A/N: This idea has been lingering for a long time in my head. Yes, now is the time for me to unleash this idea. Note that the Digimon universe here is loosely based on the PSOne game Digimon World. For those who are unfamiliar with Chrono Cross universe, 'G' is the currency there. And of course, Guile's personality is not very similar to the Chrono Cross canon at this moment, given that this takes place four years before the canon (and realistically, people do change after a time frame). Also, disregard 'Guile is Magus' speculation.
In addition, this is rated T. High T, because there will be implied rape in later chapters.
All disclaimers apply.
CHAPTER 1: And so It Begins
1016 AD, Magic Guild Alley
Two vandals.
Smirking, Guile wiggled his finger at them.
The men roared and came to him with their torching fists.
Guile jumped into the air and landed a heel on the man's skull. One down. Just one more to go to get the bounty.
The man glared at him, pulling back a burning fist.
Guile jumped back, dodging an incoming fire punch. But he didn't know about the long reach of the attack. Now, his stomach was charred. Threads of smoke were escaping from the burns.
The man grinned. "You're careless, bounty hunter."
Guile charged and punched the man on his gut. Hard. He sent the man crashing into the trashcans with it.
"I will turn you in." With his hands in the pocket of his trousers, Guile slowly walked towards the seemingly unconscious man.
The man suddenly snapped his eyes open and picked up a trashcan lid beside him. Using it as a discus, he threw it at Guile.
Guile tilted his head to the left. Soon, his left ear detected a brief whizzing sound. When the noise faded, he could feel both burning and throbbing pain on his left temple.
"Ya ain't getting any closer!" the man shouted, his palm facing Guile. "I'm gonna blast ya with a fireball!"
Guile simply booted the man on the face. The nonchalant, yet strong kick sent blood gushing out of the man's nostrils.
"Resistance is futile, sir." Upon saying that, Guile delivered a foot to the man's solar plexus.
The man was out cold.
Guile was victorious.
1016 AD, Magic Guild Tavern
2,000G. Easy money. That value was too high for two small fry. There was no challenge in fighting those two guys. Burns? Bruises? Hmph, they were negligible injuries. He only needed a low-level healing spell to eliminate the paltry irritation from them.
Guile sipped on his wine. How refreshing. It was sweet, bitter, and warming to his throat at the same time.
People passed by, gossiping about bounties and wanted crooks as they walked. High value bounties, stronger thugs, more challenges… Guile leant back against the bar counter and closed his eyes. Passersby would think that he was sleeping now. Good. None might know that his pair of ears was actually ready to gather information.
Yet he heard nothing interesting after spending five minutes 'dozing'.
If such passive act didn't reward him anything, then he'd better be active and look for new bounty to hunt. He might need to go to the bulletin board on the park.
He opened his eyes and finished the glass of wine in his hand. After putting the wineglass on the counter, he reached for the pockets on his trousers for money.
He raised a hand of his to halt the bartender. As the barkeep stopped in front of him, he handed a few banknotes to him before standing up and walking away to the bar's door.
1016 AD, Magic Guild
With his hands in the pockets of his trousers, Guile strode along the concrete path. His gaze was on the ground, yet his ears weren't. They were ready to do a little eavesdropping work, just like before. Perhaps there would be some interesting stuff to learn from a few talkative passersby.
That worked. His ears caught an interesting piece of information.
He stopped on his tracks and closed his eyes, trying not to appear suspicious.
"Recently, someone nailed a poster about the missing great mage Nicholas. I read that whoever found him and brought him home alive would receive 1,000,000G from the government."
"1,000,000G?"
"Because he's rumored to be not in this world!"
"Then where?"
"Dunno. He probably entered the strange portal he created in his house. He has been missing for several months. And now his house is guarded by the government."
"Damn, a great mage like him is missing for that long time? The portal must lead to somewhere dangerous."
"Maybe. That's prolly the reason why the government is willing to give so much money just to find him."
Guile grinned. Challenge and huge bounty. What could be more interesting than those two things?
He opened his eyes and continued walking, oblivious to the passersby around. He had earned the information he needed. Nicholas' address? Well, who in this guild didn't know where a great mage's house was? If none knew, then such bounty quest wouldn't exist after all.
Silently, he sauntered up to the T junction ahead and turned right.
After three minutes of a non-stop walking, he arrived at his destination. Two bald, grey-bearded men in white robes were standing in front of a brick hut, essentially blocking the entrance to the building.
He stopped in front of them and gave out a confident smile. "I will find the missing great mage."
"Well? You're the second mage who is brave enough to do this bounty quest," one of the men replied.
"Second?"
"An old lady had entered the portal before you."
"Never mind." Guile stepped ahead. "Let me in."
"You're quite impatient, aren't you?" the men moved aside, opening the path to the door.
"I'm not impatient," he calmly replied. "A young man like me must not lose to an old lady."
"Well, then, good luck."
Guile nodded and walked towards the hut's door.
Click!
He turned the doorknob and opened the door.
1016 AD, Nicholas' House
As he entered the house, he leant back and inhaled deeply.
"Atchoo!"
Dust flew everywhere as he abruptly exhaled a gust of air and a rain of saliva.
What a dirty house. It wasn't just dusty; cobwebs were everywhere on the hut's corners and the moldy furniture. Looked like Nicholas had indeed, been missing for a long time…and nobody bothered to tidy the house.
Rubbing his itchy nose with a finger, he walked ahead slowly. The room was growing brighter as he pressed forward. There seemed to be something working as a light source. And that might be the portal.
He was right.
As a flat, glowing rectangle approached his sight, he stopped to observe it. He had to double-check that this was indeed, the portal he was searching for.
A painting seemed to exist on the flat surface of the rectangle. It looked like a picture of a lush island with a craggy mountain jutting out from its center.
Guile wasn't sure if this was really the portal, but the 'painting' was convincing. Besides, there didn't seem to be any other things like this in this small, dirty hut.
He stepped into the portal.
As he did, he found himself plummeting down rapidly like a rock. His foot stepped on nothing.
Quickly, he leant back and flicked his feet. Regaining composure, he found out that he was hovering in the wide cerulean sky. He smiled at this; flight magic came in handy at this moment.
He looked down. The earth was further below him; in this height, he could see nothing other than a patch of green and brown down there. He chuckled at the sight. If he hadn't known how to fly, he was sure that he would end up in pieces once his body crashed on the ground.
Flying downwards at high velocity, he found the building on the lush earth rushing up to meet him.
As the grassy ground was close to his eyes, he flew upwards a bit and positioned his feet for a landing.
He had arrived at what might be his destination.
But he didn't know what to do.
He looked around, hoping to find more information. But there was nobody.
At this, he believed that there might be people inside this strange house. It might look like a giant cardboard, but the antennae and the chimney on the roof hinted that somebody did live in it.
He didn't waste any time to give a second thought. Quickly, he paced into the house through the doorless entrance.
Inside, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His muscles tensed in response to the scene. This house contained nobody but monsters. A short white-haired man who looked like a caveman stood with a staff in his hand. Surrounding him, there were a tiny coal-colored, yellow-eyed bear head and a white chubby bat-like creature.
And there was a doorless entrance at the wall of this house, which led to another room. More monsters might be hiding there.
"Ah, a newcomer," the man said.
Guile rushed and delivered a straight punch.
The man easily parried it with a fist of his.
"Chill out, kid," the man said, his shaggy white mustache and beard swaying as he talked in a muffled voice. "If you're looking for bad guys, this isn't the place. They are lurking out there in Digital World."
Guile took a step backwards. Eyebrows twitching, he asked, "Digital World? What is this? I don't understand anything."
"We are Digital Monsters, or in short, Digimon," the man replied. "You first have to know that not all Digimon is evil."
Guile rubbed the back of his neck. A confused look was visible on his face as he nodded. It appeared to be safe to trust this man.
"Oh, yeah, I'm Jijimon, the owner of this house." He pointed at the black Digimon on his right side. "This is Botamon." He then pointed at the white Digimon on his other side. "And this is Tokomon."
"Welcome to File City!" Botamon and Tokomon exclaimed.
"File City…?"
The man nodded. "It's the name of this little town. What brings you here anyway?"
"Did you see an old lady earlier?" Guile knew that he could just ask about Nicholas, but he wanted to confirm if this place were his destination.
"Yeah, she said that she was looking for someone named Nicholas."
Bingo.
"You know her, kid?"
Guile nodded. "You know where Nicholas is?"
"You're impatient, aren't you?"
"I ask of you, where is Nicholas? I'm looking for him."
"Kid, if you're impatient like that, you'll find yourself in trouble here. Digital World can be very dangerous if you aren't careful."
"Cut that out, Jijimon," Guile growled, glaring at Jijimon. "Where is Nicholas?"
"I won't tell you unless you prove your capability."
"Tell me what to do then."
"Fine." Jijimon shrugged. "Go to Native Forest and find Palmon. Ask her to come to this city." He paused. "She has green thumb, so she can grow more food for us here."
Guile smirked. "Fine. I will do it."
"You know where Native Forest is?"
"I don't know, but I'll find it as I explore this island."
"Well, in that case, you'll need a partner Digimon," Jijimon said.
"A partner Digimon?"
"Gabumon! Come here!"
A reply came from the doorless entrance of an unfamiliar chamber, "Coming, Jijimon!"
Traveling with a monster? What the hell?
But as long as the Digimon was helpful, it didn't matter.
Soon, a horned dinosaur-like creature ran out of the room. He was wearing an oversized blue wolf pelt, which acted like a cape and covered almost the entirety of his small yellow body.
"This is Gabumon," Jijimon said. "He'll help you in your journey."
Gabumon stopped in front of Guile and offered a paw. "Hey, I'm Gabumon."
He wanted a handshake? Well, not bad at all. Gabumon was quite polite for a monster.
Guile grabbed Gabumon's paw and shook it. "I'm Guile."
"Okay, Guile. Let's go!" Gabumon said, smiling as he released Guile's hand and walked past him.
Guile turned to join Gabumon and together, they walked out of Jijimon's house.
