Disclaimer: Digimon doesn�t belong to me: it belongs to Toei Animation and Akiyoshi Hongo. The Diaries Universe belongs to the great Lord Archive, who was kind enough to let me use it to make my own fan fiction. Many thanks Archive, on a second thought. Anyway, the only thing that really belongs to me is the plot and characters, so nyak, don't steal them.

" " denotes English

- - denotes Mandarin

�Ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou fou��

Inside an older, Taiwanese temple, a lone monk kneeled on the floor in front of various gold and jade idols. Chanting in Chinese, he tapped a small wooden block before him monotonously, never missing a beat. Buddha sat on the pedestal within the temple, made of solid gold and smiling amiably, while the protection goddess Kwannon stood an eternal vigil behind him.

�Ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou fou��

Cicadas cricketed and birds chirped outside, yet the bald headed man continued his mantra, not stopping or skipping a beat. Although peeling and broken down, the temple still gave an air of serenity and peace, a refuge for those seeking calm.

The monk stopped his beating and picked up the bell beside him. Raising it to eye level, he rang it, then set it down and resumed tapping the block. His eyelids opened heavily and fell upon a glass case in the center of the pedestal. Within the translucent block, the jade statuette of a man holding a fish-drum gazed back at the monk, reassuring him of safety and peace. His qualms gone, the monk resumed his chanting.

�Ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou fou, ah mi tou��

The miniature drumstick dropped and the man�s eyes half opened. He almost didn�t notice the wide, red hand tipped with sharpened fingers that pierced his chest and were now wiggling in front of him. They withdrew and the monk fell over, prone and lifeless. Blood poured freely from the five open gashes in his chest, staining the yellow robes he was wearing with crimson liquid.

Just outside of the old temple, several other monks lay in grotesque positions, many with a mixture of shock and alarm frozen within their dead faces. Large gashes hid the features of an old, bearded man, while the decapitated remains of another lay sitting on a chair. Ruby red droplets of blood flowed down the peeling, whitewash walls as the smell of rotting corpses wafted through the air.

Peals of sinister giggles seemingly floated through the air as the glass case melted away. Once the translucent substance was completely gone, the jade statuette�s soft, emerald glow was revealed. The figurine floated up slowly, then towards the outstretched red hand. Crimson claws closed around the model of the old man and its owner cackled delightfully.

-I�ll be taking this, thanks�- It purred before darkness enveloped the entity and it vanished.

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Jade Diaries � Taiwan Adventures 2003

By Raikun Tabris

Entry 1 � Back to Before

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�This blows.�

A short, scrawny Asian teenager with glasses muttered as he trudged down the streets of Tien Mu. Behind him, his black backpack slid on the ground, nearly bursting at the seams from being filled with binders, books, and various pieces of paper. �Spring break�s just over and we�re starting the stupid train project.�

�Cheer up, Winston.� A hand clapped his shoulder and Winston turned around to see the grinning face of one of his best friends, Phillip. The tanned boy picked up the bursting bag and carefully removed several books, then set the bag back down. �Sheesh, why�d you have to carry everything in your bag? Don�t you know about something called a locker?�

�I�d forget something if I put things in my locker.� Winston grumbled and shouldered his bag. Phillip handed his pale friend his various books and gave him a look. �What, what�s wrong?�

�Ah, nothing,� The Chinese boy put his hands in his pockets and followed Winston to wherever he was going. �Art and I are going to 2002 after school. Want to come with us?�

Glasses looked as if he were about to agree, then remembered something and the brown eyes became wistful. �Aw, damn. Sorry, I can�t.� Phillip looked questioningly at him and Winston quickly thought of something. �Homework. Uh, yeah, I have to redo an essay for Kirkwood.�

Although he was still suspicious of the answer, Phillip shrugged it off. �Fine. Your loss.� The two found themselves at a T intersection road and he went one way, while Winston went the other. �Bye then.�

�Bye,� The gaunt teen looked around carefully for people. He saw none and sighed dejectedly. �Being a Chosen seriously sucks sometimes.� With that, he entered the Aztec cafe.

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�Sorry I�m late.�

Inside the VIP room of the Aztec caf�, three other fatigued teens were waiting for Winston. A tall, athletic guy with wild black hair by the name of Victor, sat at a computer typing speedily. His brown eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and he rubbed them tiredly, before resuming his clicking. Though he spent much of his times outdoors playing sports, somehow, his complexion was unusually white.

Alexander, a teen with neatly cut, raven colored hair sat stretched out on the comfortable couches. In his lap was a typical chemistry textbook, through which he was flipping through slowly. Yawning loudly, he absentmindedly pushed up the sleeves of his gray sweater and printed something on his notes neatly.

The last one, Isabelle, with long flowing obsidian hair with occasional brown streaks, was writing down a note in her notebook with multi colored pens while sitting cross legged on a computer table. Bright, lively colors adorned her nails and a matching moon necklace and earrings served as decoration. Strangely, sapphire colored eyes took the place of the typical Asian brown ones upon her face.

�Took long enough,� Isabelle replied without looking up. She messily colored in a few more flashy, neon letters, and then gave Winston a look. �What held you up?�

�Ugh, teachers. Professor Pirer wanted to know why I missed my last three homework assignments.� The bespectacled youngster dragged his bag the booth he shared with his friends and plopped himself onto a couch. �What the hell am I supposed to do? Tell him I�m going around Taiwan saving the world?�

�Not like you could tell him that portals have been opening up sporadically.� Alexander sighed and closed the chemistry textbook with a loud �thump�. His chair swiveled around and he looked at Victor, who was engrossed in a Legend of Zelda based text based RPG. �Anything new, Vic?�

�Nuthin� much.� The wild haired teen replied offhandedly as his wide, brown eyes scanned the computer monitor. �There�s nothing that really connects Hualien, Ilan, and Kaoshiung other than that fact they�re all Taiwan cities.� He mumbled something about �skull tons and pigeon� before resuming his typing. �Unless you count that robbery last night important.�

�Eww, you mean the bloody temple on the news last night?� Isabelle replied and made a face. Pulling a comb from her hot pink bag, she combed her hair carefully. �That�s super gross. Who would kill all those monks just to get a jade statue?�

�Probably someone who wanted to become a god.� Everyone looked at Victor and he shrugged. �Not my fault my brother rented Double Vision yesterday.�

�We should just consult with Babamon and keep up the searching. There�s got to be a reason why portals have been opening up in random places.� Their �leader� Alexander rubbed his chin furiously. �Portals don�t open up for no reason.�

�You guys want anything to drink?� The teens turned to see Justin, Isabelle�s brother and owner of Aztec, nearby with a tab and pen in his hands. �Coke? Sprite? Usual?�

�We could all do with some caffeine.� Isabelle chirped cheerfully, not sounding a single bit tired. �Two Iced Teas, One Coke, and One Diet Sprite for me.� She flashed a sweet smile to her brother.

�Right on it, Sis,� The tall man scribbled something on the tab and walked away, leaving the Chosen to talk amongst themselves. He returned soon with drinks and left them on the table. �Pay at the counter, as usual.�

Winston gave the long haired girl a look. �Caffeine. Great. I�m sure that�ll stop the portals from opening,� He quipped dryly as he picked up his beverage.

�At least they�ll help you lose that grumpy mood you�re in.� Isabelle beamed sweetly as she sipped her Diet Sprite. The teen grumbled and she giggled.

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Taipei is a busy city, rivaling Japan and Hong Kong in population per acre. There�s always a shop open and there are always people doing something, even at 3 AM in the morning. Whether it was someone yelling out his discount on boiled tempura, or the ding of the door of a convenience store opening, or the radio of an old man playing crackled music, Taiwan never slept.

That�s what Witchmon loved about the place. It never died down or became boring. Someone was always awake and a person awake meant another person she could scare. The sorceress giggled at that thought and flew faster through the streets of Tien Mu, stopping atop an intersection.

The jade statuette of the fish-drum bearing Zhang Guo Lao pulsed faintly with emerald light. Witchmon�s long claws closed around them and she whispered the secret magical words of Witchelny. Magic focused into her palm and the ornament vanished into nothing.

-Now what was it she wanted me to do�?- The magical digimon questioned aloud. Her black cat, Luna, purred contentedly as Witchmon counted her errands on her long, slender fingers. -Ah yes. Open another portal. Of course.-

A gleam of the pleasure in disruption filled her eyes as she watched several people crossed the streets. Kids laughed in delight from the freedom of being out of school. Adults walked by silently, immersed deep in thought. Several community bulletin boards were swathed in ads for apartments and requests for English tutors, most of them torn up and dirty. Street vendors hawked loudly about their discounts and wide eyed little kids watched with wonder at the sugar coated strawberries and tomatoes.

She raised her hand palm up and closed her eyes. Crimson lipstick coated lips moved silently as mystical energy coursed through the witch and she evoked the power within her digicore. Her sapphire eyes opened and she uttered one word.

-Open.-

Strangely, the air above the Shi Dong Traditional Market began shimmering. Mist seeped through a small hole, though it was a sunny day. Several people were confused as their cell phones and PDAs flickered and malfunctioned. Some swore loudly in Chinese.

Electricity crackled around the air and an enormous, flaming pig dropped through it. It looked around, puzzled, and began roaring in anger. The portal coursed with electricity again and a golden haired ape dropped through it. Hanumon screeched loudly as Boarmon charged at him and attempted to ram the ape into the marketplace. Lastly, an onyx colored black wolf crashed through the portal. The viral Garurumon growled before joining in with the fighting. Electricity weakly pulsed through the small hole before closing completely.

Screams filled the air as people ran away from the dueling monsters. Cars backed up and slammed into bumpers when they tried to escape the mess. In other words, chaos was present and kickin�.

Cackling with relish, Witchmon mounted her broom and put Luna on her shoulder. Cloaking herself with magic, the witch digimon waited for one of the Chosen to come. She giggled madly and Luna meowed. -This will be fun�-

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It was a rather strange sight to see Victor and his partner, the child sized Kotemon, walking on the streets. Thankfully, the kendo digimon passed off as a kid in a costume, so nobody really noticed him. The pale teen nursed a sore arm as the two limped their way home.

�Damn, Farmer�s volleyball training is going to kill me some day.� Victor groaned as the sore muscle pulsed with a fresh stab of pain. He shifted his bag from his left hand to the right, wincing slightly. If possible, he seemed even more pale than usual.

Kotemon sighed and held his hands palms up. �Your fault for not listening to me about stretching before exercise. He twisted his head to the side and a loud �CRICK� emitted from the child�s neck.�

�Yeah, that came all too late.� The human cricked his head to the side and sighed when he heard a loud clicking noise. Checking his watch, he saw it was almost five in the afternoon and his apartment building was just a few steps ahead. �Ah, a cold shower and some chips will do after crappy practice.�

The gods of irony decided at that moment to make Victor�s sea blue D3 begin beeping madly. Victor groaned and dropped his bag inside the lobby. Kotemon looked up curiously as his partner checked his digivice. �What is it?�

The teen�s eyebrows raised slightly. �Aww, crap. One, two, three digimon have just emerged from a portal! Dammit! There goes taking a shower and getting homework done on time.� Taking off in the portal�s direction, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialed in Winston�s number.

-Hello?-

�Winston, get your laptop and contact Alexander and Isabelle. Three digimon just emerged at Tien Mu market.� Victor said quickly and smoothly, before hanging up and shoving the phone back into his pocket. �Come on, Kotemon, we need to get there ASAP! Those digimon could be destroying my favorite tempura store!�

�Huff, huff, wait up!� The little blue digimon ran as fast as he could to keep up with his partner. His cobalt colored sleeves flapped in the wind as he struggled to follow Victor.

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With Jay Chou wafting through his room, Alexander read from his chemistry book while typing up notes on his computer. Even without looking, he knew the words were typed in perfectly and in a format that would serve well during finals. After all, he'd been taught and trained by the best tutors of Taiwan to do so. �Density is the amount of mass in a set volume��

Patamon munched a cookie on his partner�s enormous queen sized bed and read from the latest Newsweek. He �hmmm�ed at something and shoved the entire Oreo into his wide open mouth. The bat pig reached to the side and picked up another black cookie and began devouring it as well.

Simultaneously, Alexander�s leaf green D3 began rapidly beeping as an MSN instant message popped up on the teen�s computer monitor. The little mammal hopped over and read it. �Alex, another portal opened.�

�I know, three digimon. Winston just messaged me.� The raven haired teen sighed, backed off his computer and opened his door. -Mother, I'm going out for an errand. I'll be right back.-

-Don�t stay out for more than an hour! It�s not safe out there!- came the distant reply of a woman busy with work. Classical music wavered through the air from a faraway room. Even though the Tsao family lived in an apartment, they had bought out an entire floor to themselves. Quite extravagant for only four people, but the money was to be flaunted, according to Chinese culture.

-I know, Mother.- Alexander sighed at his mother�s lack of concern. The teen walked over to his bed and lifted up Patamon in both hands. Opening his balcony window, he set his partner on the ledge and shoved his phone and D3 into the many pockets of his khakis. �Come on, we need to hurry.�

�Not like we have a choice,� The orange digimon reminded as he flapped his bat-like wings out into the outside and looked around carefully. Light shrouded Patamon in the form of a pillar. �Patamon evolve!� The radiance exploded as the little bat pig grew in size, revealing a winged unicorn. �Unimon!�

Carefully, Alexander climbed over the balcony and onto his digimon�s bare back. �Winston�s apartment, pronto!�

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�Fox Fire!�

Garurumon growled and spat out azure flames at the underwear-clad mannequins of the nearby lingerie shop, setting them ablaze with blue fire and causing their owner to shriek in protest. The little kendo digimon of Kotemon leapt forth to stop the virus digimon, but had to back flip into a car to dodge Hanumon�s Bone Club. Screeching loudly, the ape smashed the steel cart of a street vendor and turned his attention to Garurumon. "Trying to calm them down is evidently beyond reason here. I'm going to need sufficient power.�

The tallest of the chosen nodded and raised his aquamarine D3 high. Though the device itself was small, magnificent light of enormous radiance shone through the small window. �Go for it!�

�Kotemon evolve!� The same light engulfed the small digimon as the wolf and ape wrestled with each other. The glow vanished and a masked, dragon-like man wielding dual kendo sticks took his place. �Yashamon!�

Immediately, the warrior digimon leapt into the fray in hopes of separating the two wild creatures and smashed both of them with his shockwave attack, Guardian Knot. Both animals were sent flying into a nearby bakery and shattered the glass windows. Yashamon sweatdropped. �I didn't mean for that to happen.�

�Careful, Floramon!� Isabelle bit her lip as her partner screamed and darted away from Boarmon�s Nose Blaster, a high temperature blast of air. �Don�t hurt him, but don't get hurt. �

�Don�t hurt him?� The flower digimon cried incredulously, dodging another air blast, which instead, obliterated what was left of the bakery. She doused the Courage armor with allergy pollen and was rammed into a bank building. �He�s going to kill me if I don�t hurt him somehow!�

The long haired girl hesitantly frowned, then nodded. Instantly, light surrounded the plant digimon, blinding the boar and causing it to back off and shield its eyes. �Floramon evolve!� Traditional Japanese music filled the air as a woman dressed in pink dancer�s clothing, a white mask, and had flowers for hands took the child�s place. �Kabukimon!�

�Cherry Blossom Storm!� She brought both hands towards the still stunned Boarmon. Turning black, razor sharp cherry blossoms flew out at the pig. The beast screeched in pain as several of them flew around him, scratching at his whole body. The boar snorted off enormous breaths of heated air, which Kabukimon nimbly rolled to the side to dodge.

The viral wolf howled in anger as the swordsman of purity bound its body with superior puppet master skills. Breaking away from his opponent�s invisible strings, Garurumon growled and leapt towards the fighter, biting hard into the dragon man�s shoulder. Instantly, ice coated the Yashamon�s right shoulder, causing the warrior to angrily fling the lupine to the side with a quick kendo stick smash, knocking the digimon out.

Hiding in the shadows, Hanumon took this moment to strike the temporarily weakened sword master. Its bone club collided with the back of Yashamon�s head with a loud, sickening crunch. The adult collapsed to his knees and reverted to the miniscule Kotemon. Raising his bone club high, the beastial ape prepared to give the finishing blow.

�Hagurumon evolve! Tankmon!�

Three falling gears shimmered with light as they fell to the ground, forming what looked like a psychotic tank cyborg. His guns whirring rapidly, Tankmon riddled Hanumon with digital bullets before he could delete his ally, even if he didn't exactly like Kotemon. The artificial simian screamed in agony and dropped his club while falling to the ground.

�Late, again, huh. What�s up with that?� Victor remarked dryly to the landing Unimon with two teens upon his back, feigning calm by folding his hands across his chest. The unicorn�s white wings flapped majestically as the adult flew close to the ground. Alexander leaned low on his partner and scooped up the unconscious Kotemon. Unimon landed nearby Isabelle and Victor and his partner handed the little digimon back to Victor. Both teens dismounted the flying digimon to allow him into battle. �Better than not at all. Why am I always late for these kind of things?�

"I'm not sure. Maybe the portals just like us better." Isabelle frowned as Boarmon blindly rammed at the deadly kabuki, smashing himself into a bulletin board instead. Tankmon wheeled in and blew the fiery boar high into the air, after which Unimon kicked him back down with a well placed kick. The berserk armor digimon crashed into a ground with a resounding boom, causing a miniature crater in the middle of the intersection �We�d better send them back soon. You brought the laptop, right?�

�No, I didn�t.� Winston snorted and rolled his eyes. He pointed at the laptop in his hands. �What do you think?�

�We don�t need sarcasm now, Win,� Alexander reminded while leaning over and checking the unconscious digimon. Several bruises lined the lupine�s body, while several bullet holes riddled Hanumon�s body. Clouds of smoke still obscured Boarmon from vision. �Ouch. These guys are in for some major hurt when they wake up.�

�It's my turn now. I never get to do this.� Whipping out her bright pink D3, Isabelle pointed it at the opened laptop in Winston�s arms. -Digimon World Gate Open!-

The Digital Gate program popped up suddenly in the black laptop and the screen burned with light. Radiance surrounded the three comatose digimon and they were soon sucked into the screen. Kabukimon, Unimon, and Tankmon moved towards their partners and glowed with light, devolving back into Floramon, Patamon, and Hagurumon.

�And we better be making our exit, before the cops find us here,� Victor reminded as the blare of police cars neared. The others nodded and went their separate directions.

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Still invisible to all eyes, Witchmon and her black cat giggled with girlish glee as they watched the Chosen went their separate ways. Luna floated upwards and spun around in mid air, closing her eyes in luxury.

Don�t forget your mission, wench. A deep, dark, feminine voice resounded in the witch�s head. Open a few more portals before obtaining the next target.

All glee vanished from the mage�s face. She nodded in mid air and whispered, -Yes, mistress,- emphasizing the second word. Wind blew by harshly over the wrecked marketplace and Witchmon was gone.

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Around a pit of eerily green flame, six figures stood motionless as they stared into the emerald fire.

-It�s happening� just as the scriptures said.- One figure, who seemed to be ablaze himself, stepped forward and waved a hand through the fire. He caught a handful of the fire. -We will all be in danger.-

-There is nothing to be done about it.- Another larger shadow stepped forth, rotound and bellowing. -We know the future and have paid the price in doing so.-

A third figure, hunched over on all fours, peered into the viridian flames, his eyes glittering. -And what of the children?-

-We do nothing.-

Author�s Notes:

Whew, my first Diaries entry! Took long enough, thanks to high school homework. Thanks goes to Lord Archive for letting me do this series, as well as proof reading, and my proof reading friends.