"(Pant! Pant! Pant!)"

He ran through brush, bush and foliage, ignoring the slashes and cuts he was getting from them as he tried his best to throw off his pursuers. He had ran like this for days; his hair was messy with dirt and blood, and his face was haggard and unshaven. His clothes were ragged and torn, and his hands were dashed with cuts and bruises.

Still, he continued to run. He ran until he could run no more, and even then he kept running.

He had to find them. He had to call them back. They were his world's only hope. They could save it from-

Suddenly, he stumbled and fell. He tried to get up and continue running, but his pursuers surrounded him. He wiped blood from his lip and looked up.

His gaze was met by a fierce kick in the jaw. He flopped to the ground and opened one eye to his assailant.

"Boy, you're stupid," a fierce-looking, dark-haired man chuckled. "Why you even try to fight back is beyond me. No one's gonna believe you."

"No one will believe me here..." the boy hacked. "But..."

"Don't tell me you actually believe those fairy tales?" the man snorted as he kicked the boy again. "Those kids ain't gonna be comin' back."

"We'll... see about that..." the boy choked.

"Enough talk. Get 'im!" the man said as he motioned to his two underlings. Four strong hands forced the boy down and searched him all over. Finally, one of them pulled out a yellowed, ancient book.

"Here they are, master Law," a deep voice said.

"The scriptures, eh?..." Law asked, a sadistic grin covering his face. "You've been a bad boy."

"Only in your eyes!" the boy said as he made a quick gesture with his hand. "TERMINAL WINDS!!!"

"What?!" Law asked as a huge blast of wind knocked the book out of his grasp. The aged literature flew up into the air, tore itself into pieces and disappeared on the breeze.

"They'll find them now..." the boy chuckled. "Just you wait."

"Heh! Gutsy one, this one..." the man harrumphed as he turned to his subordinates. "I don't usually take prisoners, but Issac's payin' me to catch, not cleave. Chuck him in the garrison! "

As rough hands grabbed him, the boy cast one last look up at the sky. "(Please find the scriptures and save our world...)" he thought quietly.

---

"Boy, it sure is windy today..." young Tomoki "Tommy" Himi commented as he walked down the main street of his neighborhood in Shinjuku, Japan. "I wonder if a storm's brewing?"

Suddenly, a yellow piece of paper flew up and plastered itself to his face. "Hey! What the?!" he cried as he yanked it off and looked at it. "Hey, this looks really old..." he murmured as he ran his fingers over it. "...(sniff)... And it smells old, too... Hmm? Looks like there's writing on it..."

Tommy squinted at the faded lettering. He was able to make out these words:

THE TAKAISHI SCRIPTURES

"Takaishi Scriptures?" Tommy asked as he looked the paper over. "What... What is this?..."

ker-plop presents DIGIMON; TRUTH BE TOLD Part VI of The Barbarian Chronicles

CHAPTER 1

REUINITED (AND IT FEELS SO GOOD)

"Aww, man," Takuya Kanbara groaned as he wandered around an empty hallway, clutching his bookbag. It was his first day of seventh grade at his new school, and he had no idea of where anything was. He glanced all around the hall for his scheduled classroom, but couldn't see it anywhere.

"Maybe it's the next hall over," Takuya panted as he charged down a different corridor. "Yeah, real nice, Takuya... You can mix it up with dark forces, but your sense of direction totally blows."

Takuya wasn't an ordinary boy; the previous summer, he had been sent on a grand adventure to an entirely different world with five other kids. The adventure wasn't all fun and games, though; evil energies were coursing through that world, and Takuya and his friends had been chosen to put a stop to it. They were granted the power of "Spirit Evolution," meaning that they could fuse their very essences with those of ancient elemental warriors. Takuya had been chosen to bear the element of fire, and as such was entrusted two powerful spirits, which he used in alongside his friends to bring the violence to an abrupt end.

Of course, being hailed as a hero did little to console Takuya as he bolted through the hallways. Finally, though, his persistence paid off; he arrived at his designated homeroom. "Whoo... Thank goodness..." he panted as he walked into the classroom.

Much to Takuya's surprise, the teacher wasn't in the room. "Whew!" Takuya sighed with relief. "Dodged a bullet on that one..."

"Is that so, young man?" a low voice behind Takuya rasped.

"Ulp!" Takuya gulped as he whirled around and came face to face with a grumpy-looking gentleman. "Uh... Are you the teacher?..." he asked.

"Indeed," the man said. "You're five minutes late. What kept you?"

"I'm sorry, sir," Takuya apologized profusely. "This is my first day here, and I got lost. It won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't," the teacher said with a wry smile. "Now take your seat, and we'll begin our lessons."

Takuya found his desk and sat down. As the teacher began an extremely enthralling lecture on dental care, Takuya glanced around to see what other kinds of kids he was going to be studying with this term. It looked like the usual group; the bigoted brainiac kid, the class clown, the nose-picker, the blackboard-licker, the blonde girl with the purple blazer...

...The blonde girl with the purple blazer? Takuya looked again, and instantly his face lit up in joy and surprise; sitting right next to him was his good friend Izumi "Zoe" Orimoto, one of the other kids that he'd travelled with. Zoe was a cheerful, energetic girl who had been chosen for the element of wind during their adventure. Zoe was always in a good mood, no matter the situation.

Zoe happened to glance Takuya's way and mirrored his expressions perfectly. She smiled warmly at him and gave a friendly wave.

"(Wow! I had no idea that Zoe was at this school,)" Takuya thought as he smiled back at her before turning back to the lecture. "(I'll have to talk with her later. Wow; what luck! At least there's someone I know here, now...)"

---

"Aww, man," Junpei "JP" Shibayama muttered as he crossly poked at a geometry worksheet. "The first day of school, and already they're giving out these horrible assignments... What's the world coming to?"

JP sighed and stared out the window at the bright fall day. "I wonder what everyone else is doing right now?" he asked himself. "I haven't heard from them all summer... Sure wish I coulda seen them more... I wonder how Zoe's doing?... "

JP sighed again and looked down at his paper. "Well, this isn't going to finish itself," he grumbled as he set to work on the first problem.

"Um, excuse me..." a soft voice said.

JP looked up and saw a shy-looking girl with bluish-violet hair standing by his desk and clutching another copy of the homework. "Do you... Do you know how to do these problems?..." she asked.

"Well, uh..." JP said as he glanced between his paper and the girl. "I just got started on it myself..."

"Oh. I see..." The girl said as she began to turn away.

"Hang on," JP quickly said as he remembered everything his friends had taught him about being sociable. "Why don't we do them together?"

The girl turned and looked at JP questioningly. "Together?..." she asked. "Are... Are you sure?"

"Sure!" JP laughed. "Why not? Two heads are better than one, you know!"

The girl smiled shyly and bowed quickly. "I'm Kozue Hokusai," she said.

"Folks just call me JP," JP said as he returned the bow. "Nice to meet you, Kozue. So, let's take a swing at question 1..."

---

"Fancy running into you here, Zoe," Takuya chuckled as Zoe and he sat together in the school cafeteria during the brief 20-minute lunch break. "What brings you to this school?"

"Oh, my parents noticed that this school had the highest multicultural student ratio, so they sent me here," Zoe replied. "After so much time in Italy, I guess they wanted me to socialize with all sorts of kids."

"That's cool," Takuya said. "I'm just here since it's the closest to my house."

"You live near here?" Zoe asked. "That's neat! It must be nice to be able to walk to school..."

"Yeah, real nice," Takuya chuckled. "Even when all the roads are snowed in and it's 50 below, I can still hike to school... What luck, eh?..."

Zoe laughed. "Same old Takuya," she remarked. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you," Takuya replied. "Well, since we're virtually in all the same classes, we might as well start studying together, or something..."

"Yeah..." Zoe remarked as she chewed her lunch thoughtfully. "...Or something."

"Ah, that reminds me," Takuya suddenly spoke. "I got a phone call from Tommy yesterday, and he said he had something to show me."

"Tommy?" Zoe asked. "Doesn't he go to your old elementary school now?"

"Yup," Takuya said. "I was going to head over there after school to meet up with him. Wanna come?"

"I'd have to OK it with my folks, but I'd love to," Zoe replied. "I haven't seen Tommy all summer."

"Yeah," Takuya agreed. "I spent a lot of time with him these past three months, considering that we both go to the soccer fields a lot... Man, is he fast."

"I really haven't seen anybody lately," Zoe admitted. "JP's at the new high school all the way across town, and I have no idea where Kouji or Kouichi are..."

Takuya gave Zoe an odd look, then chuckled a bit. "What's so funny?" Zoe asked.

"You don't know where they are?" Takuya said as he pointed over her shoulder. "Why don't you ask 'em?"

"What the-" Zoe asked as she turned around. Standing behind her were the twin brothers Kouji and Kouichi, two more of the "Digidestined." Tough, quiet Kouji bore the element of light, while soft-spoken Kouichi held darkness. At the moment, though, both of them looked happy to see their old friends.

"Hey, fellas," Kouji said in his usual cool demeanor. "Mind if we sit down?"

"Kouji! Kouichi!" Zoe exclaimed happily. "Of course! Sure! Please, sit down!"

The twin brothers took seats on either side of the table and joined into the conversation. "We haven't seen you two in ages," Kouichi said. "How are you?"

"Not bad, not bad," Takuya chuckled. "How'd you guys end up at this school, anyway?"

"It's the exact midpoint between our two homes," Kouji said. "So we decided to attend. Can you believe that?"

The four friends chattered on about their summers and schoolwork and whatnot until the subject turned back to Tommy's call. "...So, I'm going to go and see what's up, and if Zoe can get permission, she will, too," Takuya finished. "Would you two like to come?"

---

Kouji and Kouichi agreed to come, too, and at the end of the school day, the four friends arrived at the elementary school. The sun had just begun to set, casting long shadows on the playground structures.

"Looks just like how I remember it," Takuya said as he looked around.

"So, where's Tommy?" Zoe asked as she glanced across the empty play areas.

"Ah. There," Kouji said as he pointed towards the swing set; Tommy's familiar oversized hat was clearly visible on the kid sitting there.

Takuya and his friends walked over to the swings, where Tommy rocked back and forth. He looked both excited and nervous as he anxiously glanced over his shoulder every few moments.

"Tommy! Hey!" Takuya called as he got within earshot.

"Takuya!" Tommy laughed happily as he ran to his friends. "You came! That's great! Kouji, Kouichi, Zoe, hi!... Hey, where's JP?"

"He's at a new school now," Kouichi replied. "I haven't seen him all summer..."

"Well..." Tommy said. "I didn't wanna show this without everyone around, but this is close enough..." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the crinkled, yellowed paper. "I found this a few weeks ago... It looks important!"

"'The Takaishi Scriptures...'" Takuya read aloud. "'A recounting of the early history...'" He stopped reading.

"The early history of what?" Kouichi asked. "What's up, Takuya?"

"Don't keep us in suspense," Kouji growled. "Keep reading!"

"'A recounting of the early history...'" Takuya reread. "'...of the Digital World...'"

There was a long pause.

"...Say what?!" Zoe exclaimed.

"See for yourself," Takuya said as he handed the paper around. Sure enough, the entire phrase was printed on it.

"Incredible..." Kouichi said, his eyes wide in amazement.

"Digital World?!" Kouji asked. "THE Digital World?!"

"This paper looks pretty old..." Zoe remarked as she felt the paper. "I saw paper scrolls in Italy that were over 500 years old that looked about like this..."

"And look at the tears and rips along this edge," Kouichi pointed out. "I'd say this came out of a book, or something..."

"A book, huh?" Kouji asked as he snagged the paper and turned it over. "Ah, I thought as much."

"What's that, Kouji?" Takuya asked. "Would ya mind cluing us in?"

"If it's a book, it has to have an author," Kouji said. "...And authors usually write their names somewhere on the cover page... And here it is."

Everyone squinted hard at the Japanese kanji scribbled on the back of the paper. "Why didn't we see that before?" Zoe asked. "Ah, well. Can anyone make this out? It's pretty scraped up..."

"Ta...ker...keru... Ta...kaish...kaishi," Takuya read slowly. "Takeru Takaishi."

"Takeru Takaishi?" Kouichi asked. "But isn't he a famous novelist?"

"Yeah, I've heard of him!" Tommy exclaimed. "He writes fantasy books that would put Tolkien to shame!"

"Maybe we should find Mr. Takaishi and ask him about this..." Takuya said. "In the meantime, we should find JP and tell him about it..."

"Yeah," Kouji agreed. "We should let him know; he's as important to the team as the rest of us."

"Also, let's keep our eyes peeled..." Takuya said as he studied the paper further. "From the looks of this paper, it was torn out of its book... There could be more pages lying around somewhere..."

"Do you think all the pages are ripped out, or just a few?" Tommy asked.

"Who can say?" Kouji asked. "We'll just have to look and find out."

"We should all do different things to get to the bottom of this..." Kouichi suggested. "One of us should get ahold of JP and fill him in. Some others should try to get in contact with Mr. Takaishi about this. And the rest of us should look around for more of these pages..."

"Good thinking, Kouichi," Takuya said. "I'll go and find JP; I know where his school is."

"All right," Kouji said. "I'll work with Kouichi on getting in touch with this Takaishi guy. Tommy, Zoe, that leaves you two to keep an eye open for more papers..."

"You bet!" Tommy said cheerfully.

"Gee, of course, 'Captain...'" Zoe muttered as she mock-saluted Kouji.

"OK, then," Takuya said. "I'm off to find JP. See you guys later!" He turned and raced off down the street.

"As enthusiastic as ever..." Kouichi said.

"As foolhardy as ever, you mean," Kouji grumbled.

Zoe watched Takuya run off, then turned to Tommy. "Let's check around where you found the first page, Tommy," she said.

"OK!" Tommy replied as he started leading Zoe towards the main street.

---

Takuya ran home, grabbed his bike and pedaled across town to the high school. As he pedaled, he recalled the Digital World adventure and JP's role in it.

"JP..." he grumbled as he pedaled. "He started out as a big, fat pain in the butt, but he turned out OK... Of course, he always was after Zoe, no matter how ferociously she rejected him... Well, I have to clue him in on this, regardless..."

Takuya came to a halt outside the large, intimidating high school building. "Well, here we are..." he said as he glanced around. "I wonder where JP would be hanging out?..."

Takuya dismounted his bike, chained it to a post and set foot onto the school grounds in search of his large friend. "Leave it to JP to be in a big place like this..." he chuckled. "Well, I guess I could ask about him at the main office-OOMPH!"

Takuya collided with a firm shape and crashed to the ground. He looked up to see a tough-looking high school student glaring down at him. "Uh..." Takuya gulped. "...Sorry?"

"Well, lookie here..." the student growled as he cracked his knuckles. "Looks like a middle school rat wandered in... Guess I'm gonna hafta call the exterminator!"

"No, please," Takuya said as he got up. "Sorry I bumped into you. Look, I'm just here looking for a friend of mine, and-"

The angry boy grabbed Takuya by the collar and lifted him up. "I don't like havin' twerps like you touchin' my threads," he snarled as he pulled his fist back. "You need to be taught a lesson!..."

"Hey, Kiyouichi!" a familiar voice called. "Leave him alone!"

"That voice..." Takuya said. Suddenly, he was sitting on the ground in front of Kiyouichi and looking at a cross-looking JP. A quiet-looking, bluish-violet-haired girl stood behind him with a nervous look on her face.

"Heh! What're you lookin' at, fresh meat?!" Kiyouichi growled.

"He's with me!" JP said as he motioned for Takuya to come to him. "Got a problem with that?!"

"You bet I do!" Kiyouichi chuckled cruelly as Takuya ran behind JP. "Uppity freshmen like you need to be put in their places, an' I'm just the guy to do that! Say yer prayers!!!" He started towards the threesome with his fists balled.

"Now what?!" Takuya asked.

"...Now we run!" JP said as he quickly turned and fled.

"What?!" Takuya yelled as he chased after JP. "Some plan!!!"

"H-hey, wait for me!!!" the girl cried as she ran after the boys.

The three kids reached Takuya's bike, unhooked it and promptly sped down a back alley, where nobody would think to chase them.

"Whew..." Takuya panted. "That was a close one..."

"You're tellin' me..." JP panted. "That Kiyouichi... He's no good."

There was a brief pause, and then Takuya and JP grinned at each other. "So, how've you been?" Takuya laughed.

"Same ol', same ol!" JP chuckled as the two friends slapped palms.

"Ah..." the girl said. "You two know each other?"

"Oh!" Takuya said as he looked over at the girl. "Hello, there! What's your name?"

"Taky, this is my new friend Kozue," JP said as he introduced the girl. "We're in almost every class together! Neat, huh? Kozue, this is my good buddy Takuya."

"I... It's good to meet you, Takuya," Kozue said as she bowed shyly.

"Likewise," Takuya replied.

"So, what've you been up to, Taky?" JP asked. "Hey, how's everyone else? How's Zoe? Does she ever ask about me?"

Takuya chuckled. "Heh. You never change a bit, pal," he said. "Actually, I came to get you; Tommy discovered something really strange, and we thought you should know about it. It's about, you know..."

"No, I don't," JP said.

"You know..." Takuya said as he moved JP out of Kozue's earshot. "...That place."

"Oh! The Digital World?" JP asked.

"D'oh!" Takuya winced; he hadn't wanted to blurt it out loud; he didn't know Kozue very well, and she might think they were both crazy.

"The Digital World?" Kozue asked. "That... That sounds exciting..."

"What?" Takuya asked with befuddlement.

"Oh, I guess I haven't filled you in," JP said. "Kozue knows all about the Digital World."

"She does?!" Takuya asked. "But... But how?!"

Kozue smiled shyly and withdrew a book from her backpack. "I... I like reading about it," she said as she showed Takuya the book. "This guy writes all about it. It sounds wonderful..."

Takuya inspected the book. The cover read as follows:

THE DESTINED TWELVE

A Chronicle of our Adventure in the Digital World

Written by Takeru Takaishi

"I didn't know this was a book series either, until Kozue showed it to me," JP explained. "The subject came up at lunch, and before you know it, she handed me the book. It's really good!"

"Takaishi?..." Takuya asked as he read the author's name again. "...Hey, that's just like..." He handed the book back to Kozue. "JP, come on; we've gotta meet the others."

"Well, OK," JP said. "School's over and my folks don't usually expect me back late anyway."

Takuya glanced at Kozue, who was shyly staring at her feet. "Kozue, you can come along too if you'd like..." he offered.

"...Oh?..." Kozue asked. "I... Um... Thank you..."

"So, where's everyone meeting?" JP asked as they walked.

"Kouji and Kouichi are researching something, and Zoe and Tommy are-"

"Zoe?!" JP chuckled as his eyes lit up. "Well, let's go and see her! What're we waiting for?!" he merrily dashed down the alley.

"Zoe?..." Kozue asked. "Umm... Is she... a friend of JP's?..."

"Sure," Takuya said. "JP's got lots of friends. I'm sure they'd love to meet you!"

"Well, um, OK..." Kozue said as she followed Takuya.