Here's a little four-part series about Walter's childhood, life in the digiworld, and finding the wolves. The concept just popped into my head while re-reading Chapter 4. It isn't anything I'm toying with, but I felt like doing it. This will mean I will extend my Hiatus into August, and might not be able to start anything else until September. But anyway, here's part 1. Also, I had to make a slight change with Chapter 6 for this to work. I was thinking, Walter is 11 in this chapter, so this is occurring three years before Digimon adventure starts, which I guess puts this as occurring in 1997. Also, I would have put this as a story unto itself, but I figured this counted a fiction rather than a fanfiction, as it stars only characters I invented for the first bit. If I do a sequal or prequal, I'm still not sure If I'll put them as a part of One Week, or on their own.

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Walter: Part I

It was sort of a fact of life for him. He had long since gotten use to it. Not that he liked it, or didn't want to get back at him, but Walter knew it would always happen, and that made it hurt a little less. Well, not physically, but on the inside, he didn't feel anywhere near as bad about it. He was just an idiot, and he resented him for being smarter than he could ever be.

Those were his thoughts as Todd punched him, hard, in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of him, and was even enough to knock him to the ground. Walter only layed there, not reacting to his situation.

"Stand back up," Todd said. Walter simply lay there. "I said, stand back up!" Walter still just lay there, and Todd got angry enough to lift Walter up. He saw Walter was smiling. "You know I'm gonna kick your ass for just laying there, so wipe that smile off of your face."

"You would have anyway," Walter said, "And this way I beat you."

"How exactly are you beating me?"

"You can hit me as many times as you want, but I'll never do what you tell me to. So I've beaten you."

"We'll see about that," Todd said, as he smacked Walter across the face. Walter could feel the tears welling up. But they were the least of his concerns. Another thing seemed to be rising inside of him, something that terrified him. It felt powerful, but not in a good way. It felt like someone else was making decisions for him.

And it was this new bad power which caused Walter to do something Todd had never seen before. Before he was entirely aware of it, a fist hit into his face hard. Todd was knocked off of his feet, and landed on the ground. A few feet from him was one of his teeth. Walter stood above him, towering over him.

In that moment, both Todd and Walter reflected on every time Todd had put Walter, and other kids in that same position, and then stood over them. Todd surprised himself by feeling sorry and scared reflecting on it. Walter surprised himself by feeling a sick happiness from revenge. Todd was terrified by the smile that spread across Walter's face.

Realizing there was nobody to bail him out, Todd almost regretted picking on Walter in a deserted area. Walter reached down, and pulled Todd up by the collar. He began punching Todd in the face and stomach. For about a minute, non-stop, Walter delivered some of his best punches. Todd was crying at this point, and Walter decided he was nearly done.

Walter let go of Todd, and helped him steady himself. He then pulled Todd's arm behind his back, and bent it until Walter heard a sickening snap. Todd collapsed onto the ground, and Walter began to cry. Looking around, Walter saw nobody was looking. He began to stumble home.

Walter made it home, and went in through the front door. A large bruise was on Walter's face, and his hand had blood on it. Walter opened the front door, and walked inside, nearly collapsing in a chair at the table.

Walter' s sister had been watching TV when she heard the door open, and then the loud noise of Walter collapsing into the chair. She had been worried about him, as he had been at least ten minutes late. She turned off the TV and put the remote down, and walked into the kitchen.

"Walter, is that you…" She began, when she saw him sitting there. She saw the bruise first, and knew what had happened. She had asked her boyfriend, John, to talk to Todd, in a threatening manner if necessary, but she knew John was too timid to threaten somebody, especially somebody younger than him.

It had gotten so bad, that Walter wouldn't let anyone even touch him. He always flinched back. So Laura didn't reach out to hug him, but instead sat down next to him.

"Are you okay, Walter?" Laura asked, in her soft voice, which was always able to comfort Walter.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Walter said quietly, as he looked at his hands. Laura looked at them, and saw the blood, and worried he was bleeding. Forgetting his aversion to being touched, she grabbed his hands to look at them. He didn't seem to mind having his hands touched.

"Walter, are they bleeding?" Laura asked.

"No. It's not my blood," Walter said, as some more tears joined those he had already shed. Laura looked at him confused for a moment before it sunk in, and she let go of his hands.

"You mean…" Laura couldn't finish her own sentence, fearing what she though.

"Yeah," Walter said, as he began to cry more.

Laura looked at him and felt sad. Figuring between him not flinching his hands away, and getting even, he wouldn't mind being touched. Laura hugged him, but he strained back, and struggled. She quickly let go, realizing he wasn't over it quite yet. But for some reason his hands weren't a problem.

Conflicted emotions rose up inside her. She didn't want Walter going over the top, but Todd deserved it, as he had already scarred Walter, for what could well be the rest of his life. But she was worried he could have gone far over the top. Finally, Laura came to her decision.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Laura asked.

Walter shook his head in response, and more tears came.

"I wanted to," Walter said, "But I couldn't."

Laura looked at Walter for a moment more.

"I'm very proud of you, Walter," was all Laura could decide to say.

She began to walk out of the room, when Walter stopped her.

"I don't want to be alone right now," Walter managed to say, in a weak, sad voice.

"Okay," Laura said, as she took a seat next to Walter.

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The next day, Todd was absent. The day after that, he returned to school, covered in bandages, and with a cast on his arm. Neither he nor Walter wanted to tell anybody what happened. And being the unpopular kid who sat quietly in the back of the room, nobody for a moment thought Walter had done anything to Todd. But from that day forwards, Todd never laid a hand on Walter.

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End of Part I

So now we've started to see Walter's childhood in closer detail. I realize this seems really horrible, but it's an important part of the character of Walter. Incidentally, this wasn't going to be part of it, but I realized Walter's reaction to Tai touching him was a little extreme in Chapter 4, and I felt a need to explain why Walter doesn't like being touched, except for on his hands. The next chapter is going to show the day that ruined Walter's life, and the months that followed. It will be three years in the future, and not only will Walter be in it, but also so will Gabriel. Incidentally, this is around the time that Gabriel was conceived. Probably a little afterwards, but around this general point in time.