The Frontier Emissary

By BlackExveemon

Chapter One

BlackExveemon: I don’t own any of this and that’s the only time I’m going to say. Apologies for any typos as I’ve only just nabbed a decent word processor. Cassidy, Jethro, Iggy and Dai are all I own. It’s a bit long and descriptive and SPOILS SMASH BROTHERS BRAWL’S ENDING AND STORYLINE SLIGHTLY! Critism welcome as it helps me improve.

The moon hung low over the quiet, surreal town. Although the city was usually crammed with shoppers and over-excited civilians right then the streets were deserted apart from the odd wandering tramp. The lights were out and for a while it was so quiet you'd be able to here a feather drop. Footsteps. Two misshapen figures emerged from the gloom of an abandoned street. One of them was quite short and stubby, the other quite tall and broad-shouldered. They stopped, separated by an old street light.

"Gallantmon."

"Meta Knight."

The moon took that particular moment to emerge from behind a cloud, illuminating the figures in its dingy glow. The stubby figure - Meta Knight - was shaped like a ball. His body and head were one and his arms rather short. He had no legs but he had feet. By his side was a golden sword shaped like a lightning bolt. His body was coated in special armour and he wore a purple cape. The taller figure - Gallantmon - looked like your average fantasy knight only one of his arms was a jousting lance from the forearm down. The crest on his helmet was shaped like a dragon and his armour was paper white. Few knew it but his armour was actually his skin. His cape and crest were both blood red.

"How's the Halberd?" Gallantmon asked in his proud, important-sounding voice.

"I lost it." Meta Knight answered in his deep, Japanese accented voice.

"You lost your battleship?"

"Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Gallantmon narrowed his fierce yellow eyes. Warriors like Meta Knight didn't go around losing their battleships of doom so easily.

"When was this?" he asked, cautiously glancing around for any signs of hidden traps.

"About a month ago," Meta Knight explained, "I would of talked to you sooner but I ran into a spot of bother along the way. You remember Magnamon, right?"

Gallantmon narrowed his eyes down to slits. He was part of an organisation known as the Royal Knights, powerful exalted monsters who guarded the world they lived in. At one time the Royal Knights had served an all-powerful being known as Yggdrasil, but Yggdrasil went mad and needed to be destroyed. Magnamon had remained fiercely loyal to Yggdrasil even though the pain it was causing was obvious and was constantly looking for a way to resurrect Yggdrasil even after the Royal Knights' morals had changed.

"What about him?"

"He's joined up with this new alien force...or so he says anyway. I was quite happily flying the Halberd for the first time in about three years when HE shows up and takes me by surprise. I asked him what the heck he was doing and he answered with 'Subspace'. Sounds a bit alien, so I'm guessing that's what it is..."

"Magnamon is back?"

"Did he ever go away?"

"After his first crazy attempt to bring Yggdrasil back to life we kicked him out of the Royal Knights. Shortly after that we helped Lady Ophanimon fight Cherubimon when he went insane. Sadly two other Royal Knights - Crusadermon and Dynasmon - went funny in the head and JOINED Cherubimon!"

"Ouch. He kind of looked weird, I mean his skin is blue, right?"

"Yes."

"Well it was a dark grey when I met him. His eyes were neon green rather than red and his armour was bronze rather than gold and it wasn't glowing like it normally does."

"Magnamon stole the Halberd?"

"Basically, yeah."

"But why?"

"Well, he said 'Subspace' but you've got to admit, it's a pretty darn awesome battleship..."

Gallantmon straightened up a bit.

"Magnamon wouldn't go for the Halberd for THAT reason," he said, "I know him, and if he's going around pinching battleships it'll be something...more."

"So what are you going to do?" Meta Knight asked.

"I think I'm going to call the human heroes back together, and four new kids as well."

"You mean...those kids that fought Cherubimon?"

"And four newbies, yes. I've managed to gather the Human and Beast Spirits of the Legendary Warriors so soon those ten humans will be able to become Digital Monsters like me."

Meta Knight turned his back on Gallantmon, and as he did so his cape shifted and became a pair of bat wings.

"You think putting the fate of the Virtual World in the greasy paws of a bunch of kids is a GOOD idea?" he asked as Gallantmon turned his back on him and began to walk away.

"To be honest, Meta Knight," he answered, "I don't. Can you assemble them for me?"

Meta Knight spread his purple wings and took off into the starry sky.

"Sure thing, pal!" he said.

The battered and very broken school bus crawled into the school bus park at a snail's pace. The kids on board ceased their chatting and scrapping and stood up to get off. Among them was a girl who was new to the school. She was used to it. Her dad's job meant that she and her family were constantly flitting from place to place, from London to Texas, from Paris to Sydney and now Japan. Her hair was white although she liked to call it 'pale blonde'. She wore an ocean tank top, grey jeans, a black bandanna with a skull and crossbones on the front and navy blue fingerless gloves. The girl clambered off the school bus and made her way towards reception. She wasn't looking where she was going so halfway there she collided with another girl of the same age. This girl had blonde hair and wore a stripy shirt and pink clothing.

"Whoa, sorry!" the other girl said.

"No, it was my fault," the new girl grunted, "I wasn't lookin' where I was going. I've just started today so I don't know my way around yet."

Her accent was American, vaguely Texan.

"Well that's OK!" the blonde girl smiled, "I'll show you around! I don't have that many friends either so I guess we're in the same boat!"

"Um, yeah," the new girl muttered, "I'm Cassidy. Cassidy Smyth."

"I'm Zoe!" the blonde girl said, "Come on. Reception's this way."

Zoe lead Cassidy away from the crowds and into a nearby building. "Did you used to live by the sea or something?" Zoe asked as they wandered through the corridors, "It's just you're wearing all water-based clothes."

"No," Cassidy sighed sadly, "Grandpa did. It was great at his place so that's probably the reason why..."

Zoe stopped dead in her tracks. Cassidy stopped and walked back over to her. Zoe looked over her shoulder, but all she saw were a group of boys arguing over some kind of card game. She was sure she could have felt a presence...an evil presence. Automatically she reached for her phone and pulled it out of her skirt pocket. That was a bad habit for her. A year ago her phone had been a D-Tector, a powerful device that allowed her to become a Digital Monster - or a Digimon for short. Now her adventure was over her D-Tector had resumed phone form - but that didn' stop her from grabbing it whenever something went wrong. "You OK?" Cassidy asked her.

"Yeah," Zoe answered, although her voice betrayed her, "It's nothing..."

They continued down the corridor, Zoe stopping several more times as the feeling of evil returned. Along the way they bumped into Zoe's old friend Takuya - literally, in Cassidy's case. Takuya - a brown-haired boy wearing a red jacket, a yellow t-shirt and baseball cap and a pair of goggles - hit the ground and cried out. Cassidy hit the ground and swore loudly. Apologising, the two of them got to their feet, looked at each other, and then both went beetroot red. "Erm...are you OK?" Zoe asked Cassidy.

"Yeah," Cassidy grunted before turning to Takuya, "Erm, are you OK?"

"Eeurgh," Takuya tried to answer, "Ugh, I mean...yeah."

Zoe suddenly had a fit of giggles. She turned away and laughed silently when she realised what was going on.

"Well, isn't this cute," hissed a Japanese accented, sinister sounding voice, "Love is in the air...my metal ass!"

Before anything more could be done the evil presence shot through the three kids like lighting. The shadow of a nearby drinks machine leapt out with a mind of its own and formed a pair of scary purple bat wings. The rest of the shadow formed a circular metal body and a lightning bolt-shaped sword. It was Meta Knight! Meta Knight glared at Takuya, Cassidy and Zoe with his piggy yellow eyes. "Fire, Water and Wind," he observed more to himself than to anyone else, "That's actually a pretty deadly combination."

"It WILL be deadly," Cassidy growled clenching her fists, "If you don't tell us what the heck you're meant to be!"

Meta Knight seemed rather offended. He drew his sword and aimed it at her face like he was going to throw it but didn't.

"For your information, Queen of Puddles, I am META KNIGHT!" he snarled.

"Are you a Digimon?" Zoe asked.

"Heck no!" Meta Knight answered, "I'm no monster. I've just come to have a look at the future of the Virtual World!"

"Don't you mean the Digital World?"

"No I don't, Fairy Face. I'm talking about the Virtual World, the bizarre land where the miniature universes inside videogames - particularly Nintendo ones - come to life and join. Don't any of you fools recognise me?"

"Albabagh," Takuya tried to say, "Ugh, I mean I do! You're from a Kirby game, the warrior guy with the huge spaceship right?"

"It's a battleship," Meta Knight corrected indignantly, "Although it is perfectly capable of flying in space it was built for FIGHTING!"

Cassidy glanced around, but no other kids were about. The group of boys arguing had moved away ages ago and lessons didn't start for another five minutes. Meta Knight lowered his sword. "You don't know what you're getting into, girlie," he said to Cassidy, "Ever wanted to be a superhero?"

"It's crossed my mind." Cassidy shrugged.

"Your friends here haven't told you I guess, but they once got to become monsters and you will too. Very bitchy monster, yours is. She tried to steal my beloved Halberd..."

"Your beloved hell bird?"

"HALBERD! It's a battleship, nit."

Zoe and Takuya looked at each other. They suddenly realised what was going on.

"Cassidy," Zoe said slowly, "Look at your phone..."

Cassidy scowled and pulled her dull grey phone out of her pocket. The screen was glowing an unnautral white.

"Um..." Cassidy began.

The glow intensified to the point where the entire phone was shining white. Cassidy muttered something under her breath and shook her head in disbelief. Despite all the drama and oddness of the situation she wasn't even partly swayed. The glow faded, and Cassidy was no longer holding a mobile phone in her hand. Instead she held a plastic oblong with a screen at the very top. It was mostly turquoise in colour but its two buttons and its right side were coloured ruby red. Cassidy glared at Meta Knight and narrowed her eyes. "You must be joking, sugar."

"I only wish I was."

Meta Knight clipped his sword to the side of his body and shrugged. He looked at Zoe and Takuya. They knew what to do without him even talking. The two friends reached into their pockets and, rather than pulling out phones, pulled out two objects just like the one Cassidy was holding, albeit with different colours. Zoe's was purple and pink and Takuya's was black and red.

"This is dumb," Cassidy sighed, "I'm dreamin', I know it. It's impossible for me to come to a new school, make a friend, meet a cute guy and have one of my favourite game characters turn out to be real; my stupid brain's just making it up."

"You like me?" Meta Knight asked hopefully, going slightly red.

"Yeah. You're quite cool."

Cassidy tried to put the strange device that had once been her phone into her pocket, but it no longer fit. Cursing, she clipped it to her belt and turned back towards the playground.

"You can't just walk away from your destiny!" Meta Knight howled.

"Watch me, honey!" Cassidy said as she walked down the narrow corridor.

"Cassidy, WAIT!" Zoe called after her, "This isn't a dream! We're real! What Meta Knight said is true: you ARE going to be able to become a monster like Takuya and I got to a while ago!"

Cassidy stopped, sighed, and unclipped the object from her belt.

"What the heck is THIS?" she asked, waving it at them.

"It's a D-Tector." Meta Knight said helpfully.

"That name sucks."

"That's not the point," Zoe said, "Look at the screen."

Cassidy rolled her eyes towards the screen. Two images stared back at her. One was of a hat shaped like a piece of coral, the other looked like a baby squid. On Takuya's D-Tector's screen was the image of a sleeping dragon sat next to a suit of crimson armour. On Zoe's D-Tector's screen was the image of two suits of cybernetic ninja-like armour.

"What heck are you on about, Dai?" boomed another kid's voice, tearing apart the air like a bullet, "Mobile phones do not just CHANGE SHAPE!"

"I'm telling ya, Jethro!" a deep, gruff voice grunted, "My mobile's gone and shape shifted into some kinda plastic oblong...ya know, like the Power Rangers have!"

"Yeah right!" the other voice sneered, "You are acting like a right nicompoop."

"You suck at insults."

"Oh, can it!"

Two more boys turned the corner into the corridor and began to walk towards the gang. One of them was rather muscular, so he obviously worked out a lot. His giant muscles and his tightly fitting clothes made him look a lot like the Incredible Hulk, as if at any minute he'd burst out of his clothes and start ripping the doors off lockers. The other one was shockingly skinny, so much so he was like a walking skeleton. Whenever he moved people feared he would snap in half. He had messy mud brown hair and the sort of face that once you started punching you wouldn't be able to stop. The muscular one waved a beefy hand in the skeletal one's face. In his giant hand he held a creamy white D-Tector with dark pink buttons and sides.

"See?" he cried indignantly, "THIS used to be my phone!"

The skinny boy scowled even deeper than Cassidy. "Just look at YOUR phone!"

The skinny boy rumaged around in his trouser pocket and cried out in horror when he pulled out a D-Tector rather than a phone. This one was grass green with buttons and sides made from glass.

"OK Dai," he murmured, "I believe you now...where has your little brother gone?"

The Incredible Hulk - Dai as the skinny boy had called him - looked over his shoulder and called,

"IGGY! YOU THERE LITTLE GUY?"

A short kid in his first year at the school stumbled around the corner and staggered over to his big brother and his skeletal friend. He didn't walk this boy, he staggered. He had knobbly knees and slick black hair. He had Dai's hulking biceps, but other than that they looked nothing like each other.

"Sorry about that," the small boy grunted, absent-mindedly scratching his backside, "This school is so new to me I faltered and you guys were gone!"

"Iggy," the skeletal boy said rather worriedly, "Look at your phone..."

The small child - Iggy - rummaged around in his trouser pocket and pulled out yet another D-Tector. This own was brown and had charcoal black buttons and sides.

"What the heck?" he cried in horror, "What's happened to my phone?"

"It's happened to mine and Jethro's too," Dai said as he showed his little brother his D-Tector, "This is kinda weird, right Jethro?"

"Yes!" the skeletal kid - Jethro - agreed.

Iggy cast his glance towards Takuya and co and squealed like a pig when he saw Meta Knight.

"Aww crud!" Meta Knight grumbled, "I've been spotted..."

"No," Takuya mumbled, "Those kids have D-Tectors too!"

Jethro, Dai and Iggy walked over to Takuya, Cassidy, Zoe and Meta Knight.

"What is he supposed to be?" Jethro asked, jabbing at Meta Knight with a pencil-like finger.

"He's an alien!" Iggy gulped nervously.

"This is unbelievable!" Cassidy cried pushing past Dai and walking back towards the playground.

Meta Knight started to say something but stopped suddenly. He glanced around, like they were being watched and he knew it. His eyes fell on Cassidy JUST as she closed the school doors behind her.

"WAIT!" he screamed, "THE HALBERD'S COMING!"

"What's going on?" Dai asked Zoe.

Zoe stared at him and said slowly,

"You have no idea."

Meta Knight took off after Cassidy, Takuya following.

"How do you know the Halberd's coming?" Takuya asked as he pushed past Iggy.

"I'm linked to that battleship," Meta Knight explained as he ran, "I know when it's coming and I know where it's going!"

Outside Cassidy stood between the main school building and the tarmac playground. The playground was occupied by a group of older kids playing rugby and a huddle of girls gossiping as usual. The atomosphere was unusually still and there was an evil chill in the air. Cassidy looked up, not really knowing why. She screamed. Overhead was a giant mechanical DRAGON. No, it wasn't a dragon. It was a battleship. The shape of its black body made it look like a dragon but it wasn't one. Its wings were shaped like those of a bat and coloured purple. Many loaded guns and turrets ran across its back like a ridge of explosive spines. Its cockpit was made of reflective silver metal and shaped like Meta Knight's head. Underneath the cockpit was some kind of cannon, a mechanical claw hanging limply by its side. The battleship descended from the pale sky towards the playground. The rugby ball hit the tarmac and stayed there as the kids on the playground scattered. The Halberd swooped over the playground, so low Cassidy was able to reach up and touch the underside. A hidden hatch opened, spilling out strange black liquid. The liquid spilt out onto the tarmac, forming a large black puddle of goo. Meta Knight and Takuya exploded out of the school and ran to Cassidy's side.

"That's your spaceship?" Cassidy trembled.

"Yup," Meta Knight said proudly, "That's the Battleship Halberd."

Something strange began to form from the puddle of goo. The gloop rose up into the air, spreading out to form a shape. The goo became a large man-eating ZOMBIE. The beast had no bottom half and had the head of a bull. It had curly ram's horns and a mane of brown hair. It was huge, the height of Takuya's house at least. It had a blackened sword emerging from between its hollow nostrils and two pink lights glowing in its eye sockets. It had no flesh or organs. It was just a sinister skeleton.

"WHAT THE HECK?" Cassidy squealed, "IT'S TWILIT FOSSIL STALLORD! LEGEND OF ZELDA VIDEOGAMES ARE REAL TOO?"

"In the Virtual World all Nintendo videogames and characters are real," Meta Knight explained, "In the Digital World monsters are real. If you use your D-Tector wisely you'll be able to become a monster. Why not show her, Takky?"

Takuya nodded and pressed a button on his D-Tector. A silver stream of energy appeared around his gloved hand. Takuya slashed it acorss the top of the D-Tector and called out,

"EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

Takuya's clothes became crimson armour and his cap and goggles formed a mask over his face. His hair turned blonde and his eyes turned blue. Cassidy gasped. Takuya had become a man wearing crimson armour styled to look like a dragon. He had wild blonde hair and powerful muscles. Flames crackled around his armoured knuckles. "AGUNIMON!" he roared.

Agunimon - Takuya - charged at Stallord and leapt at the monster's face. Stallord made a swipe at him with his huge bony claws but misssed and faltered. Surging flames enguled Agunimon's fists as he began to spin in the air. The flames ripped across his body, forming a giant tornado made of flame. "PYRO TORNADO!"

The fire tornado slammed into Stallord's skull, scorching him and knocking him to the ground! Agunimon landed awkwardly but managed to stay on his feet. "Cassidy!" Agunimon called over to her, "Use your D-Tector! You can become a monster too!"

"A FRIENDLYMONSTER!" Meta Knight added helpfully.

Cassidy pressed one of her D-Tector's buttons, hoping it was the right one. It was. A silver stream of energy appeared around her hand and she swiped it across her D-Tector.

"EXECUTE!" she cried, "SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

Her skin turned turquoise and her eyes turned red. Fins grew out of her arms and legs and her clothes turned into some kind of swimsuit. Her fingerless gloves became two fish-shaped gauntlets and her bandanna became a coral-shaped hat. "RANAMON!" she screamed.

Ranamon stared down at herself and adjusted one of the gauntlets. "No way," she said to Agunimon, "This is NOT happening."

"I think it is!" Meta Knight cried.

Zoe, Dai, Jethro and Iggy burst out of their school and gasped.

"LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT SPACESHIP!" Dai gasped, thumbing at the Halberd with one sausage-like finger.

Iggy tried to hide behind his big brother when he saw Stallord. The undead dragon had recovered from the blow dealt earlier and now held his claws above Agunimon and Ranamon, ready to strike. Meta Knight's cape became wings once more and propelled him towards the claws. Stallord shrieked and howled in anguish as Meta Knight slashed and swiped his claws away with his sword. Meta Knight landed and nodded at the two monsters. Ranamon darted forward and began to scramble up Stallord's spine. She emerged onto his skull (via his left nostril) and took hold of the sword between his nostrils with both hands. Stallord shook and bucked but Ranamon held firm.

"TAKUYA!" she called to Agunimon, "STRIKE HIS RIBCAGE! DO IT NOW!"

"PYRO PUNCH!" Agunimon cried as his fists were engulfed in roaring fire.

Agunimon hurled the fire into Stallord's empty ribcage, causing his arms and skull to fall forward wearily. Ranamon heaved at the sword in his skull but it was wedged in too far to be removed. Ranamon cursed and let go of the sword.

"Fine then," she growled through gritted shark teeth, "I'll kick your spinal chord the HARD way."

Ranamon had played the videogame Stallord orginated from before and she knew how the beast could be killed. Ranamon leapt off his skull and landed beside his spine. "DRAININ' RAIN!" she called, clapping her hands together.

A sinister black cloud formed between her hands. Ranamon lifted the cloud and hurled it above Stallord's skull. Burning hot acidic rain fell from the cloud, falling onto Stallord's bones and draining his power! "HIT THE SPINE!" Ranamon yelled at Agunimon and Meta Knight, "ONE OF YOU HIT HIS SPINE!"

"HURRICANE WIND!" came a powerful cry.

It wasn't Agunimon who had shouted the attack, or Meta Knight. A fairy-like Digital Monster descended from the sky and hurled a powerful gust of wind into Stallord's spine! The gust of wind powered into the giant zombie, knocking him off balance! Stallord groaned and hit the playground so hard his spinal chord shattered like glass! The fairy stood up straight and double-checked to make sure Stallord was beaten. She was slightly taller than Ranamon and had wings like a butterfly. She had purple hair and wore a silver visor over her eyes. "You OK?" the fairy asked Ranamon - in Zoe's voice!

"Zoe?" Ranamon asked.

"Yep!" the fairy smiled, "This is me in Digimon Form, Kazemon!"

The pink lights in Stallord's eye sockets faded and ve-ry slowly his body melted, right before the Digital Monsters' eyes. Stallord became a puddle of black gloop that evaporated as quickly as it had come. The Halberd had hovered overhead observing the battle but now it was disappearing into the distance. It seemed to be leaning a little to the right.

"Meta Knight!" Agunimon said to him, "You said that you were connected to the Halberd, so you know when it's coming and where it's going, right?"

"Sheesh, we don't need a full recap!" Meta Knight said rolling his eyes, "But yes, I do know where it's headed."

"Well where IS it going?"

"I dunno...some weirdo Japanese school."

"WHAT SCHOOL?" Ranamon almost screamed.

"Don't get your swimsuit in a twist, I'm getting to the name! It's some weirdo Japanese school called Camisha or something like that!"

Agunimon and Kazemon both stared at each other.

"That's Koji, Koichi, Tommy and JP's school!" Agunimon gasped.

"Who are they?" Ranamon asked.

"Our old friends," Kazemon told her, "They can become Digital Monsters too. That must be why the Halberd's after them!"

The three Digimon turned to face Jethro, Dai and Iggy. The three boys were stood in one big line, gobsmacked.

"Are you just gonna stand there gawking or are you gonna help out?" Ranamon demanded.

"How?" Jethro cried, "How are WE meant to help when we have no idea what is happening?"

"I don't have much of a clue either," Meta Knight answered, "I'm just here to get my battleship back!"

Ranamon grunted and ran after the Halberd, Meta Knight close behind. Agunimon ran after them, and Kazemon was about to follow but then she stopped. She glared at Jethro and co and said,

"Any one of you, push one of the buttons on those objects that used to be your phones."

Jethro and Dai both cast wary glances and hesitated but Iggy acted. He unclipped his D-Tector from his belt and pressed a button. A silver stream of energy coiled around his hand and he slashed it across his D-Tector.

"EXECUTE!" he cried, "SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"

Iggy's skin turned earth brown and his nose swelled to an impossible size. His t-shirt formed blue armour on his chest, shoulders and knees. His trousers turned bright red and a bright red hood appeared on his head. A giant sledgehammer appeared in the air. Iggy grabbed the sledgehammer and slammed it off the tarmac. "GRUMBLEMON!" he snarled.

End of Chapter One