(Author's Note: I would like to take a moment to say that as part of my Disclaimer, I do not own Digimon.
"Digimon" and its characters ((except for a few in this story, which are my own)) are owned by Bandai.
Also, Ashley Weidenbaum was created by another fan author; her name will be added later as soon as I reclaim that lost information. Now enjoy the story!)
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"Once upon a time, not very long ago, the human race found a way to reach the stars. Once this was achieved, mankind began to wonder; wonder if there would come a time when they could travel to other worlds. Then one day, it happened. Humans were able to enter another world, one far different from their own. One where they could co-exist with new and amazing creatures. The ironic part was, they didn't have to leave their planet after all."
-Gennai
DIGIMON: THE DIGITAL KEEPERS SAGA
Book One: "Repeat Step One"
The old man continued walking down the dark hallway with his young companion. As they eyed the colorful, glowing inscriptions on the walls, the ancient one continued his story:
"This (pointing to a picture of The Earth) is Earth; The Real World. This world is one of many created by The Powers That Be; therefore, it has no magic. It is dominated by humans, who live their lives with the aid of science, technology, and religion. Then, (pointing to a picture of a similar-looking planet) there is The Digital World. It was created through computer data and magic combined. The dominant creatures here are digital monsters with magic powers of their own, called digimon."
The old man stretched out his hand to a pattern of symbols and characters on a wall and continued:
"For thousands of years, all of the worlds have been separated. It is best that they stay that way to preserve the balance of nature. However, in the year 1993, a barrier was broken…
------------ Vision: The Story, Told According to Gennai ------------
It was in the middle of the night when it happened. Adults would say that it was a natural disaster, or a surprise terrorist attack. Either way, they would have been wrong- only eight children, who at the time were merely toddlers, knew the truth. One by one, six of them crawled out of their beds to the sound of thunder and the vibrations of the earth quaking. They each followed the sounds and the quakes to their windows of their apartment complexes; there, they watched in horror and amazement as two giant monsters- an orange dinosaur and a green parrot, both as tall as the buildings around them- fought each other wildly in the street.
As for the other two children, they were right in the middle of the battle, taking shelter beneath a bridge nearby. They were a brother and sister, shaken and excited at the same time.
"Two digimon- one who had befriended humans (Greymon) and one who sought to destroy them (Parrotmon)- had broken through a loop hole, into the reality of planet Earth. Only eight human children witnessed the battle. Those eight children became who we now know as The Digi-Destined."
Flash forward to four years later, where we see each of the original heroes battling one enemy digimon at a time…
"Four years later, those first eight Digi-Destined were sent to the digital world to battle one force of evil after another. Each one was given a digimon partner, and together, they brought out the best in each other.
It starts with Tai and his digimon facing off against a Dark Tyrannomon.
"There was Tai Kamiya, the leader. Brash and hard-headed at first, he learned how to accept responsibility for his actions. His partner, Agumon, became the revered powerhouse known as Greymon.
Next comes a pre-teen Matt, who watches his digimon evolve and battle a Seadramon.
"Matt Ishida didn't understand friendship until he met Gabumon. Together, he and Garurumon became a force to be reckoned with."
Next is Sora and her digimon, who launches into action in her evolved form as soon as a nasty-looking Meramon shows up in the scene.
"Like Matt, Sora Takenouchi was very bottled up; but once she opened up her heart to Biyomon, her partner grew into a fiery Birdramon."
A scared-witless Joe stands on the edge of water, where his digimon dukes it out with a Gesomon as waves crash.
"Though he was the oldest and most reliable of the group, Joe Kido was in need of a backbone. But that's when he met Gommamon, who is also Ikkakumon."
Then there's a pre-teen Izzy, who (as he is at any age) quickly twiddles his fingers on his computer laptop, while observing his digimon's evolution into Kabuterrimon at work.
"Koushiro Izumi- Izzy to his friends- was always helpful in solving the mysteries to the digital world. He let his partner, Tentomon, do all the really hard work; though I don't think he ever complained about that."
Cutting over to a young Mimi, who travels through a wooded forest with her partner hand in hand; soon they walk hand in glove, as soon as a mean Blossomon arrives.
"Joe's hatred of violence paled in comparison to Mimi Tachikawa's. It's a good thing she had Palmon, who makes one of the best bodyguards of all time."
Then there's young T.K., who watches one of the hardest of battles ever: Angemon vs. Devimon.
"Matt's little brother, Takeru 'T.K.' Takaishi, may have been very young, but his heart, as well as Angemon's, was in the right place when it came to dealing with the most evil of digimon..."
Rounding off the first group of Digi-Destined is Kari, who watches as Gatomon morphs into Angewomon to deal with her worst of enemies, Myotismon.
"And the same could be said about Tai's little sister, Kari. She and Gatomon joined the team a little late in the game, but couldn't come at a better time, when Myotismon decided to take over the real world."
Myotismon's (first) death triggers a change of scenery, as we flash forward another four years, to see the Digi-Destined team gain four new faces and two familiar but older ones.
"After defeating many villains, including some called the Dark Masters, it seemed as though the time of the Digi-Destined was at an end... But it was only beginning. Four years later, a new team had arrived. Unofficially led by an older T.K. and Kari, these young ones had proven themselves just like the children before them..."
We start off with Davis, who charges with his Rookie-to-Champion digimon on the battlefield against a Golemon.
"Tai had handed down his goggles to Davis Motomiya; a young man whose head is just as hard, if not harder. Perhaps it's fitting that he had become paired off with the equally stubborn Veemon."
We move on to Ken and his partner, standing over a cliff in a dark wasteland, where they face off against a Snimon.
"No one's had a harder path to walk than Ken Ichijouji; once a slave to evil, he broke free from his dark influence, thanks in large part to Wormmon."
Next in line is Yolei, who races through a field while her Rookie-to-Champion partner flies high after a menacing Cockatorimon.
"Yolei Inoue has the attitude of a princess but the heart of a warrior; a perfect match-up for the noble Hawkmon."
Finally, there's Cody, the youngest of all groups. He shows his digimon partner how to "play" Kendo.
"And last but certainly not least is our youngest member, Cody Hida. His father, a police officer, gave his life to save others; now he feels compelled to follow in his father's footsteps. And always by his side- at least in the digital world- is the gentle-hearted Armadillomon."
------------ End Vision ------------
The old man then concluded his story; "The last time these children fought evil, it was against Myotismon once again, but this time he was in his strongest form ever. The Digi-Destined couldn't defeat him alone; since they were at crossroads between our two worlds, it took the hopes and dreams of children from all over the real world to help defeat him. After that, it was all over... So it seemed."
The young boy by his side asked, "But Gennai, it's nearly been four years since then. What's happened since?" The old man turned to the child and answered, "Well son, as you know the digital and real world cannot co-exist with each other; it's just not meant to be. So after the epic battle with MaloMyotismon, we had to seal off all loop holes and strengthen all barriers, causing the real world to be once again separated from the digital world."
The child frowned, "But what about the Digi-Destined? And their digimon? Will they ever see each other again?" The ancient one then looked to a pattern of symbols and characters at the far end of the wall, and sighed, "Oh yes. As long as the forces of evil continue to endanger our world, we can always count on those chosen children from the real world... In fact... We may be needing them again, very soon..."
Odiaba, Japan. The year is 2004, nearing the spring
In the night, the city glistened with thousands of lights glowing from the buildings. At the heart of it all was a television station. Inside, young men by the dozens were bustling around, doing their individual jobs.
The busiest room of all was the office where young and old men alike were watching the television monitors, ready to cue commercials and other programs. Preserving it all was a tall man in his prime named Mr. Ishida.
"Sir," said one of the employees, "I'm getting something weird here..." The big boss turned around curiously, "Huh?" "Come 'ere," responded the young man, pushing himself slightly away from his monitor. The older man came over and looked closely at the screen. He gasped, "What the..."
Soon enough, it spread throughout the whole control room, like wildfire. All of the television monitors showed a black screen with hundreds of little blue number patterns. Patterns of ones and zeroes, like a computer code. They zipped across all the screens, illuminating the room with a warm yet frightening blue light.
"It's some kinda virus!" guessed Ishida. "Can we stop it?" asked a younger employee. "Yes," nodded his boss, "try that. Override all computers."
Nothing could stop the spread of this "virus", as it suddenly crept out of the television station, and made its way into stores... hospitals... computers in all houses... Everyone saw the black and blue screen on either a computer or a television screen. Ones and zeroes, all in small print, in dozens of moving sequences. It was everywhere.
It was bad enough they had a virus going around, but the next thing Ishida and his company saw next was, needless to say, shocking to the point of speechlessness.
All of his younger employees were running around, looking for a computer to log into so they can clear the virus.
But all movement stopped, and all faces fell silent, as soon as they all saw what was on the main screen. The main screen- bigger than all the rest- had the same sequences of zeroes and ones, like the other screens.
But this one formed a pattern, shaped like a dragon.
The next morning, Ken Ichijouji was searching his locker for the books for his next class. Once he picked them up, he wrapped his right arm on top of them, and with his left hand he placed the books of his earlier class in the locker. He was so focused on keeping things organized, he didn't hear Davis Motomiya sneaking up behind him.
"HEY!" Davis purposely yelled, making Ken drop all his belongings and scream with utter shock. While Ken paused to regain physical stability- reaching for his heart in the process- Davis started singing to himself in an almost teasing manner.
Davis started to playfully walk away, when Ken angrily called to him, "WHAT is your problem, Davis!?" "No problem," Davis joyfully smiled; "just ready for the oral report, s'all! You psyched?" "Yeah, right," Ken muttered sarcastically, closing his locker door. He then joined Davis, and the two of them started walking down the hall.
"So," Ken asked, "you're actually excited about physics class?" "You bet!" cheered Davis. As he started talking, the adrenalin coming from within him crept out through the movements of his hands and legs. Meanwhile, Ken walked tall and calm; their movements alone made it seem that the two boys were too opposite of each other for them to be considered friends.
Davis explained, "I told the teacher that I can prove everything he said about dimensions wrong. All's I gotta do is show my D-3, and talk about the digital world!" Ken smiled, "He's probably not gonna buy it." "Probably not," Davis shook his head, "but I know everybody else will! Man, just thinking about the digimon and all gets me all hyped up!"
Ken then stopped and asked cautiously, "Hyped enough to go through tonight's soccer game?" Davis skidded to a halt, as all the joy inside him suddenly caved in. Angered, Davis shot a glare at his best friend and growled, "Did you have to bring that up?" Ken shrugged, "Hey, it's our first game season; I thought you'd be ready for it." Davis frowned, "It's not my fault the team sucks!"
"Hey, Motomiya!" called out a young boy. Ken and Davis turned to the boy, as he smiled sarcastically, "Great practice yesterday. I liked how you guys stuck around to rake up all the broken bones." Davis rose a fist and snarled, "Just you wait, Kamatachi! Later on I'll get ALL the players on the field and we're gonna practice like nothing before!" "Oh," nodded the boy; "So this time you really will practice." "Why you-" started Davis, who was instantly held back by Ken. "Hey, hey- HEY!" Ken yelled; "Don't go after him; you'll only make it worse."
Davis brushed off Ken's hand from his shoulder, eyes still on "Kamatachi." The bell rang. As all the other students walked (or ran) to their classrooms, Davis vowed to his rival, "I don't care HOW many times we gotta run the drill; we're gonna get it RIGHT this time, and tonight we're gonna kick some serious Tokyo TAIL! Right, Ken?" That's when he realized Ken went to class. Davis gasped, made a quick turn around to find his classroom, and ran to it.
Meanwhile, a younger boy who lived further away in Odaiba was in the middle of his Kendo practice. He was fighting his much bigger, older opponent with grace and agility. It could be seen by all who witnessed that this boy- despite his small size- had been practicing this fighting technique for a long time, as was very good at it.
He succeeded in driving his elder opponent to the other side of the platform that they were practicing on.
Finally, the older opponent announced, "Stop." The young boy did so, and took off his mask. His teacher did the same and smiled, "Well done, Cody. You'll be mastering Kendo in no time. Have you ever considered joining a regional championship?" Cody blushed, "Gosh, Sensei, I never really thought of that. This is just something my grandfather taught me, and well... I just wanna make him proud."
"Ah yes," sighed the teacher; "I knew your grandfather well; and I can already tell he'd be very proud of you Cody." Cody just nodded, trying to hide a frown.
Later that afternoon, Cody was waling home with two friends. One of them smiled, "You okay, Cody?" Cody sighed, "Yeah. It just seems so weird. I mean, I'm kinda used to being with my mom and grampa, but now it's just me and mom.."
The other friend looked up at the sky and wondered, "Hey, you think spirits can travel to other worlds?" Cody stopped and asked, "Huh?" "Like the digital world," his friend added; "If your dad and grampa are ghosts, you think they can go in and out of places like that?" The other boy smirked, "If my spirit could go anywhere it wanted, I'd go backstage of all the beauty pageants!" Cody couldn't help but laugh, then he sighed, "...I miss him though."
"Hey," smiled the blonde to his left, "you're allowed to miss him. We're just trying to cheer you up." Cody smiled to both of them, "Thanks, guys." The brunette to Cody's left asked, "So you coming with us to the mall later?" Cody shook his head, "I'm meeting up with my friend Yolei later at the park." The blonde smiled, "Oh, that cute girl we saw the other day?" Cody smirked, "She's way outta your league, Josh! ...But yeah, she and I are kinda close. You'd like her; she's smart, and really nice."
"I HATE YOU! I WANT YOU TO DIE!" screamed Yolei from her bedroom window.
She was looking down hatefully at her latest boyfriend, shouting, "YOU PROMISED ME YOU'D NEVER SEE HER AGAIN, AND YOU LIED TO ME! NOT ONLY THAT, YOU KISSED HER! HOW COULD YOU KISS HER WHEN YOU'RE GOING OUT WITH ME!?" The young man, as scared as a rabbit staring down a fox, stuttered, "No no no no! Y-You don't understand. Sh-She kissed me-"
"OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Yolei screamed. "Don't even GO THERE, boy! The old 'She kissed me' thing is no longer relevant! They just passed a new law stating that ALL kissing is EQUAL!" "...W-when they do that?" the boy foolishly asked. "GET OUT OF HERE!" she hollered furiously, and proceeded to move away from the window.
"I know I was stupid," the young man admitted; "I shoulda known I was weak. I can't help it; I'm a man! Men have these uncontrollable urges, you know? We're just being true to our natural instincts, our primal-" WHAM! The poor kid just didn't see that thick textbook coming, and it slammed into his face.
Stunned and cross-eyed, he chirped, "Right... Well..." Trying to keep his balance, he wobbled as he looked at the blurry, spinning images of Yolei and saluted, "I'll see ya later." With that, he stumbled away.
Yolei slammed the window shut. With a small growl, she slowly walked back to her bedroom desk. That was her third boyfriend this month alone; her fifth altogether. The depression was taken control of her already, as she gave a sad sigh.
Walking past her desk, she shut her laptop- not noticing that it had a black screen with a pattern of light blue zeroes and ones, making an image of a tiger. Then she noticed that on her mirror were pictures of her and that new "Ex." She glared at them, realizing that they no longer matter to her anymore. One by one, she took each picture, tore it up, and tossed the pieces in the wastebasket next to her drawer. That wastebasket was filling up fast with photo pieces.
Yolei was just about to tear the last photo from her mirror, when she noticed who was in it. Ken Ichijouji.
Yolei paused, staring blankly at the image. She hasn't seen him in quite some time. Sure they kept in touch, but it wasn't the same anymore. When she saw that image, all she saw was a cute young man. A crush. That's all he was.
She tore the picture down.
Ken twirled a pencil in his hand as he and the rest of the class listened carefully to what Davis had to say at the front of the classroom. "So," Davis lectured, "we know for sure that there are other worlds out there, 'cause we've already seen one: The digital world!" A student raised his hand and asked, "What is it exactly? I mean, is it like virtual reality?" "Better than that!" Davis smiled; "It's real, almost like walking through a video game. At least, I think so."
Ken rolled his eyes; he knew it was more than that.
Davis continued, "And it's got real living creatures in it; they're called digimon." "Digimon?" asked the teacher. "Digital monsters," Davis nodded. "Are they good or bad?" a female student asked. Davis answered, "Most are good, and some are bad. It's the good ones that helped us save the world four years ago...
"Am I forgetting anything?" Ken smiled and gave him a nod; "Tell 'em about digivolving." "Right!" Davis cheered. "Digi-volving?" the teacher raised an eyebrow. Davis took a breath and said, "Okay, let me explain this slowly and carefully.
"Each digimon has six life stages. Three are baby forms, and the other three are adult forms. They're not like us, who start small, grow up and die. The digimon grow up according to the amount of energy they have." Suddenly, Davis started visualizing the life span of his own digimon: Veemon.
------------ Vision: Veemon's Life Span, Davis's VO ------------
All there is, in front of a plain white background, is a blue egg.
"Every digimon comes from an egg."
The egg cracks, and out pops Chibimon. He bounces up and down excitedly.
"When they hatch, the digimon is just a Baby. All digimon babies look like colorful bubbles. From there, they get stronger, and evolve- excuse me, digivolve..."
Chibimon evolves into DemiVeemon. He scratches his neck with his leg, like a puppy, looking excited all the while.
"to In-Training. That means, they're like toddlers now, and they have little or no magic at all. From there..."
DemiVeemon becomes Veemon.
"They become little kids, called Rookies. Now they're starting to learn their magic, and they have at least one attack. That's the last baby stage."
------ End Vision ------
"Next," Davis continued, "they start to become adults. But the digimon that Ken and I know can't become adults, until we use one of these." He then pulled out his D-3. "What's that?" the teacher asked. Davis answered, "This is called a D-3; well, it's actually an advanced version of what we call a digivice."
------------ Back to the Vision ------------
Veemon yawns, looking bored.
"We activate one of these things, and suddenly, the Rookie becomes..."
Without warning, Veemon digivolves to ExVeemon, looking proud.
"a Champion! Champions look like full-fledged adults, and they have like two or three attacks. From there, they become Ultimates. Now, to become an Ultimate, the digimom needs help from a Crest. That's what the first Digi-Destined kids had."
------ End Vision ------
"But," Davis frowned, "when me and my friends were there, we didn't have our own Crests. So our digimon did this thing called Jogress digivolving. That's when two Champions merge together to become one Ultimate. Ken's digimon merged with mine." Ken nodded.
------------ Back to Vision ------------
ExVeemon flexes his muscles.
"So, either by a Crest or through Jogress, the Champion becomes..."
Suddenly, he becomes Paildramon.
(Davis) "Ultimate! They're bigger and stronger than the Champions."
(Male Student) "Is that it?"
(Davis) "Nope! After that, they get their final stage..."
Paildramon becomes Imperial Dramon.
"which is called Mega. You can't get any bigger and stronger than this, baby!"
(Female Student) "Well, they die after that, right?"
(Davis) "Yeah, digimon can die, but what they also do is run out of power. Once that happens-"
To his surprise, Imperial Dramon zips right back to being DemiVeemon. The impact sends him landing on his rear, and he lets out a cute squeak. He looks dizzy.
"they go back to one of their baby stages; mostly the In-Trainee stage. Then they gotta wait until they can get all their power again!"
------ End Vision ------
"You get it now?" Davis asked.
The teacher then said, "This is all very entertaining, Mr. Motomiya, but can you prove how two dimensions can co-exist without breaking the laws of nature?" Davis smirked, "Sure. We live here, digimon live there." The teacher sighed, "Well, isn't the real world the more natural dimension- at least that's what it sounds like you're saying, because otherwise it wouldn't be called 'The Real World.' And if the real world's natural levels, from the core to the stratosphere, how could a portal to the digital world shift through the dimensions without sending a permanent hole through our planet?"
Davis's face went blank, as did his mind. The first thing he did as a reaction was have his mouth drop, and his eyes look to Ken. Ken shook his head, letting Davis know he was on his own. "Uh..." Davis blurted out; "Ummm.... Well, it's like... The portals are always there; they just don't show up without the digivices."
The teacher asked, "So your digivice can open a dimension, while the rest of the planet remains stable?" Davis giggled, "Stable, yes!" The teacher crossed his arms and asked, "Mr. Motomiya, your theory on other dimensions seems a little logic, but I really don't see how a small Game Boy could rupture a force of existence like our planet, and then make it go back to normal in minutes."
The bell rang, and most of the students started to leave. Davis turned to the teacher, who didn't look back as he started back to his desk. Then Davis, who didn't seem to understand what his teacher said, looked to Ken, who was still sitting. His mouth read, "How'd I do?" In response, Ken lifted his pencil with one hand, making it stand horizontally. "This is you," Ken's mouth read, pointing to the pencil. Davis nodded, understanding. Ken nodded back... then with a quick thrust of his thumb, he snapped the pencil in half. Davis's face read "doomed" all over it.
"Gennai?"
The boy called to his old friend as he stared at a wall with inscriptions he's never seen before. "Yes?" replied the aging one, walking over to where the child was. The boy pointed to those colorful glowing symbols and asked, "What are these?"
Gennai smiled, "These, Kellen, are the nine original crests. See, it wasn't enough for the Digi-Destined to have digivices that help their digimon evolve. They were given these other devices called 'crests.' They tap into the human heart and unleash a powerful virtue that can very well define that particular human." He scrolled down the line and read, "Courage, Friendship, Kindness, Love, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Hope, and Light."
Then the old man pointed to the symbols below the top line and continued, "But the barrier that tried to separate our two different dimensions grew all the more weaker; therefore, more crests were added. Fate, Unity, Loyalty, Innocence... There are more than I can remember off the top of my head, but I do know one very important thing." "What's that?" asked the child.
The old man pointed to the very bottom line of symbols on the wall, where four symbols were present but not glowing like the rest. Gennai answered, "These final four crests have not been used yet. The Digi-Destined who need them have already been called to action, but they didn't need their crests yet." "Why not?" asked Kellen. Gennai shrugged, "The situation they were in had no need for these crests. But soon, my boy; soon these last four crests will light up, marking the beginning of the greatest war we've ever faced..."
Another teammate skidded onto the grass, just missing the opportunity to kick the soccer ball. On the sidelines of the soccer field, Davis stood and yelled, "You're KILLING me, guys! come on, KICK THE BALL! Bruce? Bruce, whaddya call that, a reflex? Keep your eyes open, Lee! NO! THAT WAY, THE GOAL IS THAT WAY!"
One of their friends saw the ball coming to his head, and caught it with his hands. "BRUCE!" he called out and while he waved his hands in the air, mimicking Bruce's mistake, he yelled, "WHAT IS THIS!?" Then, as if on purpose just for the sake of humor, Davis imitated (poorly) a dramatic English accent, "Use your legs, man! Your LEGS! It's what they're FOR!"
Next to Davis was Ken, who was typing away on the laptop that was carefully placed in his lap. Davis, humiliated, buried his head in his hands and said, "Oh my God... Oh my God, I can't watch this anymore!" He got up and started moving away; "I gotta go! I- I'm gettin' outta here!" Without even taking his eyes off the laptop's monitor, Ken pointed to him and yelled, "Davis, get back here!"
Davis came back, growling, "I can't take this anymore! It's like they're doing it on purpose now!" "Relax," his friend smiled; "It's only the fifth game, and most of these guys are freshmen. They'll get better-" "WE'RE freshmen," Davis reminded Ken, "and we RULE at this game! Why can't they?" Ken calmly said, "Just calm down."
Davis shot a glare at him and huffed, "You so smart? Then you coach 'em." "I can't," Ken shook his head; "I've got a research report due tomorrow." His friend felt betrayed, so he gave a nod and moaned, "You suck, you know that? When you want to, you can really suck." Ken smiled, "At least I'm passing grades."
Davis's eyes wandered for a moment, and saw a group of young ladies coming down the bleachers. He sighed, "Uh-oh, here come the jeer-leaders.." For once, Ken's eyes looked up, and smiled, "Aw, not all of 'em hate us; look who's leading the way." Once Davis realized who it was, his jaw dropped and his eyes beamed.
Ashley Weidenbaum.
This was a well built young lady the same age as Ken and Davis, with long, semi-curly hair; chestnut brown with blonde highlights. Her soft green eyes complimented her pleasant smile, as she and her friends paraded down the bleachers. For Davis, it all happened in slow motion, and the closer this youthful teen came, the glossier his eyes got. He was practically breathless.
Ashley and company walked right up to Davis and Ken- at this point Ken's attention drew back to the laptop. Nearly making a curtsy, she smiled, "Hey, guys! How's it going?" "Good," replied the preoccupied Ken. Ashley then looked Davis in the eye and greeted pleasantly, "Hi, Davis." "Hi," he smiled back, sounding calm. "Enjoying practice?" she asked curiously. "Uh.." Davis began, taking a quick peek at his teammates. Watching a whole group of them accidentally tackle each other, he turned back to Ashley and nodded, "I can honestly say nothing's surprised me yet."
The young lady watched the fall and shook her head, "Ouch. Not looking good for the game tonight, huh?" Davis smiled at her with a voice of optimism, "Ah, it's just the fifth game and most of these guys are freshmen anyways. We'll get better... someday." No one seemed to notice, but Ken shot a glare at Davis at that time.
"HA!" laughed a familiar voice from within Ashley's crowd. Out stepped Davis's sister, Jun, and she smiled teasingly at him, "These guys are gonna get trashed, Davis. You might as well forfeit!" "HEY!" Davis jumped up and threw his pointer finger at her; "I'm not about quitting, razor-head!" Jun reacted sarcastically, "Ooo! Big talker; can ya back it up?" With that, she shoved him. Davis growled, "Don't test me, Donna King!"
Ken looked up and asked, "Hey Jun. Whatcha doing here?" Jun smiled at him, "Hey, Ken! I just came by to wish my little brother luck." With that, she attempted to noogie Davis, who backed away growling. "Guys, come on!" Ashley stepped in. "Stay outta this, Ashley," Jun glared at her. "Yeah, Ash," Davis nodded, "this is just between me and the red sunflower." Jun stuck her tongue out at him, and he pulled down his eyelid at her.
Ashley sighed, "Why can't the two of you be more like Ken? He looks like he can handle anything." Davis replied, "Yeah, he looks it, but that's as far as it goes." "I heard that," frowned the occupied one.
Jun said in a warning tone, "Well, I really came by to let you guys know, Mom's not gonna be able to make it to your game. You're gonna have to take the train to and from Tokyo." "Thanks," Ken smiled. Davis replied, "We got the money... Oh yeah, thanks Jun." Jun smiled, "No problem!" She then looked to the poor-playing team and giggled, "I really do wish you luck, Davis... you're gonna need it." With that, she turned and exited the way she came.
Ashley then turned to Davis with a kind smile; "Don't worry, you guys. I'll be at the game, and I'll be cheering for you all the way." Davis took this as a surprise and smiled, "...wow.. Well.. Thank you!" Ashley smiled, "See ya later." "Bye," waved the boys, as Ashley and her friends left.
Davis sat back down beside Ken and sighed. Ken heard the sigh and smiled as he kept on typing away, "Yeah." "...Yeah, what?" Davis asked. Ken finally looked away from the laptop, at Davis, and nodded slyly, "You like her." "Who," Davis asked, "Jun? She's my sister, dude!" Ken slightly giggled, "No, Ashley." Davis jumped back in stern denial; "Nu-uh; I like Kari!" Ken nodded sarcastically, "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Just then, he looked back to the laptop, and suddenly gasped, "What the-"
"What is it?" Davis asked, moving closer to Ken's laptop. "I.. I don't know!" Ken frowned in shock. They both saw it. The screen fell black, and all there was to see were dozens of sequences of light blue zeroes and ones. Davis gasped, "Hey! I saw that last night on my computer!" Ken's face fell angrily, "It's some kind of virus." He then started typing again. "What are you doing?" Davis asked. Ken replied, "I gotta try to fix this; if I lose that report I'm gonna be in serious trouble tomorrow."
Ken tried all he could to take out the virus, not paying attention to the fact that the blue number code was forming into a bird.
Davis's attention drifted as he impatiently sighed, "Our team's dying, and he's worried about a virus... Reminds me of Yolei."
Meanwhile, Yolei and Cody were sitting at a bench in the park. Yolei let out a deep, depressed sigh. Cody asked, "You still got the flu?" "No," Yolei replied; "it's... It's Chad. I just broke up with him." Cody nodded matter-of-factly, "Mm-hmm, I knew it! I knew that guy was a crumb." "I know," Yolei's eyes glistened in sorrow; "I should've listened to you..." "Aw, it's okay," Cody smiled pleasantly.
Yolei then changed the subject: "Hey, did you see that computer virus last night?" Cody nodded, "The one with those blue numbers and pictures?" "Pictures?" Yolei raised an eyebrow; "I didn't see any pictures." Cody explained, "I saw one pattern where the numbers made an image of a turtle.. or something like that." Yolei shrugged, "I don't know, it just kinda creeped me out."
Cody turned away and said, "Have you seen any of our old friends, like TK, Kari, or Davis?" Yolei smirked, "You forgot Ken again." Cody smiled, "I was just testing you, to see if you were paying attention." Yolei giggled, "...Yeah, we all keep in touch through email. But it's been a while since we actually saw each other."
Cody replied, "They got a game tonight at Tokyo. I can't make it, 'cause I'm running errands at home. Are you going?" Yolei paused, and shook her head, "I can't. I got things to do too... But I'm sure Davis and Ken'll be alright. They usually are..."
Tokyo, Japan.
It was evening. The visitors from Odiaba entered the soccer field, noticing how large and clean the grass was, and how massive the crowd was. This wasn't like their own field- first of all, this one was much bigger. And there were fans. Real live fans!
The home team paraded to the field with the echo of cheers and a school band playing. As they did, Ken and Davis took their seats on the sidelines. Ken was looking calm as usual- in fact, he had a gleam in his eye as he looked around, almost in admiration. Davis, however, sighed sadly. Ken turned to him and gave a nod, "This is just Game Five. Anything can happen." "I know," Davis nodded back, "I know..."
At the face-off, the referee prepared the soccer ball for the first kickoff. The Odaiba player stood focused, with clenched fists. The Tokyo player stood in a similar way, but with confidence in his eyes. The referee blew the whistle. Two legs flew at each other like swords. One of them got the ball, and the other missed miserably. Tokyo charged the field, with the Odaiba players running at them like mad. But despite their effort, the opposing team made their way to their first goal, in seconds.
That was the sign that Ken and Davis were watching out for. The two star players of Odiaba looked to each other... and with their eyes, accepted defeat.
First half; Tokyo Dragons 1, Odaiba Warriors 0.
The Dragons gained control of the ball, and headed straight for the goal line. One of the Odaiba players tried to steal it, but skidded to the ground. The same attempt happened at least five or six times, before the Dragons scored yet again.
Minutes later, an Odaiba player charged at the Tokyo player with the ball, and just when he tried to steal, he was elbowed. The refs called the foul, but when the Odiaba player was granted a foul shot, he kicked the ball too high. So high in fact, it whacked someone in the stands right in the face. Davis and Ken cringed fearfully.
First half; Tokyo Dragons 5, Odaiba Warriors 0.
Davis ran down the field with the ball, and scored for Odaiba. Then he scored again a few minutes later. After the next face off, Davis took the ball again. But a Tokyo player came from behind and accidentally kicked Davis in the back of the leg in an attempt to steal the ball. Davis fell hard, and was taken out of the game.
Ken went into the game soon after that. He faced off against the Tokyo star player, who took the ball as soon as the ref blew the whistle. Ken quickly stole it and raced down the field. He dodged all the players, one by one. Soon enough, he made a swift kick and sent the ball flying into the goal. Odaiba cheered, but only for a few seconds because a Tokyo player purposely tripped Ken. Ken made a sudden crash, twisting his ankle. All the fans from Odaiba sighed sadly; this was the beginning of the end.
First half; Tokyo Dragons 15, Odaiba 3.
Bruce, one of the Odaiba players, saw the ball coming his way. Now normally, this would be a good opportunity to hit the ball with your head, but Bruce freaked out and caught it with his hands. The whistle was blown, and everybody stopped. Bruce froze in humiliation, and made a timid look to Davis, who saw what happened on the sidelines. After seeing the fury burning in the glaring eyes of Ken and Davis from the sidelines, Bruce gulped.
In the next kickoff, Bruce had his hands tied behind his back, but even that didn't stop the next five goals.
"COME ON, GUYS!" Davis yelled; "YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT! DEFENSE, DEFENSE!" Unfortunately, the guy who was supposed to steal the ball from Tokyo skidded into the grass, nearly breaking his leg. Tokyo scored again.
First half; Tokyo Dragons 32, Odaiba 3.
While Davis hung his head in defeat, Ken saw one of their players steal the ball from Tokyo. Ken stood up, eyes wide; "..we got the ball..." Davis jumped up; "We got the ball!" The two of them started jumping up and down, rejoicing: "WE GOT THE BALL! YES! WOO-HOO! WE GOT THE BALL!" "-We lost it," Ken frowned, and fell back in his seat. Davis fell too... but not on his seat; on the grass.
Later, an Odaiba player had the ball. While he tried to dodge the on-coming opponents, Ken and Davis shouted, "DON'T BICYCLE KICK! DON'T BICYCLE KICK!" The kid foolishly attempted the bicycle kick, slipped, and landed on his back hard. Davis shook his head sternly, "I'm crying no tears."
Their goalie wasn't any better! After one, two, ten, fifteen, thirty-four misses, he just stood there and accepted the fact that he just couldn't block the shots!
Halftime; Tokyo Dragons 40, Odiaba Warriors 3.
Their faces didn't look too thrilled, but judging by their tone of voices, Ken and Davis had the favor of the winning team whole-heartedly: "Let's go, Dra-gons! Clap! Clap! clap-clap-clap! Let's go, Dra-gons! Clap! Clap! clap-clap-clap!" One of their friends came up to them and announced, "While we prepare for our funeral, some of the guys are getting refreshments. You wanna come?" "Sure," Davis replied, and followed his friend.
Davis and his friends were ordering food in one of the many hallways of the stadium. At that time, Ashley made her appearance to Davis. "Hey," she smiled. Davis turned to her and sighed, "Hey." Ashley frowned, "...I'm sorry about the game." "Not your fault," he shook his head; "Hey, you want anything? Soda? Fries?" "No thanks," she politely declined.
"..So, what're you doing here?"
"Watching the game."
"No, I mean, what are you doing HERE? ...At the food stand?"
"Oh! giggle I just wanted to talk, I guess," she shrugged.
"To talk... to me?"
"Yeah!"
"...Why?"
"Well..." she began while blushing a little, "you looked like you could use a friend to talk to. You look really down." Davis smirked, "What was your first clue?" Taken back, Ashley frowned, "I'm sorry." Davis gulped, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I just ...d'I don't know why I said that." He didn't know it, but he started to blush as he hung his head in shame. Ashley saw his face turning red and smiled, "Well, things'll get better, like you said." Davis's face lit up as he turned back to her and asked, "You really think so?" "Yep," she nodded; "and it'll be because of you and Ken. You guys are the best players I ever saw."
Davis grinned proudly, "Wow! You mean it? For real?" Ashley just giggled, which encouraged Davis to giggle as well. Before they knew it, their giggles became a loud chorus of laughter. Then they had to stop and take a breath, and at that point they looked to each other as if to ask, "What were we just talking about?"
They paused, gleaming into each other's eyes. Davis couldn't help but smile, but just then one of his fellow soccer players turned to him and asked, "Yo Davis, if you're gonna get romantic with your girl, you mind getting a room?" Suddenly, Davis blasted, "WHAT? She's not my girl, so shut up!" "Yeah right," joked another teammate; "You're just waiting for us to leave, so you can be all alone with her." "SHUT- UP!" Davis barked defensively. The two boys walked away singing,
"Davis and Ashley,
Sittin' in a tree!
K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Davis shouted at them, "I'm gonna get you guys! You HEAR ME?" He took a breath, and turned to where Ashley was... and he realized she was gone. "Huh?" he gasped, and looked around; "Ash? ....Ashley?" Then he saw her, walking down the hall with her back turned to him. "ASHLEY!" he called out, and started to chase her; "Ash, wait! Hold up!"
"What?" she sternly asked, turning back to him with a sad look on her face. Davis panted, "...why'd you leave?" She frowned, "I heard the game was back on, so I'm going back to my seat." Davis checked his wristwatch; "...The game's not on 'til two more minutes." "Whatever," she huffed, resuming her walk. Davis ran in front of her and asked, "Is it 'cause o' what I said?" "It doesn't matter," she responded in a soft tone, trying to walk around him.
Davis blocked her again; "Yes it does matter. Look, I thought we were friends." "We are friends," she replied. Davis then confronted her sternly; "...But you'd rather we were something else, right?" Ashley walked around him and said, "What I want doesn't matter, it's what you want that does. If you got a problem with us being more than friends, that's fine with me." "Wait," he said, but she insisted, "Nope, it's okay. You better get back to the game soon." With that, she left him standing there.
He frowned, realizing for the first time that she really did like him, and that her feelings were hurt. He tried to think of a way to apologize, when suddenly he heard thunder. Even though there was a ceiling above him, he looked up to the sky anyway; "...Is it supposed to rain tonight?" He shrugged it off and walked back to the playing field, not noticing that Ken was in the line of men waiting to use the restroom.
Cody was walking down a street in his neighborhood, carrying what looked like a heavy bag of groceries. He seemed to be walking a little slow, but he was determined to bring these grocery items home.
Just then, a car drove by, slowed down and stopped at the corner. The passenger window rolled down, and from inside the car popped out the head of a young boy about Cody's age. "Hey, Cody!" the boy called out, making Cody stop in his tracks. Cody turned to him and gasped, "Huh?" The boy asked, "You need a ride? That bag looks heavy." Cody shook his head, "I'm fine. Really." "Are you sure?" asked his concerned friend. Cody gave a nod, "Yeah, my house isn't too far from here." "Oh, okay," replied his friend, and the car drove off.
Cody gave a sigh, just when he heard the sound of rolling thunder. "Hmm?" he hummed, and turned around with his eyes on the sky. Out of nowhere, a gust of wind picked up, dragging with it a cluster of nimbus clouds... At least, they looked like nimbus clouds. Cody glared at the clouds, which were a navy blue color. It was strange; the clouds appeared to be brighter than the night sky. From within the clouds, a flash of light rolled with the thunder. Indeed, it appeared to be a sudden thunderstorm. But there was no rain or lightning, just thunder. Cody just stood there, staring at it.
Yolei was just leaving her father's grocery store. "Bye, Dad," she waved as she walked through the doors. She paused as soon as she came outside. She heard thunder roll out of nowhere. "Huh?" she muttered, looking up. "OH MY GOD!" screamed a voice that seemed to be coming from the other side of the corner. Alarmed, Yolei ran down the street to see what the sudden yell was all about.
Davis emerged from inside the stadium, just ten stairs downward away from the sidelines. He took a deep breath, and without warning he heard a loud BOOM! He jumped in surprise, then tilted his head all the way up, to the sky. He saw clouds snake their way out of the clear blue, as if they were alive and doing it on purpose. Lightning flashed from within the clouds, but the lightning itself stayed hidden.
Cody's eyes bulged in pure shock, as he stared all the longer at the clouds. As he gazed, some cars that were headed in the "storm's" direction skidded to a halt. Cody himself had to get a better look at these clouds... He could've sworn he saw something.
Yolei whipped herself around the corner, to see a gathering of shocked people. "What?" she asked loudly; "What IS it?" "THE SKY!" said a man pointing upward. Yolei looked up... and her jaw dropped.
Davis, as well as everybody else, stopped moving and stared at the clouds. They were getting all the more thick, and the more bunched up they became the lighter they got. Finally, the clouds stopped moving, and all there was to be seen could only be described as... a patch in the sky. The clouds became an illuminated blue patch. And from it, sprung a dragon.
The dragon- as blue as the clouds and with its own inner lightning- snaked across the sky. It seemed to be making a nose dive to the earth, but never went that far. It coiled one way and twisted the other, almost in a ballet-like performance.
Cody ran to the rooftop of a building, as did a few other people. Finally, he got a good look at what those clouds in the sky were shaping out to be. A giant, two-headed tortoise. It was just walking very slowly, as if going somewhere. Cody was utterly speechless, just as the other witnesses were. For a second, however, it almost looked like one of the tortoise heads made a quick glance at him. A glance directly at Cody... and then it kept walking, until it disappeared. All was silent.
Yolei took a few steps back, trying to scream but unable to. In the sky stood a giant tiger, made up of the mysterious clouds that came out of nowhere. The tiger was geared up in steel bracelets and chains, and for one moment it seemed to let out a roar... but it wasn't heard. It almost seemed like an illusion. And just like any normal illusion, it vanished in a blink of an eye.
Once again, the dragon attempted a nose dive, and this time it was successful. People started screaming and running for their lives as the dragon came down on them. It stopped right in front of Davis. They eyed each other, for one brief moment. The dragon and the human stood perfectly still, and their eyes stayed focused. Davis had two eyes. The dragon had four. For a moment, Davis's eyes glared sternly, as if he had no fear of the beast at all. Seemingly impressed, the blue dragon blinked. And like mist, it vanished. Davis took a breath- his first breath in seconds.
Finally, Ken walked out to where Davis was. He paused, and looked at all the shocked faces. He raised an eyebrow, "...Alright... What'd I miss?"
"Gennai!" the boy shouted with excitement, as he and his aging companion stared at the last inscription on the wall; "The crests! Look at them!" Gennai rushed over to the wall that had the crests encrypted in them. To his amazement, the final four crests lit up. The first shimmered in blue; the next gold; the next green, and the last red. "Yes," Gennai nodded; "This is it, Kellen. The age-old battle of good and evil has reached its maximum level. This isn't about just humans and digimon anymore.
"The time has come... for the Digital Keepers."
TO BE CONTINUED