Digimon Chronicles: The Digital Defenders

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Episode 1: Lance of Valor

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/What a day/ thought a teenage boy on his walk home from school. He was tall and his skin was dark-brown. He ran a hand through his brown hair as another searched the pocket of his khaki shorts for his cell-phone. The vibrations coming from it meant he had received a text message. He pulled it out and checked it.

/Hmm, guess everyone's heading over to Harrison's/ thought the boy. He put the cell phone back in his pocket and made a left into his driveway. He jogged up the steps to the porch and entered his house. He kicked off his shoes on the mat at the door and threw his book bag down on the green couch. He saw his little sister napping in the recliner with the TV blaring Dragon Tales. He quickly turned it off and headed up the stairs to grab a few things.

"Daichi, is that you?" came a feminine voice from downstairs.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm gonna grab a few things and head over to Harrison's house." came the reply from Daichi.

"That sounds fine. Any idea what time you'll be back?"

"Not really. Maybe 9, maybe later."

"Well just call if you need a ride or anything, your dad should be home in about an hour. Right now, your sister and I are about to go to Granny's. She got a new poodle, ya know." said Mrs. Sakoda.

"Just another to add to the collection, I guess." Daichi laughed. About once every three months, his grandmother would buy a new poodle, give it an awful name and end up giving it to another family member by the end of the month. She'd usually claim that it is 'too much to handle'. But each time, that never stops her.

"Bye, Honey. Love you"

"Byeyabyeya" chirped his tired little sister, Ana. She was still having trouble with some of her words, so sometimes they'd come out a bit different.

"Bye, mom. You too". Daichi said as he turned on the computer. While that was loading, he took off his orange T-shirt and slipped on his old black one from soccer. It was black and had Sakoda written in silver at the top of the shoulders with 01 under it. He slipped on his square blue signature goggles. He wore this practically everywhere and was dubbed "Goggle Boy" by his friends. The computer finished loading and he checked his emails. One from his youth pastor at the neighborhood church, one from his best friend, Cassie, and one from a message board.

/I'll check them later when I get back from Harrison's/ he thought. He turned off the computer and picked up a wrapper of a cereal bar from this morning. He tossed it in the trash and turned off the lamp on his nightstand that illuminated the room during daylight hours. He shut the door and started down the hallway to the stairs.

Beep.

/Did that come from my room?/ Daichi thought to himself. He started walking down the stairs until he heard it again, except this time it was louder and longer.

beeeeep!

/It's probably nothing. Probably Ana's Tamagotchi that she left in my room or something/ Whatever it was that was beeping demanded Daichi's attention and wanted him to come into his room. It's request was fulfilled with a final high pitched

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Daichi marched back up his stairs and walked into his room. The beeping was coming from his computer. Even though it was completely shut off, there was a pop-up on it.

/How the heck is that possible.../

However, upon closer inspection this was more than just some ordinary popup. It was personalized and read:

"Dear D.S.,

I've initialized this in hopes that your identity won't be revealed if this is read by someone other than the intended recipient. For a while I've been watching you and it's now time for you, along with the others, to fulfill your destiny and save this endangered world. At the end of this message, I've attached your strongest tool for that quest. However, incase this reaches the wrong person, I've had it coded. I trust that you'll use your knowledge to unlock the code and gain the aforementioned tool and access to our world. Hope to see you soon. And Nmbb says 'hello'.

-Nmjj."

/Watching me! Save the endangered world! Strongest tool! Secret Code! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!/ Daichi had good reason to be thinking these things. He'd just received a message from someone that said they'd been watching for some time now. He pondered on it all. What if it was just a joke. Whoever could've done this would need a good understanding of computer programs. His computer was completely turned off and yet this message still displayed.

Beep.

/Not this beeping shit again.../ he thought.

Beep. Now the entire message was blinking gold.

Beep.

Beep.

"Please state the code word." The computer said, the voice coming from only god knows where inside it.

Beep.

Beep.

/Code word? I don't know the code word. Use my knowledge? My knowledge of what? This 'Nmjj' acts like we've spoken before./

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"Please state the code word."

Beep.

/These beeps are starting to annoy me. I don't know the code word!/

Beep.

Beep.

"Please state the code word."

"Look! I don't know the code word! Stop beeeeping!"

"Code word "Beep" is correct. Prepare to receive the D-Stryker." said the computer.

/...the code word was 'beep'. This guy must like irony. And what is a D-Stryker? Must be the tool Nmjj was talking about/ Daichi thought to himself as the computer screen starting shining gold and a light emerged. The light got brighter by the second and soon, Daichi had to shield his eyes from it. The light them streamed over to Daichi's hand and then something materialized. Daichi was mesmerized by it all. The light then went back into the computer and then the screen went black like nothing had ever happened.

/Whoa...D-Stryker?/ He studied the new thing that fit perfectly in his hand. It was mostly rectangular with a screen that looked about a square-inch near the top. Under the screen were two white buttons. The grip on it was black, as was the right side of the device. The left side, however, was a shining gold, with a thin white line that trimmed where the two colors met one another. Also in the middle of the device, was a much larger silver button.

That was all the time that Daichi had to study it. Immediately his computer screen lit up again and in a flash he was sucked into it.

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"Well, Terriermon, looks like we all finally got him in here." came a feminine voice. The owner of the voice was standing on a cliff that over looked a canyon. Beside the figure was a small, white creature. The most notable thing about this creature was it's large ears. While this biped had many qualities of a dog, it's large ears looked big enough to let it fly or at least glide. Also, a small skin-covered horn adorned its forehead. This creature was Terriermon.

"It's about time. He must not be the brightest guy if he didn't come here when we sent that big monster." replied Terriermon.

"Haha. We should probably ask him about that when he gets here. But for now, we should give Jijimon and Babamon a call and tell them the good news."

"Sounds good. But I'll race you.", giggled Terriermon as she jumped off the cliff. She spread her large ears and used them to slowly glide.

"Cheater!" joked Terriermon's human companion as she ran down the other side of the cliff.

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/Whatever is happening ... canNOT be good./ It seemed to Daichi like he'd been falling for quite sometime and it didn't look like he would be landing anytime soon. This couldn't be good. Especially for someone who has a weak stomach.

Luckily, for our hero, Daichi Sakoda, he hit the ground.

"Ouch", said Daichi as he sat up. He'd landed awkwardly on his back, and although it was painful, it wasn't as painful as what one would've thought.

Daichi searched his surroundings. He was sitting on clay dirt in the middle of what looked like a smaller and simpler version of the Grand Canyon. He looked up and saw a clear blue sky with white puffy clouds blowing by with the breeze. Daichi stood up and dusted himself off.

"So this little thing got me all the way here!" Daichi said to himself. He felt a little weird talking to himself, but as his dad always said 'it's not a problem until you start answering yourself'.

Daichi started walking forward a bit trying to find any other signs of people. He was pretty calm in this situation. Calmer than most would be when they were transported to an unknown area through the computer. But hey, Dai's a complex guy.

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"Erika! Looks like he's here already!" said Terriermon to her partner. Erika and Terriermon were now on the floor of the canyon and walking forward.

"How is that possible? I know that when I got here I fell for at least a half hour. And then there was the firewall, that alone took another hour or so." Erika said.

"I guess Eaglemon isn't that good of a guardian. I've heard rumors that he's actually really lazy."

Erika laughed. Terriermon was probably the peppiest thing she'd been around in a long long time. This world was much better than the one she'd left just a few weeks ago.

"C'mon. We better get to those phones and give Jijimon and Babamon a call and greet Daichi!" said Terriermon, getting her partner to run faster with Terriermon sitting on her head.

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Daichi had been walking for fifteen minutes or more and still spotted nothing. Each part of this canyon looked the same. There was red dirt, followed by a rock, then a larger rock, then more dirt. That pattern had repeated for a mile and a half. This D-Stryker wasn't doing anything to help him either. He'd hit all the buttons on it but nothing happened. Still, he continued marching calmly in hopes to find some sign of humanity.

He finally did.

There was an entire line of seven pay phones!

"Oh man! Yes!" Daichi exclaimed, yet again, to himself as he ran over to the first one in the line.

He got to it and put his hands in his pockets, searching for some change. He pulled out two quarters and inserted them into the machine. He picked up the receiver but heard no dial tone. He tried again. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. He tried for the fourth time. Yet again, nothing.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" said Daichi. He gave the pay phone a kick and backed up. He searched for another quarter to try the next one.

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"Oh look! There are the phones." Erika pointed out to Terriermon.

"And there's Daichi!" Terriermon said.

"Well I guess we can kill two birds with one stone, eh?"

"Two birds with one stone? ... what do you mean by that?" asked Terriermon out of confusion as she and her partner sped up a small bit towards Daichi and the payphones.

"Pleeeaaasseeee work, please please please please!" Daichi said aloud. He'd tried every pay phone. None had worked. Of course he ran out of change after the fourth. But he still gave the last three a try. Just in case.

"Well, boy, now I think that phone not working is the least of your worries right now." came a deep voice.

"Wha?" Daichi turned around looking for whoever said that.

The voice cleared his throat. "I said, I think that phone not working is the least of your worries right now!"

"Why do you say tha..." Daichi said as he finally saw who the voice belonged to. It belonged to a monstrous creature. It reminded him of a Triceratops. Its skin was light gray with a darker gray covering some areas on its body. However, the thing that scared Daichi wasn't the monster's size, but the large horn at the end of the nose on it.

Beep.

Daichi looked down at his D-Stryker and finally, for the first time since entering this place, it worked.

"Monochromon. Data Type. Armored Dragon Digimon. Attacks include Volcanic Strike and Rush Attack." said a voice coming from the D-Stryker.

/Wow, this thing talks? Ehh...I think the more important thing is this big guy staring me down./

"Hi, Mr. Monochromon, sir. Here you go. You can use the phones if you want. Might I suggest using phone three." Yeah, he was trying to kiss ass, you would too if you had a Monochromon staring you down.

Monochromon laughed, "Sorry, Kid-o. I'm on a mission."

"And uh, what is that mission, sir? I'll do whatever I can to help." Daichi said. He'd just noticed that Monochromon's eyes were a blood red. That couldn't be good either.

"Well, it's simple, boy. I have to either destroy you, that thing in your hand, or both."

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"Uh oh. Erika, look!" shouted Terriermon as a charging Monochromon caught her eye.

"Look at his eyes. That's the work of you-know-who." said Erika.

"Yeah. Now let's go!"

"Wait, that Monochromon has tough skin. Your attacks wouldn't harm him at all. Let's see if Daichi can handle things on his own at first. Then, I'll help him out with my D-Stryker if he doesn't succeed." explained Erika.

"Good plan, Erika. Now we wouldn't happen to have any popcorn left would we?" asked Terriermon as they watched Daichi running from Monochromon.

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"Ahhhhh!" screamed our fearless hero as he was being chased by an angry red-eyed Monochromon.

"Get back here, you little puke!" yelled Monochromon. He just wanted a simple kill, not a game of tag.

Daichi began hitting all the buttons on his D-Stryker. /C'mon. Work! If you can tell me all about him, then I'm sure you can tell me what to do in this type of situation!/ Suddenly, Daichi noticed a small silver button on the back of the D-Stryker that he hadn't noticed before. He pushed it immediately.

"To activate D-Stryker tutorial, state the code word" boomed voice that came out of the D-Stryker earlier when it identified Monochromon.

"Uhh...Beep. Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep is the code word!" yelled Daichi.

"Code word is correct. Welcome to the D-Stryker Gold and Black Version! Please state your name."

Daichi didn't hear this, he was still running from Monochromon in circles and still blabbering 'beep, beep, beep' in hopes for the D-Stryker to do something.

"Hello, Beep. Now, the most useful function of the D-Stryker is weapon mode."

"Yeah, that's it! Weapon mode!"

"To activate weapon mode, yell 'D-Stryker Activate'."

/Don't have to tell me twice./ thought Daichi. "D-Stryker Activate!" he yelled with all of his being in hoped that whatever was about to happen would save his life.

"D-Stryker Weapon Mode Activated: Lance of Valor." said D-Stryker. Daichi held it up in the air as two blade of golden light emerged from the top and bottom of it. /Wow.../

"You think just because you got that undersized microwave to work, that you'll beat me?" said Monochromon with an arrogant smirk as he finally stopped chasing Daichi and the two stood facing each other.

Daichi held his D-Stryker in his right hand and suddenly, his face shifted from one of a coward to one of bravery and confidence. Monochromon, however, wasn't scared at all. Daichi's dark brown eyes met Monochromon's blood red ones and then they both charged.

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/A lance? ... Impressive/ thought Erika as she looked at the battle between the human and digimon.

"Yes! He did it!" exclaimed Terriermon, "Guess he isn't as silly as what I was thinking he was."

"Let's hope he can use it correctly."

"Monochromon doesn't stand a chance! Go Daichi!" cheered Terriermon as she munched on some popcorn that was in Erika's bag.

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"Rush Attack!" yelled Monochromon as he lowered his head and charged once again at Daichi.

Daichi let out a roar as he barely got out of Monochromon's way and slashed at him with his energy lance. Monochromon repeated the same actions. Again, Daichi barely moved out of the way and slashed him with the lance. This time the cut was just below the right of Monochromon, while the earlier one was on the front left leg.

"That little thing can't hurt me! My skin is tougher than any other digimon you'll find in this canyon!" Monochromon was getting a bit agitated that Daichi was dodging his attacks. He wanted to end this.

/Did he just say 'digimon'? I'm gonna have to find out what that is later. But as for now, I gotta slow this guy down, or deal some type of damage to him. His stamina is much higher than mine./

"Lance of Valor!" shouted Daichi as he jumped in the air. That's what the D-Stryker had called it and it sounded warrior-like. Daichi swung his lance toward Monochromon's large horn, but only a scratch was left on it.

"Do you honestly think that you can even damage that? That is the strongest part of my body! Rush Attack!"

Monochromon charged once again and this time, Daichi was too late to step out of the way and was hit with the horn.

The attack sent him back 11 yards! It took Daichi almost all he had to stand up after that. However, something in him kept him going. He ran towards Monochromon again. He knew that if he were to get around to his side, a much weaker spot on him, that he'd be able to do some real damage. However, it didn't work. Each time Daichi tried to charge at Monochromon's side, he turned and blocked it with his massive horn.

/Only one option left...I have to get rid of that horn./ Daichi was getting tired, though. Before the battle had officially begun he'd run a good distance just being chased by this 'digimon' and that Rush Attack had done a high amount of damage to him.

"This is it! Rush Attack!"

"Not today, Monochromon!" Daichi jumped in the air as Monochromon lowered his head and swung with all he had at Monochromon's horn. Midway through the swing, the D-Stryker's screen started flashing. The golden lance seemed to grow in size and then it hit the dinosaur's horn straight on.

Daichi landed back on his feet and had to use the lance to support his weight. He was completely out of shape and all of this wasn't making his body feel too great.

However, Daichi noticed something that he'd hoped for, but never really expected.

...Monochromon's horn slid off and hit the dirt.

"WHAT! YOU LITTLE BRAT!" shouted Monochromon. He was in disbelief. This punk kid had actually succeeded and CUT his horn off ... all because of that lance. Now, he was going to let him have it.

Daichi couldn't help but smile.

"Don't think this is over! IT'S FAR FROM OVER! VOLCANIC STRIKE!" yelled the enraged digimon as he opened his mouth and it was filled with fire forming in the shape of a sphere. Finally, after the ball of fire had grown to a large size, Monochromon launched it at Daichi.

Daichi, catching a second breath, barely dodged the fireball and leapt up onto Monochromon's nose.

"What do you think you're doing! Get off of me!" Monochromon danced around trying to get the human off of him.

"Say goodbye, Monochromon!", Daichi jumped from the digimon's nose and onto his back, "Lance of Valor!" Daichi stabbed the energy lance into Monochromon's back!

The digimon immediately fell over on his side. Daichi noticed that Monochromon's legs began fading into little pieces that were floating up to the sky. Daichi hopped off the back of Monochromon and ran over to his face. He noticed that now Monochromon's eyes were now a peaceful shade of silver.

"Your majesty, just to let you know. I'm no traitor, that was not me in that battle. I would never turn my back on this world. Goodbye, Digidefender."

"Majesty? ... Digidefender? What are you talking about!" Daichi asked out of utter confusion.

Daichi didn't get an answer as Monochromon's entire body burst into little particles and float up to the sky. Daichi actually felt kind of bad for killing the digimon. He'd done it out of defense, of course, but still something in Monochromon's silver eyes told him that it wasn't the digimon's will to destroy Daichi.

"Exiting weapon mode." said the D-Stryker as it withdrew the golden blades.

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"He did it! He did it!" exclaimed Terriermon as she jumped in victory.

Erika smiled, "Now let's get over there and greet him before anymore monsters get to him." Erika picked up Terriermon and started walking in the direction of Daichi.

Although neither of them mentioned it. They were thinking it. They were thinking about what had happened just after Daichi defeated the Monochromon. It was something that Daichi surely wouldn't have noticed, only being in the Digital World for a very short time. After Daichi had stabbed Monochromon, they'd saw a black shadow leak out from Monochromon that slipped away and into a crevice of the earth.

/No doubt about it...it's the work of.../

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/Wow, looks like this thing really comes in handy when you need it./ Daichi thought as he held his D-Stryker up in victory. The light on the D-Stryker's screen then went blank. Daichi hit all the buttons to try to get the light to come back on again. He wanted to finish that tutorial he'd activated earlier during the battle.

Nothing.

/...but won't do a damn thing any other time./

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