So this is chapter one of my Digimon fanfiction. I hasten to add that I wrote this about four and a half years ago and my writing style has changed a fair bit since then. Although, given that, I'm far less embarrassed by this than I thought I would be...
The basis of this story lies in another I wrote even before this, where, in the Adventure/02 universe, something went very wrong between the end of the series and the epilogue, and the world is thrown into a devastating war that merged the Digital and the Real worlds together. Corrupt Digimon sought to claim the planet for themselves, and the humans turned against the Digimon to try and destroy them. The DigiDestined were caught in the middle, and now surive only as a diminishing band of freedom fighters looking to restore the balance. There's a lot more in it, but hopefully you'll see that as it goes :p
I'm a little disappointed I never finished it, but I think it's at least good enough to share. I managed to write eight chapters, and another three-four would have followed. I'll add further chapters as and when I can.
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January 3rd, 2019:
The tests are going well. Better than I had expected, in fact. Injecting the bridge serum seems to have countered the initial synthesis rejection, so the bodily structure is slowly regaining itself. All being well, It should be whole within a few days. I can’t be more exact than that- one body differs from another greatly, and it appears this one is less responsive than the first. Still, progress is progress.
YN.
The green writing flickered from the screen with a sharp jab of a button. The entry completed, the shadowy figure sat back on his chair and sighed, once again basking in the pitch darkness of the room.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a piercing ring from the phone on the desk next to him. He wrenched the receiver from its base.
“What is it?”
“One of the high-priority subjects has escaped from remote base 16, sir. I’ve sent out a team to recover it,” an obedient voice replied through the grainy receiver.
Growling in frustration, he slammed the phone back onto its cradle, cracking the plastic casing.
There had been too many mistakes already.
* * *
Crash!
The metal grate clattered onto the rocky ground, the sound of is destruction echoing through the mountains. The creature looked around quickly for signs of pursuit, then leapt from the ventilation shaft and broke into a run. His black steel scales glimmered in the sunlight, metal claws dug into the rock with each movement of his four legs. Raspy, irregular breaths tore from his lungs. The taste of blood rose in his mouth.
He didn’t care what it took, he was getting out of here.
Suddenly, from behind him came the eerie screech of the klaxons. A huge section of the mountain behind him split in two, revealing a massive gaping doorway in which stood a rumbling mass of vehicles, each hungry for his recapture.
The tanks thundered from the cave opening, machine guns blazing. Bullets crashed into the ground either side of him. He curled into a ball and rolled forwards, accelerating as much as he could to avoid their gunfire. Skidding to avoid another volley of bullets, he curled behind an outcrop of stone.
He could hear the monstrous machine drawing closer. Inside each would be bloodthirsty humans, bent on revenge for everything the Digimon had done to them.
They fired again. Bullets ploughed into the stone. Bits of debris flew into the air as the stone was chipped away section by section. One broke through, narrowly missing his left flank.
“Oh no…”
Another bullet burst from the stone. Steadying himself, MetalArmadillomon curled up into a spiked ball and cannoned forwards as fast as he could. The hot sand burnt his scales and scratched his skin like sandpaper. Grimacing through the pain, he kept rolling away from the compound.
“Don’t let them take me…” he pleaded to himself.
Inside the first vehicle, the three humans were enjoying the thrill of the hunt. One followed the digimon in the sights of the machinegun, stroking the trigger.
“This is the last time you escape, worm.” He growled. Suddenly, the digimon ahead ground to a halt. One of the tall spikes on his back had broken, sending him crashing into a standing stone. He lay dazed and exhausted on the ground, too weak to continue.
In the compound, the human commander listened intently to the tank’s status. All around him, huge screens showed him the tanks’ positions on the map. Officers ran frantically around the room, studying each security camera and making sure the site was secure. He stared coldly at the screen.
“Take it alive.”
“What does it matter if one more Digimon dies? These bastards will pay for what they did to this planet!”
“Hold your fire! Master Kamagata wants it alive!”
The soldier ripped the communicator from his face. “Sorry sir, signal was lost.” He said, a twisted grimace flashing across his face.
MetalArmadillomon struggled feebly to get to his feet.
The cannons fired. He froze in fear. He shut his eyes, hoping they would miss.
Something large crashed into his side; he could feel himself being lifted up. A strange feeling swept over MetalArmadillomon, like air rushing past his face.
"This must be what it’s like to be deleted."
Opening his eyes and expecting to see his body dissolving into bits of tiny data, he instead saw a mass of grey-blue fur. He strained his neck back to see the tanks far below him, getting smaller and smaller.
Someone was saving his life.
Hurriedly looking up to see who it was, he glimpsed a grey streak shrieking past. MetalArmadillomon’s carrier looped in the air, sending a wave of nausea through his stomach. He hated flying and he hated heights, but he preferred both of them to being deleted. He felt dizzy and pushed against the digimon to get some air.
“Hold on,” it said calmly. Suddenly, MetalArmadillomon felt them changing direction. He looked up and saw the tanks and the rocky ground zooming towards him very fast. He drew back in shock.
“What are you doing?” he spluttered fearfully. “You’ll never get through that armour!”
“Trust me!” The digimon answered back. MetalArmadillomon wished he could, but just held on for dear life instead.
Inside the tank, the driver was furious. “He’s back! Retreat!”
The gunner snarled at him. “No way! I’m killing these two myself!”
The second tank reversed quickly into the mountain opening. The gunner aimed the two guns at the fast-approaching digimon and jerked back the triggers.
The digimon avoided the projectiles effortlessly, swinging a gleaming metal sword from the scabbard on his back. It began to glow a bright white. The driver cursed and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The engine roared loudly, spewing black smoke from its exhausts. The tank shuddered desperately forwards… but not far enough.
“Aurora Blade!”
The digimon took aim with his sword and sliced through the middle of the tank with extreme precision and ease. The red-hot edges of the sheared metal sparked madly. Fuel from the fuel tank dribbled down the casing, hit the burning sides, and-
Boom.
As the two digimon rocketed skywards, MetalArmadillomon smiled uneasily, trying to hold down his stomach contents. “Impressive.” He said queasily.
The digimon smiled. “It’s not over yet.” They pulled up sharply, shooting skywards. Below them, they could see the crater left by the explosion, a twisted mass of hissing metal in its centre.
MetalArmadillomon felt sick. He clenched his eyes shut- he didn’t dare look down, they were so high up. Eventually, they reached the clouds and passed above them.
The digimon smiled at him. “You can open your eyes now. We’re safe.”
“We’re not safe!”
“Yes we are. We’re above the clouds, way out of their range.”
“It’s not that we’re not safe from, it’s the falling down from up here we’re not safe from!”
The digimon chuckled. “Open your eyes. It’s beautiful.”
MetalArmadillomon cautiously opened half an eye, and then gazed in amazement at the view spread before him. Miles of white clouds lay below them; below that were the Andes Mountains, looking far more enjoyable from up here. Pillars of cloud flew past them like great sentinels in the sky. The sun shone brightly, giving everything a warm glow. A cold wind was blowing strongly; it felt soothing.
“It is beautiful...” he sighed in wonderment. He shook his head. He could finally get a clear view of his saviour. A bipedal wolf with dark grey-blue fur gripped his body tightly. Huge red dragon wings were spread wide from his back, quivering in the wind currents. His muscular arms were wrapped in leather belts and on his left wrist was a small steel crossbow. Finger-less gloves covered furred hands, adorned with gleaming white claws. A red bandanna hung loosely around his neck.
Finally, MetalArmadillomon said something.
“Where are we going?”
The digimon gestured forwards with his muzzle. “We call it ‘The Haven’.”
“You mean we aren’t going to report to HiAndromon?”
A look of revulsion flicked across the digimon’s face. “No. We’re not with them.”
MetalArmadillomon was confused. “But... he’s part of the highest command before-”
“I know.” The digimon nodded. “That’s why we aren’t going there.”
Shock spread across MetalArmadillomon’s face. “You rebelled against the Sentients?”
“No. I was never in league with the Sentients in the first place,” the digimon growled. “I hate them.”
MetalArmadillomon did agree, but was afraid to say anything. They had spies everywhere.
“So, what is The Haven?” he asked, watching a flock of birds fly leisurely underneath them, enjoying the calm of the high altitude.
“It’s a place where we do our best to restore peace to the world. We have to keep moving to stay out of sight, but we’ve gathered quite a few war heroes. Some still have their digivices.”
“You mean you know the digidestined?”
“Yes... the ones that are left.”
