Disclaimer: Yada, yada. Author does not take any claim of ownership over characters, products, places, or basically anything else presented in this story, made up or not. Also I have no real sentimental ties to any of the original characters or fan characters contained in the story but a large portion of 'em aren't mine, they're my friends used with permission, so please try not to steal. (though there's really nothing I can do if you do.)

Author's Pre-note: This fic was originally thought up sometime late January of 2003 and finally written in full around March 2004. (Egads, that's a long time to pull off a crapfic, eh? Well, it's a long crapfic.) Only the first two chapters were ever even put up online, and briefly at that, right here on FFdotnet, then eventually taken down due to a bad case of "personal apathy" and because the fic seemed waaay too cracked out even for me at the time! Also, it had a lot of typos and crap, I noticed. (Which I have since fixed up.)

Because recently I'd been feeling really nostalgic and lurking around the place, I decided to do a fic dump because a couple of my twisted friends were itching to read the horrible fics I'd written and kept saying I was gonna put back up one day. So...here's one of 'em.

Yes, this fic was kinda just a poorly thought out cheap shot attempt at bringing back my favorite villain, Surd, after the events of 'Thoughtscape'. My horrible plot device is, YES...Digimon. And the crazier crap is still to come in the following chapters. :D Sorry if my writing sucks. I don't claim to write well at all, I just barely attempt and this was created years and years ago anyway.

Like I mentioned, this fic is a complete crackfic-crossover and not meant to be taken seriously at all! (And this statement wasn't even in the disclaimer before when it was first up, so god help the people who thought this fic was for real. 0_o;)

The reader assumes all responsibility for damage or mental anguish incurred whilst reading this tripe.

You have been warned! :D

A Digital Nightmare

Chapter 1

Bell Isle Asylum...

Two white-coated doctors were in the dimly lit grey walled room looking over their recent admission. The short, heavyset doctor with glasses shined the pen light into the eyes of the old man sitting in the bulky electronic wheelchair in front of him while his partner observed and jotted down notes onto a clipboard.

"Still no response."

The old man's eyes were unmoving, fixed and staring blankly as the light passed. A small amount of drool was trickling from the corner of his mouth.

The heavyset doctor frowned as he shut off the light and placed it back into his coat pocket then casually folded his arms. "Well, it's been six weeks already. Doesn't look like he's coming out of it anytime soon."

"I suppose he won't cause any more trouble then, huh?" came the dry response of his fellow doctor.

The two then shared a light laugh.

"Guess not!" the heavyset doctor affirmed as the two then headed for the door.

"Hey, let's get some lunch!"

"Sounds good."

The sound of the door closing echoed through the virtually empty room. It went all but unnoticed to Jeremiah Surd, his mind still trapped within the confines of a disabled Questworld program.

10101

"I'll kill them. I will kill them all! I swear to it! I'll...I'll..."

The threats trailed off into incoherent mumbling once again. All Surd could do was rant and rave hysterically to himself. He knew he was beginning to slowly descend into madness, as much as he wanted to prevent it.

Thanks to Jessie Bannon he was now trapped not only inside an unnervingly empty and pitch-black Questworld subspace but within his own real world crippled body as well. He couldn't move. He couldn't call for help. He couldn't free himself. All he could do was rage helplessly into the darkness, endlessly cursing those who had put him into this living hell.

"I swear it, somehow! Somehow, Quest! Bannon! I'll pay you back!"

Surd let of a long peel of mad laughter. He was sure that the longer he remained like this, the sooner he would lose his mind once and for all.

Unknown to him back in the real world, a storm raged outside.

The sky cracked with thunder and bursts of lightning flashed through the clouds like cameras going off at a news conference. Suddenly, one peculiar bolt of lightning came streaking down into the waters surrounding the island. The bizarre light was seemingly no lightning bolt at all as it abruptly changed direction before hitting the waves and streaked across the water's surface with blinding speed. The light sped from the water up the cliff side and then along the ground, making it's way right toward the asylum.

Back inside the building, two security guards were in the monitor room playing cards. Suddenly the lights dimmed and flickered. The monitors briefly became filled with static as well.

"Whoa! Power outage?" the first guard leaned forward in his chair and looked around.

"Good thing for that backup generator," noted the second guard while checking that the monitors were back to normal.

Meanwhile, still outside, the mysterious light had found its way to the power lines leading to the building's interior. It snaked its way through them and right into the chains of overhead lights that lined the hallway ceilings. The ceiling lights began to flicker and then pop as it passed through. The light kept going until it reached the last hallway leading to a particular room where it then passed from the ceiling lights to the cement floor and quickly slipped under the door. There, it slowed and drifted to the electric wheelchair sitting in the middle of the room.

"Bannon..." Surd muttered.

His eyes were shut. The world he was trapped in didn't seem so dark with his eyes closed.

A sound made him pop them back open.

"Huh? What was that?"

He was certain he'd heard something. He listened intently for a moment. Sure enough, there was some kind of low electronic humming. Surd's eyes darted around in confusion as he looked for the source of the noise. He could see nothing from his current position. If only he could move to look around...

Just then the blackened space began to flash and crackle with a streak of red light. Surd's eyes widened.

"What's going on?" he wondered aloud.

Could it be somebody attempting to free him?

"Julia!" he yelled into the pitch black.

Surd waited. He got no response. The red streaks continued to slice through the pitch-black space every now and then. Surd was becoming nervous now.

Could it be somebody attempting to finish him off? Attempting to erase his mind from existence completely? Were the Quests deleting him? Cleaning him like a quarantined virus?

"No...NO! It can't end like this! I won't let it! I won't let you-"

He was cut off in mid-sentence by another strange noise.

"Who's there?" Surd called out to the darkness.

His eyes scanned the empty blackness around him but saw nothing within. However, it suddenly felt like someone...or something...was there. He could swear he felt a presence. An ominous presence.

"S...UUUU...R...R...R...RRRD."

The voice was indeed ominous. The very sound of it chilled Surd, even though he had no physical attachment to his body any longer. Somehow, it just chilled his mind. It was deep and seemed to be everywhere, fading in and out with a strange echo as it came.

"Who's there?"

Surd asked the darkness once again.

"I...KNOW...WH...A...AAAAT...YOU...W...AANT."

The voice sounded somehow closer this time.

"Oh, do you?" Surd inquired suspiciously. He listened carefully, attempting to judge where the sound was coming from. "And what would that be, pray tell?" he said softly.

Without warning, the red streaks of light suddenly flashed around his wheelchair-bound body. Surd gasped as the chair disappeared from beneath him and he was once again back in his VR form standing on two feet. Surd blinked in surprise, raising his hands in front of him and looking himself over nearly in disbelief.

"My...my body! I can move again!" Surd exclaimed.

Now able to do so, Surd looked around. He still saw nothing and no one.

"Who are you? How did you-"

"YOU...CAN...D...EEESSSSTRRROY...THEM...I WILL GRA...A...NT...YOU...POWER."

The bizarre voice seemed almost to be coming from behind Surd now.

He turned around to see a single red eye glowing through the darkness, almost burning into him with a maddening intensity. The light coming from it was so intense Surd squinted and held up a hand in front of his eye.

"Eh? So you do know me, then, do you?"

Surd backed up slightly torn between trying to see into the light to observe what was communicating to him from within and trying not to go blind from staring into it.

"But what are you?"

"ALL...WILL...BE...R...E...VEAAALED...IF...YOU FRRRREEEEE ME...FROM...THIS...PRISSSON."

"All right. I'm listening! What do I have to do then?" Surd clenched his fists, feeling a rush of renewed vigor course through him.

The red eye flashed and grew even more intense causing Surd to bring his hand back to re shade his eyes once again. This time a force came from the spot where the eye was and Surd braced himself against it so as not to be flung off his feet.

"COME...W...IIIIITH...ME."

The voice boomed as the red lights swirled around Surd again. The darkness around him grew to a bright red and Surd swallowed, wondering what was going to happen as it engulfed him.

10101

The entire building had officially gone dark. The backup generator had apparently gone out as well.

Several Belle Island Asylum security guards were now roaming the hallways with flashlights, making sure all cell and room doors were locked and their patients safely confined within. The pair that had previously been playing cards in the monitor room now walked toward Jeremiah Surd's room. The door was open slightly.

One of the guards opened the door and walked into the room to check on Surd while his partner looked on outside. He walked around to the front of Surd's wheelchair and noticed Surd was bleeding from the corner of his mouth.

"What the hell? Oh shit!"

The guard panicked. He reached out and touched Surd's neck, feeling for a pulse. He couldn't find one.

"Hey! Call the doctors! We got something wrong in here! He's bleeding and not breathing!"

His partner outside raced off to get help.

Moments later, several of the medical staff and two head doctors were gathered around Surd. They had tried for nearly twenty minutes to resuscitate him and all attempts had failed.

"No good."

One of the paramedics confirmed as he shook his head.

"He's dead."

10101

The Quest compound: Palm Key, Maine

Jonny and Hadji were preoccupied with checking the system for bugs after Questworld had seemingly shut down by itself, kicking Jonny and Jessie out moments earlier.

"This is most unusual. There is nothing wrong with the system itself," Hadji said as he closed the last circuit box.

"Yeah, usually when there was a problem in Questworld all signs pointed to Surd. Without him in the picture anymore, it's hard to tell what's wrong," Jonny said, arms folded.

The monitor behind them suddenly came on, showing only static. The sound of the snow filled the otherwise quiet room causing them all to turn towards in in surprise. It was soon after that laughter rang out from within. The teens jumped at the same time, knowing exactly whose laughter it was but not believing it.

"No...No way! That's Surd!" Jonny shouted, balling up his fists and glaring into the monitor with disbelief.

"It can't be!" Jessie looked both shocked and angered. "That's impossible! I-"

"Hahaha! Well if it isn't my dear Jessie Bannon and her little friends."

The snow disappeared and the monitor displayed a clear picture of Jeremiah Surd. However, he seemed visibly altered from his previously recognizable Questworld version. His familiar white visage had a bit more pointed angular look and his black hair seemed much longer than it should have been, spilling over his shoulders and down his back. Also, his eyes, which would have normally in his Questworld VR state have been an opaque green, were an eerie deep shade of red. The combination of these altered features along with his already menacing maniacal grin made him look even more sinister. Almost rather demonic.

"I must admit, I was sort of missing you all. We did have some fun times together. That was until you tried imprisoning me in that broken shell!" Surd pointed a sharp looking almost claw-like black finger forward at them.

"How the heck did you get out, Surd?" Jonny demanded.

"Well, truthfully, I'm not really sure of that myself," Surd responded and gave a menacing laugh.

But here I am, back and better than ever! And the person in charge of my breakout even made me an offer I couldn't resist! Getting rid of all of YOU!" he curled his hand into a fist.

"Ugh, somebody change the channel. We've seen this a million times already," Jonny scoffed and waved a hand casually. "I'm getting really tired of you, Surd."

"We all are!" Jessie spat.

"Er, my friends...do you not think that this is a bit unusual?" Hadji suddenly spoke up.

Jessie realized it as well now.

"That's right! If Questworld is down for us then how the heck is Surd still able to communicate over it? He must have taken control of the system!"

"The old man just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" said Jonny.

"Haha! Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not in your precious little Questworld. Questworld is utter garbage compared to this new world I've been introduced to!"

Surd spread his arms out and the image of himself in the monitor faded out, giving the befuddled teens a glimpse of some strange and otherworldly looking place.

"Huh! So, you've gone and created your own virtual reality world then? Looks as twisted as you are, old man," Jonny retorted.

"Haha. I'm just borrowing it for a while, boy. But I'll use it to my advantage while I'm here. Allow me to show you its power!" Surd grinned viciously. "Now, my Nightmare warriors! Come forth and show these arrogant little children their place...in my new world! Bwahahahaha!"

Surd thrust out his hand toward the screen, which then flashed red and then seemed to shatter outward. The three teens stepped back in shock as several large figures came through the monitor screen and landed on the ground close by.

The shadowy creature that lumbered towards them first appeared to be some sort of dragon...red in color, with black wings on its back and a long blade-like horn on its snout. The beast was about 7 feet tall, standing upright on hind legs. Its eyes were pools of empty black.

The second figure to emerge was another large dragon. This one was considerably larger than the first and gray in color. It sported a crown of horns that partially encircled its head, a mane of flame-like hair, orange and black leather wings, and long red claws on both its dragonish hands and feet. The beast's eyes were blood red and pupiless. In its hands it gripped a large metal trident. A wicked grin on its lips exposed its fang-filled mouth.

Nothing could prepare the teens for what happened next as the beast spoke.

"Time to die!" It raised the trident into the air and lunged forward.

"FIRE AND BRIMSTONE!"

The teens screamed in unison as a huge ball of flames burst from the monster's weapon tip and hurled straight at them.