Digimon(2).EXE

By Wolf O'Donnell

WARNING! May contain Alternative Universe situations and out-of-character experiences. Upon reading this, you hereby agree that you forfeit all your rights to sue me and that I cannot be held liable for any psychological or physical damage caused by the fact that I use British English spelling and that this fanfic contains NO graphic depictions of a heterosexual and homosexual nature. Digimon is copyrighted by Bandai and Toei Animation Ltd. Wolf O'Donnell is copyrighted by Nintendo Ltd, although that might have nothing to do with the fanfic. Digimon(2).EXE is based on Rockman.EXE, which is copyrighted by Capcom Ltd. Constructive criticism is very welcome.

* * * * *

Transmission 04: Tomodachi no Umi

The four friends were plunged into silence once again. The situation between Takato and Ruki made conversation difficult and was darkening their one time together. It was rare that they met and this time was as rare as any other.
Jenrya thought quietly about the first time they all met together on the Summer Camp down on the Earth's surface in the nation known as Namerica. The cause of their problems then had once again been Ruki, except that time, she was going to beat the living daylights out of him and Takato.
"Say, you remember when we all first met?" he asked, hoping that memories of their past would help break the ice. "We all had our Digimon with us, even though the camp counselor forbade us from having them."
"Oh yeah, I remember!" exclaimed Alice in sudden realisation. "He was so into communing with nature, hugging trees and doing his business outdoors."
Ryo laughed.
"Yeah, I know," he chuckled. Then Ryo attempted his impression of the camp counselor, which he knew they all loved. "You either commune with nature and become one with the dirt, or I make you eat the dirt." This brought out all the laughs that it used to when he first came up with the unflattering impression. "He was some kind of outdoors nutball."
"Oh and remember when he taught us to make snares?" asked Takato. "Remember how Ruki made hers and caught him in it?"
The moody expression on Ruki's face cleared up like clouds to reveal the sunlight that was her smile. She remembered that well and never had she heard so many swear words come from one mouth in a space of fifteen seconds.
"Yeah, I remember that," replied Ruki with a nod of her head. "You remember when we also made that pit-trap and tricked him into it?"
"How can I ever forget?" retorted Takato, as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Boy were we a couple of monkeys back then."
"Who said we still aren't?" stated Jenrya. "Just yesterday, Ryo glued our shop teacher's butt to his seat and when the teacher went to stand up, he ripped his trousers. He had to wear his apron on backwards the whole day."
Takato sighed, as he looked down at his soda. The smile disappared from his face.
"It's a shame Juri isn't here," stated Takato, as he thought about the girl. As far as he could remember, she was doing lots and lots of community service as punishment for her betrayal of the Officials at Beijing. "She would have loved being here and just chatting about the old times. Say, Alice, are you still in touch with her?"
"Yeah," replied Alice with a nod of her head. "She says that she'll be let off soon."
"I don't understand," stated Ruki with a shake of her head. "Why are you so concerned about her? She nearly killed you, Takato!"
"She was doing it to protect her home, Ruki," stated Takato in Juri's defence. "If you had been in her shoes, you would have done the same thing. Hypnos was threatening to destroy Phyle." He had never realised that Ruki was so inconsiderate and uncaring. Of course, she had seemed that way to him when he first met her in the Summer Camp, but now... "I thought you changed, but it seems as if you're still the big, dumb bully you used to be."
Ruki glared at Takato with an open mouth. She couldn't believe that the brown-haired youth had called him that.
"You take that back!" demanded Ruki sternly.
Alice sighed.
"Here we go again."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Jenrya suddenly realised that they were in the wrong place.
"Oh, I'm sorry," apologised Jenrya quickly, as he backed out of the clearing.
"No, don't go," protested Juri. She gestured for them to come closer with her. "Come back." Juri wanted to speak to them. Most importantly, she wanted to speak to Takato and tell him how she liked him. "What are you two doing out here so late?" she asked the two of them. "It's Ruki, isn't it? That bully wanted you out here, didn't she?"
Takato nodded silently.
"She found out that we've got D-Scanners and now she wants to DigiBattle against us," he told Juri. He didn't know why he did so. The youth wasn't supposed to tell anyone, yet somehow he felt compelled to tell Juri. It was as if she was like some big sister to him, a big sister that would help make things all better.
"Takato," scolded Jenrya quickly. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone. If Ruki..."
"No, it's all right," stated Juri. "I won't tell anyone." She looked towards Takato and for the first time, she noticed how feeble he looked. For the first time, she saw the true nervousness that was within him. "So, have you got any good DMDs?" she asked them. "Some pretty good DMDs can really give you the advantage."
"Well, I've got a Trump Sword DMD," replied Takato calmly. He then told Juri about the rest of the DMDs he had installed on his D-Scanner. Each one of them he had managed to get from InphyNet, with the exception of the Trump Sword DMD, which he had got from his dad. "My Dad owns a 'DigiModify Chip Shop', you see," he explained to her.
"That's pretty much what I've got too," stated Jenrya calmly. He figured that it wouldn't harm to talk to this girl before Ruki beat the living daylights out of their Digimon. "I've got a Berserk Sword DMD, though, but that's about it." Jenrya suddenly realised that he hadn't introduced himself properly and nor had Takato. His father had taught him that that was just plain rude and he decided to introduce himself before she took offence. "My name's Jenrya by the way and this is Takato. It's nice to meet you."
A smile spread across Juri's face.
"My name's Juri," she told them. "It's nice to meet you two, as well, especially after I heard what Ruki did to you two. That was just plain horrible of her." An idea suddenly popped into her mind. "Say, when are you supposed to meet her?" she asked them.
"Midnight," replied Jenrya.
Juri raised her D-Scanner and pressed a button on it. The screen lit up and displayed the time to her.
"Leomon, you mind if I borrow some of your data?" she asked her Digimon.
"Of course not, Juri," came the reply.
Jenrya saw that the girl had a plan. Takato was too dense to see that, but luckily Jenrya was there.
"So have you got a plan?" he asked her. At that moment in time, he was desperate for a solution. Any solution to their problem would have done and he would have done anything to save his own hide and that of Takato's and their Digimon.
"As a matter of fact, I do," replied Juri with a devious smile on her face.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"If it hadn't been for Juri, Guilmon would ahve never beaten Renamon," stated Takato. "In fact, if it wasn't for Juri, we wouldn't know each other."
Ruki scoffed at Takato's comments.
"That had nothing to do with it," she stated. She could remember how she had went to the clearing, only to find it jam-packed with campers. Juri had rounded up everyone she could think of, including Alice and Ryo. "I was just nervous DigiBattling against you with that crowd watching."
"Yeah, right," said Takato sarcastically.
"I'll prove it!" cried out Ruki, as she brought out her D-Tector. "Let's have a DigiBattle, right here, right now!"
"You're on!" stated Takato sternly, as he brought out his D-Tector too. "Guilmon, let's rock!"

* * * * *

"Aw, do I have to?" protested Guilmon, as he suddenly found himself within a six-by-three tile DigiBattle Arena. "I was having this really good dream about chasing a..." He then realised what he was about to say and decided to keep quiet about it. "So who am I fighting?" he asked and then he saw a data stream touch down and Renamon appear in front of him. "Oh."
DigiBattle Arenas are divided into two sections, one red and one blue, each three by three tiles large. One Digimon stays in the red area and the other stays in the blue area. A Digimon cannot step outside of their designated area, but can increase their area with DMDs or can leap in or fly into the opponent's area to attack. At the beginning of a DigiBattle, each Operator selects a number of DMDs or waits for a better combination to appear. These DMDs can be used straight away or saved strategically for later. The objective was to keep fighting until one surrendered or until one lost all his/her health points (HP).
That was what Guilmon was waiting for; for Takato to select the DMDs.
"You ready, Guilmon?" asked Takato.
The Digimon nodded in reply.
"I'm ready, Takato," he told his Operator. Guilmon looked ahead of him and wondered when was the last time he fought against Renamon. Wasn't it in Summer Camp, all those years ago? "Let's get this on."
"I'm ready," Renamon replied to her Operator.
"All right! Let's go!"
Guilmon started off by inhaling sharply and spat out a Pyro Sphere attack. It missed. He leapt sideways on to the next tile, narrowly avoiding a massive storm of diamond shards that would have pierced his digital, scaly hide. The virus-type Digimon ran towards the edge of his area and leapt, clearing the boundary between the red and blue areas and landing on Renamon's side. He swung his claws out at her and that was all the time he was allowed to be there, before the rules of the DigiBattle Arena kicked in and an algorithm pulled him back to the centre tile of his area of the Arena.

* * * * *

"Ha! Is that the best you can do?" taunted Ruki. She looked at the small screen of her D-Tector. It displayed graphics that were not unlike that of a Gameboy Advance, and she could clearly see the battle. "You haven't hit my Renamon once."
Takato looked up at her.
"You haven't hit Guilmon once," he retorted and that wiped the smile off her face.
Ruki decided that she wouldn't lose this time round. She would beat Takato this time and show them all that she was the best Digimon Operator there was.
"Yeah, but that'll soon change," she told him. "DigiModify– Endigo1 activate!" She watched as cracks appeared in all the tiles of the DigiBattle Arena. "DigiModify– Hyper Wing activate!" Ruki knew that once a cracked tile is stepped on, it would break after the Digimon steps off of it.
That was why she always used the Endigo1 DMD in association with the Hyper Wing activate, which allowed Renamon to hover over the holes that broken tiles leave.
The auburn-haired girl watched as wave after wave of Renamon's attacks shot out towards Guilmon. The virus-type Digimon didn't have a chance against her data-type. Ruki could use as many DMDs on her Digimon as she wanted and that was a real advantage.
"So, Takato, what do you say we make this interesting?" asked Ruki. "If I win, you become my personal little slave for the entire week."
"And if I win?" asked Takato determinedly. He received no reply. "How's about if I win, we get back together?" The glare he received from Ruki made him wonder whether he had overstepped his boundaries.
"Fine, if you win, we get back together," she agreed.
Takato glanced back down at his D-Tector. He had to ditch the DMDs he had selected in order to select one that would Guilmon. The youth knew that he had to reselect those DMDs later on if he was to create the special Combo he had learnt from Juri back in Summer Camp. It was the same Combo he had used to defeat Renamon back in those days and he hoped that it would still work.
"Keep in there, Guilmon," he muttered to his Digimon friend. "DigiModify– Repair activate." He watched as the holes in the arena suddenly disappeared and were replaced with tiles again.
"That's not going to help you, Takato," stated Ruki, as she pressed a few more buttons. "DigiModify– Hyper Cannon activate. DigiModify– Giga Cannon activate. DigiModify– Supreme Cannon activate!" She watched as these three Cannon DMDs then merged into one more powerful DMD, the Omega Cannon. "DigiModify– Omega Cannon activate!" Ruki watched the screen, as Renamon's right hand turned into a cannon and the Digimon fired repeatedly at Guilmon.
This reminded Takato too much of his first DigiBattle against Ruki. It was a terrifying one and he could remember it still as if it was yesterday.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

All around him, the crowd of campers cheered on. It was just him against Ruki. Even with the knowledge of the Combo, Takato felt as if he couldn't compete against the bully. None of the right DMDs were selected. If he deselected the DMDs, then he would not be able to reselect the ones he needed for a long time.
That time was represented by the gauge at the top of his D-Scanner's screen and it was only a third of the way full. Takato looked up at Ruki. She had a smug smile on her face, as she knew she was going to win. He couldn't say the same for Guilmon. It looked as if his Digimon was on his last legs.
"Hang on in there, Guilmon," he whispered to his Digimon. "DigiModify– Heal activate." He hoped that the Heal DMD would help Guilmon last for much longer.
"Give it up, goggle-head," taunted Ruki. She had been calling him that beause of the goggles he had on during the swimming sessions. Ruki thought they looked dorky and made Takato look just as stupid. "DigiModify– Tankmon's Hyper Cannon activate!"
"Go on, Takato, I know you can do it!" shouted Juri over the cheer of the other kids.
"Yeah, you can do it!" cheered on Jenrya. He was bumped into. "Hey, watch it!" he protested at the brown-haired kid next to him.
"Sorry," apologised Ryo.
Ruki's smile widened, as she saw Guilmon take a direct hit.
"Hear that, shrimp?" asked Ruki meanly. "They're all cheering, but that's not going to do you any good. You're a loser and you'll fail. They'll be so disappointed in you, but that's what they got for supporting a loser." She lowered her gaze back down at her D-Scanner. "Renamon, finish him off."
"Yes, ma'am," replied Renamon.
"Takato, when are those DMDs coming?" asked Guilmon.
"Soon," replied Takato abruptly. He watched as Renamon launched another wide-sweeping Diamond Storm attack. It hit Guilmon. Takato winced at the sight of it. This was not supposed to happen. He was supposed to use the Combo that Juri had taught him. It was supposed to have taken Renamon out in one blow. "Guilmon!" he cried, as Renamon leapt over to Guilmon's side of the Arena and kicked the virus-type Digimon backwards.
Takato watched in disbelief as Guilmon's HP dropped down to 10. This was not good.
"Guilmon, you've got to avoid her for now!" cried Takato, as he kept his eye on the gauge. It was over three-quarters of the way full now and it wouldn't be long before he could select the necessary DMDs that would wipe the floor with Renamon's furry butt. "We're nearly there."
The gauge was full and the D-Scanner vibrated to announce that.
"All right!" exclaimed Takato. "You're going down, Ruki! DigiModify– Berserk Sword activate. DigiModify– Trump Sword activate. DigiModify– Leomon's Fist of the Beast King activate!" He watched and saw that what Juri had taught him was correct. There was a glitch in the DMD system and all the three DMDs he had selected were merging together into one that was called... "DigiModify– Double Hero activate!"
Ruki watched in disbelief as Guilmon split into two Digimon, one Guilmon and the other Leomon. Both Digimon attacked Renamon furiously and Ruki watched in disbelief as Renamon's HP was slashed down to zero.
"No!" she screamed, as Renamon was suddenly deleted.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Oh no!" cried Takato, as he looked at his D-Tector. Guilmon had been deleted. Luckily for him, he had a back-up copy of Guilmon still in the D-Tector, so Guilmon wasn't truly dead.
Ruki should have been smiling smugly, but no smile graced her lips. She just looked at Takato with a look of disbelief on her face. 'He had the Double Hero Combo, so why didn't he use it?' she wondered quietly to herself. Takato could have defeated her in a matter of seconds, seeing as how Renamon's HP levels were still as low as they had been when Takato first used the Double Hero Combo against her.
Takato sighed.
"I guess that makes me your slave for a week," stated Takato.
"Nah, the bet's off," said Ruki with a shake of his head. Takato seemed a little bit too happy for someone whom had lost a DigiBattle and a bet. 'So he threw the match, huh?' she thought. 'I guess he's not as dumb as he looks after all.' She smiled at him. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," she apologised to the youth.
"I'm sorry for forgetting the anniversary of our first kiss," stated Takato.
Alice couldn't believe it. They had been fighting only a few seconds ago and now it had come to this? A reconciliation? She began to wonder why they didn't kiss and make up a lot sooner, but then she decided not to. After all, it was not for her to understand this strange couple.
"How's about another sundae, one for just the two of us?" suggested Takato.
"Another one?" exclaimed Ruki in complete disbelief. "Man, you eat like a pig!"
"Well, I guess not then," chuckled Takato good-naturedly.

To be continued...