Wow; it's been a long time since I've done one of these… Well, I'm going to be trying something a bit different – I hope it works! I most likely won't update this too frequently (I have other priorities) but I like this idea and I plan to do something with it…
Episode 1: Wild One
Wild stared at the pages of her programming book. Then, she looked up at her computer, where her code lay on-screen for her eyes. It was nearly perfect, but there was something wrong that she couldn't quite grasp. When she debugged the program it would crash almost immediately and display a blank screen. Well, she supposed that was what she got for choosing a programming language that didn't immediately tell her what was wrong…
Combing her fingers through her wavy, nut-brown hair, she sighed. She flipped through a dozen pages of her book, scanning the words. None of it seemed to offer a solution. The book was merely a guide, anyway – it only talked about the basic types of code in the language. It didn't even go into the more complex stuff. The worst it threw at her were databases, which were a pain to set up and use; but she was well past that.
Wild took her mouse in hand and scrolled through the code itself. She examined every line, making sure that there was no bit out of place. No syntax that didn't work well with any other. No semicolon out of place. One little slip-up or misspelling would ruin a good program, and this particular program was due next Monday. She had all weekend to complete it, but she would rather get it done as early as possible and have the rest of the weekend to herself.
She narrowed her eyes at it, picking up every little detail. She was in no way a master at programming; she simply found that she had a talent for it. Everything happened in a logical order, and it was always in a neatly organized fashion. Her comments were detailed and explained how each section of code worked with the other sections to make the program work. It was so concise that someone who had no idea how to read code could understand what was happening.
Wild rubbed her eyes. She was so used to staring at a computer screen, but staring at lines of code for hours on end was a tedious and eye-watering process. She assumed that, when she got older, she would need glasses if she were to continue this career path. Still, though, she continued, ignoring the dryness of her hazel-colored eyes.
"Ah-hah!" she exclaimed. "There you are!" The line of code lay before her, perfect all but for one thing that was missing – a semicolon. They were so easy to forget, even for the most top-notch programmers. She added it in and began to debug her program.
It ran beautifully, without a flaw that Wild could see. Since these programs were class assignments, the error-checking didn't have to be too extensive. It wasn't like they were being sold to the public or anything. Wild's error checking, however, covered nearly all the bases that she would ever need. She tested the user-end functions and found that all her error messages popped up at the proper times and, when entered correctly, the program flowed nicely.
Satisfied, she saved it and closed it down. She removed her school flash drive from her computer, and then inserted her own. She opened up another blank program and figured that she could make another calculator or something – they were simple and easy, but it was also easy to screw them up. She figured that she could use the practice.
Wild went onto the Internet and then to YouTube, where she selected some music from her favorites. It was always recommended to program to music of some kind – it helped the mind to relax and focus. She chose a techno-pop song in another language and blared it through her headphones. She closed her programming book and then threw it on her bed – she didn't want to have to look at it.
She stretched, yawned, and went to work. The calculator was simple and took her fifteen minutes to finish. She checked her code again and again, finding no mistakes. Satisfied with herself, she ran the program, just to make sure there were no hidden bugs.
The program started normally, and Wild entered a simple equation to test its parameters – 2 + 2. She pressed the Enter key and waited for it to calculate.
Instead of showing her the answer, a high-pitched squealing noise played through the music on her headphones. Wild gasped in surprise and tore them off, the squealing noise so loud that she could hear it as the headphones sat on the desk before her. She stared at them for a solid minute, shocked, her ears still ringing.
She glanced up at the program. It wasn't there anymore. Her computer's screen had gone completely black, but for some white text at the very top. It read:
ERROR LOG 1337 – PROCESSING… PLEASE WAIT.
What the hell is this, some sort of virus? Wild thought, staring at the message on her screen. She hadn't had a major virus in a long time and figured that she was overdue. She reached down to click her power button, but she hesitated.
The screen flickered, and it showed her something new – more text:
PROCESSING…
PROCESSING…
DONE!
EXECUTING SYSTEM PROCESS 1337-a: DIVE PREPARATION…
SYSTEM PROCESS 1337-a EXECUTION SUCCESSFUL!
EXECUTING SYSTEM PROCESS 1337-b: DIVE LAUNCH…
SYSTEM PROCESS 1337-b EXECUTION SUCCESSFUL!
PROCESSING…
PROCESSING…
DONE!
JUST PRESS ENTER!
Wild stared at her screen, shocked and abashed. If this was a virus, it was a silly one. What the hell was it talking about? It must be just a new type of virus.
She read the line JUST PRESS ENTER again. How could it assume that she was actually gullible enough to obey?
"Screw this; you're going to sleep for a while," Wild decided. She pressed the power button with all her might.
Nothing happened. The screen didn't change at all.
Grinding her teeth, Wild got up from her chair and ventured below her computer desk, where all the power cords were. She found her surge protector and located the power source for the tower of her computer. She pulled it.
She crawled out from beneath her desk and look at her computer with a sense of triumph. That triumph, however, turned sour.
The message was still there.
Wild's eyes widened as she stared at her screen, flabbergasted. She held the unplugged power cord right here in her hand, and there on her monitor's screen the prompt was still displayed. None of this made any sense. No virus that she knew could do this. Her heart dropped to her stomach.
"Oh, shit," she swore, aghast. What computer technician would know how to fix this problem? If it were just a virus she could deal with it herself, but this was something else entirely. Wild had no idea what to do.
She tried turning off her monitor, but that did nothing. The message was still displayed proudly on her screen. JUST PRESS ENTER it said, rather cheerfully.
Her eyes flickered down to her Enter key, and she sighed. "Fine," she growled. "I'll do it. My computer's already trashed; might as well see where this rabbit hole takes me…"
She sat down in her swiveling chair and sighed again. She touched the Enter key, but didn't press it. The power cord for her computer still rested in her hands, and yet the keyboard still seemed to be functioning – the Num Lock light was on, confirming that she could use the number pad if she wished.
How is this possible…? She thought, confused.
Finally, Wild pressed the Enter key. Nothing happened, but more text popped up on her screen:
WELCOME TO THE DIGITAL WORLD WILD!
WE HOPE YOU HAVE FUN!
Her screen suddenly became a blinding sea of white. Wild yelped and closed her eyes, her retinas burning at the sight. For some reason, she felt wind playing at her hair, its coolness touching her body. She got the sensation that she was floating amidst nothingness, but she refused to open her eyes.
Just as she decided that she was floating, she felt herself begin to fall.
Wherever Wild landed, she landed hard. Stinging pain lanced up her backside and she cursed, her eyes still tightly shut. She coughed and decided that whatever had happened was over; she might as well open her eyes and look at the ruined state of her computer…
When she opened her eyes, Wild saw nothing but a beautiful blue sky. Huge, towering, fluffy white clouds floated lazily through the blueness. Wild stared at it in awe.
"Where the hell am I?" she wondered to herself. Wherever she was, she was all right. The ground, however, had something to be desired by the way of comfort. It was warm, but not very comfortable. She reached down to discern what sort of ground she had landed on, only to find that it felt something like sun-tanned flesh.
"Yowch!" something yelped. "Will you get offa me?"
Wild was surprisingly calm as she clambered off of… whatever she had been sitting on. She heard it give a sigh of relief. Wild stood herself up, steadying herself on the nearest tree. When she looked around, she found that she had somehow ended up in a forest of some kind.
"Is this a dream…?" she murmured to herself, taking in the sights. It sounded, smelled, and looked like a normal forest – everything seemed normal to her. Yet she knew she wasn't on Earth any more. She swallowed and got the feeling that this wasn't a dream.
"Are you all right?" someone asked. Wild recognized it as the voice who'd greeted her a moment ago.
She looked down and locked eyes with them, and her eyes widened. He was about her size, but a head shorter and humanoid, with tanned skin painted with white markings. He wore red pants tied with a black belt and red gloves. His feet were three-toed with red talons and bare. A tail made of flame poked out from his back. His hair stood up a good half a head of height on him, red and spiky. Big green eyes observed Wild, beneath a pair of sawed-off horns.
"Whoa…" he breathed. "You're a… human?"
"A-And you're a… a… something!" Wild returned.
"Wow…" the creature sighed. He seemed mystified. "I've never seen a human like you before… have you ever met a digimon before?"
"A what?"
"A digimon!" the creature repeated. Then, his eyes widened further and he exclaimed, "Oh! I get it! You've never been here before! How could you know what a digimon is if you haven't ever been to the Digital World before?"
Digital World? Wild thought. She recalled that her computer screen had mentioned something about that. Was this the Digital World, then? Home to these… digimon? Well, I'm not having very much fun…
The creature held out his hand and said, "I'm Flamemon! Nice to meet you!"
Wild stared at his hand. Flamemon's hand was about the same size as hers, if not slightly larger. He had four fingers and a thumb on each hand, like hers. Was that some sort of coincidence?
"Uh… don't humans shake hands?" Flamemon wondered, confused.
"W-We do," Wild replied. "But… we usually do that with other humans… Sorry; this has turned out to be a very, very weird night…"
"That's all right," Flamemon sighed. "You must be tired. Hey! I know a place where you can sleep for a while – if you want, I can take you there so you can rest."
"Oh, no, I'm fine; I can… uh… stay here…" Wild mumbled. "I don't think I can sleep now…"
"Oh, OK," Flamemon said, looking downhearted. "But… there's someone there that might be able to help you… would you like go anyway? I don't think that you should stay here. Dangerous digimon have been popping up in all areas of the Digital World, and they wouldn't hesitate to hurt a human if they saw one."
"Someone who can… help me?" Wild breathed. "If they can help me to go home, that would be very nice…" She would also like to avoid those dangerous digimon that he spoke of. That sounded like it would be beneficial to her health.
"Oh, I'm sure they can!" Flamemon said happily. "Come on; follow me – uh… I didn't get your name…"
Wild sighed. "Sorry," she decided. "My name's Tatsuya Namekura… but all my friends call me Wild."
"Wild?" Flamemon repeated. "That sounds like a funny name, for a human…"
"Well… you're a strange thing to see… um… in general," Wild grunted. "To me, at least."
"So… why do people call you Wild?" Flamemon wondered, looking quizzical. He didn't seem offended by her comment.
Wild sighed. "It's a long story… and I don't know you that well," she growled.
Flamemon gave her a smile and gestured to the world of forest ahead of them. "Well, we have a long way to go…"
"Princess!" the Boss called. "Princess, where are you?"
He looked about his castle manor and sighed. She was always playing this sort of game with him. How was he supposed to watch her as he had been instructed if she was always running off on him? He leaned against his ruby-topped cane and sighed.
"Princess Loaño!" the Boss called down the stone hallway. His voice echoed powerfully, he being the master of the castle and all. "Please, will you come out of hiding?"
The hallway was silent. The Boss sighed. He knew she was hiding down here; why did she insist upon being so stubborn? The hallway was grand and beautiful, lined with stone for its walls and carpeted with a plush red rug. Several doors led off to different rooms from here, but ultimately the hallway was a dead end. Stone pillars rose from the floor to support the great ceiling; but the Boss knew that she wouldn't be hiding up there.
He took off his hat and entreated, "Kidd, could you please bring me the Princess? I know she's with you… and I know you're here; I can smell your unwashed hide. I have something to speak with her about."
The Boss smiled with satisfaction as he heard a growl coming from the end of the hallway. A huge digimon, bigger than the Boss and nearly as tall as the room itself, appeared from behind one of the broader pillars.
He was styled after a WereGarurumon, with an anthropomorphic Garurumon body. His fur was a light periwinkle color, his markings black. His muzzle was long and scarred, and one of his ears was torn to shreds. White tape was wrapped around both his arms, and he wore ripped jeans. His feet were huge, bigger than his hands, which gripped a pair of iron knuckles that looked rather dangerous. A long, winding tail flicked back and forth behind him.
"C'mon, pup," he growled. "Ya got caught, fair an' square."
"Aw," someone whined. From behind the pillar stepped a teenage girl. She crossed her arms in front of her and threw the Boss an evil glare with her unnatural silver eyes. She was a small, slight girl, with very angled, bony features. She wore nothing very Princess-like at all: a dark green sweater which contrasted her shoulder-length blonde hair and jeans, along with black tennis shoes. A charm was worn around her neck on a silver chain, but it was hidden beneath her sweater. "You're no fun."
"Princess," the Boss sighed.
"I hate being called that," the girl growled. "Quit calling me that. I'm not a Princess."
"You kind of are," the Boss countered.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever," she groaned. "I know what you want and I don't know what to tell you – I can't control what he does."
"Wai', wha's this 'bout?" Kidd wondered, flattening his ears. He looked between the girl and the Boss, his ice-blue eyes narrowed. "Wha's goin' on?"
"KiddGarurumon, a human has entered the Digital World," the Boss replied. Kidd's eyes widened. "And the only way that could have happened is if he was the one who brought them here."
"But… a 'uman hasn't been sighted in the Digital World for…" Kidd trailed off, as if the it had been so long that no one was sure how to measure the time.
"I know," the Boss replied. "I know; and humans do not come to the Digital World for no reason. Seeing a human in the Digital World means that something big is about to happen which requires their help. It's very unlike me not to know what's happening in my own world… I'd like to know his reason for bringing them here."
"I told you!" the girl snapped. "I can't control him! He does what he feels he needs to do."
The Boss sighed and shook his head. "But he does it through you, Loaño," he reminded her. "And you do know why. Now why won't you tell me?"
Loaño looked up at the Boss. Then, she looked at Kidd. She looked back at the Boss and replied, "Because something's going to happen. The Digital World is in trouble. It's falling apart. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, or why he chose to bring this certain human here, but that's what I do know."
"No, it's not anywhere near falling apart, child," the Boss told her. "Last I checked, each and every Zone was completely intact."
"The digimon are restless," Loaño went on, as if she were ignoring him. "They're becoming hostile. The human is coming here. We must be ready to meet her."
With that, the girl walked past the Boss and down the hallway. The Boss looked after her, slightly stunned. What did she mean when she said that the Digital World would be falling apart? The Boss had neither seen nor sensed anything to even hint that it was happening. And most digimon were simply restless – it was in their nature to be.
"The human," Kidd repeated, almost sadly. " 'S almost as if she forgets that she's human, too…"
"Kidd, you know as well as I do that she's not entirely human," the Boss reminded him. "But you are right; she hasn't been the same since she came here as a child. She doesn't know what it means to be human… and she has been living with digimon in her life for so long that she's forgotten that she is a human, too. He's certainly not helping with that."
"Boss," Kidd sighed. "If that human's comin' here, we'd better be ready."
"Right," the Boss decided. "Follow me."
"So… where are we going?" Wild wondered. She was walking next to Flamemon, trying to take in all the sights that she could of this Digital World. "Where are we now?"
"Right now we're in the Forest Zone," Flamemon told her. "There are many Zones in the Digital World, but the Forest Zone is the only one that crosses into both the Light and Dark Areas."
"Light and Dark Areas?"
Flamemon looked at her and explained, "Well, the Light Area is the place where we are now. The Dark Area is where we're going. The Light Area looks a lot brighter than the Dark Area, which looks like it's stuck in eternal night; yet they both have night and day cycles. It's just a lot more obvious here in the Light Area."
"The Dark Area doesn't sound like somewhere I want to be," Wild admit dryly. "Usually when something's labeled Dark it doesn't mean anything good lives there."
"Well… the Dark Area is generally home to the more dangerous, darker digimon," Flamemon explained, "but there are those kinds of digimon here in the Light Area, too. There are good digimon and bad digimon and they all live together, no matter what Area they live in. Me? I like to think that I'm a good digimon."
"You haven't tried to kill me yet," Wild mentioned.
"I'm not planning on it," Flamemon chuckled. "I honestly want to know why you're here as much as you do. You see, humans and digimon have interacted before, but that was a really long time ago – at least, in the Digital World's time it was. Since then we digimon have come up with some sort of saying about you humans…"
Wild looked at Flamemon and wondered, "What is it?"
"That a human won't appear in the Digital World unless there's some sort of trouble here that will affect both worlds," Flamemon replied.
"Oh," Wild realized. "So… my being here, according to that saying, at least, means that…?"
"Yeah; it means that something bad is going to happen here," Flamemon finished. He frowned, looking determined, and he said, "But I don't want that to happen! If something is going to try and hurt my home, then I'm going to do my best to stop it!"
Wild sighed and said, "Well, I'm going to be gone before anything bad happens in your world; don't worry. I don't belong here, and I honestly don't see anything wrong here. Even if there was something wrong in your world, I don't know how I could help stop it."
"Well, usually the humans partner up with digimon and stop the crisis," Flamemon told her. "At least, that's how it's happened before. But, you're right; you won't be here long enough for anything bad to happen, I'm sure. We just have to take you to see the Princess; then she can open the way for you to go home."
Wild blinked quizzically and asked, "You have a Princess?"
Flamemon frowned. "Well… she's kind of a Princess…" he answered. "She's the Princess of the Digital Twilight – which is a fancy way of saying that she's the Princess of both the Light and Dark Areas."
"Wouldn't that just mean she's Princess of all the Digital World?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," Flamemon mused. "But I think you'll like her, Wild. Oh! By the way, you never did tell me why you're called Wild when your real name is Tatsuya."
"Oh, yeah, that," Wild groaned. "Fine; I'll tell you. I'm called Wild because it's my -"
"Nemesis Ivy!"
Wild was stopped as thick tendrils of ivy sprouted from the ground and wrapped around her legs. She let out a shout of surprise as the ivy began wrapping itself all around her legs, freezing her in place. The ivy then began to crawl all over her body, spreading rapidly. It smelled strange, and Wild gagged at it. She tried to move to break free, but something froze her limbs in place as the ivy covered her body from neck to toe.
"Wild!" Flamemon shouted. He leaped to her side, his flaming tail blazing with alarm. "Don't move!" He sniffed the ivy and concluded, "Well… you can't move…"
"What the hell…?" Wild demanded. Her muscles refused to respond when her mind told them to move. "What's going on, Flamemon?"
Flamemon turned away and growled, "Show yourself! Come on out, you coward!"
"Nemesis Ivy!"
More ivy sprang from the ground beneath Flamemon's feet. He jumped away from them, though, causing the ivy to shoot out from the ground and follow him. Flamemon growled as he led the ivy all around the small area where they were stuck, trying to lose it – but it was following him quite well.
"Baby Salamander!" Flamemon shouted. He opened his mouth and flames poured from his throat, engulfing the ivy and turning it to ash. With the ivy dead, Flamemon snarled, "Where are you?"
A small green-colored creature burst from the trees and almost landed on top of Flamemon. He dodged quickly, landing on all fours beside the paralyzed Wild. It was about half Flamemon's size, and it looked like it was a little reptile made of plant matter. A purple flower bloomed on the top of their head, and black eyes glared out at Flamemon. Their feet were roots, their hands big leaves with purple claws.
"Aruraumon?" Flamemon realized, wonder in his voice. "Why is an Aruraumon attacking us?"
"Gloomy Dust!" Aruraumon shouted with a raspy voice. It opened its mouth and a purple fog burst forth, spreading slowly across the ground.
"Crap!" Flamemon cursed. "Hold your breath, Wild! That stuff is poisonous!"
Wild took a deep breath of normal air and kept it within her body, fighting the urge to exhale. Flamemon covered his nose with one hand and turned his back to the smog.
"Flame Tail!" he shouted. His tail burst into flames, the flames reaching higher and higher. When they were a suitable height, he began fanning at the smog. The heat and air from his flames pushed the smog away from them both.
When it was safe, he whirled upon the Aruraumon and shouted, "Baby Salamander!" and breathed flame all over the enemy digimon. Aruraumon had no chance to dodge, so they screeched as the flames engulfed them. When the flames cleared, all that was left was a forest-patterned egg about the size of Wild's head.
The ivy containing Wild withered, died, and disappeared into a string of ones and zeroes. She watched it disappear and breathed, "What is this place…?"
"Come on!" Flamemon said earnestly. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along. "We need to hurry!"
She had no choice but to follow him, so she did; but she looked back and wondered to herself, Where the hell am I… and what is this place made of?
What is going on here?