A long legged thin male slowly crept along a small cliff edge sand spewing from his socks from when he had awoken up to his stick like knees in the golden substance. At fifteen years of age he was the oldest of the children thus felt responsible for the group even if half the time he was the most scared including that of the youngest members TK and Kari. He'd always been somewhat overly careful ever since he was little his parents always telling him to be prepared at all times to be smart and that if he wasn't bad things could happen to him. He supposed it was his childhood friends accident that made him the most frightened. Joe had been around seven while his friend was eight. The two of them had been playing in the front of their house by a main road. They'd began with harmless dares at first such as running around the house on their knees or seeing how quickly they could say the alphabet yet the last was crossing the road without looking. Joe offered to go first which if he repeated the story at his current age no one would believe yet his friend charged off. He didn't even slow as a vehicle struck his friend. The doctors said his death was instant but Joe found himself lost within a nightmare of panic and fear. Never would he allow himself nor the ones he cared about to be in danger ever again. He'd felt responsible and if truth be told he still did even eight years later. Not that he would ever admit it of course.
He came to a stop as a small grey object laid on the ground in front of him seemingly having died from some unknown cause. It had a small orange streak of what Joe assumed was hair at the tip of it's head with two flippers resting underneath it s body. Joe though nervous lowered himself down to one knee his curiosity taken over as he attempted to get a closer look at the creature which he had never seen in his life. He'd studied a few text books on animal life and it seemed to be an aquatic life form with the only thing he could remotely compare it to being a miniature seal. Marine life with hair however was new he thought to himself absentmindedly thinking of a great white shark with a surfers blonde locks.
Unbeknown to Joe the creature lifted it's head ever so slightly to observe him watching with a glee and a cheeky grin that resembled that of a two year old about to cause absolute mischief. At first it moved slowly creeping forward once Joe's back was turned. With a sudden burst of the energy it jumped into the air tapping Joe twice on the shoulder with its flipper while exhaling a laugh. In response Joe screamed, dropped to the floor and retreated backwards by surfing on his backside not wanting to take his eyes off of the creature whose outburst caused it to hold it's chest as it's stomach shifted with each laugh as if mimicking Santa.
The fifteen year old's first thought he was dreaming yet when he pinched his skin between his nails on his wrist all the resulted what a bruised mark of agony. His second thought was of a similar fashion to what he had assumed when the group had found the digivices. Aliens. Joe remembered stories of alien abductions and was sure that there was a type known as greys which were small creatures with large eyes. It didn't match the complete description of an extra terrestrial having flippers and not being humanoid but still there was enough to make him wonder. Startled Joe continued to move backwards even with the creature remaining still. To make matters worse he was pretty sure it rolled his eyes at him.
"C'mon Joe relax. You need to smile more. Your get wrinkles." the creature spoke sticking it's tongue out. "I'm Bukamon."
"It talked." he said repeating the phrase a few times as if to come to terms with it.
"I'm a he not an it."
"Stay back." he yelled trying to push his chest out to make himself seem more of a threat.
Neither of them said another word as seven other children came bursting into view followed by their seven digimon much to Joe's confusion. He over looked the creatures taking note of their seemingly strange designs wondering if his alien theory held up when presented with creatures that included a couple who looked like heads, a pink bird and a dog wearing a golden collar among others. He felt his head get cloudy as his limbs got weaker feeling himself becoming faint. His attention was drawn to Matt who knelt down beside him asking him if he was okay with Joe at first beginning to answer until he saw Matt too had one of the creatures in his arm. Screaming again Joe went to run even further away much to Bukamon's amusement.
"Why did I get the crazy one?" he asked with a wink to his partner.
"I'm not crazy. All of you are. What are these things?"
"Digimon." Mimi exclaimed gleefully.
"I believe our digital devices had taken on an actual living form." Izzy explained. "There seems to be one for each of us. Motimon is mine."
"Tsunomon is my name human. Pleasure to meet you." said the digimon in Matt's arms in a surprising low voice while Matt simply offered a shrug at Joe's confused expression.
"I'm Tanemon and Mimi is my best friend."
"Aw Tanemon that s so sweet." she cooed after her digimon.
"Tokomon is mine." Tk explained scratching his digimons head.
"I have Koromon. He's a brave little guy." Tai told Joe grinning.
"Biyomon. Welcome friend of Sora." the pink bord spoke with a smile.
"I'm Salamon. Kari s partner."
"And I'm yours Joe. Bukamon is the name. Being handsome is the game." finished the small seal like creature having closed the gap between himself and Joe.
"This is insane." he shouted ignoring the groups reaction as they began to move away.
"Joe get back." Matt ordered through gritted teeth.
"So they can eat me. No thanks."
"We are not going to eat you." Salamon instructed offering a friendly paw.
"Yeah your all skin and bones." Bukamon laughed but soon became silent as he too saw what the others were backing away from.
"Joe get out of there." Tai told him pointing a little behind the blue haired male.
"It's going to eat him." Mimi cried covering her eyes with Tanemon copying her movement.
While he felt that it was a cruel prank to make him turn around to face thin air he did as Tai asked following the male's pointed finger which directed him to a small red shape in the sky. Joe did a double take as the strange object performed aerial maneuvers that would be impossible for something not living. With a lump in his throat the male couldn't take his eyes off of it even though all he wanted to do was tightly shut his eyes together and force himself to wake up at home in a warm bed with his study books on his desk. He came to notice that unless his eyes were playing tricks on him the red object was becoming larger also meaning that it was in fact getting closer.
Automatically taking a step back Bukamon with a determined stare stood in front of Joe facing the giant unknown object flippers poised as if awaiting to fight the incoming target. The rest of the children whom were holding their own attempted to stop their own digimon but to no avail as they quickly broke free from their grip instead coming to a rest besides Bukamon all of them tensing in some shape or form clearly getting ready to attack. Joe raised his eyebrows at his digimon whom had gone from a comical practical joker into a serious bodyguard within seconds. He couldn't t help but feel some attachment to the guy that for some reason was trying to protect him even after his initial reaction. The rest of the group besides Joe didn't t seem to react once the incoming target appeared clearer taking the form of a giant red beetle with Izzy commenting that it was known as Kuwagamon. With a vicious sounding roar that didn't t seem possible coming from an insect it landed itself at the base of the forest so that the children were forced to nervously back towards the edge of the cliff.
Koromon was the first to move shortly followed by Tokomon, Bukamon and Motimon the foursome sending a flurry of bubbles to attack while Tsunomon and Tanemon physical charged into the beast. Piyomon and Salamon stood in front of the children ready to protect them incase the attack went sour. The ranged attacks rocketed off of the champion levels armored shell which it used to redirect them at the two physical fighters Tsunomon and Tanemon whom were knocked back before being able to dodge the strike. Kuwagamon swiped it's pincers towards the smaller digimon knocking Tokomon to the ground followed by Korormon the two digimon hitting into each other as they fell. With another strike Bukamon and Motimon were picked up by the creatures thin appendages using them to squeeze the two while screeching at the rest of the group as a warning to keep away. Biyomon being unable to watch any longer flew into the air where she sent her Spiral Twister spinning into the bug like digimon while Salamon used her kinetic roar to attempt to knock her target back yet both attacks did nothing more than make it angry.
Disappointed the eight digimon regrouped at the childrens feet their bodies forming makeshift shields of their partners. Kuwagamon seemed to emit a laugh as it stepped forward it's head tossing and turning in discomfort. It's wings erupted from it's back once it decided to charge using them to propel itself quicker into the group. Joe covered his face as Bukamon jumped to protect Joe the digimon suddenly being encased in a white glow. Matt and Tsunomon meanwhile both glared in anger not wanting to go out by a giant bug causing them to be surrounded by a sapphire like shade of blue. Mimi held Tanemon in her hands the two with tears rolling down their cheeks while being illuminated in a green light. Koromon and Tai stood in a determined stance even attempting to meet the insect halfway while Koromon glowed a pumpkin orange. Motimon jumped from Izzy's arms as he glowed a purple colour Izzy trying to find the source of the light while both Sora and Kari were reminded of what happened to their digimon when being attacked by Vegimon.
"Bukamon digivolve to ..." The miniature seal broadcasted shifting into a slightly larger four legged white mammal with black claws etched into his feet and various purple markings over his body. "Gomamon."
"Tsunomon digivolve to ..." He roared changing from a horned head to that of an upright two legged fox creature with what appeared to be four arms in blue coloured fur with yellow skin underneath alongside a larger horn. "Gabumon."
"Tanemon digivolve to ..." Yelled the bulb digimon whose appearance became a humanoid plant around the size of a six year old child with green skin, a pink flower upon the top of her head and arms which seemed almost similar to the Vegimon from before. "Palmon."
"Koromon digivolve to ..." He called shapeshifting from it's previous appearance to that of a small yellow dinosaur with some similarities to that of a t-rex. "Agumon."
"Motimon digivolve to ..." Izzy's digimon added his body becoming more solid as a hard red shell was produced from his back along with four small pincers that became his arms while his head changed to that of an insect consisting of large green eyes and two orange like antenna. "Tentomon."
"They grew." Matt murmured eyebrow raised.
"Like ours did." Sora said to Kari who nodded as she looked towards her digimon.
"Oh Tanemon I love your hair."
"Really? Thanks Mimi but I'm Palmon now."
"Attack!" Agumon ordered forcing the eight digimon to race forward to attack.
"Boom Bubble." Patamon gasped sucking in air that he fired as a sphere shaped substance that struck into Kuwagamon s chest knocking him back slightly.
"Super Shocker!" buzzed Tentomon generating a surge of electricity from it's wings which dispersed as it was aimed at the giant red digimon whose pincers clapped together in response.
"Plant Shock." Palmon cried throwing her arms in the air as she generated a selection of razor like leaves which began to flurry into Kuwagamon.
"My turn. Blue Blaster." Gabumon stated in a gruff tone generating a blast of blue flame energy towards his attacker that was soon joined by a fireball that Agumon had created. "Pepper Breath."
"Marching Fishes!" Gomamon called as fish made out of water appeared around him which upon being fully formed charged into their foe.
"Sprial Twister. Puppy Howl." Biyomon and Salamon shouted repeating their own attacks to fuse with the rest of the team becoming even stronger than their single attacks which had defeated Vegimon.
Kuwagamon was unable to dodge any of the attacks due to the thick vine like undergrowth wrapped around his legs restricting his movement to nothing more than an inch step. Neither was he strong enough to combat eight rookie digimon whose attacks were fused together resulting in the bug collapsing backwards in a heap as trees broke beneath its weight. As his body hit the earth the whole ground violently shook causing a faint crack to appear around the children on the cliff edge yet thankfully did nothing else. With determined expressions the now rookie digimon returned towards their partners all of whom were both happy and slightly shocked.
Izzy instantly began to flood Tentomon with questions such as how he could generate electricity, how his form had changed, what the process was called, why light had appeared during it among others causing the insect to lift his forearms up as a mock surrender trying to answer them best he could. Piyomon and Patamon flew to their tamers whom cradled them both in their arms allowing them a few seconds of rest while Salamon nudged herself against Kari who patted her head. Gomamon stood before Joe the two awkwardly in a moment of silence before Joe thanked his new found friend whom returned the gesture with a smile and a handshake. Mimi giggled while hugging Palmon her green skinned cheeks highlighted ever so slightly with a red tint. Gabumon and Matt instantly went into a quiet conversation their words obviously only meant for each other while Agumon was picked up and spun in Tai's arms the two ecstatic of their victory.
Momentarily they were happy. Basking in their victory gave them a chance to ignore how lost they were in an unknown world where dangerous creatures roamed. They were thankful at least for their digimon whom although at first had seemed like monsters in their own right wanted nothing more than to protect them. The reasoning why of course none of the kids were sure but if they were honest they didn't care why their digimon cared just happy that they did. Happiness of course never lasted long with Kuwagamon having other ideas on his defeat once his familiar roar erupted into the area as he again opposed the group pincers clicking together in frustration. Beginning to back away the children held onto their digimon partners while they watched the gigantic ruby beetle seemingly grin as it's head declined to the small crack that appeared along the bank of the cliff from earlier. Inserting it's pincers into the crack the cliff began to shake once rocks fell from the side to the unseen valley below.
TK, Sora, Joe and Mimi cried out in fear as the shaking increased forcing themselves to drop onto their knees as if hoping that it would stabilize them. Kari pleaded with the digimon to stop though of course it did nothing of the sort while Izzy eyes wide tried to look for an escape route. Tai and Matt on the otherhand stood by their digimon who were getting ready to attack when the worst case scenario took place. They fell. The sound of a breaking cliff was indescribable especially when that same cliff was the only thing stopping a fatal drop. As the sound increased once the cliff began to fall every other noise was silent almost like their bodies were telling them that in that moment they didn't need to hear nothing but the falling of rocks. Yelling the sixteen figures felt gravity pull them downwards into the valley their stomachs heaving with the same amount of fear they'd encountered during their abduction to the digital world by the gigantic illuminated wave only hours earlier.
While the children called their digimon attempted to save them with Biyomon, Tentomon and Patamon flapping their wings at full speed to carry their partners in their grasp which worked for around six seconds until the weight became too much and they plummeted. Palmon attempted to save Mimi by using her vines to hand onto another cliff edge yet that gave way as the two climbed the cliff side forcing them to also drop. Gabumon tried to use his claws to hold onto rocks yet a falling clump of earth struck his body causing him to unwillingly release his grip. The other digimon found themselves being just as helpless only being able to watch as the valley floor became closer.
"I hate bugs." Joe grumbled Gomamon raising his brow in response.