London Diaries - Journey into Adventure Entry 1 - The Gathering By: Lord Archive The concept of Digimon is copy write of Toei Animation Inc. The characters in this story, however, are the property of Lord Archive. ------------------ Banners of 'Happy Christmas' were held aloft over the stores that ran along Main Street in a sleepy suburb of London. There were also posters proudly announcing the approach of a new millenium. The sounds of joy filled the air as Christmas day was only a few days away. Though there were also the sounds of less than happy shoppers trying to get everything they needed done before the big day. However, those sounds were soon broken by the alarm of a police siren. The cop car sped down the slushy, snow-covered streets. They were responding to the seventh call that morning of a missing child. Every one had been tucked into bed, but their parents only found empty beds come morning. Normally, the police would wait longer before responding. However, seven children disappearing in the same night was too much of a coincidence. Especially since one of the missing was the son of a police officer. ------------------ A ten-year-old girl with short golden locks of hair yawned tiredly as she woke up. She blinked in confusion as she noticed she wasn't in her home, but outside somewhere. It couldn't be London, since the air was so warm and there was no snow. Last she remembered, she went to bed in her pajamas. Now she was in fancy pink and white dress, not unlike the ones she would wear to family gatherings. However, she thought it was odd that the dress didn't use a zipper, but thick strings tied together to hold it up. "Where am I?" She looked from a cliff across a strange landscape of fields, mountains, forest, and lakes. "I'd say Butt-Fucking Egypt," replied a boy her age, his blond hair slicked down. He was strangely dressed in black wool shirt and pants, with black leather boots. Where there would be buttons or a belt, the outfit used tied cords. In short, the boy looked like a medieval thief dress in his best outfit. The girl's eyes widened in shock upon seeing him. "You kidnapped me, didn't you?! I demand you take me to my mother and father immediately, or you shall be in serious trouble!" "And who crowned you princess of England?" replied the boy. "My parents did," replied the girl. "I'm Princess Susan, 127th in line to the throne of England." The boy laughed. "Well, then I'm Freddy, Duchess of York." Susan huffed. "That's not funny." "Yeah, it is, calling yourself a princess. 'Cause even IF you are in line for the throne, you aren't a princess," Freddy retorted. "If I'm not a princess, then why did you kidnap me?" Susan questioned seriously. "Get your head out of your ass," Freddy replied sharply. "Why would I kidnap you?" Susan huffed. "Because you want to ransom me off, of course. Pheasants always want to take the nobility's power and money." "That's 'peasants,' not 'pheasants,' you twit." Freddy shook his head. "Why am I even bothering?" He turned around and began to walk away. "Where are you going?" Susan demanded. "Away from you," Freddy replied. "Why would you kidnap me and then leave me in the middle of nowhere?!" Susan cried out. Freddy glared back at her. "You try to figure it out. Your 'noble' brain could use the workout." Susan stared in the direction he had left. She then pouted. "What nerve of him!" Suddenly the ground began to shake. Susan turned and saw a giant orange dinosaur with a brown skull-like, horned mask. He growled hungrily. "WAIT FOR ME!!!" Susan ran for her life, right after Freddy. The Greymon stared after the pair, with blood-red, primal looking eyes. He grinned evilly. ------------------ "I'm definitely dreaming," were the first words of a young boy staring up at a large blue and white dragon's head. "You okay?" the dragon questioned. "Ah... yeah," the boy replied very nervously. "Um, who are you?" "I'm V-Dramon," replied the dragon. "Who are you and how did you happen to come here?" "Um, I'm Chuck." The boy swallowed hard, looking out the corner of his eyes and finding himself in some wilderness. "I don't know how I got here." "I see." V-Dramon reared back and looked around. "So, you're lost?" "Yeah." Chuck was relieved that despite the meter long head of the V-Dramon, the dragon only stood about three and a half meters tall and had no visible wings. He also looked rather chubby. "Do you want me to help you get to where you're going?" V-Dramon questioned. Chuck got up off the ground, now completely certain this was a dream. He was clothed in more than the boxers he had worn to bed. However, he wanted to know why his dream decided to dress him as a Scotsman, complete with kilt, belt pouch, white shirt and no underwear. He also noticed that the outfit was not something store-bought, but looked like it was traditionally made by hand. This probably had something to do with his father's obsession with medieval culture, particular his family heritage. He had a feeling the kilt's partners would be accurate for his family. Chuck looked around and saw a pristine wilderness unlike anything in modern day England. "Well?" V-Dramon pressed. "I could certainly use the help, but I wasn't going anywhere. I was at home, then I was here," Chuck informed him. V-Dramon bent closer and sniffed the boy. "You aren't a digimon, are you?" Chuck blinked. "What's a digimon?" "A digimon is a digital monster. All creatures born here are digimon," V-Dramon answered. He then peered carefully at the boy. "If you're not a digimon, then what are you?" "I'm a human," Chuck answered. "You've never seen anyone who looks anything like me?" V-Dramon shook his head. "Never." He then paused. "Human.... Hmmm... Heard that before. Some ancient legend, I think." He shrugged. "Never put much stock in them." Chuck frowned. This certainly had a lot to deal with his father's obsession with medieval legends. He was probably supposed to act out one. The question was which one. He certainly hoped it wasn't to slay the dragon. The big guy was rather nice. Chuck sighed and asked, "Do you know anyone who would know the legend?" "Well, if you want the full legend you'd either need to get it from Jijimon or Lady Devimon. Jijimon is a bit of a hermit. Doesn't talk to many digimon," V-Dramon informed. "What about this Lady Devimon?" Chuck questioned apprehensively. V-Dramon let out a strange, long sigh. "She's not exactly friendly to many digimon, either. She has a deadly beauty to her, and a will stronger than any digimon I've ever known. She would crush anything that gets in her way without remorse." "Oooookay." Chuck sweat-dropped as V-Dramon stared toward the sky. "Why don't we try talking with Jijimon first?" V-Dramon pouted. "Well... sure. I'll take you to where he lives." ------------------ "None shall pass," growled Sharmamon, a brown goblin digimon, who was standing on a narrow bridge over a river. "Sounds like a challenge," grinned a boy with brown hair. He was dressed in brown woolen pants, off-white wool shirt, leather vest and leather traveling boots. "Let's see how long you last." Sharmamon let out a short laugh. The boy charged and Sharmamon promptly bashed the side of the kid's skull with his club, sending the boy flying into the river. The boy floated face down, carried by the current. If he didn't get his head out of the water soon, he would drown to death. Sharmamon merely let out a sound of annoyance. "What the?!" a feminine voice called out. It was shortly followed by the splashing of water as a girl a year younger than the boy swam out and pulled his head out of the water before dragging him back to shore. She laid him carefully along the river bank and checked his breathing. She frowned as he had stopped. "Not the way I wanted to have my first kiss," the girl muttered as she bent over him and opened his mouth wide. She kissed him soundly as she forced her breath into his lungs. After giving him a few breaths, she placed her hands on his chest and pressed down hard. It amazed her how similar it was to doing it on a practice dummy. But she didn't exactly care for this person and, from what she saw of him, he was stupid enough to be a dummy. The girl went back to giving him forced breaths. However, while she was doing that, he threw up water right into her mouth. While the boy continued to cough water out of his lungs, the girl started to retch last night's dinner. The boy looked sheepishly over at the girl, noticing that she was oddly dressed like he was. With shiny black leather boots, maroon silk pants, red sash for a belt, and a silk white shirt that strangely wasn't see-through despite being wet, the girl looked like a pirate out of some movie. "Um, thanks," he finally said. The girl glared. "You have an odd way of showing it." "Erm, sorry." The boy scratched the back of his head. "I'm Henry." "Melissa," the girl replied shortly. She then fussed over her black hair. "I'm all wet because of you." Henry laughed nervously. "If you say so. Do you know where we are?" Melissa looked at him in surprise. "I was hoping you did! Please help me find my way home!" Henry blinked as the girl went from angry to scared. "Ah, sure. We both can work together to find home. Where are you from any way?" "London," replied Melissa. "Over on Griffin street." "Griffin street?" Henry questioned. "I live a block over on Raven's street." "Oh, really?" Melissa smiled happily. "That's great. I just moved in. Daddy just lost his job as a fisherman and is now trying his hand at selling them." "That's neat." Henry forced a smile. What was with this girl? She changed emotions at the drop of a hat. "Let's get moving. We won't find home if we stay here." ------------------ Teressa, a girl with brown hair, wandered around wearing brown woolen pants, a thick white shirt, and a cross on a necklace. She had no idea how she came to be here, but she knew it wasn't a dream. You don't scrape your hands when you fall in a dream. Teressa was very scared, having never been far away from her parents or her big sister. She could only think that some perverted guy had brought her out here like those creeps on the news who attacked little girls like her. She was all alone and the guy who did this to her had to have seen her naked when he dressed her up in the medieval outfit. Now she could only walk aimlessly, hoping to find some means to go home and praying that she would avoid the guy who kidnapped her. Teressa pouted as her sore feet ached. She plopped down on the ground and massaged them. She then blinked, noticing a nearby flower unlike any she had ever seen. Mesmerized, she crawled towards it and took hold of one of the budding blooms to smell it, only to have the flower jerked away from her. "Hey!" a feminine voice barked. "Don't touch me!" Teressa stared at the speaker in shock. It was a meter tall plant with a human-like body, budding flowers for hands, and a large flower with a face on it for a head. She immediately shrieked in horror and ran out of the woods. "What a weird digimon," Floramon commented. Teressa hadn't gone far before she screeched to a halt in a clearing. Seven pairs of eyes looked at her as if in awe. A pink-colored ball with floppy ears bounced forward and cried out in a feminine voice, "You're here! You're finally here!" "W-what are you?" Teresa stuttered fearfully. "I'm your digimon partner, Koromon," she replied. "I'm here for you." Teressa blinked. "For me?" Koromon bounced up and Teressa reflexively caught her. Then a strange device on the girl's pants that she hadn't noticed before flared. Suddenly a pillar of light shot up into the air. ------------------ George, a very small boy, looked nervously about. His plain haircut added to his young appearance of being eight or nine when he was really eleven. He was dressed similar to a bard or court jester of medieval times, wearing bright green silk pants, red silk shirt, and red and green shoes. George saw a pillar of light reaching to the sky. He hoped that was a sign of civilization and began to move toward it. He stumbled around as he moved down a hill before tumbling down it. "Ow," he moaned. "That hurt." George struggled to his feet and pressed on. The light wasn't that far away and didn't want to risk losing his chance to find someone. He blinked as he entered a clearing which had a girl also dressed in medieval styled clothes nervously looking at him and at several strange creatures. A pink, somewhat ghost-shaped one jumped up into his arms. "I'm Motimon. I've been waiting for you!" "For me?" George questioned. "Yep. We're partners!" Motimon said gleefully. An orange bouncing ball with a horn cried out in a feminine voice, "They're coming!" A brown blob with three small horns bounced next to her and added with childish male voice, "Yes, they are!" Seconds later, a boy dress in black and a girl in a regal-looking pink and white frilly dress were tackled by the diminutive creatures. Susan immediately dropped the one that had gone to her. She stared at the talking head with a horn on top. "Ew, what is this disgusting thing?" The head looked upset. "I'm Tsunomon. Your partner... I think." The brown blob snickered before looking at the teen clad in black. "I'm Chocomon. Nice to meet you." Freddy looked around and saw two other kids also holding one of these weird creatures. "I guess you're my partner?" "Yep." Chocomon nodded vigorously. A seal-like creature began to zoom around the air as if she was flying. Then the pig looking one grinned with sharp teeth. Melissa appeared first and the seal digimon rammed right into her chest. "What's this?" "Ah, your digimon partner... I guess," Teresa replied shyly. Henry fell backwards onto his ass when the pig leapt at him, smiling broadly with his canine teeth. "Hi, I'm Tokomon. I'm your new friend!" the pig told Henry. "Sure thing," Henry squeaked, looking nervously at the digimon. "I'm Pukamon," the seal digimon said to Melissa. "I'm yours." The remaining digimon looked like a yellow ball with cat ears and a tail. He whimpered as he sat in the middle of the field. He seemed to perk just before the sounds of something big was crashing toward them from the forest. Everyone backed away nervously from that direction except the cat-ball. They all shook when a blue and white dragon emerged from the trees and looked at them with a toothy smile. The cat digimon immediately jumped toward the dragon and collided with something on the big digimon's back. Chuck fell off V-Dramon with the cat digimon gleefully clutching onto him. "You're finally here!" the cat cheered. "I'm your partner, Nyaromon!" "Partner?" Chuck questioned. V-Dramon scratched the back of his head. "Wow. More humans. Wonder if any more are going to show up." "Doubt it," Freddy commented. "Unless there's more of these weird little things around here." "Who are you calling weird?" Chocomon demanded. Chuck stood up, holding Nyaromon. He looked at everyone. "This dream is getting weirder by the moment." "It's no dream, Chuck. I learn that the hard way." Henry rubbed the side of his face where Sharmamon had hit him. "Of course you can get hurt, it's my dream," Chuck retorted. "Oh, really? Then you won't feel this." Freddy had moved closer to Chuck, and then punched him in the face. "OW!" Chuck rubbed where Freddy had hit him. "Why did you do that?" "One, to prove this isn't a dream. Two, to get you back for gym last week," Freddy explained with a smirk. "Whatever." Chuck shook his head. Kicking Freddy while playing football in gym had been an accident, but he had hurt his classmate. Susan pouted. "You all seem to know each other. Care to introduce yourselves?" "And who are you?" Henry returned shortly. "She's 'princess' Susan. Heir to the throne of England, she is, if a hundred or so of her relatives drop dead," Freddy sarcastically introduced her. Susan glared as the other children began to snicker. "That's not funny!" "What's a princess?" V-Dramon questioned. The children stared at him. "Yeah! What's a princess?" chirped Chocomon. "Is being a princess a good thing or a bad thing?" Tsunomon asked. "Why don't you explain it, 'your majesty?'" Freddy mockingly bowed. "A princess is the heir to a kingdom," Susan informed the digimon. V-Dramon blinked. "What's a kingdom?" "Land ruled by a king," Susan answered. "What's a king?" V-Dramon questioned. Susan clenched her fists in frustration. "A king is a ruler over people." "What's people?" V-Dramon persisted. "You know! People like us!" Susan held her hand to her chest. V-Dramon nodded to himself. "Oh, so when this 'king' fellow deletes, you'll become king." Susan screamed, flailing her arms madly. The others couldn't help but laugh at her. Chuck bit down on his laughter to offer, "That's not quite it. It's rather complicated, V-Dramon. I'll explain it to you later." V-Dramon sagged. "I--" The dragon digimon was interrupted as Greymon burst from the forest and head-butted him through some trees on the other side of the clearing. V-Dramon stood up, only to fall flat on his face. "Eek! It's the Tyrannosaur again!" Susan called out in fear. "That's Greymon," the dinosaur growled at her. "And you all must die." "Why?" Chuck demanded. Greymon merely laughed. "Mega Flame!" he 'replied' launching a fireball at Chuck. "No! Nyaromon evolve!" Chuck's partner cried out while being held in his arms. The cat-like ball glowed and shifted in form, turning into a very light brown puppy with a golden collar. "Plotmon! Puppy Howling!" Plotmon's sonic attack did little to deflect the massive fireball, however Chuck fell backwards from the force of his digimon's attack. The ball of fire sailed over the boy, crashing into the forest and setting a couple trees on fire. "He's out to kill us!" Melissa screamed in terror. "We'll just have to kill him first!" Henry retorted. "I'm with you," Freddy replied. "Tokomon evolve!" The pig-like digimon with sharp teeth glowed and grew twice its original size. What he turned into something that looked more like a gray-furred hamster with batwings for ears. "Tsukaimon!" "Chocomon evolve!" The strange brown, horned baby digimon glowed and grew several times its size. Now humanoid in appearance and standing over a meter tall with green skin and holding a wooden club, he called out, "Goblimon!" Tsukaimon immediately took off into the air, only to come barreling down in a suicidal charge at the dinosaur. Goblimon rushed in as well with his club poised to attack. Greymon put a stop to both of their attack by batting Goblimon into Tsukaimon's attack with his tail. "Is that the best you 'warriors' can do?" Greymon mocked. Melissa shook in anger. "Don't mock me!" The seal-like digimon blinked as her partner suddenly went from being afraid to pissed off. It didn't matter at the moment. "Pukamon evolve!" The digimon glowed and became a strange green aquatic creature with blue stripes and a large orange fin. "Modoki Betamon!" Modoki Betamon cried out, "Aqua Tower!" while Greymon tried to unleashed another fireball, only to find his mouth full of water. Greymon gagged. "You'll pay for that. Mega Flame!" Any hope that the aquatic digimon's attack and snuffed out the dinosaur's flame went up in a blazing inferno as Modoki Betamon had to run for her life to dodge the incoming fireball. Teressa edged away from battle. For some reason clutching the strange device that she found on her new clothes kept her from running into the forest. She wanted to do something to help, but all she could feel was absolute fear. "We can take him," Koromon told her. "I can evolve and help them, if you just believe in me." "I want you to help, but I don't know... how...?" Teresa trailed off as the pink ball with floppy ears called out her name and glowed brightly. "Tapirmon!" called out a miniature elephant with a metallic mask and smoke for hind legs that had been Teressa's Koromon. "Nightmare Syndrome!" She sent out an angry looking cloud at Greymon, but seemed to do nothing when it hit him. "Was that supposed to do something?" Teressa questioned nervously. Tapirmon nodded in confusion. "I'm sure it was. Something's not right." Another fireball from Greymon nearly hit George, and his digimon partner shook in anger. "Motimon evolve!" The pink somewhat ghost-like digimon glowed. When the light faded away, he stood about a meter tall, looking like a strange metal beetle made out of a few house-hold appliances. "Kokuwamon!" "I need your help," Tsunomon pleaded with Susan. "What can I possible do to help?" Susan questioned in fear. "I'm not a fighter! I just want to go home!" "We all need to attack him together!" Chuck called out. Tsukaimon tried head-butting the dinosaur again, but did little against the creature's thick hide. Modoki Betamon sent another blast of water with no noticeable results. Goblimon got kicked for slamming his club into Greymon's knee. Kokuwamon tried shocking their opponent with electricity, but that did about as much damage as Plotmon's 'petit punch.' As in none. While the others were attacking, Tapirmon moved behind Greymon and into a tree. She climbed onto a branch over the dinosaur and when he moved into position, she jumped onto the back of his neck. She then pressed her stubby elephant nose tightly to the base of his skull. "What are...." Greymon trailed off as his eyes widened. "Get off! Get off me, you bitch!" Everyone backed away as Greymon crashed around the clearing, flailing blindly at Tapirmon, who held onto him for dear life. Teressa bit her knuckles watching her partner bounce like a stuffed animal on the dinosaur's back, while Greymon still howled about her letting go. Greymon's movements began to turn sluggish. He voiced slurred as he called out. "Let go of me... I don't want to be your puppet.... I won't obey you... Lady... De...vi...." The dinosaur crashed to the ground, unconscious. Tapirmon slid off the digimon and belched loudly. "How disgusting," Susan commented. "What did you do to him?" Teressa questioned. "I ate his nightmares," Tapirmon replied simply. "Some dark force was controlling him, and that's why my attack didn't work on him. He was already living a nightmare." She smiled. "He should be free now." Chuck frowned. "This may not be a dream, but it looks like we're all here for a reason." He looked sadly at Greymon and then V-Dramon. "I think we're supposed to defeat Lady Devimon." "Who?" Susan questioned. ------------------ Author's Notes: Next: Chapter 2 - Impossible Goal Can seven children newly partnered with digimon possibly defeat Lady Devimon when her plans are only hours away from being completed? This is part of the Diaries Timeline. The date is December 23rd, 1999. The Odaiba Chosen are in the process of being abducted by Millenniumon which Akiyama Ryo will get sucked into the Digital World in a couple days to free them. I decided to do some work on the London team's adventures. I expect that this first story arc will only go about twenty chapters. (Rather short compared to War Diaries 50+ chapters or Neo Digimon's 100+) I have my own reasons for making this series, and would like your input on this. This is NOT delaying Red Digivice Diaries. It is actually helping one RDD chapter to be released sooner by explaining some of the back-story. (I'd explain more of why this is the case, but I don't want to give any more away than I already have.) Tapirmon eating Greymon's 'nightmares.' A tapir is a creature from European mythology of a dream eater, just as baku is a dream eater in Japanese mythology. These are creatures who are literally able to eat the dreams of others, some for good, others for evil. Contest for artists: I want a picture of the London team during their first adventure, but I don't have much talent in drawing. So, I'm sending out this challenge. The artist of the best picture sent in can make a fan-fiction request from me, within reason of course. You can request a one-shot fan-fiction with a plot of your choice (no epic plots though), an avatar of yourself in to be in the Diaries Universe, that I work on and a few chapters of one of my series, or something else. There is no deadline currently, and I might award more than one 'first prize' depending on number and quality of the submissions.