And now, may I present a project that has been a year in the making (or less, I forget exactly). I bring you a brand new tale to the Digimon mythos. That's right, new characters, new powers, new story, basically, all new.

Please note that this title is not meant to be confused with the video game of the same name. Heck, I didn't even know about that until I came up with this title.

Disclaimer: I don't own any facet of the Digimon franchise (despite however to the contrary this story may make it appear to be).

Digimon: Battle!

Chapter 1
Digi-Destined

He moved a gloved hand over the deck of cards on the floor, ready to draw his next card. He looked across to his opponent.

"You're not gonna win, Daichi," the boy on the other side, who was in his early teens, said matter-of-factly as he adjusted the goggles on his forehead. The first boy, about the same age, looked at him smugly.

"We'll see," the boy named Daichi said as he lifted the card off the deck. He looked at the image and smiled. "I'll Digivolve Patamon into Angemon. And against your SkullGreymon, this is a piece of cake." The other boy looked through his hand, but none of his cards would help him raise his card's attack power. "And with one Hand of Destiny, Angemon breaks through SkullGreymon's Defend for 200 points…"

"…which wins you the fifth game in a row today," the other boy finished, slightly annoyed. He picked up the cards on his side of the game field off the floor.

"Come on, Isamu," Daichi said as he cleaned up his side, "you're not that sore, are you?"

"No," Isamu said. "I would just like to win more than once a month. How are you so good at this?"

"Well, I suppose I could boast about my intelligence and ability to keep cool under pressure," Daichi answered, "but I'd rather just say it's my good luck charms." He held up his hands.

"You mean those gloves?" Isamu asked. "You see, that's one thing I never understood; why do you where those whenever we play Digi-Battle?"

Daichi thought for a few seconds and said, "Remember that tournament a few years back? I decided I needed something that made me look like a Digimon fan; but without goggles, I mean, that's just been done to death." He did not miss Isamu's glare at this comment. "So, I went with the next best thing. You know how in the first season of the TV show, all but three of the Digi-Destined wear gloves? Well, I figured it would work well, especially in a game that requires using your hands. I managed to win every matchup flawlessly. So, I guess it's one of those psychological things."

Isamu stood there for a bit, then suddenly made a sound like he was trying to hold back laughter. "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

"Okay then," Daichi challenged, "let's hear your story: why do you wear goggles?"

After he regained control of himself, Isamu started, "You know how I like to watch the Digimon show?"

"Uh, yeah," Daichi said, "I was usually right there with you when it was on."

"Yeah, well, you didn't own the first two seasons on DVD when you were seven years old. So when I was done with my homework, what was the first thing I was probably going to do?" He paused to let his question sink in. "Anyway, my mom would always tell me that if I watched the TV too long, I would ruin my eyesight. So I got it into my head that if I wore something over them as I watched, I could protect my eyes. This kinda goes back to what you said about looking like the characters; since the leader always wore goggles, I figured it was not only practical, but perfect. I may have gotten over that protecting-my-eyesight stage, but I still think they look cool."

Daichi turned and said in a whisper, "And you thought my reason was dumb."

Isamu either ignored or didn't hear it, because he turned toward the door of the cabin. "As much as I like losing to you, if I wanted to get my head handed to me at cards, I would have gone to a casino, not camp. I'm going to take a stroll. Wanna come with?"

Daichi waved his hand and said, "You go on without me; I have to check my e-mail first, see if Dad sent me anything."

"Alright," Isamu said and walked out the door. He closed it just as Daichi sat at the desk and turned on the screen to his laptop. The cabin he and Isamu were staying in, while fashioned to look like a real log cabin, had electrical plug-in outlets which allowed him to use the laptop without wasting its batteries. He activated his e-mail account and clicked the link to his inbox.

UNABLE TO SHOW PAGE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER. The screen was white with only these words on it. "What the…?" Daichi said. He shrugged it off and pressed the refresh button. UNABLE TO SHOW PAGE. PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER. "I don't get it," Daichi said to himself. "This thing was working fine the first few days. It even worked this morning." He pressed the refresh button one last time. UNABLE TO SHOW PAGE. PLEASE TR—Before he could finish reading the message he didn't want to see, a bright flash blinded his vision. It took a few seconds after it was gone before he could see again.

The screen still showed the error message. Daichi clicked the refresh button again. His inbox finally opened, but showed no new messages. "Great," he said to himself, "all that frustration and nearly going blind for nothing." He was about to turn off the screen when he noticed something near his hand. It was a small, oddly shaped electronic device with an LED screen in the middle which was outlined in a teal-colored ring, with a strap that had a color to match.

Daichi sat there flabbergasted. He had seen other devices similar to this. However, what he had seen were all part of the TV show known as Digimon: Tamers. "A D-Power Digivice?" he whispered, barely able to get the words out. Suddenly he heard the door slam open.

"Daichi! You won't believe what I just found!" Isamu said, out of breath.

"Let me guess," Daichi said. "A small device about the size of your palm with an LED screen that looks strikingly similar to something you saw in an animated television show?" He cringed waiting for the answer.

"If this were a casino, you'd hit the jackpot," Isamu said as he reached in his pocket. He pulled out, as Daichi expected, another Digivice. What surprised him, however, was its design: this Digivice was shaped like an oval that grew smaller on the bottom, had dark green handgrips on its sides, and something that looked like a one-inch antenna on the top-left corner.

"A D-3?" he said aloud.

"So I assume you got one, too?" Isamu asked. "After all, your guess was right on the money."

"Well," Daichi answered tentatively, "yes and no." He took the Digivice he found from the desk and showed it to Isamu. Isamu's reaction was that of both surprise and curiosity.

"Wait," Isamu said, "why did we both get different models of Digivices?"

"I don't know," Daichi admitted, "but there's a very good chance we're going to find out real soon." He looked at the laptop.

"Are you saying we should…?" Isamu started.

"No, not yet," Daichi interrupted. "First, let's wait and see what happens." They both placed their respective Digivices in their pockets and went outside.

The stroll was not a pleasant one as Daichi would have liked. His mind was focused on what had just occurred. The Digivices that appeared out of his computer, the differing models, and so many other questions went through his head. Isamu was very likely feeling the same way, as he was not talking, nor did he make an attempt to talk for several minutes.

However, he eventually relented. "So what kind of partner do you think you'll have?"

Daichi tried to not let the suddenness of the question faze him and said, "Isn't that the million dollar question. I have way too many Digimon cards to believe there are only a handful of creatures in the Digital World. I could have something that ranges from cute and fluffy to frightening and monstrous. Why, is that what you've been thinking about this whole time?"

"Among other things," Isamu replied. "I guess I'm just trying to ease the tension here."

"Got your work cut out for you," Daichi retorted. The two continued walking down the lone forest path.

"So, what should we do?" Isamu asked.

"Right now, we wait for more developments," Daichi replied. "If we were supposed to go to the Digital World right now, we would have been whisked away soon after we got our Digivices. For now, act as though nothing strange is going on, but be ready to go at a moment's notice. A warp could appear at any time, and I'd rather we be more prepared than, you know, not." The two agreed to this and went through the day as though it was any other. But some of the more observant camp-goers could notice a slight change in mood about them.

Daichi was having some problems sleeping that night. So far, nothing outside of the appearance of the Digivices had happened. Whether that was good or bad, neither he nor Isamu could decide. They had spent much of their free time preparing for what they thought was a soon-to-be trip to the Digital World. Daichi had checked what food they had and sorted through what would be a good idea to take and what could remain behind. Isamu also placed a few essentials into what travel packs they had, as well as survival guides from the camp store. Although he admitted there were some topics that probably would not apply to a different dimension, having them made him feel safer. The two even slept in clothes that were good for traveling in the wild should something happen at night.

Up until that point, it had been for naught. No portal or transportation had been revealed yet. Only Isamu was able to fall asleep, as evidenced by his snoring. At worst, Daichi told himself as he lay in the bottom bunk, this was all some terrible, but very convincing, joke played by the guys in the next cabin. He tried not to think about the whole situation any more than he already had and closed his eyes.

When he woke up, he was in a large desert. He looked around for any sign of life, real or digital. He found nothing or no one, not even Isamu. He called out to him without success, but something did appear: a large shadow surrounding him. Actually, once Daichi got a better view, he found it was actually a multitude of shadows. Whatever made these shadows were large and had a malevolent air about them. Daichi reached for his D-Power. He pulled out one of his cards and brought it to the card reader. He swiped the card, but nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing to indicate that his partner, if indeed he had one, was there. Slowly the shadows began to merge into a giant, solitary shape. Two lights shone on its back and something sounded like a weapon charging up. His view went white.

Daichi opened his eyes and found himself back in his bed, sitting upright. He was breathing hard.

"Hey, buddy, you okay?" he heard a voice say.

"I think so," he replied. "Just had this really bad nightmare."

"Must have been," the voice said. "You're sweating harder than a Frigimon in summer." Daichi realized that the voice did not belong to Isamu nor anyone else he knew; it was light and almost grainy. He turned to the side of his bed and found a small, teal colored dragon with red wings standing next to him. "Hi," it said in that same voice, "my name's Dracomon." Daichi just sat there. "What," Dracomon said, "never seen a dragon Digimon before?"

"Not outside the cards and TV screen, I haven't," Daichi managed to get out. "And none of them look like you."

"Hey, quick question," Dracomon said, changing the subject. "Any chance we can get Sleepy McNoisy to quiet down?" He pointed above themselves.

"Yeah," Daichi whispered to himself, "he might want to know about this, anyway." He got out of the bed and shook Isamu on the top bunk. He seemed to feel a little heavier than Daichi remembered. "Hey, Isamu," he said in a quiet, but firm, voice, "wake up. There's something you should see."

The snoring stopped and Isamu yawned. He said tiredly, "Yeah, what's…" but he cut himself off. He yelped in surprise and threw something off the bunk, which hit Daichi's face.

"Listen, Isamu," he said as he pulled the object off himself. "I don't care how tired or startled by a wake-up call you are, you don't have to throw your pillow at me like…" He paused to notice that he wasn't holding a pillow but a large, green bug. Like Isamu, Daichi yelped and threw the bug out of his way.

It landed on the floor with a grunt and said, "I don't know about throwing pillows, but throwing Digimon around isn't exactly a great idea either." Its voice was deep and had a slight accent. Daichi thought it sounded familiar.

"Uh, Daichi," Isamu asked as he pulled the blankets off. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"I think it means we found our partners." Daichi pulled out his D-Power. "Let's see if I can't get this thing to work." He pressed the buttons a few times and a circular, holographic screen projected itself. "Here we go." He pointed the D-Power, now functioning as a Digi-Analyzer, at Dracomon and his image appeared on the screen. "According to this guy, his name's Dracomon, and I think he's my partner. He's a dragon Digimon, data type, rookie level." He next pointed the Analyzer at the bug. "And this is Wormmon; no doubt your partner since he was in your bunk. A larva Digimon, virus type, rookie level."

"Wormmon?" Isamu said. "You mean like Wormmon from the second season?"

"I'm sorry," Wormmon said, "but have we met?"

"Not officially," Isamu said as he climbed out of the bunk. "You see, when I first saw you, you were a character in a TV show, and that was supposed to be just a work of fiction."

"Hey," Dracomon interjected. "Are you saying that we're not real? If I weren't real, would I be able to do this?" He opened his mouth and something that looked like a small fire appeared inside it.

"No one's disputing that you're both real, Dracomon," Daichi said quickly. The little dragon closed his mouth and coughed. "It's just around here, Digimon aren't supposed to exist."

"And where is here, exactly?" Wormmon asked.

"What we humans call the real world," Isamu answered.

"What does that make our world, then?" Dracomon asked.

"Simply put," Isamu explained, "another dimension that, in some sense, was created by this one through our computers and technology."

"Okay," Dracomon said slowly he put his claws up to his head. "Head starting to hurt."

"Don't think about it, then," Isamu said. "What we should think about is, 'now what?'" He turned to Daichi.

"Something will present itself eventually," he replied. Suddenly, as if on cue, Daichi's laptop turned itself on and began to glow pure white. "Like that for instance." Isamu immediately left the room.

"Where's he going?" Wormmon asked.

"Well, to make a long story short, we had been expecting a ride to the Digital World since this afternoon. Isamu's going to get our travel packs with our food and supplies." Right when Daichi finished speaking, Isamu returned with two backpacks, one on his own back. "Did you remember the ice packs?" Daichi asked.

"Can't say they'll last long out there, but yeah, I got them."

"They'll just have to last long enough," Daichi said.

"Oh, by the way," Isamu said, "I took the liberty of grabbing my card deck." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the deck he had played with earlier. Before Daichi could ask why, Isamu said, "Because not every card in your arsenal will be useful, you'll need all the help you can get, and it might as well do something useful other than be your sparring partner." Daichi wanted to argue, but found he couldn't with Isamu's points and their sense of urgency. He took the deck out of Isamu's hand and placed it in his pocket, next to his own. He also took the backpack that Isamu did not wear and slung it on his own back.

"So, what now?" Dracomon asked.

"We open the Digi-Port," Isamu said. He held up his D-3 at the computer and it began to glow brighter. Soon the white light enveloped them. When it disappeared, nobody was in the cabin.

Looks like a new adventure has begun. What awaits our new heroes as they take their first steps into the Digital World? To find out, keep reading Digimon: Digital Monsters!

Yeah, I did that. You got a problem with that?

In case you haven't noticed, I ripped off some stuff from the anime itself to make this story. Get used to it; it will only be more noticeable with time.

This is CF, signing out.