Digimon Story: Dark Rising
Author's note: Hey guys. This is my new story. This is going to be a HUGE project for me, so I'm counting on you guys, as the readers, to help me through it. This story, like every canon Digimon series, will be AU and the first in the series. I'm a newbie in fanfiction writing and I've always wanted to write my own Digimon fanfiction ever since I was 12. Digimon remains till date my favourite cartoon (although I know it's technically an anime). So, without further ado, let's begin.
Chapter 1
A pair of watery eyes opened and took notice of the world before it. At first everything appeared hazy and blurred. Hands reached up and gently rubbed the eyes till the world came into sharper focus.
It was, well, for the lack of a better word, a strange sight which met his eyes.
He appeared to be lying on what appeared to be grass. It was a lush, soft green colour. The blades of grass swayed gently in the breeze, tickling his hands slightly. But what drew his attention immediately was the sky.
Unlike the traditional sky which was blue, this was of a multi-coloured hue. Varying shades of red, blue, yellow, green and orange intertwined and streaked across the space. The closest that the boy could relate it to was the mysterious phenomenon of northern lights, which he had been studying in his geography class a week ago. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, in panic.
I'm in the Arctic?!
The boy managed to raise himself and sat up. No sooner had he done so, did the world begin to spin around him.
Whoa! Head rush! He thought, as he grabbed his head in an attempt to stop the dizzying effect. He shut his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them, the world had righted itself and was stationary once more. The sky remained the same mystical colour which it had been seconds ago.
The boy managed to get and noticed the second strange observation of the day.
I thought this was the Arctic? was the thought that crossed his mind as he took his surroundings into view.
A field of grass stretched out in front of him. Towards what appeared to be the horizon, a dark cluster of trees sprang up and shielded the boy's view.
Where…the hell am I?
This wasn't the Arctic that he was sure of, without a shred of a doubt. He didn't even feel cold. In fact the temperature was neither hot nor cold. It was, oddly, a perfect temperature, evening out between warmth and coolness. A gentle breeze seemed to blow occasionally as it whipped up the strands of his hair.
"Hello?" he tried, calling out. "Is anyone here?"
His voice echoed vaguely, but no reply came.
The boy sighed.
Guess I'm literally in the middle of nowhere, he thought.
He set off walking towards the cluster of trees he had spotted on the horizon. After walking for a good fifteen minutes, he finally managed to reach the thick cluster of trees.
Whew! That was some walk! he thought, as he sat down in the shade of the tree for a quick rest before proceeding any further.
Little did he notice the strangely shifting nature of the shade of the large tree under which he had taken refuge.
He sat down against the tall, stout trunk of the tree. His stomach rumbled in hunger. But there was nothing to appease it.
Suddenly, the surroundings began to become misty as a strange fog began to enter the air around him. The boy looked about in wonder at the sudden change in the atmosphere. He was about to stand up to investigate, when to his shock, he noticed something hard and wooden wrapped around his left foot, firmly holding him in place. The boy's eyes widened as he noticed what it was.
It was a stout wooden creeper which held him in place. Ben managed to stand up and attempted to yank his foot free, but to no avail.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice sounded from seemingly nowhere. "Unless, of course, you want that leg torn off."
The boy whirled to his left and then to his right. But to his utter amazement, he could not locate the source of the voice.
"Up here." The voice sounded. Ben glanced up towards the source of the voice. His eyes widened in shock.
A pair of malevolent, gleaming yellow eyes stared down from what appeared to be the trunk of the tree. It was a crooked and nasty pair of eyes. The boy shivered, wincing in fear.
"W-what a-are you?" the boy stammered, in shock.
The eyes narrowed.
"I haven't seen a human in years." the voice replied. "I wonder what one would taste like?"
The boys eyes widened in horror.
He resumed trying to yank his foot free from the tree's grip. But just as before, the wood refused to yield.
The voice laughed darkly at the puny being's attempts to free himself. The wooden creeper whipped up suddenly, yanking the boy by his feet and raising him upside down.
"Don't take this personally." the voice replied. "It's just hunger."
The boy's eyes widened as the creeper began to draw him closer to the trunk of the tree. He watched in shock as a small crack began to widen in the trunk. It steadily widened out to become large enough. The boy stared down at the deep dark abyss. He shut his eyes, awaiting his demise. He waited to feel his flesh being torn apart bit by bit. But the boy refused to open his mouth in pain, refused to give the monster any satisfaction.
But the pain never came.
Instead, the boy felt a rush of energy sweep past him and collide with the creeper.
The voice grunted, as the creeper which held him loosened and eventually let go. The boy landed on the ground with a thud. Fortunately, he hadn't been too high, so he hadn't injured himself seriously. But he still felt sore all over from the sudden drop.
"Are you alright?" a gruff voice asked.
Ben turned to his side, and glanced up.
He was a tall figure with golden eyes and a jagged jawline. What appeared to be a faceplate covered his mouth. He had a green crystalline body which appeared to occasionally reflect the strange sky above him. He was broad chested. But most of it was covered with a dark grey suit which the boy assumed was armor of some sort which had a dark black line running down the middle. Large shoulder pads adorned the figure's shoulders. On his waist was what appeared to be a holster. The armor extended to his legs finishing in a pair of rugged boots.
The figure extended his hand towards him. The boy caught his hand and the figure pulled him up. Ben winced at how hard and yet smooth his hand was—like marble.
"Thanks. For saving me." the boy replied, shyly.
The figure shrugged.
"I was just passing by when I saw this Cherrymon was making a nuisance of himself." he replied, as he put what appeared to be gun (but was actually larger and more streamlined in appearance than one) back into the holster on his waist.
"Cherrymon?" the boy asked in puzzlement.
As an answer, the figure tilted his head towards the tree.
The boy glance back at the tree and noticed that its roots which had been firmly embedded in the ground earlier, were now uprooted. The tree appeared to be nursing the creeper which had been struck. Ben watched in amazement as the creeper was completely burned, having lost its wooden texture and now appeared to have become a shade of charcoal black. The creeper withered and fell off of the main body of the tree.
The boy observed the creeper, making sure to stand as far away from it as possible, lest it tried to grab it again. It appeared unmoving. To his surprise, the creeper dissolved into particles and disappeared into thin air.
What the— the boy thought in shock. But before he could think any further, the tree roared in rage.
"You'll pay for interfering." the voice replied, as the tree raised itself.
The figure smirked.
"I'd like to see you make me." he replied cockily. To the boy's surprise, the figure began to float into the air and rose up until he was level with the large pair of gleaming yellow eyes.
Ok, the boy though as he observed the figure who was busy staring down the tree, I think I've seen everything today. First a talking tree. And now this.
"Strangling Vines!" the voice shouted out, as multiple branches lashed out towards the figure, in an attempt to ensnare him.
The boy's eyes widened as he observed the vines shoot out.
"Hey. Watch out!" he called out, in an attempt to warn him.
The figure observed the branches approach calmly. When they were mere feet away from him, he reached to his waist and pulled out the blaster in a flash, a movement which had been so fast that the boy was sure he would have missed it entirely had he blinked.
Without warning, he pulled the trigger.
A large blast of blue energy erupted from the nozzle and hit the branches, completely engulfing them in the blue light. The tree-like being recoiled its branches, hissing in pain.
"Had enough?" the figure asked, chuckling in amusement.
"Barely. Take this on for size!" the tree roared, as wooden arms appeared from the trunk and reached into the leaves, pulling out a handful of what appeared to be cherries and flung them at the figure.
"Cherry Bomb!"
The figure sighed. He watched as each cherry enlarged into baseball-sized bombs with fuses attached to them, which were glowing and preparing to explode. The figure simply flew back a few feet while extending his left hand out. A halo of blue light began to condense into his tips of each of his fingers, forming small spheres of energy. The figure flicked his arm forward releasing the blasts.
Each of the blasts honed in on the bombs and upon impact, exploded.
Boom!
The boy had to shield his eyes from the bright flash of light which had emanated from the explosion. Dust covered the entire scene. It began to clear steadily, to reveal the figure still floating in midair, completely unscathed.
The tree growled.
"Let's see you escape this! Illusion Mist." he murmured. As he muttered the words, the mist which the boy had seen earlier reappeared and began to thicken in concentration. Soon, all the boy could see was nothing but his own hands. He had completely lost track of both the fighters.
The tree chuckled malevolently.
"What are you going to do now? You can't hit me if you can't see me."
The figure simply cocked his head to the right, smirking.
"Well, you're half-right. I can't see you…"
Without warning, the figure disappeared into thin air.
The boy was suddenly alerted to the sound of a hard slam, and a gasp of pain, followed by repeated strikes and more grunts of pain. The mist began to thin out until dispersing completely.
Ben looked up and spotted the figure slamming his fists down upon the tree repeatedly. His large arms flailed about, attempting to grab the figure, but to no effect. He was too nimble and dexterous, deftly avoided all his attempts.
The figure back flipped, and extended his left hand once more. Energy quickly gathered in his palm, which he subsequently slammed straight into the trunk of the tree. The tree was blown back several yards from the resulting explosion. The tree-like being attempted to straighten itself, but fell back in pain.
The boy almost felt pity for the tree-like being, but what happened next was something he hadn't been expecting.
"Pathetic." the figure muttered in disappointment as he brought out his blaster. Without warning, he shot two rounds at the tree. Two blasts of energy engulfed the tree-like being, as it screeched in pain, before dissolving into particles, completely disappearing into thin air.
The boy gasped in shock at the sudden turn of events. He turned to glare at the figure who had alighted on the ground and was approaching him.
"You didn't have to do that, you know?" the boy replied as he neared him. "You were already winning. You could have just spared him."
The figure's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing.
"Really?" he drawled out. "You're defending him even though he would have eaten you alive without a second thought?"
Ben's face reddened in embarrassment at the question.
"Well…he didn't, did he?" the boy stammered out.
To the boy's surprise, the figure chuckled in amusement.
"You're a strange human." the figure replied. He extended his left arm, his palms outstretched firmly. "The name's Quartzmon."
The boy looked up at the proffered hand, before taking it hesitantly.
"My name is Ben. Ben Tennyson."
Author's note: There you go. The first chapter. Brownie points to those who can guess from which character I based the main Digimon on. If his appearance isn't enough of a hint, his and the central character's names should suffice.
Anyways, I could really do with a beta reader. If any of you guys are willing to volunteer, please let me know in the reviews or PM me. I'll be updating on a fortnightly basis as of now as I'm currently competing my dissertation and have my exams coming up. Meanwhile, read and review.