Chapter One: Introducing Fire
Conner sat in the full classroom, scribbling on his notebook paper. Ever since the appearance of strange creatures in up town New York, the students had been made to stay in school an hour later, when most of their parents were off work and could make sure that they got home safely. Although, Connor thought, how could their parents protect themselves from the creatures, let alone the kids? He saw on the news that these weren't Earthen creatures, whatever they were. And whatever they were, they weren't making his life any easier. Basically, all off New York's teen population had been put on probation, and Conner's parents being very protective, he was on double probation. That meant no skateboarding, no walking to a friend's house without a guardian, nothing a seventeen year old should be able to do.
He let out a heavy sigh, keeping his mind wandering. He thought school was boring when the teachers were teaching, but when they weren't teaching, it was worse! He'd rather be fighting one of those monsters with a spoon and a paper plate than sitting here and do nothing. At least when the teachers were teaching, they kept him busy for the most part.
As he was venturing the tunnels of his mind, he accidentally dozed off, and his head slipped off his hand, resulting in his head slamming into his desk. He lifted his head up quickly, made sure no one saw (and no one had), and continued to doodle.
Finally, just before he thought his mind would explode, the late bell rang, allowing the students to immediately go to their lockers and straight out to their waiting parents. No student was allowed to walk home or ride the bus. Luckily, most everyone lived in the suburbs of New York, so most of the families had cars. If they didn't, they'd carpool with a neighbor or a parent of their children's friend. Conner's family had a car, but his cousin, Jordan, whom lived in uptown New York and was staying with them until the appearances ended, did not. But they got along, so it wasn't a big deal.
Conner headed towards his locker, which was on the third story of the school, which meant he had three stories to climb. Good thing I'm on the track team, he thought, or else my legs would never take this every single day. He was the star of the track team, which meant he had a lot of expectations to live up to. He had to earn good grades, he had to be friends with the "popular" people (that's the one thing he didn't even try to do), upon trying to balance a decent schedule with his friends. Sometimes, he was just so overwhelmed that he locked himself in his room and listened to music, not coming out for the entire night. He felt like he might just do that tonight.
He got to his locker and put the combination in, which he memorized at the very beginning of the year as being 5-5-7. It wasn't that hard to remember, or so he thought. He grabbed his jacket and left his books there, and headed outside. Another trip down the trio of stairs, he thought with a mental sigh.
He got to the car and found that Jordan had already beat him to the front seat. It didn't matter today, because he was exhausted, but any other day, he'd argue with him because he got nauseous in the back seat. He knew he'd regret it later, but he got in the back anyways. His mother was driving, obviously because his father had to work overtime again. His dad worked for the Yamato Corporation, an electronics developer from Japan. They made computers, VCRs, DVD-players, almost anything you could think of - and some things you couldn't. Although his business hours were considerably greater than Conner wished, they made a lot of money.
As they pulled out of the parking lot, he watched several others in their parent's cars pull out as well. He picked out those he knew; Cameron Hill, a fellow track-runner. They didn't get along very well, because of differences in the past, but they had kept it to a calm level. They never fought when they were practicing or at a run; Sara White, Jordan's girlfriend. She was a very nice girl, at least to Conner. He could see why they had been together for so long (2 years); Mara Keith, a kind of quiet girl he knew from his Business Marketing class. She was intelligent, and kind, as far as he knew; and Lexy and Daniel Kingston, whom were brother and sister, Lexy being the oldest. Lexy was nice, at times, but sometimes she lived up to her nickname "The Ice Queen". Daniel was only a freshmen, so Conner didn't know him all that well.
"How was school today, Conner?" his mom asked from the front seat. He looked up and saw her looking at him in the rearview mirror.
"Eh," he replied. "Boring as usual. Nothing worthwhile. Although they did cancel the next match because of the appearances."
"Oh yeah?" his mother said, trying to sound interested. Truth was, she wasn't, and she just wanted to know what her son was up to, just to make sure he wasn't doing drugs or getting into gangs.
"Yeah, they are thinking of canceling the rest of the games for the season."
"That wouldn't be fair."
"Not like it'd matter," said Jordan. "It's not like you guys win anything."
"For your information, we're undefeated this season," retorted Conner.
"This year, yeah," his cousin commented. "But that's only because of you. This is your first year, remember? Did you think it was coincidental that you guys just started winning when you joined the team?"
Conner paused for a moment and realized his cousin was right, but all that mattered was that they were on their way to the state championship, and that's exactly what he told Jordan, who shrugged it off. They drove for about five minutes until Conner's mother broke the silence.
"You boys want to run uptown with me before we go home?" she asked. "That is, if you're brave enough to go in there with the aliens and such."
"Aliens?" asked Jordan. "Is that what you think they are?"
"Why sure," she replied. "What else could they be?"
"Some new military weapon," he replied. This made a laugh to erupt from the back seat. "What? What's so funny?"
"Military weapon? C'mon, Jordan. Why would they be just standing there, doing nothing if they were military weapons?" Conner retorted.
"Maybe.. Maybe they're going haywire!" his cousin exclaimed. "Like, something electronically malfunctioned!" Both Conner and his mom rolled their eyes.
"So, how about it?" she asked.
"Sure," the boys said, although they weren't fully sure they wanted to go.
Flamon's arrival wasn't we he expected it to be. Not this time. The first time, four days ago, it had been painful converting from the Digital World to the Real World, but this time, it was less painful and more awkward, he guessed. Maybe he was getting used to it? He didn't know. But what he did know is the impact his appearance had on the human world. Their emotions were clearly out of control, a storm of confusion, fear, and hatred. Although he doubted it, he blamed the reaction on the appearance of more Digimon than himself. Six others, to be exact.
He didn't know who they were, and he'd never seen them in his life before. They'd kept clear of each other, that was for sure. He figured they were in the same predicament which he had been in, being transported to and from the Real World spontaneously, without warning. How they got there, he didn't know. Maybe one of them knew? But he didn't have the courage to ask one of them the first time around, and he didn't see any of them this time.
He stood on one of the highest buildings in the city. Its arches were Gothic in style, its many rooms occupied with apartments. The first time Flamon had visited this world, he spent most of his time watching one human family, studying their habits and ways of doing things.
How interesting, he had thought. They are complex creatures, yet they make their lives doing simple things. Not a one of them could survive in the Digital World. He had sat there, watching, observing, until he had been mysteriously transported to his home.
But he decided to use his time wisely this visit. He waited. Waited for the other Digimon to appear, and finally, they began to. First, a wolf-like creature who stood his own height. Right after, two small rabbit-like Digimon appeared, the first one brown-and-pink, with three horns on its head, the second one was white-and-green and had one horn on its head. Flamon turned around as the rest appeared. One, a seal-like creature but with more fur, who had purple strips with red hair on its head. Another whose charm seemed to be ravishing, and was a fox-like creature, being brown in color. It had a thick tail whose tip was white, and on its forehead was a black jewel. The last Digimon was a bird-like, penguin Digimon. Its feathers were blue and white, and spread in different patterns on its body.
He didn't know which one to approach first, so he pondered for a moment. But his pondering was soon finished as he saw them all walking towards him, most likely thinking the same thing he had: someone had answers.
The first who had actually got to him was the small brown-and-pink Digimon, who kindly looked up to him and smiled. "Hello," she said, "I'm Lopmon - and this is my little brother, Terriermon." She pointed at the Digimon she appeared with, who was now standing behind her. "I'm wonder if you could be so kind as to tell us how we got here?"
"I'd like to know the same myself," he said with a chuckle.
The others finally reached him, and the one who stood his height spoke up. "So you know about as much as we do?" he asked. "By the way, I'm Strabimon." Held out a paw to shake hands with Flamon, and he generously took it.
"I'm Flamon, and no, I don't know anything about why or how we're here."
"Isn't that great," said the charming fox. "I'm Vixenmon."
"Hello, I'm Penguinmon. Nice to meet you." said the small, bird-like Digimon, being as kind as her heart allowed her to be.
The only unnamed Digimon was Gomamon, who kept silent. Assuming he was shy and could be brought into the conversation, Flamon said, "Hello there, do you perhaps know anything about why or how we're here?"
"No." he said coldly and straight-forward.
"Well, what is your name?" Lopmon asked.
"It's Gomamon," he said.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Lopmon said, smiling.
The building top had gone silent, none of the Digimon knowing what to say or do. What was there to say or to do? They couldn't talk about what had happened, because they were as ignorant as a fly in an army camp. And they couldn't chit-chat, this wasn't the time. So they just stood there, quietly going through their minds looking for a logical explanation.
Out of nowhere, a large growl came from below. At first, the Digimon passed it off as one of the ungodly noises the humans made in the streets. But the second time, when it had rattled the building, they knew something wasn't right about it. Strabimon was the first to move to the edge, followed by Flamon. Both looked over the edge wearily, and then their eyes grew wide when they saw a familiar Digimon down below: Tyrannomon.
"Holy Hell," Strabimon said quietly.
Conner let out a sigh as his mother put her favorite tape of the Beatles in. He rested his head on the back of the seat and watched the skyscrapers as the car passed them. He started to doze off when, suddenly, he felt the car come to a screeching halt, heard a tremendous roar, and his mother yelling "Boys, get out! Get out!"
Before he could react, his mother was pulling him out of the back seat. His mom went too fast for his feet to comprehend, and he stumbled to his knees. That's when he realized a huge shadow covered him and the surrounding block. He looked up and saw a giant green-and-red dinosaur, who, by the look of his teeth, was hungry for a snack. Conner decided he wasn't right for a snack, got to his feet, and ran with his mom and Jordan to the sidewalk. But he couldn't keep his eyes off the monster.
Flamon gazed at the Tyrannomon, who apparently was also transported. But he wasn't peaceful, as the Digmon as well as the humans could see. But he didn't know what to do. Surely, he couldn't fight. In doing so, he would of terrified the humans even more than they had been. He didn't want that, but nothing else in his mind made sense.
As the other Digimon began to gather around him and Strabimon, Flamon's heart raced. His gaze kept on the scene below, and eventually gazed over to see a human, just stupidly standing there.
He didn't know why, but Conner couldn't stop staring at the monster in front of him, even when it turned around and looked directly at him. He was shaking, which was evident. His mom and Jordan yelled at him from one of the stores they had entered, but still, he didn't budge.
The monster rose its claw, and appeared it was going to attack him. But something kept him there.
Move! Move, damn it! Flamon yelled mentally. Why wasn't he moving? If he didn't move soon - and there could be no sooner moment then now - he would be in a lot of trouble. He gasped when he saw Tyrannomon raise his arm in preparation to attack.
Oh god, he thought. That kid's in serious danger. If I don't do something fast, he'll be hurt. He sighed out loud, and looked for all the courage he had inside him. It took maybe a minute to find while he cleared his head, but he lunged straight out from the building, falling down to the ground at a fast pace.
"Flamon! No!" he heard Lopmon yell. But he ignored her plea, as it wasn't only his life on the line; an innocent human's was. He put his hands out in front of him, did a flip, and landed on his feet in the street. Luckily, the Tyrannomon didn't see or hear him, so he could dash for the kid easily. And that he did, bringing his left arm out, catching the kid's body, then bringing his right arm around to hold him. He noticed that two other humans were yelling for him, so he took him to them.
"Stay here, where it's safe," he said kindly. He back-flipped back into the street, and turned to face the Digimon, who shadowed over him.
Conner's mom finally took a breath of air when he was returned to her. She had thought he was gone for sure when the red creature took him in his arms. But miraculously, it had returned Conner to her safely.
But Conner didn't know what had happened when it had, and it took him a while to figure out what did happen after it had. But still, his gaze wasn't off the two monster in front of him. Somehow, he felt a connection to the one who had rescued him. Suddenly, his cell phone started beeping, interrupting his thoughts.
Flamon jumped as Tyrannomon brought its tail around to try and smack him with it, and landed in the same spot he had stood in. If ever he had to fight, it was now. He brought his arms out in front of him, and slowly, they were surrounded by swirling flames. He then brought his arms over his head as the flames grew larger.
"Baby Salamander!" he yelled. The flames shot up into the air, forming a dragon-like shape. It went directly for Tyrannomon, successfully hitting him in the chest. But it was not successful in doing much damage. The Tyrannomon roared and brought his claws above his head, ready to attack.
"Slash Nail!" he yelled. His claws began to glow and he brought them down, straight to where Flamon was standing. Luckily, Flamon was quicker and jumped out of the way, up above Tyrannomon.
"Baby Salamander!" he yelled again, attacking him again. It still didn't do much damage. He landed behind him this time, turning towards him. He jumped into the air again, launching kicks into the back of the dinosaur's head. Tyrannomon stumbled forward into the ground.
Conner held his compact cellular phone in his hand, reading what was on the screen:
Are you ready to accept fate?
YES or NO
He didn't know who sent it, but it struck him as odd. He had been staring at it for several minutes while the creature who had rescued him fought the dinosaur. But he decided whomever had sent the message wanted an answer, as the cell rang louder and louder.
He pressed 'YES', and the cell began to glow with a red light. Suddenly, he felt it transforming within his grip. He glanced up at the ongoing battle, then back to the mechanical device which now resided in his hand. It was an electronic he had never seen before. He looked over his shoulders, and neither his mom nor Jordan were paying any attention to him. The device was red with black stripes on the bottom. Its top was round and it had a sleek screen with two buttons directly below.
He didn't know what it was, but he somehow felt closer to the creatures before him than ever before.
Strabimon and Lopmon, along with the other Digimon, watched from the building top. Their eyes followed Flamon's quick movement and Tyrannomon's massive attacks. All they knew is if Flamon kept up the movements, he would soon be tired.
"He needs our help," said Lopmon, to Strabimon.
"We can try, but no one here can promise success," said Strabimon.
Turning to Terriermon, Lopmon said, "Little buddy, stay here. Big sis' has to take care of some business. Will you be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," replied Terriermon, in a let-down tone. He wanted to fight so much.
"Vixenmon, Penguinmon, if you don't mind, we could use your assistance," Strabimon said. The two Digimon gave a nod of agreement. "Gomamon, stay here, watch Terriermon." He didn't respond.
The four Digimon dove off the top of the building, as Flamon had. Strabimon's mind was set: he had to help and then get back to the Digital World. If what he had heard was true, Digimon couldn't survive in the Real World. They were feared. And when humans are scared, they go on the offensive. That meant doing anything possible to kill them. Strabimon wanted to live.
As quickly as they had jumped, the Digimon landed on the ground behind Flamon. He was panting and out of breath. "Thanks for coming," he said. "Wouldn't be a party without you."
"Wouldn't miss it for a thing," Vixenmon said. She spread all her legs, as if to pounce, but she stayed put. Suddenly, her body became outlined in a purple aura and her eyes went purple as well. "Charming Envelopment!" she yelled. Suddenly, the aura launched forward towards Tyrannomon. Not knowing what to do, Tyrannomon didn't move, and took the hit fool blast, knocking him backwards.
"You're strong," Penguinmon commented. "All the more power to you, girl!" She rose her wings into the air, closed her eyes, and focused her energy. A small, blue prism began to form directly in front of her forehead. It steadily grew larger, until it was about as big as Penguinmon herself. "Ice Prism!" she yelled, launching it at Tyrannomon. Still not recovered from Vixenmon's attack, he didn't see it coming, so it was entrapped in the prism. It suddenly shattered, doing massive damage to him.
"Let's finish him off," Lopmon said. She spread her short arms out from her body, and several sharp ice crystals formed in front of her. "Blazing Ice!" she yelled, sending them out to Tyrannomon.
"Light Ball!" yelled Strabimon. He formed a small ball of light in his hands, brought it over his head, and it grew considerably bigger. He launched it at Tyrannomon.
"Baby Salamander!" yelled Flamon, launching his attack for a third time. The three attacks hit Tyrannomon directly, making him roar loudly. Suddenly, he went eerily quiet, and was reduced to bits of data and then disintegrated.
"Three's a charm," Strabimon said.
Conner had noticed the dinosaur was destroyed by even more creatures, but his attention was mainly on the device in his hands. After it had stopped glowing, its screen read:
You are Fire.
You are brave and cunning, tough when need be.
He looked up, and this time, the scene in front of him was distorted, all except the being who had saved him. His eyes connected with his, even though he was panting after the battle. As stated before, he felt connected to the red creature. Even more so than before. But whatever connection they had, he couldn't determine the base of it.
Flamon's eyes caught the human looking at him. What was weird is that he could feel the human's heartbeat within his own. It was odd, to say the least, and Flamon didn't know what to do. He looked around him to see that Lopmon had joined her brother on the building top again. Vixenmon and Penguinmon had followed.
Turning to Flamon, Strabimon asked, "Are you coming?"
Flamon hesitated for a moment. He wanted to stay, that boy was keeping him here. But his place was not here. And who was he to choose to stay? The last time, he hadn't chosen to leave. He just did. "Yeah," he replied slowly. But before he and Strabimon could make a move, they felt a familiar feeling. They were disappearing again.
Conner felt tears fill his eyes as the creature left. Why? He didn't know. He looked down at the unknown object in his hands, and read:
Do not worry, carrier of the Flame.
He will be back.
