A/N: Hello all! This is my first fanfiction ever, featuring a drastic rewrite of Digimon Savers with lots of OCs. I was inspired to write this after being left unsatisfied with the lack of character development in the canon series. Important themes from the show such as the (im)possibility of world peace, parental abandonment and replacement, and human nature will be expanded upon.

With the exception of Kudamon, canon characters will appear in the next chapter. Also note that Ikuto (aka Keenan) will NOT appear in this story, as his role and character was unnecessary for my plot.

Extended synopsis: Despite the large numbers of OCs present, my main priority for this story is to develop the canon characters in ways that were not fully touched upon in the original story. In addition to the "Big Three" of Masaru, Touma, and Yoshino, thought will also be given to the backstories and development of their Digimon partners, the secondary characters at DATS, and even some of the antagonists. Finally, any character developments for my OCs will be juxtaposed with the development of canon characters (I hope).

Rated T for eventual violence, death, and sensitive topics dealing with trust and identity, if you know what I mean. In regards to the 6/4 Incident referenced at the beginning of the story, I mean no disrespect to those who have died and suffered on and since that day. Although the contents of this prologue may seem insignificant to the plot of the story, I assure you that this prologue will eventually make sense both plot-wise and tone-wise.

Lots of thanks and love to my brilliant sister for wasting countless hours proof-reading my grammar, diction, etc... and offering suggestions.

(UPDATE: My sister has finally decided to reveal her identity on FF to me. Her FF ID is nettaigyo, and she has several amazing stories about Yugioh 5D posted on her profile. I highly recommend that my readers check them out)

Disclaimer: Digimon Savers is the property of Toei Animation. I do not own anything except my OCs.

1989 June 4, Beijing, China

A loud horn blasted through the air for a good minute or so, and then there was silence for the first time that night.

"Oneesama! It's dangerous for us to stay here any longer!"

Long and curly dark hair moved slightly in surprise, but the owner of that pitch-black hair never moved her eyes away from the sight before her. While green tanks rolled away in the distance, the Gate of Heavenly Peace was burning with the bloody corpses of people strewn around and left behind.

The speaker, a small seventeen year old boy, slowed down when he saw his sister... and what she was staring blankly yet.

"She's not responding, Sakurano-kun" said a solemn voice from beneath, startling the boy. Glancing down, he saw a white ferret-like creature with golden markings all over its body. "Not matter how many times you see it, death is always a shock, isn't it?" the creature asked the boy as it wagged its tail. The golden bell at the end of its tail chimed softly.

"Kudamon, you shouldn't be here!" the boy exclaimed as he quickly swept the creature into the safety of his arms. "I thought I told you to stay back at the shack!" he scolded the ferret.

Kudamon just swung his tail back and forth in a calm matter. "The mice were very bothersome" the creature finally replied matter-of-factly. Then, sheepishly he added: "And… I was worried about you and Sakurano-san, Sakurano-kun. After-all, Patamon and I did vow to always watch over you."

"Kudamon…" the boy whispered at his small friend. Suddenly, without warning, the creature leapt out of his arms and scurried towards his sister and Patamon.

The boy gasped in surprise. "Matte Kudamon, wait for me!" he cried, running after the creature.

"Manami, your otouto is right," an orange creature greatly resembling a hamster with wings whimpered as a gunshot was heard in the distance. "If we do not leave now, then those soldiers will find us and then..." The creature winced as another shot was heard.

"How could they?!" Manami blurted out angrily. "Those people were the same age…same age…!" She was so angry that she couldn't even finish her sentence as she glared at the burning hell before her. Nevertheless, she somehow managed to pull herself to her feet. "I won't show them any mercy!" Manami vowed. "Patamon, let's go!" she ordered, turning to her companion.

"No, Manami," Patamon protested fiercely, "You cannot! The hate and anger inside; you must conquer it! You have to forgive yourself first!"

The dark-haired girl spun around to glare at the creature. "Why?! Why are you defending those murderers?! We're doing this for the students, for those who are weak and who can't defend themselves! Isn't that the right thing for us to do?!"

Patamon sighed heavily. "Is that really your motive, or is it just an excuse?" he finally asked quietly as the young woman stared at the flying creature.

"What do you mean?" she asked him in a dangerously quiet voice.

Patamon said nothing.

"ONEESAMA!" That one shout broke the tense atmosphere. Manami and Patamon turned in the direction of the sound. They caught sight of a boy and its companion running towards them.

"Mamoru, Kudamon, go away!" Manami shouted at her younger brother, but it was more like an order. "It's dangerous here!" she cried just as the shadow of a PLA soldier appeared behind her younger brother.

In the red night, Manami saw the blank face of the soldier. She saw him raising the barrel of his rifle towards her brother. Her otouto: the only family she had left. Fright and panic engulfed her. She had to save him. She just had to...because...because...

The soldier pulled the trigger.

"Mamoru!" Manami screamed, just as a warm but familiar feeling burst forth from her heart…

Mamoru slipped and fell on his stomach just as the flying bullet missed his head. "Oneesama, Patamon, this hikari…" he gasped as he stared at the warm white light coming from his sister and Patamon.

"This is…?!" Kudamon stopped in his tracks. "This light is…the light of evolution!" he realized.

Patamon not only saw the light, but he also felt it with all his heart and soul.

"This is the light of an angel!" Patamon exclaimed joyously as he leapt towards the soldier. A new power was burning inside the creature's small body, a new power of hope and light:

"Patamon evolve to…Angemon!"

A majestic male angel adorned in blue and white robes emerged out of the light in a gust of white feathers. The upper part of its holy face was concealed by a silver helmet and in his right hand he held a golden sceptre.

"I am Angemon, a servant of God!" the creature's voice rang out for all to hear, "With his light and power in me, I will deliver justice!"

"Patamon…is that really you?" Manami finally managed to squeak out. At her voice, the angel turned his head towards her.

"Manami, it was your sincerity and your love for your younger brother that allowed me to evolve," the holy creature said in a gentle but firm voice. "Arigatou, my hikari."

"Love..." Manami repeated.

Meanwhile, Angemon had diverted his attention back to Mamoru, Kudamon, and the surprised PLA soldier with them.

"God will not allow evil to touch those who are still innocent!" Angemon declared as the golden sceptre was raised high above his head. "Understand this, remember this, and be free of the darkness within you, Human!"

Mamoru gasped as the sceptre began to glow a brilliant golden light, emitting bright rays of white light. He heard the soldier behind him yelp and a pair of feet shuffling: Could the man run away in time?

"Holy Rod!" The angel shouted, and then there was light...

When Manami opened her eyes, the sight before her greeted with utter horror.

"He..." the woman blurted out as she stared at the limp body of the soldier in front of her. Blood was oozing from his temple. A little further off, Mamoru and Kudamon were also staring at the body. The sadness in the boy's face was threatening to overshadow his fear.

"Manami…" The woman spun around quickly. Looking down, she slowly picked up an exhausted Patamon that was at her feet.

"Naze Patamon? Why did you kill him?" Manami asked quietly.

"I didn't, Manami; the human killed himself," came Patamon's soft and sad reply.

"He committed…suicide?" Manami glanced back towards the dead soldier and for the first time, saw that the gun was still in his hand. "Why?" she asked the corpse, knowing full well that she would never receive an answer. Was it guilt? She thought.

Suddenly, she, the Digimon, and the corpse were surrounded by a dozen more PLA soldiers in their dark green uniforms. They all had their guns raised… at Mamoru. Fear had never caught Manami so off guard. She wanted to run and to defend her otouto, but fear had already paralysed her.

One of the soldiers shouted something in Chinese. Mamoru couldn't understand a word he was saying, as the man had a thick accent, but even he knew that he was being accused for killing the soldier before them.

Surprising even himself, Mamoru realized that he was no longer afraid of death. 'For a murder that I didn't even commit, I'm going to die right here, right here in front of my sister...' the teenager realized. 'Oneesama…'

One of the soldiers barked an order...

'We live in an unjust world…don't we?'

And then…

"Zekkoushou!" A curtain of bright light rained down between the boy and the soldiers. Mamoru felt a sudden pain in his neck as something bit him, and then all was darkness…

Manami ran into a pitch-black alley. Several soldiers ran past them, and then she was alone again.

"Kudamon saved us" Patamon said quietly from Manami's arms. "If he hadn't distracted the soldiers with his attack, we wouldn't have been able to escape from them back there."

"Yes, but he and Mamoru…What will become of them?" The woman cried as she sank to the ground. She leaned her back against the cold and dirty wall, shutting her eyes from despair and fatigue.

"Manami, your otouto is already fifteen years old," Patamon gently reminded his companion. Manami slowly opened her weary eyes. "He can take perfect care of himself. Manami, your brother will become a man in his own right, whether you like it or not. You can't babysit him forever; he has to make his own destiny, just as you must make yours, Sakurano Manami."

"Patamon…" Manami whispered. "Patamon, arigatou!" She repeated loudly and embraced the creature, breaking down completely.

'Manami, you are still very much a child...' Patamon sighed as he returned the hug.

"Here you are, Sakurano Manami-san. We have been looking for you for a very a long time."

The unfamiliar voice startled Manami out of her misery, partly because it was speaking to her in Japanese; very few people in China spoke her and Mamoru's native language. Slowly, Manami turned her head towards the voice.

The silhouette of a tall male stood in the dawn's early light at the entrance of the alley. As he took a few steps towards her and Patamon, Manami saw the face of a Chinese man probably not much older than she.

"Sumimasen, I didn't mean to frighten you," the man apologized sincerely. It is then that Manami realized that she had been edging closer and closer towards the wall with Patamon. Unfortunately, just as she realized this, her foot slipped and she fell…right into the stranger's arms.

"Daijoubu desu ka, Sakurano-san?" The man asked worriedly. Manami wanted to distrust him; after all, no ordinary person in China would help a Japanese out of sheer kindness, right? Unfortunately, the woman made the mistake of looking into the man's eyes, and she gasped.

'This man's eyes...' Manami realized. 'They're like that person...'

"Daijoubu?" the man repeated.

"Yes…" Manami finally replied, snapping out of her thoughts. Almost immediately, the woman put her hands in front of her mouth; she had said that in English! But the man only smiled at her, and Manami began to feel that familiar warm sensation …

"It is alright. I understand English as well," the man said in English before switching back to Japanese. "Forgive me for my rudeness; I should have introduced myself first. My name is Wang Guo Liang. My father is currently one of the senior commanders in the People's Arm Police of China," Wang continued. Then, he caught sight of the orange hamster that was glaring up at him. "Ah, nice to meet you too," the man greeted the creature with a bow. "You're Patamon-san, right?" he asked.

"How do you know about me?" Patamon asked suspiciously, never removing his eyes from the man's face. Manami glared at her companion, forcing Patamon to realize that shooting death glares at the son of the man in charge of the country's civilian police force wasn't the wisest thing to do.

"My father is one of the leading researchers of the Cyberspace Research Project that began about a year ago," Wang answered after Patamon finally stopped glaring at him. "We know all about your kind and the world you came from," he explained. "Do you know Bakumon?" he asked.

Patamon shook his head, but Wang continued to smile. "Well, he is my partner and best friend," he said. "Patamon-san, welcome to the human world."

"What do you want?" Patamon cut to the chase. "You were seeking out Manami, so what is your motive for doing so?" he asked.

Wang nodded as the smile on his face disappeared. "Sakurano Manami-san and Patamon-san, the fate of the human world and that other world now depends on the two of you. So please, come with me and I will explain everything."

Glossary:

Onee-sama: 'Older Sister' (very formal)

Matte: 'Wait' (informal)

Otouto: 'Little brother'

Hikari: 'Light'

Zekkoushou: One of Kudamon's attacks. Literally means 'Blinding Ray'.

Sumimasen: 'Excuse me/sorry' (formal)

Daijoubu desu ka: 'Are you alright?' (formal); daijoubu is the shortened, more informal version.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the prologue, despite the OCs that popped up almost immediately. The main plot of the story, which will begin in the next chapter, takes place 19-20 years later, in 2008 and 2009. Why these two years? That's for you to figure out as you continue reading. Happy reading!