Digimon Story: Fighting Spirit
Chapter One: Birth of a Fighter
Inside the Central Hospital in Tokyo, Japan, a pained feminine scream can be heard echoing throughout the halls, leading to a particular room within the birthing center. Inside, a woman with long, blonde hair was laid up in a hospital bed, breathing heavily from her attempt to birth her child.
"Again!" One of the nurses urged.
The woman tried pushing again.
"You're almost there, Kyoko-chan!" The nurse said.
Taking a deep breath, she then gave one last push, and out from under the gown, the baby was born.
"Great!" The second nurse declare, cutting the umbilical cord. "It's a boy!"
The nurse frowned, however, noticing the baby not moving or even breathing, the two nurses exchanging concerned looks before an elderly man barged in.
"Kyo-chan!" He said, rushing to Kyoko's side. "I came as soon as I heard, am I late?"
Kyoko looked up at her father figure, Goro Matayoshi, and smiled a bit, but frowned upon looking at her still newborn.
"It seems he didn't make it." Matayoshi said with a sigh, removing his hat. "I'm sorry, Kyo-chan."
Kyoko didn't say a word, at least until she raised her hands and calmly said, "Give him here."
Carefully, the nurse placed the newborn in Kyoko's arms, the blonde woman looking at the child, Matayoshi watching with curious eyes.
"You are a Kuremi." She gently whispered into the infant's ear. "You are a fighter. So, FIGHT!"
Hearing his mother's words, the infant seemed o move a bit and after a while…he breathed and cried out loud!
"Listen to him!" Kyoko said happily with a smile. "A fine set of lungs!"
"That's great!" The older man smiled. "And have you decided on a name?"
"I have." Kyoko nodded, smiling warmly at her newborn. "His name will be Akihiko; my little fighter."
Ten years later…
Young Akihiko Kuremi wandered around the EDEN cyberspace, looking around in awe at his surroundings; the blueness of the cyberspace looking like a vast ocean he could get swept up in. He had been looking forward to this for the longest time, hearing the tales of other people going into this cyberspace, meeting various people around the world. Kyoko strictly prohibited him from ever going until he was old enough, but now that he was finally here, it made the wait all the more worth it.
Akihiko had short blonde hair like his mother, a pair of piercing emerald eyes, tanned skin, and wore a red shirt with brown pants and white shoes.
Looking around a bit more, Akihiko walked down the given path, before soon arriving at Galacta Park, where there laid several rundown or rusted objects; a giant, torn up bear, a swing set, a slide and other things.
Taking in his surroundings, Akihiko made to approach one of the items, when he heard a voice.
"You new here?"
Jumping slightly, he turned to see that he wasn't alone. Before him stood a young girl about the same age as him, with brown hair that reached her shoulders, a pair of light blue eyes, light skin, and wore a black shirt along with blue jean shorts and red shoes.
"Hi there!" The girl greeted with a smile. "Nice to meet you! Liking what you see so far?"
His surprise quickly fading, Akihiko quickly nodded, "Yeah, it's awesome! I've waited so long to see it for myself!"
"If you want, I can show you more." The girl said. "There's a lot more to EDEN if you look deeper."
"Really?" Akihiko said with excitement.
"Yup!" The girl nodded. "Oh, I'm Fei Wong, by the way. What's your name?"
"Akihiko Kuremi!" The blonde boy declared. "Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise." Fei nodded. "Now, follow me to Kowloon. You're gonna love this!"
Sticking close, Akihiko followed his new friend down the path, deeper into Kowloon.
"There's more to EDEN than you think." Fei said. "Have you heard about Digimon?"
"A little, yeah." Akihiko said. "Aren't they programs used by hackers?"
"To an extent, yeah." Fei nodded. "And with a bit of practice, so can you."
"I don't know…" Akihiko frowned, unsure. "My mom said that most hackers are bad guys."
"Most of them." Fei repeated. "Meaning not all of them, but a large majority."
Akihiko still seemed unsure, but Fei went on, "Check it!"
Looking up, the blonde boy saw what appeared to be a bipedal blue Akita dog approach. The creature in question had a black nose and claws, yellow eyes, a white belly and mane, and white tail tip, feet tips, snout, inner ears, and a yellow cross-shaped mark in the forehead. It wore a red bandana, white bandages on its arms, and red and black boxing gloves on its hands.
"Akihiko, this is a Digimon, short for Digital Monster." Fei explained, gesturing to the dog creature. "This is Gaomon."
"Hello there!" Gaomon greeted.
"It talks?!" Akihiko gasped.
"They can, but a large majority of them are feral." Fei said. "And with a partner Digimon, you can traverse around Kowloon without worry!"
Akihiko thought about this for a bit; traveling with a companion around Eden would be nice, not to mention it would keep his mother from worrying too much whenever he enters the cyberspace.
Speaking of which, his digivice went off, the call opening up to reveal his mother on the monitor.
"Enjoying EDEN so far?" Kyoko asked.
"Mom, it's amazing!" Akihiko declared with a smile. "I've even made a new friend and met a Digimon!"
"Is that so?" Kyoko frowned for a moment, before her lips curled upward in a smile. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying your time, but it's time to log out."
"Aww, do I have to?" The boy pouted.
"I'm afraid so." Kyoko nodded. "Spending too much time in the cyberspace can have serious effects on the human mind, I thought you this, remember?"
"Oookaaay." Akihiko sighed, before turning to Fei. "Sorry, but I gotta go."
"Don't sweat it." Fei waved it off. "We can pick this up later!"
Nodding, Akihiko left, waving back to his new friends.
"What's a mom?" Gaomon asked, looking up at the girl.
"Someone you love very much." Fei shrugged.
A few weeks later…
Akihiko ran through Kowloon, angry tears in his eyes as he didn't even look back. He had just stormed away from a terrible argument he had with his mother, who was constantly lecturing him about the people he was meeting online, specifically that Wei girl he was constantly meeting with, a member of the well-known hacker group, Zaxon. Who was she to decide who Akihiko could speak with or be friends with? As far as he was concerned, she had no right to dictate how he lived his life!
Soon, he stopped running, slowing into a walk, before leaning against a wall and sliding down into a seated position, hugging his knees against his chest, tears streaming down his face.
'Stupid mom,' he thought bitterly. 'She doesn't get it.'
At the login site, Kyoko entered the area, looking around the area.
"Damnit, where could he have gone?" She mumbled.
Her digivice went off, the monitor showing her friend, Mirei Mikagura.
"Any sign of him?" Mirei asked.
"Not yet." Kyoko sighed. "He must've run deeper inside."
"You better find him quick." Mirei warned. "Reports have been popping up about hackers roaming around, as well as those damn Eaters."
Nodding, Kyoko then frowned, "Do you think I was pushing too much?"
"You were only expressing concern for him, Kyo-chan." Mirei said. "He's still young and doesn't understand the dangers of EDEN."
"I know, but I can't help but think otherwise." Kyoko sighed. "I feel like I'm failing as a mother…"
"Don't say that." Mirei said. "Just find him and we'll properly talk about this."
"Right." Kyoko nodded, before proceeding further, unaware that she was being watched from a distance.
Back with Akihiko, the blonde boy wandered further into Kowloon, alone in his thoughts.
'Was I…wrong?' He asked himself, feeling regret.
Before he could ponder further, a golden gateway opened before him, and out from said portal appeared what looked like a creature he had never seen before, taking on the shape of a chambered nautilus, colored in black and white stripes and having a yellow core as some sort of eye.
Shocked at the approaching creature, Akihiko turned and ran as fast as he could, not daring to look back, and after running some distance, he saw his mother.
"MOM!" He screamed, running straight for her and gaining her attention.
"Akihiko!" She exclaimed, getting to one knee and catching her son in a hug.
"Mom, I'm sorry!" Akihiko quickly said. "I never should have said things so stupid!"
"Please don't apologize, my little fighter." Kyoko said, gently rubbing her son's head. "I wasn't clear enough and I shouldn't have-"
Before she could say more, she immediately took notice of the nautilus looking creature appear, as if it had been invisible this whole time, as it then raised a tendril to attack.
"LOOK OUT!"
With that scream, she threw Akihiko aside, the tendril hitting her clear in the back, causing her to scream in pain.
"MOM!" Akihiko screamed in shock, rushing to his mother's side, her form glitching in and out.
"Ak-Aki-hiko…" Kyoko weakly said, bringing a hand to her sons' cheek. "Stay…strong…my little fighter."
She then closed her eyes, and she stopped moving.
Akihiko didn't move, his eyes glued to his mother's unconscious body, and he felt at fault for this.
He just sat there, crying out in anguish, even as the creature approached, raising a tendril to attack…
"DOUBLE BACKHAND!"
Suddenly, a whirlwind of punches pushed the creature back, Akihiko looking up in confusion to see Gaomon standing in front of him, facing the creature in a boxer stance.
"It's you…" He said, recognizing the Digimon.
"Don't worry, I've got you covered!" Gaomon declared bravely.
"By yourself?!" Akihiko said, worried for the Digimon.
"Not alone!"
Looking over, the blonde boy saw three more Digimon run over, both standing beside Gaomon in defense of the boy. One looked like a small lion cub with red fur and yellow fur on its chest, and a headband wrapped around its head, shooting out flames. The other looked like a large white rabbit with large rabbit ears, wearing a medal with a crescent moon connected by pink ribbons.
"Coronamon, Lunamon!" Gaomon declared, his Digimon friends at his side. "Glad you could make it!"
"Let's take this freak down!" Coronamon declared.
There trio of Digimon charged forward, attacking the creature, Coronamon releasing continuous punches with his fists heated by the power of flame. Lunamon scratched at it with claws that looked lovely at first glance but were filled with dark power.
Akihiko watched in awe, amazed by the battle unfolding before him, as Gaomon rushed in and readying a fist.
"ROLLING UPPER!"
He then jumped up, delivering a hard uppercut to the creature's eye, cracking it.
The creature cried out in pain before retreating through a portal.
The fight over, the Digimon looked over to Akihiko, the blonde boy crying over his mother's current state.
Gaomon looked at the boy, feeling his heart ache inside his chest, feeling the boy's pain.
"Hey, Gaomon," Coronamon spoke up. "That kid said something about a mom. What's that?"
Gaomon only sighed, "Someone you love very much."
A year later…
Akihiko dragged his feet through Kowloon, his sad eyes glued to the ground as he walked. A year after the incident involving his mother being attacked by an Eater, Akihiko fell into depression, feeling guilty for what happened. Even after Kyoko had apparently recovered, things were never the same. Kyoko remained completely focused on cases involving Eaters and EDEN Syndrome, barely paying any attention to her son, Akihiko feeling responsible for this shift of personality.
Going down the path, Akihiko leaned against the wall and slid down, seated and pulling his knees to his chest, wallowing in his misery, deciding to let either an Eater or a hacker kill him.
"Long time no see."
Looking up, the blonde boy saw Gaomon standing before him, looking at his with concerned eyes.
"Haven't recovered, huh?" He inquired.
"Go away." Akihiko said, looking away.
"Hey, no need to be like that." Gaomon said with a frown. "I thought we were friends."
"You don't know a thing of how I feel." Akihiko said with a shake of his head. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone important to you."
Silent, Gaomon stood beside the boy and sat next to him, "Actually, I do."
Looking over, Akihiko allowed the dog-Digimon to continue, "Before me and my friends arrived, I had a brother. We were tight knit, him and I. But then the whole shift happened, and we ended up here, and he ended up getting deleted."
Akihiko looked at him in surprise, "So yeah, I know what it's like to lose someone you love very much, but we shouldn't sit around and mope, especially when there's still something we can do!"
"What do you mean?" Akihiko asked.
"You said that she recovered, but isn't the same, right?" Gaomon asked. "Well, if we look into this, maybe we can find a way undo what happened to her and get her back to her normal self!"
Thinking for a moment, Akihiko considered this; it gave him hope, and he wanted his mother back the way she was.
"So what do you say?" Gaomon asked.
"Sure, let's team up!" Akihiko declared. "And you can bring your friends too!"
"The more the merrier!" Gaomon declared. "So, what do we do first?"
"First, we find Fei." The boy said, standing up. "I'll see if joining Zaxon can give us what we need."
And here's my newest story idea! I've been playing Digimon Cyber Sleuth, and it's my favorite Digimon game so far. And then it gave me inspiration for a story idea, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter, it was difficult deciding the partner Digimon for Akihiko, but I was able decide the right Digimon!
Edit: Yeah, I had to go back to edit a few things, like Akihiko's loadout, at first. He will still get a fourth Digimon down the line, but I felt I gave him too many Digimon. So, I hope you guys don't mind the changes!
Anyways, hope you all stay tuned for more! Reviews are greatly appreciated!