Digimon Chapter:1

Disclaimer: I don't own digimon or the characters associated with them, except for the made-up ones that are featured in this story (to my knowledge).

DIGITAL MANIFEST

KEEPERS

Chapter 1: A Little Detour…

The city had seen its fair-share of oddities over the past year. When its inhabitants say that monsters have walked among them, they meant it literally. This by no means meant that people had become numb to any strange occurrences, it just meant that they were accustomed to it enough that they were more like gawking tourists except during the occasions when things became violent, which in itself was almost as common. What was currently occurring in an isolated part of the city, close to a wooded area named after the city that it inhabited, was an event that was common, and immediately recognizable to anyone who had been around the area for more than a month.

A thick mist had risen up as the air almost seemed to tear itself apart. In comparison to other, similar occurrences, it was relatively noiseless and went, for the most part, unobserved. The mist glowed under the light of a full moon, which appeared as a silent spectator to the world's newest curiosity. The mist parted a bit, revealing five figures laying upon the ground. Their forms, obscured by the fog, did little to reveal their identities, but anyone who just happened to look in their direction would have no difficulty, if their size and shape were any indication, in believing that three of them were in no way human. As the fog drifted, one of the figures stirred and lifted itself onto its knees. A light breeze blew some of the mist away, revealing the tanned, and disheveled form of a human boy of around twelve years of age.

"Nnnngh…" Ryan groaned as he sat up, unsure as to what had just happened. He was almost positive that he was dead, but quickly changed his mind on the matter when pain gripped his back in a bear hug. SHOULD have been dead would actually be more on target, especially since after that light show he had heard the sound of stone being shattered in his vicinity which, in his experience, never heralded tidings of comfort and joy.

"Did anyone get the number of that mountain that landed on us?" Moaned a voice nearby. Sitting up, Ryan looked to see his friend Chris prop himself on one elbow and begin rubbing his forehead. Ryan mumbled something incoherently that could have been taken as a response and slowly got up. Once he had steadied himself he took a look around at his surroundings, which really wasn't much; mostly mist and what looked like asphalt. Sighing, he brushed his hair out of his eyes before he remembered…

"Richoemon!" He shouted frantically, his call quickly joined by the blonde haired boy, but for another by the name of Caramon. Turning around Ryan found the form of an orange dinosaur with black stripes and a zebra mane lying on the ground. "Richoemon," he whispered sadly. His partner, his friend, wasn't moving. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have let him digivolve. He quickly pushed down those thoughts. It wasn't his fault. Not really, but he still felt responsible for it anyway because he had let his guard down. His own digivice, the instrument that connected him with his parter, was a constant reminder of that…No! He didn't want to think about that!

"Rrrr…" The Digimon stirred. Ryan's face broke into the widest, and most relieved smile he ever wore in his life. "Richoemon!" He cried, tears forming in his eyes.

"Ryan?" The saurian asked weakly, opening his eyes. "What happened?"

"I don't know buddy," he said noticing that Chris had found his partner, Caramon, and now had the little lizard perched on his shoulder. God, they all looked like they had taken a visit to the gates of Hell and came back for a refund. He looked over at Chris to see if he could give a better answer, but he just shrugged. "Got me, dude. The last thing I remember was a pillar falling towards me followed by the world's brightest Christmas show."

Ryan sighed. "Well, at least we're out of danger for the time being."

Chris shook his head sadly. "Do you really believe that?" To be honest Ryan didn't, and Chris knew it. They were trapped in a cave-in inside an abandoned temple with about a two powerful digimon outside… Ryan froze.

Outside…

The air was cold and moist. A light breeze blew around them too. Not exactly the kind of thing you'd find inside a temple in the middle of a desert, and he highly doubted that the fog could be mistaken for dust that had been kicked up by falling debris.

Somehow I don't think that we're in Kansas anymore, Ryan thought. A huge figure obscured by the strange fog, suddenly loomed before them, but the two humans and their companions didn't shrink away. They were already long used to his size and beast like appearance, and they could sense a certain nobility within his scarred and proud form. They felt that they could trust their lives to him without hesitation, and this trust was reinforced with the knowledge that he had done so in the past without any thought for his own safety. Besides, what they had been made witness to over the past few months, a giant Lion-like warrior with a huge sword just didn't surprise them anymore.

"Hey Leomon," said Ryan with a tired grin on his face. "Glad to see that you're up and about (and still with us). Any theories as to what's going on?"

A low, contemplative growl eminated from the Lion Digimon's throat as he gazed about them. There was a sense of familiarity about their surroundings, and so felt confident in his answer, especially if the ground they were standing on was any indication. "I'd say that we're in a digital mist," Leomon said thoughtfully. "We must have bio-emerged." Leomon looked at his human companions and saw that they were utterly clueless. Even their two digimon looked as though they were having trouble deciphering what Leomon had just told them. Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to clarify the subject as both the human's digivices sounded an alarm. Ryan and Chris whipped them out with practiced ease and called up a holographic map that began scanning the surrounding area.

"Anything?" Leomon asked as his hand drifted towards his sword. The two humans shook their heads as Richoemon and Caramon looked around, testing the air with their noses.

"Nothing," Chris said. "Whatever this 'digital mist' stuff is its messing up the reader. I can't even get an accurate map."

Ryan's digivice beeped. "Hang on guys. Looks like I'm picking up some signals." He frowned. "Lots of them in fact." There looked to be close to a dozen signals closing in on their position.

"Can you tell who they are?" Chris asked.

"Just that some of them are different colors."

"Great, that's real informative."

Richoemon suddenly tensed and Caramon's tail tightened around Chris' arm. "OW! Caramon, stop it! You're cutting off the blood circu…"

"I sense digimon!" Caramon said almost hauntedly. Leomon snarled and drew his sword. Ryan looked at Richoemon grimly, and the tiger-striped dinosaur nodded and moved forward. Caramon, without anyone needing to give him a hint, jumped off his partners shoulder and joined the two digimon that had interposed themselves between the oncoming danger and the humans.

I just hope that these guys don't give us too much trouble, Ryan thought forlornly. Chris, whose digivice was now picking up the signals that were approaching them, was non-too thrilled about the odds. Especially since they were already worn out from their previous excursions.

"Um…guys?" He asked. "Maybe we should consider retreating…"

"Too late for that now," Growled Leomon as two figures could now be seen running through the mist. Leomon stepped forward and assumed a fighting stance. "THAT'S FAR ENOUGH!" He yelled. "COME ANY CLOSER AND I'LL BE FORCED TO ATTACK!"

The two figures stopped and the mists parted. Other figures were coming but now the first two were visible. One was clearly human, practically a kid in fact, sporting a blue shirt with a pair of yellow-rimmed goggles sitting on his head. The other was a digimon that looked like a large red-dinosaur with gold eyes, bat-wing like ears, and what looked like a hazard symbol emblazoned on his chest. Their eyes were wide with shock as they looked at the sword bearing lion that stood before them. Leomon, for his part was no less shocked, and Ryan and Chris soon added their own looks of surprise as their friend choked out a word, or rather…a name.

"Takato?"

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