By

Jennifer Morton

and

Shelli-Jo Pelletier

* * *

~~~ Jennifer P.O.V. ~~~

I�m sure you�ve heard a lot of crazy and enchanting tales of fan created Digi-Destined and their Digimon partners right?

Well this, my friends, is not only crazy, but it�s all TRUE! Every word of it!

First of all, do you know what an RPG is? No? Well, RPG is short for "Roll Playing Game," as in getting together with a group of people and pretending to be characters in, for example, a TV show. Like Digimon! Fun, huh? Still don�t get it?

Maybe it would help if I just started from the beginning, huh? Alrighty then!

* * *

It had to be the hottest summer in Southern California history!

I�m not normally a morning person, especially on weekends. Saturday mornings were an exception. "Beep beep beep beep!" My alarm clock went off as I urged myself to open my eyes. 8:30 AM. I quickly grabbed the remote control from my dresser and turned on my TV just in time for the opening theme. "Digimon, Digital Monsters. . . ." Yup, that�s right. Why else would I be up this early?

Okay, so I�m little obsessed. Hey, what are ya going to do? I mean it�s only a phase, right? Yeah, that�s exactly what it is! Heh heh.

I propped up my pillow and got comfortable. I was greeted by my little black and white kitten, Taichi. "Hey, kitty," I said as I picked him up and greeted him back with a hug. I grew up into a family of animal lovers. Our home was given the nickname "Rainbow Bridge." We were always picking up a stray cat or dog that was either lost or, in most cases, abandoned.

However, in this unique case, Taichi found us. But that�s another story.

After seeing the two back-to-back episodes, I ventured into the kitchen and made myself some breakfast. I�m not really much of a breakfast person either, but I�ve been trying to get back into the habit. I popped an Eggo into the toaster and poured myself a bowl of freshly cut fruit. As I sat down at the dining room table to eat, I took my little drawing pad with me.

I�m sort of an artist. I enjoy doodling little cartoon characters and stuff like that. It�s nothing special, although my friends and family seem to think otherwise. They always tell me that I never give myself enough credit. But truthfully, I�m just not one of those people who likes to brag or let things go to my head. I really do think that everyone has his or her own unique style. I mean look at Pablo Picasso. His idea of a cultural masterpiece was drawing a bunch of deformed shapes. I mean, my three-year-old cousin can do that! So would that make her a genius or something? Who knows? It could happen, right?

Anyway, you get my point.

So there I was, at the table. By the time I was done eating, I had a whole peace of paper covered in a mess of different sketches and doodles. Somewhere in that slop was a tiny sketch of a fox-like creature with long, floppy dog-like ears drooping over her face and a fluffy main around her neck. And what fox wouldn�t be complete without the big bushy tail?

I groaned and tossed the peace of now crumbled up paper into trash.

As I got up to wash my plate, I began to plan out my day. I still had chores that needed to be done, and a ton of e-mails that still needed replies. . . . Okay, so I�m a tiny bit compulsive, I admit it. I have to have my entire day planned or I go nuts. However, today fate had its own plans.

* * *

~~~ Shelli P.O.V. ~~~

ARN! ARN! ARN! ARN!

I woke up to the most annoying sound in the world: my cockatiel imitating my alarm clock.

"Ugh. Shut up, Cuno!" Reaching over my head, I grabbed the purple teddy bear that I usually chucked at the birdcage. The gray and yellow parrot, sensing danger, fell silent. I let my arm drop and was sinking back into unconscious bliss in moments.

ARN! ARN! ARN! ARN!

"ARG!" The bear sailed across the room and hit the wall under the hanging birdcage. More blissful silence. Ahhhhhhh. Sleep�

ARN! ARN! ARN! ARN!

"ALRIGHT ALREADY!" I winced, blatantly remembering my parents in the room next to mine were probably sleeping. Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I turned to peer at the alarm clock on the dresser across the room.

11: 26 AM

"Huh. Okay, so they�re probably not asleep," I yawned, grabbing clean clothes and a towel and opening my bedroom door. That�s what I liked about summer vacation. No alarm clock to wake you up at 6:15. Just a bird that happens to sound like an alarm clock waking you up at a little before noon.

I cast a careful glance down the hallway, making sure my stepbrother was asleep on the couch. Summer got dang hot in Maine, and I slept in a large�but not as large as I�d like�T-shirt. No worries though; he never got up before two or three in the afternoon. That�s what happens when you work until past midnight.

Nothing like a shower to wake you up, at least. With a towel wrapping my long brown hair up in a turban on my head, I returned to my room. Cuno greeted me with his "I want to come out" screech.

"Shut up, bird," I muttered. Hey, I�m not a morning person, okay? Yeah, yeah, I know it�s not really very morning anymore. Life goes on. I grabbed my glasses off the dresser and shoved them on my face. "I can see! It�s a miracle!" Cracking up, I flipped the power button on the computer next to the bed. That joke never got old.

While it booted I scooted into the kitchen and washed out a bowl and spoon for cereal. Thus washed, dressed, and in the midst of stuffing my face and checking my e-mail, I was pretty content.

Oooo. Another crush entry. I chuckled at one of the new e-mails. It always made me feel great that my web page ideas were so popular. True, they eventually got stolen or copied, but hey! I thought them up, no matter how many others follow in my footsteps. So there�s my immortality! I�m a genius!

In case you haven�t figured out by now, I�m just a tiny bit full of myself. I guess.

"Must be where I get it from!" chortled a voice from my bed. I looked over and could almost see a wingless blue dragon with yellow spikes lounging there, grinning.

"Quiet, you. You�re just a figment of my imagination."

"So?" Cunomon retorted.

"I�m eighteen. I�m a little old for imaginary friends."

"And yet I�m still here."

"Call me psycho then."

"Psycho!" called Cunomon before disappearing. He usually hung around longer, but I was distracted by cartoons. Most people couldn�t watch television and type out responses to e-mails at the same time, but I have been graced with the gift of being multitalented. Plus I have a TV card, which lets me watch TV in a little window in the corner of my computer screen. Talk about cool!

After I finished with the e-mails and breakfast, I pulled off the towel and ran a brush through my hair. Then I wrestled it into its usual ponytail. It was twelve thirty before I was done with all my wakeup primping. Time for my morning (or afternoon, whatever) walk! I really enjoyed walking around the neighborhood. There are a lot of young kids in this development�I love little kids�and dogs are allowed to run around free. They like to walk with me. I adore dogs, but the people in my family are cat people. Sigh.

On my way out the door I stuck my head in my parents� room. "Going out," I announced.

My dad glanced up from Diablo II. I swear computer obsession is genetic. "Okay, sweetheart."

"Love ya!"

Outside I passed my step-mom, watering her garden. "Going for a walk!" I told her.

"Have fun, Shelli!" she called as I sprinted up the driveway and out into the road. It was great having the wind in my face and feeling the pavement under my shoes. I ran as fast as I wanted. I could go on forever! . . . .Until I got winded, that is. Which was just around the first counter.

Hey, I never said I was athletic!

The sun was shining nicely, but I created a breeze from walking. A lot of the trees in my neighborhood had been destroyed by an epidemic of caterpillars, but enough survived to make it a beautiful green day. Acting impulsively, I ducked off the road and into the treeline between two houses. The woods swallowed me up, and I ran down the almost steep incline of the path I knew was there. It only took me five minutes of following the twisty path around trees and underbrush until I reached my "special" area.

It was a really cool swamp, with many paths leading off of it from all directions. The paths were wide and marked with tire tracks from three- and four-wheelers, so I knew I wasn�t the only one who came here. But no one was ever here when I came. The swamp swarmed with insects and birdcalls and frogs chirping. Dead trees poked up from the marshy water like bent fingers. To get to the other side I had to jump small streams leading to and from the sunken area. This had always felt like a magical place to me.

Little did I know just how magical it really was.

* * *

~~~ Skye P.O.V. ~~~

Where will we all be ten years from now? The future . . . a heck of a thing . . . a freaky thing. I sat up straighter and clutched the computer mouse to my computer. The stupid thing didn't have a cord, so I was always losing it. Not to mention my mind every time I couldn�t find it. But that�s beside the point. My name�s Skye Serenity Chelsey Jay Galbraith. Long name, eh? Well my friends call me Skye or Chelsey for short. But let me tell you something, our story is a lot more confusing than my name (though it may hard to believe)!

Anyway, I continued reading the spam mail I�d received from one of my friends, then promptly deleted it. Most of the time anything that�s forwarded is just deleted, but not today. Today I was "Skye the Merciful." Yeah, I know. It might seem like I'm a bit of a crackpot right now, or I have a mighty high opinion of myself. but trust me: I'm not, and I don't. I finished checking my email. Most of them were for my FDD website for one of my characters, (my favorite one!) Skye. For some bizarre reason it's traditional for wannabe-Digi-Destined-people (or people with a good imagination, like me) to always name one of their characters after themselves.

Next came the shower. I walked into the bathroom. My dad had already had a shower so the room was pretty much, well, wet. I was extra careful not to slip, but obviously my luck hadn't woken up yet and I slipped. Okay, I'll admit, I'm a bit of a klutz sometimes, but only sometimes. (Which comes quite frequently in my life I'm sorry to say. . . .) After I'd successfully had my shower, I brushed my hair and put it in a ponytail. Unfortunately, wearing it down is the only way to avoid the stupid curls I get. It's quite funny to look in the mirror after I've taken my hair out of a ponytail at the end of the day to see the mass of curly blue hair. But hey, what can I say? Besides, "Got freeze-ease?"

Anyway, I continued along my merry way. Contrary to most of my friends from school, I'm a very perky person once I've had my shower. I did my makeup (which consists mainly of eyeliner, mascara and, my ultimate fave but so incredibly tacky, glitter). I was going roller blading with my friends in the park. Well my friends were going to try roller blading. Surprisingly, I do well on wheels except for cars. I just turned fifteen a couple of weeks ago, so my dad took me out for my first actual driving lesson. (I'd driven a car before but that was in the forest in Quebec, Canada. This was different.) Let's just say the lesson went . . . interesting. Stress gets to me easily. Before exams at school I, well . . . my breakfast comes up, needless to say.

There was a quiet snort, coming from the pet cage on my table in my room. I opened it up and picked up Stuckubuck, my hedgehog. "Hey you," I said, gently petting him. Unfortunately, Stuckubuck is not a morning thing like I am. . . .

Does this seem like a normal beginning to you right? Sure, me too. But what comes next is, well, unbelievable.

* * *

~~~ Lindsey P.O.V. ~~~

Just like nearly every day during the summer, I woke up to the unpleasant sound of the phone ringing.

"Aaaah! Don't those stupid solicitors ever STOP??!" I moaned to myself. "What time is it?" I rolled over and stared at my clock radio, attempting to make out the blurry mess of red numbers. I grunted and leaned closer. 9:00 AM. Had my mom gone to work yet? I thought about it for a second, but my thoughts were interrupted by the stupid phone ringing again. "I wish I had caller ID in my room," I mumbled, then picked up the phone.

"Hello?" I answered groggily. There was some odd lady on the other end talking about phone services and asking if the lady or man of the house was home. "No. Sorry," I said to the voice and promptly hung up. I sighed and buried myself in my blankets, trying to go to sleep again. But to no avail. I was awake, and wasn't going back to sleep any time soon. I put on my glasses and watch, rolled out of my bed (which is saying a lot, since my bed's about three and a half feet off the ground) and wandered to my closet to get some normal clothes on. I struggled a bit getting the hairbrush through my hair without ripping it out by the roots, and worked a scrunchy around my ponytail.

I walked past my brother's room and glanced in, to see if he was awake yet. He was still in his bed, snoozing away. I grinned, because that meant I wouldn't have to get him food yet. For a ten-year-old, he's a real slacker.

I made my way to the kitchen without falling down TOO many stairs, and got a sandwich. I'm not a breakfast person. After eating I noticed a note from my mom, saying she wouldn't be home until 6:00 today and that it was okay if Jacob went to his friend Kyle's house. I shrugged.

After watching TV for a few hours, Jacob woke up and I fed him some Raman noodles. Then he noticed the note from Mom and decided to call Kyle to see if he could go over. It was okay, so Kyle's mom drove by and picked him up. Now I'd be alone in my house until about 7:00, when Jake had to come home. My other brother, Daniel, was camping with a friend, and wouldn't be back for a long time anyway.

I sat there glazed over with the TV on for a while, wondering what I was gonna do all day. I decided to take a walk down to the creek in the woods behind my house and amuse myself with the water. I made sure I locked the door and trotted down the street. I was sweating soon. Stupid Kansas having stupidly hot summers like the stupidly . . . stupidness of it all. . . . I thought, intelligently, to myself. However, little did I know that soon I wouldn't be in Kansas anymore. . . . Please pardon the pun.

* * *
~~~ Tania P.O.V. ~~~

"Wake up lazy! You�re late for summer school!" The sound of my dad�s voice rung into my ears, only much too loud. Thank god that�s not me who has to wake up, I thought to myself.

I stretched and wiped that stuff you get in the morning away from my eyes. My mouth was dry and made me extremely uncomfortable. "Get up, already!" I heard my dad yell, "You�re gonna be late!"

Does he have to yell so loud? I thought, and felt sorry for my brother who he was yelling at. I looked over the bed at my brother's alarm clock that was in my room (they stole mine).

The bright red digital numbers flashed: 7:25 AM. He IS late, I thought to myself. I'm just gonna . . . go back to sleep. I yawned and fell into another deep sleep.

"Huh?" I woke again after another dream I was trying to remember. After a minute of thinking about it, I just thought to myself that I couldn't remember it and got up. Half-awake, I again wiped my eyes and yawned. I looked at the clock.

12:23 AM.

"Uhhh . . . I better get up. . . ." Basically falling off the bed, I almost sleepwalked to my parents� room. My dad was already at work, and my mom was getting ready in the bathroom.

I plopped down on the computer, pressed the monitor button and the other button. After the computer loaded I went to Outlook Express and got my messages.

"Four messages in a day? I sure am popular," I smiled to myself and remembered I had to update my webpage. "Eh, I'll do it tomorrow."

I knew I wasn't going to do it while I read my messages. "I feel so loved," I said to myself. "Better take a shower and stuff." I took a shower and felt more awake, but I knew I wouldn't really be awake for another hour or so. I got dressed and went downstairs. I should be going for breakfast, but I just look in the cabinet and then closed it.

Muttering to myself, I put on my shoes by the front door. Rather then telling my mom I was going somewhere, I just wrote, "I went bike riding�Tania Rascia" in my illegible scribbles (especially my signature) by the phone.

I went out the backdoor and got on my bike. I rode past the park, to Westfield. I looked at it, and thought, That�s gonna be my school next year. Cool. Then I rode a left right to Teng's house.

I rang the doorbell once and waited about ten seconds. Then I rang it again. Frustrated, I kept ringing it really fast and then banged on the button. Nothing.

"Dammit, he's not home. Now I'm gonna be bored and go on the compy all day. Oh well." I rode my bike to West Lake, because outside is fun. Or that�s what I think because I don�t get enough of it.

As I was riding around that lake, (only once . . . which is about a mile and a half) I decided it would be fun if I went into the woods for a while. I always liked exploring the outside. Walking through the trees, little did I know I would truly be exploring much more.

* * *

~~~ Dani P.O.V. ~~~

Hi, my name is Dani Giesy.

Now I'm just your average thirteen-year-old looking for some fun (who doesn't?)! Whenever I get bored I usually play some music or listen to some. My friends got this kinda cool but weird nickname for me, the Music Goddess. They call me that because any instrument or song (just not rap PLEASE) they give me, I can learn just like that!

Oh, and I'm a diabetic. Sometimes people make fun of me for it but I just ignore them . . . sometimes. Some of them think it's hilarious to shove candy or anything sugary in my face! Sometimes I get the impression that they don't think it�s funny when I thwack them upside the head and tell them off. Okay, I'm getting away from the point aren't I?

Well one day I was doing a Digimon RPG with a few of my FDD (Fictional Digi-Destined) friends online when something totally weird happened. . . .

* * *

~~~ Emily P.O.V. ~~~

Sitting in a really bubbly bath, with a hardback book . . . to lean on so I can draw! The story of my life! Yep, like my good Internet buddy Jenn, I love to draw. If I could I would spend 24-7 doing it! But I have to work! Yep, I just left secondary school in England. I'm fifteen and soon starting college! Heh heh! Education is so much weirder �round the world!

So yeah in my bath. . . . Across the hall my CD player blasts what we like to call "80's Mullet rock," more commonly known as Bonjovi.

This sound is accompanied by "Squawk! Flutter flutter! Squawk!" For I have two budgies! They�re little birds.

One was left to me by a friend of mine who passed away, Edward. Edward had called the bird Bobby! He was a bright green with a brighter yellow face. But me being as I am, I couldn't bear to see him all alone, so I bought him a friend. Alfie! He's blue with a yellow face! They're both cute, but don't touch 'em, they bite.

I got out of my bath, put my favorite dungarees on with a white T-shirt, and set off to walk the neighbor�s dog, Monty. I, of course, taking my personal CD player with me! Complete with Bonjovi playing inside!

I have a website. I have a made-up Digimon. I also have many friends that I have met through the show, but not in person! They're all Internet buds. But I never thought I'd meet them . . . all at once. . . .

* * *

~~~ Alex P.O.V. ~~~

I awoke slowly to a fuzzy picture on the wall. Focusing slightly, I realized it was just my poster of Angemon. I was digi-crazy. Walking through squinted eyes, I almost tripped over my cat, Pepper, as I tackled the stairs. I turned on my computer and looked at the time: 6:15 AM. I groaned. Such is the life of a twelve-year-old on a Saturday morning.

As I logged onto the Internet, my eyes started to widen as I awoke more. But I had to make myself a cup of tea to become fully awake.

As I finished I gave a satisfied sigh. Moving back to my computer, I checked my email. Receiving message 1 of 42. I rolled my eyes. Most of them were RPG's: I was involved in a lot of them. One or two were personal e-mails to me. One of them, however, didn't open. I was worried it was a virus, so I turned on my Anti-Virus program and cautiously opened it. . . .

* * *

~~~ Jeanine P.O.V. ~~~

It was a nice day out here in Texas, but how would I know? I was still asleep. The soft breathing in the comfy bed would be me. Hair all a mess, arms flailed everywhere . . . well, you get the picture. As I slept with bliss on a wonderful summer day, knowing I would not have to go to work that day, I smiled with a wonderful dream of winning an Academy award. You see, I love to act, sing, and dance�okay, maybe not dance, but everything else. I'm just a normal sixteen-year-old that would soon be seventeen on August the 5^th.

In the dream I had a bright smile on and had a wonderful boyfriend for ONCE, and MANY adoring fans. But then the dream ended, thanks to a certain cat.

"Neko! Get off my chest! I can't breath!" The cat standing on my chest blinked for a second then got off of me. I opened my eyes, blinking once or twice myself, and groaned in dismay to see that that wonderful crowd was only a stupid dream and it would never come true.

I sighed as I sat up in my bed, my warm bed calling me again. I felt sleep coming, but the sun�s rays were telling me otherwise. I sat there a second or two, then finally decided it was time to get up. I looked at the clock near my bed and didn't seem shocked in the least. "Eleven?" I said as I rubbed my head. I could have slept more, but NOOOOOO.

I stood over my bed, which had two of the most comfortable pillows in the world and three of my favorite dolls, and stretched. I looked at my bed and saw Tiny Tears (my mom's old doll) about to fall of the bed next to my two most favorite Anime dolls, Sakura from CardCaptors and Sailor Venus from Sailor Moon. I grabbed Tiny and pulled her back into place and fixed the bed a little bit to make it pass the day. I stood there a second, then nodded in approval. I started for the window and opened the shades all the way to bring some light into my dark room. Of course, when I did that I scared my cat.

I walked over to my closet and went inside to change, knowing that bro would come in at any minute to chase my cat around the room. As I finished, I walked out of my closet to see Neko asleep on the bed; Ryan was off cue today. I walked out of my room to Ryan's, which wasn't too far away. He was sound asleep from playing Diablo too late last night and was excited that mom was getting the Expansion pack for it: "Diablo II." I smiled a bit and thanked god he possibly wouldn't be up for a while. I shut his door and shut my mom's door, so I could let the cat out to wander.

Mom had gone to woke around 7 AM, so it was just my cat, the brat, and me at home. I was in charge, but I would mock, in charge of what? My brother never listens to me and my cat is a cat! I rolled my eyes as I went into the kitchen to find something to eat before bro came in to eat everything in the house (which he usually does�talk about a nuisance). I sighed. All we had were leftovers and mom's most favorite food in the world . . . fish! Fish from Red Lobster! I HATE fish! I never touch the stuff . . . NEVER! Anyway, I grabbed the leftovers and started to cook them up in the microwave.

When they were done I grabbed a Coke Cola can from the fridge and went into the living room and placed the plate on the coffee table. (Yeah, yeah, I know. You should eat at the dining table. So what? I'm not that kind of girl!) I smiled. Lunch was the best meal anyone could get. (Oh, guess what? I don't eat breakfast. I hate breakfast food! I know, I'm impossible. I already know that.)

I turned on the television and started watching Quack Pack, which isn't an Anime. It's a Disney cartoon. ( HEY! Give me a break! None of the good tuff comes on till later!) I smiled. Quack Pack was always funny. It had Huey, Dewy, and Luey, Daisy, and their Uncle D as in Donald. Donald was funny. I liked him because he reminded me of my Da. (I know it's Dad, but I'm Irish so I call him Da.) My Da could always do Donald's voice. It was funny, but my dad stopped doing it after he and Mom broke up. He doesn't do it anymore. For shame.

But anyway, I finished my meal and decided it was time to go on the computer and check to see if Da scanned my pics like I asked him to do. I went on and found out he did. I smiled. It was the pics of my Digimon�s digi-volutions. All of them except the one I was still deciding on what to be.

I smiled a huge smile, but I wouldn't think anyone would be impressed. Not really, anyway. I had put my site under construction until I could figure out what to do. It was hard to work a site, write fanfics, go to work and have a brother on your case all the time. And when school gets back up it would be hell on Earth. But anyway . . . I sighed as I looked at the pics of Cheekomon's forms. They were all perfect. All they really needed was color, now.

I smiled as I put them away and then turned on the television in my room. (Yeah, I have a TV and a computer in my room. Cool, huh?) There wasn't anything on.

Do I sound like I stay in all the time? Well, I sort of do. What would you do if you lived in an apartment complex? Run outside and just pretend your neighbors are safe to be around with? I don't think so. As you can possibly tell, I'm not that trustworthy. I've been lied to a lot, and I actually believed them. (What an idiot I was!)

Anyway, I left the computer on while I watched TV. I might want to go back on the Internet after awhile. But then, as I was watching TV, I smelled something odd. I looked over at the cat and then at his litter box.

"Oh! Just great!" I said as I walked out of my room and into the kitchen. I grabbed my tools for "Operation: Clean My Room."

* * *

~~ Kristina P.O.V. ~~

I sighed as Buddy once again bugged me about what he should draw. We were just back from vacation, and seven people in a minivan tend to get on each other�s nerves. We all had our reasons, though. We had come back to find that one of my parakeets had died and Bandit discovered the garden.

"What else is there?" Buddy complained again. "I don't want to draw the same ones again!"

"Buddy, take a hike already!" I hollered angrily, throwing a pillow at him. He stomped off to his room in a sulky mood, making sure that he demolished Kalan's train track on the way. The youngest of my brothers gave him a "thrashing" as he passed.

That must have started a brawl, since all four of my brothers began beating up on each other and the train track was thrown around the room.

I knew that Dad was probably coming up the stairs, so I grabbed my binder and headed down. I managed to slip out the back door before he came out of his bedroom. As I walked across the lawn to the gate, Bandit decided to play with me. Her half of a Frisbee dangled from her mouth as she followed me. I tossed it once before leaving, just so she wouldn't try to come out with me.

Binder under my arm, I walked the short distance down the alley to a group of rickety tire swings hanging in various positions from an old oak tree. I promptly sat in the cleanest one and pulled out paper and a pencil.

Now, I don't draw half bad, but if I really put my mind to it, I can finish a good picture or two in one sitting. I started drawing my original character, Jaymon. I never really had been able to draw her on her own�she always looked so lonely against the white expanse. I put the picture away and pulled out one of Buddy's drawings. This particular one always made me laugh. It was Kyle's original Digimon in Buddy's Armor. Above it was written "And I will draw Taemon no more..."

"That would be pretty nifty," I thought to myself. "If we never had to draw the Digimon anymore to show what they looked like. I wish Jay was real. . . ."

As I began drawing Jaymon with myself in the picture, I think that I should have been watching what was going on around me instead of in my mind.

* * *

~~~ Jennifer P.O.V. ~~

Welcome back! So when does the big adventure start, you ask? Well, I�m getting to that. You�ve already heard from my friends.

Now, there were supposed to be eleven of us. And listen closely, because this is the part of the story where I start giving hints. Sammie is another good friend of mine. She hadn�t been online in a while. I just assumed she was busy with Karate or building a new website or something. She was always involved with so much. I wish I had that kind of patience. Anyway, it wasn�t until that day I heard the horrifying news and so did the rest of the world. . . .

"News of the shocking disappearance of a young California girl," was the first thing I heard when my mom turned on the TV. The news anchor continued, "Young Sammie Tayag disappeared mysteriously last Friday." Sammie�s mother spoke out, as the reporter held the microphone in front of her.

"I heard a scream," she cried. Tears were rolling down her face. "Then I opened her bedroom door and she was gone."

Poor thing. She was trying so hard to stay calm. If my kid were missing I would be a frantic wreck.

"Please find my daughter!" Her voice shook.

My eyes grew wide, tearful. How could this be happening!? What did she ever do to deserve this ungodly fate? (Okay, okay, so I�m a bit melodramatic, but still.) I quickly went online to see if anyone else had heard about this. I started sending e-mails like crazy. I waited to see if I got any responses, but my mom had to use the phone. After I logged off, I lay down on the couch. I wanted to call Sammie's mom and see if there was anything I could do.

I felt so helpless. Sammie is a great friend, and there was no reason why I shouldn�t be involved in this! Little did I know, how involved I really was.

DING-DONG!

"Jenn, could you get the door please?" yelled my mom. I opened the door, only to see a package sitting on the doorstep. It was wrapped in brown paper, and had no return address. "That�s weird," I thought. "Oh well." I shrugged and brought it inside.

"My name is on it," I thought as I carried it with me to my room. "What harm could it do?" I slowly unwrapped it. After throwing the paper aside, I picked up the scissors that were on my desk and began cutting through the thick pieces of boxing tape. Whoever sent this package wasn�t taking any chances. Finally, I managed to open the box. While fishing through mountains of Styrofoam my fingers ran across what felt like two round pieces of metal, with thin plastic lenses in the middle. I also felt elastic. It was laced through the metal rings. I pulled it out of the box and brushed all the stuff off. "Goggles?" I questioned.

"Ooookay, no comment." I shrugged and stuffed them in my back pocket. Don�t ask me why. Again, I reached my hand inside the box to see if there was anything else. I�d hate to think that whoever sent this wasted all that valuable box space for just a small pair of goggles. Sure enough, I managed to pull out another object. It was smaller.

Okay, the goggles were one thing, but now I was holding a digi-vice? "It�s just a toy . . . that�s it." I shook my head. It looked way too real to be a toy. But how could ya tell, right?

Wait, it gets better. Inside the box was an anonymous note. "You have been chosen?" I read aloud. "Okay so, now what?" I laughed. Just then my computer screen began to glow bright green. It wasn't my screen saver, that�s for sure. I got up and slowly walked towards it. I curiously reached out my hand. That�s when it happened!

* * *

~~~THIRD-PERSON P.O.V.~~~

The planet Earth is a large place, and these eleven children were strewn across it like stars across the heavens. But two things would bring them together: their friendship, and their love for a simple half-hour cartoon show.

* * *

In southern California. . . . "Whoa." Jennifer stared at her computer screen. She took a step back. "Should I go for it?" she asked herself. At that moment her mind was flooding with so many questions. She could feel herself gently being pulled towards the light. "It's official, I've finally gone insane," she joked, trying her best to ignore her fear. What if she never came back? "This isn't happening!"

Just then she could hear a faint voice coming from the light. "Jennifer. . . ." it whispered. A light breeze filled the room. "Jennifer. . . ."

"Who are you?"

"Step into the vortex."

"No way!" she replied. "Are you the one who sent me the goggles and digi-vice?"

"There is no time for questions! You must go now! The digital world needs you!" The mysterious voice roared.

"But I. . . ." Jennifer's voice shook.

"GO!" The voice boomed once again.

The light grabbed Jennifer, like a giant glowing hand, and she disappeared into the vortex on her computer screen.

* * *

In Maine. . . . Shelli leaped the small stream at one end of the swamp, getting her sneakers only slightly wet. She swatted a mosquito as the sun passed behind a cloud. No, that wasn�t right. The sun was still shining, but it was outshone by a brilliant shooting star that dove from the sky. It hit the swamp dead center, sending up a terrific spray of water. She shielded her eyes, and when the drenching was over lowered her hands to find a small object hovering in front of her. "No way," the girl gasped, instantly recognizing it. "This can�t be happening. . . ." Almost of its own will, her hand reached up and grabbed the digi-vice. Even though she knew it would happen, the sudden green light from the sky took her by surprise as it sucked her in.

* * *

In Canada. . . . Looking out her bedroom window, Skye noticed a faint glowing in the distance. Was it a shooting star? Her eyes followed the fiery object until it hit the ground. "I gotta see this!" she said, excitedly skipping out of her room. She stepped outside and cautiously looked around. She took a few steps forward. Her foot suddenly landed on what felt like a small, plastic object. "Uh oh," she gasped.

She tossed back her long blue hair and bent down to pick it up. Once she was able to wipe all of the dirt and crud off of it she finally realized what it was she was holding. "NO WAY!!"

It was too good to be true. There was no possible explanation except maybe. . . . "A dream . . . that's it!" she laughed. Now that she got her digi-vice, it was pretty obvious what would happen next. Since this was only "a dream" she figured that she would wake up anyway, right before the good part. (Don't you just hate that?) As soon as the vortex began to form, she slowly began to realize that the adventure she was about to have was indeed very real. "NO . . . WAIT!" she cried just before being sucked into the atmosphere.

* * *

In Kansas. . . . Lindsey was enjoying her tromp through the woods, especially since the cool shade caused by the trees overhead kept the heat away. The creek wasn�t too far ahead, but before she could get there a loud crashing sound brought her attention to the right. There, like a spotlight, a beam of yellow sunlight broke through a hole in the trees above. Something small glittered in the spotlight on the forest floor, obviously having fallen from the sky. Lindsey hurried over to see what it was. As she neared, her jaw dropped. "Oh my. . . ." As she bent to pick it up, a loud roaring began all around, like a heavy wind. She could feel herself being picked up and hurled into the air.

* * *

In Illinois. . . . Beginning to regret leaving her bike behind before going into the woods, Tania pushed aside a low bough and climbed over the dead log under it. Exploring was all well and fine, but this was getting to be more work than it was worth! Finally she decided that she�d done enough, and turned to go back the way she came . . . and turned again. She turned in a full circle before realizing she was hopelessly lost. "Oh, ggrrreeeaaaatttt!" Tania drawled. "How did I�ahh! What�s that!?" Shooting down from the sky between the trees was a small glowing comet! Colorful lights played in the sky, reminding her of the first episode of Digimon. "It . . . can�t be!" she exclaimed as the digi-vice landed on the ground in front of her. Picking it up, she noticed the colors in the sky all becoming one green glow. "You�ve got to be kidding meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

* * *

In Texas. . . . Dani sat at her computer, staring in awe at the monitor. "Wh�what's going on?" she thought, as her computer screen lit up. "Ooh boy!" The light became brighter. Dani was thrown backwards as a tiny object burst from her computer screen. After barely picking herself up off the floor, she eyed the digi-vice lying next to her. She was speechless. Her hand shook as she reached out to touch it. She took it in her hand and held it up to the light. "Whoa, this looks just like. . . ."

But before she could finish, Dani noticed a bright swirling motion on her monitor. "Cool screen saver . . . wait a minute. . . ."

And with that, she was sucked right in. The last thing you could here was the echo of her screams.

* * *

In England. . . . Just as Emily was returning Monty, the music on her portable CD player dimmed and died. "What? I just put in new batteries!" she groused, turning it over and opening the hatch where the batteries were kept. She didn�t know what she would find, exactly, but there they were. She took them out and put them back in, thinking it was a loose connection. But the music didn�t return. "Darn," she sighed. "I hope it�s not broken." She tucked it into her pocket and continued on her way home. Then she noticed her shoelace was untied! With another sigh, she bent down. As she was bent over, her legs and shoes were suddenly lit up with colorful light. "Huh? Ow!" Standing up, Emily bumped her head on a small hovering object. "Oh my gosh! It�s a digi-vice!" She instinctively reached out and grabbed it, and before she could say anything else she was swept away!

* * *

And elsewhere in England. . . . "Whoa!" Alex yelped, leaning back in his chair as the computer screen exploded in many colors. It was a virus! Oh, no! Mum was going to kill him when he told her he�d ruined the computer. . . . "Wait, what�s that?" Surprise passed over Alex�s face. Something was appearing on the screen! The boy jumped in surprise as a light exploded from the screen, straight into his hands! When the light faded, he couldn�t believe his eyes. It was a digi-vice! Could it possibly be . . . real?

"Only one way to find out," he murmured to himself. He held the device up to the screen. "Uh . . . digi-port open? Whoa!"

* * *

Back in Texas. . . . Jeanine reentered her messy room with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and a few trash bags in the other. "Oh joy," she sighed. As she bent down to pick up a piece of wrinkled clothing, she was startled by a faint beeping sound. She began throwing things aside, hoping that she would find whatever was making that noise. "Why does that noise sound so familiar?" she thought. She noticed a faint glowing under her pillow. "Ah ha! Now I gotcha!" She lifted it up and gazed at the little digi-vice underneath. "Darn, I was hoping it would be the tooth fairy!" she joked. "Wait a sec . . . is that what I think it is?" She picked it up and examined it closer. "Oh . . . my. . . ." Just then:

"Jeanine, what are you doing?" asked her curious little brother, Brian. She turned around and noticed him leaning against her bedroom door.

"Uhhhm. . . ." She quickly hid the digi-vice back under her pillow. "Just . . . cleaning my room." She laughed nervously.

"Ooookay," said Brian, then walked away. Jeanine sighed. She checked to make sure that her brother wasn't still standing in the hall.

He wasn't, but just to be safe she went ahead and locked the door. How was she going to explain this one? She looked outside her window to see the same green swirling light in the sky. She opened it and lifted up her digi-vice. "I wonder if this will actually work . . . digi-port OPEN!" The light from the sky reached out to grab her. Her voice shook, "Uuhh, bad idea." She floated out the window and was sucked into the vortex.

* * *

Also in Texas. . . . "What was that?" Kristina shot to her feet. She noticed that a trashcan had toppled over. She sighed in relief as a stray cat scurried out from behind it.

"Stupid strays," she groaned. Just as she was about to sit back down she was thrown back by a bright green ray shooting up from the scattered pile of garbage. "Eeeek!" she gasped. She stepped towards the light and bent down to see what was making it. "Sweet!"

She picked it up and dusted it off. "It�s a digi-vice," she smiled. But why would anybody want to throw it away? It was one of the most popular toys on the market! "But if this is only a toy, then what�s with the light?" she thought. She looked up from her digi-vice to see that the light was forming a vortex in the sky. "Uh, this isn�t a toy, is it?" She could feel her hand being pulled towards the sky, as if the digi-vice was controlling her every move. Her feet were lifted off the ground and in a split second she was gone.

* * *

~~~IN THE DIGITAL WORLD~~~

"Jenn! Oh Jenn, please wake up! I don�t know what to do if you don�t wake up!"

Jenn heard herself groan. The voice was slightly familiar, but she couldn�t quite place it. It wasn�t her parents, or anyone she knew from her neighborhood, or Internet friends she talked with on the phone. . . .

"JENN!!"

"I�m up!" she exclaimed as something landed on her chest. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and the something rolled off onto the ground. It looked like a basketball . . . until it rolled over and glared at her with bright blue-green eyes. These were topped with bushy black eyebrows, and a long bushy tail trailed behind it. Jenn had seen this creature hundreds of times before. She had drawn it with her own hands, and had other friends draw it as well. It was a creature from her own imagination.

This didn�t make it any less of a shock to see it, though.

The little head-tail-creature stopped glaring and hopped forward in an odd bounding movement. "Are you all right, Jenn?" it�no, she�asked, sounding concerned. Now Jenn realized why the voice was familiar. It was exactly the voice she had imagined the creature would have!

For a moment the girl was afraid to call out to the creature, as if calling her by her name would somehow confirm her own insanity. This couldn�t be happening, right? Real life just didn�t work this way. It was nice to dream and think up things, but in the end you always had to be truthful without yourself, and admit it wasn�t real�

"You were talking before! Jenn, speak to me!"

"I�m okay . . . Junumon." She stared at the creature expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, good! I was so worried, Jenn. First you wouldn�t wake up, and then you just sat there staring, and then�"

"So, you are Junumon? You are a Digimon?"

"Of course!" said the little head. "Who else would I be?" She grinned. "My name means�"

"Flower fox, I know," murmured Jenn. Her brain kept repeating it�s real, it�s real over and over again.

"I wish you wouldn�t keep interrupting me," Junumon muttered. "It�s not very nice."

Jennifer was looking around. "Then this is the digital world?"

"Right! Wow, you�re pretty smart, Jenn."

"Thanks. Uh . . . how did I get here, Junumon?"

"I dunno, but it probably has something to do with that digi-vice in your hand. Nice goggles, by the way."

"Huh?" Jenn looked. Indeed, the digi-vice was clasped firmly in one gloved hand, and by placing the other on her head she found the pair of goggles strapped in place. Goggles. . . . Everything that had happened crashed over her in a wave. "I think I need to sit down," the girl moaned.

"You already are!" cried her In-Training Digimon.

* * *

"Ow. . . ." Shelli blinked a few times and rubbed the back of her head, which seemed to have been the first thing to hit the ground . . . wherever that ground was. She was in the woods, but the swamp has disappeared. Instead of the pine trees she was used to, these trees had large flat green leaves, bigger than her hand. "Now what . . . oh my god, the digi-vice!"

The girl�s head whipped back and forth as she looked for it (no way was she losing something like that!) and one hand went up automatically to push at the bridge of her glasses. All she hit was her nose.

"Huh?" Shelli blinked again, realizing the small weight of the glass and metal objects wasn�t resting on her face. She tried closing one eye, then the other, and discovered to her shock that she could see perfectly fine! Her myopia and astigmatism were gone!

"Digiworld," she said to herself by way of explanation, standing up to brush the forest dirt off her clothes. She laughed. "I can�t believe I�m saying this! I�m in the digital world!" Oh, it was a shock. And frightening too, a bit. When she thought about what would happen if she couldn�t get back home . . . the girl shoved the thought away. She had always wanted to have an adventure, and it looked like one had finally caught her. This was no time for thinking about the bad things!

As she brushed herself off, she noticed with a start that she wasn�t wearing the clothes she had put on this morning. And more startling, she was wearing a familiar purple vest with a light purple T-shirt underneath, blue jeans and hiking boots! "No way. . . ." Hesitantly, Shelli grabbed a handful of hair and pulled it in front of her eyes.

It was black.

"Yipes! I don�t believe this!" It was obvious, though. She was . . . Lexxy. "Alexandria Ishiodori," the female muttered, trying out the name on her tongue. "Man." Then her eyes ("They must be green instead of brown. . . ." she thought) widened as she realized what this meant.

"Uh . . . Eekamon?" Shelli looked around. She couldn�t see anything but the trees. But then a glint of metal caught her eye, and she found her digi-vice lying at her feet. Before it could turn into a shooting star or go flying off again she snatched it up and shoved it into her pocket. Where was Eekamon? Maybe this wasn�t Digiworld after all. Maybe she had fallen into the swamp and hit her head and drown and this was. . . .

"Oh, good. Got any more morbid thoughts?" she growled at herself, continuing to scan the area. Or maybe a dream. But if this were a dream brought on by unconsciousness, why wouldn�t Eekamon be here? And what about the digi-vice? It had definitely come from the sky and opened a vortex. Unless it was a meteor, and had caused this hallucination. . . .

Suddenly struck by another thought (if Shelli did one thing a lot, it was have thoughts), she giggled. Maybe you had to play this like it was supposed to be played out. And in her imagination she had met Eekamon�

"Fine, fine. I can climb a tree. Probably." It wasn�t something she had ever really done, but it didn�t look too hard. Choosing one with low branches, Shelli grabbed a bough and hoisted herself upward. She hoped she had some choice in the way things went. For one thing, acting this out like a play didn�t sit too well with her. She didn�t like to think her destiny was already chosen and she had no say in the matter at all. And for another, in one RPG she wrote for, Lexxy was so startled by seeing Eekamon for the first time that she fell out of the tree and hit her head on a rock. That didn�t seem like a very fun thing to do.

"Why hello!"

Startled out of her thoughts, Shelli shrieked and grabbed a branch tightly. The tree swayed, raining down leaves, but she remained where she was. Suddenly she was afraid to look. Why, she had no idea. She wasn�t afraid of Eekamon in the least, but. . . . "Oh, just do it," she whispered. She took a breath, held it, and twisted around and down.

At the foot of the tree sat a small blue thing. It was a head, basically, as she knew it would be. Two pointed ears twitched, two big green eyes blinked happily, and a thin tail with three little spikes on the end thumped the ground. A fanged mouth split into a large grin. "Coming down, Lexxy?" Eekamon asked.

"My name is Shelli, and yes." That proved only a little harder than coming up, but she managed. Finally she let go and dropped the last feet, landing beside the little In-Training Digimon with a thud.

"Good job, Lexxy!"

"My name is Shelli."

Eekamon looked confused. "No it�s not."

"Yes, it is!"

Arguing, the two started off deeper into the woods. Shelli didn�t know exactly where they were going, but she couldn�t help but feel as if she and Eekamon had always been together. Maybe it was because she often imagined conversations like this, but Eekamon felt like a long lost friend.

* * *

"On the show, the digi-vices usually lead you to other Digi-Destined," Jenn explained, studying the blinking dot on the little screen in her hand.

"The show about Digimon you were talking about?" Junumon asked, riding in the crook of her other arm.

"Yup. You don�t know about kids named, like, Tai and Matt and T.K., do you?"

Junumon shook her head�which happened to be her whole body. "Nope. I just know you. I�ve been waiting for you, Jenn."

She smiled. "Thanks." Already Junumon felt like a long lost friend. "I think we�re getting close."

"Very close!" a voice piped up from above. Both Jenn and Junumon looked up above. A small blue In-Training Digimon with two feet and a thin tail smiled down at them. Jenn recognized him. She had drawn him a time or two.

"E-Eekamon?" she gasped.

"The one and only!" In two bounds he flipped from a lower branch to the ground, scampering over to them. "A pleasure to meet another Digi-Destined. Hello, Junumon! Surprised to see you! Last I heard there weren�t any Junumon left. I was following a rumor that some had escaped, but the trail just led to the Gazimon who had done that to your Village. Terribly sorry about that, you know." All the time he never held still, studying them from all angles.

Jenn was still trying to accept the fact of another invented Digimon. "But, if you�re Eekamon, then that must mean . . . Lexxy�s here?"

"My name is Shelli!" a second voice broke in, sounding annoyed. A black-haired girl wearing purple crashed through a bush, pushing the branches aside. "Eekamon, if you go running off one more time�oh!" She stopped and stared. The girl before her was one she recognized from drawings. Jeans and a pink tanktop with a white star, and long fiery red hair. "Jenn?"

"Yes. Sorry, Shelli. And this is Junumon." She held up her Digimon.

"Wow. You look . . . wow. Just like the pictures!" Shelli laughed. "And you�ve already met Eekamon, I can tell. I�ve already figured out he never shuts up."

"You look just like your pictures too," smiled Jenn.

"Actually, I don�t. But I do now. Er . . . don�t ask. Anyway what the heck is going on!?"

"I have no idea. I got this�" She held up her digi-vice and Shelli did the same. "�and these�" She touched the goggles on her head. "�in the mail."

Shelli looked at the goggles. "Are those Tai�s?" she asked in surprise.

"I dunno. Junumon�s never heard of Tai or any of the characters from the show."

"Eekamon either, but he has heard of the Digi-Destined . . . which I guess is us. Heh. This is wild."

"Yeah." There was a bit of silence. The four looked at each other, seeming at a loss for words. Suddenly twin beeps sounded, and the two girls looked at their digi-vices.

"More?" Shelli guessed.

"Looks like it. Should we?"

"Might as well. Come on, Eekamon."

"Wondrous!" said the little In-Training Digimon. "I can�t wait to meet these new Digi-Destined, Lexxy. I hope they�re interesting. Both you and this Jenn girl look rather similar, and that�s boring. Don�t you humans ever have wings or tails or more arms and legs or�"

"Eekamon, shut up! And my name is Shelli!"

Jenn looked at Junumon and chuckled.

* * *

"Dani!" Dani moaned and slowly opened her eyes as a tiny voice squeaked in her ear. "Helloooo earth to Dani! Come in!" Dani's vision was a bit fuzzy at the moment. She had to give her eyes a minute to adjust.

As she sat up she felt something brush up against her leg. "Wha?" she gasped, noticing the little In-Training Digimon sitting there in front of her.

"Hey Dani! Glad to finally meet ya!" he said. Dani, however, had a different kind of greeting.

"AHHHHH!"

She shot to her feet and tried to run, but tripped and fell flat on her face. "Dani, It's me, Bamboomon!"

"B � B � Bamboomon?" said Dani, spitting the grass out of her mouth.

"Nope! Just Bamboomon." He hopped over to Dani and looked her in the eye.

Dani blushed. "Heh heh . . . blonde moment." she laughed.

The little panda bear-like Digimon raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, it's nothing." As Dani rose to her feet she noticed something else. "Wait a minute! Is this what I think it is? Am I a Digi-Destined?"

"Yup!" replied Bamboomon.

Dani began to feel a bit faint. "I don't feel so good. Is there anything to eat around here?"

Bamboomon nodded. "Sure . . . I'll be right back." Bamboomon hopped away as Dani sat down and made herself comfortable.

* * *

Jeanine rose to her feet and quickly noticed her surroundings. "What the. . . ." She ran over to a nearby pond and looked at her reflection. Something felt different. "W-what happened to me!? I-I'm a . . . a. . . ."

"It's you!" shouted a voice behind her. She turned around and saw a creature resembling a baby cheetah running towards her. "What in the world. . . ."

"It's you! It's you! It's REALLY REALLY YOU!" The Digimon jumped into Jeanine�s arms like a cat greeting its master.

Jeanine stood dumb founded. "Uhhhhh. . . ."

"Well, aren't ya gonna say hello?"

"Uhhhh . . . Cheemon?"

"That's me! And you�re Erica!"

"Um, actually. . . ."

Just then: "Whoa cool! Another one!" said Bamboomon, from around the corner. Erica looked at the two In-Training Digimon, confused.

"Another one? You mean . . . humans?"

"Yup, you�re the second one I've seen so far," said Bamboomon.

"Oh? Well, can you take me to him . . . or her?"

"Sure! Right this way!"

* * *

"Bamboomon!" greeted Dani. "Where's the food?"

"I found something even better then food!"

Dani twitched. "What? I don't believe you! What could be better then FOOD!? You don't understand, I'm a diabetic! I can't go all day without eating like this!" she cried.

"Okay, okay . . . I'm sorry. Yeesh. I just thought you'd wanna meet this other human girl and her Digimon." Dani dropped Bamboomon and noticed another blonde girl, wearing a red T-shirt and baggy blue jeans similar to hers. And sure enough, she was holding another In-Training Digimon.

"Oh hi!" She blushed. "Sorry about that."

The other girl laughed. "That's okay. I'm Jeanine . . . er . . . I mean Erica . . . gah! Oh, I give up."

"Well, which is it?" said Dani.

She sighed. "I don't really care anymore."

"Uh . . . okay. Um, it's nice to meet you then 'Erica.' I'm Dani." She reached out to shake the other girl�s hand.

~~~15 MINUTES LATER~~~

"So, let me get this straight. You found a digi-vice under your pillow, got sucked into a vortex, and now you�re here talking to me?"

"That about says it all," replied Erica.

"Erica says she lives in a place called Texas!" said Cheemon.

"Really? I'm from Texas too!" Dani smiled.

"Wow . . . two coincidences in one day."

They were suddenly interrupted by a familiar Beep beep beep. . . .

Both girls' digi-vices were going off at the same time. Dani got up and held the little beeping device out in front of her. Erica did the same.

"Don't the batteries ever run out on these things?" Dani complained.

"Maybe it's another human! Ya think?" Cheemon looked up them and grinned.

"I guess there's only one way to find out!" said Bamboomon.

"What do ya say Dani?"

"How 'bout you Erica?"

Dani shrugged. "Do we really have a choice?"

"I'm in!" said Erica.

Dani nodded in agreement. "Ditto!"

The two girls and their Digimon disappeared into the forest.

* * *

Lindsey sighed and massaged her shoulder with one hand. After that windstorm had picked up, everything had gone kind of black. She wondered if she had blacked out. Searching her mind, she remembered the thing that had fallen from the sky. Where was it?

Oh, still in her hand. Giggling, Lindsey brought it up to her face for a closer inspection. She gasped. There was no mistaking it; it was a real digi-vice!

"No, it can�t be real," the girl muttered. But the windstorm . . . just like the show. . . .

Lindsey looked around. She seemed to be at the edge of the woods. The trees were really huge, with broad leaves. Giant pink flowers covered the ground under the trees. She wasn�t any flora expert, but she knew nothing like this grew anywhere in Kansas. Maybe not anywhere in the world. For her, it was enough to convince her.

"Yes, this must be," she whispered in disbelief. "This must be Digiworld."

"Well of course it is, Lina! What�d�ya think it was, Kansas?"

Lindsey gasped and whirled around. Sitting on top of the nearest flower blossom was a purple, reptilian . . . head. It was covered in darker splotches. Rectangular earflaps twitched. Two clawed feet bounced as it kept its balance on the petals. Big lime green eyes peered at her curiously.

"Dotremon!" cried Lindsey.

"You were expecting Piedmon? Now come on, let�s go!" Dotremon hopped down from the flower and zipped into the woods.

"Huh? Wait, Dotremon!" Lindsey ran after him.

* * *

"Tania! Tania! Tania! Tania! Tania!" Something was bouncing on her stomach.

"Oof! Shut up!" She pushed. Something warm and round gave way and the weight on her was gone.

"Ouch. Geese, what was that for!?" Tania opened her eyes. A pair of annoyed red eyes glared at her. That made her remember.

She screamed.

"Yikes! Hey, shut up!" exclaimed the talking greenish head. Its long ears flapped in an alarmed expression.

Tania managed to stop screaming as she sat up, the talking head sitting on the ground next to her. She had recognized it the moment she had opened her eyes, of course. "You�re-you�re Munamon!" (She couldn�t believe what she was saying.)

Munamon kept glaring. "Duh," he snorted.

She groaned and put a hand on her forehead. "I�m dreaming. I must be dreaming."

"I don�t think you�re dreaming, Tania. But if you are, we�re having the same dream." He hopped into her lap, his glare becoming a grin. "Welcome to Digiworld!"
"Thanks. . . . Digiworld, yeah." She shook her head and stood up, holding Munamon in her arms. "Digiworld. Wow. . . ."

"Stop saying that," snapped Munamon. "It�s annoying."

"Look who�s talking! You just about gave me a heart attack when you woke me up!"

"Well EXCUUUSSEEEEE me!"

"Why you little�"

* * *

"Dotremon! Dotremon, wait up!" Lindsey ran through the forest, trampling over flowers and pushing branches out of the way. It was a good thing she had made him purple, she decided. Otherwise he wouldn�t show up against the pink and green as well as he did.

The purple Digimon disappeared beneath another of the large flowers, and Lindsey coaxed more speed from her legs as she approached the spot where he had vanished. She found her Digimon, but he wasn�t alone.

Beyond the flower was a little clearing, with another human girl and an In-Training Digimon. They were arguing with such heat that they hadn�t even noticed Dotremon or Lindsey yet. It took her a moment to identify them, but the girl�s orange baseball cap finally tipped her off.

"Tania! And . . . Munamon!"

That shut them up. As one, they looked.

"Lina?" asked the girl.

She smoothed her blue-green turtleneck nervously. "Actually, my name is Lindsey. But I guess that here I�m Lina. I�m wearing her clothes."

"Yeah!" Tania grinned. "You know, if you had used your real name you wouldn�t have that problem. Oh, and hi, Dotremon."

"Hi!" chirped the purple head. He looked up at his partner. "I knew the Digi-Destined had to be together, so I followed the other light that landed the same time you did."

As Lina bent to pick him up, Tania said, "Wow. You and me, Digi-Destined, huh? That would explain these, I guess." She stared at her digi-vice. "I wonder who else is here?"

The blonde girl shook her head. "This is unbelievable. I mean, it�s really real, isn�t it?"

Tania shrugged. "Looks like. Hey, it�s doing something!"

"What?" Lina looked to her own digi-vice. It was beeping faintly, and a little round light was displayed on the screen.

"All right! More of us! Come on, let�s go!" Tania set out, leading the way. Lina shrugged and followed.

* * *

Kristina felt herself falling. Her eyes were shut tight and her teeth were clenched. "So this is what death feels like," she thought. She saw her entire life was passing before her. Then everything went black. . . .

"Kristtiiiinaaaa . . . ." whispered a soft voice. Kristina slowly opened her eyes. She was in Heaven . . . or was she? "KRISTINA!" the little Digimon shrieked in her ear.

Kristina screamed and jumped up in the air. "OH NO, I'm in HELL!"

Autumon looked at her strangely. "Ya know, you really shouldn't use that word on a kids� show."

Kristina turned to the Digimon and blinked. "So . . . am I dead or not?"

"Why would you wanna die?" Autumon asked. She was a bit confused by her partner�s strange behavior. "Kristina, is there something we need to talk about?"

"No! That's not what I mean! And how do you know my name?" Just then it hit Kristina like a ton of bricks. ". . . .Autumon?"

Autumon looked up at her and smiled. "Yup! That�s me." Kristina bent down to pick the little Digimon up. She was gray with two brown marks on each cheek, and had the coolest aqua-colored eyes. Her long ears flapped as she opened her mouth to speak. "I've been waiting for you to come!"

"Wow!" replied the girl. "You�re everything I imagined you would be."

"Looks like you got your wish!"

"My wish?" She then remembered what she had said just before she was sucked into the sky. . . .

"If we never had to draw the Digimon anymore to show what they looked like. I wish Jay were real. . . ."

"Oh . . . my. . . ." Kristina's mouth dropped open. "Then this must be. . . ."

"The Digiworld?" said Autumon.

"And that means I'm a. . . ."

"Digi-Destined?"

"Arg! I can finish my own sentences, thank you very much!" snapped Kristina.

"Okay, okay . . . I get the message and stop squeezing me like that! Geez, it's a good thing I have no spine!"

Just then Kristina's digi-vice began to beep. "Oh!" She held it up. "My digi-vice tells me that there is another Digi-Destined not too far from here."

"Wow, you�re good. You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Well, I guess you can say I've had some sort of experience." She winked. "We'd better get moving fast if we wanna catch this kid!" With Autumon planted securely under her arm she took off into the woods.

* * *

Skye sat up and dusted herself off. She didn't want to believe what was really happening. "Great!" she moaned. "HELLO! HELP!" she called out into the open. She kicked some dirt in front of her and winced ". . . .My head."

She lied back down with her arms spread out on the grass.

"Oh, you�re awake!" said a voice. Skye slowly turned her head to see a familiar white rabbit-like Digimon. It hopped towards Skye and their eyes met as they came face to face. "Are you okay? I thought I heard you scream."

Skye was silent, then twitched. "Ahhhhhhhhhh! HELP!"

The Digimon's ears perked up. "Yeah, it sounded just like that!"

* * *

"Hey Kristina, ya hear that?" said Autumon.

Kristina stopped and listened. "Yup, that's another human all right. Come on, let's go!" Kristina ran as fast as she could, following the other girl's cries.

* * *

Skye continued to kick the Digimon away from her. "Go away!"

"But Skye. . . ." Babybunnimon continued to speak, while trying to dodge Skye's foot. "It's me! Babybunnimon!"

Skye took off her locket and was about to throw it at the creature. "What the. . . ." She stopped and noticed the gold star-shaped locket she was holding in her hand. "No way!" Her eyes grew wide as she opened it and a familiar tune filled the air.

Skye listened to the melody and gasped. "Th-this can't be happening."

"Are you okay?" a female voice panted.

Skye dropped the locket and turned around. "I. . . ." Her voice shook.

"Wait a minute. . . ." said Kristina. "Mimi?"

Skye blinked, obviously confused. "What?"

Kristina stepped forward a bit to get a better look at the blue-haired girl in front of her. "You�re Mimi, aren't you?" She raised an eyebrow. "What happened to your pink hair?" she frowned.

"I'm not Mimi. I'm Skye, and my hair is always this color!" she snapped. "Well, maybe not always." She smiled slightly. "I'm sorry I snapped at you like that. I'm not always this way."

Kristina smiled as she gestured to shake Skye�s hand "Don't worry about it," she winked. "I'm Kristina and this is Autumon."

She held Autumon up in front of her. "Nice to meet ya, Skye."

"Hey, where's your Digimon?" Kristina questioned. "You have one too, don't you?"

Skye then remembered Babybunnimon. "Oh man. . . ." She realized what she had done. "Ummm. . . ."

The little Digimon hopped out in front of them "I'm right here!"

Skye's eyes welled up with tears as she picked up her Digimon. "Oh Babybunnimon! I'm so sorry for attacking you like that! Please forgive me?" she cried.

"You�re forgiven." Skye continued to hug her Digimon. "Ack! Skye . . . I . . . can't breathe!" Babybunnimon choked. They were interrupted by the beeping of their digi-vices.

"There it goes again!" said Autumon.

Skye released her Digimon and held up her digi-vice "Yeah, mine's doing it too. So what are we waiting for?"

The two girls set out into the woods. "Wait, Skye! You forgot this!" cried Babybunnimon as she quickly grabbed Skye's locket. "Huh." She heard a faint rustle in the bushes behind her. It made her whiskers twitch. Something didn't feel right. With Skye's locket safely in her mouth, she hopped away.

Sure enough, a pair of blood-red eyes had been watching their every move. "Hmmm." The creature stirred, then mysteriously slipped away.

* * *

"Em! Em! I think we should go!"

"Hold on a sec, Kintermon." The shorthaired girl peered out the window of the small hut she had awoken in. It had been quite a shock to find herself in an imaginary land, in the very hut from her own fanfic nonetheless, but with the help of her In-Training Digimon she had come to accept it shortly.

"But Em! I really think we need to go! You�re digi-vice keeps beeping and beeping!"

She glanced down at the pink fox head with two feet and two tails. "We�ll go in a minute. I just want to make sure there�s nothing dangerous out there." The view from the window seemed to be deserted, though, so she opened the door. A wide path stretched from the front door down a gently sloping hill to the beach. Behind the hut sprouted a forest of big-leafed trees.

"Don�t worry, Em. I�ll protect us from anything mean and nasty!" Kintermon grinned, jumping out of the hut to join her.

Emily glanced at her digi-vice, still demanding attention. "We�d better follow this signal. I�ll bet it leads us to other Digi-Destined!"

"That�s what I�ve been trying to say!" Kintermon insisted, bouncing down the trail.

"Kintermon! Wait!"

"Huh?" The pink Digimon turned back. "What?"

Emily smiled. "You�re going in the wrong direction."

Kintermon blushed. "Oops."

Laughing, her human partner led the way around the hut and into the forest.

* * *

"Wha-what was that?" Alex gulped, crouched low on the ground. Nakomon, a red In-Training Digimon with blue triangles on either side of his head/body, growled threateningly.

"I dunno, Alex, but don�t worry. I�ll beat the snot out of anything that tries to mess with us!"

"Sorry, Nakomon, but that�s not very comforting." Alex was still pretty shocked about this whole thing, but he had enough wits about him to know an In-Training Digimon wasn�t really that strong. And he didn�t want anything to happen to his new friend! "I think maybe we should head in the other direction."

"What!? Just run away!?"

"Shhh!" Alex clamped a hand over his Digimon�s mouth and gathered him up in his arms. The faint, occasional rustle in the bushes seemed a little louder this time. Nervously, the boy edged away. When the noises grew so loud it seemed they might break through any minute�and he still couldn�t see anything�Alex turned around and headed as quietly as he could in the opposite direction.

"I�m not afraid," he insisted to Nakomon a little later, when they had lost the noises (not to mention themselves). "I�m just being careful."

Nakomon gave a toothy grin. "Don�t worry Alex. We�ll be okay!"

He smiled back, already feeling like Nakomon was his best friend. "Thanks, buddy." Another noise made him look up. "Uh oh. What�s that?" It sounded real close!

"Grrrr!" Nakomon leaped down from Alex�s arms, bearing his fangs. "Show yourself or you�ll be sorry!"

"Oh yeah?" A tiny pink Digimon trotted out from under the bushes. "Hey! It�s another human! EMILY!"

"I�m coming, I�m coming!" An older girl with short black hair, holding a digi-vice in one hand, pushed her way through the bushes to them. She looked at Alex, a bit startled. "Oh! It seems we�ve found another Digi-Destined. Who�re you? I�m Emily, and this is Kintermon."

"I�m Alex, and he�s Nakomon." The short, brown-haired boy pointed to his Digimon, who still looked suspicious. "Were you pulled here from the real world? From Earth?"

"That�s right, just like the cartoon." Emily nodded. They chatted a while more, then their digi-vices went off once again. The four of them started walking.

* * *

Jennifer and Shelli stopped in a cleared area in the middle of the forest. A bird�s eye view showed it to look like a big circle, lined with trees. Almost like a pitcher�s mound in the middle of a baseball field, only bigger. The two girls and their Digimon looked around and noticed separate paths all around, leading straight to where they were standing.

"So, now what . . . fearless leader?" Shelli grinned.

Jenn was still trying to catch her breath. "What? Who said I was leader?" The goggle-headed girl glared at her partner.

"Well, think about it Jenn," Shelli stated, pointing directly to the goggles on Jenn's head.

"What, because I'm wearing goggles, that makes me �the leader�?" She lifted the elastic band and metal rings over her long red ponytail and aggressively threw them on the ground. "I don't think so!" She looked down at the object, now lying in a mound of dirt next to her feet.

"Jenn, don't be like that!" Junumon's voice squeaked. She looked up at her partner with sad blue eyes. Jenn just sighed.

Just then: "Hey Lexxy! Ya hear that?" Eekamon cried. It was the sound of footsteps. He began to sniff the earth around him. "Yay! It's a human. . . ." He sniffed again. "Two of them, and they each have a have Digimon!"

"Cool!" Shelli smiled. "Come on, let�s go meet them!"

"No wait, they're heading in this direction." said Junumon, also monitoring the sound. "They'll find us," she added with a wink.

"Good idea, Junumon!" agreed Jenn.

"My feet are killing me already," Eekamon complained.

Sure enough, two other human girls appeared in the exact same spot, each holding their In-Training Digimon.

"DANI!" cried Jenn as she got up to great her other friend.

"Jenn? Wow! This is awesome!" Dani squealed. Shelli walked over to the other blonde-haired girl standing next to them. Eekamon followed. The eight of them began to make conversation.

"YES!" another human's voice rang out. It was Lina, with her of course was yet another familiar face.

"TANIA! LINA! Oh my god!" Shelli raced over to greet them.

"Lexxy!" they both cried together.

She threw her hands over her head in aggravation. "That�s it! Fine, I�m Lexxy then!" Tania and Lina looked confused at her outburst.

"Hey, don't forget us!" Dotremon and Munamon said together.

Lexxy smiled. "Of course not."

More humans and their Digimon arrived. One group after the other. Regardless of the fact that they had never actually met before, and some hadn�t even spoken, there was no discomfort between them whatsoever.

* * *

"Unbelievable!" said Skye. "It's like the only thing that was ever separating us was a computer screen." The blue-haired girl cradled her sleeping Digimon. They were all sitting around in one big circle. All the Digimon were fast asleep, completely worn out from all the excitement.

"So, any thought as to why we were sent here?" asked Emily.

Jennifer stretched her arms out and yawned. "The usual," she said.

"Ya mean, defending the digital world against the evil powers of darkness?" Dani grinned.

"Yup!" Jenn nodded.

"Wait a sec, you guys," started Lexxy. Everybody stopped talking and listened as she continued. "We have to remember something here. If this place is anything like the TV show, then we really should choose our actions carefully. I mean, if this was an actual episode, our very presence could alter the entire story . . . or even the show itself!"

"You mean like in that fanfic you and I wrote?" said Jenn.

Lexxy nodded. "Exactly!"

"Oh, I get it! Like if we do something differently, it could really mess up the ending," said Dani.

"Something like that," Lexxy giggled.

"So, I guess all we can do at this point is sit and wait for something to happen," said Skye.

Suddenly the ground began to shake furiously. Everybody covered his or her head. In a few seconds the shaking stopped. "That'll work," Skye joked, lifting herself off the ground. Everybody else did the same. The Digimon were wide-awake and ready to take action.

"Nobody move!" yelled Eekamon.

A piercing yet familiar screech was heard, not too far away.

"Kuwagamon!" cried Lexxy.

Jenn looked upward, holding one hand above her eyes. "I should have known." The huge red beetle-like Digimon swooped right over their heads.

"So, what's our game plan, coach?" asked Lexxy.

"Why are you asking me?!"

" 'Cause you�re the leader, remember?"

"Oh. For the love of. . . ."

"That does it!" yelled the little fox Digimon next to Jenn's feet. She was holding a pair of dirty goggles in her mouth and laid them in front of her human partner.

"Junumon?" Jenn was surprised at the little Digimon's tone.

"I know you�re scared and confused, and I don't blame you. After all I've been through, I should know. But I never gave up, and neither should you!" Junumon's eyes were full of anger and frustration. "I know you would make a good leader, Jenn, if you'd just try!"

Jennifer was speechless. She just stood there in total shock. "Me, a leader?" she mumbled. Kuwagamon was turning around, ready to snatch up his prey. Jenn had to make a decision, and fast!

"So, Jenn? What's it gonna be?" Jennifer looked down at the goggles on the ground. She then gazed down at Junumon. The little Digimon's big blue eyes looked up at her pitifully. Jenn looked back at the goggles. She slowly bent down and took them in her glove.

Junumon smiled. "That's my girl!" Jenn stood up in a dramatic pose as she lifted the elastic strap over her ponytail and fastened it around her forehead. The lenses glittered in the sunlight.

"Alright, you guys. . . ." she announced, waving one hand wildly in the air. "LET'S SQUASH THAT BUG!"