Author's note: I used to be a huge fan of the Digimon-franchise back when the first two series were airing on Norwegian TV back in the early 2000s, and about three or four years ago, I found myself wanting to check out the series again, and also see all the later series that never aired over here. And while I do still think all of them have held up reasonably well, (I'm probably in the minority in that I even enjoyed Digimon Frontier...) there are still a few aspects of them that I just didn't like, and so I've been wanting to write my own take on the story for quite a while, basically to show what my "ideal" Digimon-series would be like.
And after the latest series, Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time, proved to be practically a mash-up of practically every single thing I don't like about the franchise as a whole, I finally decided to get started on it. This will be an original story with original characters, though the overall plot I've got in mind is largely similar to Digimon Adventure mixed with the slightly more serious tone of Tamers.
Note that I'm going off the Japanese version for names and terminology here, so "Evolution" instead of "Digivolution", and the evolutionary chain goes "Child - Adult - Perfect - Ultimate", not "Rookie - Champion - Ultimate - Mega". (Seriously, why did the dub rename the Perfect level "Ultimate" when there already WAS an Ultimate level in the original version? That just makes things needlessly confusing, don't you think?)
Anyway, this foreword is getting way too long, so I think I'll just shut up and start the actual story now.
CHAPTER 1
The Gate to Another World
"This is the place!" she said, pointing towards a nearby cave. They could hear strange noises from inside it, and an odd sort of glowing mist was flowing from it.
"…Really? You dragged me all the way out here when I was trying to relax, just to look at some smoke-filled cave in the middle of nowhere?" Mamoru said.
"Of course! I mean, aren't you totally curious to find out what those noises are?" Kouko asked enthusiastically.
"Uh, no, actually I think I'd be perfectly happy not finding out what those noises are. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go back home now," Mamoru said.
Kouko looked at him with a bemused expression, and said "Well alright then, guess I'll just go have an exciting adventure on my own. I was hoping you'd accompany me so that we may share in the joy of whatever may be in there, but if you're too much of a wuss, then fine, just go back home to your random TV-shows and video-games. See if I care," before she swung around in an overdramatic fashion and walked into the cave.
And there it was. The good old "Call him a coward"-card that Kouko always pulled whenever Mamoru was reluctant to come along on one of her random adventures. He had found himself thinking countless times that he really should try actually leaving once, rather than letting her win every single time… Yet somehow, whenever she brought it up, he would inevitably end up tagging along just to prove her wrong.
"Alright, fine then!" he shouted, and ran after her.
The cave was damp, had a smell unlike anything they'd ever felt before, and it didn't seem to be just their imagination that the mist was glowing either; Even after turning a corner which completely blocked the exit from view, they could still see the walls clearly, illuminated in a sickly green color. Occasionally, small flashes of light would pop up in the air.
"I'm really not so sure about this, Kouko… I mean, even by your usual standards, this place is weird," Mamoru said. "For all we know, this mist could be poisonous! Or some sort of unstable gas that could explode at any second!"
"If the mist was explosive, I'm pretty sure all those flashes of light we've been seeing would have ignited it ages ago. And as for it being poisonous, well, I don't feel particularly dead yet. Do you?" Kouko replied, though there was a slight hint of nervousness in her voice too.
"Yeah, and what's up with all these flashes of light anyway?" Mamoru said, as another one popped up right next to his ear. "And for that matter, is it just me or are they showing up more and more frequently?"
Kouko stopped moving. After a few seconds of hesitation, she said "Actually… Maybe you're right. This place is starting to creep me out too. Let's just go back."
"Wow. You finally see reason, for once. I'm impressed," Mamoru said, as they turned around to get out the way they came.
Just then, the entire cave was engulfed in a blinding light, and a piercing sound like shattering glass could be heard in the air. Once the light faded, the glowing mist had also disappeared. The both of them froze for a moment, before running as fast as they could towards the exit without saying another word.
Once outside the cave, they stopped running for a moment to catch their breath. Kouko looked down the mountainside towards the city, only there was one problem.
"M-Mamoru-kun! Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing…" she said, completely unable to conceal the panic in her voice.
"What, did the entire city mysteriously vanish or someth-" Mamoru started, before turning to look himself and promptly going silent as he saw that his completely non-serious suggestion was completely accurate.
The city was completely gone, as were the roads and any other signs of civilization. All they could see was a vast expanse of forests and plains, with a large lake at the place where the city center used to be, and a river running out towards the ocean lying in the horizon.
"Okay. I really ought to stop tempting fate," Mamoru said, also trying his best to sound calm.
Grabbing his hand, Kouko turned around and started running back into the cave again.
"Ow! Kouko, what are you doing?!" Mamoru shouted, trying to keep up with her.
"Well maybe if we go back into the cave that weird light-thing will happen again and take us back to the city!" Kouko yelled frantically as she continued running. Before long, they'd reached a dead end. Then, they heard a growl behind them. Turning around, a creature unlike anything they'd ever seen before was standing there, glaring at them.
The creature sort of looked like a wolf, except it was abnormally tall, long and skinny, its fur was red, and its legs were wrapped in belts.
The beast plunged straight at Mamoru, who instinctively leapt to the side. There wasn't much space in the cave though, so he found himself backed up against the wall immediately. The wolf prepared to plunge a second time, but then a small rock hit it in the head.
"Run!" Kouko said, as she picked up another rock and prepared to throw it.
The monster turned its attention towards Kouko and leapt at her. Kouko attempted to push it away, but it was much stronger than she was. It was just about to bite her throat when Mamoru grabbed onto its tail and pulled it backwards.
"I'm not leaving you alone with this thing!" Mamoru shouted, as the beast turned its head towards him. "Now let's get out of here!"
Kouko nodded and ran as fast as she could back out. Mamoru followed, but he noticed that the beast still seemed to be standing still. Had the noise disoriented it?
They made it out of the cave, just as they heard another growl from the creature, and turned to see it dashing at them again, much faster than either of them could hope to run. Just as all hope seemed lost, a steel blade suddenly came flying and hit the monster. Turning to where the blade came from, they saw a boy with long hair that was tied up behind his back, standing next to yet another creature neither of them could recognize, this one looking like a small fuzzy dinosaur walking on two legs, wearing samurai-armor.
"Are you two alright?!" the boy asked. Kouko and Mamoru just nodded their heads. "Seems like we were right to come here… Ryudamon, do you recognize that thing?" he continued.
"Fangmon. Adult level. A demon-beast Digimon," the dinosaur named Ryudamon said.
Mamoru was completely dumbfounded. Talking dinosaurs? Digimon? What was going on here?
The wolf, apparently named Fangmon, seemed to have lost interest in Mamoru and Kouko, and was now cautiously staring at the boy and Ryudamon.
"Can you defeat it as you are?" the boy asked.
"I doubt it. And even if I could, would you really want to take the risk?" Ryudamon answered.
"Right," the boy said, and pulled some sort of high-tech cellphone-like device out of his pocket, and raised it above his head. "Ryudamon, evolve!"
As he said these words, the device's monitor started glowing intensely, and a ray of light shot out towards Ryudamon, who was then also engulfed in a blinding glow. They heard a loud noise, like an explosion, and as the light faded, Ryudamon seemed to have transformed into a bigger, more feral-looking beast. It was also standing on four legs now.
Fangmon growled before charging at its opponent. Ryudamon quickly spun around and slung its tail at Fangmon, sending the wolf flying into the air. Fangmon landed on its feet, and was about to resume its attack, but before it could, Ryudamon had dashed over and pinned it to the ground with his front paw.
"Finish him," the boy said.
Ryudamon opened his mouth, and they were astonished to see that a large metal spike was coming up out of its throat, similar to the one that had flown at Fangmon earlier. The dinosaur spat the spike out, impaling Fangmon through the neck.
Kouko stared at the scene in front of her with a mix of horror and fascination. Mamoru had shut his eyes tightly.
"Mamoru-kun, it's over! You can open your eyes now," she said to him.
Mamoru reluctantly did so, though the sight of the impaled wolf-monster inside of him quickly caused him to look away.
"Brave as always, I see… Anyway, thank you for saving us," she said.
"Don't mention it. I wouldn't abandon a fellow lost soul in need," the boy said. "I'm Kiyoshi, by the way. Akio Kiyoshi."
"My name's Kouko Asami," Kouko said. "My fearless friend here is Mamoru Daichi,"
"Well forgive me for being a tiny bit squeamish after just having seen a monster impaled by a metal stick thicker than my own neck!" Mamoru snapped back at her. "Besides, considering all the freakiness that's happened in the past few minutes, I'm surprised you can be this calm!"
"I definitely understand what you mean," Kiyoshi said. "I was just as freaked out when I first got here. Don't worry though, you get used to it. Or, I suppose that might not be much of a consolation…" he continued, and scratched his head.
"Anyway, do you know where we are, or what just happened?" Kouko asked.
"I do, but this probably isn't the best place to discuss it," Kiyoshi said. "Follow me, and I'll explain it on the way."
The three of them were walking down the mountain path. Ryudamon was keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Kouko and Mamoru were both looking around. The landscape looked more or less the same as it did where they came from, only with the very noticeable absence of buildings, highways, streetlights or anything else man-made.
"So where are you taking us?" Mamoru asked.
"There's this cave at the bottom of the mountain. I've been taking up refuge there for the past few months, together with another comrade," Kiyoshi said. "She usually goes with me whenever I leave the cave, but she'd hurt her leg just the other day, and so we figured she'd probably be safer staying behind for the time being."
"Speaking of companions… So what exactly is that Ryudamon-fellow, anyway?" Kouko asked, staring at the odd creature walking next to Kiyoshi.
"He's a Digimon," Kiyoshi said briefly. "They're the inhabitants of this world. Fangmon, the guy who attacked you earlier was a Digimon as well."
"They're both the same species? I find that hard to believe… Wait, what do you mean 'inhabitants of this world'? You mean this isn't Earth?!" Kouko said.
"Nope," Kiyoshi replied flatly.
"Okay, I did say I wanted to go on an adventure, but this might be a bit more than I bargained for…" Kouko said, trying her hardest to sound nonchalant. Mamoru remained silent.
"This is the Digital World. As far as I know, it's a parallel dimension of sorts. The geography and climate is largely similar to our own world, as you may have noticed, but there are no humans here aside from those like us, who stray into this place by accident. The Digimon rule this place, and let me tell you, you do not want to cross the paths of some of the more ferocious ones," Kiyoshi explained.
"And we're supposed to discern the friendly ones from the non-friendly ones… how exactly?" Kouko asked hesitantly.
"If it doesn't try to rip your throat out the moment it sees you, it's probably safe," he answered darkly.
They arrived at the cave, which was partially concealed by a large rock and some moss hanging from the entrance. Kiyoshi went in first.
"Oh, you're back… Did you find anything?" a female voice asked.
"I did, in fact! Come on in, you two," he said, and Kouko and Mamoru did so.
Kiyoshi's friend was a thin, bruised girl with long, scruffy brown hair and tattered clothes. From what they could see, she must have been stuck in this mysterious world for quite a while.
The girl's eyes widened. "Where did you…" she began.
"In a cave higher up in the mountains. Apparently an opening appeared there just a little over an hour ago. Pretty ironic, huh?" Kiyoshi said.
The girl's head dropped. "I see… Another missed chance, huh?"
"Well, look on the bright side; at least we won't be the only humans here anymore…" Kiyoshi began.
"Yeah, another pair of unfortunate souls accidentally stumbled into this madness. That makes it much better," she shot back spitefully.
"Uh…" Mamoru began.
"Yeah, sorry about that. My friend here isn't exactly the most optimistic girl around," Kiyoshi said.
"You wouldn't be as cheerful as you are either, if you'd been stuck in another world for a year, most of which you spent completely alone!" she said.
"Anyway, let's save the arguments till later, okay? You haven't even given them a chance to introduce themselves," Kiyoshi said.
"Right. I'm Amaya Chie. Sorry for acting so rude just now, but…"
"We heard you. Honestly, given the situation I can't say I blame you," Mamoru said. "I'm Mamoru Daichi, and this is my hot-headed, short-sighted and reckless friend Kouko Asami."
"Thanks for that," Kouko said with an annoyed look.
"Just repaying the favor for your flattering introduction of me up in the mountains, my dear Kouko-san," he replied and put on the widest smile he could possibly muster.
"Fine, fine, well now that you've both had a go at making the only other person you know here look bad, how about we get back to what's going on?" Kiyoshi said.
"Yeah… So what was that thing you did up in the mountains anyway? You know, the whole 'turning your Digimon-friend into a 30-foot monster and saving our lives'-business?" Kouko asked.
Ryudamon spoke up. "It's called evolution. Basically, Kiyoshi's Digivice…" Kiyoshi held up the high-tech cellphone-device. "…creates a sort of spiritual bond between us, giving me some of his energy which allows me to transform. It's a useful technique, but also one we're careful about not using unless it's really necessary, because it puts a huge strain on the both of us."
"The first time it happened, both of us fell unconscious after a few minutes. Good thing Chie-san was there to get us out of sight, otherwise we might have been eaten or something," Kiyoshi continued.
"And how did you come across this… Digivice?" Mamoru asked.
"Neither of us really knows what happened. We were attacked by a powerful Digimon once, Ryudamon was heavily injured, I tried to fight off the monster to protect him, and next thing I knew, the Digivice was just floating there before my eyes, and somehow, I just knew what it was and how to use it," Kiyoshi said.
"Sounds awfully convenient…" Mamoru said.
"Trust me, it's about the only thing in this place that is," Chie commented.
"So is it possible that any of us could get one as well?" Kouko asked.
"Probably, I mean, if I could team up with a Digimon and get a Digivice from it, I would assume you guys could too," Kiyoshi said.
Kouko's face brightened up. "Alright! I'm going to find my own partner Digimon too!"
"You sure are enthusiastic about this… You know, most Digimon would probably sooner eat you than fight for you…" Kiyoshi said.
"Don't mind her, that's just how she is. Ever an optimist, always seeking adventures and excitement…" Mamoru said. "Heck, it's her thrill-seeking nature that got us here to begin with."
Kouko quickly lowered her head again as soon as he said that.
"…I'm sorry," she said.
"What?" Mamoru turned to look at her.
"You're right. It is my fault that all this happened. Now we're stuck in some other world, with no food, water, tools, or anyone to help us outside this group."
"Well, I guess there isn't really anything we can do about it now though… Whether we like it or not, it seems like we're stuck here," Mamoru said. "So, Kiyoshi… You don't know any way to get back home?"
"Well, portals to our world do open occasionally, but they're only open for a few brief moments, and so far we haven't been able to predict where they'll show up. That's mostly what we spend our days doing here. Either searching for food, or looking for signs of portals opening so that we might be able to find a pattern to it," Kiyoshi explained.
"And Chie-san has been stuck here for a whole year… I wonder how long it will take to find a way back?" Mamoru said, with his head down.
"Our families must be worried too..." Kouko said.
"Well, moping about it isn't gonna help!" Kiyoshi said. "If we're gonna get home, we'll just have to find a way ourselves! And look at the bright side; At least you're not all on your own, and me and Chie-san can share our experiences with you to make it easier for you to make it in this world."
Mamoru looked up again. "Yeah, I suppose that is one good thing in this misfortune…"
"So, I'm gonna go out searching again tomorrow. Feel free to join me," Kiyoshi said. "But for now, we should get some rest. It's been a long day."
Please review. Any feedback is appreciated, whether it be of the "OH MY GOD THIS IS THE GREATEST FANFIC I'VE EVER READ IN MY LIFE!"-kind or the "OH MY GOD THIS IS SO PATHETIC THAT IT MAKES MY IMMORTAL LOOK LIKE SHAKESPEARE!"-kind... Or okay, if it's the latter then I would at least like some elaboration as to why it's so pathetic that it makes My Immortal look like Shakespeare, but...