Digimon: The Dark Continent [IC/Arc 1 Act 2: The First Digivolution]

[The Warden]

For countless cycles, the Digital World has been a place of peace and serenity, but as of recent, black clouds have begun to gather around Yggdrasil, the Server Tree that governs the world. These days the branches and canopy of the great tree can no longer be seen, eliciting alarm amongst those who live in the Continent of Gateway, especially those closest to the tree. Even worse is that the clouds have begun to spread out, causing those who come in contact with the tree to fall. These blighted Digimon have begun to turn on their fellows, all the while praising the name of their "Master". If something is not done, the world is sure to fall, which is why the Record Keeper has now begun to act. Observing the human world through a magic mirror, he begins to find those who could most assuredly save the world.

 

 

It was 3:03 PM on a Sunday of the summer holidays, and Kiero Tachikaze was idly reading a book because none of his "friends" were available today. Obviously they were off doing something else, but it hardly mattered to him all that much, as what they were doing was probably inane. Glancing at the clock, he young man frowned as he returned to reading the same sentence he had now already read five times now. Sighing loudly, it was discarded as he lay back on his bed, trying to think of something to do. He was sorta drawing a blank, but if the beeping of his phone was any indication, someone was going to do the thinking for him. Rolling about on his bed, he grabbed his phone from his side table, and his brow raised. "What the hell?" he muttered.

 

A message was on his phone, and it was pretty... odd.

 

Do you want to save the world?

Yes

Yes

 

"What kind of choice is that? It doesn't even let me say no" Kiero frowned.

[~Faytl~]

It was raining that day in Yokohama, a weak drizzle that surged to a brief downpour every few minutes, the storm temperamental and dark above the city. Puddles were everywhere in the unkempt side streets that made up this section of the city, and one of them was barely jumped over by Rui Tachibana, her oversized raincoat flying out behind her as she sailed over the water, landing with a slight stumble on the other side, struggling to keep hold of the plastic grocery bags she was holding, her impact on the ground causing them to bounce, the plastic handles pressing uncomfortably into her hands. She adjusted them as she renewed her walk home, looking up sadly at the cloudy sky above her. She wished it were sunny, bright, so she could get out of the house for more than a few minutes.

 

She reached a street corner, pressing the cross button and standing there for the light to change, one leg bouncing up and down idly. As she waited, she felt a buzzing in her shorts pocket. She moved a bag to the other hand, pulling her phone out from her pocket, expecting it to be a message from her mother, possibly having forgotten to ask Rui to grab something at the store. It wasn't her mother, but a message reading:

 

Do you want to save the world?

Yes<

Yes

 

She frowned, muttering to herself, "What's this?" She hit the cancel key on her phone, but it didn't do anything. She tried again, now a little cross as she tried to exit the message. She even tried holding down the power button to turn the phone off. Nothing seemed to work.

 

"Did someone send me a virus?" She asked, a little indignantly. She tested the up and down keys on her phone, and the arrow moved up and down between the two similar options. She sighed, looking up to see the cross light change. Maybe the bottom option was glitched, was supposed to be no? She thumbed down to it, and as she began to cross the street, pressed the second "Yes" option.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"Kosuke...son, you need to get up!"

 

BGM

 

Kosuke could hear his mother's voice calling out to him from downstairs, but he couldn't get himself out of bed. He was awake, but he just laid there staring at the ceiling of his room. It was one of those cloudy days in which he just wanted to turn over and go back to sleep. However, he just couldn't. Against his better judgment, Kosuke drug himself out of bed.

 

"I-I'm up, mom..." Kosuke called back, sighing slightly.

 

He walked around his room, getting his clothes and fixing his hair, only to look in the bathroom mirror to see the scratches and scrapes on his face still being there. Those were from the other day and he had removed his bandages from them in order to see how they were. Unfortunately, Kosuke saw that they weren't completely healed yet. He reached down and applied fresh bandages onto them, before walking out and grabbing his hoodie.

 

That's when his phone fell out of his hoodie pocket. Oh yeah...I-I never took it out of there. Kosuke thought, crouching down to pick up his phone, only to see a new text message on it. "Huh?"

 

He opened the message and was a bit shocked by what he saw:

 

Do you want to save the world?

Yes<

Yes

 

Kosuke was puzzled by this random message, which didn't even show a sender. What was more was that it only gave an option of "Yes", there was no "No" option. This made no sense to the teen. He walked down the stairs and slid his shoes on, before heading outside, tossing his hood on.

 

Save the world...? I-I can't do something like that... Kosuke thought, sighing as he shuffled his feet down the road. This was obviously a joke from someone...but who? Regardless, he assumed that the second option was supposed to be "No", so he quickly pressed the second option. A failure like me...? Save the world? N-No...nothing like that would happen...

[Mr. Hyde]

 

 

It was a warm, summer Sunday afternoon, and Ishida Shiro had gotten to a late start in the day.  As she woke up, she panicked, and sheets were thrown all across the room.  She practically fell out of bed and onto her soft, fluffy floor.

 

"Oh geez!  OH GEEZ!  I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late!"  She threw on a casual outfit, something that would be easier to put on since she was in such a rush.  It wasn't easy getting dressed with one arm, but it was the norm for Shiro.  In the middle of her hurry, it came to her.  She was on holiday...not to mention it was Sunday!  A large sigh of relief escaped her lips.  She really was a ditz.  However now that she was up, she figured that she might as well had gotten a start on her day.  

 

With her clothes still casual, a pair of jogging shorts and a plain white t-shirt, she took a step outside.  The air was fresh, but there was a faint smell in it that she noticed.

 

It was going to rain...great.

 

"Well...better start now while it's so nice out!"  She started up a nice pace on the sidewalk.  Her neighbors waved at her, and she waved back, picking up speed as she kept jogging.  She'd take the usual route today.  Something quick, but not something that would give her an easy time.  She couldn't get sloppy...she had to stay in tip-top shape so she wouldn't disappoint her track teammates.  She had already disappointed so many other people.  

 

She shook her head...no use thinking about all the negative stuff right now.  In an hour, she had made it back to her house.  Faint gleams of sunlight bounced off the sweat drops on her body.  

 

"Ahh...that's gotta be a record!"  A buzz interrupted her, coming from her left pocket.  Who would be texting her?  She really didn't have many people that would...maybe it was just a sponsored ad.  As her phone lit up, a message was stuck there on the screen.  It was a really thought provoking message as well...not the ad she was expecting.  

 

Do you want to save the world?
Yes<
Yes

 

She smiled.  

 

"Of course I want to save the world!  Who in their right mind wouldn't?"  She noticed that the message didn't have an option to decline.  "That just goes to show you that if you're given the opportunity, you should take it!"  She giggled as she clicked the first yes option.  

[Kōsuke Ueki]

 

It was like any other day. And yet...it wasn't.

 

If there came a time for Rio Magaki to open his eyes, now would be that time.

 

Having come back from a small photoshoot at a birthday party, Rio was ready to go up to his room. But not before handing the small stack of yen to his mother. This was a typical routine for Rio. As small as the photography business was, it was definitely another form of income necessary to avoid potentially being evicted from his home. Rio didn't understand what that meant entirely, but he didn't let it get to him. It wasn't something to worry about, if ever.

 

"So, how did it go?" asked Rio's mom as he was about to walk upstairs.

 

"Fine..." he replied nervously before he continued to head to his room.

 

However, before he reached the top of the staircase, he heard something new. It sounded like some sort of latch being unlocked. As loud as it was, he's surprised to have never heard of it before, especially where he's standing. Walking back down the steps, he tried being as quiet as possible. As he got closer, he heard another latch unlock. Eventually, he saw what appeared to be a very complex safe behind the family portrait. Upon opening it, the mother placed the stack of yen inside. Since she had no idea that Rio was there, she spoke out loud.

 

"You've been a great help, Rio. Just a little more and we won't have to worry about anything anymore."

 

A great help? What did she mean by that? This was new to Rio. His mother was acting nothing like her usual self. It was from this point onward that he realized that something was wrong.

 

Being as quiet as he could be, he went back up to the staircase and towards his bedroom.

 

 

After a fairly short nap, Rio looked at the camera that he normally used in his business. He thought about all of the different memories that came with it. Weddings, parties, special announcements at major companies, you name it. He was always available as a professional photographer for any special occasion, which is surprising given his age. Every job he had added to his experience, and helped him understand other people and their viewpoints better. While he has so much left to learn, he feels that this business was the start. The money wasn't that important, at least to him. It's what he experienced that he'll cherish.

 

But with his experiences came a realization, one that surprised even him. It was Rio who came up with being a photographer for other people. But it was his mother's idea to make it a business. Why is that? She already had a job that was giving them a sustainable income. And Rio had already thought about putting his photography skills to better use. And then there's what she said earlier. What did she mean with her words? What could she possibly have on her mind to say what she said?

 

And then, it clicked in his mind. He had one experience that stood out among everything else. Some time ago, Rio was tasked with taking professional photos for a speech done by some company that he can't seem to recall the name of. The daughter of the man giving the speech talked to him after the fact, giving him a warning about her father, as well as anyone else, that seemed out of place at first.

 

But after putting the pieces together, it actually made sense. He finally understood what she meant. Everything that has transpired has led to him coming to this realization.

 

Without even thinking, Rio grabbed his phone, his camera, extra film, his binder and his satchel to hold it all in. He couldn't grab everything, so he made due with what he thought were essential to him. Having heard his mother pass by his room, he was quick to head downstairs, but tried his best to be silent about it. As soon as he was in the clear, he bolted for the front door, opening it and running out, his mother hearing the door unlock.

 

"Rio? Honey, is everything alright...?"

 

Rio just kept running, and never looked back.

 

 

Eventually, he ended up completely exhausted after running for a few minutes, fairly soaked from the rain that had already began to pour. He figured he was far enough from his house that it would be hard for anyone to find him, especially those who know him. Maybe he could go to a different city. Shinjuku, Shibuya, anywhere in which he could get away from the life he was living. It would hurt too much to go back, especially after making the decision to leave in the first place. Maybe he could go to the house of his only well-known friend, Rigor Koshō. Maybe he'll give him a place to live. The only thing that stands in the way of that is Rio not remembering where he lives.

 

It was then he received a mysterious notification on his phone. He was confused upon reading what the text said:

 

Do you want to save the world?

Yes<

Yes

 

Scratching his head, Rio wondered why there wasn't a "No" option. He couldn't delete it either, which was odd. Without giving it much thought, he reluctantly decided to select the first "Yes" option, not knowing what may come of it.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Inside his room, Teiljo Matsubara was reciting his lines for a school play that he'd chosen to partake in and trying to get into the character that he'd been selected to play as. He had to get this right; the play was to be performed live in front of all the students and their families in the evening of the next day, so he needed all the practice he could possibly get in. Of course, this wasn't going to be easy with his older brother Yoshihisa always distracting him with random texts... many of which contain content that was NSFW. However, just as he was about to wrap up his lines and call it a day, his phone went off... for the fifteenth time this afternoon.

 

"Ugh... I swear, if this is supposed to be another nude pic, I'm giving this cursed thing to Are," Teiljo muttered.

 

...

 

While Yoshihisa was only a year older than Teiljo, their little sister Are was exactly half Yoshihisa's age. So according to their parents, Are was too young to have a phone, and this was something that she complained about a lot. However, if Teiljo were to let Are play around with his phone for a while, and then Yoshihisa tried to send Teiljo what he would typically send him... that what teach him a lesson, among other things. Teiljo picked up and looked at his phone, and found something... peculiar. It didn't seem like the type of random message that he'd expect from Yoshihisa, that was for sure. It read the following:

 

Do you want to save the world?

 

Yes<

Yes

 

'Well that's awfully redundant,' was the first thought that crossed Teiljo's mind, as he was referring to the dual "Yes" options. He tried to press the back button, then the call button, then the numbers for the emergency hotlines and even all the other numbered buttons. However, the only two buttons that the phone would respond to were the up and down buttons, which would move the cursor between the two "Yes" options.

 

Now Teiljo knew this wasn't just some random text that Yoshihisa sent; there was no way in hell he could create a program that would disable a vast majority of a phone's functions just to force someone like Teiljo to answer a question that would insult his intelligence. So Teiljo he'd humor the bastard who did send him the text. By the time he figured out what was happening with his phone, the cursor had shifted multiple times back and forth between the two "Yes" options, ultimately resting on the second one. He imagined that by originally setting the cursor on the first "Yes" option, the guy was trying to trick him into believing the second was supposed to be a "No" option instead, which would in turn cause the selection of that option to install a virus on his phone. But Teiljo had predicted this exact scenario.

 

He pressed the up button again and selected the first "Yes" option instead, with the intention to drop the phone and get back to work on his line recital.

[King K. Azo]

Rigor groaned as he entered his home. Today was a horrible day at the park he went to, with people picking on the gentle giant and defacing his artwork. He wanted to lash out, to be angry, but he couldn't Being bigger meant that people would blame him if anyone was hurt. They always did... it made him wonder why he felt this safe haven known as his home. He looked around. The house was empty, which made sense, since his mother was more than likely working. With a sigh, he headed to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and filling it with grapes, his favorite fruit. 

 

As he did, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He must had got a text, but hey, he'd check it later. He needed a bit of a pick me up. He washed his grapes, stomach growling as he stared at the tantalizing fruit. With a smile, he headed upstairs, headed into his room and sitting at a desk. Ideas were flowing to him right now. He wanted to make a manga, but what about? A hero with unlimited power, but using too much of said power would kill him? A young child, traveling around the world, cataloging strange creatures and taming them to fight for him? Maybe even something about a superhero in the making! The possibilities were endless. However, the buzzing in his pocket reminded him he needed to check something. 

 

Taking his phone out of his pocket, he read the message on the screen.

---

Do you want to save the world?

 

Yes<

Yes

---

 

Rigor blinked as he read the message. That wasn't really so much a question as it was telling him he was going to save the world. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but how could one unlucky guy like be able to do something like that? He shook his head and pressed yes. What was the harm that could come from doing that?

[BANZAI!!!!]

Despite it being past noon on a Summer Sunday, Tara was still in bed. He was engrossed in a novel, which was his go-to activity of late. Most of his friends were out of the country and/or on vacation, and so he had more or less found himself with little other choice but to entertain himself. If he was being truthful with himself though, he didn't really mind. Nor did his parents, who were perfectly fine with their son broadening his literary horizons, at least for the moment. The buzzing of his phone snapped Tara out of his enthrallment, and he put down his copy of The Fountainhead to see what the message was.

 

 

 

Do you want to save the world?

 

Yes<

Yes

 

 

 

He let out a small laugh. This was either a friend of his, or perhaps a chain message of some kind. Though the latter had gone out of style years before Tara even had a cell phone, the fact that he couldn't recognize the number made it the more likely option. He tried various methods of closing the message, none of which worked, and then began to flip between the two identical options. Then he stopped.

 

"I'll pass. I've got better things to do."

 

He put down his phone without selecting an answer and went back to his novel, satisfied that he'd bested the spammer, for the moment at least. Its not like he was in need of his phone today anyhow.

 

Of course, the sender had other ideas.

 

After about five minutes, his phone buzzed again. It was another message.

 

 

 

 

Do you think you have a choice in the matter?

No<
No

 

 

 

Oddly enough, this made Tara smile. Whoever this was, at least they had a sense of humor. As soon as Tara put his phone back down though, it vibrated a third time. At first he attempted to ignore it, but after a few moments the vibrating gave way to... elevator music. At higher than his phone's maximum volume. This was enough to force him to pick it back up.

 

"Fine! I'll play along. Just shut up!"

 

And it did. Before he could select "no", the message changed on its own, too. It could hear him somehow. Maybe it was actually serious?

 

 

 

Do you want to save the world?

 

Yes<

Yes

 

 

He selected the first option.

[The Warden]

The world shuddered, as if it were holding its breath in anticipation for Kiero's decision. The young man rolled his jaw about thoughtfully as he sat on the side of his bed, regarding the thought provoking question with all his mind and intellect he could muster. He pondered the ever deep implications and consequences of the question, with all the weight and matter as if THE UNIVERSE'S SURVIVAL HINGED ON THE QUESTION TO BE ANSWERED WITH ALL THE SINCERITY OF HIS SOUL! SPEAK KIERO! SPEAK! "Whatever" he shrugged, hitting the Yes option.

 

What came next was more or less completely unexpected. Kiero dropped his phone in surprise as it started going mental, sparks flying and the screen completely corrupting. "What the hell kind of virus is this?" he gasped, before his phone even went more mental.

 

Before proper thought could catch up at the speed reality was running at, his phone exploded, the pieces converting into a glowing portal that sucked him into it, before collapsing in on itself, the pieces following through what remained of the portal.

 

 

>

>

 

 

Kiero was thrown through a technicolor wormhole, completely at a lose for himself as the pieces of his shattered phone collected in his hand, reformatting into a strange device. He shielded his eyes as a bright light loomed at what he figured was the end of the portal, sucking him in. What came next was completely unexpected as he landed on a tree branch, bouncing from it to another branch, then another branch, before crashing onto a patch of grass. Kiero groaned loudly, rubbing his incredibly sore everything as he lay at the base of the tree, a rather nasty bruise apparent on his arm. "Jeez, what the hell was that?" he grumbled to himself, before finally noting the situation.

 

Peering about, he saw clear blue skies above, though with a few odd yellow streaks, like those you'd find on motherboards and computer components. He also found himself in some woods, with what appeared to be the sound of seagulls and quite possibly the sound of waves lapping on the shoreline. "Whu? Wh-what the hell?" he stammered in surprise, his right hand gripping something hard.

 

Looking down, he found a strange, almost handheld console like device in his hand. Roughly 4-5 inches wide and 3 inches long, the device appeared to have a hinge on it. Opening it up, Kiero found dual-screens (both blank), as well as two strange slots along the top screen. They both possessed rectangular shapes, although one had strange curves on the upper part. "Okay, what the hell?" Kiero repeated again.

 

Tapping a few buttons on the device, it was completely unresponsive. "Okay, let's think now. I answered a strange text, my phone went nuts, it exploded and made a portal which sucked me in, I went through a time warp, and landed here. Sooo, either I somehow concussed myself in my room, I spontaneously died, or a magical portal actually did summon me to a strange land. This place feels to real, so, I'm going to have to assume it's the latter. So, next question: WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

Upon hitting the button of the strange text message, something in Kosuke told him he shouldn't have done it. But this hindsight came just a few moments too late...

 

His phone leaped from his hand (more or less on the side of Kosuke dropping it suddenly) as he witnessed it shooting off sparks and the phone screen beginning to go corrupt. This obviously seemed like something out of a horror movie and even though Kosuke never watched them, he really wanted to find holy water and shout at it "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!" or something to that affect. "O-Oh man...my mom is gonna kill me!" he said, watching his phone have a literal spazz attack.

 

Before he knew it, he watched his phone almost jump back into the air and shatter into a million pieces. However, as Kosuke braced himself, the phone released a bright light that enveloped him with computerized sirens and buzzes heard...and then...silence...

 

BGM

 

Kosuke didn't hear anything for a bit...until he heard something new. It was the sound of the ocean. But...how was that even possible? He lowered his arms and to his surprise, he found himself on a beach shoreline with a blue sky overhead. However, unlike the normal blue skies he was used to, this one had yellow streaks going through...the same ones he could find inside his computer tower. "W-What...?"

 

He went to move his hands some, trying to figure out if this was a dream or not...but he felt something in his left pocket. Rummaging through it, Kosuke pulled out his phone...no that's not what it was. "Wait...what is this?" he asked, seeing the handheld device in the colors of orange with a strange set of fiery designs on them. If he didn't know any better...he would've sworn this was one of the gaming devices he had at home...but it wasn't.

 

"What...what is g-going on?" Kosuke swallowed hard, beginning to tremble some. He wasn't sure where he was...what was happening...or- "Oh god...I'm dead! My phone blew up and I'm dead...nononononononononono!!"

 

However...as Kosuke was having his mental breakdown...

 

 

 

 

...Something...or rather...someone was watching from the bushes a bit a ways from the beach's shoreline.

 

Is that a human? Delos, a Coronamon, thought as he stared at Kosuke. He hadn't exactly seen one up in the Digital World before...but...this was a momentous occasion then! Nice! So...if there arrrrreeeen't any other humans aroooooound... Delos slowly surveyed the area: no humans other than this one. This opportunity wouldn't pass him by...

 

He slowly emerged from the bushes and made his way towards the human. Then...he did it...he called out to him, riiiiiiiight after he got up near him.

 

"HI THERE!"

 

However, in Delos' mind...this meeting was going in a different way. What happened, was that the human slowly turned and he unleashed a loud scream of terror. Delos moved back, cringing as he held his ears. Well...that went over...smoothly?

[~Faytl~]

Rui stopped dead in the center of the street as her phone went insane, sparks flying as she reflexively threw it into the air in front of her, dropping her grocery bags as she fell back, landing on the wet ground painfully, the cold water shocking against her legs. She looke on the ground in fron of her for her phone, not even noticing the horn honks of the cars that were waiting for her to cross as she saw that it was SOMEHOW hovering in midair, sparks shooting off as it spasmed unnaturally.

 

"What is-" she began, but she couldn't finish the sentence before the phone burst apart into a glowing green circle of light. Rui and the drivers on the street only saw it for a split second before she was yanked through it with a yelp, the portal snapping shut on itself as quickly as it had opened. A green apple rolled across the street as the confused driver at the head of the line hesitantly drove forward, crushing he bag of chips Rui had bought for herself as he drove into the intersection and on further into the city.

 

- - - - - - -

 

Rui was flying through spiral of color, curling instinctively into a ball as her body tumbled through the empty void. The only sound she could hear was a strange beeping noise reminiscent of circuitry, along with her own terrified screams. She spun through the portal, not even noticing the object forming in her clenched hand in her fear.

 

And it very suddenly stopped. She came to a halt as she hit ground, landing on soft grass with a grunt of surprise. She sat up with a jolt, looking around to see she was in a forest. Where the hell had the forest come from?! She couldn't hear the cars of Yokahama she had heard all her life, and the sky was a clear, bright blue, free of the clouds that had covered it moments before. Her overlarge raincoat now felt hot and cloying in the hotter weather of the place she was now in. Everything was different.

 

And something that also threw her off was what was now in her hand. She opened her palm as she felt something within it, looking to see a hinged device of a lavender color, one that on close examination opened, holding two unresponsive screens.

 

"Where... am I?" she asked, her voice sounding very small in the empty woods. The woods that SEEMED empty, at any rate.

 

- - - - - - -

 

"What have we here, mm?" The purple ferret-like Digimon skulked out further on the tree branch that overlooked Rui, yellow eyes gazing down on the unaware child from the shadows of the treetops. "What kind of Digimon are YOU?" she muttered under her breath, as Rui hesitantly stood, shedding her raincoat and tying it around her waist as she looked through the trees, terrified.

 

As Rui walked hesitantly towards the sound of ocean waves in the distance, Kudamon scampered across the treetops as well, her ears ready and flexed to hear anything that might approach them, hearing only Rui's occassional cries of "Hello? Is anyone there? Please, someone answer me!"

 

"You don't look so tough... big, but not tough," she purred, readying herself to pounce as Rui neared the end of the treeline, the ocean within sight through the gaps beteen the trunks. "You'll be easy prey, dearie." And she flew from the branch directly towards Rui's head.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Just as Teiljo dropped the phone, all sorts of sparks soared in different directions before suddenly it rose, via a force that was completely unknown to him, and exploded into a million pieces. The phone itself was no more, and in its place was a portal to what would presumably be another world. Teiljo couldn't believe his eyes. There was no way in hell that something like this could be replicated by mortal hands; not in a million years.

 

"What in the world?" Teiljo was too mesmerized by the spectacle to even begin to brace himself, before suddenly the portal tugged on his body and pulled him in. Then what was left of his phone was drawn into the portal piece by piece, until the portal itself had finally dissipated. There was almost no trace of Teiljo being in his room, and the Matsubara would have no idea where he could've possibly gone or how far away he would've been from the house. The only indication that he was ever here were the papers that his lines for the play he had been reciting, strewn all across the floor as if they had been dropped...

 

 

The FanBeemon that would eventually be called Cinder was just strolling along the woods, still grumbling about the fact that he had got himself kicked out of his hive of other FanBeemons that vacated the island. However, as fate would have it, this specific FanBeemon would find himself staring blankly at a portal that had materialized right in front of his path. He watched on, perplexed by the sight of the thing, before he find a being that he'd never been before, being propelled out of the portal as though he was shoved into it. But Teiljo would have no time to adjust to this new world that he found himself in before all of a sudden...

 

"GAARGH!! A bug!"

"GAARGH!! He's big!"

 

Both exclaimed their pieces in unison and recoiled at each other's sudden appearance; but Teiljo was the one that was more confused. He never saw a bee opt to walk along the ground in his life, much less one that was capable of human speech. His first thought was the following:

 

'I must be hallucinating, surely,' he decided, as he struggled to make sense of what exactly he was seeing.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Shiro's face was beaming when she answered the message.  A girl like herself being able to save any kind of world was a silly thought...but it made her smile thinking that she may be able to do it...would her dad be proud of her then?  

 

Seemingly, as if it was ripped straight from one of those crazy manga's, her phone acted on it's own accord.  First, it flipped onto the ground, and then it started to hover in midair.  Shiro rubbed her eyes in disbelief...what in the world was going on?  Were the earth's magnetic fields shifting in some funky way?  Why today of all days!?  

 

But that wasn't the case.  As a matter of fact, her phone shattered apart, as if a mini-explosive had been implanted in it by some sort of whack job assassin.  

 

"This is too crazy..."  She openly expressed.  What she saw before her, her phone now shifting into digital code and swirling into a funnel, was more than she could comprehend.  Her last thoughts before she was enveloped by the strange portal were ones of her family.  And then in an instant, she was whisked away.  

 

It felt like she was waking up from a dream.  As if that jog through the town had worn her out so bad that she had passed out on the sidewalk.  She laughed, as she knew it only could've been a dream...what she saw.  

 

"But it was so vivid..." she said quietly.  She finally opened her eyes, a beautiful blue sky above her.  She caught the scent of an ocean nearby.  Her hand...wasn't touching sidewalk either, rather it was touching a soft grass...one that hadn't been mowed in ages.  Picking herself off the ground, she took a wider look at her surroundings...she was in the middle of a forest!  

 

"H-How...How did I get out here?!  Mom?!  Dad!?"  No response...only echoes reverberated throughout the trees.  She collapsed, clasping her knees as she tried to figure out what was going on.  At the base of her feet, she found a device of sorts.  It looked almost exactly like some kind of next generation handheld console.  She never really liked them though...it was hard enough playing games with a joystick...let alone one you'd need two hands for.  It was purple in hue, and she picked it up delicately.  Maybe it had some clues to give.  She toyed with the device, desperately trying to figure out how the thing worked, but to no avail.  She heard a rustling behind her after some time fiddling with the device.  She almost jumped for joy, hoping to find some sort of help in this forest she'd never seen!  It was a miracle!

 

Or so she had hoped.  

 

 

A giant penguin that almost came up to her hip had appeared from the brush.  

 

"Helloooooo!  Was somebody shouting for he-...."  The thing stopped dead in it's tracks when it saw Shiro.  Her knees quivered as her eyes met with it's own. 

 

"A t-t-talkking p-p-penguin?!"  She finally managed to get out.  

 

The thing's eyes widened, and a smile could be seen tracing it's beak.  

 

"Wowee!  A real live human!  You know I've heard a lot of stories about you thingies!  I heard you guys are super strong and super smart!  I heard they can even fly!"  The penguin began to inspect Shiro from front to back, pecking her from time to time.  Shiro was still in shock...some much had happened to her in such a short period of time...she just wanted to go home!  "Well...you aren't what those stories really put in my mind.  And do all humans only have one arm?  If so, that's okay!  I can't fly either!"  The Penguin laughed, and Shiro had to admit that it was cute.  "Well, my name's Penmon!  But my friends call me Mango!  I'm a digimon, a digital monster!"

 

"I....I....I..." tears started to well up in her eyes, and she collapsed onto Mango, hugging him tightly with her arm, "I'm Shiro!"  Her tears turned into waterfalls.  Mango didn't know what to do now...so he just replicated what Shiro had done, and wrapped one wing around her.   

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Upon making his decision on the text, Rio wasn't sure if he would later regret it. But what happened next would make the chances of that much higher.

 

Out of nowhere, his phone began to shoot sparks and the screen began to corrupt itself. Dropping it out of instinct, he was both afraid and confused. Was that text housing some sort of virus meant to destroy his phone? If so, why would someone do this to him? He couldn't think of any reason for something like this to happen.

 

Feeling as though he no longer has a phone to use, he slowly steps backwards. But before he could walk away completely, the phone exploded, the remaining fragments creating what looked to be a portal. Screw walking backwards slowly. It's time to run. However, it was useless. As he tried to sprint away, he felt an invisible force pulling him towards the portal. It was too strong for him to get away, and he was sucked in within seconds. The fear alone that came from this while passing through the portal caused Rio to faint.

 

 

Not knowing how much time had past since he fainted, Rio slowly regained consciousness. Only having a slight recollection of what happened, he figured it was all a dream as he rubbed his eyes and cleared his vision. As he was doing that, a sudden sharp pain was felt on his back. "Ow! What the...!"

 

The pain was reminiscent to that of falling from a decent height and nothing to break your fall with.

 

It was then he realized he wasn't even lying on pavement, let alone concrete. Looking down, he realized he was laying in what appeared to be soil. Eventually, his ears perked up slightly, as he could just barely hear what sounded like ocean waves hitting a shoreline.

 

He then looked up, and realized he was in a forest. But not just any forest. It was one Rio had never seen before. That was made even more clear as he looked at the sky. It was blue, but had what appeared to be yellow streaks going through it. This reminded him of a motherboard somewhat. Nothing made sense about this.

 

However, his confusion turned to interest. Opening his satchel, he took out his camera, taking pictures of both the sky and the current vicinity of the forest he's in.

 

This is bad, this is bad...!

 

Just keep running. Don't stop and make sure you don't fall over. That's what was going through the lone Razomon's head. He was almost found out by a hostile Kuwagamon and was forced to run away.

 

This was the first time in a while that he's come across a Champion Digimon, but it was his first time ever encountering a Kuwagamon. He had yet to learn its habits so he could avoid it without much of an issue. Attempting to learn from a safe distance was definitely a mistake on his part.

 

This Razomon has been on his own for a long time, to the point where he doesn't even remember ever having friends and the like. With that said, he has been attempting to survive on his own. He doesn't want anyone to be apart of his life, let alone trust them. It was just an instinctual reaction that came from something that he no longer remembers. The only thing he remembers is the scar that was given to him. How it happened, he doesn't recall. He just knows the scar is what remains of something long forgotten.

 

While running away was routine for Razomon at this point, he felt more afraid than ever, especially since he has no idea what a Kuwagamon is capable of, and would rather not find out the hard way.

 

As Rio was looked around with his camera in hand, he then noticed something on the ground. It appeared to be some sort of handheld console device, at least from a first glance. He notices the device had a hinge on it. Upon opening it, he can see two blank screens making up the majority of the innard of the device. It appeared to be mostly black in color with a gold trim all around. He wasn't sure what it was, but he took a picture of it as well.

 

Seconds later, he could hear what sounded like the ruffling of bushes. It was quiet at first. But as he got closer and kept listening, it got louder and louder, until............SMACK!

 

Rio got so close that he ended up being a giant sandbag for Razomon to tackle. The two ended up dazed for a moment. When Rio realized what hit him, he was almost paralyzed with fear. He wanted to scream, but wasn't able to.

 

Razomon recomposed himself and realized what he smacked into. It wasn't a Digimon, at least one he's ever seen before. He's seen a lot of odd creatures on this island in his life, but nothing as weird as.....whatever Rio was.

 

What the...? he thought to himself. Noticing that Rio didn't appear to be a threat, what with him being paralyzed, Razomon dusted himself off. "I don't know what you are, but I'll be on my way."

 

With that, Razomon walked past Rio. However, upon doing so, he felt something......odd. This was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt like Rio could be trusted. With what, he didn't know. But he felt as though he should stick around him for the time being.

 

"So I take it you're all alone out here?"

 

His fear diminishing, Rio realized that there was nothing to be afraid about. Razomon didn't seem hostile. But that wasn't the problem. The fact that an unknown species of reptile the size of a six-year-old was actually talking to him was a lot to take in. But with some hesitance and reluctance, he gave Razomon an answer. "Y-yes."

 

"Dare I ask what you are?"

 

"I'm......a human."

 

"Right........that explains a lot. You don't look like a Digimon."

 

Rio had a look of confusion on his face. "A...Digimon?"

 

Razomon sighed at this. "Do you even know where you are right now?"

 

Rio shook his head. "Somewhere on Earth...right?"

 

"Earth? Never heard of that either."

 

Rio's eyes widened in total shock. What did he mean by that? There can't be any other world that houses life...right?

 

"Can you tell me your name?"

 

"Rio. Rio Magaki. What about you?"

 

"Razomon."

 

"That's an.....odd name."

 

"You're the one with the weird name. Mine at least makes sense here in the Digital World."

 

"The...Digital World?"

 

And I thought I was clueless when I hatched from my DigiEgg. thought Razomon as he gave another sigh. "Alright, I'll tell you what I know--"

 

However, before Razomon could explain, the two heard a bone-chilling roar from behind them. He didn't know what Digimon could have made that sound, but he could only assume it was the Kuwagamon he was running away from, and it probably picked up his scent. "Oh no..."

 

"What...was that?"

 

"We have to go. Now." Without even thinking about it, Razomon began to run away from the roar behind them, expecting Rio to follow him. Standing up, he began to follow Razomon, attempting to keep up with him.

 

He wasn't sure what was coming, but considering what he's seen so far, and what he heard in the distance, he probably doesn't want to find out.

[The Warden]

Getting nowhere with his strange device, Kiero closed it in annoyance, and pocketed it. Groaning loudly, he picked himself off the ground, only to seethe and collapse again. There was a stabbing pain in his leg, indicating it was either bruised, or fractured. It only hurt when he put weight on it, so it must be pretty banged up. "Guess I won't be going anywhere for a while" he sighed despondently.

 

"Why not~kyu?"

 

Blinking rapidly, the young man's head tilted to the right, where he found a pair of pink floppy ears poking out from behind a tree root. Slowly, an adowable squiwshy face popped up, a muffler flapping in the light breeze. The little rabbit thing was staring at him inquisitively, and given the reality, Kiero had to accept the notion that he was indeed talking to what is quite possibly a magical rabbit. "My leg is hurt, as is the rest of me, actually" he explained in simple terms.

 

The little rabbit's ears stuck bolt upright in the air, and the cute little critter manhandled its way over the root. "Let me see~kyu!"

 

Reeling back from the sudden earnestness of the bunny, Kiero lay back as the rabbit delicately applied pressure to different parts of his leg, until it hit a spot that made him wince in pain. "It hurts there~kyu?" the rabbit asked.

 

"Yes" Kiero grunted as he bit his tongue to hold back a sarcastic remark. Nodding, a glowing aura exuded from the little rabbit's hands, and a soothing feeling came over Kiero's leg. Watching in rapt fascination, the pain in his leg rapidly disappeared, until it felt as if he had never gotten hurt to begin with. "Amazing" the human uttered, rising to his feet. Stomping with his bad leg, there was no twinge of pain, no sharp shooting stabbing feelings. He was completely healed. "That's incredible, how did you manage something modern technology hasn't?"

 

"We Cutemon all excel at healing~kyu" the appropriately titled Cutemon explained.

 

"Cutemon?"

 

"Mmm~kyu," the rabbit nodded, "we're renowned for our healing all across the Digital World~kyu. Many Digimon come from far and wide in order to meet with a Cutemon healer~kyu."

 

"Digital World? Digimon?"

 

"I guess you're not from here, huh~kyu? You must be a human, right~kyu?"​ the Cutemon deduced.

 

"I should hope I still am" Kiero responded.

 

"That explains it~kyu. Well, we're in the Digital World, which is kinda like, an entire world existing within your world's computer systems, I think~kyu. And I'm a Digimon, or a Digital Monster~kyu. You seem smart enough to know what that can mean right~kyu? Well, it's good that you're here actually, as bad times are coming~kyu" the rabbit exposited.

 

"Okay, that's uh, good to know. Before you continue, do you have a name? Or should I just call you "Cutemon"? I mean, my name is Kiero, Kiero Tachikaze. So, I assume you have a name, right?" Kiero inquired.

 

"Yep! You can call me Cutie Pie~kyu. Or CP for short~kyu" CP replied.

 

"I'll call you CP, as I feel my soul attempting to leave my body by calling you Cutie Pie" Kiero snarked. "So, what was that about "dark times" exactly?"

 

"Something bad has been going on in the Digital World~kyu. Dark cloud have been appearing across the Continent of Gateway, where the Server Tree resides~kyu. Digimon who have come into contact with it have all gone crazy, and the clouds are spreading further every day~kyu. Thankfully we're all safe here on the Load Islands, but for however long, we don't know~kyu" CP exposited.

 

"Do you wish to save the world?" Kiero recalled, now understanding what that message meant. "Huh, I think that I might have been called here to stop whatever is happening. I was sent a text message asking if I want to save the world, and I was kinda forced to press "yes". And then my phone exploded, it made a portal, and I ended up here. Although, how I plan to do anything is a mystery to me."

 

"Well, they say that heroes of old all had Digimon partners, who fought for them while the humans helped to make their partners stronger using special devices~kyu. So you probably have a destined partner waiting for you somewhere~kyu" CP explained with rising excitement.

 

"Partner huh? And, a devi- AH!" Kiero vocalized, remembering the device in his pocket.

 

Grabbing it, he flipped it open, only to find the screen was still blank. "Oh my~kyu! Is that a legendary device?" CP asked excitedly.

 

"Yeah, but it's not doing anything. I hit all the buttons, and it does nothing. I can't even find any kind of on or off switch on it. Maybe you might be able to figure something out?" Kiero suggested as he knelt down to hand the device over.

 

"I'll try~kyu" CP promised as he grabbed hold. Without warning, a surge ran through the device, shocking the two alongside blinding them with a bright flash. Dazed slightly, Kiero blinked away a few sun spots, and then searched for the device. Much to his surprise, the bottom screen was actually working now, and, even more surprising, there was a data outline of CP with something resembling vital signs along the right side. CP rubbed his little head, before catching on to the image on the screen. "Oh my~kyu! Do you KNOW what this means~kyu?" he asked excitedly.

 

"If I could guess, this means you're my partner" Kiero surmised.

 

"YEP~KYU!" CP squealed gleefully, flinging himself into the air to hug Kiero.

 

"Oooohhhh, great" Kiero winced with a forced smile.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

After her tear-filled breakdown, Shiro managed to hobble off of Mango and onto her knees.  She sniffled, and various fluids could be seen painting her face.  She wiped them off vigorously, clearing her vision, only to be brought to the sight that had started all of this in the first place.  

 

This....digimon?

 

Mango cocked his head as he looked at her.  

 

"So...let's start from the beginning then, 'kay?  What's the last thing you remember?"  Shiro thought back to before she woke up in this strange place.  

 

"Well...I answered a text...and then my phone went KABOOM!"  The sudden shout from the tiny girl made Mango jump back.  "Then some vortex sucked me in here...and then I woke up...and then I met this really weird talking pengui-" she closed her mouth shut, but the damage was already done.  Now it was Mango's turn to shed some tears.  

 

"I-I-I'm not weeeeeiiiird!" he started bawling.  Shiro tried hugging Mango as tight as possible.   

 

"No, no!  I swear I didn't mean it!  This is just all so weird to me!"  After Mango got a hold of himself, he sniffled a bit.  

 

"So...where's your phone now?"  Shiro looked around her, and remembered that strange purple device that she had found earlier.  

 

"I think...I think it's this now." She said holding it up to the sky.  "But it's a hunk of junk...it won't even turn on now."  She suddenly lost a grip on the device and It fell out of her hand.  She tried desperately to grab it.  Mango caught it for her however.  When his wings grabbed hold of it, a sudden surge of energy rushed into the device, bringing it to life.  A still shot of Mango, along with some vitals data, appeared on the screen.

 

"Well it works now...and I think we're a team now!"  Mango started to jump up and down, flapping his wings.  He was delighted.  "Now I can see what all the fuss is about you humans!  Yippee!"  It took some time for Shiro to register what was going on, but she realized she was in the thick of it now, and with Mango no less.  She smiled though, and rose to her feet.

 

"Well...I gotta get home somehow...if you can help me get there, you're fine to come with me and be apart of the team!"  Mango nodded, and the two headed off.  It was then that the two heard a roar...a roar that belonged in the Mesozoic era.  Two blurs passed the pair, and one of them seemed to be shaped like a human.  "We have to follow them!  I think I saw another person!"  Mango looked at Shiro concerned.  

 

"You sure there Shiro?  I mean, usually you want to run away from people running away from roars."  Shiro nodded.

 

"If they need help...we have to do something.  If they can help us...then all the better!  Come on!"  Shiro and Mango started chasing after the other two silhouettes in the forest. 

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

 

Kosuke's shrieks of terror finally died down as he just stared at the strange lion...thing...as he fell backwards onto the beach, moving away from the creature. Apparently either his shriek caught him off guard...or it was just too loud for him. Regardless, one thing was totally sure: Kosuke was beyond terrified.

 

"P-Please...j-just don't come any closer!" Kosuke mustered out, backing away from the creature, who looked at him with a weird look. "P-Please don't lay eggs in my stomach..."

 

"Wait...what?"

 

The young man's eyes widened more as he heard from the lion...speaking. This was actually happening! This lion creature was speaking to him...plain Japanese!

 

"Laying eggs in your what? Jeez, that's not how we Digimon do things." Delos finally spoke up after this outburst, crossing his arms with a heavy sigh. "I suppose I got the very skiddish one...greeaaaaaaaaaat."

 

Kosuke looked at Delos, before his eyes drifted over towards the device that was still in his hand. Slowly he held it up and looked back at Delos. "I-Is this yours...? L-Look I didn't mean to take it...I-I just sort of wound up with it." he said quickly, extending it out towards this....Digimon. "Y-You can have it back! J-Just don't hurt me...please..."

 

Delos stared at Kosuke, before exhaling slightly, shaking his head. This is my partner? Looks like I got work to do... he thought, before finally smiling. "No, no. That hot piece of tech ya got there is yours. It's a Digivice...and well, it basically makes you and me a team!"

 

Kosuke looked over at Delos, trying to question if he had just made a fire pun just then, before seeing that this...Digivice sprung to life with vital signs. Not only this, he just finally noticed that the device and this Digimon were alike in the color scheme. Then that did mean... "N-No...no I d-didn't ask for this...!" Kosuke quickly said, standing up slightly. "I-I just want to go home!"

 

"Thhhhaaaaaaat'll be a problem." Delos shrugged. "You're sorta stuck here. But no worries! I'll find you a way home...uhhhh...ya know you never gave me your name. What do I call ya? Old Yeller?"

 

Kosuke saw Delos snicker at his small joke, before he sighed and looked away some. "K-Kosuke..." he mumbled, seeing Delos tilt his head slightly. "I-I'm Yukimura Kosuke..."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

 

"YeshiIambugandItalktoguys," the FanBeemon said, almost as if in response to whatever it was Teiljo was thinking. Could this Digimon see into his mind? Teiljo was just... so confused as of this moment, that he could no longer make any form of speech. However, the FanBeemon noted something peculiar in Teiljo's hands.

 

"So uh..." he pointed to the device, "Whatcha got, there?"

 

"I... oh! This?" Teiljo had only just noticed the device in his hands and examined it briefly, almost forgetting that he was replying to a talking bee for a moment, "It looks like one of those 3DS things Are's always banging on about. Here, you can play with it while I... try and comprehend the fact that I've... gone insane..."

 

In an instant, Teiljo tossed the device in the FanBeemon's direction, only to be shocked and blinded by the cursed thing the moment it made contact with the Digimon's hands. Recovering from the exact same thing, the FanBeemon opened up the device and peered at the bottom screen, only to see a data outline of himself with a display of vital signs or something like that along the right side of the screen.

 

"Oh wow, it's got my actual face on here! Huh," suddenly the Digimon had an epiphany, "The first living creature I've ever seen since leaving my colony gives me a thing and now all of a sudden I feel obligated to side with said living creature. Go figure."

 

He chucked the device back into Teiljo's hands, the latter being perplexed by the sediment.

 

"Wait, why are you giving this back to me?" the young man asked, "I don't even know how to use this thing,"

 

"You'll figure it out," the FanBeemon waved it off non-chalantly, "I'm FanBeemon by the way,"

 

"Fan... Beemon?" Teiljo shuddered, "I don't mean to offend, but that sounds somewhat... garish. Do you mind if I call you something else?"

 

"Sure, knock yourself out,"

 

"OK, then. Let's try... Houdini,"

 

"Yeah, nah, too long. Also sounds weird."

 

"Less syllables then. Hmm... Echo."

 

"Not feeling that one either."

 

"Perhaps Taboo?"

 

"That sounds lame if I'm honest."

 

"Slinky?" Teiljo was very hesitant about that one to begin with, and regretted saying it aloud even more when the FanBeemon gave him an 'Are you serious?' type of look. He mulled over many different options before finally deciding on something the FanBeemon might like.

 

"I got it," he said to his partner Digimon, "You shall be hereby known as Cinder."

 

"Cinder?" the Digimon repeated.

 

"Cinder," Teiljo nodded. The FanBeemon scratched his head, but then immediately shrugged his shoulders.

 

"I guess; sure as hell better than Slinky of all things," accepting his new name, the FanBeemon, Cinder, immediately started walking, "Now come on,"

 

"Er... right," sure enough, Teiljo found himself following Cinder, hoping he knew how to get out of this place.

 

...

 

Teiljo and Cinder had been walking for quite some time... and somewhat aimlessly as well. It was true that if anyone else were to be present in this world then they could've been anywhere. Still, there could've been more to the Digital World than Teiljo could've imagined, and if that were the case, then any other humans could be in a desert, or a swamp, or even in the middle of the ocean. But he perished the thought; the being that sent him here couldn't possibly be that cruel could he? In any case, Teiljo was looking in one direction while Cinder had gone another, until the former had heard what sounded like a familiar voice... as faint as it was...

 

"Hello? Is anyone there? Please, someone answer me!" that sounded like Rui alright. Teiljo immediately turned towards Cinder's direction.

 

"HEY, CINDER!! I found someone!" he had to yell in order for his partner to be able to hear him, "And she sounds familiar to me too! Let's go!"

 

"Wait, she? Aren't you the lucky...?" Cinder just popped out of the bush he was looking in when he noted that Teiljo had already taken off, "Awe, Yggdrasil damn it!"

 

Cinder immediately scurried after his human partner. Unfortunately, neither of them would arrive in time to save Rui from her current dilemma.

[King K. Azo]

It seemed the universe believed that Rigor's life was going too well recently, and he needed another slap of bad luck. As soon as he pressed yes, his phone exploded into tiny fragments and started to swirl, spinning faster and faster, until they created a vortex. The wind it created ruffled Rigor's hair as he stared into the vortex.

What the heck was that? Should he go through? A part of him told him no, since he had no idea where it went. In fact, maybe he could never come home if he went there. But another part of him told him to enter; that this was the only way his life would change. With a gulp and a deep breath to steel his nerves, he ran in, diving head first into the portal.

 

Rigor was shocked at just how pretty the inside of an interdimensional portal could be. The colors flashed around him as he flew through this strange tunnel. Was this what a LSD trip looked liked? Soon, however, a light at the end of the tunnel starting shining. It grew so bright that Rigor had to close his eyes...

 

When Rigor opened his eyes, he saw he was in a forest. Something seemed off though... the sounds of the ocean filled his ears as he looked into the sky. Well, the yellow streaks in the sky was something that was off. The redhead sat up, rubbing his eyes as he did. Man, he felt stiff... he stood up to stretch, his bones cracking as he did. Anyways, was anyone even here...? He looked around. This forest was eerily quiet, and felt... oppressive almost. He couldn't place his finger on why he felt like this though...

The ground began to shake, shaking Rigor out of his thoughts. Was that an earthquake? If earthquakes growled like a monster, then maybe it was. Rigor slowly turned around to see a creature looking like a cross between a dinosaur and a demon appeared through the trees, snarling at him. Okay, that was not friendly looking. Still... maybe looks were deceiving...? The hungry look in the monster's eyes told him that no, looks were absolutely correct. Rigor didn't even wait a second; he took off running with a large demon dinosaur hot on his tail. Where the hell did he end up at?!

[~Faytl~]

Rui shrieked as Kudamon landed atop her head, latching her claws into her scalp painfully as Rui reached up to try and grab Kudamon from her perch, hands scrabbling at her fur as the frightened girl ran around frantically in a circle.

 

"WAAAH! Get OFF me!" she yelled, thinking she must have a large animal atop her head. That notion immediately flew out the window as Kudamon snarled:

 

 "Dammit, quit squirming and let me lay into ya'!" 

 

Rui's scream was high-pitched and immediate, taking off at a sprint as Kudamon swore, digging her claws in further to avoid falling off, renewing Rui's shrieks. She barely even processed Teiljo and Cinder coming into view, sprinting off towards the ocean. Something she also failed to notice was the sharp vibration coming from her raincoat pocket, where she had stowed the strange machine her phone had become.

 

"Get off me get off me get OFF me! Teiljo, get it ooooooff!" she yelled, Kudamon swearing all the while. She kept running for a solid minute, losing track of where she was running and circling back to where she started, slamming straight into Teiljo, bouncing off the taller boy and falling to the ground, barely making an impact on the taller boy. This finally threw Kudamon loose, and she landed on the ground with a harsh "OOF!"

 

Kudamon recovered first, as Rui's hyperventilating started to slow. She saw Cinder first, and bared her teeth, hissing. It was then she noticed Teiljo.  "Oh great; MORE of you weird-lookin' folk. That's just swell."  She sprung into the air, hovering a few feet above the ground as the purple fur on her body pulsed white.  "Who wants some, eh?"  she asked, a predatory grin across her fox-like face.

 

Rui looked up to see Teiljo, and she clambered up, ducking behind him. "Teiljo, she jumped on me! She hurt my head," she cried, protectively clasping her hands over the scratches Kudamon had left in her scalp. "Where are we, Teiljo? I was walking home from the stor, and then my phone did something weird, and then I was..."

 

It was at this point that Rui finally noticed Cinder on the ground next to her. She backed up immediately from the giant bee, hitting a tree with her back and sliding down it, terrified. "What, what is that thing?" she asked, clearly terrified, eyes huge behind her glasses. "Can it talk too?" She was starting to cry a bit now, and she buried her face in her hands as she tried to stop herself.

 

 "Geez, you're gonna CRY?"  Kudamon asked dryly, floating over to Rui and poking at the glowing pocket of the raincoat tied around her waist.  "If you're gonna be a no-fun wimp like that, at least lemme see the shiny goodies ya got- WHAT THE?!"

 

Kudamon fell back as her claws touched the vibrating device, a huge flash emanating from it as it fell from Rui's pocket on the ground. Rui herself stopped crying, surrpised by this new development. She picked up the device gingerly, opening it to see the lower screen was now active, with a digital model labeled-

 

"Ku... damon?" asked Rui, confusion distracting her from her hysteria.

 

 "HEY!"  Kudamon snapped, causing Rui to   jump. "How'd ya know my name, eh?" she a sked, scampering up Rui's leg to rest on her knee, Rui shivering at the touch, her yellow eyes glaring coldly into Rui's brown ones.  "We ain't never met before... I would remember a Digimon as ugly as you. What's that thing say about me? How does it know?"

 

"I- I don't know!" Rui stammered, panicking. "I'm sorry, I, I just read what it said, I swear!" She held the device protectively in front of her like a shield, Kudamon looking unconvinced. She looked back at Cinder, snorting.

 

 "Found yourself one of these too, eh?"  she asked derisively. "The hell kind of Digimon is this one?" she asked, jerking a claw to point at  Teiljo. "And is it as big a wimp as this sad sack?"

[Kōsuke Ueki]

The first time Rio ran like hell and never turned back, he was running on adrenaline. This time, he's just trying to keep up with Razomon, and it's still difficult for him. But he had to run. Whatever it is that was chasing them, he didn't want to find, nor did he want it to eat them alive.

 

For a moment, they didn't hear the roar anymore, but Razomon wasn't taking any chances, especially now that he saw two silhouettes chasing after them. For crying out loud! he thought to himself as he began to pick up speed, Rio starting to trail behind. "Come on, pick up the pace before whatever's chasing us catches up!"

 

It was bad enough that Rio was barely keeping up with Razomon. But now that he was running even faster, it was becoming a hassle to stay up to speed. "I'm....I'm not a fast runner!"

 

"We can work on that later, just keep up!" Rio was already getting exhausted, and was on the verge of collapsing if he didn't stop to catch his breath. But he couldn't stop otherwise their pursuers would catch him and do......whatever it is they wanted to do to them.

 

Suddenly, Rio ended up tripping over a branch growing out of the ground that he didn't see. As a result, he ended up rolling into a giant tree just up ahead. Razomon caught wind of this before Rio collided with the tree. But because he didn't have his eyes facing forward, he ended up crashing into a tree himself.

 

It was definitely apparent that both of them ended up knocked unconscious for a while, the strange device falling out of Rio's satchel upon impact..

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"Kosuke? Well, sounds like a good name as any for a human!" Delos chuckled before flashing a quick smile. "Either way, you can call me Delos! I'm a Digimon known as Coronamon."

 

Coronamon? Digimon? Truth be told, Kosuke was completely lost at this point. Kosuke looked at the device, shaking his head. "I-I didn't ask for this...."

 

"Not many humans ask for this to happen. Then again, some are fired up for this type of thing!"

 

There was Delos making another fire pun again. Kosuke sighed, shaking his head again at the bad pun. However, as he and Delos talked for a bit, Kosuke's ears were cursed with hearing a very loud roar. Too many things came to his mind when heard this roar. A-A dinosaur? N-N-No...that's impossible, their extinct...aren't they? His next thought was even more out there. Oh please don't be a Kaijuu...

 

"Well, looks like there's trouble!" Delos turned around and cracked his knuckles some. "C'mon Kosuke!"

 

"W-Waitaminute!!!!" Kosuke blurted out, trembling slightly. "S-Shouldn't we be running a-a-away from the loud roars? I d-don't want to die...again!"

 

Delos looked at Kosuke, sighing with a roll of his eyes. "Kosuke...c'mon! Man up!" he said, crossing his arms. "You humans love adventure, don't ya?"

 

Kosuke kept quiet. He didn't have the heart to just tell Delos that he wasn't really like others of his kind. But before long, he saw Delos running off towards the sound of the roars. "D-Delos!! Delos!!" he shouted, before his stiff, shaking legs finally allowed him to move. He quickly began to run after Delos...all the while, hoping and praying that this was just a bad dream.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"WAAAH! Get OFF me!" Teiljo bolted the second he heard this. He was unaware that he was leaving Cinder further and further behind, likely because the Digimon in question couldn't be bothered running any longer, but he wouldn't have deemed such an epiphany important right now. The more important thing was that he made it in time to save Rui from her current dilemma. He continued to force himself past whatever undergrowth was in his way until he found himself on a beach, overlooking an ocean. Catching his breath, Teiljo hurriedly scanned his surroundings and managed to find Rui running around in circles, as another strange creature was clawing away at her head. What was that thing supposed to be, Teiljo wondered? A fox? A ferret? Teiljo didn't have much time to assess what exactly he'd be getting himself into when all of a sudden...

"Get off me get off me get OFF me! Teiljo, get it ooooooff!" Rui screamed.
 
"One moment Rui, I'm coming!" Teiljo pulled his sleeves up just after he called out to her, bravely trudging through the sand to approach her, 'Alright, this shouldn't be too hard. All I have to do is pry that... thing from Rui's head, hurl it into the ocean and leave it to drown. Only foil would be if it can swim, but regardless...'
 
He was so close to getting himself into position when all of a sudden, he heard laughter from a bit further back... that almost sounded maniacal. Distracted by this, Teiljo looked all over the place in an attempt to locate where the laughter was coming from, and couldn't believe the source.
 
"Good grief Cinder, what's wrong with y-... OOF!!" Teiljo recoiled slightly as Rui had ran straight into him in her panic and landed on the sand that made up the beach, and the resulting collision seemed enough to knock the fox/ferret thing off of Rui's scalp. Even Cinder was affected by the collision, laughing his ass off even harder than he was before. He'd been rolling on his back from side to side, before finally recovering enough to bring himself back up on his feet.
 
"Holy hell, my sides," Cinder still had a few chuckles left in him as he said this, "My actual sides..."
 
"Damn it Cinder, it wasn't funny," Teiljo retorted, causing Cinder to sigh in disagreement.
 
"You have no idea how wrong you are, Tiel; it was hilarious!" Teiljo had half a mind to lay further into Cinder, but before he had the chance...

"Oh great; MORE of you weird-lookin' folk. That's just swell. Who wants some, eh?"
 
...so the fox/ferret thing could talk too. Brilliant. And by the looks of it it was out for blood as well. While it was eyeing up the three of them, the fox/ferret thing had hissed at Cinder, who only rolled his eyes in response... before coming up with what, in his mind at least, was the perfect rebuttal.
 
"Like I'm supposed to be intimidated by a squirrel," he scoffed, as if he didn't have a care in the world. It was here that Rui made her way behind Teiljo.

"Teiljo, she jumped on me! She hurt my head," she said meekly
 
"Er... I see that," was all Teiljo could say right now. He had to look at the damage a bit more closely, but now wasn't the time or the place. Rui continued.

"Where are we, Teiljo? I was walking home from the store, and then my phone did something weird, and then I was..."
 
"Will you shut up, woman?!" yelled a Cinder that was decidedly over Rui's whining.
 
"CINDER!! Watch your tongue!" Teiljo returned the favor, before sighing in regret. He could already tell that he wasn't the only one that had to deal with this mess. Rui was in this too, and there was no telling who else had been dragged away from the lives that they once lived. Unfortunately, Teiljo didn't have time to reminisce before the fox/ferret thing, who Rui had revealed to be named Kudamon, returned to tormenting the poor girl. His eye began to twitch, and he found himself kneeling and grabbing some of the sand that made up the beach floor, clenching it in one hand that he'd made into a fist.
 
"The hell kind of Digimon is this one? And is it as big a wimp as this sad sack?" as the Kudamon said this, Teiljo rose back up, giving her a look of pure venom.
 
"I... am a human being," he said clearly, winding his fist back in preparation to throw, "And I will not be associated with such fiends as yourself!"
 
He lurched the fistful of sand forward with all his might, his intention being to blind the Kudamon so Rui had the chance to escape. However...
 
"No. No. No. No. You're doing it wrong," he stopped mid-throw, though this was certainly not in hesitation.
 
"It's the throwing of sand!" Teiljo protested at Cinder, "What kind of fine art do you think is necessary?"
 
"For Yggdrasil's sake, you're both idiots!" a frustrated Cinder spat, before turning to the Kudamon, "You. Me. Mono en mono, fight to deletion."
 
Scratching his head in confusion, Teiljo let go of the sand he held in his fist as he processed what Cinder was trying to tell him. Was he supposed to let the Digimon do all the confrontations and combat while he just sat back and watched helplessly? It was certainly the exact opposite of what he was taught. In any case, it was better if Teiljo knew what Cinder was capable of now rather than wait until they got attacked by something larger... and equally as horrendous to look at.
 
"Let's go, Rui; it'd be wise to give them some space," letting Rui go ahead of him, Teiljo turned to Cinder, "I hope you know what you're doing, Cinder."

"Tch, chillax," Cinder scoffed as he flexed his muscles, "I betcha ¥5000 this squirrel doesn't even lift."

[King K. Azo]

Rigor's lungs were screaming for air and his legs burned as he continued to run for his life. He wasn't too sure what was going on right at this second beyond his bad luck dealing him the worst scenario he had ever encountered... but then again, he couldn't do much thinking when a red dinosaur from hell was doing its damn best to catch up and eat him. Yeah, this still was not the best of days.

 

He wasn't sure for how long he ran, but soon, he was pushed far beyond his limits, and he began to pant and wobble. Oh, this was not good. Even his adrenaline couldn't keep him running anymore. He fell to his knees, looking back at the monster approaching him. Its maw slowly opened, the heat of its breath rushing over him. He could now see a silver mane of hair running down its neck, and the eyes... they were glowing yellow. That image would be burned in his nightmares...

"Pepper Breath!!" A voice called out, a fireball flying through the air and colliding into the monster's eye. The red demon reared up and roared in pain, gripping its eye in pain. Rigor looked over to see what appeared to be a black, green eyed dinosaur standing there, smoking floating out of its mouth from launching the attack. "What the hell are you doing? Come with me if you want to live!" 

 

With the black dinosaur encouraging him, Rigor used the last of his strength to follow it over a ridge, managing to worm their way inside the tangled maze of a tree's roots. They managed to climb in just as the red monster finished rubbing its eyes, looking around and sniffing the air. The tension could be cut with a knife as the monster approached the tree, sniffing for their scent. Oh man, was this how it ends?

[Mr. Hyde]

 

The two shadowy figures that they were chasing had picked up speed.  Shiro became aware that they must have thought that they were pursuing them as well.  

 

"Wait!  No!  Stop!  I'm human too!"

 

"I'm not human!  But I'd be glad to help any way I could!" Mango added.  

 

"You're not helping!"  Shiro chirped back at him.  She picked up her pace as well.  She'd be able to catch up with them.  After all that training in track, she refused to let someone else out do her, especially with such poor running posture!  Eventually, two thuds were heard ahead of the two, and she feared they might have ran into trouble.  

 

The two arrived on the scene, and Shiro fell to her knees.  Mango showed up soon after, and noticed two unconscious people on the forest floor, one a digimon, and one human.  This human had both arms however.  He noticed that Shiro was trembling and decided to comfort her.  When he placed his wing on her back, a slight noise escaped the quivering girl.

 

"Pfffffft...."  The noise continued.  

 

"You okay Shiro?"  Mango questioned.  

 

"HAHAHAHAHA!"  Shiro has burst into laughter.  "These two numb skulls smacked head first into trees!"  After her laughing fit was over, she got to her feet and brushed herself off.  "First rule about running, don't look back!"  On the ground, next to an open pack of sorts, was a device clearly similar to her own.  This one was a different color though, and it displayed the odd dinosaur like digimon who had also passed out a little farther ahead of them.  "Well...they look like they're in the same boat as us...let's wait for them to come to, okay Mango?"  Mango saluted Shiro.

 

"Aye Aye Shiro!  After all, we can't leave new friends around for others to have their way with them?"

 

In the back of her mind, Shiro wondered.  

 

"Others?"  she thought to herself.