Digimon 1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hi guys! This is the prologue to a new digimon OC fanfiction that I will be writing. It's a big project of mine, and I would apprecciate any support. Be warned that the digi-destined and all major digimon/characters will most likely be OCs. I try to describe them as best I can, but I will also try to draw them and post them on a deviantART account if I can. If I do, I will make sure that you guys know and will post the link. Thanks, and enjoy.**

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Prologue

The Digital World was peaceful for once.

It was a nice change from the ceaseless war cries and blood-shed that the digimon had grown accustomed to. On most days, you could physically see the dispersed data, meaning that yet another digimon had died that day. All of the resources that kept a digimon alive: food, water, and shelter, had forsaken them, and had dissappeared to the depths of the Digital World, which left scarcely any on ground level. There was no such thing as a cloud that wasn't black, or a forest that wasn't made out of dead, withering undergrowth. Life seemed to drag on in black and white.

All of this caused the digimon inhabitants to live in fear, just thinking of wether they were going to survive the next hour or so. Because all the things that made anything worthwhile had disappeared from life itself. Nowhere was safe.

Centarumon, however, still remembered the days before the Dark Mist had made its grand entrance into the Digital World,

_It is not the time to reminisce._

Centarumon was on an important mission, and he could not forget what his target was. If he failed, then the digimon would soon die out, and the world he loved would be doomed to non-existence.

As he walked past the leafless trees that that had once been the pride and joy of File Island, he heard something that made him start. He took a few steps backward, his eyes glued to an area of decaying bushes, which rustled slightly.

"Who goes there?!" he demanded, his arm ready to burst out an attack at any moment.

"Don't fear, it's only me."

A red head popped out of the shadows, followed by a short body and nine tails. The digimon was completely red, with purple markings decorating its legs and back. Its tails were like peacock feathers, and his paws finished off in long white claws.

Centarumon instantly relaxed. It was just Elecmon.

"Are they ready?" he asked, paying attention to his surroundings. The Dark Mist had taken a break for now, but there was no telling when it would arise again. The last thing they both wanted was for it to learn of their plan.

Elecmon nodded. "We better get there soon. Leomon and Andromon can't hold off the Black Mist for long if it decides to strike."

"Agreed."

They pair traveled together in silence through the forest. They wanted to stay alert, and they didn't want to attract the attention of the wild digimon roaming the wild.

The forest soon ended, opening up to a clearing where children's toys lay broken on the floor, their pale gray color making it look unappealing. Empty cribs littered the grass, and the mood was dark. The place that had welcomed so many new digimon into their new home, was shattered.

Elecmon gave a shuddering breath before leading Centarumon across.

Centarumon felt pity for his friend. Elecmon used to be a very happy creature, caring for the fresh digimon until they digivolved to their In-Training forms. He had enjoyed every second of it, but when the Dark Mist showed its face, the land had become rotten, and less and less digimon were born, until none were left.

Nowadays, if a digimon died, they didn't come back.

Elecmon showed the way to a large toy block, then pushed it aside a portion to reveal a damp tunnel underneath. The smaller digimon had his comrade pass through, closed the gap, and lead the way once more.

The air inside the tunnels was musty and almost suffocating. Centarumon himself had a little trouble breathing as Elecmon weaved down several different tunnels, not bothering to check if Centarumon was even following.

Finally, Elecmon stopped. One of the tunnels had opened up so that there was plenty of space to move around. In it were Andromon and Leomon, who were gazing intently at ten digi-eggs wrapped in their own little blankets to keep them warm.

Leomon was a beast type digimon, and it was obvious why others would call him the king of the jungle. He was broad and strong, and his long mane just added to his elegant features. He always had a sword in a sheath which was attached to the back of his black pants. He also wore a red necklace and had big feet, the only thing that made him appear odd.

Andromon was different. He was a machine type digimon, which mostly meant that metal covered the majority of his body. He had various gears all around, and one of his feet was pink and bony, with black claws at the end. For the most part, he resembled an experiment gone wrong, but his heart was always in the right place.

The pair looked up from their previous occupation to greet them.

"Centarumon, good to see you again," Andromon said, his metallic voice echoing throughout the room.

"Quiet down, Andromon. We musn't be heard," Leomon instructed as he offered his hand to Centarumon.

The centaur digimon took it, then got down to business as he redirected his eyes to the eggs in the center of the room.

"Those are the only ones left?" he asked with a tone of sadness. He was certainly expecting more.

Elecmon sighed. "I'm afraid so. I waited for days, but those were the only ones that came through. These are the last digi-eggs the Digital World has to offer."

Leomon's eyes turned into slits. "You mean, that there won't be any more?"

Elecmon shook his head. "The only way there _will _be is if the Dark Mist is defeated. Otherwise, all types of digimon will be wiped out."

The room was quiet for a moment, then, Centarumon clapped his hands together and said, "Let's get a move one, shall we? We need to transfer the eggs to my hideout. This place is no longer safe enough."

"Huh?" Andromon puzzled. "But yor place is far more exposed. Wouldn't it be better to keep them here?"

"No, if the Dark Mist ever decides to attack, there will be nothing to protect them. During my recent research, I've come across a virus protection program. Assuming what we're up against _is_ a virus, it should give us some good security for at least a few months. Just enough to have the eggs hatch and get some proper training into them," he answered.

"You were taught well," Leomon reflected.

Centarumon had always been gifted with knowledge. He could find out about anything in both the Digital and real worlds without moving from his comfortable home. It was a virtue that Leomon sometime's wished he had.

"However," he continued, another thought creeping into his mind. "What if the Dark Mist isn't a virus?"

Centarumon stared intently at the ground. "Then all is lost. If we stay here, we are in danger, but if we move, we still have a chance."

The digimon silently agreed on Centarumon's theory, then proceeded to make an official transfer plan.

Before they could get very far though, the sound of paws alerted them.

At the entrance to the tunnel, another digimon skidded to a halt.

"The Dark Mist knows! He's coming!"

The speaker was LadyCoyomon, a coyote-like digimon. Her pelt was the color of sand, with the exception of her paws and her two tail tips, which were a shade of soft purple. She had a long snout, and large pointy ears that caught every sound within a mile. A purple bandanna was tied around her neck, and a square, silver earring glimmered in her left ear.

"What?!" Elecmon jumped to his feet.

LadyCoyomon nodded. "He's coming! I was barely able to escape. My brother..." her voice choked, her eyes filled with grief. "He wasn't so lucky."

The rest of the digimon sprang into action.

"Get the eggs!" Centarumon directed, grabbing a pair, and putting one in each side of the two-sided satchel he had on his back.

Leomon and the others did the same. LadyCoyomon took one in her mouth, as she had nothing else to carry it with, and Leomon and Andromon each took another. Elecmon took one in his mouth, and had Leomon put another on his back, his tails pressed against it so that it wouldn't fall down.

Before the other eggs were retrieved, an attack shook the ground, making Andromon drop his egg.

The earth ceiling of the tunnel began to crumble, and soon, a large chunk fell off on three of the eggs.

"No!" Elecmon screamed, his hard work for nothing.

"We have to leave with the eggs we have. Go!" Centarumon commanded, letting Elecmon show them the way out.

"Wait, what about Andromon?" Leomon pointed out.

Andromon was stuck in some of the dirt that had fallen. He was slowly wriggling free, and his egg was still on the ground beside him.

"Don't worry, I know my way out. Go ahead, I'll catch up," Andromon instructed.

Leomon wanted to object, but Centarumon's stare stopped him. He knew that there simply was no time.

The group sped up, Elecmon barely able to run fast enough so that he wouldn't get trodden over by the much bigger digimon. Once they were out of the tunnels, Elecmon's ears dropped and his eyes widened in terror.

"I left an egg down there! When I screamed I dropped an egg!" he exclaimed, trying to get down the hole again.

"It's too late! We have to trust Andromon that he'll find it," Leomon objected, pushing Elecmon away from the tunnel entrance. "Now, stay close to me."

Leomon unsheathed his sword from its scabbard and held it up threateningly in front of him before running at full speed towards Centarumon's hideout. The rest of the group followed closely behind, checking behind them a couple of times to make sure they weren't being followed.

All seemed well at first, but halfway to their destination, a black fog could be seen gaining on them. Andromon was nowhere in sight.

As soon as the Black Mist was in sight, wild digimon appeared in their path. Their eyes were all black, even the digimon who would otherwise be peaceful. They were now under the control of the Dark Mist's power.

Leomon sliced away at them with his sword. The Dark Mist was toying with them at this point. The digimon he put in their way weren't even defending themselves. They were only slowing them down and wasting their energy.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon shouted, an orange beam in the shape of a lion spurting out of his fist.

Elecmon joined in as well. "Sparkling Thunder!" Many smaller lightning bolts shot out of his tails, striking a nearby Floramon, who was thrown aside instantly.

Centarumon and LadyCoyomon decided to conserve their energy in case they needed it later. The Dark Mist was getting closer, and who knows what was in store for them if it did reach them.

"We're almost there!" Centarumon announced. Only a couple more minutes and they would be there. Hopefully, they wouldn't get into anymore trouble.

The Dark Mist was only a few yards away, and the digimon kept blocking their path. There was no way they were going to make it.

**"LadyCoyomon digivolve to... RenegadeRenamon!"**

Thank goodness for miracles.

LadyCoyomon was now much bigger. She was a dark purple color, with a white underbelly and paws. A white bandanna tied around her face so that it covered her muzzle replaced her purple one, and she had grown an extra tail. To her enormous delight, she could now stand on only two legs.

With one egg under one arm, she raised the other one and yelled, "Sandstorm!"

As implied, a sand storm fell upon the Dark Mist, which writhed in the air. While it was blinded, the group made their way past the remaining digimon goons and into a secret passage on the side of a mountain.

The cave was much smaller than anticipated. There was only three rooms: the main room, where all of Centarumon's gadgets lay on large tables and big screens, a smaller room, presumably for him, and another one about the same size, which was decorated like a nursery.

"We made it!" RenegadeRenamon exclaimed, planting her egg rather forcefully onto a table.

"We must not get exited yet," Centarumon warned. "We're not out of danger quite yet..."

The cave fell silent. No one dared to even breath. Gradually, the time passed, and it was until an hour later, that Elecmon proclaimed it safe.

Andromon never arrived.

Elecmon made himself and the five eggs comfortable in the nursery, making sure that each one was warm and unharmed before tucking them in into a separate crib. Quite a few remained empty.

"You really take this seriously, don't you?" RenegadeRenamon watched from the door.

"Of course I do," Elecmon snapped, angry at himself for letting half of his eggs be left behind. "They represent the Digital World's future."

Elecmon curled up on a few blankets on the floor, yawning.

"Without them, there is no future."


	2. Keiji Meets A Dragon

**Digimon: New Age Chapter 1**

"Keiji Kimoto! What did you do to Ichiro this time?"

Keiji put his game on pause and turned around. At the doorway to the room that he shared with two other boys stood Ms. Isobe, the head of the orphanage. Ichiro, an annoying little brat two years younger than him, was beside her, his face screwed up in a pout.

Keiji shrugged, returning to his game. He was at the boss level, and the dragon was so far being beaten to a crisp.

"Mr. Kimoto!" Ms. Isobe shouted, stomping her foot on the ground.

Keiji ignored her. If he didn't finish soon, he'd have to stop the game since it was almost time to go to school. He did not feel like restarting the level, and if he succeeded, he would officially have beaten Daiki, the other kid who he had to put up with.

"That's it!" the old lady cried. She marched into the room, and before Keiji could stop her, yanked the console's plug from its socket. The screen went blank, and he knew that all his progress was gone.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his spot on the carpet. He dropped his controller and yelled, "What was that for?"

Ms. Isobe sighed, putting a hand up to her temple. "When will you learn to behave, Mr. Kimoto? Maybe then, you would get adopted."

Keiji muttered angrily under his breath. He hated that woman. She was always telling him the same thing. Everything he ever did was wrong according to her. He didn't even mind whether he got adopted or not. All he desired was to get away from her.

Ms. Isobe took a deep breath, and blew out. It was a practice that she was famous for. Keiji swore that she couldn't last a single day without doing it at least thrice, especially when he was around. Even his mere presence caused her to panic.

"Alright," she began, adjusting her posture. "I want you to now tell me what caused Ichiro to come an report to me."

"Beats me," he answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Liar!" Ichiro accused from the entrance, pointing his index finger at Keiji as if it was some sort of weapon. "He's been on that Play Station since last night. I don't even think he got more than four hours of sleep, and he distracted the rest of us from resting. And them in the morning, he refuses to give it up!"

"Hey! I was on it first, and I just needed one level left! I even told you so!" Keiji retorted, his hands bunching up into fists. It looked as if the two teenagers were going to have a go at it, but Ms. Isobe broke it up before it could begin.

"I will not tolerate any violence in this building!" she announced, placing herself carefully between the pair. "Now," she continued, "Mr. Kimoto will have to scrub the toilets after lunch, and Mr. Sasaki can babysit the younger children once it's free-play."

The boys grunted in response, clearly annoyed of their punishments. Keiji often received bathroom duty due to all the trouble he got into, and wasn't surprised. However, it did not mean that he enjoyed the task whatsoever. The toddlers, who were barely getting potty-trained, often missed the target, and if his hand slipped, he spent the next five minutes washing his hands to make sure there wasn't anything on them.

"The bus will be here in ten minutes, so get your things ready and report at the driveway. You do not want to be responsible for the tardiness of others," Ms. Isobe finished, and left the room.

"Thanks a lot," Keiji complained to Ichiro while stuffing his notebooks and the Gameboy he managed to scrape up the money to buy into his hand-me-down backpack. It was boring enough to listen to his English teacher drone on and on about the order the words were put in a sentence, so he usually just started playing when no one was looking.

"It was your fault," Ichiro replied over his shoulder, already making his way downstairs.

Keiji just rolled his eyes, and slung on his backpack. He quickly surveyed himself in the mirror and slapped his hat on (backwards of course) so that only a tuft of red hair could poke through and made sure his goggles were facing the right way from their place around his neck. Other than that, he wore a sleeveless gray shirt with a blue stripe in the middle and khaki shorts along with some donated tennis shoes.

The kids called him crazy for wearing the rusty goggles since there really wasn't a good reason for keeping them. However, it was Keiji's dream to become a pilot one day and finally take to the skies. And although he wouldn't be flying off anytime soon, Keiji kept them at his reach at all times just in case some stranger in an airplane happened to invite him on an adventure. It was a stupid idea, but he could dream. Anything was possible, and if there was a chance of ditching the orphanage, he would take it.

Maybe that was why he idolized dragons so much, even if he had to kill them in his games. He could only dream of spreading enormous wings and be free to do as he liked. Nobody would be able to stand up to him, and if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance. But they didn't exist, and the pictures of them on his wall would have to do for the moment.

He slid down the rail once he was ready, an action that would have given poor Ms. Isobe a heart attack had she been there. Out of everyone in the orphanage, he was the most daring, and everything he did was done to the extreme. He ran past the cluster of kids on the first floor and out the door, where everyone of the appropriate age was loading onto the high school bus.

He waited his turn to get on and then took his usual seat at the very back. The same voices greeted him, even though he didn't have any real friends. Not because he didn't want them or because he wasn't likeable, just because he preffered to just play his games in his spare time and no one really cared about those. Keiji didn't mind, and neither did anyone else. It had always been that way.

Koemi Tsukino, Emi for short, and her friend Rieko Aoyama sat in the seat next to him like they did every day. They rarely spoke to each other, but Koemi always said hi once he was settled. Today was no different.

"Hey, Keiji!" she smiled, staring sideways at him. Unlike most girls, Koemi tended to have a wardrobe full of the same stuff. Her light brown hair was tied up in her signature side ponytail, and she had the same black sneakers on. She wore black leggings, and today's hoodie was bright purple with white stripes. She never failed to brighten up his day, whether it was with her flawless smile or her deep chocolate eyes. Not that he liked her or anything; Keiji didn't really care for stuff like that.

Rieko, on the other hand, was extremely quiet, and never spoke up. She simply gave a shy smile, and remained silent. Keiji could tell she was insecure: her long blue hair covered half of her face so that he couldn't make out her eyes, and her knitted black sweater was long enough so that the sleeves covered the entirety of her arms. She wore some average jeans, and brown fuzzy boots that Keiji couldn't imagine wearing in the heat.

He smiled, and waved, then went back to staring out the window as the bus started moving. The vehicle was filled with its usual chatter: gossip about none other than Satoru Arai and Kaito Fujioka, the most popular guys in school, and recent news about the school clubs and events.

Keiji never truly hated the ride to school, but if he detested anything, it was when the bus slowed at the next stop. Satoru and Kaito were at that stop, and every time they came in, a group of girls that sat at the front giggled and invited them over. They refused politely most of the time, and then proceeded to sit in the seat in front of him.

Today, they didn't disappoint. Satoru was one of the few people who moved to Japan from America, an attribute that many girls enjoyed, and to top it all off, he was nothing short of handsome. He had night black hair that was well-groomed, piercing green eyes, and tan skin. His atire, a black tee shirt with a green zipper hoodie over it. He had soccer pants on and sporty shoes used to play soccer. In other words, he looked like a stereotypical jock.

Kaito was pretty much the same, except he was more violent, and tended to get in fights. And, not to be rude, not as handsome as his pal, which always put him on edge.

Once they were seated, the last person who Keiji paid any attention to on the bus arrived: Benjiro Matsuno. Benjiro was an interesting person. He was normally quiet, but not because he was shy like Rieko. Everyone knew he came from a relatively wealthy family, and everything about him was classy and formal. He had dark brown hair, with soft green eyes, fair skin, and he wore a red tee with a pair of jeans and some Jordans. It was a rather simple outfit for such an introverted person.

He took his seat, which was diagonal from Keiji's and behind some feminist punk named Haru, and almost instantly, Emi stood up and started chatting with him. From what Keiji could understand, Benjiro and Emi were childhood friends, or something of the sort. He assumed it wasn't mutual though, because Benjiro was nearly always annoyed at her constant blabbering.

"Hey, Benji!" Keiji overheard Emi greet Benjiro with the nickname that lead new kids at school to think they were dating.

"It's Ben," he replied, rolling his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Koemi laughed, patting his head, much to his irritation. "I much prefer Benji. Ben is just too cliché, don't you think?"

"And who said clichés are a bad thing?" he questioned, before the bus driver urged Emi to sit back down.

After a while, he took his Gameboy out a bit early. He didn't usually take it out before English, but what entertained him on the bus were the conversations going on around him, and the bus driver had killed them all off sooner than expected.

He started playing, but only got into it for about a couple of minutes before it started to glitch. Keiji tried to restart it, but the thing wouldn't turn off.

"What the?" he puzzled as the screen turned completely blank and a message popped up: _**Hold on tight. **_

All of a sudden, the bus filled up with screams coming from the front. Keiji threw his device into his backpack and held it tight. What was going on?

"The driver passed out!" someone shouted.

"Isn't there a button to stop this thing?!" another voice cried.

Keiji peered out the window to see that the bus was veering away from the road into a ditch. He let a yell escape from his mouth, and soon, everyone was joining in.

"I can help!"

Keiji managed to see who was speaking. _Of course it would be him, who else?_

Hideki Kudo, the bravest person Keiji knew of at school. He was the captain of the wrestling team, and the president of the student council. Some even dared to say he was braver than most leaders in the world. Keiji figured they were overreacting a bit.

Hideki was well-built, and came in second only to Satoru and Kaito. He didn't mind though, he was too modest.

Hideki sprinted to the dashboard and stared intently at the buttons and levers. "Kazumi?"

Hideki was never without his most trusted friend, Kazumi Faust, the brightest and most talented girl at school. She was in all of the advanced classes, and ran several clubs dealing with math, books, and anything that required knowledge. Admittedly, she was also very popular among the boys; she did have the German charm after all.

"Pull the lever up there," she instructed, her finger pointing to a tiny blue lever above Hideki's head. "And make sure to pull the break by pressing the diamond button next to the steering wheel. The bus should stop afterward, and all we need to do is gently push the door open."

He nodded, doing everything in a hurry. Keiji could see that the bus was completely off the road now, and that the ditch was looming closer...

"Done!" Hideki stated loudly so that everyone could hear him.

Cheers and applause erupted from all around. Hideki and Kazumi smiled and gave each other a high five. "We should probably find some help," Kazumi suggested.

"Alright everyone slowly file out and-" Hideki began, but was interrupted when everyone practically crashed into him, trying to be the first one out. Apparently, not everyone was convinced that they were saved quite yet.

"No! We have to do this slowly or else-" Kazumi warned, but it was too late by then.

The weight at the front of the bus caused it to lean to one side. Loose dirt sprayed from beneath the wheels, and before Keiji knew it, the bus started tumbling and the world around him blackened.

* * *

"Hmmm, this is rather odd."

"Wait, this wasn't supposed to happen!"

"Indeed, but what else can we possibly do? What's done is done."

"What will we do?"

"We'll just have to work with what was sent. They can't possibly be that bad."

"But this wasn't according to plan... Are they even alive?"

Keiji heard several voices speaking at once, yet he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. He was exhausted for some reason, and he couldn't remember why. He felt something poke him, and he mumbled in response.

"This one is."

"Mine too!"

"Look, this one just woke up!"

Keiji opened his eyes and, to his surprise, saw a dog-sized purple dragon staring down at him. It had small yellow horns at the top of its head, wing-like ears, and three sharp white claws at the end of each of its two wings. It has three claws at the end of each foot as well, and red markings were visible under its ribs. A beak-like mouth took up most of its face, along with sweet green eyes and a tail that fit a dinosaur more than a dragon.

"Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!" Keiji must have been dreaming. There was no way in real life that a dragon could be standing before him. It _was_ inspecting him oddly, but it was a dragon nontheless.

He immediately started gushing over it, and squeezing him so hard that Keiji thought the thing's eyeballs might have popped out.

"Hey! Hey, help! Mine wants to choke me!" it called. Keiji recognized the voice as male, and thought, Even better!

"Calm down, sir. It appears your killing off my friend here..." someone else calmly requested, patting him with something fluffy.

Keiji laughed nervously and let the little creature go. "Sorry."

Just as he said that, a large lion wearing pants and a sword at its belt held a strange device with blinking lights to his head. He was very masculine, and a red necklace made out of what looked like bones was around his neck.

"Keiji Kimoto, age fifteen almost sixteen," he droned, reading what the screen told him.

"How did you know that?" Keiji panicked, feeling uneasy.

"Koemi Tsukino, age fifteen," he continued, moving to Emi, whom he just noted was waking up to his left.

Beside, her Rieko stirred, and he noticed that Ben was already sitting up. His calculating gaze had already searched the room, and he barely took notice of the swan that was seated at his feet. It was completely white, the only exception being it's orange beak and blue tinted wings. Feathers poked from both sides of its head, in which two golden, loop-shaped earrings hung. A thick metal ring was around one of its feet, and gorgeous blue eyes waited expectantly for Ben to acknowledge it.

Once Keiji's initial excitement had worn out, he checked his surroundings. He was in some sort of cavern from what he could tell, and strange animals were watching him and the others come to their senses. Besides the lion, there was a deformed centaur, with purple orbs plotting its body and a helmet over its head, and a red creature with nine tails and purple markings.

"Rieko Aoyama, fourteen almost fifteen, and Benjiro Matsuno, fifteen," the same voice announced as he made his way down the line.

This caused Rieko to fully open her eyes, and when she did, she screamed. Before her hovered a tiny bird, only an inch larger than the size of her fist. It resembled a hummingbird in a way: the same beak and figure, except a few characteristics were slightly off. This one had a larger chest with beautiful feathers of shades of blue and green. Three feathers stuck up from its head, and a golden ribbon was tied around its neck. The wings had what appeared to be razors at the end, and its green eyes were much larger than average. Although Keiji didn't know exactly what gender most of them were, he guessed that it was female.

Rieko cowered, and pressed herself against the far wall, putting her hands up to cover her face.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you!" the thing assured, flying a little closer, but Rieko just whimpered a bit.

Emi, on the other hand, had finally awakened and was frantically crushing a miniature blue bunny. It had one ear up and the other one bent, and black beady eyes. It had white fur around its neck and belly, and his nose was the color of charcoal. Its feet were pretty big, and a sash with grenades on it was slung from its shoulder. Keiji could tell that his cuteness was too much for Emi to bear.

"You are so cute! I'm gonna keep you!" Koemi declared, pressing the poor thing closer.

"If you wouldn't mind Miss, I would deeply appreciate it if you let me breathe..." it struggled. Keiji was surprised that the voice was male, but didn't pry any further.

"What are you?" somebody else puzzled from Keiji's opposite side.

Keiji was surprised to see none other than Satoru on his right, a deer casually sniffing him. The fawn reached up to about the height of his knee, and two lightning shaped horns protruded from the top of its head. It was black in color, with yellow markings stretching all over its back. It's hooves ended sharply, and a lightning bolt was on each of its knees. It had a cute tuft for a tail and although everything about him _looked_ menacing, its amber eyes were joyful.

The lion creature walked past him and stated, "Satoru Arai, sixteen."

The bunny that Emi had been cuddling managed to escape and coughed loudly, regaining his breath. "I think we've had enough introductions. Centarumon?"

The centaur monster nodded, turned to face everyone and formally addressed them, "Welcome, everyone!"

"If I may ask, I'd like to know where I am, considering the last thing I remember is falling into a ditch," Ben spoke up, still ignoring the swan.

Keiji then remembered what had happened prior to arriving. The words _**Hang On**_ were still implanted into his memory.

"You may not!" the swan retorted angrily. "Considering you haven't given Centarumon enough time to properly explain himself." She had not yet been spoken to by Ben, and Keiji could tell that it was annoying her.

"Well..."

"It's alright, Cisnemon. My apologies, " the centaur interrupted. "My name is Centarumon, and these are my comrades, Leomon and Elecmon." He motioned his hands towards the two others behind him and took a bow. "And these are-"

"I can introduce myself!" the swan declared. "I'm Cisnemon."

"You kind of already got introduced already," Keiji pointed out.

Cisnemon just glared at him from a distance. The dragon whispered into Keiji's ear, "You'd better watch your back from now on; she tends to keep a grudge."

"I heard that!" Cisnemon grumbled.

Keiji smirked as the dragon's face turned red. "I think you should too," he added.

The deer coughed loudly for attention and raised a hoof up to its chest, "Bambimon's the name." It winked afterwards, and Keiji had to cover his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud. It's voice had proven itself male, but he acted quite charming, something he found amusing.

"I'm Amaimon! Wanna be friends?" the hummingbird greeted, trying to stop Rieko from avoiding her.

The rabbit gave Koemi a polite bow and said, "Lepusmon, ready to serve."

Lastly, the dragon spun on his heels to face Keiji and saluted him. "Itazuramon reporting!"

Keiji saluted in return, fighting the urge to jump on Itazuramon and go on a ride. "I'm Keiji, nice to meet you."

"Oh, we know," Lepusmon said as if it was obvious. "The machine has got all of your information on it already."

"That's sort of creepy," Emi admitted. Rieko, who finally trusted Amaimon enough to stop shying away, nodded in agreement.

"Will you stop it?" Satoru moaned, pushing Bambimon's head out of his head.

"Sorry," Bambimon's apologized. "Your hair smells like honey!"

Satoru sighed, "It's called cologne."

"My question still hasn't been answered," Ben prodded, eager to understand everything.

"Ahh," Centarumon soothed. "Yes, I believe I haven't. Let me explain."

Everyone awaited his explanation. Keiji was curious as to what his purpose here was, unless he was already dead or merely dreaming. Was he in a hospital at the moment? Was everything just an illusion he was experiencing?

"You are all located in the Digital World, a separate world from yours," Centarumon continued. A couple of gasps were heard, and Rieko silently broke down. Even Amaimon's greatest efforts couldn't cheer her up.

"We are digimon, short for digital monsters, that have inhabited this world from the beginning of its creation. It's normally been a very simple and peaceful world, but a recent threat has thrown it into darkness, and only very few digimon have been able to keep themselves sustained."

"That's awful!" Koemi commented, pulling Lepusmon closer once more in the process.

Centarumon nodded, then continued, "The enemy we are facing is called the Dark Mist, a mystery entity that takes digimon under its control, and has made resources scarce. To fight this evil, we managed to use an ancient magic to bring you all here."

"Ancient magic?" Satoru puzzled.

Centarumon nodded. "The Digital World, which has access to all sorts of technology, has its way of communicating with the Real World. We call this magic."

"Okay, but why are we here? Are you expecting us to fight for you?" Ben asked, perplexed, yet calm.

"Obviously not."

All eyes veered to the corner of the room, where a large coyote had just appeared. She was dark purple, with a white bandana covering her snout and three tails. She somehow had the ability to walk on two legs despite her weight, and she spoke in a deep and elegant voice.

"RenegadeRenamon, I'm glad you made your way back safely," Elecmon said, his voice filled with relief.

She nodded curtly, making her way to the center of the room. "Are these them?" she asked.

"They were sent," Lepusmon replied with a tone that RenegadeRenamon understood.

Ben coughed slightly, trying to get everyone on track.

"Gosh, would it kill you to be patient for once?" Cisnemon rolled her eyes.

Benjiro snorted. "I'm just naturally curious is all."

"Anyways..." RenegadeRenamon changed the topic. "You won't be fighting directly, but humans are said to have special qualities that can make digimon more powerful. Not only that, but they are the only ones that can activate the element stones, hidden crystals that allow digimon to advance to their strongest form."

"So, in other words," Keiji wondered, "we're just here to help you win this thing without actually doing anything? All we have to do is be there to help you guys get stronger?"

Itazuramon nodded. "You leave all the work to us. We've trained our whole lives for this, and we know what to do. Of course, you'll have to be committed to one digimon, but I don't think that will be a problem; you've all chosen one already."

"Chosen? More like you were the first thing I saw," Keiji admitted.

"Can I trade?" Satoru pleaded, now inching his way to the other side of the room so he could avoid Bambimon.

Centarumon bowed deeply to the humans, Leomon, Elecmon, and the rest following his example. "We beg of you to help us. You may be our only hope."

"I think I'll stay," Ben said, finally landing a pat on Cisnemon's head. She didn't really appreciate the exchange.

"C'mon, Rieko! Let's do it together!" Emi insisted.

"I just wanna go home..." she murmured, causing Amaimon to frown and fold her wings.

"You may decline, but it took a lot of energy to get you here, and it might take a while for us to gather enough to send you home once more," Centarumon explained.

"And you heard them, we don't have to do anything!" Koemi tried to convince.

Rieko sighed. "Fine, as long as I don't get eaten." Amaimon instantly brightened up at the news and made a petite chirpy noise.

"You won't regret it, Rieko! It will be so much fun!" she chattered. Rieko got up the nerve to touch the bird, and let it land on her shoulder.

Emi squealed and hugged her friend, obviously excited. Amaimon had to dig her feet into Rieko's sweater so she wouldn't fall off.

"If it gets me home in the end, I'll tag along," Satoru shrugged. Bambimon's eyes lightened up and he jumped into Satoru's arms.

"We'll have jolly fun, just you wait!" Bambimon joyfully exclaimed. Satoru instantly dropped him.

"I'm in on one condition," Keiji instructed.

Itazuramon looked up, "Hm?"

"I get a free ride of course!" he shouted, staring intently at Itazuramon's wings.

"I can't right now, but when I evolve, I sure can!" Itazuramon asserted.

"Let's do this!" Keiji fist-pumped his new partner.

Keiji finally had what he wanted: an adventure. He had gotten away from Ms. Isobe, and he was going to take flight soon enough. What more could he ask for? For some reason, he was sure that he had a deeper purpose in the Digital World.

Itazuramon wasn't so convinced.


End file.

Digimon, Adventure, Friendship