"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls and Children of All Ages!" called an exuberant announcer on a raised platform, his voice booming from the large speakers on either side of him and into the room of thirty-two pods where people as young as twelve and as old as forty watched on. The announcer was a tall man with blonde frizzy hair, probably dyed, wearing a multi coloured long coat and a pair of red grill glasses. He looked to be in his thirties. Looking out to the crowd, he grinned.
"Ooh yeah! You and you alone! You are the pinnacle of the Digital Pet Fighting Circuit! You talented Tamers who have raised your Partners and fought, scratched, clawed out of tragedy and despair on the road to Victory. You are truly the best that the DPFC has ever had to offer. And here we are now, at the end. The months of local, regional and national tournaments have led to this. The winner of this tournament will go on to the World Finals. Ooh yeah!"
A large cheer went out, thirty-two fists rising toward the sky, the announcer taking his microphone and getting the crowd to hush down as he continued the ceremony.
"Now, let's get down to the rules. Important things, rules.
This is the end of the Circuit, and as such this tournament is to be decided by knockout rounds!"
The crowd were less than enthused by this idea. Usually the tournaments were best two out of three. But now, one mistake meant that it was all over. These were fights to the finish. Literally. If you could not finish, you were finished.
Thirty-two people would become sixteen in an instant, then eight, then four, then two, then the victor.
"Before you get in a huff, this has always been standard procedure, and is what is happening with DPFC Finals all over the world." The announcer cut in over the mumbling and grumbling of embittered players. "If you want to be the best, then you have to learn to survive outside of your comfort zones, which brings me to those pods!" he proclaimed with a point and a chuckle.
"Hehe, ooh yeah! You brothers and sisters haven't seen anything yet. This is also the newest element of the DPFC, The World Capsule. Created specifically for this year's finals, and to be the EXCLUSIVE way to do battle in all future tournaments, the Capsule is the greatest testament of Digital Battle. No longer will infrared technology be used on the Grand Stage. Players will simply climb into the Capsule, plug their V-Twin into the appropriate slot, put on the provided headgear, and well, the Capsule does the rest.
Not only will inserting your V-Twin into the Capsule enable you to acquire the latest model of V-Twin, which is only available here today, but the Capsule allows you to create a fully functioning 3D avatar of yourself which along with your player data will be saved into the new V-Twin." A murmur of wonder and surprise quickly filled the room.
"Your wins, your losses and even your training regimens. Everything that makes you as a Tamer will be transferred to the newest V-Twin models, which you will be able to plug in to any Capsule in the world and continue as though you never left."
"Never left?" questioned a few of the participants. Some were upset about the forced technology upgrade. Others were excited. Others had no clue what was going on. Some commented that these Capsules looked like expensive medical equipment and joked that the DPFC were intending to run military enforced CAT scans on them all as part of a government plot.
"You'll see soon enough." the announcer replied. "These Capsules are definitely a sight to behold brothers and sisters. Out of this world you might say, haha." And with a tap on the nose, he encouraged the players to take their positions. Looking at the console in front of him, it was a large screen, to the right of which was a slot for the V-Twin, a small rectangular device with a monochrome LCD screen on it.
The Capsules opened up, and the players jumped in. One such Tamer as they were called was a teenage boy with red eyes and spiky brown hair pushed back with a black headband and a pair of red goggles.
He wore a black and white flannel shirt under a sleeveless red hoodie. Blue ¾ length pants were topped off by blue and red sneakers and a pair of white ankle socks.
Below the screen were two semi spheres with finger indents. Were these the controls, the teen wondered?
The screen lit up with a list of instructions.
"Insert V-Twin!" it stated with a vocal command, the teen looking at his pale device, staring at the LCD screen.
"Ready, Agumon?" he asked before pushing the V-Twin into the slot. With a whirr and a beep, the capsule responded to the V-Twin.
"Choose model colour" it said next, a list of colour options appearing on screen. The teen pushed Red.
"Insert your name!" was the next command, the teen reaching out to the touch screen and typing: Takumi.
"Name: Takumi. Partner: Agumon. V-Twin Colour: Red.
Are these parameters correct?" it asked as a "Yes/No" appeared on the screen.
Takumi hit 'Yes' on the screen, and the machine responded.
"Creating Player Data, please put on the Digital Field Viewing Gear provided. Do not shut down the Capsule or remove V-Twin apparatus. Doing so may result in a loss of data."
Figuring that meant the headgear, Takumi slid the DFVG over his head and onto his eyes. He had to push the goggles he was wearing around his neck to get it to sit in place. As he did, a new model of V-Twin, red in colour, popped up from the console, between the two hand controls.
"Awaiting opposing players. Please wait."
Elsewhere on the floor, other contestants were going through their own motions with the new setup. One such boy was a blonde haired boy about Takumi's age who seemed to be getting bored with the song and dance being made of this getting turned into a spectacle. Judging by the console, his name was Shoji, and his Digimon of choice was Kamemon. A few feet away from Shoji was a girl with long dyed pink hair set in twin-tails with short bangs that fell on either side of her face.
Shoji had chosen a blue V-Twin and wore a white t-shirt under a blue shirt buttoned up to the middle. The sleeves were rolled up and a black vest sat over the shirt.
He wore blue skinny jeans with an orange stripe down each side. Black boots with blue laces finished up the attire. The teen's eyes were hidden behind the DFVG.
She wore a short sleeved pink dress with purple accents that sat over a long sleeved baby blue shirt with a large, ruffled turtleneck.
The sleeves were long enough that they covered the girl's hands, but had holes for her thumbs.
She wore baby-blue socks with pink and white trainers that rose up to the shin and folded out.
"Insert V-Twin!" it stated with a vocal command, the teen looking at her pale device, staring at the LCD screen.
"Um, I guess that means you, eh Floramon?" she asked before pushing the V-Twin into the slot. With a whirr and a beep, the capsule responded to the V-Twin.
"Choose model colour" it said next, a list of colour options appearing on screen. The teen pushed Pink, naturally.
"Insert your name!" was the next command, the teen girl reaching out to the touch screen and typing: Rina.
"Name: Rina. Partner: Floramon. V-Twin Colour: Pink.
Are these parameters correct?" it asked as a "Yes/No" appeared on the screen.
Rina nervously hit 'Yes' on the screen, and the machine responded.
"Creating Player Data." the capsule spoke again. "Please put on the Digital Field Viewing Gear provided. Do not shut down the Capsule or remove V-Twin apparatus. Doing so may result in a loss of data."
Figuring that meant the headgear, Rina took the DFVG and slid it over her head and onto her eyes. Rina felt her twin tails getting caught in the head gear and pulled them loose. As she did, a new model of V-Twin, pink in colour, popped up from the console, between the two hand controls.
"Awaiting opposing players. Please wait."
Right next to Rina's capsule was the capsule of another girl. She had wavy brown hair that fell midway down her back. She wore what looked like a dark green kimono and skirt mixed with a tracksuit. The kimono and skirt have mint green wavy designs embedded into them.
Long black gloves with a gold trim cover from the knuckles upward. The gloves appeared to have arm guards built into the fabric. The girl wore thigh-high black stockings exactly like the gloves, complete with built in leg guards. On her feet, she wore flat sole sneakers.
"I should have a partner more suited to my talents." the girl mused as she stared at the LCD screen. "But admittedly, I raised you this way, and you have gotten me this far, so perhaps you are suited to my talents. Let's go all the way, eh, Elecmon." said the girl solemnly as she pressed the pale V-Twin into the slot and typed in her name; Fumiko. Her green eyes quickly found the DFVG as her new green V-Twin appeared on the console. And finally, at the back of the room, a much taller teen was climbing into his capsule. It was a snug fit given the boy's size, but as he got ready for the finals, he looked back to everyone else. There were thirty one other competitors, all here for the chance to go on to the World Championships.
He gripped the V-Twin in his hand before tossing it in the air, catching it. He wasn't going to lose.
Clad in a black leather jacket with metal spike on the shoulders, a black t-shirt and tight black jeans and boots that echoed his jacket, the young man had orange hair which was short, messy and wavy.
His yellow eyes stared intently at the console as he went through the setup motions.
"We're not going to lose, are we Koemon? No! We're gonna tear 'em all to shreds!" he said confidently as he typed his name into the console; Yusuke.
"What colour do I want? Hmph. I should pick something that shines like I do. Is there gold on this thing?"
Settling on yellow, Yusuke put on the DFVG, the notice "Awaiting opposing players. Please wait." appearing on the screen, which he promptly ignored. Finally, it appeared that everyone was ready. A large screen dropped down behind the announcer showing the brackets for the first round. In the capsules, the DFVG had activated, the players finding themselves in a wide open space. It was black and empty, but soon began to populate with many areas, ranging from raging volcanos to peaceful spring meadows to beaches with crashing tides. Really, if you could dream the area, it was starting to populate. For Takumi however, things were a bit different. He was about to find himself in a rainforest setting, when suddenly everything went bright, causing the teen to groan and raise his arm to shield his eyes.
"Ech, so bright!" he complained. "Though, I have to say, that's some pretty nice graphics for a game.
What is this? Augmented Reality? Virtual Reality?" he asked aloud, looking around startled when his question was answered by a familiar voice.
"Nothing of the sort, I'm afraid." the voice answered. "This is all quite real, Takumi."
"Th-that voice! You're the Capsule Interface."
"To a select few, yes." the voice responded.
"What are you t.." before he could finish his question, he was cut off by the sound of people behind him. Turning around in the floating, shining space, Takumi found Shoji, Rina, Fumiko and Yusuke behind him. He hadn't a clue who these people were, and they hadn't a notion about him either.
"Is this part of the new setup?" Shoji asked as the group of five started to descend. "Are you my opponents?"
"I don't… I don't think so." Rina spoke up. "I was never shown my opponent on the screen thingy. And well, if we're supposed to be fighting here, where are our Digimon?"
"Maybe their data doesn't build until we're in a zone?" guessed Shoji.
"Wrong again, Shoji." came the voice of the interface. "These people aren't your opponents, but rather, your teammates."
"My what?!" asked Yusuke through grit teeth. "I don't need a team!" he declared. "I'm more than capable of taking on everyone here by myself."
"Does anyone else find it creepy that she knows our names?" Rina asked, pointing upward to add emphisis on 'she', earning a chuckle from the interface. "Wh-what's so funny?" Rina asked, looking around at the others until Fumiko spoke up.
"Not entirely. The system did ask us to input our names on the console after all, so it makes sense that 'she' knows who we are. It's hardly that surprising…"
"Rina. Rina Momoi." the pink haired girl replied sheepishly.
"Fumiko Midorikawa. Pleasure to meet you. What about you, ginger? What's your name Mr. I'm more than capable of taking on everyone?"
"Yusuke. Yusuke Kiriyama." he said with a glare. "And we know that Blondie there is called Shoji, so what about the goggle head? Who are you, punk?"
"Shoji Aoyagi if you must know." the blonde interrupted, his blue eyes falling on Takumi. "However, despite his vulgar tone, Yusuke is quite right. You should go ahead and introduce yourself old boy."
"Me? Oh, right. I guess I should introduce myself, huh? Takumi's my name. Takumi Akama.
Nice to meet you all." Takumi's nervous laugh became a broad one. This was turning into the weirdest Digital Fight tournament he had ever entered.
"To think we're all talking through cyberspace like this. It's rather awesome."
"I've already said that that is not the case, Takumi." spoke the voice of the interface again. "But, come, it's time you learned just what's going on."
The group's descent became faster until they hit the ground, or at least what felt like the ground. Truth is they couldn't tell what they landed on. It was hard, it hurt, but, they were still standing and floating in the middle of nowhere and nothing. Takumi noticed, and was disturbed by the fact that no zone had populated since the bright light appeared.
"This way!" called the interface's voice as a large black archway formed across from group, each member figuring this was where the game itself would begin."Shall we then?" Takumi asked, pulling the goggles up from around his neck and onto his head."Sure, why not?" Fumiko responded, following Takumi. "I was looking forward to seeing what the graphics of this game were like up close anyway.""Well, if we don't I'm presuming that this game either never starts, have tor our would be opponents would get a bye because we don't show up." Shoji commented with a shrug as he followed Fumiko and Takumi."Ugh, whatever. I don't have time to mess around with you dweebs." scoffed Yusuke, charging on ahead of the rest of the group. Rina took a moment, and followed the group if for no other reason than to not be left behind. Coming through the archway, the group found themselves in a large throne room. To say Takumi was fascinated was an understatement. Nobody in the tournament lobby was dressed so dramatically. Was this person an NPC to the game, he wondered, noting the rosary beads on her ankle and draped over her right shoulder as the single o-ring strap on her left fell loose. "Digidestined." Sanzomon repeated. "In every age, when a great darkness threatens the stability of the Digital World, humans of extraordinary ability are called to vanquish it. I believe you five to be those humans."
Red walls with gold designs, pillars with vases and other ornaments lined the room.
Scriptures, scriptures, scriptures. This woman was covered in them as even the strips of material that fell from her crown were covered in writings.
"Takumi, who is that woman?" Rina asked, Takumi shaking his head.
"I've been trying to figure that out but…""But your mind is racing with a million questions, right?" came that familiar voice. Takumi's eyes widened. The Interface? It was this woman? Impossible thought the group as they treaded slowly down the red carpet and toward the woman."Who…? Who are you, really?" Takumi asked, his red eyes meeting the woman's golden eyes which closed before she chuckled and stood up. Takumi noting the red jewel on her forehead.
"My name… is Sanzomon." she began. "I am the one who called you five to the Digital World. You Chosen Children will be the Digidestined who save this world from ruin.""The what?!" they all replied in unison.
There was a dull silence as the group listened to what Sanzomon had to say. It was a part of the game they had not come to expect. What about the tournament and the knock out rounds? Was that all a ruse? An excuse to turn the Digital Pet Fight Circuit into a glorified MMORPG? And what about this woman? She calls herself Sanzomon. Sanzo Mon. Mon. None of the group had ever seen a Digimon like her.
"I suppose I am not to be surprised." Sanzomon started. "I have sprung this on you much too quickly I believe, but trust in my words Takumi. I am not here to deceive you or your friends. The Digital Pet Fight Circuit, and all the time you've spent with your Partner Digimon, it has not been for nought."
"Partner? That's right, we were wondering when we might see our Digimon!" Fumiko interrupted. "To be within the realms of this game for so long now and to not see our Digimon's 3D models, it's getting to be a drag Sanzomon."
"I already said, we likely won't see our Digimon until the game officially starts." Shoji commented. "Whatever these new rules are, it seems like we won't be able to fully understand them until after we've gotten through this RPG like backstory."
"I hate all this fidgeting and waiting around. Just let me see my Koemon already!" boomed Yusuke's voice as the very tall teen in leather bounded toward Sanzomon, only to be repelled quickly, not by Sanzomon, but… Takumi blinked. Another new Digimon? Sanzomon threw the cards at the teenagers, each card finding the left arm of each one and binding itself to them. In a flash of light, a device appeared strapped to their wrist.
This one was for all intents and purposes a teenage girl in a swimsuit wearing a large pig costume. Takumi had no idea what to make of it."It's kind of gross cute!" piped up Rina, her eyes quickly falling to Yusuke to see that he was holding his face in pain? "Wait, what just happened?"
Yusuke held his face as he picked himself up. "Why does that hurt? This is just a game! Isn't…it?""Thank you, Cho-Hakkaimon." said Sanzomon as the girl-pig Digimon spun its metal clawed staff and made a defensive pose. All the while, Takumi felt a change in the air. No game has the power to hurt a person. Not to repeat Yusuke, but as much as he might have deserved it, just what happened there?
Takumi's train of thought was cut off as Sanzomon raised her hand, brandishing five cards with digital alphabet writing on them.
"Digidestined, I understand your urge to meet with your Partners. I shall not hold you back from that. You deserve that much. So here, I grant you these."
For Takumi it was red, for Shoji it was blue, for Rina it was pink, for Fumiko it was green, and for Yusuke it was yellow.
"No, this is the Digivice 01-X!" Sanzomon responded. "Within it are your Partners. Raise your arms and call your Partners names followed by the word Re:Digitize.
Takumi wasted no time, throwing his arm up. "Agumon! Re:Digitize!" he called, the screen of the Digivice lighting up and sending a beam of light out that took the form of an Agumon. A large one at that with red straps on its claws. This experience was unreal for all of them. Was it clever programming, or had their Digital Pets really taken on lives of their own. Shoji was next to find out.
"Whoa! That's my Agumon?!" Takumi exclaimed in wonder, rushing to meet his Partner, who happily threw himself at the oncoming human.
"Takumi!" it cried. "Finally, finally, finally!"
"Agumon!" the boy responded. "You know my name!"
"Of course I do! We've been together for a long time! I've been waiting for this moment since I was first hatched as a Botamon."
"Me… me too, Partner!"
Then went Fumiko with a proud "Elecmon! Re:Digitize!" A red and purple striped mammal on all fours with nine tails appeared, leaping into Fumiko's arms.
Next was Rina, who was in awe at how well the other people were getting on with their Digimon already. They had only just met, hadn't they she wondered, holding up her own arm. Would her own Digimon love her like Agumon, Kamemon and Elecmon seemed to love their Partners. Rina gulped and called out. "Floramon! Re:Digitize!" and just like the others, Rina was then staring at her own Partner, Floramon, the two shrieking for joy like high school girls as they rushed toward one another."Heh, guess you gotta save the best for last, huh?" Yusuke said, staring intently at his own Digivice. "Alright! Let's rock it! Koemon! Re:Digitize!"
As Koemon, a green monkey Digimon with large feet wearing a lion cloth appeared, the five Digimon and five humans stepped back to take in the sight of one another. A nervous laugh broke out before evolving into a booming, joyous laugh."This is incredible!" Takumi said happily. "To be able to interact with our Partners on this level is outstanding. The DPFC really outdid themselves with all of this!"
But the goggleboy's smile quickly faded as Agumon lowered his head and shook it.
"Agumon…?"
"Takumi… this isn't part of the DPFC. That tournament never happened."
"What?!" he exclaimed. "What are you talking about?""As he says." interrupted Sanzomon. "Maybe you'll listen now. You five have been summoned to this Digital World from the Human World. The Digital Pet Fight Circuit was simply the means for how that came to be. It could have happened another way, it would have, but you five are the Chosen Children meant to be the Digidestined that will save this world together with these Digimon.""But what do you mean the tournament never happened?" Fumiko asked as the Digimon joined their Partner's sides. Shoji watched on with crossed arms, weary of how long this backstory might carry on for. Were Takumi and Fumiko really going to buy into it that much?"The tournament was compromised by a vagrant AI acting on its own from within another V-Twin.""Vagrant AI?" Fumiko questioned."One of the combatants hacked the V-Twin, applying parameters and abilities that are unable to be set via the default settings. When this was connected with the DPFC's Digital Field Viewing Gear, a malicious program was allowed to run rampant through the Capsule Network with the intent of Decoding the other players Digimon, effectively eliminating them as a threat before seeping into the Digital World. But you five, your Digimon overcame that and that in turn allowed me to summon you all here.""Man this backstory is meta." Yusuke piped up. "I mean, really? One of the other tournament fighters tried to rig the competition. That's the backstory here? If that's true, I'll tear the sucker apart and Koemon here will run rampant on the "hacked" Digimon. Leave it to us. We got this."
"Humility really is not your strong suit, is it Yusuke?" Sanzomon questioned, her eyes catching something glistening in the monkey Digimon's tail. Her eyes narrowed, but she quickly returned to the task at hand, convincing the group that this was not a game. Using her magic, a gateway opened behind the children and Digimon that sucked them through, also, a shining shard of energy followed through, also sent by Sanzomon. In the commotion, nobody realised it nor took notice as it attached itself to Koemon and vanished.
But suddenly there was a rumbling, and the room began to shake and crumble."Cho-Hakkaimon! We've been found. We must escape for now!
Digidestined! Heed my words this final time that you have been drawn into something much greater than a game. The Digivices and your Partner Digimon will show you the way. It's a matter of life and death and you must all work together. None of you are greater or lesser than the other. You all have a role to play here. And with that, I shall send you to the Grass Zone. There I hope you learn more about each other and yourselves. Until the next time we meet!"
When the group were out of harm's way, Sanzomon created another void for her and Cho-Hakkaimon to escape through as the girl-pig Digimon destroyed anything that came in contact with Sanzomon. And as the room was finally emptied, it was destroyed, numerous shadowy figures standing over the ruins.
"And the intruders?" questioned a second voice.
"The same. Though it appears they did not all escape together."
"Interesting. Well then, my comrades, it would appear that the Digital World is once again going to see some real… FUN! Ahahaha!"END