DISCLAIMER: The following story contains various themes and subject matter that may not be suitable for children under the age of thirteen. Viewer discretion is advised.

(EDIT: Made a chronological mistake. It's been fixed.)

Digimon

GODFALL

By. Sonfaro

Chapter 1

My name is Tai Kamiya. I am the Digidestined of Courage.

And I am losing my patience.

My pencil continues to beat out some GACKT song my sister got stuck in my head a few days ago during my last visit to my parents apartment. My notebook is a tapestry of poop doodles and stick figurines doing rude things to one another. I'm slouched in an uncomfortable position I'm too lazy to shift out of. In short, it's another boring day at Business School in lower east Tokyo. A part of me says I should be paying attention. I ignore that part of me.

As the Professor continues with her mind numbing drivel, my mind races in anticipation of what will happen in a few short minutes. The small device in my back pocket will face a computer screen, and I will be transported to another world - The Digiworld we call it. The creation of the continual build up of some kind of data that Izzy knows how to explain. Earths mirror.

I've been traveling to this world – both on accident and purposefully - for the past eight years now. It's a beautiful world. Like us… but not like us. The sky is blue, but not our blue. The trees are green, but not our green. It's a world of factories that make nothing, and signs that point nowhere. A world inhabited by powerful denizens – Digimon we call them. Digital Monsters.

It's as much my world as this one.

And that's why I'm so frustrated that time hasn't moved forward faster. My eyes drift listlessly away from the primitive blackboard and out to the window. That world is so close I can almost feel the off-green grass beneath my adidas.

"Shouldn't you be paying attention?"

My eyes dart towards my desk mate. Ami… something. I haven't asked. She sticks her tongue out at me like she's in the fourth grade and goes back to writing notes I'll be copying from her by tomorrow. I grunt under my breath. "I highly doubt that there's anything she'll say in the next minute and a half that is remotely important."

Ami makes a face. "She just announced a quiz on what we learned today next Monday."

I blink. And then I give her my best puppy dog look. "A-mi…"

"Not this time."

"Please…"

She rolls her eyes. "You should have been paying attention."

"C'mon A-mi just let me copy them in the computer lab or something."

She glares at me in the way girls do when you know they'll relent, before finally rolling her eyes and shaking her head in capitulation. "You're so helpless Kamiya."

I smile. "That's why you're such a nice girl Ami. You take pity on the helpless."

"I should just make you suffer without my notes."

"I'll be suffering with your notes. There's no difference."

She gives me a sly grin. "You're so weird Tai."

"You have no idea."

We giggle, leading to our professor to look up from her boring descriptions of financial limitations to glare in our direction. "Is there something the matter Ms. Kitajima?"

Ah. That's her last name.

Ami blushes and shakes her head, while I pretend to find the drawing I made of two stick-ladies in a compromising position relevant to the market cost of the average blahblahblah… Our professor turns back to the ancient blackboard and continues her drivel for the next few seconds, while beside me Ami glares at the side of my ear. I can't help but smile a little.

Class ends with the usual maddening scramble to escape all students make. I gather my books together, relieved to have survived another edition of 'The Cosmetics of Finance 101'. "Thank the maker that's over."

Ami giggles, adjusting her brunette bangs away from her eyes. "It wasn't that bad."

"It was torture!" I moan. "There are death row inmates who get better treatment."

"You complain too much." Ami chastises me. "I happen to think it was an engaging lecture."

"That's 'cause you like this crap." I tell her.

"It could be worse." She reminds me. "You could have sat next to someone who wouldn't have laughed at your corny jokes."

"Everyone laughs at my jokes." I frown in mock annoyance.

She smiles at me. "Keep telling yourself that Kamiya."

I smile back at her. "C'mon. If we stop by the computer lab I can get your notes copied and you can be on your way."

She raises an eyebrow in my direction, a devious smirk playing on her face. "You really think I'm going to give you my notes?"

I pout again. "A-mi…"

"Fine." She shoves me playfully. "But only because you'd be helpless without me."

So we take a walk, down the sterile hallways of our little unsung University in the middle of Japan. I like Ami. I've known her for a few weeks, and from what I've seen I'm glad to have met her. She's one of the few outsiders who I hang out with these days. And with good reason.

I'm a Digidestined: I can travel freely from this world to another, and can directly affect the growth and power level of my partner by force of will alone if need be. It's a lot of power for a eighteen year old freshman to wield. It also means I've been involved in some pretty destructive events. All these things coupled together can create a sense of unease in people. I don't often get recognized from the Myotismon Invasion, but when I am it's rarely ever good.

I've been blamed for the deaths of those lost in Odaiba's initial destruction. I've been accused of recklessness in the war against Armageddemon. People think I aspire to be a god. I can barely get through a course in finance, why would I want to be a god? But it's that attitude – the growing resentment and fear of anything Digimon – that keeps me from saying anything. The very idea of an alternate universe, complete with alternate life forms is… unsettling to some of those people out of the loop.

So it's nice to find a pretty girl who's completely oblivious.

We turn a corner and enter the small lab set up for panicked students who need to print papers. Towards the tail end is the dying copier. I smile and politely extend my hand.

"One of these days you're going to have to take your own notes." She tells me seriously.

I yawn. "I'd rather have a root canal performed by Razor Ramon HG."

"You really hate that class huh?" Ami asks me as she hands over her notes for me to copy.

"I hate all of them." I tell her as I place the first sheet of handwritten kanji on the copier. "I can't wait to graduate."

"…You're a freshmen." Ami crinkles her nose. "You just got here."

"I know." I moan.

Ami laughs, the sound of her voice just above the noisy copier as it begins photographing the notes I'll neglect to study until the last minute. "Why are you taking classes here if you don't like it?"

"It's my dad's alma mater." I confess, shrugging my shoulders with disinterest. "It was easier to get me in here than Tokyo U."

"I'd have thought you'd have been appreciative." She tells me while pointing out that I need to switch the page now.

I sigh, flipping over to the next side and starting the copier again. "He wants me to be a salary man."

She nods in understanding. "You don't."

"Not really. I never liked how he used to come home from work. It's too draining."

"So what do you want to do?"

I pause, wondering how I can explain to her what without telling her what I really want to do. "…Don't you ever think there's more out there for you?"

She shrugs. "Sure."

"Like… a world meant for you. A place where you belong?"

She's quiet then, though after a moment she finds the words to answer. "I guess," she tells me, "though I have no idea where that world would be."

"That's how I feel here." I tell her, switching over to the next page of her notes.

She laughs, pulling a strand of brown hair out of her face. "That's university for you."

I shrug in acceptance. "I guess."

"You could always try that… what are they calling it? Data-world?"

I stop what I'm doing and look at her. Really look at her. "What?"

"You know what I'm –"

"Digiworld."

"Right! That."

She says it with the air of someone who's only heard about it on J-Span. Thank goodness. I feign ignorance, with good reason. "What about it?"

She shrugs, genuinely appearing to have no care one way or another. "I hear they're propping up housing and what not over there. Why don't you save your money up and move there?"

I frown. "How much about the Digiworld do you know?"

She shrugs. "Just what they say on the television. Paradise lost and all that…"

Though my suspicions are confirmed, I'm left curious. "Paradise?"

She blinks. "You don't think so?"

I shrug, turning back to the papers. "It's filled with monsters."

She nods. "Oh yeah. Heard about that."

"And I'm okay living here at the moment thank you." I lie. "As boring as it is. No place like home. Right?"

"I guess."

I hand her the last of her notes, satisfied that I'll be able to read the chicken-scratch at some point. Ami smiles at me, gripping her books closer to her. "Hey, I'm hungry. You want to grab some sushi or something?"

I smirk. "Are you asking me out?"

And suddenly Ami Kitajima gets very, very red. "W-wha? No, no. I mean… Nope. Just asking if you want to… you know…"

"Eat?"

"Y-yeah."

I smile sympathetically. "Sorry. I've got plans today."

"Oh." She says. And then she gets quieter. "Oh…"

I frown. "You okay?"

For a moment I'm left unsure: Ami says nothing. Finally, her smile returns and she beams at me. "Yeah. Sure, have fun."

She turns on her heel and heads for the door. I call to her before she is completely out of sight. "Bye A-mi!"

Ami turns and sticks her tongue out at me like she's a little girl again.

I wave goodbye to her, then watch as she disappears into the crowd of students racing to the monorail. When I know she's out of sight, I set down my books.

See, I didn't come to the lab just to copy her notes; though it was nice to kill two birds with one stone. I came here for my gate. With trepidation I close the door behind me, turning the lock. Satisfied that there will be no interruptions, I turn my eyes to the computer before me. It's funny how simple some things can be.

I pull a small piece of cold metal from my back pocket, and point its LCD screen towards the monitor of my choice. Instantly a set of programs pop up indicating location and duration of travel. My digiport: tunnel to another world. It doesn't take me long to issue the program a set of commands we've all gotten so used to uttering.

"Digiport: Open!"

And in a moment I am flying. I'm suspended in space, falling forward through the computer screen and beyond at incredible speeds. Behind me is the world I knew; rapidly shrinking out of sight the farther down I descend. Around me are the most amazing lights: vibrant colors that fill the spectrum and would leave anyone in awe. I can't help but grin, every time I take this trip; though the voyage is always all too brief.

The next thing I know my adidas stand nestled in sand that isn't earth, and I look up to a sky that doesn't belong to me. My grin grows wider, and I feel like I'm home again.

The Digital World.

I take a deep breath. The continent of Server is a dry land of immense deserts and rich oasis. It's a land I know quite well, having trekked from one side of the continent to the other since my childhood. Currently, I'm located within the limits of the artificial city we've come to call Neo-Delhi… for various reasons.

The Portologist greets me from his position beside the monitor, and rises to conduct a search. A quick flash of my Digivice, and he bows and sits back in his chair. The privilege of being a Digidestined never ceases to amaze me these days. I set my Digivice back in my pocket and head for the waiting area at the far side of the monitor.

The waiting area isn't much more than a dusty alleyway with a bench at the end, but that's neither here nor there. It's relatively empty today, save for an elderly Indian woman and a few European reaserchers. And of course my DNA partner. Towards the end of the row, surrounded on either side by two rookies I've come to regard as friends, sits Yamato 'Matt' Ishida.

He sits with that signature slouch of his; oozing 'cool' from the top of his (completely dye-jobbed) hair to his doc marten boots he considers stylish. He's got a set of headphones plugged into his ears, likely listening to his incessantly poppy 'Teenage Wolves' album. I sigh. At some point they're gonna have to change that name.

Beside him, sit two very specific Digimon. Gabumon, Matt's partner, is a pudgy little Dog-lizard with a horn jutting from his skull like a unicorn. He's a bashful guy who tends to keep to himself, but he's loyal, and friendly, and a great go-to-guy when things get dicey.

And then there's Agumon.

"Tai!" My diminutive T-rex yelps when he sees me.

"Yo!" I respond.

Agumon scrambles away from Matt and Gabumon and charges towards me, catching me with a flying hug that sends us both to the ground laughing. I don't get to see Agumon in person that often anymore – schooling keeps treks to the Digital world to a minimum. But those moments we get, we make count.

Matt looks up and takes his headphones off. After recognizing me, his face contorts in annoyance. "You're late." Matt meets me with feigned indifference.

I roll my eyes from the ground. "I'm sorry." I tell him. "Some of us had real school"

He stifles at that a little. "Volunteering for the JSDF entails just as much responsibility as writing a paper Tai."

"You study military maneuvers in a country that doesn't have a real army." I smirk. "I win."

Matt sighs, running a hand through his bleach blond hair. "Can we not have this argument? I already got an earful from Sora. I don't need it from you too."

I grin as I rise from the ground. "You should know better Matt." I tease. "What's good for her is good for me!"

"Jerk." He punches me in the shoulder, but he's smiling anyway. I laugh. My relationship with Matt Ishida is a complicated one. We're best friends… sorta. Matt's 'to-cool-for-school' attitude is annoying, and he's told me in no uncertain terms that he thinks I'm an idiot. But I love him; jerk that he is. And he loves me.

Guy-love, I mean. Keep your heads out of the gutter.

"So what are we doing boys?" I scratch behind Agumon's ear. "Are we on a quest? Some pirates need thrashing? What gives?"

"Don't know." Answers Agumon with a pleased sigh. "We were hoping to find out when you got here.

"Mina was supposed to meet us, but she's gotten held up somewhere." Explains Gabumon. "We were waiting here for you, so…"

"Alright, alright! I'm sorry I'm late." I wave them off. "You guys whine more than my cat."

"That's not possible." Agumon mumbles under his breath.

I smile, patting Agumon on the snout. I then turn to Matt, the humor around us dying out a little. "What's the big deal anyway? Why'd Mina send for us?"

"Beats me." Matt tells me. "She didn't give us many details."

"Maybe she just wanted to chat." Gabumon offers. "She's always trying to get the worldwide Digidestined to form some kind of network. Maybe this is part of that."

"She could have sent a PM on Izzy's PiSpace account for that." Matt reminds his partner.

"There's definitely something fishy." Agumon agrees. "Things don't smell right anymore."

I frown. "What do you mean?"

"You don't smell it? The growing sulfer smell?"

I blink. "You sure that isn't you?"

"I'm not going crazy!"

Suddenly, we hear: "Greetings Digidestined of Japan."

The booming voice behind us startles Gabumon, who yelps and catches hold of Matt's leg. We all turn to face our greeter. A humanoid figure engulfed in perpetual flame salutes us. "Oh. Hi, Meramon-Singh." Matt returns.

The creature – a Meramon who took the face name of his partner – bows to us respectfully. "Greetings, Yamato Ishida. Greetings, Gabumon-Ishida. Greetings, Tai Kamiya. Greetings Agumon-Kamiy-"

"We said hi Meramon." I yawn.

Matt ignores me. "Where's Mina?"

The flaming monster bows again. "She has been meeting with recruiting Tamers all day. She apologizes for making you wait."

"We would have been waiting anyway." Matt mumbles. I shoot an elbow into his stomach.

"Please, follow me."

With that, Meramon-Singh turns and begins heading towards the city center. As we follow, Agumon manages to grumble to himself. "I told you I smelled sulfur."

The firey man leads us to a large tent just outside of Neo-Delhi's city-hall. Several Tamers – humans who were allowed a Digimon partner after the battle with MaloMyotismon – are lined up with their partners, nervously awaiting an official Tamers Liscense, which gives them free reign to explore the Digital world. In the center of the tent stands Mina.

Mina Singh is one of the principle Digidestined from the Pakistan/Indian area. She's a lovely girl; dark skin, bright eyes, and a pleasing personality. She and our friend Izzy chit-chat regularly over the web on various discoveries. When she sees us, she waves off a young ten year old Tamer who's Pokomon doesn't look like it could defend a play fort, much less his human companion. "Tai-san! Matt-san!" She addresses us while adding an attempt at Japanese honorifics. It's adorable. "It is good to see you!"

The rest of the Tamers are led off by one of Mina's associates, allowing us the tent to ourselves. She greets us with a pleasant wave of the hand, ushering us forward. "Sorry we're late." Matt tells her. "Tai says he had homework and-".

"I said I'm sorry!"

Mina giggles. "You two are such a married couple." She observes. I feign retching and she laughs again.

"We didn't come to catch up on old times though, did we?" Matt asks finally.

Mina's mirth dies and a solemn expression adorns her face. "Indeed we did not."

I clear my throat. "So? What's going on?"

She hesitates, briefly, looking over to see if someone is watching. Then she turns to us and extends a hand. "Come with me."

She leads us away from her tent and through the dusty streets filled with humans and Digimon. Neo-Delhi is packed to the brim with life. Overwhelmingly, that life is humanity; they outnumber Digimon at least five-to-one if Izzy's report is correct. Still, the image of Human beings working together in a community with Digimon is a hopeful site for me, and I can only stare out in awe.

"How many people live here?"

"We have about twenty-thousand registered as denizens." She tells us proudly. "Most of them still consider India their home, but the research being done here draws them like moths to the flame. Quite a few here are interested in repeating the process that sparked the Digital world, but none can seem to figure out what happened."

"It will never happen." The voice of Meramon booms.

"Why not?"

Meramon turns to me. "They are not gods."

"Don't tell that to them." Mina tells her partner playfully. "They are convinced they can do it."

Matt frowns. "Is that all they ever do here? Research?"

"No." Mina answers. "A few people – the rich ones, are here for… less noble reasons."

"Tax evasion." Meramon explains.

"Hmm… Remind me to save up to move." I joke.

"REPENT!"

Before Matt can tell me how terrible that joke was, we are interrupted from our musings by the cry of a Shamanmon ahead of us. Shamanmon are little ogre creatrures, about the size of a five year old boy. This one carries with him a thick club adorned with feathers and nearly buried beneath a robe. Behind the Shamanmon are several clay dolls with… interesting characteristics. It takes me a moment to realize what they are. "Crap, it's us!"

Matt blinks "Eh?"

"Sorry." Mina pauses in our travels to explain. "This is Shamon-Rev… Or at least what we're calling him. He doesn't seem to answer any of our questions."

"What is he doing?"

"Preaching." Mina makes a face. "He is part of a very new religion amongst Digimon. One that bypasses the four guardians and devotes itself only to… well. You."

"How flattering." Matt says sarcastically.

"It's called Digidestinism: the belief that humanity are gods and that the Digidestined are their prophets." She waves a hand. "They are relatively harmless."

I blink. "Relatively?"

"Eh…" She raises a finger to her chin. "Shamanmon-Rev tried to bite the leg of a non-believing heckler in the square once. We told him he could only preach from here as penance."

I grin. "Ah cool! We have fans."

"More like fanatics." Matt whispers in awe.

By now the Shamanmon has noticed us. "Blessed is this day! The Digidestined have descended from their ethereal world upon us lowly scraps of data and code to bless the ground. Bow your heads, ye fools. Your gods, they walk among you!"

"Eh… we're just gonna go look at… um… some problem with the roads over here-"

"PRAISE THEM! The Digidestined have sensed the plight of their subjects and have come to redeem the very roads we walk upon. Bow your heads in fear, whilst the Digidestined fill the potholes of your very cores."

I blink and turn away. "Ooookay."

"Remind me not to drink their kool-aide." Matt grumbles.

"At least you guys get cool statues."

"It's not a contest Agumon."

Our journey takes us onwards, passed the crazy Shamanmon and to the very outskirts of town. His sermon dies out as we move forward. Our conversations in between destinations are brief and courteous. Our minds however wander. At least mine does.

Have my actions really warranted that kind of praise?

Yeah, we've saved this world and it's people hundreds of times over now, and we do regularly interfere in problems directly. But have we earned the right to be worshiped from these beings of data? Have we earned the right to play God?

I'm thrown from my musings as our party slows. Mina leads us to a heavily taped off area. "We're here." She says quietly.

We've arrived at a pit. A big, gaping hole in the center of the road. It's man made, possibly a drill rig from one of the specially designed equipment programs. It's clear that this hole has been open for some time, though the why's we could only guess at. Until we move closer. We step under the caution tape to get a better look inside. What I see inside takes my breath away.

Wires. Black, snake like wires coiling around each other as if they were alive. They're jumbled up in knots below us: undulating round and around. They stretch on for as far as the gaping hole allows us to see, sweeping in every direction with no end in sight. Whatever they are… Whatever they're for… they chill my blood.

"Hack me…" Agumon whispers.

"We discovered them while trying to install a new pluming system for the city." Mina explains. "The wires appear to crisscross around the area in some sort of grid."

"What is it?" Matt asks.

"We don't know." Mina confesses with a bowed head. "Any attempts to study them closer have lead to disaster. Two humans had their data severely altered while investigating."

"Are they alright?" I ask.

"We've got technicians working on them. They should be fine. But I don't think we can take any chances."

"If someone were to accidentally fall inside the wires there would be little we could do." Meramon says quietly. At least, as quietly as he can.

"So where do we come in?" Agumon asks.

Mina wrings her hands together. "I'm afraid this is where the news becomes most grave. After the initial discovery, a group from the MAGAMI Corporation requested to investigate. We agreed to let them out of the city limits with a Digimon escort, believing there to be no harm. However…"

"They haven't returned." Gabumon finishes.

The implication is obvious. In the years since limited access was allowed into the digital world, there have been a number of injuries: broken bones, scorched skin. Mostly, the wounded are those who deserve it, instigators and poachers who think that somehow a Digimon is analogous to modern animals. Rarely has anyone died, and those who had, were typically from natural causes… at least as natural as one can get in the Digiworld. But if these researchers had been killed…

"We'll look into it." I tell her finally.

"Excellent! When can we expect you?"

"Tomorrow." Matt announces before I have a chance to reply. "We'll Digiport to your researcher's last location and start from there."

"You mean it?" Mina asks hopefully.

I shoot Matt a dirty look, but nod. "Yeah. You can count on us."

She throws her long arms around us then, squeezing for all she is worth. "Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She bows to us both, a sad smile on her face. "You don't know what this means to us. The colonists were getting restless." Then she quiets a little, sharp eyes darting about to see if anyone is watching. "Be careful. There have been strange sightings in the desert since we found them. Watch your selves."

Matt frowns. "We'll be careful."

She bows again and mumbles a few apologies, leading Meramon-Singh away from the tent and off to another task.

I turn to Matt. "We should go now."

Matt shakes his head. "We'd be totally unprepared. We need to have a plan before we jump into Servers deserts.

"We have a plan." I frown. "Go in, save the useless researchers, maybe fight some bad guys, and then go home."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Agumon agrees.

Matt makes a face. "This isn't a random adventure, it's a rescue mission. We need time to plan and a good nights sleep."

I frown. "What is this, JSDF training?"

"Come on Tai, you know I'm right."

I sigh. "Yeah." I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. "I also know that every second counts if we're gonna save these guys."

"I know that." Matt argues. "But there's no telling how long it will take, and if we just run out there without a strategy we could end up doing more harm than good-"

"Alright! Alright." I sigh again. "We'll do it your way."

Matt nods. We purchase dinner for ourselves and our partners, while making plans to meet at noon tomorrow in the city. We advise our partners to find lodging in town for the night, and meet us at the rendezvous point. We discuss the details as we head for the digiport – to be honest I wane in and out after a while. Every second that ticks by is another second that some human out there slips farther and farther away from rescue. We don't have a whole lot of time.

By the time I've thought all that through we've arrived back at the port. The Portalogist keys up the channels for us, and the monitor glows a familiar blue. Matt lifts his digivice and smiles at me. "See you on the other side."

I don't have time to respond before Matt disappears into the computer before me. I hesitate briefly, and take a moment longer to gaze back towards the gaping pit. The cold feeling that I usually get when something bad happens shoots up my spine and makes my hairs stand on end. Whatever is going on, we won't have long to wait.

My name is Taichi Kamiya. I am the Digidestined of Courage.

And I am not one to be patient.

GODFALL

1

Digimon