in between. I had woken up late, opting to sleep it til 10, and made myself some strong coffee and a hearty breakfast and was enjoying them outside on my back porch soaking in the sunlight. Oh, right. My name is Justin Keenan. I am 21 years old, around 5'11", and heavyset at about 250. I can hear you snickering at my weight, so stop. Anyway, I had dark brown hair and eyes as blue as a husky's, which often earned me compliments or insults, depending on who was talking. Now that intro is over, back to the back porch.
I stared blissfully off into space after I had finished eating and reclined in the wooden rocker I had set out there, idly wondering what I was going to do with my day. I was rudely disturbed, however, by a knock on the front door. I groaned and adjusted my appearance so as not to scare whoever was about to ruin my day, no matter how much they deserved it. I groggily turned the handle to the very LAST thing I wanted to see today.
"JUSTIN! Oh, it's so good to see you! How are things holding up? You don't mind if we stop in for the day, do you?" my mother asked assaulting my still waking senses with a barrage of input I needed more coffee to deal with properly. She stepped inside without waiting for an answer, revealing Dad standing behind her, multiple bags in hand. "Hello son." he said gruffly, weight from the heavy bags slumping his shoulders. "Mind helping me with these?"
Seems like I didn't have much choice, in either request, so I went out to fetch the rest of the suitcases. I lugged the ridiculously overstuffed travel cases into the guest room, hoping they didn't want to stay the night. I returned to the living room to get a few answers from my parents, who seemed less than thrilled at the condition of my house. Ignoring that, I stopped and leaned on a nearby wall, phrasing my next few questions.
"So, why are you here? If you tell me you're on some vacation trip again, then those bags would be better than in a hotel room. We both know you don't stop in for a surprise visit, especially not for an afternoon. You probably ARE on some vacation trip, but you have something to say to me before you go. So, spill. What's up?"
Mom sighed, and temporarily stopped eyeing the clothes and dirty dishes lying around on my floor and furniture. Dad looked me straight in the eyes and spoke up. "Alex, you can come in now."
The front door opened again to a large, powerful looking creature. Tan brown fur, hands tipped with claws, a mane, and a sword strapped to his back graced his appearance. Predatory eyes stared at Dad, and then at mom for a moment before resting on me. He opened his lion-like maw and spoke.
"Ah, you must be Justin. It's good to finally meet you."
He stuck a furred paw out to me in a handshake, which I met. I broke gaze with the creature to look at Dad.
"You partnered? With a leomon?" I quickly looked back to the leomon. "No offense of course, I know all leomon to be noble warriors with a good nature and sense of humor. I'm just surprised to see my Dad partnered with anyone is all. It is very nice to meet you."
Alex nodded with an acknowledging glance. Before Dad could reply, Mom spoke up. "Alecia! You can come in." A small catlike creature with yellow, gloved front paws walked in and jumped up to Mom's shoulder.
"Mom? You too? And a Gatomon! Um, nice to meet you Alecia. But how did you both get digimon, much or less champions? I thought you didn't want partners?"
Alex seemed to stiffen a bit, and Alecia just leaned her head against Mom's. "It's okay Alex, let me explain." Dad said with a comforting pat on the lion's shoulder. "Me and your mother had agreed, yes, that we didn't want digimon partners. We saw what happened in the arenas and didn't want anything to do with creatures that bent on violence."
Okay, you might be a bit confused about this point. How are digimon roaming around? Are they ruling? What is the deal with the arena? Has this guy lost his mind? Well, let me explain.
Not long after the D-Reaper was destroyed, the first tamers lost their digimon to the vortex of the Juggernaut, sucking them back to the digital world. However, as if on cue, not a few weeks later the Juggernaut backfired for the last time and instead of sucking digimon through digital gates and shutting them, it opened every gate worldwide as it started cycling in the opposite direction. Digimon bio-emerged daily and any digimon that wanted to could simply walk through the gates and into the real world, seeking tamers or just simply a new life, opting for that of a businessman, shopkeeper, laborer, or the like.
But, for reasons no one can explain, about a year later the majority of the gates shut, leaving only a few major gates still open. Also puzzling, the digimon that became partnered with a tamer after that day no longer received a digivice. The digivices of the tamers partnered before the event were analyzed and studied, but even after years of research and testing no one had managed to recreate so much as a single one. The best thing that could be done was something referred to as a scanner, which was essentially just a card slider that allowed you to use modify cards with a digimon you bonded to the device.
Those that had digivices could digivolve, making them high class citizens, and not even the governments dare mess with them. Laws were adjusted to extend citizenship to digimon, and after about a month or so of cases and reports of digimon assaulting and murdering other digimon, a provision was made for digimon to fight within boundaries, seeing as it was instilled (or installed) in their nature. Thus, the Coliseums were born, arenas where digimon could register with or without tamers and fight.
To supposedly make the sport safer, devices called data collectors, small machines designed to collect lost data, were installed in the Arenas. Whenever a digimon was defeated, it could either be absorbed by the victor or by the collectors. Once stored by the collectors, it would be reassembled in the Arena's main computer and materialized into a miniature digital plane, then bio-emerged into a small chamber nearby. It was an ingenious system, as it prevented deleted digimon from being lost forever. However, from those who had gone through the experience, it was living hell to be dismantled painfully, absorbed bit by bit, reassembled violently into a completely black and empty void, then shoved through a miniscule digital gate into a cramped cylinder that resembled a test tube.
Regardless, since it was illegal to absorb a digimon that had partnered with a human under penalty of sentence to a faux plane, it was considered safe. However, accidents still happened, like malfunctioning collectors or a victor on a rampage, so a waiver was required that exempted the arena managers from blame if a digimon was deleted permanently. So, the fights continued, cheered on by the masses, but scorned by the few. My parents were of the latter group, choosing not to be involved with creatures that made it their life to kill others for entertainment. But, despite that last statement, here they were.
"You see, we were walking by the local arena one day on our way to the store to pick up a few things. There was a riled little elecmon at the gate, trying to get into the arena to fight. I normally wouldn't have given a second glance, except that the guard was laughing at him. He was screaming furiously at the flamedramon guarding the gate, but all he did was laugh harder. Something struck me as not right, so against my better judgment and your mother's protests, I moved to see what was going on. I walked close enough to overhear the conversation…"
*Flashback*
"Beat it runt, you don't belong here." The elecmon got even angrier with the guard, demanding to be let in. He was trying to get into a champion level fight, which even an in-training could sign up for, but the guard would have none of it. He made fun of his size and power and outright refused to even consider letting him in. I walked closer, trying to make sense of the situation. I had to agree with the guard, he was small and probably wouldn't win, but I also thought the guard was out of line by not letting him register. It was, after all, the elecmon's choice. It seemed to be either courage or stupidity driving him, probably both, and I knew he wouldn't stop til he was either allowed in or dead. So I intervened and suggested the only thing I could think of.
"Why don't you two fight? Nonlethally, of course. If the guard wins, you walk away and don't come back to the arena. If you win, he admits you are stronger and will let you register and never bother you again."
"Fine, but I am gonna smear the poor kid." The guard said arrogantly, taking a fighting stance.
Before I let them start, though, I leaned in to elecmon and game him a final piece of advice. "Listen son, I hate fighting and I hate this place and what goes on here. That being said, I am helping you out because despite what I think you seem to have a reason behind this fight. If you are going to fight, fight for a reason, and a damn good one. Don't fight pointlessly, whatever power you get isn't worth it."
I have never seen anything so small move so fast in my life. The flamedramon even fought a little dirty, but even still the elecmon had him on the ground, teeth at his throat. He stood shakily after tapping out, rolling a sore shoulder.
"Alright kid, I have to admit, you got some potential. You can go ahead and sign up and head in, I'll even give you a recommendation."
But, much to my surprise, the elecmon simply nodded to the guard and walked away, leaving the guard dumbfounded at the gate. I walked over to him and stopped him, trying to figure out why he was leaving.
"There was a reason to fight the guard. He didn't respect me, and would continue to bully people at the gate. There was no reason to keep fighting inside."
*End Flashback*
Alex spoke up after Dad finished the story. "You showed me there was more to life than fighting, and earned my trust and respect."
"And you showed me there are fights worth fighting, if fought with honor and purpose behind them. I realized not all digimon were violent, and shortly after we became good friends. We became linked, and he moved in with us, and now here we are." Dad replied, smiling and punching Alex in the shoulder lightly. "Speaking of honor, you owe me a rematch for cheating at cards yesterday."
Alex grinned and mocked rubbing his shoulder. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Leomon are an honorable and powerful race, and would never cheat, much less lose, to a human." They both laughed to themselves and walked off to pick up a card game. This still left Mom and Alecia. I turned to the pair, a few questions still left unanswered. Mom explained.
"I found Alecia scrounging for scraps through the garbage as a salamon not long after we found Alex. With a bit of begging, your father let me keep her, and together we eventually partnered. She went out one morning as she usually did to do a morning round of her territory like you'd figure most dogs do. But she didn't come back for hours, and when she did she was covered in cuts and bruises. A stray agumon had found her wandering around and thought he would use her to get stronger so he could fight in the arena. She'd beat him, but barely. After that, we decided that champion level would be necessary for both Alex and Alecia and we worked hard to make it happen.
After a lot of searching, we finally found a tail ring that enabled her next level with little to no data. The owner wanted a, well, a mate for the night in exchange for the ring, which flat out wasn't happening. Outraged that he'd been rejected, he attacked us both and we were forced into deleting him. Alecia took the ring, absorbed the data, and she digivolved to Gatomon! As for Alex, it took a bit longer. Alex had a lot of the necessary data already stored from previous fights, and your father scrimped and scrounged and used the money to buy up every bit of spare data he could find or bargain for. Even still, it was close, so they eventually settled on one fight, and only with a dark type digimon. They went into the Coliseum, registered for the fight, beat their opponent and absorbed the data. It triggered the digivolution to Leomon and they both just walked out. They don't like to talk about it much, but the truth is they needed Alex to digivolve. It wasn't pretty getting to this level, son. It never is, but now we can protect ourselves and our partners. And they are thrilled with the added power, right Ally?"
The cat yawned and nodded, speaking for the first time. "Yeah, I don't mind a fight or two, but a life dedicated to it I think is a waste of time. I wasn't any happier about the circumstances we needed to digivolve any more than Alex was, trust me, but it's worked out well for both of us. Besides, now we can protect them." She said, nestling into her tamer's neck. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost Sarah."
Mom scratched the tip of her head and smiled. "Same here Alecia. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've had a long and rough trip and would like to catch up some sleep while I can. We'll be taking off in an hour, we have tickets for a cruise ship leaving today, and we just wanted to tell you the news in person."
Well… huh. Just like them, to drop a bomb in my lap and run off to have fun. But, as for the news, that was, interesting. My parents had digimon, and had gone against their better nature to protect them and get them to digivolve. It seemed like they were growing to like each other very well. With Mom and Alecia catnapping, (ouch, sorry) and Alex and Dad locked in a card game and heated discussion, I decided that this'd be a good time to take a walk to sort out all this new info. I snatched my earbuds and phone and walked outside, stretching and blinking my eyes to adjust to the sunlight.
Switching to my Linkin Park tracks, I jogged a good half mile down the road, passing rows of houses as modern as well kempt as mine. I rounded a street corner and started towards town, slowing down to a cooldown walk. I finally reached town and kept walking with no real direction, passing numerous human and digimon vendors selling various foods, wares, and odds and ends. Ever since digimon started pouring into the human world, technology started advancing rapidly due to even the simplest creature's knowledge of the devices. Real advancements were just starting to be made as the technology was put to use. Everything form phones to cars to streetlights to vacuum cleaners were powered with clean, renewable energy transmitted to them wirelessly. Seeing as it was so widely available, the energy was free. Cars were sleeker and no longer put out waste gases, phones were thinner, and new technologies came out on the market every day, not to mention hundreds of prototypes. Things were looking up for us bipedal morons.
I realized I was just stalling, and my thoughts began to drift to my parents and their digimon partners. They willing gave up the misgivings they had of fighting when their partners needed them, and it was a huge change from the way they were before. I guess this was sort of an apology, for the way they treated me so long ago. I wanted a partner now more than ever, but I had a high set of standards that I was unwilling to break. I never had qualms about a good fight; I just didn't go around looking for trouble. As such many potential partners passed me by because they wanted to duke it out in the arena and become stronger. I let 'em. They didn't need me scanning cards for them; they could strap a scanner to their arm (if they had one) and do it themselves. No, I was looking for someone who was not obsessed with power, or a free meal ticket. Not to say I was complacent with my circumstances right now, as a matter of fact I hated the dull life I had right now. But I was patient.
A sudden shout and the scene of people gathering in a crowd jarred me from my thoughts and drew my attention. I pulled my earbuds out, letting them dangle down my shirt still playing music. I pushed a few people aside and moved to the front to catch a glimpse of what was going on.
A teenager with his hands in his pockets stood next to a rather large, muscle-bound, male Renamon. The large kitsune was towering over a much shorter and feminine Renamon as she was picking herself up off the ground. The Tamer looked completely disinterested, even yawning and observing the crowds idly.
I didn't like the look of the situation, but held my temper for now. I didn't have all the facts. "So, what's going on here?" I asked in the friendliest tone of voice I could manage.
The male took one look at me and snorted, turning his attention back to the female. "Beat it kid, this doesn't concern you." His tamer sidled up to me, all cocky and arrogant. "You better be getting back in that crowd, this isn't your business, k?" he said, smiling and patting me on my shoulder. My anger flared, but I kept it in check still. I had to redouble my efforts when the girl finally managed to stand and stare defiantly back into the eyes of the male, only to be hit back to the ground again.
"You have no say in the matter runt. Come with me quietly, the decision's already been made by your parents." The male said to her, fist still clenched in a threat. "You're lucky that ANY digimon would want you, much less one of your own species. You should feel honored to be chosen as my mate."
The female stood back up shakily, one more time. She looked roughed up, like she had been through a grueling fight already, and didn't have any strength to fight back. But yet, she continued her defiant stare. "I will NOT allow my PARENTS, who don't give a shit about me, to decide my future. I will not let myself be raped and pushed around for the rest of my life simply because they gave me away to some two bit tamer and his flea-ridden DIGIMON!"
The male got enraged at this and hit her again, harder this time. She didn't get back up, lying on the ground barely conscious, barely breathing. "Get up!" He screamed at her still, and took a step closer. "GET UP!" She just lay there, unwilling or incapable of responding. He reared back a foot to kick her while she was down, completely helpless to stop him. And with that final action I snapped.
In the exact moment he pulled back his foot I'd closed the distance and pulled back my fist. With as much power and anger as I could muster, I shot a punch straight into the left side of his face. It had the desired effect, stunning him and sending him sprawling several feet from the girl.
Wasting no time, I pulled out the emergency scanner I kept on my and ran her finger across the code binder, ramming a hyper chip card though as fast as I could. I helped her to her feet, hoping she had enough energy and anger left for one more fight. "Think you can handle him?" I asked her. She nodded, steadying herself and dropped into a combative stance. Good. An angry teenage tamer, that I could handle. An angry, muscled Renamon? Not a chance. I flipped through the deck and scanned a hyper speed activate card and refocused my attention on the furious tamer charging at me.
Facing my opponent, I dodged to the right as he tried to tackle me, then a mean right hook intended to smash my skull in. I returned by delivering a heavy hit to his solar plexus, driving the air out of his lungs and doubling him over. From this position, I uppercut his face and when he leaned back from the blow I delivered a final kick to his exposed, well, sensitives.
Needless to say, he was down for the count, allowing me to get back to scanning cards for my Renamon while he could do nothing for his. She was holding her own pretty well, dodging every hit the male dished out, but when she tried to hit back it did little to nothing. She was good, that much was certain, but with the right tools… "Power activate!" …she could be better.
She seemed to glow red, brimming from the extra power, and the next time she hit him it almost brought him to his knees. He was powerful, but she was faster and stronger now and without a partner to scan for him he was soon beaten and battered. He even fuzzed out a time or two when she was finished with him, and with a hideous glare and flick of his tail he picked up his downed tamer and phased away without so much as a word. The girl stared at the spot a moment, and then turned away contemptuously, her eyes losing their hate as they came to rest on me. She regarded me for a moment, as if deciding what to do.
"Thank you for stepping in to help me, but I am afraid I have nothing to give you."
"No need, glad I could help."
"I have to leave now, I can't stay. May I see the scanner?"
I handed the scanner to her, and with a nod and not another word she turned and walked away. She made it three steps before she collapsed, unconscious.