DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon, though this story does include some fan made Digimon. Digimon was created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation, and Bandai.

Satoshi let out a sigh as he, Agumon, Neilina, and Lopmon arrived at an alley, just a few feet away from the fork in the road leading to his and Neilina's respective apartment complexes. It'd been a long day, and he'd nearly been killed fighting Roachmon, but he still couldn't shake the excitement of knowing that the adventure he'd wanted for so long was finally starting, albeit not quite how he'd imagined.

"We should both head home," Neilina advised. "Nowadays, bad Digimon have been passing through to the Human World more often, so the more chances we get to rest, the better."

"Got'cha," Satoshi replied with a nod before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "...Wait, so we just walk home like normal? With our Digimon in clear sight where anyone could see them?"

"Of course not!" Neilina exclaimed before face-palming. "Sorry, forgot to mention, our Digivices can continue to store our Digimon even after they've hatched. Watch..."

With that, Neilina held out her Digivice DM toward Lopmon. A second later, Lopmon was caught in a beam of light from the device and pulled inside of it. The upper screen then unfolded, revealing the image of Lopmon on it, who seemed to be relaxing in the digital domain of the Digivice's insides.

"And the best part is, we recover our strength much quicker in here," Lopmon announced.

"Too bad it does nothing for our stomachs, or we'd never have to leave," Agumon joked, causing Satoshi to narrow his eyes and return him to the Digivice. "C'mon, I was only kidding! I just ate, remember?!"

"Yeah, and don't you forget it," Satoshi chastised the Reptile Digimon before looking back to Neilina. "...So, um..."

"Don't worry, we'll talk more tomorrow at school," Neilina said quickly before making her way to leave the alley. "For now, go home and relax. See ya!"

Satoshi nodded and waved as Neilina took off. Now alone, he pocketed his Digivice DM and headed for home. He'd just crossed the road when he stopped, spotting an all-too familiar figure in a blue beret standing before him, smirking cockily.

"Y-Yuji?" Satoshi asked. "What are you doing here?"

Yuji shrugged. "What, I'm not allowed to walk on the same sidewalk as you? Not enough room for you and your daydreams?"

Satoshi frowned, trying to contain a growl. "I just meant, don't you live on the other side of town or something?"

"Pfft, it's not THAT far away, 'Goggle Boy'," Yuji corrected. "At least I'm not out trying to pick up girls."

Satoshi blinked, confused. "...'Pick up girls'?"

Yuji sighed, lightly pinching the bridge of his nose. "Y'know, Neilina? Girl you were chatting up in that alley all by yourselves? Ring a bell?"

"I wasn't trying to-!" Satoshi started to yell before Yuji put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know you weren't," Yuji admitted with a grin as he started to make his way around Satoshi. "You're WAY too innocent for that kinda stuff... ...Well, maybe not innocent. Naive is probably the better word for it."

Satoshi grit his teeth hard at this. "You trying to pick a fight or something?!"

"No," Yuji said slyly. "At least, not yet anyway. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Later, 'Goggle Boy'."

Satoshi growled as Yuji walked away, leaving him to stew in his anger. However, the sound of a nearby bell reminded him of what he was doing before, and he found himself dashing back toward home. Luckily, it wouldn't be too far away, as he was hoping he could make it there before his mother got home and wondered where he'd been.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Satoshi's mother, Aiya, demanded the second her child walked in the door, looking more than just a little agitated with her son.

"I-I was just out for a walk!" Satoshi lied, sweating profusely.

Aiya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I come home after getting groceries, and not only is my son gone and an entire jumbo-sized subway sandwich gone from the bread basket..."

Dammit, Agumon... Satoshi cursed inwardly, only now realizing he'd be the one to blame for that.

"...but THEN, I find out that there was an armed robbery not far from here," Aiya went on, "and all I can think of is whether or not my son had been shot because he left home without asking, or at least calling me to tell me where he was going so I could arrange someone to go with him!"

Satoshi immediately felt a pang of guilt in his chest at this. "I-I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you..."

Aiya harrumphed hard. "Well, you did, and you can forget about having any ice cream after supper, young man!"

As soon as Aiya was finished, with zero warning whatsoever, a blast of light shot out from Satoshi's pocket. The light hit the floor between the two, as an excited Agumon appeared, shouting joyously, "There's ice cream here?!", before he realized what he'd done. Sweat rolled down his quickly reddening face as, for fifty-two full seconds, no one said ANYTHING.

"..S...SATOSHI!" Aiya cried, her eyes wide as saucers as she took a step forward.

"Mom, I can explain, really!" Satoshi insisted.

"He's ADORABLE!" Aiya proclaimed, grabbing and nuzzling Agumon.

"I know, but he-WHA?!" Satoshi exclaimed, utterly baffled.

Neilina breathed a relaxing sigh as she slipped slowly down into the seemingly mountain-sized bubbles in her bath. After her day, she definitely felt as though she needed a warm bath, and could practically already feel the horrid garbage attack from Roachmon being purified from her skin within seconds of getting in.

"Your dad left a message on the machine," Lopmon said as she entered the bathroom. "He'll be later than usual, so he said not to wait for him to go to bed. Also, I already put your clothes in the wash."

"Mmm, thanks Lopmon, you're a lifesaver," Neilina replied.

Lopmon tilted her head. "Neilina, don't you think it's about time we began the next part of the plan?"

Neilina let her eyes close, thinking it over. "...Not yet. Still a couple of things we need to get out of the way first."

"True..." Lopmon acknowledged, eyes cast downward. "It's just that I worry about everyone in the Digital World. My friends, and especially Queen Venusmon. She entrusted me with this mission, and if I let her down..."

"You won't, I promise," Neilina quickly cut in. "Besides, we were BOTH given this mission to save our two worlds. I just want to make sure everything's prepared. Don't worry, once all the DigiDestined are ready, we'll move onto stage 2."

Lopmon smiled, relieved. "Okay. Anyway, I'll go ahead and get supper ready."

Neilina nodded as the rabbit-like Digimon left, looking out the window at the night sky. I promised I'd come back with help, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Hang on until then...Venusmon...

Satoshi nearly choked on his juice as he heard the last few words Aiya had said leave her lips, all the while Agumon scarfed down a bowlful of ice cream. "Dad is studying Digimon?!"

Aiya nodded. "He and his colleagues discovered the existence of the Digital World when you were a baby. It's the reason why he had to leave for overseas to work at that lab in Ontario: Information on the Digital World is being kept a guarded secret among as small a circle of people as possible. So, once the Japanese government found out what he knew, they approached him and gave him an offer: Join the staff at the research facility to continue his work, or risk his entire career being flushed down the toilet."

"But then, why did you stay here?" Satoshi asked.

Aiya smiled sadly. "Masao told the government officials that enlisted him that I didn't know about their findings. Of course, I would've gone with him if he'd asked, but he knew it'd break my heart to be away from my family."

Satoshi looked away, clenching a fist. Dad. So that's why you moved, and why I kept getting passed back and forth between you and Mom. I knew you were doing something important, but I had no idea...

"But I never imagined I'd ever see a real life Digimon in the Human World," Aiya went on, looking to Agumon. "Masao's findings suggested that it would be impossible to break through the barrier between worlds. I don't exactly remember why, just that he had a pretty lengthy explanation for it. But then, he always did."

"Neilina said that good Digimon were passing through because of kids' dreams, and that bad Digimon were coming because of negative emotions," Satoshi explained, "or something like that. I didn't really follow it all that well."

"Neilina Huang..." Aiya said aloud. "Now where on Earth did SHE get all of this information? How has she gotten herself caught up in all of this?"

Neilina raised her arms and backed off as black flames roared in front of her. Everywhere she looked, more black flames continued to rage about the once-white halls, burning down everything they touched. She could hear the sound of fighting nearby, along with screams of pain and anguish. There was no way to know exactly how many had fallen already.

"NEILINA!" Lopmon cried, the flames being blasted back by shards of ice as the tiny Digimon appeared down the hallway. "C'mon! We've gotta keep running!"

Neilina nodded, regaining her calm. She chased after Lopmon, finding herself at a large, pearl staircase that ascended up a tower. Running along it, the two watched out smashed-open windows as shining white Angel Digimon, Angemon, battled demonic black-winged Evil Dragon Digimon, Devidramon. Radiant light resisted darkened flames again and again, as members of both sides fell, leaving behind DigiEggs in their wake.

Finally, after a few minutes of running, the two found themselves at a pair of stone doors. Opening them, Neilina and Lopmon entered a glittering white room with two equally radiant-looking thrones. Sitting upon one was Venusmon, Queen of the Shining Kingdom, in her white gown and incredibly long, blonde hair. Despite the cloth covering her eyes, she clearly seemed more than a bit troubled, as the tower suddenly shook hard from a harsh blast.

"Neilina, we're out of time," Venusmon proclaimed, standing up from her throne as Neilina and Lopmon knelt to her. "The king has gone into battle, and I must soon join him. I fear that, even if victory is claimed, many of our people will have fallen, and it will take time to rebuild what we've lost. Far too much time."

"I understand," Neilina replied, frowning sadly.

Venusmon held a hand out over Neilina's head, a series of glittering lights fleeing from the Queen's palm and entering the girl, her partner, and her Digivice. "...Don't worry, Neilina. This is what you were brought here for. You understand your mission?"

Neilina nodded, the light around her glowing stronger. "I promise, I'll gather the DigiDestined to save both worlds. And when I do...I'm coming back for you."

The Queen allowed herself a small smile at this. "I will do what I can to uphold my end of that as well."

"I will, too," Lopmon declared. "I'll protect Neilina with my life."

"Please, protect each other," Venusmon corrected the small rabbit-like Digimon as light began to completely envelop them. "You can do this. I have absolute faith in you both..."

Neilina gasped hard as she sat up in bed, sweat dripping from her forehead. Wiping it off, she looked to her end table, where her Digivice DM sat. Picking it up gently, she looked at the top screen, watching as Lopmon slept inside peacefully.

"...Queen Venusmon..." Neilina panted, flopping back onto the bed. "...Just hang in there, okay?"

Swinging on the swings of the school's playground, Satoshi couldn't help but let his thoughts drift back to yesterday's events. After supper, he hadn't talked much to Agumon, only returned him to the Digivice DM for the night. Now, it was just a couple of minutes after noon, and they still hadn't spoken much. And, now that they were alone, one of the two of them had finally had enough.

"...C'mon, Satoshi, talk to me," Agumon insisted from the Digivice. "The whole silent treatment thing is just vexing."

Satoshi sighed, coming to a halt as he fished out the Digivice. "Agumon, all my life, I've just wanted an adventure. Now I have it, and all I can think of is how complicated this all is, and how much I wish it wasn't. Danger? Fine, it's kinda in the job description, but finding out my family's involved in this..."

Agumon frowned. "I know...Still, at least you actually HAVE a family and friends that you can think of whenever you want."

"Still having trouble remembering your past?" Satoshi asked.

"I started remembering a little more after I Digivolved," Agumon answered. "Mostly just stuff about the Digimon fighting it out. I don't really remember why, just that the bad Digimon wanted something...and, I think I was one of their targets."

Satoshi blinked in surprise. "A target? Why?"

"I don't know," Agumon replied. "I just remember being important to them and their plans. But every time I try to remember..."

Satoshi slumped his shoulders, his goggles dropping a bit, as he gave a weak smile of assurance. "...Look, we'll figure it out. For now, let's just-"

Satoshi was immediately cut off as the lower screen suddenly displayed a digital map of the area, showing a black and red dot. The boy quickly set his goggles to his forehead, recognizing the dot as being at a parking structure just down the street, meaning it'd only take him ten minutes at the most to run down there. However, to his surprise, not only was a pink dot rapidly approaching there, meaning Neilina had gotten the signal, but a blue dot was also on the map and heading there.

"Is that another Digivice?!" Satoshi demanded.

"Whatever it is, we gotta hurry, or we'll miss everything!" Agumon argued.

Satoshi nodded, hopping off the swing. "Right. Let's go!"

Neilina hopped off her skateboard as she came to the parking garage, watching as people ran out screaming. Realizing this meant the Digimon had already passed through, she set her board to the strap on her back and ran in. Immediately, she spotted a little pink rat-like Digimon feasting on the energy from an electric car, a rift to the Digital World a few feet behind it. From the looks of the two cars nearby, it wasn't the first it'd drained.

"What've we got this time?" Neilina asked as she pulled out her Digivice DM, scanning the nearby Digimon and reading its stats. "Chuumon, a Virus type Digimon. Special attack is its Cheese Bomb. Not really all that threatening if you ask me."

"Sorry I'm late!" Neilina heard Satoshi yell as he ran in behind her. "Didn't miss anything, did I?"

"Not so much," Neilina said with a smirk. "Now let's take this little rat out!"

"You got it!" Satoshi replied, pulling out his Digivice. "Realize, Agumon!"

"Realize, Lopmon!" Neilina cried out. The two's Digivices immediately launched out beams of light into the garage, Agumon and Lopmon materializing from them. Chuumon squeaked loudly at the two, reaching behind its back and tossing a piece of cheese with a lit fuse on it. Both Digimon quickly rolled out of the way as the cheese exploded on the ground where they once stood.

"Let's take him out fast, before he breaks anymore cars!" Satoshi suggested.

"Right!" Agumon replied, taking a deep breath. "Pepper Breath!"

Spitting out a ball of fire, Agumon shot his flaming attack at Chuumon, setting it ablaze. However, to the collected group's astonishment, it merely sneered at them, energy emerging from its stomach and joining the flames as they coated its body.

"Chuumon Digivolve to...Salamandermon!" Chuumon squealed as its simultaneously blazing and glowing body expanded. After a moment, the glowing ceased, but the burning continued to surround the now red lizard-like Digimon, who was now a fair bit larger than the car it had broken earlier. The ground it stepped on seemed to melt slightly around its feet.

"All the energy it ate helped it to Digivolve!" Lopmon observed as Satoshi scanned the creature.

"Salamandermon, a Champion Level Digimon," Satoshi read off. "Despite being an Amphibian Digimon, it clearly likes fire more than water, and can use it to burn opponents to a crisp."

"We'll see who's got the hotter stuff!" Agumon boasted. "Pepper Breath!"

Wheezing out another fireball, Agumon was shocked to watch Salamandermon's mouth open, actually swallowing the attack whole. Its flames then burned even brighter as it blew a stream of flames at the Rookie level Digimon, knocking him into a stone support.

"Agumon!" Satoshi cried, running to the Reptile Digimon's side. "You okay?!"

"Dammit, can't use fire here!" Neilina cursed. "Let's try ice!"

"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon called, firing shards of ice from her mouth out at Salamandermon. However, before they could hit their target, the Amphibian Digimon merely heated its flames more, melting the ice down to water that fizzled out against the flames.

"Okay, plan B then!" Neilina said, pressing a spear-shaped icon on her Digivice DM, causing a pink pike pole resembling Lopmon's horns at the end to appear in the Beast Digimon's paws. "Take it down with that!"

"Bunny Pike!" Lopmon cried out, hurling the weapon at Salamandermon. While it did hit the larger Digimon and seemed to do damage, evident from the pained cry it let out, the pike nonetheless burned down to cinders against the heat. Salamandermon looked highly aggravated, taking a deep breath as it clearly planned to release another stream of flames.

"Battle Hawk!" a voice yelled as a familiar-looking red axe was thrown hard at Salamandermon's head, smacking it hard and causing it to miss and scorch the roof. Looking to the source of the attack, it quickly saw Agumon back up, Satoshi standing alongside him. Having had enough, it wheezed out flames that seemed to shape a ring around the two.

"Satoshi, Agumon, get out of there!" Neilina shouted.

"Great, now what?!" Satoshi wondered as Salamandermon looked ready to pour on more heat. Before it could, though, a stray blast of blue flames smacked it across the face. While these flames did little to hurt it, actually feeding its flames more, they nonetheless distracted it, stopping its attack to turn and face the source of the cyan fire. It soon found its target: A yellow Reptile Digimon wearing a white and cobalt fur pelt. Standing just behind him was a boy in a blue beret, tossing a navy Digivice up and down in his hand as he looked Salamandermon over.

"...YUJI?!" Satoshi and Neilina both inquired, utterly baffled.

"Hmph, guess this one will have to do for your debut," Yuji muttered, catching his Digivice in his hand and holding it up. "Gabumon, Digivolve!"

"Gabumon Digivolve to...Garurumon!" the Reptile Digimon called, energy streaming out from the blue Digivice DM and encasing him in a large egg of light. Within moments, the egg hatched, revealing a white and blue wolf-like Digimon that was larger still than Salamandermon. He growled threateningly at the Amphibian Digimon, who hissed back at him.

"Who's THAT Digimon?!" Satoshi demanded, scanning it with his own Digivice. "Garurumon, a Beast Digimon of the Champion level. His fur is as strong as the legendary metal, Mithril, and he can attack with both blazing blue flames and sub-zero ice attacks."

Something's not right here, Neilina realized. The Digivice DM only materializes for kids with strong dreams and good hearts. No one else can even use them, and there's no way someone like Yuji could apply for either of those. So how the heck does HE have one, and a Digimon partner to boot?

"Howling Blaster!" Garurumon yelled as it leaped over a stream of flames launched by Salamandermon, releasing his own breath of intense blue flames. However, despite being much more powerful looking, the result was, nonetheless, that the flames didn't do much to hurt the Amphibian Digimon, and even increased the intensity of the flames coating it.

"Garurumon, I told you before, use strategy!" Yuji admonished. "It's a Digimon that uses fire attacks! Fighting fire with fire will only get you burned!"

"Sorry, Yuji," Garurumon growled lowly, dodging another breath of flames that instead hit the wall. "What's the plan, then?"

"We put him on ice," Yuji replied with a smirk, pressing an icon on the bottom screen of his Digivice that resembled an iceberg. Immediately, a cold chill began to emanate from Garurumon's mouth as it lunged at Salamandermon.

"Freeze Fang!" Garurumon shouted, biting down hard on Salamandermon with teeth seemingly coated in glittering ice. Salamandermon cried out in pain as the flames started to calm a bit, its skin turning slightly paler.

"Hey, 'Goggle Boy'!" Yuji yelled, looking to Satoshi. "Finish it off while you've got the chance!"

Satoshi scowled, but nonetheless re-clicked the axe logo on his Digivice. As such, Agumon gained a new axe and leaped up at Salamandermon, hacking straight through it and causing it to burst into bits of data, a DigiEgg left in its wake. Garurumon carefully nudged the egg back toward the rift, causing it to get sucked in as the breach between worlds sealed itself.

"Nice shot," Yuji admitted as Garurumon walked back over to his side, the Beast Digimon's body glowing and shrinking until he'd returned to being Gabumon. "But your ultimate flaw isn't any kind of shortcoming in your strength. If you had any kind of sense at all while fighting, I wouldn't have needed to waste Gabumon's fighting debut on a little rat-turned-amphibian."

"What the heck are you doing here, Yuji?!" Satoshi demanded.

Yuji sighed, shrugging. "This again? Is there something wrong with me occupying the same space as you or something?"

"Other than you being a complete and utter jerk, no," Satoshi replied. "What I meant was, why the hell do you have a frigging Digivice?!"

"Watch the language, kid," Yuji said with a smirk. "And that's my own business, thank you very much."

Satoshi scowled before looking back to Neilina, who waved her hand. "Don't look at me! No way I'd ever give one to HIM!"

"Hey!" Gabumon yelled. "Are you insulting Yuji or something?!"

"I'm just saying I'd never hand a Digivice over to someone who doesn't have a dream," Neilina explained, "or that makes fun of people that do!"

"Yuji HAS a dream!" Gabumon retorted. "He wants to-"

"That's enough, Gabumon!" Yuji barked, silencing his partner, much to the confusion of everyone else. "They clearly already feel like they know me, and I'm not gonna bother trying to change their perceptions of me."

Satoshi blinked, utterly baffled. "...Yuji?"

Yuji harrumphed, turning and walking away. "Anyway, I think we've had enough for one day. C'mon, Gabumon, let's go home."

"But what about school?" Gabumon asked, chasing after Yuji and entering his Digivice.

"Forget it, not in the mood..." Yuji answered, leaving the building.

Lopmon scoffed, pouting a little. "Wow, he really IS a jerk."

"But he's strong, and so is his partner," Agumon observed. "They've even managed to Digivolve to a higher level than us."

Yuji... Satoshi thought, watching the back of his classmate as he headed presumably for home. Just what is it you won't tell us?

AUTHOR'S NOTES: And that's chapter 2. With that outta the way, let's talk a bit about the Digivice DM. Originally, I wanted to make a Digivice that was like an Android phone, but it looks like the PSP games have already beaten me to it, so I instead went with something different. As you've seen, it's a Digivice with two screens, a touch screen and a secondary screen that slides out from behind the device (think the Pokédex from the Unova Region in Pokémon Black & White, only with no buttons and bigger screens). The DM stands for both 'dual monitor' and 'dreams and memories'. Its functions include storing Digimon, creating a link between said Digimon and their human partner, displaying digital maps for locating other Digivices or digital rifts, granting different abilities and modes for Digimon to fight with, and a few other modes that will be elaborated on later.

Anyway, I've already begun posting profiles of my cast on Deviant Art. Be sure to check them out (just search 'Digimon Adventure DM Profile: Satoshi Sakamoto' to find the first one), and remember that I'll be adding new information to each profile I post as new info about them is revealed in the fic.

Next time, Satoshi tries to learn more about Yuji and how Gabumon was able to Digivolve, Agumon tries to recall his memories of the Digital World, and Neilina tries to stop her head from exploding while keeping everything under control, all while a trio of hoodlum Digimon try to cause lots of trouble. Ja né!