“Is everything ready?” a voice echoed through the stone walls. “I believe so, but we have to hurry. It’s only a matter of time before they break through!” another quipped, and the two digimon hurried through the musty old corridors of the temple. Luck was not on their side though.

The floor erupted below them, sending them both tumbling on the floor. Out of the crater rose Lucemon, a smirk on his face. Raising his clawed hand, his smirk turned into a bloodthirsty grin. ”Grand cross!” he yelled, and several spheres of light shot forward from his fingers, barely missing the two digimon on the run from him.

“Go! I’ll hold him off, but you have to upload the program!” Andromon said and turned around, charging the demon lord of pride. Datamon watched him struggle against the superior foe for a few seconds, before doing as his friend said and leaving him behind to complete the mission. Lucemon’s angry roar was a sign that Andromon was indeed managing to buy some time. That thought came to an abrupt end though when another of Lucemon’s attacks lit up the hall he was fleeing through. Datamon knew that in all likelihood, he was now the last one of the resistance.

But there was hope. If he could get the program they recovered from the very core of the world into the summoning terminal in the temple on Firewall Island, the world would call for heroes from the Real world to come to their aid. Or so the legend said, but it was all they had left now. Hope.

Hope did most certainly not shine yellow, Datamon would say, after he dodged another of Lucemon’s attacks by mere fractions of a second. But he made it. He could see the terminal right in front of him! Turning around, he sent his attacks towards the arch over the doorway, collapsing it.

“Datamon! Even if the legend is true, it won’t help you! Give up this madness! You stand no chance, but at least I can offer merciful death!” the demon lord growled from behind the collapsed ceiling. The mon inside ignored him. “So be it!” the half angel roared, launching a volley on the obstacle and obliterating it.

“You’re late!” Datamon announced and pressed the biggest button on the terminal. He saw Lucemon’s claw wrap around his form. He felt the pressure on his body. And then he was no more. But his legacy would live, as would that of the others form the resistance. That night, seven humans mysteriously disappeared from Earth, and seven digimon were suddenly teleported to the Firewall island. All scattered on the eastern beach of the Electron lake, the Digidestined were summoned.

Annaliese woke up. Not where she had expected to wake up though. Not in her soft, warm bed back at the cold mansion, no. It was sandy and grassy and dirty. Definitely dirty. Really, who decided to have this much sand at one place. "Uggh. . . It feels like I got hit by a train or something." She shook her head to rid it of a little bit of the compound of things that might be on it.

"You look it too, girly." Someone said right above her head. "You and these other people here ok? You don't look like Digimon either. You guys humans? You don't look like any Digimon I've seen before." If nothing else she was a fast talker, but didn't seem like a bad. . . Umm, person?

"Huh?" Annaliese muttered as she raised her head. There was no one standing there. Legs were missing! The very thing that lets one stand up. That's what she thought anyhow. Tilting her head up more, there was a what? Woman? Girl? She looked younger than that, besides her height at least! "Are you a fairy?" Annaliese asked the short, winged floating girl. "You look like one." She said as she struggled to her feet.

"Hmm." The little being muttered. "I mean, you can think of me that way." The little fairy giggled a little bit, "You can just call me Tinkermon, I woke up here not long before you." She looked distracted by Annaliese's feet. "Oh, is that thing by your foot there yours?"

"What?" Annaliese asked as she looked down. There was some kind of black and white device by her foot. Curious, she bent down and picked it up. "I don't think so. I've never seen it before in my life." Still, maybe it was a clue or something? "I'll just take it I suppose."

"I see. I see." Tinkermon said before looking around. "Well, look, there are other people here. Perhaps we should check them out before we continue on with an introduction of this world?" The little fairy lead the twelve year old to the other humans, perhaps with their own digimon nearby. . .

Akira awoke feeling like he had just been run over by a train. His head throbbed his back hurt and he felt like something was poking at his ribs.

Hang on a moment something is poking my ribs. he thought before lifting his arm and feeling for what ever it was. Moments later he was rolling through the sand away from whatever the little orange thing was standing before him.
"What the hell is that thing?" he asked aloud.
"Thing? I'll have you know that I'm a Digimon thank you very much." the little orange creature had said in a slightly male sounding voice.
"Wait you can talk? Like really talk?" Akira replied still trying to wrap his head around what all was going on.
"Sure," the small creature said flapping what looked like wings that came from where his ears should have been. "all Digimon can...Hey is that yours?" he said lifting off and hovering over a small red and white device.
"No, but it is now." he said picking up the small device. "I bet I could plug this into a computer and be able to hack anything." he added looking the device over.
"Okay enough of that," The winged creature said hovering in front of Akira's face. "You are going to help me get stronger got it? There are some Digimon here that aren't the best of people and I need to beat them." he added. "So from this point forward we're partners and you can call me Patamon."
"Hold up there pipsqueak I don't take orders from anyone especially not a mutated bat." Akira said pocketing the device and turning to see a small girl standing next to what looked like a small fairy. Grinning he turned around to look at Patamon. "On second thought Patamon. I think we could make a great team and you know what i bet we both could become the strongest out there."
"I knew you would come around." Patamon said smiling and starting toward the little girl. "Let's go see how many other humans there are since clearly you all aren't Digimon." he said smiling and flying ahead. Akira simply nodded his head and started walking wondering who all he would wind up having to babysit.

Even before Derek opened his eyes he knew he wasn't in his home, the fact that he was lying face up in the water made that all too clear. When he finally decided to see what was going on the first thing he saw other than sand and water was a giant pink clam with teeth and yellow eyes.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear I was dreaming." The clam suddenly opened up revealing a green blob like creature. "Well it's a good thing you know better than. Anyway I'm Syakomon and you have been brought to the Digital World to help save it." While Derek had no idea what the Digital Word was he didn't like the fact that was there to help save it, that meant that if he decided to do it he would have to share the glory with others. "And I'm your partner, Syakomon."

"Well nice to meet you I guess, you can call me Derek." When the introductions were out of the way and the two of them had left the ocean for the beach Derek spotted a blue and black device that seemed so out of place he couldn't help but pick it up. As the two of them kept walking Derek started tossing the device around with one hand. After a while two other humans became visible in the distance and not knowing what else to do he decided to go over to him, hoping to show off the bizarre looking Syakomon.

As Ellen Hawkes walked down the stairs to the kitchen, she was surprised to find her mum standing over the stove, as well as the pleasant aroma that emitted from it.

"Good morning," Mrs. Hawkes called over her shoulder as Ellen stood dumbstruck in the doorway. "We're out of toast and cereal, so I thought we'd have some pancakes for breakfast today."

"Oh!" Ellen exclaimed, her expression of confusion turning into a smile, and she sat herself down at the biggest, comfiest chair next to the kitchen table.

"What do you want on your first pancake?" her mum asked after a couple of minutes.

"Err, chocolate please!" Ellen said, almost immediately. It wasn't long before her mum placed a plate in front of her, with a pancake rolled up into a wrap. Licking her lips, Ellen picked up her knife and fork and began cutting up the pancake into chunks before stuffing one into her mouth, dribbling chocolate sauce all down her chin and onto the front of her pink pyjamas. Her mother, seeing this almost grotesque act of eating, waited until Ellen had swallowed before coming over and wiping at her daughter's face furiously.

"Honestly, Ellen," Mrs. Hawkes said with a sigh. "You're such a mucky pup."

When her mum was finished cleaning her face, Ellen mumbled a "Sorry, Mum", before immediately shoving another piece of pancake into her mouth.

Upon finishing her first pancake, Ellen's father, Mr. Hawkes, soon came downstairs, dressed in his work suit. "Good morning," he said, in a tone that was both weary yet cheerful, and sat himself down opposite Ellen.

"Mornin', Dad," Ellen said as her mother placed another pancake in front of her, this time smothered in a golden puddle of maple syrup. Ellen happily ate this one, and then a third, and was about to start on her fourth and final when her mother told her that she was just going to drive Mr. Hawkes to work, as well as do some shopping.

"I should be gone for about an hour," Mrs. Hawkes instructed slowly to Ellen, who was half-listening, half shovelling food down her throat. "When I come back, I expect to find you working." This last sentenced caused Ellen to groan slightly, which Mrs. Hawkes countered with a smile and a "If you've done enough when I get back, I'll give you an ice cream." With that, she headed out of the kitchen.

Slowly, Ellen's dad walked over to Ellen and planted a little kiss on top of her head. "Have a good day, poppet," he said.

"You too, Dad," Ellen responded, though her speech was slightly muffled by the large mouthful of food still swirling in her open gob.

Soon, Ellen heard the front door slam shut and finished up eating before slouching backwards into her chair with a sigh. Suddenly, with her belly now stuffed full of food, all she wanted to do was head back to bed, however, remembering her mother's words, she pushed herself up unsteadily to her feet and headed up the stairs to get changed.

Ever since she had started being home-schooled, Ellen had agreed to always get changed into proper clothes as the beginning of the day, just as she would have had she been going to school. Her mother had argued that Ellen was less likely to work if she was dressed in her pyjamas, as she would still be in a comfortable and exhausted mindset.

As Ellen went past the study, however, she noticed a bright light emitting from it, and paused, peering past the door. It was pitch black, aside from the eerie white light emitting from the computer, which at this moment had a completely white screen.

Frowning, Ellen slowly walked into the room and flicked the light switch, though the room remained dark. It was then she became aware of a sound, like a faint white-noise. She looked around for the source before a sudden case of light-headedness overtook her. She felt faint, and stumbled over to the dark shape of the computer chair, slumping down in it clumsily so she wouldn't fall flat on her face.

The light from the computer, as well as the static-like white noise intensified as Ellen was suddenly engulfed in bright white light.

---

When Ellen came to, seemingly lying sprawled out on the floor, she became aware of a weight on her chest, and warm breath on her face. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Another pair of eyes, rounded and brown in colour, stared back at her from a cute, furry face.

Ellen gave a loud, piercing scream as she shoved the strange... whatever-it-was off her, pushing it to the ground before sitting abruptly up. Her scream died quickly to a shocked silence as she gazed at her surroundings blankly. This wasn't her home. She was outside, on some kind of beach, though none she recognised! She then looked down next to her legs, where the creature had fallen.

It was stumbling up to its feet, and turned to look at her with a slight glare. It was brown and pink in coloured, and looked vaguely rabbit-like, with long flopping ears that seemed longer than its whole body. On its head were three little horns. "What was that for?" it asked, putting its little pink paws on its hips. It's voice was like that of a child, a young boy. It, or he, took a step towards Ellen, which caused her to give out a little squeak as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her arms around them. "What?" the rabbit said, sounding irritable.

It was then, as Ellen buried her chin in her knees, that she noticed she wasn't wearing her pyjamas anymore, but instead in more outdoor appropriate clothes, not too different from the clothes she normally wore when she went out. Her hair had even been tied into two twin plaits.

She then gave a nervous laugh as a realisation crept over her. "I'm dreaming!" she exclaimed aloud.

The little rabbit-like creature stared up at her blankly. "What?" he said.

Ellen laughed again. "This is just a dream! None of this is real!" She pointed a fat finger at the rabbit. "You're not real!" She gestured frantically to her surrounding. "This isn't real!"

The little rabbit's frown, which seemed to be his default expression, deepened into a scowl. "This is not a dream!" he exclaimed. "This is really real!"

"Hah!" Ellen exclaimed, her voice seeming to get higher and higher the more she spoke. She crossed her arms over her sizeable chest. "Prove it!"

Then the rabbit bit her arm.

"Ow!" Ellen cried out, pulling the dented skin away from the creature. "That hurt!"

"Now are you convinced?" the rabbit said, somewhat smugly.

Ellen rubbed her armed. "Did you have to do that?" she said.

"Yes, yes I did."

With a sigh, Ellen got to her feet, brushing the sand off her dress, hoodies and leggings. She gazed around her, noting some people in the near distance. "Err, hey!" she shouted, starting towards them, only for her foot, thankfully protected by long boots, hit something hard and she tripped over it, falling face first onto the ground and almost swallowing a mouthful of sand.

The little rabbit blinked at her before wandering over to her feet. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Ellen lifted her head and spat sand and dirt out of her mouth. "No! No, I'm not blooming alright!" She could feel tears pricking in the corners of her eyes and gave a loud sniff as she brushed grit off the lenses of her glasses. "What the hell did I even blooming trip on!?"

The rabbit glanced down at her feet and noticed something buried in the sand, something metallic. He picked it up and held it out in front of the girl. "This was in the sand," he said.

Once Ellen had calmed down a little, she studied the device in the creatures hands, which vaguely reminded of one of those old Tamagotchis she used to own, though slightly bigger and chunkier. In colour, it was pink and white. Carefully, Ellen picked it up and examined, adjusting her glasses slightly. "What is this?"

"I don't know," the bunny admitted. "But I get the feeling it's important some how." He paused for a moment before holding out his paw. "By the way, my name is Lopmon."

Ellen frowned as she glanced slightly away from the screen before holding her pinky finger out, wrapping it around Lopmon's paw and shaking it to her. "I'm, err, Ellen," she grunted.

"Well, good to meet you, Errellen," Lopmon said, before his arm fell down to his side.

"Erm, no, it's just Ellen."

"Okay, Justellen."

Ellen gave a loud sigh. "Ellen. My name is Ellen."

Lopmon frowned. "Make up your mind!" he said, putting his hands on his hips.

Ellen pushed herself up until she standing again and once again brushed the sand off her clothes and her face. She then looked back over at the other people she could see in the distance. "Come on," she said to Lopmon. "Let's go see what's going on." She then made her way over to the rest of the group, though this time more careful to watch where she was going.

Gavin was on his side with his limbs toss to the side with his forearm under his head making him a tiny bit comfortable. Gavin mumbled in his sleep, speaking half-audible sentences. He awoke but kept his eyes shut, not wanting to deal with the world for another five minutes, he thought how terrible of sleeping spot he picked before napping, it was sandy and the sand was going in his- "You okay there Boyo?" A voice spoke up, the voice sounded like a young man or older teen. Gavin didn't want to be awake yet, "Give me five more minutes..." Gavin muttered not even opening his eyes yet. "Oh dear, now's not really the time to take a nap, you should get up now." The voice spoke with an obvious wariness in it.

Gavin sighed, "Fin-" Gavin interrupted himself as he got up half way and opened his for the first time and unexpected to him was a weird white dog with pink ears. He expected a young man shoving his unwanted opinion at him but for now he shall spoil this cute puppy. "OH my gosh your so cute! So fluffy and soft! You're such a cutie! Can you say hi?" Gavin hugged and pet the dog, he loves dogs, all animals but dogs have a soft spot in his heart. The dog had a weird look on his face. So expressive. Thought Gavin.

"Uh, Hi boyo." The voice from before spoke from the dog's mouth. Gavin's expression froze, he froze both mentality and physically. After a few moments of the dog tilting his head and looking worry, Gavin spoke after a quick awkward cough. "Pardon me, I just wasn't expecting a pup like you to speak," Gavin explained his voice cracking in a few places.

"It's no problem Boyo, I'm labramon! who are you?" He said brightly wagging his tail, so happy he can make a friend. "I'm Gavin Rutherford." Gavin responded, with a small smile, he loves talking to animals but never got a respond before. "Gavin Rutherfordmon? That's a long name?" He repeated Gavin's name trying to piece it together even putting his paws under his chin in an inquisitive manner. Gavin blushed a little, Labramon was so cute, he didn't even correct him.

"Oh it looks like you aren't the only Gavin Rutherfordmon here!" Labramon spoke in cheery way. Gavin tilted his head after shaking away his blush. "Huh?" Gavin finally looked around seeing a group of teens and kids with other partners like Gavin but all different. " Oh I guess I should what their up to...What this?" Gavin interrupted himself again as he got, as he felt that a violet and black device was tangled in his scarf, "What in the world is this?" Gavin spoke.

The dog gasped, which Gavin couldn't tell if genuine or faked, but he guess genuine. "You're the DigiDestined!" Pup said loudly. "You and the others must be human!" Pup spoke loudly and almost freaking out. "The D what a wada?" Gavin remarked confused. Pup grabbed Gavin by the arm with his clawed paw, and practically dragging the poor kid across the sand and grass to the group. Normally Gavin would resist but now that he thinks about he doesn't where he is or what Labramon is. So he might as well let the cute talking dog take him away.

The aroma of sand and the soft sound of waves breaking on the shore was what Caelyn awoken too. He stretched his arms and let out a large yawn, thinking that he was awakening from a nice vacation nap. Often times he listened to soothing noises when he slept, but he didn't remember the program offering authentic smells. Rubbing his eyes, Caelyn squinted and noticed something sitting cross-legged in front of him.

What the..? Where AM I?

Caelyn didn't remember actually speaking the words, but heard an answer in a soft female voice. "You are in the digital world. It appears we have been called together in a great time of need." The voice came from the the thing sitting cross-legged. Caelyn took a step back only realizing that his back was to a large body of water. He noticed that his kendo stick was...steel? How did that.. Caelyn didn't wait to figure it out. He drew his sword, and pointed it toward the creature. "Back! I know how to use this and I don't want to hurt you!" The last thing Caelyn could expect happened next:

A giggle.

This creature was laughing at him! As an act of rebellion Caelyn slashed the sword in the air and made a sharping cutting noise. "Still think that is funny!?" His answer was three throwing stars mere inches from his toes. The creature met him with a new intensity. They stared at each other for a solid five minutes before both bursting into laughter. "Yea I guess it was pretty lame, huh?" Caelyn blushed. "No, not lame, your form is impressive. I am Falcomon." The avian ninja bowed. "Cool, Hi Falco. My name is Caelyn." He returned the courtesy like he did so often in the dojo back home.

"Not to be rude, but what is the digital world and what are you?" "I'll fill you in while we join the others." Falco fanned her wing to reveal other humans and creatures walking towards each other. Caelyn hurried to catch up to her. He was going to like this bird.

As Derek got closer to the other humans, he saw that both of them were not only about hiss age but also they appeared to have weird creatures as companions as well. "Look it's our allies, lets go meet them." As soon Syakomon had finished saying that he dashed off, moving surprisingly fast for a giant clam without legs. His human partner on the other hand didn't even bother to get there, fast as he was thinking of the best way to be the center of attention when it suddenly hit him. Sure the idea was childish but under the circumstances it had a good shot of working. The crustacean Digimon had arrived next to the two other humans, when he noticed Derek had stayed behind. He wasn't too worried though since as far he knew this beach was supposed to be pretty safe. "Hey nice to meet you, I'm Syakomon and that human in the distance over there is my partner.

Derek meanwhile waited until it looked like Syakomon was talking to the other humans before suddenly running in their direction acting all panicked. He made sure to occasionally look behind him as if something was chasing him. When he got within hearing distance of the others he started screaming. "Monster, there is some kind of big monster in the water!" Of course he was just lying and making a scene.

In the sands in front of the gathering group, a grey box half buried in the sand started to blink blue. The single beacon light on top of it was bright enough to catch their eyes. When the curious pixie digimon and her partner opened it, there was a simple screen and one button below. As they hit it, a message started playing, with a waveform log and a stickman with a question mark for a face as a visual:

“Greetings, my name is CG, and welcome to the digital world. I am sure you are confused, all seven pairs of you. Those little creatures you find next to you are called Digimon, but more on that later. You are at a lake. If you look at it, you will face west. You need to make your way around - or over if you are brave enough - to reach a place called the abandoned temple. There all your questions will be answered. You can go either to the north through the desert, or south through the forested area. Be careful, neither are exactly safe after dark. Oh, and by the way - this is a dead drop box, prerecorded message, don’t bother asking questions. There is one more important thing: Each of you were given a digivice, you’ll recognize it when you see it. Guard it with your life. I’ll see you at the Temple. Ta ta!”

the voice finished and the box disintegrated into raw data, leaving the newly baked Digidestined probably more confused than before. The most blatant question was though: Where was the supposed seventh pair? Unnoticed by the rest of them, two sets of tracks could be found leading north of the lake...

Ellen approached the rest of the group as they were listening to the pre-recorded message, recorded by someone called CG. She didn't dare speak until the message ended, listening closely with a small, concentrated frown on her face. When the transmission ended, Ellen spoke. "Err hey," she said shyly. While she was technically addressing everyone, she was particularly focussing on the only other girl among them, who was accompanied by a small, pixie-like creature. "Erm, I'm guessing you are just as confused about what's going on?"

Lopmon stood behind Ellen, quietly looking up at her, his expression almost expectant. Ellen didn't seem to notice. "I'm Ellen," she said. "Ellen Hawkes... and-" But she didn't get to finish as Derek started running towards the group, acting as if something was chasing him. "M... onster?!" she exclaimed, staring in the direction of the water. She shrunk away from the lake. By contrast, Lopmon actually took a step towards it, going up to the edge of the water and peering down into the depths.

Gavin and Pup finally met up with the rest of the group, he heard most of the message while walking. While the pair were closer to the group Labramon was confused and looked at Gavin expectedly, hoping for answers from the teen. Which he had none. Gavin just tilted his head at the current group, all teens or tween in the case of the girl with Tinkerbell flying around her. They all what the recording called a Digimon, that explained why Labramon ends with mon, it short for Digimon.

When one of the teens introduced themselves a heavyset girl, she said her name is Ellen Hawkes before she gotten interrupted by a young man with glasses screaming about a monster. Labramon went to an aggressive stance with his fur standing on end to look scary. Gavin looked indifferent, he didn't hear anything big, the poor teen must've been spooked by his own shadow.
"What did it look like?" Gavin asked, "must be pretty big to have you spooked." He said in a monotone voice. Gavin sighed and rolled his eyes at Lopmon and Labramon reaction to believe anyone lies.

"I wonder who just CG is if I had to bet, the person who brought us here, what a jerk if that's the case," Gavin said in a venomous tone, an idea came to him and he pulled out his notebook from his bag and wrote down some ideas for a later story, "But this is interesting, but it sounds like we need to walk a lot, blegh." Gavin made an exaggerated sigh. then he yawned, "We should go there soon, that nap was too short."

Falcomon was just finishing up explaining what a digimon was to Caelyn when the recording came on. After it finished, Caelyn sat back and weighed the options. Suddenly a disheartened kid came running up screaming about a monster. Not knowing this area well, and just being dropped into a new environment had Caelyn clutching the handle on his katana. The too cool for school act was a good way to get killed. He saw the older kid rolling his eyes, and that made Caelyn say something.

"Well, depending on which way the monster is maybe it best we circumvent the other way. The recording mentioned a desert or woods. We don't have ample supplies to survive a desert endeavor, so my vote is to go through the forest. It may be dark, but it will offer us possible food and shelter, where as in the desert, we will be open and exposed. At least maybe we can stay in the trees at night to avoid some danger."

Falcomon seemed to nod with the logic. "Yes, I think it will be best to exercise caution until we are sure of everyone's abilities. The message did say that danger was present either way. The question is which is more advantageous? You have our answer. However, we will stick with the group no matter the decision. It will be certain to be safest if we remain together."

Caelyn liked this bird, she was wise. They seemed one-minded, and that spoke volumes. "Yes, whatever we decide, you have our support."

Annaliese just stared at the device that gave the message until it finished, at which she turned to Tinkermon, "Are you one of those people? You know, no hands to yourself and all?"

"Sometimes you just gotta' press the big shiny button." Tinkermon gave as a reply. "Plus, it wasn't all that bad in the end was it?" The pixie flew circles around Annaliese showing off her energy. "Besides, we're partners. Probably. At least, according to that message thingy. I think that thing we found back there is your Digivice." She stopped and rested on Annaliese's head. "I can feel some sort of connection to it at least."

"I see." Annaliese said before turning her attention elsewhere, to her group of "Seven" minus one or so the footprints show. She couldn't remember everyone's names, if they said them. The only one she could really remember was Ellen Hawkes. Actually, it might be because Ellen seemed to be focused on Annaliese. She was going to greet the girl, then everyone seemed to be distracted by someone yelling about a big monster. "A big monster?"

Tinkermon giggled awkwardly as she hid behind little Anna's head. "In technicality all of us are monsters. I'd rather hope he didn't see a ultimate or mega digimon. I doubt even us all together would be able to fight one of those." Anna was going to ask what that meant but Tinkermon continued, "Besides, the only monster I see is that tub--" Smack She didn't even get to finish the statement.

"Tinkermon, that's just rude. If you're my partner, you're not going to say things like that. Understood?" Anna's hand retracted from it's position on top of Tinkermon's head, opening from the fist to an open hand. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was making fun of people's circumstances. Sure, if they did something stupid then they deserve it. However, just because the girl is a little chubby, it doesn't mean one can make fun of them.

"Got it, boss. I'll watch my mouth from now on." The little fairy sulked lower behind Anna's head. "A-anyway. I feel like we don't have anything to worry about, if there really was a champion or greater it most likely would have shown itself by now. And deleted us of course. We probably don't need to worry."

"Really? I can't say I exactly believe you."

"Hey, hey. I've lived here for, like, so long. As a rookie, I just need to stay out of sight. I can see these things coming." Tinkermon defended herself. "Seriously, that rabbit looks so silly, trying to find a random nothing some idiot made up." She started laughing somewhat maliciously Smack "Sorry boss."

"Now then." Annaliese muttered dusting her hands off of pixie dust as she looked over the group, the girl "Ellen" seemed a little freaked out. "You tell her it's going to be alright, nothing's going to be there."

"Me?" Tinkermon questioned.

Annaliese sighed, "Yes, you. I don't want to sound like an idiot if you're wrong." Before Tinkermon knew it they were next to Ellen.

With a slight sigh a small bit lack of care in her voice, Tinkermon informed the heavier-set girl. "Don't worry, I don't think there is anything and that guy is making stuff up." Annaliese just turned her head to the boy with the ninja bird and attempted to listen to their conversation. "I'm pretty sure he's making things up." Tinkermon finished, hoping for her own sake that the girl calmed down.

At Tinkermon's words, Ellen forced herself to relax slightly, thought it took a little effort. She supposed she should believe Tinkermon. After all, the little fairy was a resident of this place, so she probably knew more about it than Ellen herself did.

Still... "But..." Ellen said quietly. "Why would he make something like that up?" She glanced in Derek's direction and then at Lopmon, who had returned to her side.

"I indeed don't see or sense anything," he said, a deeper frown than usual on his face. "Well, apart from fish, I doubt that's the monster the boy is talking about." He then gazed up at Ellen once more with that same expectant look on his face. This time, however, Ellen did notice.

"What?" she said. "Why are you staring at me?" She placed her hand over her mouth. "Do I have something on my face?"

Lopmon blinked and then shook his head slightly. "No," he said.

"Then... what's that look for?" Ellen asked, looking at him suspiciously.

Lopmon frowned again. Like his partner, he now brought his own paws to his face. "I don't think my face is any different from how it is normally," he said.

"Riiiight..." Ellen said, edging away slightly from the rabbit before glancing at Tinkermon. "Erm... I'm guessing all you, err... 'Digimon', know each other, right?"

"Do you know all the other humans, Ellen Hawkes?" Tinkermon asked from atop Annaliese's head. "Can I take it you know my little. . . Actually, I don't know your name yet, 'Punchy'."

As a light snarl came across her face, Annaliese begrudgingly answered, "Annaliese."

"Right, right." Tinkermon giggled somehow enjoying almost putting her head in danger again. "So, I can assume you know my little Anna? I'm sure you don't though. It's the same thing for us digimon. I can at least tell you your partner is Lopmon. That's about it though as I don't know him personally, he's just another Lopmon to me." Tinkermon went silent for a moment to catch her breath, "OH, and you can call me Tinkermon. It's nice to be called by name and not 'you' at least once."

When Derek finally arrived next to the others he saw there more humans than he originally believed and a blond boy in a black shirt asked him what the monster looked like. While he was catching his breath he tried to to come up with a description. "I saw it in the ocean and while it was far away it looked like either a giant snake or some wingless dragon" Of course he described a classic sea monster which he had no idea actually existed in this world, but since he was supposed to be partners with a clam it didn't sound too far fetched in his opinion.

Syakomon didn't believe what his partner said but decided to give the boy the benefit of the doubt for now. "That sounds like a Seadramon or at least a Digimon from that line. Though it's odd, I've always heard that this beach was a safe area for Rookies." Of course later after he could be sure everyone was safe, he was planning on filling Derek in on the message that came from the drop box.

"Yeah the forest sounds better, I'm not dressed for the desert." Gavin said nonchalantly while dramatically pushing his scarf behind him.

He rolled his eyes again at the idea of sticking in a group, he never liked being forced in a group and his current mood is down the drain. "Fine but if I take a nap don't wake me up unless a monster is attacking or any other emergencies happens." Gain said in a annoyed tone, Labramon looked at Gavin with a confused expressions.

"Pretty small for an ocean, I dare call it a lake." Gavin said in a condescending tone. Labramon looked up to Gavin again, he so different with the the humans compared to him just a few moments ago.

"So your a rookie Pup?" Gavin finally acknowledged Labramon he almost jump in his skin from the question. "Y-yeah!" Labramon pumped his arm onto his chest to show his pride. "Is there a hierarchy with you guys?" Gavin asked, Labramon looked confused, "A what?" Labramon tilted his head, Gavin sighed, "Are there Digimon above you since your rookie." Gavin said in a annoyed tone. Labramon relized what he meant. " Oh that's what you meant! Yeah there digimon above us." Labramon said with a grin on his face being able to be helpful.

"And...what are they called?" Gavin asked after a few moments of silence.
"I forgot what they're called!" Labramon said cheerfully with a wide grin. Gavin sighed deeply.

Akira and Patamon stood and listened fo the others a bit before walking over to the two girls with the bunny and fairy partners.
"I guess magic box guy says we're going to be traveling together for a while." He said smiling. "Either way I'm Akira and this is Patamon." He said patting the small orange-ish creature on its head while it now rested on his. After a moment he looked up to the boy with glasses anc shook his head.
"Some people just look for attention I guess." He said shrugging his shoulders before turning back to the others.
"I couldn't help but hear you saying something about Ultimate and Mega levels, what are those?" He asked wondering if Patamon really needed him.
"The process is kind of hard to explain Akira." Patamon said from atop his head.
"Oh yeah try me." Akira replied.

Ellen shrunk back slightly as Akira approached, eying the boy with slight suspicion. "It seems so..." she muttered before turning back to Annaliese and Tinkermon. It was only now that the realisation she would be travelling with complete strangers began to sink in and she suddenly felt really nervous, biting her lower lip slightly.

Lopmon noticed his partner's nervousness. "Don't be worried, Ellen," he said. "I'll protect you from any dangers we come across." It seemed he'd mistaken Ellen's fears for that of the strange new world she was in, rather than the people she would be working with.

Ellen glanced at him. "Err, thanks," she said uncertainly, though she had no idea how this little rabbit, who only just came up to her knee, could protect her from anything.

"Looks like they're going South."

"Da. Let us go. You want to digivolve, and I want to get home. None of which will be achieved by standing around."


"Where I come from, it's extremely cold, and so is a desert in the night. We'll move then and camp someplace with a shade during the day and we'll be fine."

Ending their observation of the group on the beach, the seventh duo turned on their heels and marched north to go the other way around the lake, intending to beat the rest to the next message box. They were both dead set at being the best at whatever they did, and they will not let anyone stand in the way of their goal - their pride wouldn't allow for it.