Chapter Text
“August First, Two-Thousand Thirteen… It was the coldest recorded summer day in history. But… It was also the day that kick started our biggest adventure… ”
Mt. Mikami, Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan…
In this mountainous region of Japan, many children from Odaiba Junior High School were gathered together to camp out, and enjoy a wide variety of activities provided by their respective camp counselors.
One student however, found himself resting on a tree branch high above many of his peers. He didn’t even bat an eye at anyone who passed by, and acted like there was nothing in front of him except the sky. The boy had fair colored skin, brunette colored hair in a slightly disheveled manner, and hazel colored eyes. He sported a pair of black laced sneakers, a pair of blue denim jeans, a matching zipped up hoodie, and a pair of red goggles attached by a black elastic strap.
He also had a backpack hanging off of the same tree branch colored in gray.
Name: Simon Ackerman
Age: 13
Grade: Second Year
Birthdate: July 12th, 2000
However, what woke him from his nap was the strange feeling of something cold touching his face. He then felt the air get slightly colder.
“ I should probably find somewhere else to hide. ” He thought to himself as he jumped from his vantage point down the branches and to safety.
Meanwhile, another student sporting an orange vest over a black t-shirt, brown pants, and a pair of yellow and gray sneakers felt the same thing. He had short blue hair, gray eyes and tanned skin, and a pair of white wristbands. On his back was a brown backpack. He felt a similar snowflake touch his hand.
Name: Jianliang Li
Age: 13
Grade Second Year
Birthdate: July 22nd, 2000
The little girl next to him had a wide-eyed look on her face as she went to touch the snowflake near her. Her skin was a lighter shade than the boy, her hair was colored dark purple with two pigtails, and her eyes matched her hair color. She wore a pink cheongsam-style vest with yellow trimmings, purple shorts and yellow slip-on sneakers. Her backpack matched her shoes.
Name: Xiaochun Li
Age: 11
Grade: First Year
Birthdate: August 5th, 2001
“Um… Xiaochun? We should get going.” Jian said, taking hold of her hand.
“Aw… I wanted to build a snowman.” Xiao complained.
“ Okay, I know for a fact that’s absurd. It's summer, not winter. ” Jian thought to himself.
Elsewhere, a fierce looking girl with fiery red hair tied in a spiked-up ponytail. Her purple eyes wandered around the woods. She had fair colored skin, and wore a white t-shirt with a blue broken heart on the chest area and turquoise colored sleeves, short button-fly blue jeans, belt buckles around her waist and left leg, and red sneakers with steel toes. She also carried a turquoise backpack that looked quite stuffed.
Name: Ruki Makino
Age: 13
Grade: Second Year
Birthdate: July 21st, 2000
“ Great… As if Mom’s nagging about keeping myself safe from bugs in summer camp wasn’t bad enough. Now it’s snowing. ” Makino thought to herself as she walked towards the nearest shelter away from the campsite.
At another part of the mountain, a girl with pale blue/blonde hair and peach colored skin wandered about as though she were in search of something. Her blue eyes were still in awe at the landscape she never got to see before. She sported a dark pink hoodie, with a lighter pink t-shirt and light blue colored pants. Her sneakers were just as pink as the top portion of her outfit. The bag she carried on her shoulder was green.
Name: Nia Esthein
Age: 13
Grade: Second Year
Birthdate: July 30th, 2000
She then squinted her eyes and saw what appeared to be Simon headed up the hill. Though she would’ve called out to him, she too felt a snowflake touch her skin.
“ I didn’t know it was winter already… Guess it was a good thing I wore this today. ” Nia mused to herself as she followed the boy up the hill.
In yet another locale on the mountain, a tan skinned boy with burgundy colored hair and dark brown eyes kicked around a soccer ball. Though, his expression appeared to be a bit of a distant one. As though what he was messing around with was only there to keep his mind elsewhere.
He sported a dark blue bomber jacket with red and yellow flame patterns on it, dark olive green shorts, and orange and white boots. He also had a pair of goggles that were square shaped. His dark-blue backpack was lying against a tree.
Name: Daisuke Motomiya
Age: 13
Grade: Second Year
Birthdate: July 15th, 2000
The moment he felt a snowflake on his face, it broke his streak, causing the soccer ball to land with a thud on the ground. He went to grab the soccer ball, while checking the weather on his phone.
“ Snow wasn’t in the weather forecast, so what gives? ” He asked himself as he saw more snowflakes falling from the sky.
“ Better find a place in case it gets worse… ” He added, rushing up the incline with his backpack slung over his shoulder.
Near the Hokora at the top of the hill, a blonde haired, blue eyed fair skinned boy. He sported a white bucket hat, a high collared yellow and teal long sleeved shirt, teal shorts and green boots with white soles. He looked noticeably depressed and a tad scared of this prospect. He felt very alone, and in need of some companionship. He carried a pale-blue backpack that looked to be a tad stuffed.
Name: Takeru Takaishi
Age: 12
Grade: First Year
Birthdate: June 8th, 2001
He sighed before he moved inside of the shrine and curled up in a corner. The boy pulled out his phone and looked quite sadly at the picture of himself with what appeared to be his older brother.
“ Yamato… Wish you were here, big brother. ” Takeru mused to himself.
Suddenly the door slid open and he saw quite a few unusual people inside the shrine. The first person who entered turned around and noticed the other hypothetical occupants of this shrine.
“I guess we all had the same idea.” Simon said, going to take a seat in a separate area of the shrine.
Everybody else had gone to take a seat in the shrine as the sounds of howling wind and an immense cold overtook the campsite outside. Takeru looked over on the other side of where he sat and felt a bit more depressed at the sight of two siblings together.
Their silence as the storm raged on outside grew more and more apparent as they awaited for it to pass. They were all hoping that the building would hold long enough.
All of a sudden, the wind appeared to stop. The first person to approach the door was Nia who slid the doors open and saw that the landscape was now covered in snow, but the sky remained slightly cloudy.
“Well, looks like it’s a winter camp this year!” Nia cheerfully exclaimed.
Everyone then followed her and exited from the shrine to take a look at the area in question. Some were in awe, while others were very confused.
“Look, Jian! What are those bright lights?” Xiaochun asked, pointing to the sky.
The group looked up at where the youngest was pointing, and they witnessed what appeared to be an aurora in the sky.
“I think that’s the Aurora Borealis…” He answered, still quite confused by the phenomenon happening around them.
Though, as everyone was amazed by the sight, the only two who weren’t impressed were the fiery redhead, and Simon. The former looked very unimpressed by the Northern Lights, while Simon had an inquisitive expression on his face.
“ First a sudden snowstorm out of nowhere, then an aurora appears right in front of us… Something’s going on here… ” He voiced in his head.
All of a sudden, seven bright lights shot straight out of the Aurora and the kids immediately avoided getting hit by moving away… But then, the lights rose out of the ground slowly until they were at eye level with each of the children. The first to reach out and grab the light was Simon, who upon opening up his hand found a small blue device with three buttons and strange glyphs written in a circle around the screen.
Everyone else then reached out for the lights as well, and found the exact same thing that Simon did.
“These look quite old fashioned compared to a lot of technology these days.” Simon commented.
“Really? That’s the first thing that comes to your mind?” Jian questioned.
“Hey, I’m just saying. Big snowstorm, the northern lights, and then these devices. I don’t think nature is done messing with us.” Simon responded.
“I think they’re cute.” Nia added.
“Um… Guys?” Daisuke said, getting everybody’s attention as he pointed in front of him. “Remember when you said that nature wasn’t done with us?” He further asked.
The group then looked in front of them, and suddenly, a gigantic wall of water appeared in front of the group. The wave then parted in front of everyone and a force from within the water sucked all of them inside the opening. They screamed as they tumbled into this strange phenomenon and into the unknown…
Unknown location…
“Ugh… My head…” Simon groaned as he regained consciousness.
When he awoke, the boy sat up from his position and took in his surroundings… Trees and plants as far as the eye can see. It looked to be a tropical sort of jungle, like those found on deserted islands. He scratched his head in confusion at the landscape.
“Geez… I guess that tumble really did a number on me, huh?” Simon said to himself, while he rose to his feet.
“Oh! You’re awake! That’s great!” A voice exclaimed.
“Uh… Who said that?” Simon demanded, looking around for the source. “Hello! If anyone can hear me, speak up!” He further shouted.
“Down here.” The voice answered.
Simon then looked down and saw what appeared to be a small four-legged dragon-like creature. It had black markings under its yellow eyes, bat-like ears, and a black ring marking on its tail.
“So… This is what my brother meant when he told me to be careful of what I ate in the wild.” Simon commented.
“What do you mean?” The creature asked.
“Obviously, you and this whole forest are part of some kind of hallucination from something I ate earlier today. It’s gonna turn out that I’ll be walking around in circles like a complete dope, and everybody’s gonna laugh about it at my expense.” Simon explained, though the creature was only more confused.
“I’ve been real. Me and some others were waiting here for you.” The creature said.
“Before you go on any further, I need to test something real quick…” The boy responded, before pinching his arm. After he winced in pain, and saw that everything was still as it was… He sighed.
“Now do you believe me?” The creature asked.
“Unfortunately, I’m now very much inclined to believe you, small dragon thing.” Simon answered.
“My name’s Gigimon. What’s yours?” The creature known as Gigimon introduced himself.
“Simon.” The boy responded.
“Si-Mon?” Gigimon asked.
“No. It’s Simon. There’s no hyphen between the ‘I’ and the ‘M’.” Simon answered.
“...I didn’t know Humans had Digimon names.” Gigimon commented.
The boy sighed again, slumping against a tree. He then went through his backpack and found a nutrigrain bar. Gigimon watched as he unwrapped the contents with a very excited expression.
“You sure you want this? It’s not exactly something all kids enjoy eating.” Simon asked, but the bar was snatched out of his hand and Gigimon began to tear into it like it was nothing.
“Mmm… Yummy…” Gigimon said, satisfied with the bar.
“You ate not just the bar… But also the wrapper. Are you okay?” The brunette asked, worried about the creature.
“Do you have more?” Gigimon asked, not even deterred by Simon’s question.
Before Simon could answer, both heard some rustling in the trees. He quickly turned behind him, narrowing his eyes at the foliage. Just then a loud roar sounded from the area and out came a large red saw stag beetle with four arms and legs. Its teeth were ferocious as it bore down on the two.
“That’s a whole lotta nope!” Simon exclaimed, scooping Gigimon in his arms as he ran from the beast.
The beast then gave chase to the duo as Simon continued to beat a hasty retreat. Just before it could grab onto Simon with its massive mandibles, the boy quickly dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the strike as it flew back up. He then rolled into the bushes near the trees for some cover in the hopes that it won’t come back down.
He breathed a sigh of relief as the eyeless insect flew off in search of its prey. As he exited the bush, he watched the insect continue its path until it was well outside of hypothetical earshot.
“Geez. That thing was relentless. What the hell was that, Gigimon?” Simon asked.
“Oh. That’s a Kuwagamon. They’re big virus type Digimon who prey on weak Digimon like me.” Gigimon answered.
“You’re talking as if this is a regular thing around here.” Simon said.
“Of course it is. It’s survival of the fittest in this place.” Gigimon replied, albeit soberly.
Simon took notice of the otherwise cheerful Digimon’s downcast expression. He couldn’t help but feel a familiar sense of despair and acceptance in this creature. It reminded him of another time when he saw this look… But in someone else.
As Simon remembered this time, he heard a loud thud in the distance. He turned toward the direction of the noise and found what appeared to be a large samurai warrior sporting red worn out armor. The warrior had many gaping wounds, and what appeared to be a blue substance leaking out.
In his hand was a shining blue sword, though his other arm was notably missing, clearly cut off. Simon cautiously approached the warrior and knelt before him. He took notice of the pained expression on his face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Simon asked the warrior.
“That’s Musyamon, Simon. He’s a well-known warrior.” Gigimon introduced.
He groaned, gazing upon the young boy over him, but what took him by surprise was the pair of goggles on his head.
“Human child… Where did you get those?” Musyamon asked, pointing to his eyewear.
“My goggles?” Simon responded, with Musyamon giving a nod.
He hesitated for a moment, as though the mere question of his goggles were trudging up something unpleasant.
“ Big brother… Where’s dad? And… What are those…? ”
His mind flashed back to an earlier time, he saw in an older man’s hand were a pair of goggles left behind.
“...They were the last thing my dad left for me. It was a birthday gift.” Simon answered, touching the lens of his eyewear.
“I see… And what is your name, young one?” Musyamon inquired, straining his right arm.
“It’s… Simon… Simon Ackerman…” He replied, unsure of why he’d ask until…
The bright blue sword was run right through the boy’s torso. In shock, Simon barely registered that he’d been stabbed by the creature who looked to ask for help. Gigimon snarled at the warrior, his pupils transformed into thin slits.
“Worry not, little Digimon… I did not kill your human. I was given one final duty… Before I passed on… To locate… The… Ackerman…” Musyamon spoke with shaky breaths as he felt himself fading away.
Little by little, small chunks of data from this creature flowed into the sword embedded in Simon’s chest. The sword gave off a very bright glow as this occurred. Musyamon smiled as he felt his duty was done. Even the sword itself dissolved into the boy as though mending the large wound that was inflicted onto him.
Simon fell to his knees, still gasping in shock. His backpack also appeared to be undamaged despite the large sword that was run through it. Though, just before Simon could process what had transpired, the trees behind them were torn asunder, and Kuwagamon’s loud roar sounded through the area. Gigimon had instinctively hid underneath the boy, just as the large insect charged them.
All had seemed lost for these two…
But then…
A powerful slash, far faster than most can track sliced right through one of Kuwagamon’s pincers like a hot knife through butter. Gigimon stopped trembling as the pincer fell to the ground, dissipating into data. The boy he cowered behind stood up, and in his right hand was a massive Katana with a bronze tsuba that had gently curved edges around it, as well as stylized flame patterns on the long portions of it.
A green wrapping was around the handle, with two light blue tassels attached to the handle’s base. Though, just as he leaned the blade against his shoulder, a white shitagi, black kosode, and black hakama appeared over his normal clothes, with his hood sticking out of the back, and his shoes were replaced with a pair of tabi and waraji over them. Attached to Simon’s hip was his Digivice on the belt.
“So… It’s survival of the fittest, right?” Simon asked aloud, as Kuwagamon cried out in pain.
Gigimon was now in awe at the sight before him. Simon had instilled a sense of hope and confidence that he never knew prior to meeting him.
“Well then, let’s see which one of us is the fittest!” He cried out, gripping his sword in both hands.
Kuwagamon attempted to charge him, but Simon was already mid-swing by the time he started moving. The blade cleaved right through Kuwagamon, splitting him in two. His data scattered, but was then absorbed into the blade that Simon held.
Just as the boy wondered where to sheathe his blade, it then returned into the Digivice, much to his relief. He approached Gigimon, whose face looked to be beaming at the mere sight of him.
“You alright, little buddy?” Simon asked, kneeling down in front of him.
“Amazing…” Gigimon uttered in sheer admiration.
“I mean… I wouldn’t really call that amazing. I’d just say that was…” Simon said, but found himself unable to explain what had transpired himself.
“You gotta meet my friends! You gotta!” Gigimon exclaimed, hopping around Simon, but then headed off at a fast pace.
“Slow down, will ya!” Simon called out, but then he broke into a run, following the little creature.
As he ran, he looked inside of the new robes on his person, and was relieved to see that the clothes he wore to the summer camp were still on him. Though as he followed Gigimon through the thick forest, a question had popped into his head.
“Hey! Gigimon! How do you know where you’re going?!” Simon demanded.
“I can smell them! They’re close by!” Gigimon excitedly answered.
“ One minute this little guy was going about like it was the end of him… Next thing you know, he’s suddenly a ball of positivity. ” Simon thought to himself.
He was confused the minute Gigimon stopped in front of a large tree in the middle of the forest. He inhaled the smell that was in the area.
“Um… Gigimon? Why’d you stop?” Simon asked.
“My friends are here.” Gigimon replied, turning towards the boy.
Simon looked around, but only found the foliage that he was used to at this point. Thankfully he didn’t spot any insects, small or large.
“Where? I don’t see anyone.” Simon further asked.
“In here.” Gigimon answered, gesturing to the tree.
“...In the tree?” Simon questioned, approaching it.
“Look inside!” Gigimon shouted, jumping with glee.
“There isn’t a hole for me to peer into, so how am I supposed to-” Simon said, but found that his head phased right through the tree. He looked down and saw both Daisuke and Jianliang, but they had two Digimon of their own.
“For the record, I’m just as confused as you two are.” Simon said.
“Hey, at least you’re not trying to eat us.” Daisuke replied, scratching the back of his head.
Simon looked down at the two Digimon with them. One was a small green blob whose primary feature was its head resting above its slug-like foot and has a single horn. The other Digimon appeared to have a whole body unlike the other two that Simon met. It was primarily blue and white, though it had two ear-like appendages, big red eyes, a large tail, and two small little hands.
“Have you seen any of the others?” Jian asked, getting up to a standing position.
“Sadly, I’m just as lost as you or anybody else in this messed up world.” Simon replied with notable disappointment in his voice.
“Well, we might as well go and find the others!” Daisuke exclaimed.
“There you are, Gigimon! You ungrateful schmuck!” A rude sounding voice made itself known to the group.
The three boys and their mons exited the tree, with Gigimon looking apologetic at another Digimon that looked to be a head with two purple horns curved downward. Its white face sneered at Gigimon with big beady green eyes.
What threw the group off the most was the fact that despite this Digimon’s demeanor, he was in the hands of Nia, who, with her cheerful smile waved to the three of them.
“We’ve been looking all over for you!” Nia shouted, as the purple imp head jumped out of her arms and started yelling at Gigimon, though to the group in question, it was unintelligible.
“Simon… It’s been a while since we last met.” Nia said, looking into Simon’s eyes with her big blue ones.
“Weren’t we both in the shrine earlier today? And out in the snow?” Simon asked, though Nia shook her head.
“No, silly. I’m talking about before summer camp.” Nia replied, though Simon gave a deep sigh.
“Worst part is… I kinda wish you forgot about that…” He said, turning away from her. “...And me for that matter.” He quietly muttered.
The other Digimon, having heard that despite how low it came out, stopped their argument and looked over at the brunette. Daisuke was especially confused by that response, and he noticed that Nia was somewhat saddened by what he said.
“Jiiiiiiiaaaaaaaannnnnnn!” A voice cried out in the forest.
Jianliang turned to the source of the voice, and out came Xiaochun, with what appeared to be a brown version of the Digimon Jian had, only it had three horns instead of two.
“Hey, Chocomon. Where were you?” The blob in Jian’s hands asked as it jumped down to greet its brown counterpart.
Meanwhile, Xiaochun crashed into Jian crying into him. The older sibling held her, relieved that he was able to find her.
“Jian! It’s so scary! There were these huge bug Digimon! And Chocomon tried to save me! And we got lost and… And…” Xiaochun cried out as she let her tears spill out.
“You know… It kind of makes me think of Jun in a way… Though… I don't think she's ever been this caring for me.” Daisuke commented, as everyone watched the siblings’ exchange.
“Oh. So that’s where you’ve all been.” A voice with an attitude made itself known.
They all turned to see that it was Ruki Makino, and along with her was Takeru. Both had Digimon of their own. One was like Gigimon, only it looked more like a fox Digimon with bright yellow and white fur. The other was one with snow white skin, four stubby legs, two ribbon-like eyebrows, and a pair of small fangs protruded from its upper lip.
“Oh. Hey, Makino.” Simon said, rolling his eyes at Ruki’s attitude.
“The fact that you of all people had to be with us really annoys me, you know that?” Ruki replied, though Takeru slowly and quietly made his way towards the group.
“I’m aware. Not like you’re a ball of sunshine either, but hey, we can’t pick who we want to get isekai’d into another world with, now can we?” Simon retorted, causing Ruki to sneer at him.
After all of the Digimon had been gathered, the group of students all looked on at the creatures that found them.
“Okay, so… Now that we’re all together, why don’t we introduce ourselves?” Simon requested.
“I’m Gigimon!”
“I’m Gummymon!”
“Yaamon!”
“Viximon.”
“Chocomon!”
“Demiveemon!”
“Tokomon!”
“And we’re Digimon! Digital Monsters!” All of them called out.
“What? Like the toys?” Ruki asked.
“What about the card game?” Jianliang added.
Those two questions had confused this group of Digimon, but they ultimately decided to pay it no heed.
“Um… So, why did you guys seek us out?” Takeru asked.
“Because we’ve been waiting for you, Takeru!” Tokomon answered.
“Yeah, and of course, Mr. Ungratefulmon here couldn’t be bothered to WAIT until we’re all together!” Yaamon angrily shouted at Gigimon, who flinched.
“Enough! What matters is that right now we’re all here together, and we’ll try to figure this out.” Simon said, breaking up the argument.
“Easy for you to say, Gogglehead, where do we go first?” Ruki mockingly asked.
“Why are you being so mean to him?” Nia questioned, as though she were offended by Ruki’s tone.
“Guys! Now’s not the time to argue! There’s another bug chasing us!” Simon exclaimed, pointing up in the sky as a Kuwagamon roared at the sight of the group.
The group scooped up their Digimon and ran into the forest in the hopes of losing it. However, once they exited the forest, they suddenly found they were right near the edge of a cliff. And down below was a fast-flowing river.
“Crap! Guess we gotta fight!” Simon shouted, before he reached into his Digivice and summoned his sword.
“We’ll fight for you!” Gigimon declared, sporting a brave face.
“Can’t believe I’m doin’ this… But what the hell? Why not?” Yaamon added, jumping into the fray.
“No! Guys!” Simon called out, and the others were just as worried.
Each of the Digimon attempted to attack the large insect with a series of bubble attacks that came out of their mouths. All that seemed to do to Kuwagamon was mildly annoy it. The insect threw the Digimon back at the kids, who all gathered to help their Digimon.
“Gigimon… Why?” Simon asked.
“Gummymon, please… You shouldn’t have to do this…” Jianliang said, cradling his partner.
“Chocomon, don’t go…” Xiaochun pleaded.
“Viximon…” Ruki uttered, though Viximon could sense a hint of caring in her voice.
“Yaamon. Don’t do this…” Nia begged.
“Demiveemon, just stay put. We’ll find a way out…” Daisuke said, hoping the little creature would listen.
“Tokomon, stop this…” Takeru said out of desperation.
However, none of the Digimon appeared to listen to any of the children and once more charged the insect, as though to perform a last stand. Simon saw that Gigimon again led the charge.
“ Was this… Was this because of me…? He saw me stand up to one of these things… And now he’s leading a charge… No… I refuse… I’m not letting it end this way! ” Simon thought to himself, but before he and the others knew it, their Digivices shone brightly and a powerful light hit each of the Digimon, imbuing them with new power…
Gigimon Digivolve To… Guilmon!
Gummymon Digivolve To… Terriermon!
Viximon Digivolve To… Renamon!
Yaamon Digivolve To… Impmon!
Demiveemon Digivolve To… V-Mon!
Chocomon Digivolve To… Lopmon!
Tokomon Digivolve To… Patamon!
Together, the seven Digimon had drastically changed from small little creatures that could barely stand, to much more powerful forms. Though they were still dwarfed by the insect Digimon, they all continued their charge.
Guilmon and Renamon charged at the legs, with the former giving a shoulder tackle, while the other lit their fists and feet with blue fire and targeted the knee, which appeared to shatter on contact.
Kuwagamon buckled under the sudden loss of its knees, before V-Mon rushed in with a powerful charge before he leapt into the air head first into the insect.
“V-Headbutt!” V-Mon called out as his head crashed into Kuwagamon’s skull, cracking the head of the insect in question.
Though, just as it attempted to retaliate with its pincers to crush V-Mon, Patamon and Lopmon swooped in with the latter rotating with its massive ears like a propellor and the former taking in a deep, powerful breath.
“Boom Bubble!” Patamon called out as a powerful gust of air rushed right out of its mouth and hit one pincer.
“Tiny Twister!” Lopmon cried out as a whirlwind fired off from its body and impacted the other pincer.
Kuwagamon cried out in pain as both its pincers fell to the ground in front of it. But then a series of small flames appeared around it in a circle. It then noticed Impmon with a mischievous smirk with its hand on the ground.
“Terriermon, I believe you have the honors.” Impmon said, and Terriermon jumped off of Impmon’s head and did its own variation of the attack Lopmon performed.
“Terrier Tornado!” It called out as a powerful whirlwind spun around the flames that Impmon had summoned, engulfing the insect in a powerful maelstrom of fire and wind.
Its data had dissipated, and was absorbed into the group of Digimon as a whole. The kids were all stunned by the display of power and teamwork by each of the Digimon. The kids and Digimon all rushed towards each other, except for Ruki and Renamon.
“That was awesome! But what happened to Gigimon?” Simon shouted out as he hugged Guilmon.
“I’m Guilmon now! See?” Guilmon replied.
Simon got a good look at his Digimon’s new form. He appeared to be more akin to a bipedal theropod with red scales and yellow eyes. Three claws appeared on his hands and two claws on his feet with his limbs being much longer and muscular than his prior appearance. There was one claw on the back of each foot. His ears were the same as before, and there was a biohazard sign on his white belly.
Jianliang and Xiaochun noticed the changes on both Terriermon and Lopmon, who then opted to balance on their respective human’s heads. The former looked to be a bipedal canine with white fur and green stripes, though his most prominent features were his long, frayed ears and a singular horn.
The latter appeared to be similar but brown fur with pink stripes and three horns on her head. However, it was a bipedal lagomorph as opposed to a dog.
“Are you unharmed, Ruki?” Renamon asked.
Ruki was now taking the appearance of her partner, who now was a bipedal fox with white fur on the tip of her tail, underbelly, hands and legs from the knees down. She bore purple futatsudomoe symbols on her thighs and there were wing-like tufts of yellow fur on her shoulders and a mane-like tuft of white fur on her chest. The purple sleeves that covered her forearms had the yin-yang symbols on each. She also had three fingers for each hand.
“I’m… Fine.” Ruki answered, while looking away from the Digimon.
“Daisuke! Daisuke! Did you see that? Did you see that?” V-Mon shouted as it hopped for joy.
“Yeah! You were awesome, V-Mon!” Daisuke replied happily.
This Digimon looked like a much bigger version of his previous form. Though his hands looked to have fingers, and on his head was a yellow V mark. There were similar markings under his eyes as well.
“So… You’re Tokomon?” Takeru asked his flying partner.
“I was, but now I’m Patamon.” Patamon answered.
Patamon had the appearance of a flying guinea pig with bat-like wings which double as his ears and a short, stubby tail. His underside was cream colored, while his back and head were colored orange.
“Yeah, I know I’m bad. I’m the baddest mon out there-” Impmon boasted, until he felt Nia lift him off the ground.
“And yet you’re still as adorable as when I saw you…” Nia commented.
Impmon now had a body beneath the head with longer curved horns, gloves on his three-fingered hands, with three toes on his feet, a toothy smiley face on his belly with a bandanna on his neck. He, like V-Mon, now had a tail.
“I ain’t adorable! I’m menacing!” Impmon exclaimed, though he couldn’t change Nia’s expression.
Though, just before the group could continue to bask in their moment of triumph, they all suddenly heard a crack. Simon looked in front of him and saw the area where Kuwagamon’s pincers were embedded, and the area around it began to crack even further.
“Let’s make for the forest, move!” Simon shouted.
None had voiced any objection as they followed, but then another Kuwagamon took the place of the one that was killed.
“How many of these guys are there?” Simon asked, gripping his sword, poised to fight.
As though to continue what the previous insect started, the Kuwagamon embedded its pincers into the ground and the area around the group had begun to crumble as it was being flipped over. Simon and the group started to fall into the rapids below..
To Be Continued…
Songs used in this chapter...
Wager of the Soul from Bleach Rebirth of Souls
Brave Heart by Ayumi Miyazaki