Digimon: Horizons

by Alban

Chapter 2

            Alexx was the first to wake up. It seemed to be early morning, and there was a thick mist in the air. Nearby lay her three friends, who appeared to be in a deep sleep. "Well, first things first! Check their pulses!" Alexx walked over to Julie and pressed two fingers on her wrist. "Still breathing." Then she walked over to Marron. And pressed again. Out of nowhere, his eyes opened and he shot up.

            "DON'T DO THAT!" He said, visibly shaken. "You could thank me for making sure you're alive! I know CPR." "And chances are I'd be dead if you only just got to me. But...thank you anyway." Marron tended to avoid arguments, but he stilll had his moments. Looking around wide eyed, he popped the big question: "Where the heck are we?"

            "Dunno if I have an idea." As Alexx spoke, the others roused from their slumber. "Mornin..? Wait, weren't we in the computer lab, when that light and sounds and the SHOOOO and the frozen feeling?" Julie recalled in more detail for several minutes until Chris said aloud, "That sounds about right. I propose we take a look around to see if we're just outside of the school, or something." So the four of them began walking around the area.

            Alexx looked up. "Was that the rustle of leaves? I keep hearing it, and there's no wind. I vote we send Ben out to investigate."

            "Ay!" "Ay." "No way!"

            "Marron, if something bites your head off, we'll know it's not safe." "Chris, you are SO REASSURING." Marron tiptoed over to a nearby bush with large pink flowers on it, and peered thru the leaves. Two marine blue eyes stared right back. "AHHHH, good god it's a monster!" He turned to run, but caught a rock and fell on the damp soil.

            "I'm not going to eat you, you dork." The creature had large pointed ears and was about 2.5 or 3 feet tall.. It had matted red fur with a purple backside, and several feather/tail like things like peacocks have. "My name's Elecmon. It's nice to meet you, uhh..."

            "Benjamin. Benjamin Alban Marron. P-People just call me Marron. It's..uh... nice to meet you, Elecmon." Elecmon stuck out his hand, which had thick sharp studs instead of fingers.  "Shake hands? That's what my elders said to do when you meet a human." "Uh... sure...." They shook hands, and Marron suddenly finished by asking "Can I say something?" "Go ahead, at least I know you can talk pretty well. I thought you'd be speaking another language from what I was told." Marron gave a curious look. "No, just English. But what are you?"

            "I'm a-" "EEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK!! HELP!!" "ALEXX, what's going on! Is there a problem?" I 'm running to check. You can come if you want." "With your running, you'll look like a potato, all tan and covered with dirt. Sure I'll come. Better yet, follow me, I know my way around..." Elecmon then darted off towards the direction of the scream. "HEY! WAIT UP!"

            A few moments later, they arrived at a clearing, where Alexx was hanging off of a low tree branch. "Ben! Stop staring and get that thing away!!!" She moved her head towards a second creature staring up at her. This creature looked like a fox. It had orange-brown fur with sparkling viridian eyes, and more notably, it had a small pendant with a red stone around its neck. "Hey, wait, that thing's wearing khaki shorts Alexx!" The fox sent a glance towards him, and then towards Elecmon. "Well, it seems you have your partner Elecmon. I'll wait for mine to climb down. I never knew humans could jump so high." "Screw the talking animal! He sounds like a smug high school guy! Uhmmm... I'm coming down!" With a graceful leap, she landed with a soft thud but was on her feet. "Why did you do that! Don't sneak up on people!"

            "Hee Hee."sniggered the fox with a very toothy grin. "That's my way of meeting people. My name's Zoremon."

            "Uhhh...the pleasure is all mine. My name's Alexandra Dover, but I like Alexx, with two x's." "Nice to meet you Alexx with two x's." Ben walked towards Alexx and whispered in her ear. "Psst! Alexx, he must think he's a real comedian. But I saw those teeth of his. Better play along." 

            "Don't be rude Ben. I'm sure he means no harm." "Yeah, BEN.""You would join in on this, wouldn't you Elecmon. Should we find Julie and Chris?" Ben and Alexx began to search for them, Elecmon and Zoremon closely behind.

            By now, the mist was breaking in the golden bask of the mid-morning sun. Thick clumps of trees with small clearings of wildflowers, and a clear stream's gurgle made the land seem like a paradise. "Chris! Julie! Hello!" "Over here! Julie and I are at a stream." Suddenly, Zoremon and Elecmon ran ahead. "Follow us!" "Oh man, not again! Wait!" "Ben, wait FOR ME!"

            A couple minutes later, the little group arrived at the bank of a stream that was maybe as wide as two people, but was active with a splash and the bubbling flow of fresh water.  Julie was talking amiably to what looked like a giant cardinal with teal tipped tail feathers and thick clawed bird-like legs the color of bronze and large wings with arms on the inside, these in a crimson tone. Meanwhile Chris was at the edge of the stream playing with a lion-like creature, with an ancient looking Pharaoh's hat on top of its head and three tails swishing about. It had very cute button like eyes, which actually made it look positively adorable to Chris, even if he wouldn't admit it. Next to Chris were several fish.

            "Well, it seems you guys found some of those creatures too. Ben and I found two more." The bird and the lion looked up. "My name's Avismon, and the cat with a hat is Nemeamon." Avismon sounded like a fifth grade girl, which seemed to compell Julie to talk to her. "I can speak for myself, Avismon."

            "Hey, he sounds like that little kid from Malcolm in the Middle!"

            "SHUT UP MARRON."

            "Chris, you have a thing for cats! I saw your animal project last month. On LIONS."

            "Yeah, well I wish he would chase you down and eat you!""You dirty-"

            "Both of you shut up! you bicker like preschoolers! It drives Alexx and I nuts!"

            "FINE!" and they stood with arms folded away from each other. Alexx walked towards Julie. "Of all the guys in school, we get stuck with those two. They are in constant competition with each other. In everything. They almost died when they discovered they had to work with each other. And somehow, here we are in...where are we?"

            "This is Chrysaor Forest, Mindalay Island, Browser Continent, Digital World."             "Zoremon takes pride in his navigating skills" Elecmon said with sarcastic flourish. Ben smiled and thought. "Perhaps he's a nice uh...Hey! What are you!"

            As if on cue, they all gathered together and shouted in unison: "Digimon: Digital Monsters!"

            Seconds of awkward silence. "Uh...we usually imagine that with music." said Avismon, being apolegetic.

            "That doesn't help." replied Julie. Marron looked as if a lightbulb flashed on in his head. "Hey! That was a cartoon! Remember! I watched that on Saturday mornings! OH NO! We're not... in a TV show!"

            "Uh, no...""Let me try Elecmon. I speak human. HELL NO YA DUMB-"

            "STOP! Watch your tongue." Alexx's eyes glinted with anger. If it was one way to upset her, it was to use curse words. The last time someone dropped the F-bomb, she punched the kid right outside of school property the next chance she had. She was complacent usually, but everyone feared that she was around if they swore.

            "Umm..sorry..." Zoremon tucked his hands in his pockets. That was his sign of being subdued and giving in to demand. He also blushed slightly, so he was embarassed too. "I hope I didn't get off on the wrong foot with what I've done so far..." Alexx returned a pleasant smile. "No, you just go overboard. Try to act a little more...uh...humane, no offense. I think you can."

At this he blushed violently and sat down. Chris, in a moment of thought, began to speak.             "Anyways, I don't think this is a TV show. It's real. Maybe we somehow transported dimensions. Maybe our world and the Digital World are somehow connected, and that computer was a portal. Maybe it did it on purpose, or maybe we we were at the wrong place at the wrong place at the wrong time. The question is, how do we get back?"

            "Chris, I wouldn't say wrong place at the wrong time. That's unfair to the Digimon. They like us here." Julie looked up. "Marron has a point. I think it's nice here too. But we do need to get home. Our families care for us, we may already have been gone an entire day if time runs the same here." Suddenly, another flash of light illuminated the field. A senile sounding voice began to echo over the field.

            "HE-HELLO! I'M THE CRAZY OLD MAN OF THE DIGITAL WORLD. CALL ME COM. YOU ARE HERE FOR A REASON, CHILDREN. THIS WORLD IS UNDER THREAT. THAT TV SHOW, AS YOU CALL IT, TOOK PLACE 20 YEARS AGO. WE HAVEN'T HAD HUMANS SINCE WE FIRST HAD MADONNA. BUT EVIL DOES NOT LIE IN WAIT FOREVER. MEET UP WITH THE OTHER CHILDREN, STAY WITH THE DIGIMON, AND FIND AND DEFEAT THE EVIL. IT IS IN BOTH WORLDS, SO YOUR HOMES ARE UNDER THREAT AS WELL. I BID YOU LUCK AND I WILL CONTACT WHEN I CAN. GOOD LUCK CHILDREN...HOW DO TURN THIS OFF..OH, I SEE..."

            The sky was back to normal. "Uh, that show didn't seem very 80s, but it's a cartoon, who knows. Any ideas? Chris, Julie, Alexx?"