User blog:Dewandrop/Fan-fiction/Mini-series: Digimon: Transcendence

Part 1: A chance encounter
“Be careful dear” a woman guided as she’d released her young son from a hug “Have fun”. Wyatt ran over to join the other kids on the play equipment. Squeals of joy, and giggles melodiously waltzed through the air on a cool, gentle breeze. Wyatt’s mother placed herself on a nearby bench with the other parents.

“Hey, wanna go on the swings?” a blonde girl with pigtails asked. Wyatt nodded, his raven-black hair like silk. Taking a seat, Wyatt planted his feet and swayed. Kicking off from the ground, Wyatt launched himself into the air. Back and forth a stream of air played with his locks. Fluffy cotton-like clouds drifted slowly against a brilliant wash of light blue. Turning to look at the swing beside him, Wyatt’s laughter faded into an expression of sympathy. The girl with pigtails wiggled as she tried to get the swing to move higher. Wyatt came to a halt, once again planting his feet.

“Would you like me to help?” Wyatt asked. The girl’s lower lip quivered as she’d quickly nodded. Vacating his seat Wyatt stepped behind. Taking hold of the rubber straps Wyatt made his way backwards. Letting go, he stepped out of the way as the girl swung back and forth, laughing with exhilaration.

Nearby, a set of kids debated on who would get the next turn on the see-saw. Whilst elsewhere, a long line queued for the slide. Sunlight poured in over the playground, Wyatt, the girl, and three other children took shelter under a climbing frame fashioned into a cubby-house. “What’s that...” the girl with pigtails pointed out in awe. A blue glowing had lit up the cubby’s interior. The three other kids accompanying Wyatt and the girl ran from their shelter squealing. Noticing this, Wyatt’s mother quickly rose to her feet. Leaves rustled as the wind began to pick up.

“Wyatt!” dark clouds formed overhead “Wyatt!” his mother called out a second time, running over. Suddenly a large gust knocked her back as sand flew into the air. From inside the cubby house Wyatt and the girl held on tightly to each other, listening to the ferocious winds slashing at the metal outside. It was then that they felt a pull. Unexpectedly, Wyatt and the little girl felt themselves being dragged towards the swirling blue light in the ground

“AHHHH”

Bounding towards a nearby hollow in the wall, Wyatt held on, enjoining her to do the same. The force of the squall caused them to close their eyes. Slowly, they could feel themselves beginning to slip. Opening his eyes, Wyatt looked towards the vortex then back at the girl. “Hold on OK” Wyatt said. Letting go, Wyatt allowed himself to be sucked into the glow. Immediately the vortex stopped…

Opening his eyes, Wyatt found himself staring up at some fronds. Around him he could hear what sounded like… croaking?…or was it chirping?

“Are you OK?” The unfamiliar voice caused him to sit up rather rapidly. Eyes wide from the shock he moved his head from side to side trying to locate where the voice had come from. “Hehe, be-hind you” the voice had giggled. Wyatt turned himself around as much as he could. Before him was a creature that seemed to resemble a cat, except that it was standing upright and had triangular mutton chops. For a collar, the creature had what appeared to be a bandana which had been folded into a triangle and wrapped around.

“You’re a- a-”

“A digimon. Yeah” the creature had responded. Wyatt had never seen a digimon this close before. The kids who had owned one back home didn’t often come near the ones who didn’t. Back home… “Where am I?” Wyatt asked, furrowing his brow. The digimon squinted one eye and widened the other

“The digital world” it responded. Wyatt looked around in awe. “Is there any other?” the digimon continued. At this Wyatt stopped. Looking down, he’d never considered that maybe digimon didn’t know about humans, even though humans knew about digimon. Turning his head towards the digimon, Wyatt explained.

“I’m not from here, I’m from somewhere else, a different world” the digimon seemed shocked by this “My name’s Wyatt” the boy continued on.

“Cadomon” the digimon introduced “So this other world, what’s it like?” Cadomon asked tilting his head. Wyatt paused. He hadn’t really thought about it much.

“Uh, well…” Wyatt looked away, trying to think of a response. “There’s not as many trees” Wyatt paused again “Or…actually, there are in some places, but usually there’s houses with trees on the street....” Wyatt looked towards the creature, its face riddled with curiosity, he hadn’t done such a great job explaining.

“It’s alright” Cadomon dismissed with a smile. Wyatt felt sheepish.

“I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve explained it better…I wish I could go back” A crash caught their attention. In the distance, a loud rumble reverberated. Cadomon snarled.

“Nawamon”

“Nawamon?” Wyatt asked

“An evil digimon that’s been wrecking a whole bunch of stuff” Cadomon explained “C’mon, stay close”

“Wait, what?”

“I can’t just stand by and let him destroy my home anymore” Cadomon pleaded. Wyatt had always been taught to stand up for what he believed in, to fight for the oppressed, but to also choose his battles carefully. Wyatt nodded.

As the branches began to clear, a large, hollow, concave dome, in a rock-face, came into view. Explosions caused pebbles, fragments of rock, to rain down.

“Fist of the Beast King”

“Pummel Whack”

From amidst the smoke, two figures, one with a yellow mane, and the other, green, with spikes, launched their attacks into the air. More rubble.

“Muhahahahahaha” a deep, echoing laughter closed in all around them. Suddenly dark, shadowy beams blasted the two figures, a Leomon and an Ogremon back, thrusting them into columns previously left unnoticed, almost unseen.

“Frozen Paw!” Cadomon had leapt into the air, releasing a criss-crossed slash of icy energy towards the direction of where the beams had come from. From behind the smoke a long, serpent-like shadow darted away.

“Agua Mist!” a stream of water launched from Cadomon’s palm followed the shadow. A purple orb surrounded by dark crackling electricity sent Cadomon flying. Bandana tearing off. Wyatt rushed to catch him. A cut on Cadomon’s arm had encouraged Wyatt to wrap the separated piece of cloth around it. Neatly he fastened the ends into a bunny-ear knot.

"You think you can defeat me? You can’t even digivolve” the voice seemed disturbingly soothing

“That doesn’t matter, you’re hurting others for no reason, and that’s got to stop” Cadomon winced. Staggering to his feet, Cadomon struggled to call out an attack.

“Muhahahahahaha- ooow” a stick had twirled and struck Nawamon right between the eyes. Cadomon turned towards where the stick had come from. Wyatt stood with a smirk. Turning towards Cadomon Wyatt closed his eyes and gave a toothy grin and a thumbs up

“We’re friends now, I’ll always have your back” their ears pricked up as the sound of an attack charging. Everything seemed to move in slow motion: Wyatt’s gasp, Cadomon’s leap, and the appearance of a clear, card-like object tinted with light-blue around diagonal edges, buckled to Wyatt’s waist…

“Cadomon, digivolve to!….” Cadomon’s mutton chops and the tuft of spiky fur on his head grew into a luscious mane. He grew taller as his face became more wolf like and a belt appeared around his waist. On both his wrist and ankle a golden ring appeared etched with strange markings. The cloth that Wyatt had tied around him remained. “Garoumon!” “Propulsion Wave!” Garoumon shouted almost immediately. A brilliant stream of bright, glowing, light-blue water geysered out from Garoumon’s fist. Cutting through Nawamon’s attack, the move had caused Nawamon to shriek out and thrash in agony. Boulders began to meteor down from the rooftop, crushing and caving the wicked creature in. From between the pillars a portal of swirling blue appeared. Grabbing Wyatt, Garoumon leapt with him out of harm’s way from a falling boulder. Thrusting Wyatt forth, Garoumon sent him into the swirling mass of light, accidently causing the clear object to un-buckle itself from Wyatt’s waist. There Garoumon stood. Around, boulders began to pummel down at an increasingly faster pace. The rift closed…

Eyelids slowly lifting, mouth slightly agape, Wyatt found himself cradled in his mother‘s arms “Oh Wyatt, I’m so glad you’re okay” this was accompanied by a hug, as a tear trickled down her cheek onto him

“Garoumon…Where’s Garoumon?” Wyatt asked

“Who?” his mother had responded gently, softly

“Garoumon, my digimon”

“Oh, the dear lad’s in shock” a nearby man with a thick moustache exclaimed

“No, I’m not-”

“C’mon, let’s get him to the hospital” a woman suggested

“I can’t, Garoumon, he needs my help, Garoumon! GAROUMON” …

''Friends are some of the greatest things you can have. Often they motivate and inspire. The truest of friends will tell you when you’re wrong, and help you to pick up the pieces when you’re down. Though sometimes it’s not our current friends that leave the largest dent or the greatest impact, but the ones we’ve had to leave behind''

Part 2: Stance
In the fading light, Wyatt made his way down a lonely street. Hands in his pockets, and hood over his head he was shortly joined by a tall boy with short brown hair, and a light complexion “Hey Wyatt” the boy had greeted, practically bounding around him.

Upon his return from the digital world the other kids had teased Wyatt incessantly, accusing him of lying about having his own Digimon

“People who are meant to get Digimon get them when they’re born” a round boy had argued, pushing Wyatt to the ground

“Yeah, everyone knows that” a stick thin girl regarded

“Well I believe him” Chad had been the only one to come to his defence. He had helped him up and stayed by him as the other kids had scoffed and backed away.

That had been 15 years ago.

“Hey Chad” Wyatt greeted back in a much less enthusiastic tone. Above, an overpass remained silent, unfinished.

Progressing along on their stroll, the two shared stories of what had happened over the course of their day. Approaching a plaza, Chad noticed the outskirts of a crowd beginning to form.

“What’s going on over there?” hurriedly Chad rushed on over, disappearing in amongst the group of people. Approaching, Wyatt manoeuvred his way through until he spotted a wide eyed Chad leaning over a guard rail. Excitedly Chad turned to Wyatt

“It’s them! It’s really them!”

Standing, back to back, surrounded by bulky men in black suits, were two guys and a girl. Regarded as some of the best digidestined in the world, Rex, Falco and Delphi had found themselves suddenly swamped by fans. The nearby mall had spared no time in getting their personnel down to them as quickly as possible. Suddenly, a burst of wind caused most of the spectators to shield their eyes. A cloud of smoke shrouded the surrounding area and for a second it were as though the ground seemed to quake. Lowering their arms, the dust settled and a blue Coredramon towered over them in place of Falco, Rex and Delphi. At lightning speeds, a Gatomon leapt up onto Coredramon, slashing the air in its path. Emerging from behind Coredramon’s head, on its back, were Falco, Delphi and Rex who were now joined by a Patamon.

“You know, they’ve had those digimon ever since they were YukimiBotamon, Poyomon and Ketomon” Chad informed. In a dragon’s wingbeat the digidestines vanished from the plaza, hidden by the cover of night.

“That was so awesome!” Chad exclaimed, fists clammily clenched, hopping from one foot to the other in rapid succession.

“Hehe, yeah” was all Wyatt had to offer.

“Hey, what’s up man?” Chad asked, suddenly calm

“It’s tomorrow”

“Oh, you mean...”

“Yeah”

It had been 15 years since Chad had defended him, and it had been 15 years since Wyatt had been to the digital world.

Early the next morning, Wyatt rushed down the stairs

“Going to hang out with Chad!” Wyatt called out grabbing his bag and heading for the door.

“Wyatt, you haven’t even had breakfast yet” his mother laughed. Wyatt stopped in mid-reach for the door knob. "I’m sorry I worried you” Wyatt had apologized 15 years ago. For a time his mother had kept a close watch over him, out of guilt, out of self-blame. She hadn’t smothered him, and Wyatt knew this was only to be expected from a mother who cared deeply for her child, after a while things returned to normal, still, it ingrained into him a feeling, a sense of responsibility that he would never allow himself to cause others such immense, grief-stricken panic again.

Backtracking towards the kitchen, Wyatt sat down to a stack of freshly made pancakes topped with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a drizzle of maple syrup.

“Thank you” Wyatt had expressed in gratitude after he’d finished the entire stack, hugged his mum and raced out the front door.

A few blocks away, Chad sat waiting for him on the ground. The surface beneath him felt cushiony and sponge-like. Chad smiled as Wyatt approached “Wyatt!” Chad exclaimed, flying to his feet. Immediately Chad greeted his friend with a hug. “So, what’s the plan this time?” Chad asked re-leasing his friend.

“Well, we’ve stood in a different spot every year for 15 years at the exact same time” Wyatt began. Around them, weathered play equipment stood, rusting, creaking.

“Mmhmm, the slide, the see-saw, the merry-go-round, the swings, even inside the cubby-house…where you uh, saved, her” Chad smirked as he lifted his eyebrows up and down “Hold on OK” Chad had acted out dramatically

“That was a long time ago, and I haven’t seen her since” Wyatt mentioned shuffling through his bag, distracted. Pulling out a mat, he held onto its corners and thrusted it up. Unfolding, it floated down onto the ground. Letting go, the mat completely fell to the floor. “I thought maybe this time we could just not worry and just, hang out”

“But we always hang out anyway”

“I know, but…” Wyatt acknowledged that Chad had so far lived a pretty lonely life. He hadn’t meant for it turn out that way. Chad had been extremely loyal and he didn’t deserve to be so distant from everyone else. Growing up, the adults had praised them on how intellectually gifted they both were, and yet no matter how much they applied themselves, they remained socially inept. As if reading his mind, Chad replied

“Some people are just jerks. I wouldn’t want to be friends with them anyway. I’m sure there are others out there, away from here, who are splendid and great and wonderful to be around, but for the time being it doesn’t faze me that it’s just us”

In an instance the clouds seemed to grey, filling up the sky as they expanded, swelled. A wind-storm picked up and a rumbling could be heard resonating. In the distance, three separate beams of light had broken through the cloud. As suddenly as the storm appeared, it vanished. Chad and Wyatt, who had braced themselves now looked around at the aftermath.

“The lights…Falco, Rex and Delphi” Chad explained breathily. Suddenly another white light shone down. Wyatt began to float. Holding on, Wyatt refused to let go of his friend. “No, I won’t leave without you”

“You have to, it hasn’t chosen me”

“But this is your dream too…it wouldn’t be complete without you”

“Maybe one day I’ll get to live my dream, but for now it’s yours to fulfil, no regrets” Chad smiled at his friend. Slowly their hold on each other began to slip. Wyatt felt himself drifting further and further away. Silently they bade each other a fond…“Goodluck”…

''What a person makes of themselves is not always attributed to their current situation, or social standings. If you truly want something, give it your best shot. Sometimes we may not always get what we want, but if something is truly meant for us, then things will eventually work out and fall into place. Good or bad, you should always be able to take away a lesson from what has been placed in front of you. Everything happens for a reason''

Part 3: New Beginnings
Wyatt stood just a short distance away from the others, who were all staring at him as though he had just emerged from some foreign jungle. This was the first time Wyatt had gotten a close-up look of them as well. Falco’s windswept hair seemed in harmony with the breeze, his medium complexion only slightly lighter than Wyatt’s own eggshell tone. Delphi’s dark-pink hair stood out from the group, but her fair skin-tone was similar to Rex’s pale complexion whose hair was trimmed into a fade. The journey had reverted their digimon back to Ketomon, YukimiBotamon and Poyomon.

“Uh, hi” Wyatt began raising his hand, this caused Rex, Delphi and Falco to jump back slightly. On his shoulder, Poyomon moved closer to Rex. YukimiBotamon sat comfortably on Delphi’s head whilst Ketomon leant against Falco’s foot. Looking around, extremely large, cubes, like pillow-esque building blocks stood stacked in groups of twos or threes around the vicinity. One such stack had a triangular piece which seemed to form a grandfather clock overall. Underfoot the floor seemed spongey and cushiony, just as it had in the playground, and on the floor, scattered every-where were a multitude of...eggs; different coloured, variously patterned eggs. Though it seemed like three, well, six against one, the standoff continued in a stalemate.

“Super Thunder Strike!” the bolt of lightning seemed to manifest from out of nowhere.

“There!” Falco called out, pointing his line of sight towards something. Storming with electricity, an orange creature with purple markings and long ears stood on all fours, fanning out its tail.

“Super Thunder Strike!” everyone jumped out of shot.

“It’s an Elecmon” Falco pointed out. Leaping into action, Ketomon and Poyomon bombarded Elecmon with a cascading gush of bubbles.

“Diamond Dust!” YukimiBotamon called out, sending a vortex of icy cold air out at Elecmon.

“C’mon, help out” having fallen back, onto the floor, Wyatt flinched. This was the first time any of the other humans had addressed him. Falco continued to look to him expectantly.

“Where’s your digimon?” Rex asked. Opening his mouth, Wyatt’s eyes darted from side to side

“I-”

“Super Thunder Strike!” the bolt of lightning headed straight for Wyatt.

“Bubble Blow!” the bubbles deflected the storm. Landing before Wyatt was a creature that looked similar to YukimiBotamon in shape, except for a singular tuft of hair on its head “Diamond Dust!” this secondary attack seemed to catch Elecmon off guard, knocking him unconscious. “It’s been a while, long time no see” the digimon’s speech seemed impeded. Turning towards Wyatt, in its mouth it carried a clear, card-like object tinted with light-blue around diagonal edges

“You’ve changed” The digimon said simply in a short giggle. For a while Wyatt just stared.

“So have you” Wyatt responded, breathily, through a teary, open-mouthed smile. Hearing Elecmon stir, the digimon leapt beside Wyatt and dropped the object by Wyatt’s hand. Turning around, the digimon bounced, joining the others in a line.

“Ketomon, digivolve to!...” becoming more purple, Ketomon retained its golden markings as it be-came more tear-shaped “Hopmon!”

“Poyomon, digivolve to!...” turning into a pinkish ball, with four feet, poyomon sprouted thin lengthy ears “Tokomon!”

“YukimiBotamon, digivolve to!...” green fur and a tail, YukimiBotamon remained round in shape, “Nyaromon!”

“Ikomon, digivolve to!...” sprouting light-orange fur, Ikomon’s tuft became three as the mutton chops started to make a return “Kittmon!”

Nyaromon struck Elecmon with its tail, Hopmon bounded forth and tackled. A gush of bubbles from Tokomon and Kittmon’s mouths pelted Elecmon.

“Gah, you think you’re the only ones that can digivolve? Elecmon, digivolve to!...” Elecmon’s legs became mechanical, his upper torso became more human-like, sporting a grey top, red hood and gloves. In his hands he carried a mallet “Clockmon!”

“Makes sense, Elecmon are the guards of Primary village, whilst Clockmon tend to watch over or ‘’guard’’ clock towers” Delphi explained.

“Wait! You’re aware of Primary Village? And my purpose? Then you must be bad if you’ve chosen to attack!”

“There’s some sort of misunderstanding. Please, listen to reason” Wyatt began. Clockmon charged an attack

“Halt!” came an unfamiliar voice. Walking towards them was a lion cub wearing a gold collar with a large, green jewel.

“A Liollmon” Delphi exclaimed

Next to Liollmon was a green child-shaped creature with a shock of bright orange hair, carrying a club.

“And a Goblimon” Rex expressed in the same tone as Delphi

“Liollmon digivolve to!...Leomon!” the creature with a yellow mane

“Goblimon digivolve to!...Ogremon” the green creature with spikes. Wyatt recognised them instantly.

“You were the two digimon that attacked Nawamon!” Wyatt recalled

“Yes, it’s good to see you again” Leomon acknowledged

“You know Leomon, THE Leomon” Falco bellowed out at Wyatt

“Uh, you know I’m here too…I know Leomon…” Ogremon added in. Clockmon glowed as he reverted back to Elecmon.

“Leomon, Ogremon, I’m honoured you’re here. What brings you to Primary Village?” Elecmon stood up on its hind legs and spoke with a much calmer tone

“I have a message to relay to the digidestines, and I’m here to escort them on their journey” Leomon said in a bold manner

“Yeah, what he said” Ogremon agreed

“Come! We have disturbed this place far too much. I’m sorry that we were not here earlier to immediately clear up the misunderstanding” Leomon apologized regally

“Let’s take the river path, I’m starving” Ogremon grumbled.

As Leomon and the digidestines placed distance between themselves and Primary Village, in tow, Ogremon poked around the water’s edge with a spear.

“I suppose now is as good a time as any to impart unto you the knowledge we have been given” Leomon commenced “Digidestines, you are free to come and go as you wish, though, from time to time you will be called upon to defend the digital world. Ogremon and I are here to lead you to the first platform disc. These platform discs are few and far between, so sometimes it may take days to locate another one if the one you’ve entered from goes on temporary standby. Fortunately for you, by now we’ve learnt of the human world, and have calculated that there is a time distortion that occurs whilst a human is present here. Digimon cannot travel as they are through these plat-form discs, so if you wish to take them with you, store them in your digivices”

At the mention of digivices the digidestines each took hold of the clear, card-like objects in their possession. Though the digivices were around 7 cards thick, they appeared to be extremely durable. Each had a different colour tint, and each colour tint appeared in the bottom left and top right. Wyatts was light-blue, Falco’s was black, Delphi’s was pearl-white and Rex’s was silver.

Though from the front the digivices were clear to translucent, from the back you could not see past the exterior; similar to a two-way mirror. Any hologram screens worked in the same manner, with someone from behind being unable to see what was in front.

The user interface for each device had sensory, touchscreen, as well as hologram touch, capabilities, and essentially acted as both a phone and computer.

Eventually, the river began to bend away, and the group found themselves surrounded by dense forest. The In-Training digimon had by this time taken to sitting atop their digidestines rather than bouncing along beside them.

“That was a pretty powerful ‘bubble blow’ attack back there” Rex reached out to Wyatt “It was able to deflect a Rookie level attack with ease”

“Thanks” Kittmon responded

“So, if…since you’re a digidestined, how come you didn’t get your digimon until later, instead of when you were born?” Falco asked

“Sometimes it’s better for a person to receive something later on in life rather than immediately since it might make them a worse off person, or it might make them take things for granted. Every person is different and this, as well as one other instance in the past, was the time that I was sup-posed to receive my digimon” Wyatt answered.

A dash of bluish-black rushed through like a blur, tackling Ogremon

“AHHH” Ogremon screamed out in pain. Repetitively the creature struck Ogremon over and over. A rustle of leaves had signalled its initial approach. Wyatt looked to the close-by trees. There! By the tree trunks, slightly out of view.

“Why are you doing this?!” The others looked to where Wyatt was shouting. A figure in a dark, hooded cloak emerged. The blur rushed to the figure’s feet. “An Otamamon”

“I’m here to rid the digital world of these viruses, these virus type digimon” the figure spoke with a confident female voice.

“But Ogremon hasn’t done anything wrong, he hasn’t hurt anyone” Wyatt began, Ogremon hid a fish with a spear through it behind him “Anyone that’s a digimon or human. He’s our friend, and he’s done nothing to you” Wyatt continued

“Virus Digimon are all the same, they seek only destruction and chaos” the cloaked figure argued

“But…your partner-”

“What about her?”

“Otamamon’s a virus type” Wyatt pointed out. The cloaked figure gasped as her hood turned to-wards Otamamon; shocked by this revelation. Otamamon displayed a similar reaction.

“Otamamon…” the girl began in a much more demure tone. The cloaked figure knelt down and picked Otamamon up; hugging her. “I’m so sorry”

Without further addressing the other digidestines the girl turned her back and began to retreat into the forest.

“Wait!” Wyatt called out. She paused. “Why don’t you… join us” Wyatt offered. Back still turned the cloaked figure gave a reply

“Thank you. I appreciate the sentiment. But perhaps it’s best that, for now, I should remain on my own” with that, the girl fled deeper into the forest. An expression of dismay crossed Wyatt’s face as a breath of air escaped his lips.

“Ogremon, are you alright?” Wyatt asked, turning his attention to the digimon with long white hair. On the ground, Ogremon groaned as he held his stomach.

“I guess we’re camping out tonight” Rex gathered

Above, the stars twinkled against an ocean of deep purple, jet black and midnight blue. Occasionally a star would stream through the sky, leaving a glittering trail behind.

“Hey Leomon. How would we get from the real world to here if you needed us?” Delphi enquired.

“There’s a portal function on your digivice that can only be accessed in the real world, it’ll create a temporary swirling mass of light that’ll take you to the nearest platform disc of the place you want to go” Leomon explained.

A roaring fire blazed before them. As one by one the digidestines drifted off to sleep, Leomon continued to stare at the embers flying off from the flame. He pondered whether they were ready to hear the next part of the message…

''Starting anew is always a daunting prospect, a scary undertaking, but if you live in fear, never trying, never knowing, then you, will never be. You’ll come to a standstill, filled with ‘what if’s, regrets, opportunities you’d wished you’d taken. While you’re still able, go out there and create memories, make mistakes and whirr your life into motion''

Part 4: Change
“Hey Wyatt” Chad grinned as he raised his hand. A flashing light of blue.

“Urgent, gotta go” Wyatt responded, lifting up the clear, card-like object and dashing past his friend. It had almost been three months of this.

Chad had been overjoyed when Wyatt had returned a few minutes later, though, in his mind, it had seemed a whole lot longer. Wyatt had ecstatically relayed the tale of his first few days back in the digital world, he had even introduced Cadomon to Chad…

That was Wyatt’s first day back…

After that, Wyatt had rushed off mid-conversation, or had gone before any conversation could start. From then on the two pieces of speech Chad dreaded hearing were “Urgent” and “Gotta go” Wyatt had just used both, in the same sentence. It wasn’t even broken up into “Urgent business in the digital world. I’ve gotta go” it was just “Urgent, gotta go”. Chad stood with his head held down, ahead of him was nothing but empty space.

“Chad…” Chad’s heart thumped against his chest at his name being said. “Would you like to come with me?” Wyatt asked. Turning around, Chad’s face had lit up.

The guilt had weighed heavily on Wyatt’s mind. From the start he had wanted his best friend to be part of the journey, but the circumstances, the consequences that could’ve come true were far too great, far too dangerous to handle. He couldn’t risk, he couldn’t bear it, if his best friend had gotten hurt.

“I made it to your tournaments” Wyatt mentioned “At the very end, when they’d placed the gold medal around your shoulders, when you’d received your trophy, when you’d gotten your black belt” Chad stopped mid walk. Wyatt turned back to face him.

“I thought you hadn’t been there for any of that”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I hadn’t made myself more noticeable, I’m sorry I hadn’t approached and told you ‘Well Done’ or ‘Congratulations’… Well Done, Congratulations” Wyatt apologised

“What about-”

“Yes, even the blue ribbon ceremony”

“Oh. Then all is forgiven” the two friends chuckled. “How about you? What’ve you guys been up to?”

“Cadomon and I have been getting a whole lot stronger” Wyatt pressed the portal application on his device. Wind picked up as a swirling mass of pale-blue light appeared vertically before them. “Hold on” Chad wrapped an arm around Wyatt’s shoulder. Together they leapt into the rift.

A flash of light.

The portal vanished.

“Hey Wyatt” Rex greeted, tying his shoelace. Delphi and Falco stared out at the erupting volcano in the distance. Lava spewed out in glops as an explosion of fire and smoke sent a rumbling echo out into the surrounding area.

“Brought your shades?” Delphi asked Wyatt

“Brought a friend”

The other three whisked around immediately. The fractured land beneath the cliff where they stood rattled as steam whistled out from between the cracks.

“Wha-”

“I know, I know. Hear me out. You won’t have to take care of him, he won’t be a hindrance, he’s just going to stay hidden by the cycads, and if worse comes to worse, he can use the platform disc” Wyatt reassured.

“Well, we did say we wanted to meet him. We practically know the guy from what Wyatt has told us and from what we’ve asked. He sounds like a decent guy who can handle himself. Alright” Falco agreed. A cluster of light leapt out from each of the four digivices.

“Hey Chad. Great to see you again” Cadomon greeted “Well, you know, close up”

Next to Delphi, Salamon stood smiling. Flapping his wings, Patamon hovered close to Rex. With his arms crossed was Monodramon next to Falco

“Chad, meet Delphi, Salamon, Rex, Patamon, Falco and Monodramon” Wyatt introduced

“Great to finally make your acquaintance” Delphi stated

“Great to put a face to the name” Rex said shaking Chad’s hand

“Sup” Falco raised his arm and opened his palm briefly

A stream of air swept past them from above. Their clothes flapped from the force. A shriek similar to an eagle’s resounded.

“Missile Storm” Pteramon screamed out as it turned around, unleashing a barrage of cylindrical metallic objects from its wings. The group ran towards the cycads to take cover from the detonations. Pteramon flew over and headed in the same direction, past the group.

“Is it too late to join the party?” A voice unfamiliar to Chad asked. Swooping down, a cloaked figure landed before them. Removing her hood, a girl, with porcelain coloured skin and light-brown hair smirked at the group. The same age as the rest of the group, by her side was an Otamamon and in her hand was a digivice like the others. As with each, the translucent colour of her device was different; the tint of hers was pink.

“Hi” the girl directed her attention towards Chad

“Perri, this is Chad, Chad, Perri” Wyatt introduced

A quake shuddered the earth beneath. The group grabbed onto the trees to maintain their balance. Exploding forth from the base of the volcano, a four-legged creature with a long neck, Volcdramon, oozed with lava as it trudged its way onto the craggy wasteland below. Vines twisting upwards into a matted mess, Blossomon appeared next to Volcdramon from between the fissures. Hearing a loud, piercing, buzzing sound, in the skies, a Kabuterimon and Kuwagamon tackled a TyrantKabuterimon into the distance where Pteramon had flown off to. The resounding crash caused clouds of dust to fly up.

“You know things are bad when Kuwagamon and Kabuterimon are forced to work together to take down a foe” Falco commented. Two other Pteramon jetted closely behind

“I say this calls for an aerial attack” Rex decided.

“Monodramon, Digivolve to!...Coredramon!”

“Patamon, digivolve to!...Angemon!”

Both getting on Coredramon’s back, Rex and Falco flew with Angemon towards the heart of the battle.

“Rahhh” A splash of water surged up and exploded. Seadramon annihilated part of the west coast.

“Chad, c’mon” Wyatt enjoined, running ahead. As they ran Chad looked back.

“Salamon, digivolve to!...Gatomon!”

“Otamamon, digivolve to!...Kazemon!”

“Whoa!” Chad exclaimed “How’d Otamamon digivolve into Kazemon?!?!”

“Did you notice the vial on Perri’s cloak? A Babamon gave it to her after commenting that Perri’s Otamamon reminded her more of a nymph-insect than a tadpole. Perri had sprinkled its entire contents onto Otamamon not long after. One day we were locked in a desperate battle and Otamamon had been injured from it. On the outskirts, Otamamon wished that there was something she could do. That’s when Perri’s digivice glowed”

“So, the liquid in the vial…”

“Was essence of Kazemon, yeah”

Arriving by the shoreline, Cadomon and Wyatt looked at each other and nodded

“Cadomon, digivolve to!...Garoumon!”

“Ice Blast” Wyatt tackled Chad away as a frosty river of breath emanated from Seadramon's mouth

A fiery ball of lava missed the remainder of the group, decimating the tops of cycads nearby. “Cat’s Eye Beam” Gatomon called out. A beam of pink light manifested itself from in front of Gatomon and bolted towards Volcdramon. Blossomon blocked, absorbing the light.

“Hurricane Wave” Kazemon directed her attack towards Blossomon. Volcdramon intercepted, un-fazed by the windstorm.

“Spiral flower” The group dodged.

“If we use light attacks, Blossomon absorbs it and if we use wind attacks Volcdramon absorbs it” Delphi observed

“I hate to add fuel to the fire, quite literally in this case, but doesn’t it seem like they’re getting larger too?” Kazemon was right

“Wait, that’s it! Kazemon, wrap your attack ‘’around’’ Volcdramon” Perri directed. Catching on, Delphi asked to do something similar

“Gatomon, aim your beam onto one spot, follow that spot wherever and however Blossomon moves” Carrying this out, Volcdramon’s flames were cut off from their oxygen supply. Blossomon bursted into flames.

To the north TyrantKabuterimon was obliterated, and to the west, Seadramon collapsed. Red, green purple and blue data dispersed. Everyone made their way to the starting point.

“Hmhmhm” the disembodied laughter of a woman caused everyone to be wary “Oh, you’re all so brave and strong” her voice carried a sensual tone “I HATE THAT” it growled suddenly. A shaded-purple cloud began to form and within it, sultry eyes with lavender eyeshadow appeared. It grumbled. The eyes widened and lightning struck down nearby. “How can any of you hope to defeat me, you might as well just give up now” another bout of lightning. “Ha!” it hissed a rumbling surge of cloud darted towards the group

“Leave them ALONE!” Chad stood in the way of the attack before anyone could stop him. A golden light surrounded him, refracting the onslaught. A digivice with gold tint appeared in his hand along with a silvery digimon; a MetalKoromon

“No!” the disembodied voice shrieked.

“MetalKoromon, digivolve to!...Kapurimon!” a digimon with a fluffy white and lavender tail, two head spikes and a metal helmet with eye holes appeared

“Kapurimon, digivolve to!...Kotemon” transforming, it kept its lavender colouration and head spikes. A mask covered its face, with only its eyes glowing from within while armour covered its body, exposing only reptilian feet and a tail. In its hand it held a Shinai; a kendo stick

“Kotemon, digivolve to!...Wizardmon!” lavender skin becoming more greyish, the kendo stick morphed to have a sun-like object on its tip. On his head he wore a pointed hat, and on his back a tattered cape.

“Rrrr” the voice let out in frustration. Shaking, the cloud thinned before disappearing as light re-turned to the skies. Wizardmon shone as he transformed back into Kotemon

“Salutations”

“Haha, hey! Hi Kotemon!” Chad hugged, before standing up straight again.

“Good, you’re finally all here” Leomon’s voice boomed out, everyone turned to face him “I hope Lilithmon hasn’t dissuaded you in any way. I think it’s about time I relayed the rest of the message to you. When you’re ready, you will be faced with twelve opponents stronger than any other you have faced in the past. They must not be allowed to taint the digital world with their darkness. With your combined efforts I’m sure the seven of you will be able to overcome the threats and ensure the safety of the digital world”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow

“Seven?”

“Hi” Turning around Wyatt’s breath slowed, his heart thumped. Her skin-tone sat somewhere be-tween light and fair. Carrying a yellow tinted digivice, a girl with blonde hair…

''Change is an integral and inevitable part of life. The tiniest, little things like an amoeba or an atom can undergo change. We see it through the passing of time, in the trees, in the lights... in ourselves. It’s not always physical. Sometimes it’s unwelcome, sometimes we’re not ready for it and sometimes we spiral into dark thoughts. It’s OK to be sad, it’s OK to take the blame, to own up to our mistakes, as long as we don’t allow it to overrun our lives. Always strive to be good, to not hurt others. If we’ve truly seen what we can improve upon, reached down deep inside ourselves mentally, spiritually and/or emotionally, it’s OK to find forgiveness, it’s OK to change''

Yay!!! You’ve done it, you’ve reached the end. Thank you for reading this mini-series. I hope it has inspired you in some positive way and I hope you enjoyed it.