Digimon.EXE 3

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.EXE 3 is based on Rockman.EXE, which is copyrighted by Capcom Ltd. Please read and review.

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File 05: Keep On

"Here, grab this!"
A rope that seemed to be made of fine silk was flung at Guilmon's head. The reptilian Digimon looked upwards and saw the red figure he had spotted on the upper levels, earlier on. Perhaps this Digimon wasn't the culprit, after all.
"Thanks," he said, before grabbing a hold of the rope. He held on tightly, as the long-haired Digimon pulled on the other end and gradually pulled him out of the quicksand.
"You shouldn't have been sneaking around here," stated the red-clad Digimon, who turned out to be a female. She wore a red hat with a jewel spider on its brim and had a purple sash around her waist. Her hair was so white it looked green-blue and her face was rather pale, yet her lips were rather red like her clothes. She wore long purple gloves and sunglasses over her eyes. "My name's Uranekimon and I'm the Digimon of Reiko Manun, one of the Officials. What are you doing here in the power plant's computer network?"
A sheepish look spread across Guilmon's face, such that he almost looked like the non-existent preverbial dinosaur in sheep's clothing.
"I was here to find out what was causing the water shortage," said Guilmon in reply. "When I saw you, I thought that you were behind all this." He looked away with an embarrassed look on his face. "I guess you weren't, huh?"
Uranekimon folded her arms, as she glared down at Guilmon with a look of disapproval. It was reminiscent of a mother telling off a naughty child.
"I see," she said with a slow nod of her head. "Well, you'd better log out right now before you get hurt. This is no place for a civilian Digimon like you." She turned her back to Guilmon, as she walked away from him. "Log out now, while you still can. A Digimon like you won't be able to handle the viruses here." Uranekimon turned round to glare at Guilmon one last time, before she down a ramp and to the level below.
Once Uranekimon was gone, Guilmon looked up as if to expect to see the face of his Operator, Takato.
"So, are we going to log out, Takato?" he asked.
"No way," came Takato's reply. "Let's go deeper into the network."
Guilmon sighed and then looked back at the shifting sands that had nearly been his sandy grave. He recognised those pits of doom now and if ever he saw one, he would not make the same mistake again.
"Uh, sure, Takato," he agreed with a nod of his way. "But which way?" Guilmon looked around him and saw that there was more than one path.
Without warning, a huge sphere of flames rushed straight at the wood-style Digimon. Guilmon narrowly dodged the attack. Several viruses were appearing in front of him and it looked as if he was outnumbered three to one. He saw a Ninja.1264 Virus and two fiery Jackal-F Viruses in front of him.
The Ninja.1264 looked like a monkey in a black ninja suit, but unlike the Ninja.1195 he had fought back during the Dragon Syndicate Incident, this one had a green belt instead of a red. The two Jackal-F viruses looked like pink jackals with spiky manes and their bushy tails were made out of flames signifying that they were fire-style viruses.
Well, that was okay. Guilmon knew that Takato had loaded a few aqua-style DMDs into the D-Tector, so it was all a matter of waiting until his Operator activated them. He leapt sideways and out of the way of the sharp-edged throwing stars that the Ninja.1264 threw at him. One of the Jackal-Fs leapt straight at him, but Guilmon rolled out of the way and swung his claws at the virus, damaging it.
A howl of anguish leapt up from the wounded Jackal-F, before it spat out a sphere of flames straight at Guilmon. Since the virus was at point blank range, it did not miss.
The flames engulfed Guilmon's wood-style body, making him whine out in pain. He leapt backwards and counter-attacked with his Leaf Twister attack, only for the Jackal-F to leap out of the way. A couple more throwing stars– shuriken– were thrown at him, just as the other Jackal-F lunged straight at him. Guilmon ran for it, the shuriken striking the floor behind him and leaving a trail of metallic throwing stars.
He ran circles around the two Jackal-F viruses and some of the Ninja.1264's shurikens struck one of them. That was all well and good, but it wasn't good enough. He had three viruses to deal with and they were powerful enough to delete him.
"Takato, I need some help here!" he called out to his Operator.
"I wish I could help, but..." began Takato and then he trailed off. "Never mind. DigiModify– Bubl-V activate!"
Guilmon inhaled sharply and spat out a fast-moving glob of water that hit one of the Jackal-F Viruses and then exploded in a v-shaped pattern in a huge burst of bubbles. The Jackal-F that he had managed to wound was suddenly deleted and that made Guilmon feel good. A throwing star suddenly caught him in the arm, making him cry out in pain. More hurtled his way and Guilmon leapt out of the way.
He turned round and inhaled sharply.
"Leaf Twister!" he roared, sending a leaf-laden cyclone spinning straight at the Ninja.1264 virus. Guilmon watched as the leaves spun round, cutting at the Ninja.1264. He rushed straight at the virus and then swung with all his might. His sharp claws tore into the virus' body and ripped it to shreds.
Now there was only one virus left. Guilmon turned round and saw the virus lunge straight at him.
"DigiModify– Ice Strike activate!"
Guilmon's right claw turned into a fist made out of pure ice. That was good enough for him. He lashed out and punched the Jackal-F right in the virus, deleting the fire-style virus in an instant.
"All right, Guilmon!" cheered Takato. "You did it! You deleted them all!"
That was when the ground shook and something rose up from the sand. It was a strange virus that could best be described as a pyramid with a happy face carved on one side, an angry face carved on the other, a sad face carved on the third side and on the fourth side was carved a surprised face. This was the infamous Pyramid Virus, one of the toughest viruses you can ever find within a sandy area of the Digital World.
"Not another one," sighed Takato. "Go get it, Guilmon."
"Right," agreed Guilmon with a nod of his head, before he inhaled sharply and let rip with his Leaf Twister attack.
The attack made the Pyramid Virus spin round. It stopped with the angry face facing Guilmon. That was a big mistake. A jet of flames flew out from the virus and hit the wood-style Digimon, dealing double damage. The Pyramid Virus then sank back into the sand.
"Guilmon, are you okay?" asked Takato hoarsely.
"I'm fine, Takato," replied Guilmon, as he staggered backwards. "Just, please don't talk. I don't want you getting thirsty." He felt the ground shudder again and he dived out of the way.
The Pyramid Virus rose back up where Guilmon had once stood. It then stayed exactly where it was, not moving, with its sad face facing Guilmon. Seconds later, poisonous gas began streaming out of the mouth of the sad face.
Guilmon rushed forwards and slashed at the Pyramid Virus with his claws, making it spin round. He leapt sideways just in time when the angry face stopped in front of him and let out a jet of flames. The wood-style Digimon rushed at the virus again and hit it again. This time the happy face was turned towards Guilmon.
There was a flash of light and the Pyramid Virus looked new again, as if Guilmon's attacks had not hit it. The virus then sank back into the sands.
"This is getting annoying," growled Guilmon, as he looked around him.
"Guilmon, I've got an idea," called out Takato. "You just wait for the virus to appear and I'll load a special DMD for you."
There was no verbal reply from Guilmon. He just nodded, as he listened carefully for the approach of the virus. There was nothing he could do except to wait. The ground shook again and Guilmon quickly leapt sideways to avoid being skewered by the rising Pyramid Virus. He turned round and saw that the surprised face was now facing him.
A gust of wind blew out of the surprised face's mouth and kicked up enough dust to obscure Guilmon's vision.
"Okay, let's do this!" cried Takato. "DigiModify– Wrecking Ball activate!"
Guilmon opened his mouth and a huge wrecking ball flew out of it and in the direction of the Pyramid Virus. He heard a thud and then a crack and the wind suddenly died down. The dust began to settle and as it did, Guilmon found he could see again and in the Pyramid Virus' place was a data packet.
"All right, Takato!" he cried and rushed over towards it. He picked up the data packet and absorbed it.
"Say, Guilmon, something's happening to the sand," Takato pointed out to his Digimon.
There was no doubt about it. What Takato had said was true. The sand was draining away from the platform to reveal a hole in the middle of it with a ladder going down it.
The wood-style Digimon crept over towards the hole and looked down it. He began to wonder why there was a hole in the floor, but decided that exploration was not the best option.
"Takato, should I go down there?" he asked Takato.
"You bet," came the reply, "but be careful."
"I will," replied Guilmon with a nod of his head. He then did his best to climb down. It was a long climb, but he managed to get down to the bottom unscathed. Well, that's a lie. He actually missed his footing on the fifth rung up and fell the rest of the way down. "Ouch, that smarts," whined Guilmon.
"Guilmon, you okay?" asked Takato.
"Yeah, I guess," whined Guilmon with a nod of his scaly head. "Say, there's a handle here!"
Takato suddenly realised what that meant. They had found the program they were looking for.
"All right!" he exclaimed. "That must be the program that controls the water pump. If we turn that, the water'll return again." Takato couldn't wait to have a drink again. "Okay, Guilmon, turn the handle and let's get out of here!"

* * * * *

Jenrya sighed and got up from his seat. He had been trying to contact Ryo for ages, but all he could do was find Cyberdramon, whom was still connected to the Digital World. Even Cyberdramon didn't know where Ryo was and that worried Jenrya.
"Something's definitely wrong," he said to his Digimon, Terriermon, as he walked out to the kitchen. "Nobody in this day and age goes anywhere without their D-Tector."
"Perhaps he's in the shower," suggested Terriermon.
"Nah, I doubt that," replied Jenrya with a shake of his head, as he walked over to the fridge. "You know there's no water. Look, I'll show you." He made his way towards the sink and turned one of the taps. There was a gurgling sound and no water came out. "See?" he said. "No wa..." There was suddenly a spurt and water came gushing out of the tap. "Well, I'll be. There is some water after all..."
It was then that he noticed the colour. Water doesn't have a colour. This water, however, did.
"Yuck, that's disgusting!" exclaimed Jenrya, as he shut the tap off and watched the greenish water drain away. "That water's far too polluted to drink. I wonder what's happening?"

As soon as Takato unconnected his D-Tector from the computer, it began to ring. He flipped the lid open and raised it to his ear.
"Moshi, moshi, Takato speaking," he greeted the other person. It was Ruki on the other end of the line. "Huh?" he exclaimed in complete surprise. "That's not possible! I fixed the water pump!" He paused to listen to her speak. "Polluted? Really polluted?"
Takato sighed.
"I guess it wasn't a problem with the water pump, huh?" he said to Ruki. He then listened as Ruki suggested that it probably had something to do with the water filtration system. "You may be right about that." Takato then pulled his ear away from the D-Tector, as Ruki raised her voice. "Okay, I'll meet you there. See you! Bye!" He then pressed a button, switching off the phone function.
Once again, the D-Tector began to ring. Takato sighed and lifted the D-Tector back to his face.
"Look, Ruki..." he began, only to be interrupted by a definitely male voice. "Jenrya? What's the matter?"
"Have you seen Ryo?" asked Jenrya curiously.
"Nope, 'fraid not," replied Takato.
There was then a silent and worried pause from Jenrya.
"That's not good," he muttered under his breath. "Takato, you've got to keep a look out for him. He's been missing for two days now and his mother's been worried sick. Promise me that you'll call if you find him."
There was on word that caught Takato's attention. Missing. That and two days.
"Missing?" exclaimed Takato in disbelief. "Sure, I'll call if I see him. Why don't you call the others? Yeah, okay. See you!" He then lowered the phone and looked at the numberpad.
"So, should we go looking for Ryo?" asked Guilmon curiously.
"Nah, Jen's bound to phone the others and they'll help him out," was Takato's reply. "Let's go and find Ruki!" He then turned round and was about to dash off, when he bumped into an Official. "Oh, hi," he said weakly with a sheepish smile on his face. It was then that he knew he had been busted. There was no way out of this situation for him now.
Luckily for Takato the Official's throat was too dry for him to speak. In fact, there was a rather grumpy look on his face and he looked incredibly tired.
"You," the Official just managed to croak out. "Come with me." He reached out to grab Takato by the arm, but failed. He had been far too tired out by chasing after Alice and Juri.
Takato darted out from around the Official and ran for it with all his might. He knew he had to find Ruki and he knew exactly where she was, thanks to her carefully described directions. All he had to go was go down to Level 1 of the Orbital Space Ring, where the water works, power plants and other industries were located. He ran round the corner and suddenly skidded to a halt.
"Yipes, the police!" exclaimed Takato.
"Hey, you! Stop!" cried out the police officers, before they rushed straight at Takato.
The brown-haired youth looked around him and saw that if he was quick enough, he could just about dart past them and into a corridor that led to the right. The two police officers rushed straight at him. There was no other choice. Takato ran and slid between their legs across the smooth, polished floor. He scrambled back up to his feet and then ran for it, and skidded to a halt mere seconds later and then took a few paces back towards the elevator that he had nearly missed.
Takato pressed the button and then waited. He heard the footsteps of the police officers. They were charging straight at him and Takato began praying for the elevator to move quicker.
There was a chime and the elevator doors opened. Takato darted in and pressed the lowest button he could see. It was then that he realised he had pressed the button that made the doors stay open, so he pressed the one above and soon the doors closed before the officers could even scramble through.
The youth sighed.
"Man, that was a close call," he muttered.
"Are you okay, Takato?" asked Guilmon. "Your voice sounds kind of... weird."
"I'm just really thirsty, that's all," was Takato's reply as the elevator went down.
"You've got to be more careful," said Guilmon in a concerned tone of voice. "You don't want to dehydrate, do you?"
Takato shook his head in agreement. No, he didn't want to do that. He had heard from news reports that people all over the Orbital Space Ring were fainting from lack of water. If he wasn't careful, he would join them in hospital and that would be bad.
"No, you're right," he agreed and then left it at that.

* * * * *

"Miss Reiley, I've found something!"
"What is it?" asked the Operator of the Digimon.
A smile spread across the Digimon's face, as she looked in front of her.
"You wouldn't believe this, but it's one of the TetraKeys we've been looking for," she told her Operator. "I believe it's the White Tiger TetraKey."
"Well, this is an unexpected turn for the best."
The Digimon nodded her head.
"Yes," she agreed with her Operator, "but Miss Reiley, what exactly are the TetraKeys for?"
The Digimon's operator laughed.
"Oh, it's a surprise," she told her Digimon. "Let's just say that it'll help us achieve our goal of destroying the Digital Society. We will be able to delete the entire Digital World and destroy it completely in the name of the Hypnos Organisation! We only have two more to find and then we will be victorious! All hail Hypnos!"
"All hail Hypnos!" came the reply.

To be continued...