Disclaimer: I do not own TDE or Digimon; so don't sue me for anything that's on here. However, the Digital Circus, Digi-Rumble RPG, and all other such things ARE mine, so don't use them, please, at least not without asking first. I'm just bored right now, and I typed this up, so enjoy it, review it if you wish, but this is not a sterling example of my work…
Centurimon strode slowly back into his dreary, boring bedroom again. Most people said their bedrooms were old and boring, but in reality they were filled with Martian artifacts and other such items that boggled common people, but in his case, his room really WAS dreary and boring, for a very good reason too: there was nothing in it. Except for his bed, his dresser, and his PC, there was nothing in the room at all. Not even a chair. The invention of the VR interface by Microsoft several years ago made interacting with the computer so efficient, you wouldn't be staying there long enough to need a chair anyway. The walls of the room were old and pristine; just, as he put nothing in his room, nothing else came into his room either. Thus, there was nothing around to dirty the walls. And that worked out just fine for him. Especially today. Today was a day he had been dreading for months, no, it was closer to years now. After all that time, all that effort, today it was all coming to an end, for all of them. The Digimon Experience website was closing down, and with it, the Digimon Experience forums. Thus the reason he was here, and the reason he was in such a gloomy mood. Cause not only was today the day TDE was going to be put to rest, but it was also the day he was finally going to face the closing of his pride and joy, the Digi-Rumble RPG's old topic on the TDE forums.
He sat down on his bed, sighing. This was NOT how he intended to spend his day, but now he didn't have a choice. He didn't like to lose his old works; he was what most people called a pack rat. He saved everything he had ever worked on, for no other reason usually than just because he might want to go back and review his own work someday in the future. Centurimon sighed again and looked at his PC. "Computer, on." He said, his voice low.
"Booting now, please wait…" The PC's pleasant female voice said, although Centurimon often found it more annoying than pleasant. The screen flashed and the Window's symbol screen popped up, and a status bar began to scroll downwards, marking the estimated time until the boot up was completed. Through it all, he just sat there, wondering what it was going to be like on TDE when he got there. He knew he wasn't going to be the only one there; that much was for sure. Philweasel and FallenAngedramon were also big work-savers, but then again, they always made their posts on Word before they posted it on the forums, so it was probably not necessary for them to copy everything from TDE's server before it was shut down. But for TDE's final farewell, he was sure they would both be there, at least for the role-player's party, and probably for Raidix's goodbye speech as well. The other regulars, including the ever so-annoying Bert and Morphine, would almost assuredly be there as well, for Raidix's goodbye speech. "Start up, complete. Ready for use. Would you like to review your e-mail? There are seventeen new inbox items." The computer's voice butted in to his thoughts.
"No, I don't want to review my e-mail, what I want is for you to rip out my throat and pitch me over the side of some World War One trench." Centurimon replied tiredly.
"Unable to comply, insufficient program capabilities."
Centurimon just stared at the PC for a moment before realization dawned on him. Had it possessed the programming and capability to do so, he realized the computer would have done exactly what he had told it to do, rip out his throat, and travel back in time to 1914 and pitch him into a World War One trench line. The thought of this really happening struck him as highly amusing for some reason that he couldn't fathom, and he just shook his head and gave the computer his instructions. "Access the Internet. Tap into the Microsoft VR intranet interface. Run program."
"Processing, please wait a few seconds…"
Centurimon just stood there, as always, waiting for the VR interface to take hold in his mind, making him believe he was actually traveling inside the Internet. Or, in this case, the Digimon Experience website and forum. It took a good five minutes for the computer to process and activate all the different files and URL addresses he had ordered it to process, but when it was done, that voice came back again with: "request complete. Now online. Destination?"
"Digimon Experience. URL Address: h-t-t-p-colon-d-I-g-g-I-e-x-p-e-r-I-e-n-c-e-dot-n-e-t-slash-I-n-d-e-x-two-dot-s-h-t-m-l."
"Destination plotted, prepare for interfacing." The computer ordered, and Centurimon did so, sitting down in front of the port and preparing himself for the sensation that was to come. Five seconds later, he went through the same, odd but enjoyable experience of interfacing in virtual reality. His room seemed to melt away, exactly like a giant wave just came and swept it up in its tides. Then a wave of nausea hit him, flowed by extreme but short-lasting dizziness, then came the feeling of being subjected to alternating hot and cold periods. Then finally, the universe swam back into focus, and he found himself standing in the familiar blue on darker blue confines of the Digimon Experience forums homepage. He let a nice big 'whoop' as he got his bearings again, not surprised when no one even turned to see who had just arrived. Almost everyone 'whooped' when they emerged to a web page after going through the interface process, and he was no exception. The difference between most VR intranet websites, which were laid out like a Library, with massive rows of data files arranged in a semi-circle pattern around a central dais, for easy access to data files; Raidix had reconfigured TDE's Intranet data page to appear to be a full-sized city. He said it was, 'a personalized touch', but Centurimon figured it was just out of boredom on his part. Still, it did offer a lot of interesting possibilities for members who had access to the VR technology like him, which was a surprisingly large number of people. The 'building' that housed the data files for the forums was intuitively obvious, as the most heavily trafficked and used area of the site, it would naturally have the largest building, or in this case, skyscraper. Modeled after Seattle's Space Needle, the massive structure housed every data file and post ever made in the forums, even those that were deleted long ago. Which was good for him, in a way. He had always meant to one day go back and review all of the two-odd thousand posts he had made on the forums, just to see how much of it was dominated by his RPG. And with that thought, he was reminded of why he was here. With a sigh, Centurimon stepped of the circular dais he was on, and walked off towards Forum Land, which housed 'buildings' for each and every individual section and topic of the forums.
As he walked off into the artificial 'streets' of the city, a familiar face approached him from behind. "Hey, jackass!" Zak shouted as he whacked Centurimon with a slap to his back, knocking him forward several steps. "Zak! Damn you, I told you to stop doing that…nimrod." He mumbled to himself that last part, not that it would have mattered. Wearing an annoying, and perpetually youthful, expression on his face, Zak grabbed his arm and yanked Centurimon down in the direction he was heading anyway. "It's so great to see you here man! I didn't think you were gonna show!" Zak said, his voice loud and irritatingly cheery.
"Yeah, I know, I didn't think I was going to make it either, but, who-who! I'm here…I guess." Centurimon said uncertainly as he smacked Zak upside the head with his hand, forcing Zak to hold his head in his hands, and allowing him to break free of the smaller man's grasp. Zak rubbed his head for a minute and then regarded Centurimon hostily. "That was uncalled for."
"Of course it was, that's why it's so damned funny…" Centurimon countered, trying to keep himself from laughing at Zak's pissed-off expression. He continued walking along, Zak sliding into step behind him. "So, why are YOU here? Gonna help me bury it?" He asked.
Zak feigned a look of shock and indignity. "ME? Help you? Bury an RPG? Did you hit yourself in the head with that shotgun of yours before you came here?" Zak asked.
Centurimon sighed and just kept walking, not even bothering to reply to the counter-question. Instead he switched subjects on his old friend, as they turned left at a nearby corner, with the street signs marking it as the linking intersection for the site info category, which was where they needed to go. "So, who else have you spotted around here? Anybody we know?"
"Anybody we know? Oh, sure! Let's see, we got Midori, we got Seproth, we got Unknown, we got Philweasel, we got Burnzy, we got Noa…"
"Ah, your crush returns to haunt you again…"
Zak's face warped into an angry expression again. "I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON HER!!!!" He screamed, the bioflesh of his Chaosdramon body image vibrating in accordance with his scream.
Centurimon, who chose a Black WarGreymon avatar image for himself, just smiled. He knew Zak really didn't have a crush on Noa, but Zak had said something to that effect once, and Centurimon had relished in the opportunity to anger his friend so much with just that one thing. They never had a single outing where Noa was not mentioned, either by Centurimon or Zak, usually by Centurimon. "Of course you don't…" he said, injecting a tone of disbelief in his voice, making Zak all the angrier. "You say Midori's here already?"
"Yeah, she's been here for a while, why do you want to know? You gotta crush on her now?" Zak asked, his lips curling up into a sneer. It was another of their little jokes, one of many hundreds they had between them. Their brand of humor was a lost and not rediscovered one, full of illogical cracks that only after hours of senseless garbage did something of any real merit emerge. But they enjoyed it nonetheless, and that was the entire point of it, right? Zak changed gears quick, and he relished an opportunity to annoy Centurimon just as much as Centurimon enjoyed the vice versa. Except for Zak REALLY pushed it at times…
"No, I do not have a crush on Midori, I just wanted to talk to her." Centurimon answered, refusing to let Zak piss him off, at least not so soon after he arrived.
"Fine, lover-boy. She's at the RPG Section, in the Tamer's Tournament dorm."
"Tamer's Tournament? I almost forgot about that RPG…" Centurimon said to himself quietly. The Tamer's Tournament was the very first online RPG he had ever participated in, and it was also the place in which he first met Midori. "Thanks Zak. You coming with me? I'll need your help for the file transfer."
"You mean for the Digi-Rumble? Sure, but it'll cost you…" Zak said, and evil grin forming on his face…
"What do you mean, cost me? I shouldn't have to pay you, I'm the one who invited you to join it in the first place!"
"So? Josh, man, you gotta repay me for all the times I bailed you out in that RPG man…"
"WHAT?" Centurimon shouted in surprise, not believing what he had heard. "All the times when you bailed me out? When have you ever bailed me out?"
"Remember the first Tournament in the Digi-Rumble, when I self-destructed Machinedramon in our Championship match? You owe me for that, I let you win. So, you owe me…"
"WHAT? Zak, that was cowardice, through and through!"
"So, Black WarGreymon never would have become a Sovereign if I hadn't have let you win."
"Oh, come on! Do you really believe that? As a WarGreymon, Black WarGreymon had the Dramon Killer advantage over you in our duel. There was no way you could have won!"
"Sure there is, I win every match I've fought and haven't given up in."
Centurimon just stared at Zak incredulously. "Let's review your losses. One, the Machinedramon vs. WarGreymon fight."
"Gave up, doesn't count." Zak said simply.
"The Machinedramon vs. Omnimon fight…"
"You declared it to be a tie, that doesn't count either."
"The second Machinedramon vs. Omnimon fight…"
"Seproth was out of the Final Rumble, doesn't count."
"The second Machinedramon vs. WarGreymon fight…"
"Still don't count, that was a free-for-all."
"The sparring match between Chaosdramon and WarGreymon…"
"Sparring matches are not counted, just like private duels, by your own decree."
"Sweet Jesus!" Centurimon said in anger, shouting in frustration and stomping off to the RPG Section….
"So you still want me to help you transfer those files?" Zak shouted at the rapidly retreating backside of Centurimon.
"NO!" He shouted back, not turning around.
"So whaddya want me to do?" Zak asked.
"Run out into the middle of the track at the next Daytona 500!"
"Sure!" Zak said, thankful he had gotten out of helping Centurimon with the file work. Centurimon was his friend and all, but he didn't want to be stuck inside a cramped file room with a depressed Centurimon. He was uptight as it was under normal circumstances, he didn't want to think WHAT he'd be like once he got going down memory lane again. Zak simply started whistling and headed for the nearest restaurant…
*RPG Section, Main Gate*
Centurimon stood outside the massive front door of the RPG Section. Like all the other sections, this one was modeled after an old medieval city; with a massive stonewall around it. Inside it was a series of little homes, referred to as 'dorms', which housed the data files for all the individual RPG topics created in the RPG Section. It was true of every other section created in the forum. He plastered a smile onto his face and approached the gate. "Halt, who goes there?" A female voice rang out from the archer's tower above and to the right side of Centurimon. "Damn it, Vika! It's Centurimon!" He shouted at the voice, knowing full well whom it was.
"I don't know any Vika, nor do I know a Centurimon. Give your screen name and password!" Vika shouted back in reply.
"Vika! Damn you, just let me in already!"
"Your no fun, Professor Centurimon…"
"I can always revoke your teaching license you know!" Centurimon shouted back at Vika as she opened the gate, her last quip reminding him of the TDE's Newbie Role-player's Academy, which he had founded to teach new role-players at TDE forums how to role-play properly. That was a lot of time and fun to do, but it was worth it…
As the gate cranked all the way open, Centurimon stepped through it and started walking briskly to the far end of this little suburb of the main city, as the Tamer's Tournament was an old RPG that had stopped running a long time ago. The distance was great enough that it took him almost twenty minutes just to get there, but when he did, he stopped for a moment and looked at the plain four-walled rectangular building. He walked to it's backdoor and entered it, the door making a huge creaking sound as it opened. As a result, Midori, who had chosen her Edana character's appearance for her avatar, turned around in surprise and nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw a black dinosaur with giant black metal claws coming at her…
"Centurimon, god, you bastard! You damn near gave me a heart attack!" She screeched as she regained her composure.
"I often have that effect on the female of the species…" Centurimon said dryly.
"I don't doubt it… so, you here for the big event?" She asked, looking right at him.
"Not really. What I really came to do was transfer all of my old RPGs to my computer, I don't like goodbyes."
"Is that why you're here? To copy the Tamer's Tournament files?"
Centurimon was tempted to say, 'yes' and lie, but honesty was one of his virtues, and he cursed himself for it yet again. "No, I came here because Zak told me you were here."
"Zak? He's here? Thank God! Anime Invasion has been too sane without him around, and we never got to go on our honeymoon…"
Centurimon raised one of his eyebrows. "You know you're not REALLY married to him, right?"
"Who says I'm not?" Midori replied indignantly.
"Well, I think Adrienne's other two personalities would object to said statements, particularly the one that fell in love with Joshua…"
"Eh, they were both boring, who cares about them?" Midori said casually.
"Your trying to make me angry, aren't you?" Centurimon asked.
"Did it work?"
"No."
"Bastard…" Midori said quietly, then she changed the subject and moved on to something else, "do you even remember how long it's been since we last posted in this thing?"
"Oh, I'd say about… eight months, give or take a month or two."
"Really? That short? I thought it was longer…"
"Yeah, I know, seems like eight years rather than eight months." Centurimon looked around at the stacks of data files around them. "God, I still remember all this crap like it was yesterday I made it up. The whole Joshua/Ana thing was a lot of fun, wasn't it?"
"Depends on who you ask." Midori said simply.
"How so?" He asked, confused.
"Well, you and I may have enjoyed it, but I don't think Wes enjoyed it much…" She said, laughing shortly after she said that.
Centurimon joined her in laughing at the memories of Joshua's many beatings of Wes, and then after they calmed down about fifteen minutes later, he stopped chuckling completely, and checked his watch. "Oh, damn! The shut-off's in about four hours! I'll need at least three hours to copy all the files down, I got to go!" He made a dash for the door, but just as he reached it, he turned back to Midori and asked. "You want to come?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Midori replied. "Of course I do. You've been telling me and practically everyone else who'd listen about your little Digi-Rumble RPG for the last year, now's my chance to see what gets you so excited."
"How'd you know that I'm going to the Digi-Rumble dorm? I didn't tell you."
"Simple logic, my slow-witted friend, simple logic…" Midori said as she walked past him and out the door. Centurimon smiled slightly and went after her, feeling slightly better about the whole saying goodbye thing. As they walked, they chatted about all sorts of things, friends, Black Wargreymon, Anime Invasion, the Adrienne's marriage to Zak in the good old Digital Circus, and other such topics…
*Digi-Rumble Dorm*
"Grrrr, when are they going to get here? They are late!" Seproth screamed at the top of his lungs, temporarily stopping from what he had been doing to shout his frustrations. Then, his anger vented, he went right back to work, sharpening his blades…
"Oh, Seproth, quiet down, I know your avatar is a Piedmon, but you don't have to act as stupid as you look." Unknown added, his own avatar was the opposite of Centurimon's, his was a regular WarGreymon, and he was sitting in a chair facing the front door of the dorm, likewise waiting for Centurimon's arrival. As this was likely to be the last time they'd all be together like this, they figured now was the best time to settle the score with Centurimon. Sure a sneak attack was considered by most to be a deceitful way to beat someone, but as long as they beat him, what did they care?
"Can't you to quiet down? If your going to lose to him again, at LEAST make his latest victory over you be delayed long enough for him to reach the front door. They way you morons are chatting and sharpening your blades, he'd be able to hear from Luxembourg!" Adamant interjected as he blinked into existence directly in front of Unknown, causing him to jump out of his seat. Adamant's avatar was of his own design, Beelzemon: Eternal Chaos Mode, and a very infamous one in the Digi-Rumble tournament.
Always one to try and save face, Seproth retorted at once. "Hey! At least we can say we made them close battles!" He shot back at Adamant.
"Ha!" He laughed in reply. "Oh, Seproth, you're going to kill me, you really are. I mean, in your first battle, Centurimon didn't beat you; you beat yourself with your incompetence!"
"You wanna go at it, Adam?"
"Yo, you in there people?" A voice suddenly shouted from outside the dorm, and it was getting closer. They all reacted instantly. Needing some amusement in watching Centurimon crush Unknown and Seproth one last time, for posterity's sake, Adamant didn't dare interfere; instead he simply blinked into thin air. Unknown floated just above the door, and Seproth took his position beside the door, flush against the wall.
"Come on you guys! I know you're in there!" The voice shouted again, but Seproth and Unknown remained silent. "Fine, then I'm coming in, and if you're kissing or something…" The voice said as the door opened…
Seproth kicked the door open and both he and Unknown swung their arms out, smacking their target with a direct shot to the face. Unfortunately, at around the same time Zak said, "anyone catch the number of those NASCARS?" They realized it was not Centurimon. Adamant appeared again and laughed hysterically at them. "Oh, God, this is rich! Not only did you not have the brains to use your weapons instead of your fists, you didn't even hit the right target!" He burst into laughter as Seproth and Unknown looked at Zak, then at each other, then collided their heads together with enough force to create a small sonic boom that made Adamant stop laughing. He brought his head down again and saw Centurimon standing there, the now quite K.O.ed Seproth and Unknown's heads in his two claws. He simply let them drop to the ground while Midori brought Zak inside and placed him on a chair that was vacated by Unknown a short while ago…
"Hey, Adamant." Centurimon said, looking at the unconscious Seproth and Unknown and then scoffing.
Adamant looked at Centurimon curiously for a moment. "Just out of curiosity, how did you know they were planning a sneak attack against you?"
Centurimon smiled at Adamant and replied simply, "why, the video camera I put in here a year ago gave them away. When two people position themselves near a doorway and sharpens their weapons, you don't get the impression that they are going to give you a non-lethal welcoming."
"Of course… so, shall we get on with business?" Adamant asked.
"By all means. Computer?" Centurimon asked.
"State request." It's voice answered.
"Initiate data download. Send the Worm."
Within moments, a large, literal worm appeared in front of them, with one end of it thinned out and a slot opening cut into it, obviously the slot was for the data files. Centurimon turned to Midori. "How's Zak?"
"Oh, he'll be awake soon, but watch it. With him, he may believe that he's the reincarnation of Richard Simmons when he wakes up…" Midori replied.
"This is worse than his normal behavior…how, exactly?" Adamant asked.
"Good point. Come on, we have files to download, and three and a half hours to do it." Centurimon said as he moved to the nearest shelf and pulled out a data file…
*RPG Section, The Castle*
Raziel sat quietly inside of the massive castle, trying to find anyone he recognized, or even better, his RPGs, was proving to be a very difficult task. There was a lot of old RPGs around the place, and he hadn't a clue where to look. Metroid RPGs, Digimon RPGs, Fantasy RPGs, and so many others had all been uncovered by his searches. But he was no closer to finding his own, or even any RPGs he had participated in. His avatar body, a Seraphimon, was heavy, as it was dressed entirely in thick metal plates, which restricted movement and placed limitations on just how long he could continue the search. And now he was seriously giving thought to quitting and just going back to the Real World…
"Having a bad day?" A voice asked from behind Raziel. He turned to find a woman standing before him, well, actually, she looked more like a lifeguard on Baywatch, but she had the voice of a man…
Confused utterly, Raziel asked: "Are you a guy or a girl?"
The newcomer laughed slightly. "Oh, I'm a man, I assure you, this avatar body is a running joke of mine, and I never saw fit to change my avatar. You never answered my question, do you need some help?"
"Oh, well…yeah, sure. By the way, who are you?"
"Oh, forgive me, I am Philweasel, Role-player extraordinaire! I can help you find anything in these parts."
"Ah, good! Can you help me find the Digi-Rumble RPG? Centurimon knows all about my RPG, he might know where I can find it…"
"Sure, I was going to find him anyway, we have old business to discuss…"
Philweasel lead Raziel out of the castle and together they headed into the Southern Section of town…
*Digi-Rumble Dorm*
"Hmm, fascinating, you were really a jerk in the first Tournament, you know that?" Adamant asked Centurimon as he drew another file from the shelves and opened it, it displayed the posts from the Final Rumble of the First Tournament, the very same when where Centurimon had earned the title King of Digimon for himself, and his character, Black WarGreymon, first became a Sovereign.
Centurimon whirled around to face him. "I was a jerk? Try them!" He said, pointing his fingers at the still unconscious Seproth and Unkown, who lay in heaps on the ground.
"This is true, but still, you seemed to always find a way to survive whatever they threw at you, while you didn't allow them to survive whatever you threw at THEM…" Adamant said again, a smirk appearing on his face. Centurimon just stared at his fellow role-player for a moment.
"Get back to downloading the files." He said at last as he grabbed a data file himself and opened it, this one containing the first Black WarGreymon versus Imperialdramon fight. It WAS a good fight; too bad Lee quit the RPG after that fight. Same could be said of Noa too. And Burnzy, and Koichi-Chan, and Raziel, and Philweasel, and Izumi and God help me if there was more… Centurimon thought to himself sadly as he placed the data file into the worm, which then ate the file, downloading it to his own PC. He moved on to another section, Adamant and Midori could keep working on the First Tournament files; he wanted to get back to the Third Tournament files…
"You know Centurimon, something strikes me as odd." Midori said as she approached him from behind.
"What is it?" He asked, slightly annoyed.
"Remember our little practice duel in the Tamers Tournament? Well, I noticed here in this data file, which shows the Championship battle between Black WarGreymon and WarGreymon, you used the Dark Aura a lot. You also used a Dark Aura card in the Tamers Tournament RPG, particularly against me, is this just a coincidence, or is there a reason for that?" Midori asked him.
"Reason? I need a reason to choose a card now?" Centurimon asked, stalling for time to escape into the next room…
"You knew that your little Dark Aura card was an advantage no one else could match, didn't you, you knew that no one else could copy it, and since your little Black WarGreymon's Sacrifice card prevented an opponent from attacking you in a higher form anyway, it was the perfect one-two combination to boot. Knock them down, and then blow them up. Does that about sum it all up?" Midori asked, moving in front of the door, trapping him.
Centurimon considered denying it with some glib, stupid-ass remark, but he thought it was better to quit while he still had the chance to recover from this. "Well, yes, actually, it does. The de-digivolution, which prevented anyone from going above the rookie level, combined with the Dark Aura immunity to energy attacks, did basically make Dark Agumon invincible. But there was a way to counter it, which in fact I gave you, remember, the System Crash card."
Midori didn't look convinced. "What about it?"
"It deleted all of a Digimon's attacks, if they can't attack you, you still win by default."
"How so? The Digimon can still pound you flat."
Centurimon smiled as he remembered thinking that himself, and the ingenious way he had found to correct that problem. "No it can't. The System Crash card, like Black WarGreymon's Sacrifice, transmits a virus into the target Digimon. But unlike BWGS, System Crash doesn't target the ability itself; instead, it attacks the command pathways that order the Digimon to perform ANY form of an attack, wither it be a fireball, a karate chop, or just ramming into the other. It deletes them all. This includes the Dark Aura. Since it has to be instructed to energize, System Crash will block the initialization of the Aura, if it's used before the Aura is energized. However, if I play the Aura first, System Crash will have no effect on it, and I'll win by default, as without an energy attack, no rookie can crush Dark MetalGreymon."
Midori looked confused for a moment, then she shook her head and looked at him again. "You cheater!"
"I don't cheat. I call it creative thinking." Centurimon said simply.
"You don't even give your opponents the chance to move or counterattack!"
Centurimon laughed. "Why would I let them counterattack me? If I allowed that to happen, I risk losing. So, I deny my opponents the chance to fight back. Unless they are skilled enough."
"That's not fair! It's still cheating."
He laughed again. "In what way is it cheating? Lee made it clear that you could create your own modify cards for the tournament, and each card has it's flaw. Black WarGreymon's Sacrifice denies my opponent the ability to digivolve beyond rookie level, yes, but I also lose my ability to digivolve DarkAgumon into Black WarGreymon. Just like it's name. System Crash negates the effect of any modify cards previously employed on the other Digimon, including my own, like BWGS. Dark Aura is ineffective against physical attacks. Each of these cards have a weakness that can be exploited, you just have to be smart enough to know how to exploit these weaknesses."
"Great, and who around here is smart enough to figure out your crazy plans and schemes?"
Centurimon just smiled at Midori. "No one around here." He then slipped behind her and opened the door, entering the next room and closing the door behind him. Midori just stared at the door for a moment before letting out a scream of frustration, the she went back to the main room and continued to help Adamant with the downloads…
*RPG Section, South Side*
Raziel and Philweasel strolled briskly down the old and dusty road. Phil knew exactly where the old RPG was, and he was dragging Raziel along with him. The youngster was whining some nonsense about his armor weighing too much and that his feet hurt, and he was starting to get annoying, but at least they were almost there, he could see the banner Centurimon had created for the Digi-Rumble RPG on a dorm ahead, and he walked right for it at maximum speed, considering dropping some extra weight off in a nearby ditch…
*Digi-Rumble Dorm, Outside Lawn*
Noa looked at the small building that housed Centurimon's great RPG, she had been a part of for a short while, but after her Grandmother died… that's the past, this is the present. Noa thought to herself forcefully. Her Grandmother had died almost a year ago now, but the memory still hurt. The only reason she was here was so that she could apologize to Centurimon, and then never having to worry about him reminding her that she quit his RPG time and again. And so he can stop saying his RPG is the best and longest.
True his RPG was still going, but her's had seventy-five pages of material, while his only had seventy-one before he moved it to a new topic. Thus, she didn't consider his Countdown to the End topic an extension of this topic, thus the new pages didn't add on to the total, they just replaced the old one. At least, as far as she cared. She looked over to her right and saw another person coming, his avatar had been chosen as a human knight, dressed in blue and silver armor. She ignored him for now, and continued debating wither or not to enter, until Phil and Raziel burst onto the scene, with Phil dragging Raziel along, and knocking into Noa. All three of them tumbled, and she shoved Raziel, who she did not know, off of her. "Allright, what's this about?" She asked, turning to Phil.
"Oh, ahh…we just were looking for Centurimon! Yeah, Centurimon!" Phil said quickly, glancing around nervously, preparing for a tearing-down.
"Hmm, interesting, I assume that's why we are all here?" Burnzy asked, his armor creating harsh light reflections to the eyes of the others.
"You looking for Centurimon too?" Raziel asked, his voice registering surprise.
"I want to know why he didn't let me join the RPG, I was sort-of looking forward to kicking all of your asses…" Burnzy replied, obvious arrogance beginning to radiate from him.
"Hey, I never saw you in the RPG when I was still reading it, but I'm sure I could take you on, so you just watch yourself boy-o, don't bite more than you can chew." Noa said, he voice low with menace.
"This advice from the master?" Adamant said quickly, blinking into existence directly in the middle of the group, surprising them and making them back off a few steps.
"Where do you keep coming from?" Phil asked.
"Around," Adamant said quickly, "but I'm not the one you are here for, Centurimon is inside, in the Third Chamber, downloading files. Go on inside, it's not bobby trapped." Adamant blinked back to the Dorm and went back to work. Leaving Noa and the others to make up their minds.
"So…what do we do?" Raziel asked.
"We go in, unless you're scared." Burnzy added.
"I'm not scared!" Raziel remarked arrogantly, and then he stomped off to the door and opened it…
*Digi-Rumble Dorm, Main Chamber*
Zak awoke painfully, his head feeling like someone had hit it with a door. As he tried standing up, he rolled onto his hands and knees, his head pointing at the door. At that very same moment, Raziel came bursting in, smacking Zak in the head with the door, and knocking him flat on the ground again, this time probably in a coma. Raziel looked at Zak in confusing, then at Midori, who cursed and moved to help get Zak back into a seat. "I'm so sorry…" Raziel started to say…
Right then, Noa walked in, heard Raziel, then saw Zak. It didn't take her long to put two and two together. "Don't worry kid, that's Zak. This moron is dumb enough to climb into the barrel of a cannon just to see if there's a real cannonball in there. Trust me, he'll suffer no permanent damage." Then she saw Unknown and Seproth. She looked at Midori and raised her eyebrows a notch, asking the silent question.
"Don't ask. You really don't want to know." Midori said simply, struggling to get Zak seated again.
"Actually, Midori, I believe that Noa here WOULD benefit from this tale. It's simple. In a lame-brained attempt to pound Centurimon, those two geniuses you see over there smacked Zak, and promptly knocked him out in much the same fashion as your friend there." Adamant said, his story told, he simply went back to work again.
"I see, well, I'm just going to do what I came here to do…" Noa said as she walked past Midori and the others and walked into the Second, the finally Third chambers, finding Centurimon in the Third one as told.
"Ahh, Noa, Raziel, Burnzy, and Philweasel, glad to see you made it. I was wondering when you were going to show up." Centurimon said, smiling openly.
"Yeah, well, I'm here, and I'm sorry." Noa said quietly.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Centurimon asked, a look of confusion on his face.
"For leaving you RPG, you know, with my Grandmother and all…"
"Ahhh, yes, I do understand. But I harbored no ill feelings towards you, so it doesn't matter. Your apology is not required. However, I accept and appreciate the gesture. Thank you." Centurimon said, bowing slightly.
Noa just grinned and moved back a step. Raziel tried to say something, but Burnzey stepped in and opened his mouth first. "Why didn't you let me into the RPG?" He said simply, not mincing words.
"It's really simple, I did let you into the RPG, but you joined up in the middle of the Second Tournament, and we needed to finish that up before we could allow you to enter. You weren't willing to wait…"
"That's not true! I waited for you to approve GuardianAngemon forever!"
"And I did approve him, but you never posted again after that. I let you in; you just didn't have patience. It's your fault, not mine, Burnzy." Centurimon said simply, causing Burnzy's face to turn red, and he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. Centurimon simply sighed when he stormed out.
"Uhh, Centurimon, do you know where all my RPGs are?" Raziel asked quietly, very nervous…
Centurimon smiled at Raziel's nervousness. There really was no reason for it, but for some unknown reason he'd be damned to ever figure out, many of the young role-players on TDE came to him for advice, hence his formation of the TDE Role-Player's Academy. "Your RPGs are all new, Raziel, you need to go to the North side of Forum Land."
Raziel beamed. "Thanks!" He likewise turned on his heel, and then bolted out the door.
"Good luck…" Centurimon said to the empty space Raziel had vacated. He noticed Phil again and turned to face him. "So what do you request of me, Phil?"
"All I want to know is this," Phil said simply, "was War of Two Realms fun?"
"Oh, yes, much fun. To bad everybody got pulled so far apart. But, live and learn, I guess…" Centurimon said simply. "You two want to help me finish these downloads? I can use the help."
Both Noa and Phil agreed, and work commenced again…
*RPG Section, The Castle*
Vika sat silently in her chambers, sobbing quietly. The time had finally come. Raidix had sent notification that the four-hour time limit had passed, and now it was time for everyone to assemble in the Main Page for his final goodbye speech, and the termination of the Digimon Experience. But before that could happen, everyone had to be evacuated from the individual Lands, and the castle gates locked. She moved over to a console built into a desk, and she sounded the alarm…
*Digi-Rumble Dorm*
Centurimon hovered the last file over the worm, and then promptly dropped the last file into it. It hungrily ate the file and downloaded its contents into Centurimon's PC. Adamant sighed in relief. "We are finally done with it all." He said simply, stating the obvious.
"God I hope so. Three freaking hours of dropping files into this stupid worm has made me cranky…" Midori said grumpily.
"Your always cranky." Centurimon observed innocently, looking away from Midori as she opened her mouth to deliver a retort. Thankfully, Centurimon's eardrums were saved by the blaring of the evac sirens, meaning the time had at last come for TDE to close down. They all looked at each other and just said quietly, in unison: "It's time."
*The Digimon Experience Main page, Raidix's Goodbye Speech*
Centurimon and the others took their time in getting to the main page, visiting other old RPGs long forgotten by time. But even so, they were still some of the first ones to arrive, and they were able to get seated directly in front of the Podium that Raidix would soon use to deliver his speech. Centurimon took the center seat, with the now awake again Zak, Unknown, and Seproth filling the seats around him. Midori, Adamant, Phil, Noa, and the others, including Izumi for a nice surprise, filled in the rest of the row. They were seated in the digital version of an old Greek amphitheater; with the rows extending upwards the further away from the Podium you were, with the rows forming a complete circle around the Podium. Centurimon looked back and saw others filling in the spaces and seats of the theater. He saw many famous names. Sapphire Fate, Morphy, Swords, Caz, Chibi Jagggar, Ductophilliac, Vika, Will, Serge, HeadHunter, and many others. They came in packs, and within moments, the place was packed to its capacity, with over a thousand people in attendance.
A few minutes after that the place was filled, and the last few stragglers arrived, Raidix made his way to the podium, accompanied by shout, cries, and clapping of the members of the forum, most of whom held him in high regard. Raidix just smiled and accepted the attention and reverence, and then he stood behind the podium, and cleared his throat, telling everyone to quiet down. They did so, and Raidix began to speak. "Fellow members, posters, and fans of the super-anime known as Digimon: Digital Monsters; I am Raidix, creator and Webmaster of the Digimon Experience website." The crowd roared again, and Raidix let it go on for a while longer before continuing his speech. "Frankly, I cannot say much about the site, except that it was a real pain in the ass to find a good server." There was laughter, and Raidix laughed too.
"But this is not about the website itself, even if I had the words to say about it. This day is for the forum, the community that was formed by TDE, and I hope that community remains mostly together even after this forum closes. As Digimon fans, it is our duty to keep the show alive, in whatever way we can. Rumor has it that Toei will not be making a fifth season of Digimon, and if they don't, so what? We are still Digimon fans, and it will exist in our hearts long after the show becomes unpopular. But who knows? Maybe this is a blessing for the show. Maybe it will become like Star Trek, or Mobile Suit Gundam, and enjoy a massive rebirth during syndicated runs. I can only hope. The same can be said of the Digimon Experience.
"Even after today, I would hope that TDE and its community would remain in your hearts and minds. There are other places for the community to gather and continue discussing and remembering the good days of Digimon. Places like TDE's backup board, TDE2, or the boards created by other members, like Bert Robert's board, or Centurimon's. The closing of this place does not need to be the death knell of this community. In fact, I implore you to not let this be the case. If the community dies, so will Digimon, and I don't think any of us wants that to happen. I know I don't. But this is something that is beyond my control. After today, my involvement in the Digimon fan community will be over. TDE will never return. Ever. It is up to you to keep the community going. That is the last thing I can do for the Digimon fandom is keep my small part of its community together." Raidix paused for a moment, and then just bowed his head for a moment. When he raised it again, he still did not speak, instead, he simply moved his gaze across the assembled masses, before finally speaking words again.
"This is all I have to say. This is where my involvement ends. The future is up to you. But before I shut this place down, I would like to hand over the podium so that a select group of others can speak about TDE. I will now ask Morphy, Caz, Sapphire, Vika, and Centurimon to say whatever words they have, before it all gets shut down." Raidix stepped down, leaving the surprised group of speakers to wonder what they were going to say as they stood up and approached the podium. Centurimon, who had never liked standing in front of large groups in the first place, stood last in the line. The big mouth of the group, Sapphire, was the first one to speak, and he got applauded both at the beginning and end of his speech. Same went for Morphy and the rest, when at last it was his turn; Centurimon stepped up to the podium, and tried to sound out what he was going to say, even as the customary applause died down.
Deciding to just wing a speech through honesty and improvising, Centurion just started talking. "Just as forewarning to you all, I don't have a clue in hell what I'm saying, so don't flame me if something doesn't come out right." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I first came to TDE forums in September, 2001. When I arrived, I liked the place, but had no clue what a message board was, or what half of the buttons on a post sheet did either. But I learned quickly. Even so, I was still the noob, but I had grand ideas, and I posted a lot and often. Damn near every day I could. I become prominent real quick, particularly in the Digimon and RPG sections of the forum. I was even considered several times for modship of both sections, and even as moderator for the General section, which I call spammer's paradise.
"I quickly alienated many of the older senior members, as a matter of fact, it continues to be my driving goal to annoy them, now it's really just for the sheer heck of it. I always wanted people to stop saying that TDE was a dead forum, and I fought that I idea wherever I could, oftentimes, it was the senior members themselves who were saying that the board was dead. But, I must admit, our arguments did wonders for my post count. So did the long-standing flame-war between XclintonX, and myself who managed to annoy just about everyone he met. But, my best memories of TDE are the RPGs, both the ones I participated in, and the ones I created. My ideas were grand, but good ones, and before long I found myself giving out advice to people who were doing this years longer than I was. It was scary, to be honest, but it also made me proud beyond measure. But as TDE's future became bleaker, and the requests for my advice became more common, Vika, Rainy, and myself all collaborated to create the TDE Newbie Role-Player's Academy, with the purpose of teaching proper role-playing etiquette throughout the forum. But, now the Academy will never see the graduation of it's first batch of students, and I'll never get to see just how miserable I would have been as a teacher." Centurimon paused for a moment before he went on.
"Some have said the closing of Pojo and now TDE marks the end of the Digimon fandom. Frankly, I still hold out hope that Toei will get their minds screwed back on and try seriously to get the fans back. But even if they don't, even if the petitions, threats, and letters of protest fail, I know Digimon will still last, because we will still love the show. Through RPGs, fan fictions, and other, smaller fan communities of hardcore anime fans will Digimon survive. And if we continue to enjoy our memories of the show, it will never be gone. And the fandom will never be gone anyway, as I will never stop being a loyal Digimon fan. This is where it al ends, for those of you who move on, but I don't intend to move on. For me, the journey of Digimon: Digital Monsters has just begun. And I intend to see before the end of my life, the revival of the anime I love. Thank you." Centurimon bowed, than he left the podium, applause followed him out all the way…
After he had resumed his seat, Centurimon turned his attention to Zak, who had been tapping him on the shoulder. "Yeah, what is it? What manner of insults am I going to suffer through today?" Centurimon asked.
Zak assumed a look of shock on his face. "Why would I insult that marvelous performance? It was so incredible…"
"Really?"
"But of course it was! I fell asleep right after you began talking!"
Centurimon jabbed Zak in the chest with his elbow, causing him to flinch away. "You're an ass, you know that?" Zak simply smiled with the unspoken 'I know' look on his face. Centurimon just closed his eyes and tried not to cry out in annoyance. He heard Raidix clear out his throat to get everyone's attention again. The various conversations that had started, most of them comparing the merits of everybody's speeches, stopped suddenly, and everyone quickly returned their attention to the podium, and Raidix. Once he was sure that he had their attention again, Raidix once again began to speak. "Thank you to Morphy, Centurimon, and the other speakers for their words, it was very moving. Now, the time that we all have dreaded has come. It is now time for the Digimon Experience website to close. I will close the forum last, so you still have about an hour to get last-minute file transfers done. You better get to work soon. Thank you…. and goodbye." Raidix said as a final note, turning and leaving the podium and then the amphitheater. Everyone stood and applauded Raidix as he left, and then once he had, everyone turned to each other and began chatting. Some broke the VR connection and returned to their homes, others broke of in groups and headed back into the forum areas. Centurimon and his little band, of course, were one of the groups who headed back into the forums.
"Kind of hard to believe that it's all coming to an end, isn't it?" Zak asked, trying to find some way to start of conversation.
"Yes, it seems like TDE became a home away from home, at least for me." Centurimon said quietly.
"Well, this doesn't have to be entirely the end, does it? I mean, there is TDE2, remember, and there is also your Anime Invasion forum, everyone can go back there…" Midori said as she offered her own two cents.
"True Midori, but nonetheless, I don't think all of TDE even KNOWS about TDE2, and Anime Invasion is far from being TDE, or anything near as great as it was. Nothing could be like it again." Centurimon replied sadly.
As the group rounded one last corner, they found that Centurimon was leading them into a new building in the RPG section; it looked like a bar, with a sign taped to the door saying 'The Digital Circus'. Noa, Zak, and Midori turned to Centurimon. "I thought the DC was just going to be another dorm!" Noa blurted out.
"It was, but I talked to Raidix, and he made it into a real digital bar until the site closed. So, we have about thirty minutes to make asses of ourselves before it all ends. I figured that since TDE is coming to an end, we celebrate it's passing with the same type of chaos that made TDE so much fun. Come on!" Centurimon shouted as he bounded for the door, motioning the others to follow him in.
"Hey, it'd be great to go into the old DC on last time!" Midori said, just as excited as Centurimon about revisiting their old favorite…
"Why not? My suffering will end in twenty-odd minutes anyway…" Noa said quietly as she too entered the Circus.
"HEY! Maybe Raidix created the Adrienne trio to! Wait for me!" Zak shouted, leaping right through the doorway.
This left a confused Adamant, Seproth, Unknown, and Philweasel to wonder what to do. "When in Rome…" Philweasel muttered as he went inside. The other three looked at each other, shrugged, and went inside. When they arrived, the found what at first appeared to be a normal bar. Centurimon was sitting at the bar, talking to a pair of men who looked exactly like each other, except one looked much older than the other. Then, two other men, taller than both of the two twins, but likewise appearing exactly the same, showed up. The four of them started chatting, while Centurimon quietly slinked away from them, while Midori sighed and dropped down underneath the table. Adamant got the clue and promptly blinked away to wherever he always went, but Seproth and Unknown didn't get a clue, and thus, when the taller pair of twins pulled out twin broadswords and unleashed energy waves from them, they couldn't dodge and got hit full force. The other pair of twins retaliated by transforming into Digimon, then they DNA digivolved into another, even bigger digimon. Thus started off a nice, big fight, as the three beings proceeded to try and blow each other apart, shouting vile curses and insults at the other side.
Centurimon walked up to them and laughed. "When in the Digital Circus, the primary rule is that you must always stay under cover, or else accidents WILL happen to you."
"Thanks for the warning, jackass! How are those guys anyway?" Seproth demanded.
"The broadsword-wielding humans are Joshua, one of them is a clone of the other, but I'm not sure which…anyway, the Digimon over there is Arhardrahmon, some kind of Hybrid Digi-thing. He is summoned b the fusion of the two EJs, who we refer to as the young and old EJ, respectively."
"Good, now that I know their names, I can kick their ass." Seproth said. Centurimon was about to open his mouth to object when all of a sudden Zak started screaming.
"For the love of God, GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!!!!!" Zak screamed at the top of his lungs, running around like a madman, waving his arm around like it was on fire. But, Centurimon realized his arm would have been better off if it was on fire, as what was on it was the direct descendant of the devil himself, the ZakMug. Obviously, somehow it had escaped rehab and was now searching for more beer. And it was trying to bite of Zak's arm, where Zak no doubt had spilled some beer on himself earlier. But the thing was, Centurimon didn't have a clue how to stop a real ZakMug, and he was beginning to regret creating it. On the other hand…this is funny as hell. He thought to himself as he watched Zak run across the bar, screaming like a madman and waving his arm around trying frantically to get the crazy mug off of him. He would have loved to see him suffer more, but the commotion got the attention of one of the Joshua's, and he simply raised his hand and the ZakMug reappeared in it. Joshua regarded the ZakMug in anger for a moment. "I'm tired of you getting out of rehab! This is what, the nine hundreth time you escaped?"
"Actually, I think it's closer to thousandth…" The other Joshua said, trying hard not to laugh. The first Joshua growled in annoyance and shouted:
"That's it! No more of this! I'm not putting up with this any longer! Good riddance!" He tossed the ZakMug into the air and transformed his right arm into Omnimon's Garuru Cannon. He took aim and shouted, "Supreme Cannon!!!" The energy blast enveloped the ZakMug, and it let out a short, sharp cry of terror before it was reduced to embers. They all looked at Joshua.
"What? It was my mug, I did what I wanted with it…" He said innocently.
Centurimon watched as Zak was opening his mouth to say thank you when all of a sudden his VR connection was broken. The Digital Circus and the others melted away from his viewpoint, and then all his senses failed him as he was rocketed back to the real world. He was blasted back into his own chair, and Centurimon looked at his computer. It was still logged into the Internet, but it said the web address he had specified was no longer available. He stared in shock as he realized what happened. Raidix had finally done it; he had shut down TDE for good. For a long time he just stared at the computer, wondering what he was going to do. It took him a good hour of looking at screen before he could make up his mind. He instructed his computer to log into the Anime Invasion forum. It complied, and Centurimon took a moment to lie back on his bed.
TDE was gone now, that much was certain, but it would never be forgotten. Perhaps someday Raidix would recreate it, but, until that day, he still had his own little community to run and help grow. That was probably the real legacy of TDE, and it was one that he intended to live up to. With TDE gone, Digimon fans no had to go elsewhere, and maybe in their travels they can get new fans to come into the fold. Well, he'd do his part, at least. Centurimon stood up and moved over to the computer, grabbing the keyboard and mouse, and clicked on the link for the General section. It popped up and Centurimon created a new thread, for it's title, Centurimon typed the words: 'The Digimon Experience is dead…'
And indeed it was. But if it would be revived in the future, only Raidix himself can say….