3 Hack n' Slash 1.1
'This feels like a Deja-Vu' Peter thought to himself, as he opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, and his entire body ached. As he got up, he saw the reptilian creature he knew as ProtoGreymon was lying beside him, face into the sand, apparently passed out. Peter gave him a small nudge.
"Hey, you OK there?" he asked. ProtoGreymon moved a bit, and Peter could hear a low rumbling from beneath the sand. About a minute later, ProtoGreymon finally mustered enough power to pull himself up.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said as he spat some sand out of his mouth. "You?"
"Yap. I'm fine." Peter was somewhat relieved. "Did you just jump after me when I fell into the ocean?"
"So what if I did?" the reptile gave him a meaningful look, one that Peter could only interpret as a declaration of truce between the two of them.
"It's just… very nice of you. Considering what you did when we first met." Peter felt embarrassed just saying that. "The name's Peter by the way. So, where do you think we are?"
"It's definitely not Blankchip." ProtoGreymon announced. "I do not recognize this beach, and I know everything about Blankchip Island!"
A flash of brilliance crossed Peter's mind. He recalled the way the GPS pinpointing worked in his phone back when he arrived into the digital world. He reached out for his phone, and realized that it is conveniently dried out, seemingly untouched by the salty waters of the ocean.
"The phone might be able to tell us where are we." He explained to ProtoGreymon as he waited for the GPS to lock. A red dot finally appeared on the map. Peter instructed the application to display his last known location, and a green dot appeared on another island in the map.
"It appears that we are really close to Blankchip. We are on an island directly to the west of it." Peter explained the information presented on the phone's screen.d only interpert lf up. im, apperantly passed out. "We should look for supplies before we figure out where we should be going next."
"Seems reasonable enough." ProtoGreymon agreed. "So what was it that you did to make all the Koromon digivolve?"
"I thought you'd be able to tell me." Peter seemed confused. "I just pressed on the app that the control chip installed on my phone."
"Hey don't ask me! As far as I can remember I was always on Blankchip, protecting the Koromon!"
Both of them began walking towards a forest near the beach. Acting on a silent agreement to look for supplies.
"So, this world is composed of data. Am I right?" Peter asked, testing his assumptions on ProtoGreymon.
"Indeed. All Digimon are made out of data." ProtoGreymon explained. "We grow stronger by collecting the data of other Digimon. When we gather enough of it, we are able to evolve into a more powerful Digimon."
"Interesting…" Peter remarked.
They both continued walking silently, occasionally stopping to look at the trees, but so far, none of them seemed to bear any fruit. The faint sound of running water crossed Peter's ears.
"I think there's a stream next to us." He said. "Perhaps the water are drinkable."
As they crossed the forest towards the source of the sound, more and more flowers were beginning to appear in their path. As they reached the stream, they both drank from the sweet waters it offered, relaxing their thirst.
"We should follow the stream." ProtoGreymon said. "It should provide water to other Digimon living around here… perhaps they could give us some food."
Peter nodded for agreement, and they both continued silently upstream. Peter's mind wondered back to the faint images he saw just before passing out in the ocean. 'I wonder who is she…' the images themselves seemed to disappear the moment he saw them. They were almost dream-like, just like how you forget a dream the more you try to recall it. When it's a dream, the mind usually recycles all the information he saw during the day that way. But here… Did Peter even see her before this? He was pretty sure he didn't, which means perhaps it wasn't his mind recycling the data. But the memory of the blonde-haired women was carved into his mind. 'If she's here somewhere, I'll find her…' he decided.
"Yo! Peter!" ProtoGreymon called him. "Check this out!"
The stream led both of them to a huge stone building, with a tunnel beneath it to let the stream pass through. A long flight of stone stairs was on either side of the tunnel, leading to a small stone room on the top, decorated at the style of south eastern Asian temples. The flora of the island has covered almost every part of the room, giving in the fact that this structure must have been in existence for a long time by now. The two companions looked at each other, confirming that both of them intended to look into the temple, and started climbing the stairs towards the small stone room at the top.
At last both of them reached to the entrance of the room. Atop the stone door in front of them, a strange symbol was carved to the stone. It appeared as a line circling a ball. Peter recalled the image from their encounter with the Kuwagamon. It was the same one as the icon of the application that ProtoGreymon's control chip has installed on Peter's phone. They both tried to push the door open, only to realize it's too heavy for them.
"Man… that sucks…" ProtoGreymon complained. "I really wanted to see what's inside."
Peter took out his phone again. To his astonishment, the control chip's application was flashing again. When he tapped it, an orange light came through the phone's camera lid again, but this time, it was heading towards the carved stone symbol at the top of the stone door. The symbol's carved parts were painted orange by the light, and a loud trembling could be felt, as the stone door slowly slid to the right, revealing the dark room inside.
"Are you sure you are not some kind of Wizardmon?" ProtoGreymon asked suspiciously. "'Cause that's exactly the kind of stuff a Wizardmon will do."
"I'm sure. I'm a human, not a Digimon, you know." The loud trembles stopped as the door disappeared completely from their view. "Let's get inside."
Inside the stone structure, a vastly empty room sprawled before them. The only noticeable features were another carving of the symbol on the wall in front of the door, and a small altar beneath it, holding a small stone box. As Peter looked around, he noticed a wall to his right, seemingly cutting off the room from the other stone door at the other side of the broken fence. They both approached the stone altar, and as they stood before it, the light from the phone shined again, filling the carving above the altar at the same manner as the carving on the door leading to the room.
"Well, open the damn box already!" ProtoGreymon seemed restless. "It must contain some sort of immense power!"
Peter smiled a little at the sight of his relentless reptilian companion. He was rather curious himself regarding the contents of the box. It might hold some answers he has been seeking ever since he got into this weird world. Why would the symbols react to his smartphone? How come every living thing here is comprised of data? And most important of all, why is he here? Peter grabbed the stone box' lid with both of his arms, and pried it open. Inside was a smaller box, made of metal, and it had orange ornaments all around it. Peter removed the metallic box from its resting place, and placed it on the altar, before the stone box. Carefully, he opened the smaller box' case, and marveled at its contents. Red velvet padded the inner walls of the box, and on top of it, laid two more orange SD cards. Both of them had a picture on their surface, depicting a large ominous reptilian creature resembling ProtoGreymon, though much more frightening.
"Are those control chips as well?" he asked ProtoGreymon as he removed the chips from their velvet rug.
"I think so…" ProtoGreymon examined them. "But those belong to other Digimon then myself. The one on the left depicts a Greymon, and the one on the right depicts a GeoGreymon."
"GeoGreymon seems way more badass." Peter pointed at GeoGreymon's extended claws and horns.
"At champion level perhaps. But Greymon's later evolutions are way better." ProtoGreymon defended what he seemed to regard as an idol. "Those Digimon are some of my possible digivolutions." He explained.
"So if I load them into the phone, you'll be able to evolve right?" Peter asked. "I mean, that's where your control chip is right now."
"I think so. Go ahead and try!" ProtoGreymon seemed excited.
Peter opened his phone's casing, and noted that the SD slot seemed empty. He flipped the phone, and the application was still there. 'I guess it's just more of the weirdness of this world…' he shrugged. "Which one would you like to try first?" he asked ProtoGreymon as he inserted the first card into the SD slot. It shined for a brief moment, and the SD slot was empty again.
"Greymon indeed. He's the best as I've told you already." ProtoGreymon said while Peter was inserting the next chip, which shined and disappeared as well.
Peter opened the application again, and this time, a new option became available for selection, titled 'Digivolution'. Peter tapped it, and a selection screen appeared before him. Peter could slide between pictures of Greymon and GeoGreymon, but they were grayed out. "Perhaps we need something more to make these work…" he told ProtoGreymon.
"Let's check the room on the other side!" ProtoGreymon suggested. They both existed through the door, and as they left, the sliding stone door closed behind them.
ProtoGreymon, thrilled more than ever, ran towards the low stone fence. As he jumped over it, he disappeared, and appeared right before Peter, causing them to clash head to head.
"FUCK! That hurts!" Peter cried as ProtoGreymon's helmet smacked him right in the forehead.
ProtoGreymon seemed confused. "How did I get here?" He asked Peter loudly, obviously disappointed.
"Let's test this fence again." Peter suggested and threw a rock at the fence's direction.
"OUCH!" this time it was ProtoGreymon who cried when the rock hit him in the back of the head. Peter laughed out loud. "You did it purpose didn't you?"
"I swear… I had no idea that would happen…" Peter could not stop himself from laughing. "Come on, let's make camp here. I'm starving, and this place at least has water next to it."
'This place is truly peculiar…' Peter thought. 'That barrier does remind me of some web security concepts. It's almost like a fire wall. I wonder, when a data is recycled in the digital world, does it resembles to the recycling of data our mind employs, dreams?'
4 Harvest Moon 1.1
"So, do you have anything else to eat here besides leaves?" Lola asked. She was a vegetarian of course, but even still that doesn't mean she only ate leaves. Fruits and vegetables would be a welcomed addition to her daily menu in this place.
"Some fruits are supposed to grow on the trees upstream." ProtoFloramon replied. "But I'd be careful about wondering over there. The forest could be very creepy at times…" the plant's eyes looked at the ground with a nervous look on them.
"I'm sure that with you on my side, nothing will be scary anymore." Lola encouraged her friend, but that made ProtoFloramon look even more nervous.
"How could you say that?" she cried, apparently insulted. "You are the one who kicked the Flybeemon away from the meadow! Don't lie to me to make me feel good!"
Her reaction came as a shock to Lola. She didn't realize her friend was so sensitive to words and tones. "It was your control chip that gave me that power…" Lola comforted her. "I'm calling it as much your work as mine."
The Digimon smiled at her, looking happy again. Lola felt the urge to hug her partner again, and was all too happy to comply it. "Just stay close to me, and I'm sure nothing will hurt us!" Lola said as she grabbed ProtoFloramon's hand, and started walking towards the forest.
The forest itself appeared magical to Lola. There were trees of all kinds and shapes, some wooden, some metallic, and other apparently made of some plastic material. The stream flowed silently to their left, and a swarm of butterflies of many colors flew past them every once in a while.
Lola and ProtoFloramon have been walking for an hour by now, but no fruit-bearing tree has crossed their path. Lola could feel her partner's hand shaking as the sun started to set, and night's sky darkened the forest.
"Don't be afraid of the dark… here this will lighten our path." Lola calmed ProtoFloramon as she took out her phone and activated its flashlight application. The effect was almost immediate, and the digimon's tight grasp of Lola's hand have loosened a bit.
Very soon a strange shape have broken into the view of the forest. A huge stone building towered atop the small stream, letting pass through its foundations. A long staircase led to the top, where a small stone structure was visible. Every now and then, a light flickered from the stone structure's topmost floor.
"A bonfire…" Lola mumbled. "There could be someone up there to share his food with us..." she said as her stomach growled.
The two partners started the climb up to the stone structure's top floor. As Lola approached the top, she saw two doors on the wall of the stone room. One was on the other side of a small stone fence. As she looked around, there was no sign of the bonfire she saw from the forest. Lola mustered her confidence, in order to keep ProtoFloramon's fear at bay.
"They are probably inside, it's a cold night." She said with as much confidence as she could. As Lola examined the stone door before her, she noticed a heart symbol was carved on top of it, very similar to the one in the icon of the application that was on ProtoFloramon's control chip. She turned her phone towards her to look at it again, and noticed that the application was flashing again, just like it did when Flybeemon was attacking her and ProtoFloramon in the meadow. Lola tapped it, and a ray of green light came out of the camera lid again. This time it stroke the carved heart atop the stone door. The carving was filled with the light, and started to glow by itself. As it did, the stone door started sliding towards the left, revealing the room inside.
"Come on, we can at least warm up inside!" Lola encouraged her friend. As she entered the room, the light from the stone carving burst through the wall, engulfing another carving of a heart at the wall in front of her. Under the second carving was a small altar with a stone box on top of it. Lola opened the box, and found another box, smaller, from metallic material, that had green ornaments. Inside the second box were two green chips, one depicting a huge cactus with boxing gloves, and the other depicting a large monstrosity with the head of a sunflower. Both of the chips flowed as Lola touched them, and beamed themselves straight into her phone.
"LOLA!" Lola could hear ProtoFloramon calling her name. "The door is closed!"
Lola turned around, and to her surprise, the stone door by which both of them had entered has been shut. A speck of desperation penetrated her thin armor of false confidence, and was followed by a tear flowing from her eyes. She failed her friend. She promised nothing wrong will happen to them as long as they kept together. But here they are together, stuck in a stone room, with no way out. Lola embraced her partner and started weeping. As her partner saw this, ProtoFloramon started crying as well. Lola realized her friend was only a small child in this world, and she carelessly led her into this dangerous place.
"I'm sorry…" She cried. But the horror did not stop there. Soon enough, the floor around her started shaking, and Lola grabbed her little friend, pulling her into the far corner of the room. ProtoFloramon curled in her embracing body, as the stone wall on the left side of the room exploded, sending huge piles of dust rock flying across the empty space.
5 Hack n' Slash 2.0
Peter and ProtoGreymon were sitting around a small bonfire they erected in front of the entrance to the stone room, the smell of roasted fish they caught earlier filling the air around them.
"So there are six levels of Digimon:" Peter recounted the words ProtoGreymon just explained to him. "Fresh, in-training, champion, ultimate and mega." A thoughtful nod from the yellow reptile signaled to Peter he was correct. "And when you gain enough strength, you are able to transform into the next level?"
"Digivolve, not transform." ProtoGreymon corrected him. "That's about the summary of it. So what about you, what happens to humans when they get stronger?"
"Well, as time passes, a human will age, growing in size for several years, and finally setting on its final size and look." Peter did his best to describe to complex process of aging.
"Seems weird…" ProtoGreymon was confused. Peter smiled at the reptile's baffled look, when he noticed something behind it, across the magical barrier they perceived as a stone fence. A flash of light blinked atop the stone door across the barrier, and for the briefest moment, Peter could swear he saw a blonde woman in front of it. The woman was dressed in what appeared to be a very thin night gown, and behind her was a child sized green flower, seemingly talking to her.
'Was that the woman I saw in the dream?' he pondered. Peter grabbed a small rock from the ground, and threw it at the barrier again, a mere moment before the image flickered again, this time with the stone door across the barrier sliding open. To his amazement, the rock did not return through the other side of the barrier. "Did you see that?" he asked ProtoGreymon. "There were a woman and a Digimon just behind the barrier."
ProtoGreymon turned around, but the barrier was already invisible again. "I see nothing." The reptile said decisively. "Are you sure you aren't just desperate for some female of your species?" Peter could swear he saw a mischievous smile on the little dinosaur's mouth.
"I'm sure…" Peter looked at the Digimon with a dangerous look, daring him to say that again. "ANYWAY, I'm going inside the room to check it out."
"Suit yourself." ProtoGreymon responded in an uncharacteristically laconic fashion.
Peter tapped the control chip's application again, causing the carved rounded symbol to blink again, opening the door. As he entered the room, the stone walls around him flickered again, for a mere moment, showing him a vision of two green rays of light directed at the blonde woman's hand. When the walls flickered again, Peter found himself facing the most devilish smile he have seen in his life.
A tall humanoid figure was standing in front of him, where the stone altar used to stand. The figure was clad in black leather, and belts were all around its limbs and torso. A white skull was painted on the creature's right knee-cup, and a red bat on its chest and boots. A black masked covered most of the creature's face, leaving an opening only for the eyes and the area around the mouth, which was in a deathly shade of pale white. Two horns erected from each side of the devilish humanoid's head, and two large, black, leather wings sprouted from its back. The wings themselves were torn and full of holes.
"ProtoGreymon! Run!" Peter cried for his partner, but the stone door was already closed. With his Digimon friend on the other side, Peter had no idea what he could do against this devil that stood before him.
"Resistance is futile." The devil said quietly, and grabbed Peter's head by one of his monstrously long arms. "I'll be taking those chips please." The devil said all too quietly.
"Never!" Peter shouted, sending his leg as strong as he could towards the devil's crotch, but the reach was not enough, with Peter's leg barely scraping the black as night leather. A rolling evil laugh erupted from the devil's mouth.
"There's another one on the other side?" he asked. "Now am I lucky…"
The blonde woman flashed through Peter's mind, realizing he was not the only person in mortal danger over here. "RUN! RUN AWAY, GET AS FAR AS YOU CAN!" he tried to warn her, hoping that his voice will be able to penetrate the magical barrier, warning her of the incoming danger. The devil through Peter against the stone wall, and a cracking sound pierced the air. Peter could feel his broken leg, and screamed in pain. A trail of blood flowed from his leg, at the place the broken bone penetrated the skin and stuck outside like a weird pin.
"Should I repeat myself?" the devil asked. "Resistance. Is. Futile. The chips now please."
Peter was devastated. The woman he saw in his dreams was so close to him, and yet he would probably die just before this devil kills her as well. But then, a shred of hope slipped into his heart. The stone door blasted open, and ProtoGreymon was standing at the entryway.
"No one messes with him but me!" he yelled, rushing at the leather clad devil. "SPITFIRE!"
A ball of flame erupted from ProtoGreymon's mouth, but the devil emerged unscathed.
"Pathetic…" the devil laughed. "For a rookie to take on a champion as myself…" A long black arm grabbed one of the little yellow reptile's claws, reaping it apart from the rest of ProtoGreymon's body. A hallowing shriek filled the room, piercing through Peter's chest. But the merciless devil was not yet done. Her grabbed ProtoGreymon's remaining hand, and pulled it apart as well, this time gorging on the bleeding stump in his hand. The shrieking sound coming out of ProtoGreymon's mouth were to screeching for Peter to want to listen to them. He tried to look away, but the rivers of blood that flowed from ProtoGreymon's torn limbs caught his eyes.
"NO!" Peter shouted, but was unable to move due to his broken leg. Suddenly, as the bleeding half-eaten stump was tossed aside by the devil, Peter felt a surge of immense heat through his pocket. His smartphone was almost burning, and the control chip's application blinked again. As the realization struck him, he started yelling.
"It's time! ProtoGreymon! Digivolve!" Peter yelled as he tapped on the first image of a greymon that appeared on screen.. "y the davil emereged at the entryway.
ProtoGreymon's body and the bleeding stump started to disintegrate into small particles of orange light, and reassembled again together, growing larger than the small reptile Peter knew. First emerged his long tail, than the clawed arms and legs. The brown helmet of its head was the last to materialize, featuring a slick design with two side horns, and one horn at the center of the helmet.
"GREYMON!" The huge lizard roared. "Prepare to be pawned, bitch! MEGA FLAME!"
A giant ball of fire was shot from Greymon's mouth, pushing the black devil towards the opposite wall, and smashing a hole into it. Between the dust and rubble, Peter could see the black devil's charred corpse disintegrating into particles. The blonde woman was behind a pile of rubble on the other side of the room, holding a small green Digimon in her arms. Peter could see her head turn to look at him, and as their eyes met, his sight darkened.