They stood outside the school building on a Saturday.
It was a classic brick facade. They knew the building quite well after so many years attending class there. Wendy was just about to graduate to high school from the eighth grade. John was in sixth. Michael was still not in middle school, and had only visited his future place of learning with his brother and sister when their parents made him come along to pick them up.
Either way, it was odd and a bit unnerving to be standing there now.
"Suppose we could just knock?" John suggested. "Or ring the doorbell?"
"I think that might be our only option," said Wendy. "The cleaning crew should be inside. Come on." She led them across the street, which was not busy given the day and hour.
The three of them climbed the steps to the front door, which was situated between two Roman-style pillars. Wendy hesitated before pressing the small button to the side of the door.
She stood back, smoothing her hair, which was tied back in a loose bun, the best she could manage having gotten ready so quickly. She wore jeans and t-shirt with a floral pattern under her leather jacket, feeling out of place not wearing her uniform. She looked over her shoulder at her brothers. John had, as always, worn a polo shirt under his jacket, always looking at least somewhat formal. Michael had on a hoodie.
After a long moment, it became clear there would be no answer.
Wendy tried the door.
"Wendy-" John started.
It opened inward, startling them all.
Cupimon peered out from Wendy's jacket pocket.
"It opened" the Digimon screeched.
"Yes I can see that," she said, looking around for passersby. "Stay hidden."
Wendy took a step back, peering up at the windows to the upper floors. "I have a bad feeling about this."
John shrugged. "We're here Now, I guess."
Michael's brow furrowed. "I'm scared."
"It's okay, Mikey-boy." John assured him. "We're here. There's nothing to worry about."
He took his brother's hand as Wendy led them inside.
The halls were desolate.
"Hello?" Called Wendy.
No lights were on. The lockers lined the walls, as dull and gray as ever. The polished red stripe painted on the floor shone in the overcast light, taking on a new and foreboding meaning.
The corridor leading from the entrance seemed...longer than usual.
"The computer lab's upstairs." Wendy reminded.
John and Michael nodded.
They made their way along the corridor. No one was in the building. It seemed normal, well-maintained. But there was something in the air. A presence. Wendy couldn't place it, but it gave her the shivers.
She reminded herself that there was a small, angelic, digital creature in her pocket, capable of who-knew-what. She reminded herself of their mission: to obtain this 'Digivice' it spoke of, to help Cupimon grow further so they could save the lost children in the Digital World.
To prevent whatever-it-was from happening to their world.
They reached the stairwell. Wendy opened the door, and they snuck in, tiptoeing upstairs as quick as possible. Upon emerging onto the second floor, they felt a chill in the air.
A shadow moved on the wall.
"What was that?!" Michael said.
"There's something here!" John whispered.
Cupimon once again emerged. "They're here..."
Wendy's eyes widened. "Who's here?!"
Cupimon floated out into the open, flitting like a hummingbird to and fro down the hall. "They've tracked you! That must mean it's here!"
Wendy followed. "You mean the Digivice?"
"Yes!
She turned to John and Michael. "Let's go!"
John shrugged, but followed. Michael looked around, nearly shaking. John swung back around to grab his hand so they could both follow Wendy and Cupimon.
"In here!" Said Cupimon. Wendy opened the door to the computer lab.
They filed into the room, which looked normal, rows of desks on top of which sat computer monitors, a tower off to the side of each.
Wendy flicked on the light switch, illuminating the LED fixtures on the ceiling.
The room was cast in its usual stale light. But something was off. Wendy could feel it. Maybe it was because the other girls weren't here, because no one was here to make fun of the Peter Pan story and how ridiculous it all was.
A myth. A stupid warning against spending too much time alone, against accepting maturity and the insecurities that came along with it.
But no one was here today. It was quiet. She could hear the faintly buzzing static from the ceiling, the sound of artifical light.
And a swoosh nearby.
"Did you hear that?!" Wendy gasped.
They looked around nervously. Barely-visible shadows crawled up and down the walls, streaking along the ceiling. They stood out in Wendy's peripheral vision.
Cupimon's upturned face melted into a frown. "We have to find the Digivice"
Wendy glanced around the room. "Let's split up and look!"
"Right," John nodded, taking Michael's hand.
Wendy wracked her brain trying to remember which desk she and her friends had been sitting at.
She could almost hear them laughing even though they weren't there.
A boy who disappeared into his computer? How absurd!
What a loser.
It's just a story, Emily.
I know that!
What do you think, Wendy?
Hmm?
Look at her, she's daydreaming!
About that stupid Peter boy?
Aww. She's in love with a fictional nerd!
I am not!
Wendy snapped out of it. Her heart was racing.
She felt something in her pocket.
Slowly, she reached her hand in, feeling something metallic.
She brought it up to her face. A star-shaped silver gadget with a square screen in the middle. To the left of its topmost point was a small antenna of some sort.
Cupimon buzzed in front of her.
"Wendy, that's it!"
"But...how?!" She whispered, blinking.
John dragged Michael away from the looming shadows, toward them. "Prodigious! You've found it!"
Wendy nodded, looking up from the device. "Oh no!" She cried upon seeing the shadows. "We must do something!"
Cupimon spun around.
One shadow began to arise from the checkered tile floor, manifesting into a hunched, bipedal shape.
The three children took a step back from the fiend.
"Wendy, make me digivolve!" Said Cupimon. "I know you can do it."
"Right..."
Wendy held the device to her heart, and it began to glow with a pulsating white light.
Cupimon spun in the air, glowing as well. Wendy shielded her eyes.
"Cupimon, digivolve to..."
The little cherub began to shift its shape, its limbs elongating, becoming slim humanoid arms and legs, its torso suggesting the shape of a petite young woman.
"...Tinkermon!"
The shining light faded, leaving the computer room in its usual garish tint.
The three children lowered their arms from their faces, turning their heads in awe toward their new companion.
"Whoa!" Said Michael.
"Amazing!" John exclaimed. "It...she? She changed form!"
"Tinkermon..." Wendy said.
The Digimon turned toward them, grinning mischievously. "That's right! I'm a fairy Digimon who serves the Pan of the Digital World! I attack with my pixie dust, showering my enemies with powder that surrounds them with nightmare illusions!"
John looked back and forth between the fairy and the myriad of shades arising from the floor. "I'd say we're already surrounded by nightmares now!"
The pixie spun around. Clad in a scanty outfit consisting of a sparse tank top, short shorts, and surprisingly heavy-duty travel boots, she brandished a spear out of thin air, a simple pole arm with a triple-serrated tip.
"Yikes!" Michael yelped.
Wendy couldn't help but admire the oversized bowtie atop her blonde hair, and the heart tattoo on her left thigh, which had an arrow through it.
What a punk, Wendy thought.
The shadows had grown in number, a legion of them climbing over the desks, amphibian-like, hopping over walls, fading in-and-out of reality like static.
"Careful!" Said Tinkermon, holding out her spear toward them, keeping them at bay like a shepherd performing crowd control. "They're servants from the Dark Ocean!"
"The...Dark Ocean...?"
Wendy felt like she had heard of such a place before. Perhaps had even been there.
She felt it in her heart.
The shades came closer, cackling.
One of them pounced.
"Look out!" Cried Wendy.
Tinkermon smirked. She spun her spear in the air. "Nightmare Powder!"
Motes of dust flew out from the whirlwind of her weapon, and she flew in circles, her wings beating batlike.
The shadow-creatures recoiled, some of them screeching, webbed paws attempting to shield their bulging eyes.
"Grrraaaargh!"
Tinkermon backed up across the computer lab, as far as she could go toward the window. She knelt forward in the air, spear forward, ready lunge.
Wendy looked over her shoulder. "Get them!" She cried.
"Right," affirmed the Digimon. "Pixie Lance!"
Like a bolt of lightning, she ran through all the shades.
And with one unified screech, they dissipated, flickering out, and were gone.