Digimon: Digital Guardians
I do not own Digimon or anything associated with the franchise. I only own the human characters presented in this story. Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Invaders, Part 1
War: a time of horror and misery where two sides face in combat yet no one escapes as victor. Humanity has always been a harborer of war, constantly clashing in the twisted conflict in an effort to obtain power and dominance. With this in mind, it is easy to recognize why their creations would also partake in such conflicts. We Digimon have faced each other in war many times in the past, but this most recent one is a hell unlike any other. I fear that this may be the end of our existence as we know it. With our failure, not only shall we face utter destruction, but the humans shall also face their end.
Milleniummon, one of the fiercest Digimon that has ever existed, has returned from the grave in order to resume his destructive campaign against the entire Digital World. In five years the Second Great War has torn apart the Digital World, deleting thousands of Digimon while our nations crumble to Milleniummon's might. If extreme actions are not taken soon, all will be lost. So it has come to this that I unleash my secret project in the hopes that it will save both of our worlds. May Azulongmon watch over us as I initiate our last hope...
Ryan walked along the bridge, glancing out at the water with his hands in his pockets. Today was the last day of summer and to say he was less than ecstatic to return to school is an understatement. In Ryan's mind school was a waste of time; you learned useless information and had to deal with boring teenagers who only gossiped about who was going out with whom. The blonde boy kept moving along the bridge, wondering if he should do something special to celebrate his last day of freedom before being forced back into the wonderful world of high school.
As he continued walking, lost in his thoughts, Ryan spotted something peculiar out of the corner of his eye. Walking towards the side of the bridge, Ryan looked out at the river and saw what seemed to be floating, glowing squares. Rubbing his eyes quickly, the teenager looked again to see if the squares were still there. To his comfort and surprise they had disappeared, vanishing from sight. Summing it up to a glare from the sun, Ryan continued on his way, forgetting about his apparent hallucination as he left the bridge behind.
Heading into the center of town, Ryan stepped into the convenience store, quickly scanning for his desired items. To his chagrin his mother had asked him to run to the local 7/11 and pick up a few things. What better way to spend his last day of summer than going to the store to run an errand for his mom. Ryan walked around the store, grabbing the items his mom wanted, paying little attention to his environment. This proved to be his downfall as he bumped into an innocent pedestrian walking within the same aisle.
"Ow…" Ryan said as he rubbed his probably bruised head. He looked down and found a young girl on the floor, also rubbing her head. "Oh my God, I am so sorry! Are you okay?" Ryan asked as he extended a hand to the black haired girl. She kindly accepted his gesture, standing up from the ground and brushing off her jeans. "It's no problem, I've faced a lot worse. You alright?", the girl asked. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm really sorry again." The girl just chuckled and picked up her bag that she had dropped. "Like I said it's no problem, it was just an accident. See you around." With that the girl walked away, heading away from Ryan, eventually signaling her departure with the bell ringing as she opened the door out of the store.
Ryan took his store goods up to the counter and took out the money his mom had given him. The dull cashier girl scanned the items until her computer made a few beeping noises. "Damn it, not again...this things been acting weird all day." The cashier proceeded to write down the prices for each of the items and gave Ryan the appropriate change. "Here, I'll just put the items in the computer later when it's done having a seizure. Have a nice day." Ryan nodded and said thank you before heading out the door.
Just as Ryan made his departure, the sky gods decided to make the clouds cry as rain began to pour down. "Great…," Ryan muttered as he began the mad dash for home. His feet banged against the quickly forming puddles, his clothes and shoes sustaining soakage as a result. The rain poured down hard, thunder clouds also forming in the sky with crackling lightning igniting the air. Ryan couldn't believe how such an extreme storm could start up so quickly, especially when the weather forecast called for a bright, sunny summer day. He continued his trek through the tumultuous storm until he found himself back on the bridge. The water level of the river underneath the bridge was rising rapidly, though it was still nowhere near the bridge. Ryan ran across the bridge with one arm covering his head and the other gripping his grocery bag tightly. Just as he made it to the middle of the bridge, lighting struck all around the bridge, almost as if it was trapping the boy where he stood. The lightning became more frequent, screaming out into the heavens in rage. Ryan stumbled and fell, dropping his bag in the process. Glimmers of light flashed around him for a few moments more until his consciousness gave out and his mind demanded darkness.
Ugh...my head...Ryan slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes as natural light blinded him. "God, this stupid lightn-," Ryan stopped his complaint as he placed his hand out and noticed he didn't feel any rain. In fact, his clothes weren't even wet when before they were completely soaked. "How long was I out…?" Ryan asked himself. He looked up at the sky and saw the sun shining bright, no clouds to be seen. Ryan looked around for his bag of groceries but couldn't find it anywhere. "What's….going on?"
Ryan entered his home, shutting the door behind him. He knew his mom would be pissed at him for losing the groceries but he figured she'd be lenient with the hell storm that came in. "Hey mom, I'm really sorry. That damn storm blew away the groceries." Sarah Parker popped her head into the living room, looking at her son as if he had three heads. "What storm? What are you talking about?" Now it was Ryan's turn to look at his mom like she had three heads. "You're telling me you didn't see the huge storm that went on outside? With the crazy lightning and thunder?" Sarah just shook her head, wondering if her son possibly hurt himself on the way to the store. "Oh, did you ever get to the store?"
"Yeah, of course I went to the store! I've been gone for at least a half hour." Sarah looked at the clock on the wall to double check herself before speaking. "Ry, it's only 3:34. You left around 3:25." Now Ryan was the one checking the clock, hoping to find evidence for his statement. His evidence did come, however, as the digital clock read 3:35 P.M. "That's...not possible," Ryan mumbled, somewhat to his mom but mostly to himself. "Ryan, are you okay?" Sarah asked as she took a few steps towards her son. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to head out to the store and get the groceries. I'll be home soon." And with that Ryan almost jumped out the door, his mind swirling with confusion. I couldn't have just imagined all that, could I? I remember going to the store, bumping into that girl, buying my stuff, I even remember that cashier lady saying the computer wasn't working.
Pushing aside his thoughts, Ryan decided to at least accomplish one thing and get the groceries. Making his way back to the store, Ryan walked the same route he walked the first time, or what he thought was the first time. Throughout the entire trip Ryan could not shake the sensation of deja vu that clung to his mind. Entering the store, Ryan immediately went to pick up all of the things he needed. Just as he was walking down the aisle, he raised his head and saw a sight that made him stop. Oh my God...Standing in front of him was the girl Ryan remembered knocking down the first time he came to the store. Apparently his stare caught the girl's attention because she looked over at him, shock coming onto her face as well. "You, you're that boy from….from before," the girl said outloud in a rush. "Wait, you remember me? You remember me bumping into you?" The girl slowly nodded her head, confusion registering on her head. "At first I thought I was just daydreaming or had a really intense dream but this, this is no dream." Ryan crossed his arms in thought. "Do you think it's possible that we, I don't know, time travelled?" He looked over at the girl, finding her deep in thought as well. "Usually I'd say that's crazy but in this case, I guess anything's possible. There's no other explanation I guess. One minute I was walking home from the store with the huge storm going on, the next I wake up back in my bed at home, the sun shining as if the storm never happened."
So she experienced the same thing I did, Kenta thought. "So, what do we do?" Ryan asked. Before the girl could respond, the two heard commotion over at the counter. "Damn this stubborn computer, it hasn't been working all day and now it's gone completely on the fritz!" The two walked over to find the cashier girl lightly banging on the computer, apparently trying to remedy whatever issue the machine was experiencing. Her efforts were in vain, though, and probably only made the problem worse. "Hey, do you see that?", the girl said while pointing at the computer. Ryan looked where she was pointing and found a familiar sight in front of him. Tiny floating, glowing squares surrounded the computer encompassing the attention of the two teens. The cashier girl seemed completely oblivious to them, however, continuing to work on the computer. "I don't think she can see them," Ryan whispered to his companion. "I saw those things before, when I was walking to the store the first time." His time-traveling partner understood what he meant by "first time".
Suddenly to the surprise of the three store-dwellers, the cashier's computer began to emit a bright light. "What the hell is going on?!", the cashier girl exclaimed. Ryan watched as more glowing squares appeared around the computer and began to gather together, forming a whole new shape. To the shock of the viewers of this spectacle, the glowing squares began to take shape, forming into a solid shape. The form became more organic as it continued to process, taking the shape of an odd-looking animal with red fur and multiple tails. "What is that?", Ryan's new acquaintance whispered. "I...I have no idea," was his only response.
Standing on top of the counter was one of the weirdest animals Ryan had ever laid eyes on. Squatting on all fours, furry creature bared eight tails, long ears that stood up tall, and three sharp claws on each of its paws. Ryan swore he saw electricity spark in between its tails. The creature turned to the cashier lady, staring at her intently while she only stared back in utter disbelief. Apparently the creature wanted nothing to do with her because it quickly turned from her, pointing its attention at the two teens standing in front of the counter. Taking quick glances at both of them, the creature had found what it was looking for because its curious stare turned into one of vicious intent. The monster leaped at Ryan, claws and teeth bared and ready to strike. It never got the chance as it was knocked down by the cashier lady who was now wielding a metal pipe. "Oh hell no you freaky thing, not in my store!", the girl yelled at the beast, which was now sprawled out on the floor recovering from the surprise attack. Ryan would never have expected the college-age girl to save his life but he was certainly grateful for it. "You two need to go call the cops or animal control or something! I'll keep fido down," the girl told them as she came out from behind the counter. "Are you sure?", Ryan's companion asked. The creature had jumped back onto his feet, now growling at his other target. "Yeah I'm sure, this thing is gunning for you two for some reason so you need to get the hell out of here now!" Ryan couldn't argue with that logic. Besides, the cashier girl seemed to have the situation under control. "Come on, let's go!", Ryan said as he ran towards the door. Begrudgingly his companion followed, heading out the door as she watched the creature leap into the air again only to be smacked back down.
"I can't believe we just left her behind like that," the girl said as she and Ryan ran towards the bridge. The two had contacted animal control as instructed and were told that someone would be sent out to deal with it within the next ten minutes. Ryan had suggested that they still put some distance between themselves and the store just to be on the safe side. "Look, uh…", Ryan started but stopped as he realized he still didn't know this girl's name. "Felicia," she answered having anticipated his question. "Felicia, the cashier chick had things under control from what I could see. Animal control will be there in a little bit to take whatever that thing is and lock it up. The best thing we can do is stay out of their way, especially when it was targeting us," Ryan told her. Felicia understood his reasoning but still wasn't happy with the situation. "Oh and by the way my name is Ryan."
Ryan kept walking, not expected to bump into Felicia. Luckily this time he wasn't walking so fast so he didn't knock her down like before. "Hey, why'd you stop?" Felicia answered him by pointing at the other end of the bridge. A new monster stood in their way, this one being a green, amphibious creature with an orange fin on top of its body. "Oh God, not another one," Ryan muttered. The creature had the same intent stare as the last one, moving slowly towards the two humans with a glare of maliciousness. "We've got to head back," Felicia said as she turned towards the other end of the bridge. "Right," Ryan agreed, but turned to find the other end of the bridge blocked by their little red friend from earlier. "Oh shit…" Felicia said. The two creatures moved slowly towards the teens, entrapping them. Ryan looked around for some way out but could only think of jumping off the side of the bridge into the water alone, which would result in certain injury or death with how shallow the water is. "Now what do we do?", Felicia asked Ryan. Sadly, he didn't have an answer.
Just as the two were about to give up hope, they each felt something vibrating in their pockets. Ryan reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone which was vibrating intensely and emitting a bright light. Felicia did the same, finding the exact same thing occurring with her iPhone. Before either one could question what was happening, their phones transformed right before their eyes, becoming brand new devices that looked similar to smartphones and yet held its own style. After transforming, the phones emitted a beam of light into the sky, glowing squares appearing around the beam. And then, the beam stopped and the light show was over. "What the hell...?", Felicia said out loud. The two creatures had also been enraptured by the light but swiftly returned to their pursuit after it died down.
Beams of light came down from the sky, appearing in front of the two creatures. As the beams disappeared Ryan saw two more strange creatures appear, one looking like a small yellow dinosaur while the other had the appearance of a small, green plant girl with a pink flower on her head. "Baby Flame!", the reptile exclaimed as it shot a ball of fire out of its mouth at the red beast. "Poison Ivy!" The plant creature's fingers extended outward and wrapped around the green amphibian, lifting it up and throwing it into the water below. The two enemies were knocked away by their opponents' attacks, leaving the red electricity monster knocked unconsciousness and its partner swimming in the river below. "Come on, we have to get out of here before more come!", the plant girl told the group. "What are you talking about, Palmon? We need to stay and fight! We can take these weak Digimon no problem!", the dinosaur yelled as a retort. Ryan and Felicia just watched in wonder, happy that the two creatures were on their side but still utterly confused as to what was going on.
"Agumon don't argue with me, we have to get the humans out of here now!" Before Agumon could yell back at her the group heard a rumbling from underneath the bridge. "First freaky monsters and now an earthquake?" Ryan asked to no one in particular. The rumbling became more and more violent until a large sea serpent sprung out of the river, wrapping the upper half of its body around the bridge. "Crap, Betamon evolved into Seadramon! Agumon, we need to move now!" The sea serpent roared at the group, opening its mouth to prepare an attack. "Now what do we do?"