A Digimon AU Adventure:
Chapter 1:
First Encounter
Human
It was beautiful. She didn't know exactly what she was looking at, but it was beautiful. To her left, to her right, above and below her were lights of every color, stars as far as the eye could see. She could see galaxies, constellations, moons and planets protected under a blanket of bright balls of gas and light. Her senses had been hightened far beyond the kin of an average human being, and Katherine Ugami had no choice but to take in the wonder and splender cast before her, for she knew that she may never have such an opportunity again.
Katherine was awed, as well as frightened at the same time. She didn't know how she got to this place, where this place was, or if she'll ever get back to the place she called home. Instead of feeling wonder, she should be feeling fear. Instead of splendor, she should be feeling alone. But Katherine never felt this way before. During her lifetime she had developed a cold heart. Her entire time on Earth she had been spoiled senseless. Everything she ever wanted in life was given to her without her even having to say please. Bicycles, dolls, playhouses, candies, desserts, clothing, money, jewelry, even friends were given to her to use as much as her heart desires since the day she was born. Because of this, she delivered an air of superiority to everyone she encountered in life. It didn't matter if you were younger, older, nice, mean, friendly, calm, male, female, or even family, she was always a step above you. Because of this, people ignore her, treat her harshly, talk about her behind her back, and this is how she's developed her cold heart.
But this is something new she is looking at here. To be taken out of her home and world, away from the pain and the namecalling; the pressure and the dissapointment, was a relief. At least for the moment. Katherine didn't know how much time she had left in this place, whether it's five more seconds or five more generations, but looking at all of this begins to warm her heart.
But only for a moment. Nothing more.
Samuel Ohnishi is the most popular male at Yoshimoto High School. Well, he used to be the most popular. He could remember only two days ago that he was thrust high in the air resting on the shoulders of his teammates after scoring the winning basket at the Junior Varsity State Finals. Man, what a rush. Before then Samuel was a bit skeptical about his abilities on the basketball court. But his skills as well as his confidence had come up a level in every game. He truly had a talent. It wasn't long before he was named the best center on the team, then the best offensive player on the team, then the best freshman basketball player at Yoshimoto High; all in one season. He was one of two freshman to be considered for the Varsity team. The next day, the moment he arrived at school, everybody knew his name. Guys that he never knew existed were coming up to him shaking his hand, patting him on the back, and asking him to sign their basketball. For the first time in his life girls were saying "hi" to him, blowing him kisses and giving him phone numbers. It was great! In a day he'd become the star of the school. It wouldn't be long before his face was plastered on a billboard at the front of his school with his basketball in hand with a smile wearing basketball shoes named after him. In big red letters the board would say, "The Shining Star of Yoshimoto! This Could Happen To YOU!"
It hadn't been easy though. The entire time he was always in constant competition with his best friend Hayato. They'd been friends since their days of birth. Their parents had been long time friends and the day they were able to open their eyes, their parents introduced them to each other. The newborns etched their friendship in stone with a handshake that same day and they'd been closer than two bricks in a building foundation ever since. Samuel would do anything for Hayato and vice versa. True friends till the end.
Hayato was beginning to piss him off though. They'd been playing basketball since they were able to bounce a ball and walk at the same time. And they never played for popularity, money, girls, or to get into a special cliche at school. It had always been in the spirit of competition. Nothing more. However, the popularity that came with basketball was beginning to go to Samuel's head. He was enjoying the girls and the new friendships and the everyone-knows-my-name-ness that came with it. But it didn't affect Hayato in the least. If a girl gave him her number, he would politely give it back to her and be on his way. He wouldn't sign a basketball unless it was a child's and all he would say to them would be, "keep practicing". He wouldn't do anything that would make him seem more special than anyone else and Samuel hated that because it made him feel guilty. Mister Goody-Two-Shoes. Always doin' the right thing. Why shouldn't he take advantage of this new superiority? This may never happen to him again in his life.
This made Samuel so angry that he could hardly get to sleep that night. When he finally did, he shut out the anger, and dreamed he was in another world. His bedroom computer had exploded with light. When the light faded, he saw himself in the middle of Tron. There were computer grids, turbo charged bicycles going from here to there, perfect squares and rectangles as far as the eye could see, and music playing in the background that sounded like the original Super Mario Bros. theme. He didn't really care about what he was seeing. This was a dream and nothing less or more.
Then Samuel made a startling revelation. He couldn't wake up. He constantly blinked his eyes, hoping that his mind would get a clue and turn off this dream; send him back to his bedroom. He would wake up, drenched with sweat, and most importantly, he would be alive. But his mind refused to cooperate. If he couldn't wake up, that means he was dying. Samuel's breathing started to come in short raspy gasps. He grabbed his throat and tried to force himself to breath, but his heart was beating so uncontrollably. He was afraid. Fear was getting the better of him. He took his hand from his throat and rested his head between his legs, trying to fight off the nausea. When it finally dissipated, a thought struck him. It's impossible to become sick in a dream. Unless...
You'd never gone to sleep...
This had to be a dream. There was no other explanation for what was going on. But at the same time it couldn't be a dream, because she had pinched herself exactly thirty-five times and felt every single one of them, and its impossible to feel pain in a dream. Reiko Matsuni remembered learning in history class that Leonardo De Vinci and the Wright Brothers were the first people to come up with ways to carry human beings into the skies. They created large instruments capable of lifting people high above land. But the difference between what happened to them and what was happening to her was that they flew in machines. Reiko was flying on her own! Just like a bird! She had no propellers, wings, or feathers. She didn't even have to flap her arms. How was this possible!!? This was scaring the crap out of her!
But at the same time, she sort of...welcomed this. You see her family was having problems. Serious problems. Reiko was a girl that was much in love with her family. She loved the way her mother and father got along with each other, and she enjoyed giving and receiving that same love from them.
But things changed. Her mother and father stopped getting along, and that threw a serious wedge into everything. She would be kept up during the night by their constant bickering. She could still hear them screaming at each other. It pierced her soul. She didn't understand what they said to each other, but you didn't need to hear the words, just the way the words were expressed. There were no longer sounds of love and kindness, but annoyance, and dissatisfaction. Reiko believed if she just ignored the way they acted, things would smooth themselves out.
Then came the most horrible day of her life. Her parents announced to her that they were breaking up, after months of arguing with one another. She couldn't believe it! All the love that they had for each other was nothing but a lie! The real twist of the knife was that if the love they had for each other wasn't real, then was it true that the love they showed her and her brother wasn't true?
Her brother--he had taken it the worst. Ran away from home. Told only Reiko that he was going to a friend's house. When her parents went to the house to bring him back home, his friend told them he had disappeared. Didn't leave a message or anything. This was two days ago. Reiko's parents called the police, the sheriff, the school, hoping that someone would find him and bring him back home. Because of her brother's actions Reiko had been unable to get any sleep for the past two nights. After all his running away was her fau-
Reiko erased the thought from her mind. She had spent the last 48 hours convincing herself that everything would be all right. All she had to do was stop worrying about it and everything would be fine. But ever since her parents broke up she had become bitter. She stopped speaking to her friends and bottled herself up, mainly because she was jealous. It was unfair that they get to have parents that get along and love each other while her parents couldn't stand the sight of one another. That enraged her. She thought that if she ever spoke to anybody, they would see the ugly side of her. And she didn't want to hurt anybody. But she was only nine years old. In those nine years she had experienced more pain and rejection than some people face in a lifetime.
Reiko shook these evil thoughts out of her head. She had to get a hold of herself. Here she was, flying about 1,000 feet of what seemed like Tokyo City, and worrying about what's wrong with her life rather than how the heck she was going to get down and back home. But as these thoughts ran through her head it seemed her prayers had been answered as she slowly began to descend toward the ground. With a small sigh she began to catch her breath, almost disappointed that her flight had to be cut short to wherever she was going. She'd find a way to get home when her feet touched land.
Then, suddenly, she started to fall faster. Much faster. Until she was in a free fall. She realized this and tried to scream. She couldn't scream. Was falling too fast. She looked around her as tears began to water her large eyes. She looked around her. Nothing to grab on to. Nothing to stop her fall besides the ground. The buildings were rushing towards her, then zooming above her as if they had just shot out of the ground like a beanstalk. Lights everywhere. She was getting disoriented and dizzy. Reiko wanted to throw up. And her tears had built up so much in her eyes that she could no longer see the ground. All she knew was that any second now she was going to die. She would be nothing more than a smear on a road going through downtown Tokyo. She was going to be leave some mess afterwards…
Reiko wiped the tears from her eyes, and prepared for the inevitable, but as she looked towards the ground she noticed that everything had disappeared. She was no longer falling, for there was nothing below her, nor above her. She was just standing in a large white room that expanded throughout eternity. She spun around, trying to orient herself, but as she did, Reiko went down on her knees and vomited. Green and brown puke splattered on the ground, adding a sickening color to that which was colorless. Reiko wiped her mouth tasting the bile leftover in her throat and as she did the vomit that had hit the floor of the white room had exploded into tiny little fragments and disappeared. She jumped back from the event, scared senseless. What was going on? Was she alive? Or was she dea-
"HEY YOU!!"
Reiko twisted her head to the left of her where she saw a slick blonde with shoulder length hair dressed in a pink jumpsuit, and a spiky red-haired boy dressed like he was going to a basketball training camp.
Digimon
The moon created a beautiful silhouette across the ocean. Blue and white glittering water spread across eternity. The air was warm and calm. The only sounds to be heard was the gentle lapping of the water as waves gathered on waves. High above the ocean on a thin slab of rock, a giant blue monster named XV-mon took a deep breath and tried to remember his past. He thinks back to his youth, his friends and his adventures in this world. It used to be such a happy place and there was never a reason to be sad or depressed. But that was a long time ago. Things have changed. The Digital World was becoming dark, hazardous and not such a great place to live. Powerful, evil digimon were running wild in the Digital World destroying everything in their paths. Their attacks were random and unpredictable. Fortunately there weren't that many of them, but they still posed a very serious threat. Every part of the Digital World had been attacked from the Digital Cities to the Arctic Regions to File Island. Innocent digimon had been destroyed or injured countless times and the fact that the attacks couldn't be predicted ahead of time didn't help matters.
So, powerful digimon were chosen to combat this menace. Whenever an area of the world was in turmoil, these digimon protectors were called upon to leap into action. There were six of them. XV-mon, Ankylomon, Tailmon, Angemon, Stingmon, and the leader Acquillamon. They were all just champions but the six of them together formed a formidable alliance. They had yet to be defeated. But there was a serious problem. The evil digimon they fought were growing stronger everyday. When all the chaos started they were merely champions. But that was about a year ago. Nowadays champions didn't exist. They had evolved into ultimates. One of the bad guys was stronger than three of the good guys combined. Only by devising brilliant strategy, using devastating fighting techniques, and relying on their friendship with each other were they able to survive for this long.
A second problem was that they had been training and fighting for years and they still haven't evolved. They couldn't understand it. These monsters were able to go to the next level while they stayed on the bottom floor. It made no sense. They had nearly killed themselves with training and hand-to-hand combat. They had become super-strong champions, but one of them was still no match for an ultimate. If they didn't evolve soon, then what would they do when the ultimates evolved into megas?? They'd be completely helpless. What was the secret to evolution?
XV-mon thought back to a few months ago. It was Tailmon's birthday and she swore that she felt some new energy build up inside her. She knew she was going to evolve! So, the five of them threw her an evolution party. When she felt the time was right, they chanted "EVOLVE!! EVOLVE!! EVOLVE!! EVOLVE!!" Tailmon focused all of her energy onto one spot and soon, her eyes began to glow a bright pink. An aura of power and light formed around her cat-like body. Balls of lightning shot all around as her body began to float in the air. Shortly after she began to scream. An agonizing, high-pitched scream. Tailmon was in pain. Her body had begun convulsing. She couldn't close her eyes. She couldn't help but look at everyone with a dreadful pink glow. She couldn't even cry.
Finally, Stingmon jumped into action and gave her a double-fist in the back of the neck, knocking her unconscious. The lightning dissipated, her eyes ceased that horrible glow, and her body stopped its spasming. The five of them had watched with grim looks on their faces. The only difference that they saw in Tailmon was that she was taller than she had been' about the size of a young tiger. She was probably a little more stronger and agile, but that was about it. She wasn't an ultimate. That was a definite.
When XV-mon went to check on her shortly after she woke up, she was hiding her face. She had cried herself awake. Her eyes were red and tears had caused her to loose her otherwise beautiful face. XV-mon said he'd come back later after she had calmed down, but looking at her made him want to cry as well. He'd had had a slight crush on Tailmon for as long as he could remember. But their difference in size kind of wedged them from a relationship. But now that she was taller, maybe…
"I'm not used to you being so quiet XV-mon," said a voice.
"Hmph. That's the nicest thing you've said to me in years," said the blue giant as he turned around to look his friend Acquillamon in the eyes. Usually they'd be insulting each other. They had a strong hate-love relationship but they trusted each other to the limit of trust, if such a thing existed.
"Still thinking about what happened to Stingmon?" The giant horned eagle asked.
XV-mon just shook his head slightly. He didn't want to think about what happened to Stingmon; his best friend. Overcome by evil. Just the thought of Stingmon made him want to-
His eyes began to glow as he let out a scream that could be heard across the ocean. His stomach began to glow a dark orange as he stuck out his chest and a beam shaped like an "X" shot from his body lighting up the entire ocean. And with the speed of a shooting star it vanished into outer space.
The blue dinosaur lowered himself to his knees and let out a soft sob. What had happened to Tailmon was bad enough, but Stingmon? After reflecting on his past, he finally decided to forget about it all. Because of the loss of an important friendship, things were never going to be the way they used to be. If push came to shove, he would defeat Stingmon, but until he commits injustice, there's no action that can be made against him. He turned around and faced Acquillamon.
"We need to talk…" the bird said calmly.
XV-mon smiled. "And there's no place better than the air," he said as his large white wings expanded from his backside. Acquillamon also expanded his gigantic wings and leaped from the Earth. XV-mon followed.
"Hey! Wait for me!!" yelled Tailmon as she leaped from a tall tree's branch 30 feet into the air and onto Acquillamon's back.
"Three of them have arrived," said the large bird digimon. "I think it's necessary to give them a proper greeting!"
Tailmon and XV-mon agreed as the three warriors flew to the opposite side of File Island.
Human
"My name is Reiko Matsuni. I guess it's a pleasure to me you," said the dark brown haired girl as she introduced herself to the little band that formed in front of her eyes. This girl and this guy were just walking around this white area looking just as lost as she was. It was obvious that neither one of them had any idea where they were, why they were here, or how they got here. But it sure was nice seeing the first signs of intelligent life since forever.
"And I'm Sam Ohnishi. But I'm sure you already know all about me. Please. No autographs," said the confident fourteen year old showing off his new cherry red Yoshimoto High School Varsity basketball jersey as if it were at an auction. The blonde didn't even notice him, and Reiko stared at him as if he were standing on his head.
"I'm sorry. I've never seen you before in my life!" chuckled Reiko. Sam blushed out of embarrasment until his face was the same color as his jersey. He had just made a fool out of himself. He was wondering what the girl in the pink jumpsuit was thinking. She hadn't mumbled a word since they found Reiko.
The attention of Samuel and Reiko was focused on the blonde, waiting for her to introduce herself. The fourteen year old girl could feel their eyes gleaming at her as she turned around, closed her eyes and spoke, "I'm Katherine." She didn't even look them in the eye as she said her name. She just turned back around and resumed her nonchalant stance.
Samuel calmly walked up to her and held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you," he said. Katherine turned to face him and looked at his extension of friendship. She then looked back at him, gave him a smile as if she thought he looked goofy, then turned back into her previous stance. Noticing he'd been shot down, Sam lowered his hand and looked back at Reiko who was sitting like an Indian with her back turned to the two teens. This introduction to each other hadn't gone to a good start. And something in the back of Sam's head told him that if they wanted to get back home alive, they were going to have to work together. Samuel began rubbing his chin, contemplating a way to bring them together, when he noticed something in the distance. It began to grow in size. Larger and larger. Until it was perfectly recognizable.
"Alright!! A door!!" he screamed triumphantly. "Hey look you guys! A door!"
Reiko snapped her head around quickly and looked in the direction Samuel was pointing.
"What does this moron want now?" Katherine thought to herself as she picked herself up and walked in Sam's direction.
The three of them were standing there, as curious as three monkeys in front of a banana. Reiko didn't know what to make of it. It was a door obviously, but to what?! They could go through the door and end up on the edge of a cliff or in outer space with all the crazy stuff that had been going on. Things were less complicated when she was falling to her doom. She was thankful to be alive but at least then she could've predicted what was going to happen.
"Well guys are we just going to stand here like we've never seen a door before, or are we going to go through it?" asked Samuel who was the most curious monkey of the three. He placed his hand on the knob and began to turn when he was jerked back to the ground from something that had grabbed his shirt. Samuel, now on his behind, rubbed his head and looked up at Katherine with a furious look on her face.
"Listen pip-squeak. If you wanna get out of here alive you'll follow me and do what I say. I'm going to be the leader of this little band. I'm pretty sure I know more about this place than the both of you, so I'm your best bet for survival. Just do as I say and you might stay alive alright?"
Samuel stood up still rubbing his head. "So why'd you stop me from going through the door? We're all going through right?"
"Yeah. But we'd be following you. In the amount of time I've known you I think I'd rather take my chances in outer space."
With a sore head and a busted ego, Samuel watched with wide eyes as Katherine turned the doorknob and opened the door. What appeared beyond the door was an ocean. A beautiful ocean. The sun was out, the sand was white. The water was clear and sparkling. They could smell the fresh water. They could hear birds flying and the large waves of the ocean. They could smell the fresh air. It looked just like one of those beaches in Miami, Florida. One so beautiful that the only way you could see it was on the television in your living room.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" yelled a victorious Katherine as she bolted through the door. She could already imagine getting out of her clothing. She'd have to knock out Samuel. Guy was probably a pervert. But she'd worry about that later. After she had washed herself in the crystal clear--
Suddenly, the ground Katherine was walking on ended. If she hadn't looked down at the last second, her body would've plummeted down toward the beach below them. All that was holding her on the thin ledge were the five toes on her right foot.
"Katherine!" yelled Samuel. "Don't move!"
"No s**t, Sherlock!" Katherine thought as she tried to balance herself on the ledge. Gently, ever so gently, she tried to place her left foot behind her. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could walk backwards off the ledge before it gave way under her weight. But the moment her left foot make contact with the rock, it cracked loudly. Katherine's body wobbled from shock. She almost fell off. Trying to balance herself she realized that there was no way she was going to get out of this alive. If she tried that stunt again, she wouldn't make it.
She was going to die...
"Hold on Katherine! We're coming for you!" yelled Sam. Reiko was holding tightly to his arm as he extended his body towards Katherine, his arm reaching as far as it could go. They were her only chance. But he wished that there was a vine or something to--
The ledge snapped again. Katherine fell on her back onto the thin ledge, her arms flailing, her body beginning to roll off the side. Samuel said "Screw it!" and leaped towards her, grabbing one of her flailing arms, just as the ledge gave way and plummeted towards the beach, a good 200 feet below the Earth that held them.
Slowly but surely, Samuel and Reiko began pulling Katherine up. When her knees touched terra firma, she began to cry thanking the stars she was alive. With watered eyes she looked at the two who had saved her life and said with a trembling voice, "Thank you.."
"You're welcome..." Reiko said softly.
"Yeah. Don't mention it. We do this sort of thing all the time." chuckled Samuel completely winded. That made Katherine giggle a little, but her body hadn't stopped trembling yet. And it wouldn't stop for quite a while, because behind them were three ferocious looking beasts: A giant blue lizard standing on two legs, a humungous eagle with bull horns, and a white cat with the build of a cheetah. The six beings stared at each other long enough for the children to be scared stiffless.
Katherine looked to the foilage on her left and whispered to Sam and Reiko, "When I say go, follow me into the forest. We might be able to--"
"Don't try to run away," bellowed the eagle monster. "You wouldn't gain a yard. Besides we aren't here to hurt you. Just to warn you. Leave the Digital World and go back to wherever you came from or you will be destroyed."
to be continued...