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. I won't continue unless you do.

P.S. I've decided against making this my last in the Digimon.EXE Series. There will be one more Digimon.EXE story, Digimon.MOV. Once again, let me remind you of the contest I set at the beginning of this story. Just send in a small Digimon fanfic, and the winner will get a Digimon.EXE Timeline, a Digimon.EXE Guide and the right to continue the Digimon.EXE Series.

* * * * *

File 07: Shinka de Guts – (Evolve with Guts)

Everything was black, save for the red lines that criss-crossed the place and formed a grid-like pattern on the floor. The floor and the ceiling were both the same, with red grid patterns on them. They looked like someone's diagram of the Universe and at certain points were these pillars that rose up from the floor and joined with the ceiling, looking for all the world like wormholes that connected the two planes together.
The place had a rather retro cyberpunk look to it, the sort dreamed up by people when the movie, Tron, gave people the best insight of what the inside of a computer would look like.
Takato stood on the floor, looking around him. Was he in the Digital World himself? Man, he had never thought it to look so strange. He looked down at the floor and saw himself standing firmly on the grid floor. The lines glowed dully and didn't even seem to illuminate anything.
"I'm sorry, Takato," apologised a voice that the youth recognised.
He looked up and saw Guilmon standing in front of him. A look of surprise spread across his face, as he saw the Digimon standing there. His mouth widened into a smile. Right in front of him was the dinosaur Digimon that he had been talking to all these years.
"Guilmon!" he exclaimed. "It's so good to see you like this, face to face."
Several thoughts went through Takato's mind. What would they do now that they were together, physically together? Would they be able to play and be better friends?
"Man, I never would have thought we'd see each other like this," he told Guilmon. "You look so much better in real life than you do on the screen of a D-Tector."
"It's nice to see you too," said Guilmon with a nod of his head. "It's nice to see you one final time."
"Final?" exclaimed Takato in sudden surprise. "Guilmon, what do you mean?"
Guilmon shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Takato," he apologised to his Operator, "but I have to go now."
"Go? Go where?" cried Takato.
"Goodbye, Takato."
Slowly, Guilmon turned round and began to walk away. Takato couldn't believe it. Where was Guilmon going?
"No, Guilmon, don't go!" protested Takato. "Please, don't leave me, Guilmon. Please don't leave me. I don't want to be all alone." He wanted to run after Guilmon, but found that he couldn't. Takato couldn't move at all. There was nothing he could, except to stand there and watch as his Digimon walked away from him and walked out of his life...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"No, Guilmon, don't leave," murmured Takato, as he tossed and turned.
"Takato!" came a shout. Then there was silence. "Takato!" the voice shouted even more loudly.
Slowly, Takato's eyes began to open. They did so weakly and so gradually, as if he was sapped of all energy. Once again the voice shouted out at him and slowly, Takato began to realise that was Guilmon's voice.
"Guilmon?" he murmured feebly. "Guilmon, is that you?"
"Takato, you're all right!" exclaimed Guilmon with a sigh of relief. "Yay! You're all right!"
There was another sigh of relief, but this time it was not from Guilmon. It was from the youth that knelt down right in front of Takato with a big smile on his slightly tanned face.
"It's good to see you're all right, Takato," he told the youth.
"Jenrya?" exclaimed Takato in surpise. "What are you doing here?"
The blue-haired youth laughed at Takato's comment.
"Is that anyway to greet the person that saved your life?" he queried. Jenrya shook his head, as he put the bottle away in his backpack. "Takato, did you know you passed out from lack of water?" he asked Takato. "If it weren't for me coming when I did, you could have died from dehydration down here and no one would have known."
"Water?" muttered Takato. "You've got water?"
Jenrya nodded.
"Yep," replied the youth. He then paused for thought. "Well, it's not so much water but juice I got from some old oranges we had lying around in the apartment." Jenrya sighed, as he thought about what he had heard on the radio on his way to the Water Works. "People are getting desperate up there. They've started juicing any fruit they can get their hands on. The shops have run out and people are getting low on fluids."
The youth feared what would happen if this continued. They were running out of liquids and it wouldn't be long before dehydration hit every person on the Orbital Space Ring.
"I just can't understand where Hypnos got all the money to buy the drinks up from," growled Jenrya angrily. "It just doesn't make sense."
For a while, Takato remained in silence, as he sat in the corner of the corridor. He was thinking about how he had messed up, about how he had ended up pumping polluted water out to the public instead of clean, fresh water. This was all his fault. He should have done better.
"I've got to go and help Ruki," said Takato determinedly, as he got back up to his feet.
"Whoa, Takato, stop!" protested Jenrya at Takato's sudden rise. "Sit back down, Takato. You're still in no condition to help anyone."
It was at that point there was ringing. Both youths went for their D-Tectors, but the only one that had been ringing was Jenrya's.
"Moshi, moshi, Jenrya speaking," greeted Jenrya, as he placed the D-Tector up to his ear. "You've found him! Great!" he exclaimed. "Huh? Oh, okay," he agreed with a nod of his head. "I'll get it there, right away. Yeah, bye." He then turned off the phone function and rehooked the D-Tector to his belt. "Good news, Takato," he told his friend, "Alice and Juri have found Ryo."
"Is he okay?" asked Takato curiously.
Jenrya nodded in reply.
"You bet," he told Takato with a widening smile on his face. "Ryo's even sent me a message to forward to his Dad. If we can get it to him, he'd go and fix the water supply." He saw the confused look on Takato's face and then explained to him how Ruki had figured out everything; how she had figured out that Hypnos was black mailing Mr. Akiyama to do their bidding by kidnapping Ryo.

* * * * *

A frog-like Digimon stood in Renamon's way. He had a tuba around his neck and had his arms spread out, as he stood in front of a firewall that blocked the way to the water treatment controls.
"I'm telling you, you can't pass!" protested the Digimon.
"That's right, Gekkomon, you keep them out of there!" exclaimed a mature, masculine voice.
Ruki recognised that voice. She knew it belonged to Ryo's Dad, Mr. Akiyama. There was no doubt about it.
"Mr. Akiyama, you mustn't continue on like this!" she protested. "You can't let Hypnos control your life like this. Let the people have water again!"
"No!" shouted Mr. Akiyama in protest. "If I do, they'll harm my son! I can't let them do that!"
Two data streams suddenly struck the path and in their place appeared Guilmon and Terriermon. Guilmon no longer had his wood style loaded and had an aqua-style loaded. Hence, his scales were now blue and his special attack was no longer Leaf Twister, but Aqua Sphere.
"Gekkomon, it's me, Terriermon!" exclaimed Terriermon, as he ran up to the Gekkomon with what looked like a small piece of paper in his hand. "I've got a message from Ryo! He's okay!"
A face appeared on the other side of the firewall. There was a mocking smile on its insectoid features, as it peered through the glowing bars that made up the firewall.
"Don't listen to him," hissed the insectoid Digimon on the other side of the firewall. "He's lying, Mr. Akiyama. Your son is far from okay. After all, he is in our captivity and you don't expect us to let him get away from us that easily, do you?" The insectoid Digimon on the other side of the firewall chuckled. "Do you?"
"Don't listen to him!" protested Guilmon. "He's the one that's lying!"
Gekkomon didn't say a thing. He just looked at Terriermon and then at the Digimon on the other side of the firewall, looking at them alternatively, one after another. The look on his digital face was apparent. He didn't know which one to believe. Was Ryo really fine and okay?
"Let me see the message," he told Terriermon quietly and was handed the e-mail. "It's from Ryo's address. There's no doubt about it. He's fine!"
"What?" exclaimed Mr. Akiyama in complete disbelief. "You!" he cried accusingly at the Hypnos Digimon on the other side of the firewall. "You lied to me!"
The firewall flickered and then disappeared to reveal the insectoid Digimon on the other side. The Hypnos Digimon flexed the pincers on either side of its jaws, as it waited on the other side of what had once been a firewall.
"So, you would think to thwart Hypnos' plans?" hissed the Hypnos Digimon angrily. "Well, I'll show you what happens to those that cross the Hypnos Organisation and me, Sandyanmamon!" He then reared up into the air and dived down into the ground, burrowing through it and disappeared underneath the sands.
"Where'd he go?" cried Terriermon, as he looked around him.
"Quiet!" shouted Renamon and then in the silence that followed, she listened to the rumbling of the ground.
Terriermon was suddenly flung backwards as Sandyanmamon burst out of the ground from underneath. The insect Digimon reared backwards, before firing a a huge gusher of sand straight at Terriermon. The blow hit the small Digimon and knocked the Rookie-level Digimon backwards. Sandyanmamon laughed.
"You're going to pay for that!" cried Renamon, as she rushed straight at Sandyanmamon.
The insect Digimon's tail then burst out of the ground and ensnared Renamon's foot, tripping her. Seeing his chance, Sandyanmamon lunged at Renamon and hit her with a clenched fist, before hitting her again and then again and again. He hit her repeatedly, not giving her any chance to retaliate.
Guilmon inhaled sharply and spat out a bubble that bounced along the sandy ground and then hit Sandyanmamon. It burst and the Digimon was suddenly engulfed by bubbles.
"Let go of Renamon now!" roared Guilmon, before he rushed straight at Sandyanmamon and slashed his claws at the yellow exoskeleton of the Hypnos Digimon.
"Guilmon, get out of the way!" cried Ruki. "DigiModify– AirStorm2 activate!"
Renamon inhaled sharply, just as Guilmon leapt back. She then exhaled and sent the sand on the floor flying straight at Sandyanmamon. Her windy attack smashed straight into the insect Digimon, making the thing screech and let go of her foot.
"Right, now it's time to kick some Digi-tail!" she cried, before she leapt through the air and hit Sandyanmamon with a perfectly executed flying kick.
The Hypnos Digimon crashed on to the floor with a heavy thud. He reared his head and then saw that Renamon's attack had blown the sand straight off the floor. Well, he would sort that out. Sandyanmamon rolled back on to his multiple legs and then reared backwards, before a geyser of sand sprayed out from his maw. He aimed and covered the entire path with as much sand as possible, before he dived back down under.
"Shoot! He's disappeared again!" cried Takato angrily. "Where'd he go?"
All of the Digimon looked around them carefully, listening quietly to any tell tale sounds of what Sandyanmamon was up to. As far as they could tell, the Digimon had disappeared altogether. There was no trace or clue as to where the Hypnos Digimon was and what he was doing.
The ground suddenly bulged and the sand on this bulged slid sideways and extended out towards them. It was Sandyanmamon burrowing towards them and they could see it was him, as it bulged where he travelled. All three Digimon fired their attacks at the Hypnos Digimon but found that the sand was shielding Sandyanmamon from all harm. The Digimon hurtled straight towards Gekkomon and at the last moment, Sandyanmamon burst out of the sand and grabbed Gekkomon, before diving back down into the ground and dragging Gekkomon down with him.
"Hey, you let go of him!" cried Terriermon angrily.
"Don't worry, use this!" cried Jenrya. "DigiModify– Quake1 activate!"
Terriermon clasped his hands together and they turned into a gigantic hammer that he raised above his head. He brought it crashing down on to the floor, causing the entire ground to shake violently. The ground rippled in a straight line in front of him, bringing up all sorts of debris from underneath the sand and turning up Gekkomon and Sandyanmamon.
"Now!" cried Ruki.
Renamon let rip with her Diamond Storm attack, while Guilmon fired his Aqua Sphere straight at the Hypnos Digimon. Both attacks missed, as Sandyanmamon used Gekkomon as a shield.
"You lousy coward!" accused Renamon spitefully. She rushed straight at Sandyanmanon and was about to attack, when the insect Digimon lashed out with his tail and sent her flying sideways.
Guilmon watched as Renamon crashed into the sandy ground with a heavy thud. Anger welled up inside him. That was the final straw. He would not let this Digimon get away with anything more. Guilmon roared out angrily, as his data began to change. Digivolving to his Champion form was not in the cards, however. It was something far more potent than that.
Where Guilmon had been, seconds before, there now stood WarGrowlmon, aqua-style. His scales were blue, yet now he was bigger and wore chunky metallic armour. Apart from the blue scales, WarGrowlmon looked just like the normal, fire-style WarGrowlmon. Only the scales and the attack were different.
"You're going to regret harming Renamon, Sandyanmamon!" roared WarGrowlmon, as he uncrossed his arms. "Freeze Blaster!" He fired two rays of pure white energy straight at Sandyanmamon, freezing up the insect Digimon. The Digimon then rushed straight at Sandyanmamon. "It's been a blast, but now I think it's time for you to split!" He then slashed at Sandyanmamon with the axes on his arms.
The ice cracked and Sandyanmamon cried out in pain and slithered backwards. There was a glowing line that separated his body halfway, where WarGrowlmon had cut him. It was sheer force of habit that was keeping him together and even that looked as if it was about to disappear.
"Help me!" croaked Sandyanmamon. "Please, help me!"
A data stream struck the ground and a brown-haired youth appeared. It was Hikaru Kamiya, one of Yamaki's former assistants.
"You shouldn't have lost so easily, Sandyanmamon," said Hikaru with a shake of his head.
"What?" exclaimed Takato in surprise. "It's a... a... human... in the Digital World?"
"That's impossible!" cried Jenrya in disbelief. "How is he in there?"
Hikaru shook his head.
"I guess it is time to test out the newly developed Biomerge technique, eh?" chuckled Hikaru, as he extended his hand out towards the Digimon. His Digimon then stood up and extended a hand out towards him. "Biomerge activate!"
WarGrowlmon watched in disbelief as the two then merged together and then Sandyanmamon's wound healed right back up.
"Neat trick," he said. He then rushed straight at Sandyanmamon, only to be hit back by a geyser of sand from Sandyanmamon's mouth. The attack was far more powerful than it used to be and he was blown back several hundred paces.
"He looks strong," commented Terriermon, "much stronger than he was before."
"Well, in that case, we'd better get you to digivolve too," stated Jenrya. "DigiModify– Matrix Digivolution activate!"
"DigiModify– Matrix Digivolution activate!" announced Ruki, who had got the same idea as Jenrya.
Soon Sandyanmamon was surrounded on either side by two Ultimate Digimon. The insect Digimon sneered.
"So, you think that you can defeat me now that you've digivolved, huh?" laughed Sandyanmamon. "I doubt it!" He inhaled sharply and then spat out a steady stream of sand from his maw, directing it at the two Ultimate Digimon.
Taomon created a translucent protective barrier around herself, which Rapidmon stepped into.
"Rapidmon, what do you say we attack him from the front and rear?" she suggested to her fellow Ultimate level Digimon.
"Yeah, but don't forget to count me in!" cried WarGrowlmon, as he rushed back down the path towards them and Sandyanmamon.
"Right," agreed Taomon with a nod of her head. "Rapidmon, you take the rear, I'll take the front!" She waved her arms to her side and dispersed the shield around them. "Thousand Spells!" She let rip with a stream of paper charms that flew through the air and exploded on contact with Sandyanmamon's exoskeleton.
Rapidmon leapt into the air and landed behind the Hypnos Digimon. He then let rip with a barrage of his potent missiles, each one roasting the insect Digimon's behind.
Sandyanmamon screeched out inhumanly, and looked skywards. He sprayed sand into the air, creating a heavy downpour of the stuff and obscuring their vision completely, disappearing into the veil of sand he had created himself. The plan was to escape when they had lost sight of him.
"DigiModify– Bubl-V!" announced Takato.
A bubble smacked into the veil of sand and the bubbles that formed afterwards, spread outwards. All the sand became wet and slopped down all around Sandyanmamon like mud. Before the Hypnos Digimon could do anything, WarGrowlmon rushed straight at him and sliced him in half. The Digimon screamed and his voice sounded like that of Hikaru's and his own. He then slid in half and disintegrated into digital data that dispersed into the air and disappeared.

* * * * *

"Man, I could do with a drink," said Ryo, as he walked over to the drinking fountain that had recently been installed not too far away.
"No, don't!" protested Juri, as she rushed up to stop him but she stopped herself seconds later. "Well, I'll be," she said to herself, as she looked Ryo take a drink.
The water was clean, clear and pure.

To be continued...