Foreword:
I've been a fan of Digimon since the series first aired on TV and it's been very close to my heart ever since. So, I wanted to try my hand at writing a fanfic about the series.
This story is set in an alternate version of Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth but takes inspiration from the anime series and other games and has an OC human cast, except for a few guest characters from Cyber Sleuth. I'll be using the Japanese attack names and Japanese Digimon names for the most part, since it's the version I grew up with.
I hope you will enjoy this love letter to a franchice I love very dearly.
Digimon Story: Cyber Tamer
Part 1: Birth of Vanguard
Prologue
Four streaks of light race through a dark, formless void with the leading pair trying to shake off the other two. "Milord, we cannot pursue them much further!" a being glad in white light says to the other one, who is covered by blue light.
"But if we let them go now, they will reach the other side!" the blue one replies sternly and continues to pursue the beings ahead of them, who are emitting pitch-black auras.
"Those two pests are still following us." a female voice says to the other dark being, who does not seem too bothered.
"As expected of Yggdrasil, it doesn't want us to proceed beyond the Great Wall of Fire. No matter. Unlike them, we can survive the Wall. Now stay close." a cold male voice replies when suddenly, a bright yellow light passes by them.
"Foul demons, you will not escape!" the blue being declares as it closes in and fires another beam at the dark beings, who evade and continue onwards.
"Milord, the Wall!" the white being shouts as a massive, swirling wall of flames appears before them.
"I suggest you turn around now, Yggdrasil lackeys. You will be deleted if you try to follow us into the Great Wall of Fire!" the male dark being shouts at their pursuers, only to be rammed by the blue being. "Urgh!"
"Not if we delete you right here and now! Have at you!" but before the blue being can deliver another strike, the female dark being intervenes, separating them with an energy blast.
"You've interfered far enough, Royal Knight!"
"It is my duty, Demon Lord!" the blue being answers defiantly when the wall releases a huge surge of flames towards them.
"It has spotted us. Move!" the dark beings dodge the surge while the blue being gets caught in it.
"Arrrghh!"
"Milord!" the white being manages to pull their partner out of flames, only for the blue one to push them aside.
"They…they're getting away!"
"You're too injured to go on, Milord, we must head back!"
"No! It would bring dishonor to the Royal Knights if we let those two breach the Wall of Fire!"
"Milord!" however, the blue being refuses to listen and continues their pursuit, only to see the fleeing dark beings dive into the wall.
"YOU ARE NOT GETTING AWAY!" ignoring their injuries, the blue being flies after them and enters the wall, only to be swallowed by the flames. "Urgh…no…I can still…if I let them go…our worlds…will be destroyed!"
Chapter 1: It Came from the Digivice
It is the year 20XX and human society has become more connected than ever, thanks to new virtual reality metaverse called Cyberspace EDEN. It allows users to enter the metaverse mentally, through the use of a "Digivice" tool and meet people from around the world, using avatars, to the point that even international business and diplomacy is conducted through it. However, it is not a perfect system and with it, new problems have come to plague society, not least of which are hackers, who have learned to exploit EDEN very effectively, using more and more advanced programs.
It is April and a new academic year is starting in Japan. In Tokyo's Nakano ward, a 17-year-old teenager with a slight limp in his left leg and wearing large light blue shades climbs up the stairs of a tall apartment building. Hiding his head under the hood of his dark blue jacket, he silently makes his way to a door on the 10th floor and enters the apartment. As the door closes behind him, he removes his jacket, revealing a light gray t-shirt underneath it. Kicking his orange sneakers off his feet, he looks around the small apartment: to his right is the bathroom door and to his left is a closet, beyond which a desk, beyond, sitting in-front of a large window and small balcony door. Opposite the desk is a rolled-up futon lying on the floor and next to the bathroom door is a small kitchen.
"School starts tomorrow…great…" the boy thinks as he slumps down on the office chair in-front of the desk and leans back. Running his hand through his light brown hair, he looks up at the ceiling and is clearly troubled. "No use in complaining, you wanted this, Kyoji…"
After eating a cup of instant ramen, he turns on his old laptop which he had bought from a second-hand store. "At least the school isn't demanding me to make an EDEN account." he mutters as he goes to his new high school's website and reads through the new student guide. However, he soon grows tired of it and walks over to the window to get a breath of fresh air. However, as he opens the window, a gust of wind fills the apartment, causing his closet doors to fly open.
"Urgh, oh great!" the boy exclaims as a cardboard box falls out of it. The wind then causes its contents to fly around the room. "Gah, not this too! It wasn't this windy when I walked here!" frustrated, the boy slams the window shut before collecting the items strewn across the floor. Then, he picks a small case containing trading cards. "Huh, why are these here…?" he opens the case and pulls a deck of blue hued cards from it, each one featuring a creature of some kind.
"Digimon TCG…I thought I told mom to throw these away…" but suddenly, the boy is struck by a sense of nostalgia and starts going through the cards. "MetalGreymon…Drimogemon…DigiEgg of Sincerity…Seahomon…huh?" then, happens upon a very shiny card depicting a small dinosaur-like creature with yellow marks on its head. "…it's that promotional V-mon card I got in 4th grade…" somehow, the card feels more special than the others and he cannot stop looking at it. Then, he reaches for his cellphone on the desk behind him. "Do these E-reader thingies still even work?" he thinks, eyeing the small infrared scanner on the side of the phone. "Whatever…" the boy shrugs and tries to put the deck away when suddenly, he hears a voice.
"…anyone…can…you…hear me…?"
"Huh?!" the boy looks around the room, confused by the voice. "…must've been the neighbors or something…"
"…please…someone…"
"Who's there?! Ghh, is this some kind of joke?!" the boy jumps up, wincing slightly as his left leg straightens. However, he gets no answer. "Gah, am I going crazy or something…"
"…help…me…"
Now the voice becomes clear as day and the notices a faint glow in the deck he just put down. "What the heck…?" he picks it up once more and realizes that the card depicting the small dinosaur creature is blinking. "Yeah, I'm totally going crazy." but then, an odd feeling starts growing in his chest and he moves the card towards his cellphone again. "*gulp*" without saying a word, he runs the glowing card through the infrared scanner, causing the room to be filled by a blinding white light. "GAAAH!" he screams as something appears from the screen of his phone and hits him in the head, knocking the boy out cold and he collapses onto the floor.
"…hey, wake up."
"…"
"Can ya hear me? Wake up!"
"…*groan*…wha…" the boy's vision starts slowly clearing up as a squeaky voice speaks to him.
"Come on, wake up!"
"Who…who's there…" but as the boy fully opens his eyes, he is greeted by a small blue and white creature sitting on his chest, its wide, red eyes staring down at him. "Huh? WHAAAA!"
"AAAAHHH!" both creature and boy scream at the same time as the boy stands up.
"Wha…what the heck are you?! What are you doing in my apartment?!" he says and points at the creature, who's two blue ears straighten, and it glares at the boy.
"Don't ask me how I got here, because I dunno!" it replies defiantly.
"You…you can talk…what…what's going on here…" the boy's legs give away and he slumps to the floor. "I must've hit my head or something…"
"Yeah, you sure did. I've got a bump to prove it!" the creature points at its head but the boy is unable to process what he is seeing. He then pulls his cheek, confusing the creature. "What are ya doing?"
"I'm trying to wake my self up…ouch…no, I'm dreaming…you…came out of my Digivice…"
"Oh so that's what this thing is." the creature says and points at the boy's phone, next to which is a bright blue card with a yellow symbol on it. "You humans use all kinds of weird stuff."
"…the only thing weird here is you…wait a minute…" the boy suddenly notices something familiar about the creature and takes a card from the piles of card lying on the floor. "You…you're a Digimon…" he says and shows the card to the creature.
"You bet I am! Hmm? Hey, that's me!" the creature says excitedly as the boy looks at the card one more time.
"Chibimon…that's your name, right?"
"Yup." the little Digimon nods proudly and points at the boy. "What's your name then?"
"Kyoji Date…"
"Nice to meet'cha, Kyoji." Chibimon starts smiling, which somehow makes Kyoji's tension go away. Then, he folds his arms and eyes the little blue Digimon.
"So…how did you come out of my phone?"
"Like I said, I dunno…actually…the only thing I do know is my name…" Chibimon replies as its ears lop down. "All I can remember is being in some dark place, then I saw a bright light and poof, I landed on your face."
"You have amnesia?"
"I think so…" noticing the worry in the little Digimon's eyes, Kyoji sighs and crosses his arms.
"Well that's gonna make this way harder…but I didn't know Digimon were real…I just know you from the card game." he says and points at the cards, prompting Chibimon to pick up the card that Kyoji swiped with his phone but now, it has reverted back to normal.
"Of course we're real. We live in the Digital World after all…hmm, this card is really pretty."
"It's a rare card…oh man, what am I gonna do with you…school starts tomorrow…" Kyoji laments as Chibimon tilts his head to the side.
"'Skool'? What's that?"
"School, not 'Skool'. It's…it's a place where we humans learn things…" Kyoji replies sullenly but Chibimon's light up all of a sudden.
"Ooh, I love learning about stuff! Hey, can you tell what that is? And this?!" the little Digimon starts hopping around the room, pointing at various objects, much to Kyoji's annoyance.
"Hey, quit making a mess!" he shouts and manages to catch Chibimon in mid-air, only to lose his balance and fall flat on the floor once again. "Urgh…"
"You really need to learn to land better." Chibimon says as he jumps on Kyoji's head.
"Ah shut up…" but before he can say anything else, Chibimon's stomach starts to grumble.
"Uhhh…I'm hungry…"
"Of course you are…" Kyoji stands up and much to Chibimon's surprise, he walks over to the fridge and opens a box holding two onigiri. "Here, you can eat 'em."
"Wha…? Really?!" Chibimon starts drooling as Kyoji puts the box on the floor."
"Yeah. I already ate. I'll buy more tomorrow."
"THANKS FOR THE FOOD!" Chibimon shrieks and starts gouging on the onigiri with glee. "Oooo, this is shoo good! I've never tasted anything like thish before!" he yells with a mouth full of rice while Kyoji his head, still not quite sure how he ended up in this situation.
"What am I gonna do with this little guy?"
…
The next morning, Kyoji wakes up, but not to the sound his alarm but to the snoring of a sleeping Digimon, which is laying on top of his blanket. "…still not a dream…that Digimon really did pop out of my Digivice yesterday…"
"*SNOOOOORE*!"
"Grr…hey, wake up!" he flicks Chibimon on the forehead, snapping him awake.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"For snoring like a foghorn…" Kyoji mutters and gets up, causing Chibimon to roll off his chest.
An hour later, Kyoji is sitting in the coach of a subway train, heading towards his new high school, with Chibimon hiding inside his bag. "Psst, why did you stuff me in here?" the little asks, poking his eyes through a gap in the backpack's zipper.
"Shh, quiet! I couldn't exactly leave you in my apartment."
"Okay…hey, look, Digimon!" Chibimon says and points at a display above Kyoji, which is showing the morning news.
"…and moving on, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police has expanded its Cyber Crime Division for the fourth time this year, following increased hacker activity in EDEN. They have become much bolder in their activities as of late, thanks to a new hacking program they have dubbed 'Digimon', after the children's card game. Special Investigator Inoue, could you explain what this means?" the news anchor gestures to the middle-aged man sitting opposite to her, who nods back at her.
"Certainly. 'Digimon' are essentially semi-autonomous hacking programs that have been disguised to look like the creatures from the Digimon card game that was popular among kids a few years back. Using these programs, the hackers have started causing serious problems to EDEN users and to the cyberspace itself. That is why we have been forced to expand…"
"Hmph, they think humans created Digimon…" Chibimon mutters as pictures of various Digimon are shown on the display.
"You weren't?"
"No, we're living creatures just like you humans. Hey, that's Tuskmon and there's Monochromon and…ow!"
"Shut it! People are watching!" Kyoji hisses at Chibimon, having given the little Digimon a knock on the head.
Shortly afterwards, Kyoji arrives at his stop and exits the train. However, the news report has left him puzzled. "If there really are Digimon in EDEN…nah, forget it, I deleted my account years ago." he thinks as he climbs out of the station and onto busy street, squinting his eyes at the rising sun. As he starts moving along the sidewalk, Chibimon pokes his eye out of the backpack, awed by the tall buildings lining the street and the hordes of people who fill it. Then, his eye catches the glint of Kyoji's shades, making Chibimon curious. "Hey, why do you wear those glasses?"
"It's a medical condition."
"'medicalu condishuun'? Stop using complicated words!"
"Quiet down." Kyoji says as he puts his backpack over his shoulder and heads towards North Nakano High School, which is slowly filling with student wearing the same dark green school uniforms. However, as Kyoji enters the school yard, he notices the odd looks the other students are giving him, not to mention the whispering.
"…it's him…"
"I heard he's a…"
"…why is he here…"
"*sigh* Should've known those rumors got here before me…" Kyoji mutters and ignores the murmur. An hour later, after the start of the year address by the principal, the 2nd year students are led to their homerooms, with Kyoji going to Class 2-D. However, just like before, the other students shoot suspicious looks at him and noticeable murmur fills the classroom. But Kyoji continues to ignore the others, the only thing in his mind being the little Digimon hiding in his backpack. "I can't just toss him out…but if Digimon are actually real, then there's gotta be a way to send him back to his world…dammit…"
Then, he is snapped out of his thoughts as Class 2-D's homeroom teacher enters the classroom, prompting everyone to stand up and greet him. "Take your seats. Alright, I'm Matsuki, your new homeroom teacher for the year." the rather scruffy-looking, bespectacled man says and starts lazily going through his notes.
"This guy is making me sleepy…"
"Shhh!" Kyoji hisses at Chibimon, who yawns inside the backpack.
"…and then we've got the 2nd year's school trip in September…hmm? Date, what are you doing back there?" Matsuki says, having noticed Kyoji glaring at his backpack. "You better pay attention because I'm not gonna repeat myself."
"…I was listening, Sensei."
"Good. Now, where was I…" As Matsuki continues, Kyoji buries his face into his hands.
"Hey, I'm hungry, when are we gonna eat?"
"Quiet…"
"But I'm hungryyy…"
"Shut up!" Kyoji yells, startling his class and even the unassuming Matsuki is genuinely surprised by his outburst. "…"
"Date, do you have something to say?" Matsuki squints lazily at Kyoji, who sinks into his seat and shakes his head in shame.
"No…"
"…Once class is over, I want to have a word with you." Matsuki says nonchalantly as the others students starts whispering among themselves.
"…wow, he yelled at a teacher…"
"The rumors were true…"
"Why'd we get stuck with a delinquent like him…"
"Hey, quiet down, class hasn't ended yet." Matsuki snaps at the students and silence returns to the classroom, but they continue shooting glares at an embarrassed Kyoji. Another hour passes by before the bell rings but as the rest of the class leaves, Kyoji remains bolted to his seat. "Date, come over here." Matsuki says from behind his desk.
"…" Kyoji does not reply but walks up to the desk regardless.
"I was told beforehand that you've got some bad rumors hanging over you. Some of the teachers here were a bit worried about that, but at the end of the day, they're just rumors. Now, what I am concerned about is your current situation. Not many public high school students live away from their parents but you do."
"…Yeah…" Kyoji replies, feeling slightly irked that Matsuki mentioned his parents in plural.
"Are you sure you can take care of yourself? Suddenly moving from home, transferring schools, it's not something normal students do."
"…normal…"
"Hmm?"
"Nothing…is that all?"
"No. I was also made aware of your conditions." Matsuki then points at Kyoji's left leg. "It's a darn shame. I heard you were a really great midfielder at your old middle-school's football team."
"Yeah, right…"
"Anyway, don't make a habit of yelling in the middle of class like that, okay? You've got above average grades and you've got a bright future ahead of you, so don't waste it."
"Yes, Sensei…"
"Alright then, off you go." Matsuki dismisses Kyoji, who swiftly grabs his backpack and walks out of the classroom, prompting Matsuki to sigh. "You're a good kid, you just don't know where you're going."
…
"Uhm…" Chibimon says from inside the backpack as Kyoji climbs to the school's roof and sits down on the concrete floor as lunch break starts. "I uh…I'm sorry, it's my fault you got in trouble…"
"Forget it…" Kyoji replies and opens the zipper, allowing Chibimon to peek his head out.
"*inhale* Ahh, fresh air! Wow!" Chibimon gasps at the clear blue sky spreading endlessly above him. "Hmm? What's that thing up there?" he points at a white streak crossing the sky.
"It's an airplane." Kyoji mutters as he opens a pre-made bento box he bought from the subway station on the way to school. "Here." he gives Chibimon an onigiri, causing the little Digimon's eyes to light up.
"Yay! Time to dig in!" As Chibimon wolfs down on the onigiri, Kyoji looks up at the sky and frowns, Matsuki's words still ringing in his head.
"…what the heck did he mean by normal…?"
"Hmm? Did you say shomthing?"
"No and stop talking with your mouth full." Then, after finishing the onigiri, Chibimon turns his red eyes towards Kyoji.
"Hey, I've been thinking, what is that EDEN place those humans on the screen were talking about?"
"It's this cyberspace, metaverse thing that people use to do all kinds of stuff. It's like a…uh…a physical internet, I guess? I haven't used it in four years, so I don't know much else."
"Hmm…well, can you go there?"
"I'd need to make a new account…but why do you…" Suddenly, Kyoji also remembers the news report and his expression becomes serious. "…you think those Digimon they were talking about were actual Digimon?"
"I don't think, I know! If there are other Digimon here in the human world, then there's gotta be a way for me to go back!" Chibimon says excitedly but then, his smile fades away. "…but…I don't even know where I came from..." he laments and hides his head in the backpack.
"I guess we're both pretty lost…" Kyoji thinks and nudges the backpack. "Hey."
"Yeah?"
"We can try going to EDEN after school ends, okay?"
"Alright! Thanks a bunch, Kyoji!" Chibimon jumps out of the backpack with a wide smile on his face and Kyoji can't help but smile a little as well, feeling for the first in time in a long while that he had found a kindred spirit.
…
The last bell rings and Kyoji leaves the school building, only to arrive at a courtyard filled with recruiters from the high school's various sports teams and cultural clubs. "Ach, it's a full-on gauntlet…" Steeling his nerve, Kyoji wades into the sea of students and unlike in the morning, nobody notices him.
"Join the Track & Field Team!"
"Would you like to be in the Tea Ceremony Club?"
"Come on, join the Boxing Club now or you'll regret it!"
"Ugh, they're so loud…" Chibimon whispers as Kyoji lowers his had and tries to get through the courtyard in one piece as other students are being pulled aside by the recruiters quite aggressively. Then, a pink-haired girl wearing large plus-size glasses jumps in-front of Kyoji.
"Hey you!" she shouts and points at Kyoji confidently.
"…Me…?" Kyoji is startled by the girl's sudden appearance and nearly loses his balance.
"Yeah you! You're that infamous delinquent everyone's talking about, right?!" the girl asks bluntly, prompting Kyoji to frown.
"…leave me alone…"
"Oh no you don't!" the girl shouts and spreads out her arms defiantly. "I've been looking for someone like you!"
"You've got the wrong guy…" Kyoji again tries to force his way past the aggressive girl but she does not relent.
"No, I've got just the guy I wanted! You wanna join the Broadcasting Club?!" she asks enthusiastically.
"Broadcasting Club?"
"That's right! We're in-charge of all school-wide broadcasts and we also host the lunchtime radio show! And you are perfect Broadcasting Club material!"
"Not my thing, now go bother someone else." Kyoji finally manages to push the girl aside and walks away, only for the girl to shake her fists at him.
"Grrr, you may have slipped by this time, but mark my words, I will make you a member! You hear me?! This isn't the last you hear of Hana Maeda!" she shouts as Kyoji disappears into the crowd. "*pant* Just you wait, Mr. Delinquent…" Hana Maeda mutters and walks dejectedly back to her club's stand, which is not attracting any attention from the new students.
"Prez, give it a rest, there's no way that guy would wanna join us. Besides, it's only gonna make our club's reputation worse if we have him as a member." a plain-looking, portly boy with a bowl cut says to Hana, who shakes her head.
"No, he is exactly the kind of person we need."
"Haven't you heard the rumors? They say he got kicked out of his middle-school football team for attacking his captain in the locker rooms."
"It's a rumor, Tanaka. And I refuse to believe any rumors until they're proved right. That's what my grandpa taught me, and he was a great journalist!"
"Yeah, yeah, you always say that…" the portly boy says and shakes his head as a girl student sitting behind the stand lifts her head from her smartphone shaped Digivice.
"We're gonna get shut down anyway on Friday, now that all the senpai's graduated."
"No we won't!" Hana yells at the gloomy girl and puffs her chest. "I was entrusted to keep this club going and that's what I'm gonna do! We just need two more members before Friday…hmm?!" Suddenly, her eyes light up as she notices a timid girl with long black hair trying to go around the crowd. "Hey you!" Hana shouts and rushes over to the girl, who starts stuttering nervously. "Wanna join the Broadcasting Club?!"
Meanwhile, Kyoji has gone home and has plugged his Digivice into his laptop. "Okay, how the heck does this work again…?" he mutters as Chibimon hops on his desk. "Man, why is this so complicated…"
"What are you doing?" Chibimon asks and squints at the computer screen.
"I'm trying to make an EDEN account; we can't go to EDEN without it."
"Ooh, alright!" Chibimon says and hops excitedly.
"Quit it will ya? You're gonna hurt yourself." Kyoji snaps at Chibimon as a notice appears on laptop's screen:
"Registration complete.
Congratulations on joining EDEN.
We hope your experience will be to your liking.
Best wishes,
Kamishiro Enterprises."
"Kamishiro? That's a weird name."
"It's the company that owns EDEN. They do all kinds of computer related things."
"I don't really get it, but does this mean we can go now?"
"Yeah…hold on, how are you going to go there? You can't take any physical objects to EDEN, since it's a digital metaverse."
"What, are you saying I can't go there?"
"No, I'm saying I don't know how you can go there with me!"
"Hey, I'm a Digimon, a Digital Monster or did you forget already?" however, before they can argue further, a message appears on his Digivice.
"Scan Blue Card to enter EDEN."
"Blue Card? Why do you need a…huh?" Kyoji then notices the deck of Digimon TCG cards he had put on his desk next to his laptop, its top card having turned completely blue with a yellow symbol on it.
"That looks pretty blue to me, Kyoji."
"But, that wasn't in my deck and why the heck do I need something like that enter EDEN?!"
"You're over thinking it, Kyoji. Come on, scan it so we can go!" Chibimon says enthusiastically as Kyoji grabs the deck and points his Digivice's IR reader at the Blue Card.
"I'm gonna regret this…" then, he scans the card, causing the room to be engulfed in bright blue light as Kyoji and Chibimon are suddenly sucked into the metaverse.
"WHAAAA!" the duo screams as they plummet through a dark hole which seems endless, their colors inverting and reverting back repeatedly. Then, the hole rotates to a horizontal plane and lights up, turning into a brightly colored tunnel. "Wha…what the heck is going?!"
"Don't ask me, Kyoji!" Chibimon replies as they continue flying uncontrollably towards a blue light in the distance.
"Urgh, I think gonna be sick…" Kyoji covers his mouth as his body spins 360 degrees while Chibimon grabs onto his left shoulder.
"I don't feel so good either…" the Digimon says as Kyoji's Digivice engulfs him in a white light.
Then, they start slowing down as the tunnel finally ends and the pair land on a floating piece of pavement with a bus stop, its large bright neon sign reading:
"Welcome to Cyberspace EDEN.
We hope you enjoy your stay."
Slumping down on the pavement, Kyoji takes a deep breath and tries to gather himself. "Man, it wasn't like this the last time I used EDEN…huh?" then, as he looks to his left, he sees a completely different Digimon sitting next to him. "You…is that you, Chibimon?"
"Huh? Of course it's me, who else would I…wow! I evolved!" the Digimon shouts excitedly, having assumed the form of a small blue dinosaur with sharp claws on his arms and feet, a tiny horn on his nose, a flexible tail and yellow markings on his face. Kyoji immediately recognizes Chibimon's new form as the same one that appeared on the card that turned blue yesterday.
"You're…V-mon now."
"Yup! No idea how I evolved, but now I'm at the Rookie stage." V-mon puffs his chest confidently as Kyoji chuckles and stands up.
"Then, I guess we're in EDEN now." he starts looking around the white space they are drifting in, noticing large planet-like orbs floating in the distance while streams of 1's and 0's fly past the pair. "Wow...it's definitely changed since the last time I came here..." Kyoji mutters, taken a back by the vastness of EDEN, which seems to stretch to infinity.
"Uhm, where do we go from here?"
"I don't know. My avatar should have a HUD that has a guide…" however, Kyoji cannot find anything resembling a heads-up display with his eyes while V-mon points at the Digivice in his hand.
"Why don't ya try using that thing? It got us here."
"Oh yeah, right…" Kyoji turns his attention to the Digivice and presses the screen, which then projects a holographic menu. "Huh, this is what I get for not using EDEN for four years…" he mutters and starts scrolling through the menu with his right hand, eventually finding a navigation screen. "Okay, so we're…right there. I guess we should head to the main entrance."
"Sounds like a plan. So how do we get there?"
"I press this and it should take us to the entrance…I think." Kyoji points at an exclamation mark on the navigation screen and the moment he presses it, both Kyoji and V-mon are instantly warped to EDEN's main entrance. "Yeesh, that was fast." However, before they can take a step forward, error messages popup and they quickly sent back to the bus stop.
"Waaah! What was that all about? Why did it send us back here?"
"I don't know!" Kyoji replies to V-mon and brings up the holographic menu once more but now, he only gets a large error message that reads:
"Hacking program detected. This account has been suspended from all EDEN's public lobbies."
"Suspended?! But we just got here!" V-mon shouts and shakes his fists at the hologram while Kyoji shakes his head.
"Of course, it must've marked you as a hacking program."
"Whaat?! I'm not a hacking program! I'm a Digimon!"
"It's one and the same as far as EDEN's concerned." Kyoji replies to the offended V-mon and sits down on the bus stops bench. "This probably means we can only go to URL locked areas. Great, first I get called a delinquent and now EDEN's marked me as a hacker!" Kyoji yells, his frustration finally boiling over. "What's the point of even leaving my apartment anymore…" he buries his face into his hands while V-mon looks on, feeling guilty about what just happened.
"Sorry…this was all my fault…I should've just…"
"No, it's not your fault. This couldn't be helped." Kyoji brushes off V-mon's apology and tries to smile weakly. "I'm just unlucky, that's all." but then, a message appears on his Digivice:
"URL for Kowloon acquired."
"Huh? Kowloon?" Kyoji clicks the URL, and it shows another exclamation point but this one is sp deep inside EDEN's central planetoid that it does not even mark a specific location.
"Hmm…?" V-mon squints at the hologram and senses something from it. "Let's go there."
"You sure? What if it's a trap set by a hacker?"
"I am sure. That URL reeks of other Digimon."
"How the heck can you tell that?" Kyoji lifts an eyebrow, but V-mon remains steadfast.
"I just can! Come on, try it." V-mon insists and while Kyoji clearly has his doubts, he relents.
"Fine, I guess it's the only thing we can do here, other than log-out." he replies and presses the exclamation point but this time, they are not instantly warped to their location but instead, both Kyoji and V-mon are enveloped in a purple sphere, which then starts floating down towards the pale blue center of the main EDEN planetoid. As they are taken deeper, the space around them turns into a ever darker shade of blue as collapsed and damaged buildings made of data begin rising from the gray mist surrounding the sphere.
"This must be where all the junk data goes…" V-mon says while Kyoji nods silently as the mist clears, revealing similar planetoids as on the upper levels, but these ones are made of the said ruined buildings. There are also various other ruined constructs like Ferris wheels, carousels and steel scaffolding strewn among the tall buildings.
"ZZZT…Kowloon Level 1: Galacta Park…ZZTT." A distorted voice speaks through Kyoji's Digivice as the sphere lands on a wide, round platform.
"This is…Kowloon…" Kyoji says in stunned awe as he and V-mon look around the platform, which has a long walkway leading away from it.
"*sniff sniff* Oh yeah, there are definitely other Digimon here!" V-mon shouts and points at the walkway.
"Hey, don't run off by yourself! This place doesn't look safe at all." Kyoji says and stops V-mon from dashing away.
"Ah, sorry, I got a bit too excited." V-mon replies, and they start crossing the walkway together, unaware that they are being watched.
"Looks like another newcomer showed up."
"And they've got Digimon with them. Should be an easy deletion for you."
"Of course."
Meanwhile, Kyoji and V-mon arrive at the dilapidated playground with a large sign that reads: "Galacta Park". "What's a playground doing here?" Kyoji asks and stops next to an elephant-shaped slide.
"Oh there's way weirder stuff in the Digital World. This is nothing." V-mon replies nonchalantly, putting his hands behind his head.
"So do you remember anything at all about where you came from?"
"No, nothing. I know I'm from the Digital World but that's it."
"Just where the heck is this Digital World anyway?"
"I don't know where, but it does exist! That's were all us Digimon come from!" V-mon becomes agitated by Kyoji's question, but he quickly gestures to the blue Digimon to calm down.
"Hey, cool it. I'm not doubting you. Just curious."
"Ah…okay, sorry. Hmm?" then, V-mon's ears pick up something and he becomes tense.
"What's wrong?"
"We're not alone…" V-mon replies, his eyes turn feral which alarms Kyoji.
"A Hacker?"
"No…it's a Digimon." then suddenly, a pitch-black shadow appears above them.
"Neko Punch!" the shadow dives down on V-mon, who dodges just in time as the attack creates a crack on the ground he stood on.
"You're a long way from home, newbie." a girl's voice speaks to Kyoji, who looks up and sees a hooded figure standing on the "Galacta Park" sign.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Kyoji yells at the stranger, who acrobatically jumps down from the sign while a Digimon appears next to them.
"Oh nothing much, just your Digimon's data, that's all." the stranger says casually. She is wearing an oversized, black, patchy hoodie, a black facemask with a teeth pattern on it, gray shorts with chains hanging from its belt and tall leather boots.
V-mon meanwhile recognizes the Digimon next to the stranger. "You're BlackTailmon." he glares a pitch-black, purple striped cat Digimon, who squints its sharp yellow eyes back at him.
"Oh, so you know me. Well, that's just swell, little V-mon." BlackTailmon replies with a sultry, feminine voice and displays her sharp, black claws that jut out from the purple gloves in her hands.
"We're in a hurry, so I'll make this quick: We want to get stronger and that means deleting other Digimon and you happen to be just the perfect snack for my BlackTailmon." the girl says, causing Kyoji to glare at her.
"And you think I'm just going to let you do that, hacker?"
"Why thank, being called a hacker is an honor here in Kowloon, but you probably didn't know that. But enough talk, BlackTailmon, delete."
"But of course. GRAAAAH!" BlackTailmon snarls and lunges towards V-mon, who jumps out of the way, before striking back.
"V-Mon Head!" he launches a powerful headbutt at BlackTailmon, who smirks and easily dodges, causing V-mon to bury his face into the ground. "Urgh…ow…"
"This'll be too easy." BlackTailmon says coldly and drives her claws at V-mon, who rolls to the side before kicking the cat Digimon in the stomach, sending her flying at the large, ripped teddy bear across the playground. "Guah!"
"Hmph, your Digimon has guts, I'll give you that."
"Why the heck are you attacking us? We didn't do anything!" Kyoji yells at the girl, who scoffs.
"Your first mistake was coming here with a Digimon, buddy. You can only blame yourself for that. It's nothing personal, that's just how we do things here in Kowloon."
"Grrr, screw that! V-mon, let's get out of here!" Kyoji gestures to V-mon but before then can make a run for it, the girl points her right hand at the walkway leading back to the round platform and creates a wall of data on it, blocking their escape.
"Ah, ah, ah, you're not going anywhere." the girl smirks as BlackTailmon corners Kyoji and V-mon against the wall.
"Dammit…"
"Don't worry, Kyoji, I'll take this kitty down! RAAARGH!" V-mon charges at cat-Digimon, who stands her ground and readies her claws. "Boom Boom Punch!"
"Neko Punch!" as both Digimon's fists collide, they generate a shockwave that knocks Kyoji back against the data wall while the girl watches on. "I'll admit, little V-mon, you're not as weak as I thought, but this ends now. Cat's Eye!" BlackTailmon's eyes start glowing red, causing V-mon to freeze completely.
"Urgh…I can't…move…"
"V-mon!" Kyoji stands up, only to see BlackTailmon leap into the air and attack her petrified target.
"Neko Kick!" she lands devastating drop kick on V-mon's head before she wraps her tail around his right arm. "Cat's Tail!" BlackTailmon swings V-mon around before throwing him into the elephant slide.
"GUARGH!" V-mon screams in pain as the slide falls apart from the impact.
"No!" suddenly, Kyoji runs over to V-mon and puts himself between the two Digimon, his actions surprising both BlackTailmon and the girl hacker.
"Are you stupid? What do you think you're doing?" the girl asks as Kyoji stands defiantly before of BlackTailmon, who points her claws at him.
"Out of the way unless you want to lose your account as well."
"Not a chance! I'm not gonna let you kill him!"
"You're acting as if Digimon are real beings. They're just programs, data." the girl says callously and gestures towards BlackTailmon. "Ignore that wimp. Delete the Digimon already."
"Right." in the blink of an eye, BlackTailmon uses her tail to whip Kyoji aside before wrapping it around V-mon's neck and lifting him off the ground.
"Stop! V-mon!"
"*cough* Don't worry about me…" V-mon replies as the tail's grip tightens and tightens while BlackTailmon prepares to finish him off.
"…no…not again…" Kyoji mutters as a memory flashed by. "Just when I thought…I'd finally made a friend…" then, he feels an odd bulge in his pocket and realizes the Digimon TCG deck has been there the whole time. "How did…whatever, I've got to do something!" he gets up and picks four cards from the deck before taking out his Digivice. "Don't think you've won yet! Card Slash! Stamina Plug-In A!" he scans one of the cards with the Digivice, causing V-mon to glow, which startles BlackTailmon.
"Huh?!" she lets go as V-mon recovers instantly from all damage he just took, much to their attackers shock.
"What the…?!"
"We're not done yet! Card Slash! Speed Plug-In S!" Kyoji scans another card, which makes V-mon vibrate slightly.
"Hmph, this is just a bluff! Neko Punch!" BlackTailmon tries to attack V-mon, but he dodges instantly and appears behind the cat-Digimon.
"Card Slash! Power Plug-In E!"
"Boom Boom Punch!" V-mon strikes BlackTailmon with powerful rapid punches, sending her flying at the data wall while the girl hacker stares in stunned silence.
"Guah! *cough* What's...what's happening...you were on the ropes just now..."
"Card Slash! Greymon: Mega Flame!" as Kyoji scans the last card, V-mon's eyes turn orange and his mouth starts filling with fire as both the hacker and BlackTailmon realize they are in genuine danger.
"Mega Flame!" the little blue Digimon spits out a torrent of searing, orange and red flames, which BlackTailmon barely manages to evade while the data wall is completely vaporized. Then, as V-mon is about lose consciousness Kyoji grabs him and starts running away before neither hacker nor her Digimon can give chase.
"Hang in there, buddy, we're getting out of here!" Kyoji says as he runs for his life, ignoring the slight stinging pain from his left leg and they manage to reach Kowloon's exit gate, which takes them away.
Meanwhile, the girl hacker walks over to the shattered remains of the data wall while BlackTailmon is licking her scorched tail and paws. "How…how did that happen?!" the girl shouts and kicks the ground furiously. "This was supposed to be an easy snack!"
"Don't ask me, Kishibe." BlackTailmon says silently as the girl glares towards the walkway that Kyoji escaped through.
"…that guy must've been a Hacker too. How else could he make that weak Digimon so powerful all of a sudden!"
"Or maybe, he just got lucky." an eerie male voice says, which makes the girl grimace under her mask.
"…what are you doing here, Specter?" she hisses as a white-haired young man wearing a dark purple trench coat, landing boots, black gloves and an asymmetrical, black and white mask over his eyes, enters the playground from the opposite direction.
"Oh, I was just taking a little stroll and noticed your scuffle with that boy and his Digimon." the man named Specter says to Kishibe, who folds her arms.
"Never thought the leader of Neo Demons liked strolling casually around Kowloon."
"And I didn't think 'Rookie Hunter' Kishibe would get absolutely humiliated by a nobody and their freshly evolved V-mon." Specter chuckles and comes to Kishibe's side. "Honestly, how could you mess up such an easy kill."
"Shut up! If you were watching, then you know what happened!"
"Yes indeed I did. By all logic, you two should've easily taken down that V-mon but no, it overpowered you."
"If you came here just to piss me off, you're doing a great job, you masked clown."
"Hah-hah, easy there. We're not enemies, remember?"
"But we ain't allies either. Now leave me alone." Kishibe mutters and gestures for BlackTailmon to follow her. "If that punk shows their face here again, I'll wipe out his account and his Digimon." she says over her shoulder and logs out while Specter stays behind, a slight smile on his face.
"So you really can use those old TCG cards in EDEN…this could change everything…hah-hah…"
…
"Hey, V-mon, are you okay?" Kyoji asks, having fled back all the way to the bus stop they started from.
"…urgh…huh? Wow, I feel weird…" V-mon says and sits up, causing Kyoji to sigh in relief.
"*exhale* Looks like you're alright…"
"Yeah, but what happened back there? I thought I was a goner for sure."
"I used these cards to heal you and gave you a power boost. That's how you beat that BlackTailmon." Kyoji replies and shows V-mon the TCG deck.
"Really? Hey, thanks a bunch! You're real pal!" V-mon smiles and slaps Kyoji on the back. "I owe you big time!"
"No, you don't owe me anything." Kyoji mutters and stands up, staring wistfully into the distance. "I just…didn't want you getting deleted, that's all." his words surprise V-mon, as this is the first time Kyoji has shown such a face to him in the short time they've known each other.
"…alright, that does it! I'm gonna stick with you from now on!"
"What?"
"You're exactly the kind of person I like, so let's be buddies, okay?" V-mon says and cheerfully extends his right hand to Kyoji, who hesitates but then, smiles back.
"We're already buddies." the pair then shake hands, which makes Kyoji's Digivice turn gray to dark blue and silver. "Huh? What happened to my Digivice?"
"Maybe it evolved, just like me!"
"Hah-hah, yeah right…" Kyoji chuckles and points towards the log-out post near the bus stop. "Let's go back for now. We can come back and look into that Kowloon place again tomorrow."
"But what if we run into more of those hackers?"
"If we end up fighting, I'll back you up with these." Kyoji says to V-mon and points at the deck in his pocket."
"Alright! Then let's get going already! I'm hungry!"
"You're always hungry."
But as Kyoji and V-mon log out, a masked EDEN Avatar appears on the now empty bus stop and presses a button on their wrist. "They managed to escape safely and the Digivice was upgraded, like you said it would."
"Their fates are intertwined with EDEN now. You need to make contact with them before any malicious forces do so." a female voice replies to the masked avatar, who nods.
"That's the plan. He is perfect Team Vanguard material. I'll approach him tomorrow, at the concert."
"Very well. I'll look forward to tomorrow's results."
…
As night begins to fall over Tokyo, Kyoji and his newfound Digimon partner fall asleep, exhausted from the days ordeal but neither is aware what consequences their encounter in EDEN will have, not only on them but also for the entire world.
Afterword:
Have you guessed what my favorite all time Digimon is already? ;)
Thank you for reading the first chapter of Cyber Tamer. I decided to release this as a way of trying to get over a creative slump I have with my other, much bigger ongoing fic which hasn't made much progress in resent months.
I love everything about Digimon, it's been with me since my childhood and this fic is my way of sharing that passion. While its name is Cyber Tamer, Digimon Tamers isn't the only series I based this on and that will become apparent as the story goes on. If this was an animated series, then the opening for this first arc would be Kouji Wada's "Target" and the ending would be Ai Maeda's "Resolution". I'll also mention all evolution songs separately in future chapters.
Now, about the characters. I wanted to approach this story from a bit of an older perspective a la Cyber Sleuth and our protagonist Kyoji isn't actually a "goggleboy". The real "goggleboy" will appear in an upcoming chapter and in-fact, almost every main character of this fanfic has already appeared in one way or another in this very first chapter. Kyoji himself is not based on any specific character, even though I am a big fan of the "misunderstood delinquent" troupe but appearance wise, he takes some visual cues from Cyber Sleuth's Arata Sanada. The other named character, Hana, is quite heavily based on Miyako/Yolei from 02. I won't delve further into Specter and Kishibe yet.
I'm not sure how frequently I'll release new chapters but hopefully I can make this a side-project that you can find some joy in.