The U

The U.S. Crew

By: Theodore 'Blitz' Leung

Theoleung@sprint.ca

Disclaimer: All Digimon and their characters (except for those introduced in this fic/series) do NOT belong to me. I do not have permission to use their characters, but it's a FanFic, so, who cares? =) This story line belongs to me and me alone. Please ask for permission if you wish to use it. Thanks. Now let's get onto reading!

Shastina pressed her back against the tree, her face drenched in sweat, her breathing hard and difficult.

"SONIC SWORD!" Shastina ducked down, fear in her eyes as the tree she was leaning on suddenly fell, crashing onto another tree. The sea of tress provided little protection against her pursuer as he relentlessly chased her.

Shastina continued to run, as more and more trees began to topple around her, each coming closer and closer to crushing her.

"LOOK OUT!" the voice shouted, a force knocking her over. The path she was just running on was replaced with a large tree that surely would've crushed her if she stayed on course.

Shastina gazed up, seeing an unfamiliar boy that was her saviour. Her age, with black hair and brown eyes, who wore a red vest. Some how…even if she never knew him…she felt close to this person…very close…

"Run, I'll stop him!" he shouted to her, quickly jumping to his feet. The female could just make out a Digivice strapped to her saviour's, though the colour eluded her. She quickly got to her feet, as the boy rushed head long towards the chaser. Her pursuer's form was only visible through the outline, which slowly was raising a blade.

"NOOOOOOO!!" Shastina shouted, as another Sonic Sword attack was unleashed, bringing the boy to his knees, then flat onto the ground, his blood pouring over the grass, staining it crimson.

Through the shadows, she could see the killer grinning, filled with maddening glee on the success of his murder.

* * * * * *

"NO!" Shastina screamed out, pretty much drowning in her own cold sweat. She was breathing hard, attempting to recollect her thoughts. "It was…just a dream…no…a nightmare…" she muttered, hoping to console herself with such thoughts.

"Four o'clock…Monday afternoon," Shastina remembered, recalling the previous few moments. "Got tired from school…decided to take a nap…what a bad idea…" she muttered, holding her head in her hands.

"Does it mean anything? He was…someone I knew…" Shastina thought, trying to assess the situation.

"No, no, no…it was a dream…nothing more…" she told herself, shaking her head violently to try to dislodge the previous thought from her head. "Already enough despair in life…I don't need anymore…" she muttered, slipping out bed. She didn't change when she got back home, only flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.

"Well, this sucks, I got my bed all dirty," Shas thought, cursing silently for her incompetence on not the change clothing. Shaking her head, she turned around and was astonished to see her computer on.

"Hey, I didn't turn my computer on," she whispered, taking a step towards the electronic device. The familiar sight of the Digi-Portal was on the screen, revealing the location of some sort of desert. The sun was down however, so it wasn't searing hot in the Digital World.

Shastina quickly withdrew her Digivice from her jean pocket. The white handled Digivice beeped loudly, as it began to accumulate energy for travel to the Digital World.

"Well, here I go again…" she muttered, bracing for the trip.

"Maybe I'll get some answers…"

* * * * * *

K.H. paced back and forth in front of his computer, waiting impatiently for it to reboot.

"Just calm down," K.H. told himself, following the usual advice of breathing in and out slowly. "It's not like the world is going to end or anything…" he continued as the computer began to load up Windows.

"Man, this is loading slower then a Slowb—hey, what the?!" he exclaimed, when it wasn't Windows that loaded, but another familiar program which K.H. was happy to see.

"So, the Digital World wants another go?" he asked, making note of the desert terrain. "I sure hope no more Manstamon come after me this time," he commented, taking his green handled Digivice. Again, there was an energy build up from the Digivice before it began to warp the teenager to the Digital World.

"Oh, and I better time this too," K.H. thought, hastily setting his stopwatch.

* * * * * *

Shastina glanced left and right, trying to get her bearings straight. She had no clue where she was in possibly the Digital Worlds largest sandbox, and the only place that looked remotely suspicious was a lamppost.

"Wait a minute, a lamppost?" Shastina thought. "What would a lamppost be doing out in the middle of nowhere?" she asked out loud, deciding to head over anyway. "There's nowhere else to go…a start is better then nothing," she thought, heading over to the post.

It wasn't long before she was standing underneath the light shined down by the lamppost, though it hardly served a purpose except to make the teenager more curious about this item.

"So…what WOULD a lamppost be doing out here?" Shas repeated, trying to think up any plausible reason for this to be here.

"Well, if you want to know, it's just here," the voice told her from above. She quickly glanced up, seeing an all to familiar face. "Miss me?" Tigramon asked, leaping down from the top of the post. There was a huge grin on the feline's face.

"Tigramon!" Shastina shouted, beyond happy to see the Digimon again. The teenager scooped Tigramon up into her arms, before a question dawned upon her. "Wait, how did you find me?" she asked curiously.

"Oh, just cat instinct," Tigramon replied, her grin getting wider. The cat leapt down from Shastina, motioning for Shastina to follow. "Come, someone else is waiting for us," was all Tigramon explained, before walking off.

"Hey, wait! Who?!" Shastina questioned, running to catch up with the Digimon. Tigramon didn't reply, only continuing to head out deeper into the desert.

* * * * * *

"So…what is a mailbox doing out in the desert?" K.H. asked, knocking the top of the hollow, blue, box.

"Why bother asking?" Kinoumon asked his partner, leaping onto the mailbox. "K.H., we don't have time for this. We need to meet someone."

"And who would that be?" K.H. inquired, still inspecting the box.

"Come on! I'll show you!" Kinoumon exclaimed, leaping off the box and rushing deeper into the desert.

"Hey, wait! Don't go out alone!" K.H. protested, chasing after the dragon like Digimon and forgetting all about his inspection of the box.

* * * * * *

"Hey, Tigramon! Slow down!" Shastina yelled out, the cat speeding ahead of her at an unbelievable pace. The cat like Digimon didn't give up on her pace, but glanced back to make sure Shastina was keeping up with her.

"Try to keep up Shas!" Tigramon shouted back, giggling. She was rudely interrupted when the ground underneath her began to rumble. "Wha--?" Tigramon spoke in a surprised voice, as the land began to rise for no apparent reason. The piece of land reeled back, rolling Tigramon off and stopping at Shastina's feet.

"Tigramon?!" Shas exclaimed, kneeling down beside the Digimon. Both watched in awe as another Digimon emerged from the sand. Slowly, with a long groan, the Digimon shook the sand off, then turned to face the two.

"Kamemon? Tigramon stammered. The giant tortoise stared at both of them with yellowish like skin and shell colour. Amber streaks ran down his shell, though it was unclear if it was a characteristic of the species or if it was painted on.

"SHELL CANNON!" Kamemon opened his mouth, charging crimson energy into a globe of power.

"Get down!" Tigramon yelled, knocking Shastina over to the side. The two tumbled just out of the way. The beam of crimson energy blasted past, leaving black, scorched sand behind. "Leave it to me!" Tigramon told Shastina, rushing towards the giant turtle.

"SILVER FANG!" Tigramon leaped at Kamemon, attempting to bite into the Digimon. However, the hard shell which Tigramon impacted on only made her teeth sore. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!" she exclaimed, hopping back to Shastina. "NEVER bite a turtle…" she muttered, Kamemon laughing at the futile attempt to hurt him.

"BOLT ORB!" The blast of electricity slammed into Kamemon's rear end, making it cry out. In unbelievable speed, Kamemon turned around to face the newcomers. A boy with nearly black hair, jeans, and a black coat on top of a purple shirt. His Digimon stood beside him, a small dragon like Digimon with purple scales and twin tails.

"Hey, Kinoumon, is that K.H.?!" Tigramon shouted to the two.

"Yeah, it's him!" Kinoumon shouted back. "I'm guessing that is Shastina then!"

"What took you so long to figure that out?!"

"Oh, not very long!" Kinoumon faced K.H., grinning. "Come on K.H., let's join them," Kinoumon suggested, not waiting for an answer. The Digimon quickly ran over to the others, K.H. following close behind.

"Oh, and nice shot with the Silver Fang," Kinoumon added, smirking.

"Oh, shut up," Tigramon countered, waiting for another attack.

"SANDSTORM!" Kamemon growled out as the wind beginning to pick up. Sand began to blow everywhere, hence resembling a sandstorm.

"Woah!" Shastina shouted, covering her face from the flying bits of sand. K.H. followed her example. Their Digimon tried their best to protect themselves as well, though to no avail. It wasn't long before the four weakened under the attack, even if the attack subsided.

"Shastina, are you okay?!" Tigramon asked the teenage girl who was still brushing sand out of her hair and clothing.

"I could've done without the sand bath, thank you very much," she replied sarcastically.

"Ah yes…who knew sand could be so dangerous…" K.H. piped in, digging his way out of the sand.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't look now, but Kamemon is readying for another ATTACK!!" Kinoumon shouted, tackling K.H. out of the way.

"SHELL CANNON!" Kamemon again toasted the sand that surrounded the two teens while their Digimon knocked both of them out of the way.

"Come on, let's go!" Tigramon shouted, leaping at Kamemon. Kinoumon followed, also leaping at the turtle. With one move, the tortoise's arm was up and smashed the two away with unbelievable agility. Both Digimon cried out in pain, skidding in the sand to a stop.

"Tigramon!"

"Kinoumon!"

Both partners ran up to their Digimon, cradling them in their arms.

"I'm…sorry…Shas…" Tigramon muttered weakly.

"Failed…not a word you like…" Kinoumon told K.H.

"You tired…" both told their Digimon, standing up. Kamemon was laughing as much as a turtle could laugh, before charging for another attack.

"SHELL…"

"We got to try something!" Tigramon shouted, leaping out of her partners arm, barely able to support herself.

"Yeah!" Kinoumon agreed, also leaping down.

"But…" both protested, until the Digivices started reacting.

"Huh, what's this?" K.H. asked, removing his Digivice. Shastina also removed hers. Both items were building up energy again, supercharging their Digimon for battle. A pillar of light hit both Digimon, increasing their powers exponentially.

"Kinoumon…Digivolve to…"

The Digimon seemed to grow in size, though blinding light made it impossible to identify what was going on. All that could be told was that Kinoumon was changing, very quickly.

"Legionarimon!"

If anything, the Digimon seemed completely different. Not a dragon anymore, more resembling a large insect. The Digimon resembled an ant of sorts, with natural chitinous crimson armour resembling that of an armoured soldier. Two mandibles were on his head while a stinger was on his rear.

"Tigramon…Digivolve to…"

In similar fashion, Tigramon also grew in size, though the metamorphosis was fast, much like Kinoumon's transformation.

"Toramon!"

Not as a drastic transformation as Kinoumon, however, it was quite apparent the Digimon grew in size. With silver fur and black stripes running down her back, Toramon was everything like Tigramon, except for she was bigger, had a ruby shaped as a star on her forehead, and armed with silver claws.

"What the heck--?" K.H. exclaimed, unsure of what just happened.

"They…changed…" Shastina added, also in an equally dubious state.

"Get down!" Legionarimon warned, pretty much knocking both humans away from the arc of the attack before retreating himself.

"DENKOU CLAW!" Toramon leapt at Kamemon, electricity clearly being stored in her claws. With one fell swipe, she electrocuted the attacking Digimon, though not inflicting enough pain to stop the attack.

"SHELL CANNON!" Kamemon fired the beam wide, easily evaded by the two Digimon.

"SONIC MANDIBLES!" Legionarimon clashed his two mandibles together rapidly, causing a shockwave to ripple across the air and directly towards Kamemon.

"SHUURAI!" Toramon harnessed the power of lightning, striking bolts of power down at the tortoise.

Kamemon growled in pain, retreating a step and then burrowing back into the ground, hoping never to meet these adversaries again.

With the battle over, both Digimon reverted back to their original forms, exhausted beyond belief. Both humans took their Digimon, holding then in caring embraces.

"Nice job Tigramon…" Shastina whispered, getting a weak smile from the cat.

"That was quite a feat there. Congratulations," K.H. told Kinoumon. The small dragon nodded, leaning his head against the human's chest.

"I don't suppose you have a clue what that was," Shastina asked the other human.

"I have no clue…but by the sounds of it…possibly a Digital Evolution?" K.H. inferred, holding Kinoumon in one hand, and taking his Digivice in another.

"Hmm…maybe Blitz or GTK would know," Shastina spoke, also taking her Digivice.

"Blitz…GTK…?" K.H. asked, surprised that those two names would actually appear in this conversation.

"Yeah, they're both Digi-Destined, like us," Shastina informed him, tickling the feline in her arms.

"Both…of them?" K.H. asked, dumbfounded. "Well…that would be an interesting turn of events…" he mused, confusing Shastina now.

"What do you mean?" Shas asked, approaching the other human.

"I know both of them as well…" K.H. responded, opening his Digivice with one hand. "Tell me, what is your ICQ name?"

"Prism…" Shastina answered, getting suspicious of this interrogation.

"Yes…I would believe that…" K.H. muttered, compiling an e-mail. "For the record, my name is Nobie."

"Nobie?!" Shastina exclaimed, blinking dubiously a few times. "Well, I'd never thought we'd meet under these circumstances!"

"Yeah, well, times change…" was all the reply. In a few seconds, Nobie compiled his e-mail, sent it, and closed his Digivice. "I suggest we get out of here before something else decides to happen."

"Agreed," was the response, and on cue, both Digivices began to blare, storing up energy again.

"I guess this is where we leave then…" K.H. told Shastina, bowing his head. "Until next time…"

* * * * * *

K.H. appeared back in his room faster then he expected. Quickly, he took his stopwatch and stopped it. With some quick mental math, the teen calculated what he needed to know.

"Digital World time is faster…but why?" he asked, finally noticing a weight on his arm. He glanced down, seeing Kinoumon sleeping in his arms. Initially surprised, the one nicknamed Nobie was happy to know that his Digimon would be safe. He set the Digimon down on his bed to sleep, before sitting back at the computer to continue analyzing information.

* * * * * *

"Hey…Shas…is this the Real world?" Tigramon asked, coughing lightly.

"Shh…don't talk…just get some sleep…" Shas told her Digimon, wrapping her in a blanket on the bed. Tigramon was about to protest, but didn't have enough energy to do so. She only nodded, closing her eyes.

Satisfied, Shastina sat down at her desk, opening her Digivice. She entered Blitz's e-mail address, telling him everything about the events to this day. She couldn't wait for the teen from Toronto to get on ICQ, she wanted a reply soon.

"Come on Blitz, just one quick reply…" Shastina muttered, closing her Digivice. She glanced back at Tigramon, who was now asleep, snoring softly.

"Sweet dreams, Tigramon…" Shastina whispered.

Fin

Completed: 11/20/00