-1Digimon: Curse of the Administrators

Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction. I do not own any material belonging to anyone but myself. The original characters are COPYRIGHT TO ME AND MY BROTHER! If you use my (or my brother's) characters or this story without my permission (and good luck getting that), I WILL take legal action against you. More detailed credits will be at the end of the story.

Disclaimer 2: This is based somewhat in the Digimon universe (from seasons 1-3, and maybe some of 4), and somewhat in my original universe. If you do not agree with something happening, do not flame me for not sticking to the original universe. Fanfic writing is about creativity, not conformity.

A Digi-Destined Is Born

The year: 2034. Location: The ruins of New York City

The hot, sandy wind passed the young man like a sheet of glass shards broken by a foolish child's baseball. He was clad in a dark robe that covered his entire body. The once proud and booming city he had come to love so much now looked more like a desert. Only tops of buildings, which had collapsed when their supports had failed them, were visible, and even they were obscured by the wind.

Something had happened here, and it had happened quickly. It was quick enough to even pass him by. Someone, or something, had reduced the city, the world, to this state.

The man searched the area. Not a soul but himself. Or so he thought…

He passed a bent fence and entered a large building that had been spared, for the most part, by the mysterious attack. Sand filled this place as well. There were computers sitting on tables, all of which were off or showing nothing but nonsense. Bodies with large slash marks littered the floor of the room. It was not a pretty sight.

"Whoever did this," he said, "sure didn't believe in subtlety."

He approached one of the powered down computers and pressed the power switch. The screen came to life and displayed the government's logo. A window appeared: Please Enter Password.

He grunted and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small mechanical device and plugged it into the computer. The screen flashed for a few seconds, and the password entered itself automatically. He returned the machine to his pocket and began searching through the government files. He had to find out exactly what happened.

One file caught his eye, entitled "What Have We Wrought?"

He opened it and began to read:

"For years, we at the research facility Alpha Zero have been researching the phenomenon of renegade, sophisticated, and sometimes even hostile AI programs. The phenomenon was discovered twenty years ago by an unknown scientist who first made contact with such an AI during a test of a new program. While the program was being installed, a malfunction occurred that threatened to wipe out the government's entire database and destroy national security as we knew it. However, one of the said AI programs, which had not been installed into our network, not only repaired the program, but enhanced it."

The man's brow furrowed, "Renegade AI…That's interesting and all, but get to the point."

He scrolled down a bit, and the document continued, "…The AI types were classified into three categories: Data, Virus, and Vaccine. Data types were typical AI programs with no obvious purpose but to interact with humans. Virus types sought chaos and destruction. And Vaccine types were devoted to helping humans and destroying any Virus types that caused any trouble. There were some exceptions, of course. It was remarkable to find an intelligence that humans did not create, that existed in something that humans had created. However, this discovery may very well cost humanity everything if we are not careful.

Approximately two years ago, an anomaly was detected within our base's perimeter. When the guards got a close look, our worst fears had become a reality. The renegade AI constructs within our network had somehow found a way to exit it and enter our world. Our soldiers quickly dispatched them, but that will not be the end of this, we are sure of it.

Humanity tried to meddle with something it did not understand, and it will undoubtedly pay the price."

The document ended there. The man growled, obviously not satisfied, "Nothing about the events that occurred today. What a waste of--"

The computer started to make a strange ringing sound. The man gave it an odd look, wondering if it was going to explode. Suddenly a bright light erupted from the computer's screen, enveloping him and the entire building. When the light faded, only he and the computer remained. Even without a power source, it remained in the same state. The man checked his surroundings. When he looked above him, he saw a large blue light hanging in the air. A scythed hand reached out, and soon the body of a large insect-like creature emerged and landed on the ground in front of the man.

"At last," the insect said, "So this is the human world… But it seems that the balance of power has already shifted."

The man immediately drew his weapon, a katana, and faced the bug, "What in the pit are you?"

The bug faced him, "A human survivor, eh? That's good, because I got hungry on the way here!"

"Tch," the man spat, "Do you want to die? Fine by me!"

He leapt at the bug and swung his sword, only to be knocked back to the ground.

The bug swung its scythe-like arms, firing two red energy crescents at him, "Twin Sickles!"

The beams soared at him, and the man was unable to avoid them.

Suddenly a voice rang out, "Diamond Storm!"

A barrage of crystalline spikes rained down in front of the man, dispersing the energy beams.

The bug looked around, "What the! Who--"

The same attack fell upon the bug, sending it to the ground. A few seconds of agony-filled screaming, and it simply faded away.

The man frantically checked his surroundings, "Name yourself!"

His savior stepped out from the darkness she had been hiding in. She stood about six and a half feet tall, and had the appearance of a rather large fox. She stared at him coldly, "It is not safe here, and you are needed. Come."

The man shook his head, "Not until you explain what's going on, and who you are."

The fox grabbed him by his shirt collar and lifted him to her level, "Come with me. Now."

"Hey, let go of me!"

"Your resistance is irritating. If you do not come willingly, then I will knock you out and carry you back with me."

The man growled, "Go where, exactly?"

"There," the fox said, looking up at the blue light in the sky. She leapt toward it with her powerful legs and entered it. They seemed to be passing through a wormhole of sort, with numbers and computer coding passing by them as they flew. A few moments later, they exited the wormhole and landed inside a large, metallic building.

A capsule-like robot addressed them, "Ah, splendid! The experiment was a success!"

The fox put her captive down and nodded at the robot, "Yes, he is unharmed. Good work, Datamon. There was another Digimon there, but I took care of it."

The man quickly stood and drew his sword, "What the hell's going on here!"

"My, my," Datamon said condescendingly, "Quite a lively one, is he not?"

"Yes, but he is the one that we need," the fox woman said.

The man pressed the sword against the fox's neck, "Answer me!"

She looked down at him, unafraid of the weapon, "You have been taken to an alternate plain. Please take care while your body accustoms to digitalization."

"Digitalization… Wait a minute. Are you a renegade AI?"

"To you humans, yes. We prefer to call ourselves Digimon."

"Digi… mon..?"

"Yes. 'Digimon' is short for 'Digital Monster'."

"The way you've treated me so far, 'monster' is an appropriate word."

"Your attempts to insult me will go in vain. You are only here because you are needed."

The man lowered the sword, "Why should I help you?"

"We are practically one in the same, you and I. We should try to get along."

"I'm nothing like you."

The fox pulled the man's hood off, "Is that so?"

The man was actually a young boy, about fourteen years old. His hair was black with some golden-blond streaks in it, and he had two fox-like ears on top of his head. His eyes were an angelic blue.

The boy scowled, "How did you know?"

"I can smell them. You have a tail, too. Two of them, correct?"

"Yeah… Who are you, anyway?"

The fox knelt, as if to show respect, "Renamon. It is a pleasure. And you are?"

"My name is… Vincent."

Datamon interjected, "And I am Datamon, at your service!"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, "What's with 'mon', anyway? Are you all called that?"

"Yes. All Digimon have 'mon' at the end of their names."

Renamon cleared her throat, "In any case, Vincent, we need your help."

Vincent looked skeptical, "How can a kid help you? You're much more powerful than I am."

"Yes, that is true. However, we shall need your presence, your influence, to become stronger."

"I don't believe in that magical aura crap."

"No magic. Simply logic. You were able to hack the human government's mainframe, and you were able to enter the Digital World. You are what legends call a 'Digi-Destined'."

"I used a machine to hack into the computer. As for this Digital World, I don't know what's going on…"

Renamon reached into Vincent's pocket and pulled out the hacking device, which had changed shape, "This machine?"

"W-Wait a minute… It's… different," he said. It was now bent into an oval-like shape with a black stripe surrounding a small screen.

"The fabled Digivice," Datamon said excitedly, "He truly is a capable human!"

"This machine… I used it to hack the computer, but it didn't look like this."

"The Digital World changes things that enter it as the main program sees fit. Obviously that machine you carried was meant to become your Digivice!"

Renamon nodded, "However, the Digital World's main program, the DigiCore, has been acting strangely for the past few years. We have been finding several corrupted Digimon wreaking havoc on the weaker inhabitants of Digiworld. Datamon and the rest of our intelligence team believes that these two incidents are connected."

"Yes," Datamon said, "So we have been looking for someone to assist us in ridding our world of this corruption. Vincent, I implore you. Please help us."

"I dunno," Vincent said, unsure of the situation.

"If you do, we will assist you in rebuilding your world back to its prior state."

Vincent thought about it for a moment and the nodded, "Alright then. What do you need me to do?"

"Splendid! Alright, first things first. You will go with your Digimon partner and head out to Mainframe, the main city of this continent. Look for any information you can as to what is happening to the world and then contact me using your Digivice."

Vincent looked one way, and then the other, "Digimon partner? I don't see anyone."

Renamon put her hand on his shoulder and nodded.

Vincent looked up at her, "You?"

"Do try to get along, you two," Datamon said, "Good luck!"

They left the building, Vincent walking ahead, "Man, why do I have to do this…"

"It is for the sake of both our worlds," Renamon said.

"Look, lady, I don't particularly care what happens to you or your world. I just wanna go home."

"Is that so," Renamon walked ahead of him, "Very well then. See what happens to you without my help."

"I can take care of myself," Vincent scowled. He kept walking, not quite intent on letting Renamon leave him for dead. "I don't even know my way around," he thought, "She's my only lead."

They walked in silence along a dirt path through a forest. Vincent felt extremely open to attack.

Renamon seemed to sense his unease, "Stick close to me if you're afraid."

Vincent, his pride being tested, let out a mocking laugh, "As if I'd be scared of a world that isn't even real."

"You will soon find out that this world is actually quite real. Whether you keep talking or not will determine who teaches you that: Another Digimon, or me."

Vincent would not be silenced, "Whatever, fuzzy. How far is this city, anyway?"

Renamon was silent.

"Hey, fox lady. You hear me?"

Still no answer.

"Hey!"

Still no answer.

Vincent paused for a moment, and then said, "Renamon?"

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you answer me before?"

"I answer only to my correct name."

Vincent growled, "You just did that to spite me."

"Maybe," Renamon kept walking. Vincent followed, silently cursing her.

As they walked, Renamon noticed that they were being followed. She stopped and motioned for him to stop as well.

"What is it," Vincent asked.

"We are not alone."

A group of mushroom-heads appeared from the bushes around them, quickly surrounding them. The mushroom creatures had purple toadstool bodies and evil grins on their faces. Vincent's Digivice started to beep. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it. It was displaying the mushroom creatures and their statistics.

"Mushroomon. It's a Virus type," Vincent said, "Is this what the Digivice is for?"

"Possibly. Ask Datamon when we're done here," Renamon said. She addressed the Mushroomon, "What do you want?"

"We smelled an impurity, and we were right… Now we can cleanse you both," the leader said, laughing sadistically.

" 'Cleanse'? I do not wish for such a thing. Move at once, or be destroyed."

"You heard her, boys! Attack," the Mushroomon ran at them, "Fungus Cruncher!"

They began throwing mushrooms at them that exploded into spores. Vincent pulled his hood over his face to keep himself from breathing them in.

Renamon leapt into the air and began attacking the Mushroomon with her Diamond Storm.

Vincent drew his sword and began swinging wildly at his opponents, "Die, freaks!"

The sword easily cut through their soft bodies, but they did not die.

"The human has a weapon," one of them said, "Unheard of!"

"I'll tell you what's unheard of," Vincent said angrily. He jumped into the air, came down onto one of the Mushroomon and impaled it through the head, "Ugly talking mushrooms!"

The Mushroomon screamed and faded away, just as the insect he had encountered back in the human world. Two of them grabbed him by the arms, immobilizing him.

Another one stepped in front of him and began swinging its fists wildly, "Laughing Smasher!"

Vincent kept trying to free his arms as he was pummeled by his attacker, "Renamon!"

Renamon dispatched another Mushroomon and turned to face him, "Vincent! Hold on!"

She spread her arms, the crystalline spikes appearing once again, "Diamond Storm!"

The spikes stuck into the Mushroomon, killing all three of them. They were all gone.

Vincent collapsed to his knees, "Damn…They hurt a lot for fungus…"

Renamon knelt down to his level, "Now you know just how real this world and its dangers are. Be more careful next time."

He grunted angrily, "Whatever."

He would have thanked her, had he not been too aggravated at being beaten so easily.

Renamon helped him stand, "You are hurt…Let me carry you."

"As if."

"Do not be stubborn. I can handle carrying a little human boy."

"Aren't you hurt?"

Renamon was breathing heavily. The spores had gotten to her, "I am fine."

She lifted Vincent in her arms and began to run toward the city.

"How far away are we," he asked, suddenly feeling relaxed.

"Not too far. About half an hour away," Renamon said, trying to keep focused. Her eyesight was starting to blur, "Those damned toadstools poisoned me…"

"Stop," Vincent said.

Renamon stopped running, "What?"

He jumped out of her arms and looked around, "Isn't there something that'll cure your poison?"

"Maybe. I know what such a thing looks like. Just do me a favor and…help me walk," Renamon said, her strength fleeting quickly.

Vincent nodded and held onto Renamon, guiding her to the woods to the side, "Just tell me if you start to feel worse."

"Your care is comforting. Thank you."

Vincent grunted, "I'm only doing this because without you I'll die out here."

Renamon laughed, "Whatever you say. I think I see the plant."

She pointed at a red leaf on the top of a tree, "I need that one there."

Vincent walked over to the tree and started to climb, "Wait right there, I'll get it for you."

Renamon half-sat, half-fell to the ground, "I appreciate it."

Vincent reached the top of the tree and grabbed the leaf, "Last one…I'm glad nothing else took it."

He jumped down and handed the leaf to her.

Renamon shook her head, "I am afraid I cannot simply eat it. It needs to be boiled."

Vincent let his head hang down, "You gotta be kidding! How am I supposed to do that?"

"There is a place nearby with a boiling pond…We must go there."

"A boiling pond…You mean a hot spring? Why didn't you say so in the first place," he put the leaf in his pocket and took Renamon's hand, "Let's go, quickly."

He let Renamon lead them to the hot spring. There were several other Digimon already there.

"Will they be trouble," he asked.

Renamon shook her head, "No, they are all fine. Do you have anything to put water into?"

Vincent looked around and saw a strange plant with a bell-like shape, "I think so."

He picked the plant, gathered some water into it, and put the leaf in it.

"Now we wait," Renamon said, "I just hope I have time."

"Just hold yourself together, please," Vincent took her hand and squeezed it hard, "You just gotta stay awake."

Renamon smiled, "Since when were you so…worried about me?"

"Like I said, I'm just worried about how I'll survive out here. Don't let it go to your head," he gave her the plant, which was now cooked enough, "Here, this should be ready, right?"

"Yes, thank you," she took the leaf out of the water and ate it, "Now my strength should return."

"Good, because I don't wanna stick around and wait for someone to come and kill us."

Renamon let herself fall onto the grass, "If anyone should try, it will be up to you to take care of it while I'm resting."

Vincent sat down beside her, "Then I'll stand guard."

Renamon smiled and closed her eyes, allowing herself to fall asleep. Vincent kept watch over the entire area, not letting a single detail pass him by. The other Digimon in the area seemed to pay them no notice. One of them caught his eye, however. From behind she looked like a human girl, except with leafy wings. Upon closer examination, he realized that she was not a human at all. She had vines for hair and a tulip blossom on her head.

Vincent took his Digivice out from his pocket and opened it. Data about the girl immediately displayed, "Lillymon. She's a data type"

The girl turned around, revealing her black, almond-shaped eyes and flower dress. She was pretty cute for a collection of 1's and 0's. She gave him a friendly smile, "Oh, hello there."

Vincent waved, "Hey."

She approached him, seeming intrigued, "What kind of Digimon are you?"

"Oh, I'm…not a…Digimon," Vincent said, unsure of her reaction.

Lillymon tilted her head to the side, "Then…what are you?"

"A human," he said, "Or at least, I come from the human world."

Lillymon stepped back, "You're not…an Administrator, are you?"

"Administrator? I'm fourteen years old. I don't think even a fast food restaurant would hire me at that age," Vincent said, a bit puzzled.

"Oh, good…You're not a bad human if you're not an Administrator," Lillymon said, calming down again.

"So what is an Administrator?"

"They are humans that can reprogram the code of the Digital World to practically any way they see fit. They work for the human government."

"They 'did' is more appropriate. The human world is in ruin."

Lillymon frowned, "I see…Those rotten Administrators are to blame. All their messing around is bad enough, but now one of them is supposedly using his abilities to influence and corrupt Digimon and is using them as some kind of weapon."

"So there are some survivors of the Digimon attack," Vincent said, some hope flaring up.

"I don't know too much, but I do know that when these Administrators came here, some bad things have been happening," Lillymon said.

"I see…Renamon and I are actually looking into that, so your information will be very useful. Thanks," Vincent said, looking over at Renamon and making sure she was still breathing.

Lillymon smiled, "Not a problem. Well, I have to go. Good luck with the investigation."

She started to walk away, but stopped, "Wait, something's wrong--"

The water in the hot spring started to bubble. The other Digimon around them started to panic and evacuate the spring.

Vincent stood and drew his sword, "What's going on?"

"Something is rising from the water!"

A large fountain of water shot into the air. When it settled, it revealed a large serpent-like beast with a metal horn protruding from its head.

Vincent aimed his Digivice at it, "Megaseadramon… 'Ultimate' level? I guess that means it's powerful…"

"The guardian of the spring," Lillymon said, "Megaseadramon…Something's wrong, he's not usually like this!"

The serpent roared, "Destroy! Destroy all!"

Lillymon leapt into the air and began to fly toward the monster. A large flower appeared in her hand, which she aimed at Megaseadramon. She seemed to pull some kind of trigger, and the flower was fired at Megaseadramon, "Flower Cannon!"

The flower hit the sea monster, but it had little effect. Megaseadramon used his gargantuan tail to knock Lillymon out of the sky and pin her to the ground.

Vincent leapt at the monster, "Hey, who do you think you are!"

He tried to drive his sword into Megaseadramon's hide, but it simply bounced off. His scales were too tough to be penetrated.

"Get out of here," Lillymon said, "You're only…a human!"

Vincent continuously tried to impale Megaseadramon, but each attempt failed, "Renamon told me to take care of things, and that's what I'm gonna do!"

Megaseadramon tossed Lillymon to the side and whipped Vincent with his tail, sending him deep into the water. It was quite deep for a hot spring. The sea serpent started to gather energy into its horn. When it was fully charged, it released it into the water, "Thunder Javelin!"

The shock went through the water and struck Vincent, numbing his body. Had it not spread itself thin in the water, it would have killed him. Regardless of the danger, Vincent rose to the surface and kept attacking, hoping to find a weak spot.

As he leapt into the air to attack, Megaseadramon grabbed him with his tail, immobilizing his arms and sending his sword flying from his hand. The serpent started to squeeze, attempting to crush Vincent, who could only struggle and scream in pain.

Renamon started to awaken. She lifted herself off of the grass and saw Vincent's situation, "What has he gotten himself into now?"

She leapt at Megaseadramon and hit him with a Diamond Storm, but it had little effect. Renamon growled, "Damn…Ultimate level. I can't beat an Ultimate level, even if I Digivolve…Not that I can, anyway. It would take a miracle for Vincent to meet the prerequisites…"

She looked around for any Digimon that may have stayed when something shiny caught her eye. It was Vincent's sword. She quickly picked it up and leapt at Megaseadramon, "Let him go!"

She slashed at the weak flesh on the tail and severed it, letting Vincent free. She caught his hand and set him down on the ground.

Vincent grunted, "Rena…mon…"

"It's alright. Let me handle it now," Renamon said reassuringly.

"No," Vincent struggled to his feet, "You still haven't fully recovered. It'll take both of us to beat this thing."

Renamon paused, but nodded in consent. They both leapt at Megaseadramon, each of them going to an opposite side to confuse it. Renamon hit it from behind with her Diamond Storm, while Vincent kept attacking from the front. Their attacks still bounced off of its hide. Megaseadramon was obviously getting tired of the annoyance. In one swift move, he lunged forward and caught Vincent in his mouth.

Renamon stared in horror, "Vincent, no!"

However, Megaseadramon was finding his meal a bit hard to swallow. Vincent was hanging onto one of the many sharp teeth that lined the sea creature's mouth.

"Damn," he said, "How do I get out of this one?"

He looked around and realized something: He was inside of Megaseadramon now!

"Of course! The weaker flesh is on the inside," Vincent steadied himself. Putting all doubt aside, he thrust his sword into the roof of Megaseadramon's mouth. The serpent let out a loud roar and fell on its side, defeated. Vincent had just started to climb out when Megaseadramon began to fade away.

"You're alright," Renamon said, joining him.

"I'll be fine," Vincent reassured her. He looked at the disappearing Digimon before them, "Why do Digimon fade away like that, anyway?"

"When a Digimon dies, its data is reformatted. Eventually it is recombined to create another Digimon. Whether it is the same Digimon or not depends on how good of a soul it has."

"Digimon have souls..?"

"Of course. Did you assume otherwise?"

Vincent crossed his arms in thought, "Well…I guess so. It's just easy to forget that even AI's can have complex emotions. After all, the existence of Digimon was quite hidden from the human public."

Renamon shrugged, "I do not take offense to your assumption."

Vincent watched for a moment as she walked away, "Hey, Renamon?"

"Yes?"

"Would you…come back as the same Digimon if you ever…died?"

Renamon stopped walking and turned back to him, "That depends on you."

"Me?"

"Maybe if you're good I'll explain it to you one day," Renamon kept walking.

Vincent sighed, looked back to see if Lillymon was still alive (which she was), and followed his fox companion.

They finally exited the forest and could see the city. Vincent took his Digivice from his pocket and started to press the buttons in random orders, not quite knowing what they did.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Renamon said, "You never know what you could destroy with such a powerful device."

"As if it could do anything destructive," Vincent said.

"What about making an inconvenience of yourself?"

"Do you honestly think I care?"

Renamon sighed, "I'm beginning to think, more and more, that Datamon meant this as a sick joke…Pairing the two of us together."

"Speaking of Datamon, I should ask him what this thing is actually used for," Vincent said, pressing another button that had a picture of an envelope on it, which told him that it was meant for sending messages.

"Do you know what you're doing," Renamon looked over his shoulder to make sure he did not damage it.

"Not really," Vincent said. He pressed a few more buttons and Datamon's face appeared on the screen, "Hey, Datamon!"

The robotic Digimon jumped, "What? Oh, it's you…I see you have figured out how to use the Digivice. Well done!"

"Not quite. I was hoping you would tell me how to use the rest of its functions so fuzzy here stays off my back about it."

Datamon scratched the top of his head, "You mean…you don't know?"

Vincent narrowed his eyes, "No, I don't know…"

"Oh dear…I thought you would, seeing as you had it with you before you came here."

"It didn't look like a retarded oval when I had it in my world, you heap of scrap!"

"Please, calm down! I am sure that it will show you itself when the time is right."

Vincent's patience were being tested, "Machines don't just tell you things whenever they want! I think I've proved that by talking to you!"

Renamon hit Vincent in the head and leaned forward so she was in view, "Datamon, excuse his rudeness. If you find anything out, please contact us."

"Ah, Renamon! I was hoping you had stayed patient and did not abandon this boy already. It seems my faith in you is well placed!"

Renamon leaned in close to the screen, "He's driving me crazy…"

Vincent growled, "Who's driving who crazy?"

"Now, now, you two…Settle down," Datamon said. He pressed a few keys on his computer, "Have you found any information about the corruption so far?"

Vincent pushed Renamon's head away from the screen with his own so he could see, "A Digimon named Lillymon told me that a group of humans called Administrators is responsible for the trouble. She told me that they are able to manipulate the Digital World as they see fit."

Datamon pondered this for a moment, "Well, obviously that is not one hundred percent true, otherwise the entire Digital World would be under their control. Their power must be limited to a certain degree."

"To what degree," Renamon said, "is what we must find out. And how to stop it."

Datamon nodded, "Yes, indeed. Renamon, Vincent, continue to Mainframe and see if you can't figure anything out."

"Alright. We will update you with any information as we gather it."

"Yep," Vincent said, "Each bit of info is one step toward home for me."

"I'm counting on you," Datamon said, and the screen went blank.

Vincent switched the Digivice off and returned it to his pocket, "So, shall we go?"

"You're in a hurry. What changed your attitude?"

"I just feel like we're actually getting somewhere, that's all."

Renamon walked ahead, "All we know right now is the name of our enemy and a minute amount of knowledge of their abilities. It's a start, but don't start packing your bags just yet."

Vincent followed, "You sure are a pessimist."

"And you are..?"

"I try to be optimistic. That's what my father…my REAL father…taught me."

Renamon looked back at him, "What happened to your father?"

"He was killed trying to protect my mother and I. When they killed my father, they came back for my mother. I was the only survivor."

"Who are 'they'?"

"I…don't know. There were people dressed in dark robes with blades for weapons. My father, he was a swordsman, but these people were more than human…Hell, maybe even more than superhuman."

Renamon walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, "I am sorry. I had…no idea what you had been through."

Vincent shook his head, "Don't worry about it. You don't have to concern yourself with my life. Besides, I have…or I should say I had foster parents before the Digimon attack. I hated them dreadfully, but at least I had someone to rely on."

Renamon paused and thought, "Is that how he feels about me..?"

Vincent was a bit surprised when Renamon wordlessly walked ahead, "Hey, you okay?"

"Fine," the fox said coldly.

"okay…"

They finally reached the city. It was twilight and the city's lights were starting to turn on. Vincent could have mistaken it for a human city had it not contained hundreds of Digimon.

"So, who do we go to see for information," Vincent asked.

"The head Digimon of the city. But we will do that tomorrow. For now, we should find a hotel to sleep in."

They walked through the streets, passing buildings with strange writing on them. Vincent assumed that this was the Digital World's written language, although he could not see why it differed from English, seeing as every Digimon he encountered seemed to understand him.

Renamon finally spotted an inn and led them inside. It had a very cozy and homely feeling to it.

She went to the reception desk and rang the bell. A ghost-like Digimon that looked more like a torn up floating sheet with eyes and a mouth appeared at the desk, "Yes?"

"I'd like a room for two, please. Nothing too fancy."

"One moment," the ghost said, pressing a few keys on the computer on the desk, "Name, please?"

"Renamon. He's Vincent."

"A human, huh…He isn't a troublemaker, is he?"

"No, by no means."

"Alright…But it will be you in the tannery if something happens, vixen. Here's your key. The room is up the stairs, room 1.5."

"Thank you," Renamon took the key and started to walk up the stairs.

Vincent followed with curiosity probing at his mind, "Why 1.5?"

"Why not? It's as good as any other room."

"That's not what I meant. Usually rooms go by whole numbers."

"Since when?"

He realized that they had a different style of numbering, and decided to drop the subject, "Never mind."

They walked into the room. It had two beds, a bathroom, and a recliner. Renamon sat on one of the beds and let herself fall back onto it, "A rest is definitely what I needed."

Vincent leaned against one of the walls, "I'm not tired."

"You shouldn't overwork yourself. It's not good for both your mind and body."

He looked at her with one eye closed. He obviously was tired, but he would not admit it, "I don't care about stress."

"It seems there are a lot of things that you do not care about," Renamon said with a sigh.

Vincent could not understand why she sounded so aggravated, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You just sound so…upset."

Renamon turned away from him, "Don't concern yourself with my life."

"Hey, don't use my words against me. I opened up to you, right?"

She grunted, "It's nothing important. You should get some sleep."

Vincent started to speak, but stopped himself. He lay on his bed, defeated. "Goodnight," he said.

Renamon gave him a quick wave, "Goodnight."

She pulled the blanket over her body, exposing only her head. "He speaks as if he cares," she thought, "but he only cares about himself…"