Hey, thanks for taking the time to read my fanfic, Digimon: Vanguards. (Unless I told you to, in which case thanks for not telling the police about my threatening letters). Like most stories, it will start out slow. I simply ask you remain reading long enough to give it a chance. As the author, it is my responsibility to keep you engaged. However, I also believe that you, as the reader, hold a certain responsibility. Aside from the traditional *Please read and review* (which, of course, I hope you do), I believe you should remain respectful. Fanfics can be difficult. Good fanfics are extremely challenging. It's impossible to please everybody, but I'll try.
At the beginning of each chapter (except this one, of course) you'll find a recap of important preceding events. At the end, you'll find my notes, which mostly contain my decisions to incorporate certain elements and how I reached those decisions. I hope you enjoy them.
Additionally, most character observations, descriptions, and possible discontinuities are intentional. Everything should make sense in the end. However, feel free to point out anything that confuses you.
And finally, I don't own digimon. Obviously. I mean, if I did, I wouldn't be writing a fanfic. I'd be making this into a television series. Right? Of course.
So, let's begin.
Black Deal
Darkness. That is all the young boy could see. Panic-stricken, he desperately flung his arms out and began grasping at the empty void before him. He needed some way to anchor himself to reality. Any other object would make him feel less isolated, less alone. His attempts were in vain; all that ran through his fingers was the cold, empty air. Tears began streaming down his face as he fell to his knees and touched the ground.
He wished for his mother's hands to reach through the endless space, grip his arms, and raise him from this nightmare. The last he remembered, her warm hands gently touched his face and she kissed him goodnight. He still remembered her smile, even after she turned out the light and closed the door. He cried for her, but there was no response. Only the chilling air was there to greet him.
At first he thought this was simply a dream. He tried to force his eyes open, hoping that they were still shut. Yet, the black room remained. No amount of force or wishful thinking could shake him from despair. He shouted through his fits of crying, but only his echoes answered. However, now, something indescribable made this real. Some unknown presence resided with him. He was not alone.
"Aw, don't cry. I'm here to help you out, sport." These words rang through the boy's ears as he looked up. The darkness a few feet in front of him began to dissipate. In its place, a man began to materialize. Initially, the man looked normal; he was tall and slightly muscular with black gloves and boots. However, something was off. It was hard to tell through the tears, but the man's skin was too dark. The boy wiped his eyes and squinted. The man had red skin.
Sobbing, the boy cried "Wh-who are you?"
"Not important. What is important, however, is that I'm here to give you the deal of the century!" The man spoke with a somewhat excited tone, almost as if he were a father constantly praising his son.
"What...what do you mean?" The boy began to stop crying.
"I just want to make a trade. I'll give you whatever you want in exchange for just a little piece of you." As he spoke, the man got closer to the boy and pointed to his heart.
"A-anything?"
"Sure. Good deal. Take it while it's hot!" Now, the man was leaning over with his head at the boy's eye level.
"I want a million dollars!" The boy started to stand up and a smile began creeping across his face.
"Oh, you're a go-getter. I like that." The man raised his arm in the air, but the boy interrupted before he could snap his fingers.
"No. Wait! I want a digimon! That's way better than money!" The boy had forgotten the nightmare previously surrounding him. All he could think about was the thought of his very own digimon.
"Final answer? Yes? Great." The man snapped his fingers and he, the endless chasm, and the boy all vanished.
...
"Davids? ...Dawson? ...Enoch?" The mention of his name jerked Ryan out of his daydreaming state. Mrs. Hill handed him back his test and moved to the next student. At the top of the page, hastily scribbled in red ink, was "100%." Yes, he thought to himself. Ryan was pretty sure he had the highest grade in the class, but there was no sense in risking it. He studied for every test under the assumption it could potentially destroy his GPA. It was stressful, but the incredible grades outweighed the cost. Luckily, the tension for today was gone; the final bell rang and everyone began to board their bus.
Since he lived so far from the school, Ryan's stop was one of the last. A few before him, he watched as the twins, Will and James, ran toward their house. They were only a couple grades behind Ryan, but they acted like they were twelve. Their brother, Tim, walked to the house at a normal pace since he held the only key to gain entrance.
The rest of the way home, he rested his head against the window and thought about life. He was only 17 years old, but he really wanted change. The everyday task of going to school, returning home, and then studying until the next day had grown boring. He considered getting a job; however, he had no work experience and no diplomas. Blue collar work might hire him, but he was skinny (from being on the swim team) and only 5'9". He sighed as he looked at his reflection. Some guys had to push their hair out of the way to see their eyes, but he preferred to keep his hair short, especially since he enjoyed his blue eyes.
The bus came to a halt a few streets before Ryan's house. Puzzled, he walked to the front and boldly crossed the white "Do not cross" line. The driver turned to Ryan and said "Uh, sorry, but there's a detour. Do you mind walking to your house from here?"
"No. I understand. Thanks." Ryan did not know why he thanked him.
The quickest path to his house was directly through a neighborhood. He believed it was disrespectful to walk through people's yards, but he was in a hurry to get home and grab lunch. A few years ago he decided to stop eating school lunch. It was usually disgusting and he did not mind waiting until midafternoon to eat.
He lived in a small, suburban neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. Most of his classmates did; industrial workers were the main urban residents. Due to constant growth and expansion, wealthy citizens emigrated from the city, leaving only the poor. This resulted in a high crime rate in the city, which caused law-abiding citizens to leave as well, which further fueled the problem. Regrettably, most stores were located in the city. His parents forbade him from visiting these places without their supervision, which harmed his social life.
Halfway through someone's backyard, Ryan heard a low growling. He slowly turned around and quickly grew terrified. A pitbull, standing a few hundred feet behind him, had its teeth showing and fur raised. Saliva slowly dripped from its mouth as it inched closer and closer to him.
Ryan started to back up slowly, but fear overtook him and he began sprinting toward his house. Unfortunately, it was still hundreds of yards away and there was nowhere else to go. He knew that if he could outrun the dog in these first few, crucial moments, he would be fine. Humans are built for endurance and dogs are not. He would be fine if he could make it through a few yards. Each time his foot touched the ground he pushed off with all of his force. Suddenly, he noticed a swimming pool in the next yard. If I can just make it there...his hopes were shattered when he felt a searing pain and stumbled to the ground.
Time began to slow as he focused on his leg. It had large puncture wounds and was bleeding profusely. He wanted to grab it to stop the flow of blood, but the dog was standing on both his arms. There was nothing he could do as the dog lunged for his neck.
As if by miracle, another dog slammed headfirst into the pitbull and they both hit the ground. The new dog resembled a labrador retriever, except it had white fur with pink ears and a pink tail. It was difficult for him to watch the fight, but Ryan saw the labrador pin the pitbull's limbs to the ground and snap at its ears. The pitbull yelped in pain and frantically struggled to free his legs. The labrador ceased the attack and the putbill ran back to his doghouse.
A boy placed Ryan's arm over him neck and helped him stand to the ground. "Hey, you're bleeding pretty badly. Let me help you."
Ryan looked at the guy supporting him. He was slightly taller than Ryan and had short, black hair. He also had a bit more body mass, but Ryan attributed this to fat as opposed to muscle. His green eyes were staring at Ryan, waiting for a reply.
"Oh yeah...thanks. Sorry, I'm just a little shocked."
"I understand. By the way, I'm Collin." As he spoke, his dog returned to his side. It did not have any blood stains or patches of missing fur.
"I'm Ryan..." He started walking toward his house and Collin stayed by his side, supporting him.
"Where are you going? I should take you to the hospital."
"Nah, I think I'm okay. I should just stay off the leg for a while." Ryan knew he was lying, and he could tell that Collin did too, but neither of them wanted to push the issue.
"All right, if you're sure. I'll just take you back to your house. It's the least I could do." As the two spoke, Collin's dog trotted by his side.
"Thanks."
"So, what happened? Did you poke that dog or something?" Ryan could tell Collin was trying to make conversation.
"No. I was just cutting through that yard to get home faster. I guess it didn't like me. Truthfully, I'm not surprised. Pitbulls are known for attacking without provocation. Their advocates blame bad owners, but the common denominator is always the same: the dog."
"Really? That's interesting." Ryan could not tell if Collin was being sarcastic or if he was genuinely interested by the statement.
"Yup. Oh, is your dog okay? He looks well, but I just want to make sure." As he spoke, Ryan stopped and both boys bent down to allow him to pet Collin's dog. "Thanks buddy."
"Haha, he'll be fine. You should be more worried about the other dog." Collin started to scratch behind his dog's ear.
"Have you seen my leg? That thing won't be getting sympathy from me." The two stood back up and continued walking. Ryan could see his house in the distance.
"Fair enough." It was obvious that Collin had run out of things to discuss, but Ryan enjoyed the silence. However, there was something he could not understand. Collin risked both his own and his dog's lives to save Ryan, someone he had never met before. Ryan could not imagine himself doing the same thing. He had never been in any sort of fight and never wanted to be. He would never admit it, but he got frightened easily.
The trio was now at Ryan's doorstep. "Well...thanks. You really saved my life back there."
"It was no problem. If you need anything else, just give me a call." Collin wrote down his phone number before he and his dog left. Ryan shut the door behind them.
...
"Collin, why didn't you just let me blast that dog?" Collin turned to Labramon as his companion began talking.
"That kid almost had his neck torn out by a pitbull. You really think a dog shooting lasers from his mouth would have helped the situation?"
In a sarcastic tone, Labramon replied "Well, you didn't let me, so I guess we'll never know."
"It's probably better this way."
"You don't know that."
Collin noticed a young girl looking through her window, staring at the talking dog, mouth wide open. "Shh, someone's staring," he whispered. Labramon obliged; he was used to hiding from humans.
Fortunately, they had now arrived at Collin's house, so the silence did not last long. The home was a normal, two-story suburban residence. Labramon rejoiced as he noticed there were no cars in the driveway; this meant he still had a few hours to freely talk to Collin. The two went upstairs to Collin's room. It was there, through his window, they saw the pitbull challenging Ryan only a few minutes ago.
Collin's parents brought Labramon home ten years ago. He was supposed to be a simple Christmas present, but they had no idea he was actually a digimon. Eventually, Collin and Labramon grew close enough to gain a trusting relationship, and that is when Labramon revealed himself. Still a young, imaginative child, Collin had no trouble accepting the truth. He had been following the Digimon television series during that time, which strengthened the idea. However, both knew that his parents would never understand, so they simply decided to keep it a secret. Strangely, neither of his parents noticed the dog remaining young and energetic, even after a decade.
Labramon jumped on Collin's bed and said "That kid looked about your age. Does he go to your school?"
"I think so. I'm pretty sure I've seen him walking in the hallway between classes. I'll ask if I see him again." As he spoke, Collin pulled various textbooks out of his backpack and placed them on his desk. Normally, he waited until his parents returned home to finish his homework, and instead played with Labramon for a few hours. Tonight, however, his father wanted to eat at a fancy restaurant to celebrate his recent promotion. Since there was an exam the next day, Collin wanted as much time to study as possible.
"Aw, man... You're gonna do work?" Labramon sighed upon realizing he would not get to play ball today.
"I have to; there's a big test tomorrow and I really want to get an A," Collin answered as he sat down.
Labramon put on his saddest face. "Pleeeeeease?"
"That hasn't worked in ten years. You think it will today?" Collin did not even bother to look at the puppy-dog face.
"Fine. I see how it is." Labramon jumped off the bed and started to head downstairs.
"Come on..." Collin hated when others were mad at him. He liked to be accepted by everyone and always tried to make friends over enemies. Labramon ignored him, and he continued, "Where are you going?"
"To pee on the carpet. If you won't play with me, I'm going to play with you."
Collin jumped out of his chair and ran after his friend.
...
Ryan sat down at his computer desk while looking through the window. He knew he should start his homework, but he used his injured leg as an excuse to procrastinate. To no one in particular, he said "Well, I guess today counts as change; just not what I had in mind."
Lately, the monotony of his daily life had grown boring, but he valued consistency too much to change it. He had very few reasons to keep attending school, the most obvious being his parents. They only had one child, and thus, made sure he remained the perfect son. They wanted him to become a lawyer or a doctor, which forced him to achieve extremely high grades. He constantly met their expectations, but they always asked for more.
Throughout his entire life, he had always wished for a brother. He wanted someone in whom he could confide, someone who understood him. When he was younger, he had asked his parents for a brother. They told him they were done with children since they already had the perfect son. He gave up pressing the issue, but the thought had always lingered. Recently, he had gotten into the habit of idolizing other students who had siblings, which caused small moments of depression.
He turned back to his computer and sighed, "Life sucks."
From behind him, a voice said "Sucks? Now you've got me. Your life is now officially awesome."
Author's Notes:
This chapter was hard. Expositions are hard. The next chapter will be hard too, but things should get better afterward. Despite that, I think I did a pretty good job. However, ultimately, it's up to you, the reader, to tell me how I did.
The boy in the beginning is very important, and that whole scene played two very important roles. First, it created a reason to keep the audience engaged. It's a cheap trick, but oh well. Second, it is crucial to the story, which gives it justification.
Ryan made an observation on his neighborhood about crime. This is a reference to Social Disorganization Theory, and you can learn more about it from Wikipedia. I decided to mention this to give a prelude to future events, but it wasn't really necessary. In the end, I think I just wanted to throw in some neat trivia.
I should thank ThatTwoGuy for many things: inspiring me to write this, giving me the idea to add this "Author's notes" section, and possibly causing me to call the Real World the "Human World." I say possibly because it was in his fanfic before I started writing mine, but I may have thought of the idea independently. You should give his fanfic a read; it's great.
Again, thanks for reading.
