Chapter One:
In which the author discovers a very annoying way of titling chapters and our adventure begins
“What the- where am I?” muttered Katana, picking herself up off the floor. All she could remember was some frivolous discussion in the Chatroom, which was interrupted by a flash of white coming from her computer screen. After that, she must have blacked out.
She surveyed her surroundings. The environment was surreal, a white room- no, expanse. There didn't seem to be any walls, the floor just went on until it couldn't be seen anymore in all directions. The sky was almost the exact same color, but filled with what appeared to be streams of binary code, ever moving towards some unseen destination. Several strands of code seemed to be rising from the floor as well. The only other things in sight were four more humans, crumpled on the ground and beginning to stir.
“Okay, that's it. Time for a virus sca- wait, this is new,” grumbled Redjacketalchemis, rising to his feet.
“Excellent,” replied Kastom, “I think a new frontier is just what the doctor ordered. Won't be long before my face is plastered all over it!”
“Sheesh, even in person you're full of yourself,” sniped Sangome, “and do you ever take that cosplay off?”
“Huh, that's weird,” Kastom said, observing his garments and partial lack thereof, “I swear I was wearing jeans and a tee a minute ago.”
“That's really not the weirdest thing that's happening here, Tom,” injected Shinmaru, “I mean, where are we anyway?”
“Hello, Otakus!”
The company let out a collective groan. Who else would be behind this weirdness than theOtaku's founder himself?
“Alright, Adam. You've had your fun,” said Gome, “Now where the hell are we, anyway?”
Adam smiled a little, “Well you see, a while back I started looking through the archives at Otakuboards, looking for new ways to boost membership, and I found a whole ton of Digimon threads. Then I remembered that there used to be a whole forum devoted to Digimon over there, so I started working on a little project on the side. Long story short, this is that project!”
“Wait,” said Katana, “you mean-”
“Yep, you're in the Digital World! You guys are my beta testers!”
“Fair enough,” said Kastom, “now what's with my clothes?”
“It's part of the system,” responded the founder, “the program that transported you here transferred your mental state into this artificial world I've created and clothed you according to your preferences. Shiggy Lemons is wearing a long overcoat and a scarf because of his status as the site's most lovable hobo, for example.”
“Sweet,” said Shin, smirking a little.
“Gomers is dressed like Jade,” continued Adam.
“I've always wanted this Pac-Man belt.”
“-Red is dressed like Edward Elric-”
“Aww,” interjected Red, staring in disappointment at his fleshy right arm.
“-You're Kamina, of course, and Kat is dressed like Chiyo.”
“...uh, yeah, Adam,” said Kat, “do you have anything that's a little easier to move around in?”
“Oh, sure,” replied Adam, snapping his fingers. Instantly, Kat's clothes were replaced with more conventional ones, complete with a sweater that wasn't quite necessary for the weather at the time.
“That's more like it,” grinned Kat as she reached into her pocket, pulling out a pair of flight goggles and putting them on her forehead.
“Aww, no fair!” said Red, “how come she gets the goggles?”
“Because I've been carrying these around since the second grade, doofus.”
Adam chuckled a little, then became very serious. “Alright guys, here's your mission as beta testers. A couple of weeks ago, I sent an Alpha tester in here. The problem is, the program I used to get you all in here wasn't developed yet, so I had to download his body directly into the system and physically transport him here, and I couldn't exactly figure out how to get him back out.”
The five beta testers groaned once more.
“Yeah, I really should start thinking these things through. Anyway, he went off exploring and I lost contact with him a couple of days ago. I need you guys to go in there, find him, bring him back and help me get him home. We've been having some- shall we say issues, so I'm assigning you all partner Digimon and Digivices to aid you. Good luck!”
With that, Adam seemed to go out of focus, then vanished in a mess of static. The five looked down to see small creatures materializing at their feet, each with a cellphone-like device in their mouths.
“These must be them, said Kat, picking up the small white being and removing the device from its mouth, “hey, this is Tokomon!”
Suddenly, the Digivice began to emit a ringing sound. Katana flipped it open to reveal Adam's face on-screen.
“Hey guys! Looks like they arrived safely. I'd better give you the rundown of your new partners and equipment. Kat, your partner is little Tokomon there. You probably know him better as Patamon, his rookie form. He's really friendly and I think you'll get along with him fine. Treat him right and he'll be nearly unstoppable in battle!
“Tom, you get Koromon! He's the in-training form of Agumon, and I think he's the perfect fit for you. With his fire breath, he's almost as hotheaded as you are! Take care of him.
“Red gets Tsunomon, who will eventually become Gabumon. This one's an ice-oriented attacker, and he's very intelligent. Maybe you can learn from him!”
“Shut up, man,” muttered Red.
“Gomers gets Viximon, and as you can probably tell from her appearance, she becomes Renamon. She's fast, elegant and clever, and this one's known to have a sense of humor. I think you'll like her.
“And finally, Shiggy. Your partner is DemiVeemon, who you can guess the rookie form of just by hearing his name. This one's a bit different from the others, and even I'm not sure exactly what his full potential is. Veemon's data is a bit unstable, see, so really he can become just about anything depending on how you raise him.
“Now for the Digivices. You'll notice they look a lot like cell phones, and they have a lot of the same features. I took a few liberties designing them, so you've got an MP3 player and a camera in there, in case you see anything cool on your journey. You can use them as communicators and GPS devices, and you even get rollover minutes,” Adam paused for a moment to chuckle at his own joke, “The primary function, though, is its ability to identify any Digimon you may come across, as well as its function as an amplifier of Upgrade Data, which is the key to Digivolution. Lose this thing, and you'll find it a lot harder to get your partners to Digivolve, so try not to lose it, alright? Now that that's settled, I guess it's about time to get this mission started. I'll send you guys to my other tester's last known location. Computer, prepare to load Digital World Area: Forum Town. Good luck, guys!”
With that, the Digivice's screen went blank and the area began to change. Streets, buildings and a skyline began to materialize before the group's eyes until there was no longer any sign of the previous vast, white expanse.
“Area loaded: Forum Town,” announced an automated female voice, “Welcome to the Digital World, Tamers."
