The Birth of a Beautiful Rivalry {Digizel}

When Hideaki's eyes finally opened for the first time since the strange events at the garbage dump that was Shibuya's river, he was greeted with a strangely unfamiliar sight. Clear, blue skies, some kind of terminal not far from him, and what appeared to be a large, metropolitan city of some kind not too far from here. But the strangest sight of all, to him...was the fact that, once he had sat upright to get a better view of his surroundings...he found a strange, egg-like object lying on his lap. Attempting to hide his surprise, he looked down at the egg uneasily. What was this thing...? And who had left it here? And why on his lap? And just what in the world had just happened!?

He stopped to wrack his brains for a moment, trying to piece together everything that had happened up to this point. First, he had met a girl named- "Riya!" he suddenly exclaimed, taking a closer look around. Thankfully, he saw her not far from his position. Much like himself, she appeared shocked and trying to make some sense out of it. "So then...I guess I'm not just imagining things...?" he murmured lowly. "Then...what in the world happened...? Where even are we...?"

As the thought crossed his mind, Hide moved to stand up. He gripped the egg-like object in his left hand, trying to move it off of him. But no sooner had he laid his hands upon the egg than suddenly, the device that was still clutched in his right arm began to emit a familiar glow. And a moment later, the egg in his lap began to glow with the same intensity! Caught by surprise, Hide let out a cry of shock and fell back onto the grass. "Wh-what in the...!?" he exclaimed.

Soon, the glow began to change shape, eventually becoming more circular with two stubs resembling ears or horns at its top. And eventually...the light began to fade. The light soon revealed a small, black blob that met Hide's gaze, and the two stared at each other for a moment.

"WAH!" Hide suddenly shouted in shock and momentary panic, immediately sitting up again, accidentally throwing the creature off of him.

"WAH!" came the creature's cry as well, almost simultaneously. His, however, was caused by the human throwing him off. However, he was able to twist around in the air and land normally. "Hey, what was that for!?" he demanded angrily, glaring at Hide.

Hide remained silent at that. He simply stared in disbelief. Had this blob just...spoken to him? Great...how much stranger and illogical could this day even get?

Hide looked over when Riya began to cry out as well. It seemed like she, too, had an egg in her possession, which was beginning to glow. Just like his, hers was changing as well, soon becoming a small blob of her own. But her small creature looked very different from his. He turned his gaze back down to the black blob now sitting in the grass at his feet, who was still glaring at him expectantly, as though still waiting for his response.

"E-erm..." Hide murmured. "I'm...sorry, uh...d-do you have a name?" He spoke as calmly as possible, trying to desperately cling to his composure like his life depended on it. At this point, logic could probably be thrown out the window. After all...he was certain that he wasn't asleep, so this had to be real, right?

"Yeah, of course," the small blob uttered proudly, as though happy to be able to answer the question. "The name's Botamon. And meh, it's fine, I guess I can forgive you. I mean, we are supposed to be partners anyway." He then grinned up at Hide. "So I hope-" The small creature, Botamon, stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at the other small blob that had appeared, on top of Riya's head. His grin widened, seeing his chance.

"Don't worry, I've got this!" he called out to Riya. And then, a moment later...he lunged! He leaped up into the air and tried to bash himself up against the small, yellow creature in an attempt to throw him off, while he followed him to the ground. "You heard the lady, get down offa there!" he exclaimed.

Hide was stunned into silence. He had no idea how to react to anything anymore.

Botamon merely grinned--or at least, the closest thing a Botamon could do to a grin--at Zurumon, more than happy to play the hero for the moment. He watched with pleasure as Zurumon's mouth began to bubble, a sure sign of annoyance, right? "Hey, you heard the lady," the Botamon replied. "She wanted you off so I knocked you off. Don't you think that's what Digimon like me are supposed to do?" He then let out a small laugh. "Besides, you were just such an inviting target that I just-!" But at that moment, he was interrupted by the girl's voice from before. He turned to look at this and even he had to give a small look of annoyance.

But then, Zurumon started stepping in and beginning to give a quick rundown of what was going on for them. He supposed that the humans did need to know something like that...but he wasn't about to let Zurumon have all the glory! He quickly jumped forward, trying to bump into the yellow Digimon and get between him and the humans.

"Heheh...don't listen to him, he's got nothing on your pal Botamon here!" he said proudly. And welcome, humans, to the world of the Digimon, the Digital World!"

"D-Digital World...?" Hide responded, having remained silent even as Riya moved to get behind him. Normally, he'd be hesitant to be the one in front...but he supposed that the chivalric behaviors that his mother had always drilled into him would dictate that he stay and be the protector if he needed to be. "D-digimon...?" he murmured, even more confused than before.

But at least he had managed to piece together some information. These two blob-like beings were called Botamon and Zurumon. And supposedly, they were his and Riya's "partner" respectively. But that still left so many unanswered questions...and had he ever signed up to be partnered with a blob...?

"Nuh-uh!" came Botamon's quick response as he pushed himself forward. This time, however, he attempted to actually collide his body with the other Baby-level Digimon's, physically pushing him away. "I'm the one who's gonna be doing the protecting!" he called back to them again. "After all, I'm the one who's gonna be the strongest Digimon in the world one day."

When Zurumon started seeming to suck up to his tamer, though, he glared at the other Digimon. Had he no pride? However, when this resulted in Zurumon digging through her bag and pulling out what appeared to be some kind of food, he watched with slight envy. He watched as Zurumon began to eat away at the small pieces of food silently. However, he did not approach. Even when Riya looked over to him and beckoned him over, he quickly shook his body-head in denial. "No, I don't need something like that." He then shot a look at Zurumon. He didn't want to be sharing anything with that Digimon. He wasn't entire sure why...but something just told him that this Zurumon was not a Digimon he was going to be friends with.

However, a moment later, he looked at the Zurumon with longing. it was rather obvious that he was just being stubborn.

"...Heh," Hide murmured. "I see. You're a prideful one, aren't you?"

A small blush appeared on the Botamon's face, but he shook his head. "N-no! I just don't want to lower myself to that level. I can find my own food!"

"Heh...well then, let me ask you something," Hide countered. "What's the point in wasting energy looking for food when you can have what's being offered to you? All that will happen is that you get hungrier and you'll find that a small snack won't be able to hold you over."

Botamon was silent at that. He gave Hide a look of annoyance but finally let out a defeated sigh...only to be followed up by a smug look of pride. "Fine, fine," he replied. "I'll do it, but only 'cause you're practically begging." At that, Botamon hopped over and began to eat at the food presented to him.

Hide let out a chuckle at that point. He had to admit, this Botamon creature...a Digimon, as they called themselves, was rather amusing. And remarkably predictable.

"Your world...?" Botamon asked as he snacked on the Starburst he'd been presented. "Oh, I think you have to find a Digiport," he said. "They're these small holes that'll react to your Digivice or...something like that. I dunno." To be honest, he wasn't sure how he knew this himself. It was like some basic knowledge that he'd been born with, much like his ability to speak so well. "As for why you're here...well, aside from the fact that we're supposed to be partners with you...." he continued. He then quickly swallowed the last of what he had and looked up at the two humans cheerfully.

"Beats me!"

Botamon quickly turned to glare at Zurumon as the Digimon tried to make fun of him, despite obviously not knowing the answer either. He opened his mouth to make his angry retort, but stopped himself when Riya made the response for him. And of course, this was made all the more enjoyable when he got to sit back and watch as the other Digimon struggled, trying to think of something to back himself up. But then, something even more unexpected began to happen.

Botamon's eyes widened slightly as the all-too-familiar glow began to form around the other blob-like Digimon. A few moments later, the lights faded and soon, the other Digimon was slightly bigger and now had two long ears. N-no way...it couldn't be! That guy had already managed to Digivolve to the next level just from that!? He looked on, a look of jealousy clear on his face as he watched the newly-formed Pagumon leaping up and down on his own, clearly excited to have Digivolved. Darn it, he'd barely even known him for a few minutes and he was already lagging behind!

"Wh...whoa...." Hide silently exclaimed to himself as he watched the transformation from yellow blob to strange, larger creature of some kind. This was amazing.... He had always enjoyed the concept of evolution. But as far as he'd known, evolution was a process that took centuries to have any noticeable effects. Let alone changes this drastic! But here this little guy was, changing form right before his eyes! What in the world were these things called Digimon?

However, the wonder soon stopped. Pagumon had suddenly turned to face Botamon, firing bubbles in his direction. Hide was taken aback by the sudden attack. Now these guys can blow bubbles!? The bad part about this was the fact that he was targeting his supposed partner.

Botamon was so taken in by Pagumon's Digivolution that he failed to prepare himself. When Pagumon suddenly launched the bubbles at him, Botamon let out a squeal of surprise, getting pelted by the mostly-harmless bubbles. Still, in his smaller, weaker state, they were enough to cause him to get knocked backward, though no harm had really fallen on him. "Uwah!" he exclaimed as he tumbled, winding up on what could be described as his back before rolling back upright again. "Hey, just 'cause you Digivolve doesn't mean I'm gonna let you get away with that, you punk!" And with that, without hesitation, he lunged forward, anger in his eyes, and trying to slam himself into Pagumon, growling at him.

Uh oh. This situation seemed to be slowly escalating itself. But...did Hidon really want to get involved in this so soon? Honestly, it seemed like they were both more or less harmless to one another. And if he got involved, would he just become a target too? Perhaps instead, this would be a good time to merely sit back and observe...? Besides, he was curious. If this was a "digivolved" Digimon, as they put it, did that mean that Riya's partner was now the stronger one of the two...? Part of him wanted to wait and see if this was truly the case.

Botamon tumbled slightly when he missed his body shot against Zurumon. He followed Pagumon as the In-Training Digimon leaped high into the air, up and over his head, before landing on the ground behind him. He growled in annoyance and quickly turned around to glare at him. "Y-you...!" he said in angry response. A slight blush appeared on his face as Pagumon taunted him, showing his rear side and shaking it at him. He immediately began to rush forward in retaliation, only to stop when the human girl stepped between the two. He looked up at her as she was demanding Pagumon apologize to him. But when he refused, the Pagumon immediately resumed his taunting.

"That's it!" Botamon growled, moving around Riya's legs and beginning to rush at Pagumon yet again. Once more, he tried that which didn't work out before: Yet another reckless, lunging tackle attack.

"B-Botamon, hold on!" Hide called to the small blob. But the Digimon ignored his words and continued his tackle. Hide then let out a small sigh. This was going to be his so-called partner? A hotheaded guy like this? How long were they going to have to be together? He really had his doubts that he would get along very well with him....

Botamon's charge was quickly cut short as the In-Training level Pagumon's strength overwhelmed him. "Gwah!" he let out, getting smacked by the somewhat harmless bubbles being launched his way. He tumbled slightly, falling onto his back. This Pagumon guy was really tough...but he couldn't back down! No...he needed to fight back, and he needed to fight back hard! He growled and rolled back upright once more. However, he was quickly meet with yet another barrage of bubbles from the other Digimon, almost causing him to fall back again.But no...no, he couldn't have that. He couldn't let himself just be pushed around like this! But then he paused. He suddenly felt...sort of strange....

And just as that thought crossed his mind, his body began to glow, even as it was pelted by Pagumon's bubbles. Much like Pagumon's own transformation, Botamon glowed brightly, slowly beginning to change shape. He grew slightly larger and his ears became more elongated. And soon, the glow faded, revealing that the black blob from before had become a pink one, with red eyes and a fully-visible mouth. He stood tall as an In-Training-level Digimon himself! "Wah!" he suddenly exclaimed in surprise as two long, floppy ears came falling down in front of his eyes, causing him to flinch slightly. "Whoa, wait a minute..." he murmured. He then bounced lightly in excitement, much like how Pagumon had done before. "I Digivolved! Oh, sweet, I'm a Koromon now!"

Hide's eyes had widened with shock when he saw Botamon begin to glow, clearly getting ready to transform, much like Pagumon had done before. Of course, when the transformation was finished, he could hardly recognize him. Was every transformation going to be so drastic? And just how big were they going to grow anyway?

His thoughts did not dwell on these questions for long. He quickly realized that this new digimon form, Koromon as he stated, was rearing to face off with Pagumon now that the two were on a supposedly level playing field. This was helped in part by the fact that this transformation's new face was a lot easier to read than the blank, black one he had sported before.

"Heheh...alright, Pagumon, now it's time to show you what I'm really-!" Koromon started.

"No, alright, that's enough of that," Hide finally said, stepping forward as well. Riya had been trying to get her Digimon to stop...and now it was his job to try to get his own to agree to a ceasefire as well. "Don't you think you've done enough?" Hide asked, with Koromon looking back up at him again.

"What? No way!" Koromon retorted, glaring back at Pagumon. "He shot me with a bunch of bubbles, now it's my turn! Bubble Blow!" Without hesitation, Koromon turned to face Pagumon and attempted to launch several bubbles of his own from his mouth at the other In-Training level Digimon.

"Okay Bota...erm...Koromon...you've done enough. Let's just call it a draw, okay?" Hide added with a slightly dejected sigh. But then, he got an interesting idea. "Besides...I need you to help me find a way out of here. I need you to prove to me that you're up to the task. I mean...you guys aren't going to be much good as partners if you can't do that, now are you?" He was hoping to play to their individual prides...and hopefully get them to shift their energy to something more productive.