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. Constructive criticism is very welcome.

* * * * *

File 12: Ankoku no Hohoemi – (Smile of Darkness)

The image on Takato's D-Tector suddenly blurred and went all fuzzy before returning to normal.
Dr. Merzuno frowned as he saw that. He was looking over Takato's shoulder and saw what was going on in the DarkNet.
"That disturbance," muttered Merzuno quietly to himself. Could it be? Was it being caused by the Digimon he was looking for? "Tell WarGrowlmon to hang in there," he told Takato, as he walked over to the Log In Port. He examined it carefully and then seeing that it could take it, he plugged his own D-Tector in. "I'm sending my Digimon, Calumon, to help you out."
Takato was frantically pushing buttons on his D-Tector in an attempt to load up a Burner DMD.
"I don't think that your Digimon'll be get there quick enough," he told Dr. Merzuno.
"Oh, I think you'd be surprised as to how quickly he can get there," replied Dr. Merzuno with a smile on his face.
However, Takato didn't hear that last comment. He was busy concentrating on the screen. It blurred again.
"What?" he exclaimed in surprise. "What's causing that?" The image returned and he saw all three Freezer.980 Viruses open up to attack. That was the time to act. "DigiModify– Burner activate!" He sent the DMD and saw WarGrowlmon burst into flames and melt the ice.
A smile spread across Takato's face, as he saw the flames destroy the Freezer.980 Viruses. He quickly selected another DMD, the powerful GigaHeal and replenished all of WarGrowlmon's HP, healing every single wound he had received from Frigimon.
"Now, go get him, WarGrowlmon," he said encouragingly.

* * * * *

There was no need to tell WarGrowlmon twice. He rushed straight at Frigimon, eager to delete the Digimon for what it had done. WarGrowlmon swung his axe straight at the Digimon, only for Frigimon to duck underneath the attack. He saw Frigimon fling a punch at him and WarGrowlmon twisted out of the way of the attack.
"Careful!" warned Takato, remembering that there was no way he could possibly replenish WarGrowlmon's health. "Don't forget that your HP is real low!"
"Give it up, Frigimon," roared WarGrowlmon.
"Never!" protested Frigimon. "Sub Zero Ice Punch!" Frigimon smashed his fist into the ground and iced it up, sending a wave of ice hurtling towards WarGrowlmon.
Seeing it hurtling at him, WarGrowlmon fired his jet boosters and flew over the attack. He rushed straight at Frigimon and swung his arm straight at the Hypnos Digimon, but missed as Frigimon slid across the ice right underneath him. WarGrowlmon turned in mid-air, just as Frigimon drew his fist back to punch. The dinosaur Digimon slashed his arms at Frigimon, cutting at the icy Digimon with the blades on the sides of his arms.
Frigimon staggered back in pain, reeling from WarGrowlmon's last attack. One eye was closed, unable to open anymore. His breath was heavy and it looked as if he could barely stand.
"You'll pay for this," gasped Frigimon between deep breaths. "I won't let you leave this place alive!"
The ground suddenly shook violently. No, it wasn't just the ground. It was the entire DarkNet. The very fabric of reality seemed to blur and become blocky. It was like the Mother of All Earthquakes and it was happening in the Digital World, a place where such things as earthquakes did not exist. Cracks appeared on the floor and it seemed as if it would tear apart at any second.
Something was coming. Something insanely powerful.
WarGrowlmon watched in awe as the sky began to crack. He saw bits of it melt away and there was suddenly a loud shattering, as a hole was pierced through the very fabric of the DarkNet. It was a hole in the sky, floating in a vertical position above them. WarGrowlmon's mouth fell open in amazement.
A dark figure floated out of the hole. He was surrounded in a bright aura that bathed his very figure. He was surrounded and protected by an UltraBarrier, the very same forcefield that once protected the Juggernaut Virus. This dark figure wore a long leather coat that went down to the top of his black biker boots. He wore black trousers, the same kind of trousers that would be found on a biker and he also wore a black shirt underneath his coat. Around his left arm was tied a red bandana. His gloves were black as well and ended in sharp, metallic fingertips. A black helmet covered his head and it had three holes in for his three red eyes.
It was at that very moment that WarGrowlmon recognised the Digimon.
"Beelzemon!" exclaimed WarGrowlmon.
"You," said Beelzemon, as he pointed towards Frigimon, "have been a big disappointment." He smiled toothily. "I think it's time for you to retire, what do you say, hm?" He laughed, before he plunged straight down towards Frigimon and crushed the Digimon, smashing him into pieces and then absorbed Frigimon's data. "Mm, tasty."
WarGrowlmon braced himself for a fight. He had met the real Beelzemon before, back in the old HypnosNet, when Piedmon had tried to renew and renovate the place.
"What are you doing here, Beelzemon?" snarled WarGrowlmon. "You here for me?" He could remember the promise that Beelzemon had made to him, the promise that he would destroy him.
Beelzemon floated back off the floor and straightened up. He turned to look at WarGrowlmon unblinkingly.
"Oh, it's you," he said in surprise. "Didn't notice you there, big and ugly. What you doing in a place like this, hm? I can't imagine a squeaky clean guy like you in a scum-infested crud bucket like this." The smile on his pale face widened, showing off white fangs. "Say, I know, you've come here to offer yourself as a sacrifice for me, haven't you?" He chuckled. "Well, I'm flattered but I'm a bit full from all that Digimon-flavoured ice cream. Perhaps I'll just destroy you for fun. How does that sound?"
He then turned round to look at the small crater were Frigimon once stood. A key lay glittering there. It was a red key and had a Phoenix on its top. Beelzemon extended his hand out and the key leapt up into the palm of his hand. He pocketed it quickly, before he turned round to face WarGrowlmon.
"So, you ready to play, ugly?" asked Beelzemon.
"Ugly? Speak for yourself," retorted WarGrowlmon.
"What? I'm insulted!" protested Beelzemon. "How can you say a beautiful Digimon like me is ugly?" He shook his head. "How heartless of you!" A dark smile returned to his face. "Well, I can sort that out for you. Way I see it, you won't need anything in the way of a heart for much longer!" He pulled out a gun and then aimed it at WarGrowlmon. The Digimon pulled the trigger and opened fire.
WarGrowlmon leapt out of the way quickly. He knew that this, the real Beelzemon, was far more powerful than the clone he had faced. One attack dealt an insane amount of damage and it was in his best interest to remain unscathed.
"Try this on for size!" cried WarGrowlmon. "Atomic Blaster!"
"It's no use!" protested Takato, upon seeing that WarGrowlmon's attack had done nothing to break through Beelzemon's UltraBarrier. "I'm sorry, WarGrowlmon, but I've used up all of our hard hitting DMDs. There's none left that's strong enough to break through his UltraBarrier!"
Beelzemon laughed out insanely, as he fired repeatedly at WarGrowlmon.
"Hey, stupid! You forgot about my UltraBarrier already?" he chorlted. "It's far stronger than it used to be, so what are you going to do now, huh? What are you going to do now that you can't lay a finger on me?" He shoved his gun away and then flew up into the air, before plunging back down towards WarGrowlmon. Beelzemon lashed out with his claws.
WarGrowlmon fired his jet boosters and flew out of the way at the last minute, just as Beelzemon plunged down. He saw the floor crack and shatter under the force of Beelzemon's attack and realised that was how this place had come to be destroyed. It was Beelzemon that Devidramon had been talking about. Beelzemon was the reason that none of the Digimon dared to set foot into the Neutral Territory.
"Don't worry," said Dr. Merzuno. "Calumon's nearly there!"
"I hope he can get there soon," prayed Takato.
"Beelzemon!" shouted Dr. Merzuno. "Listen to me! You mustn't do this!"
The Demon Lord Digimon stopped in his tracks.
"That voice," muttered Beelzemon under his breath. "No! It can't be!" He looked up skywards, as if he was trying to look at the face of God.
WarGrowlmon took this opportunity to attempt to break through Beelzemon's UltraBarrier again. He fired his Atomic Blaster at the UltraBarrier, hoping that his twin beams of pure energy would be able to pierce the forcefield.
"That," began Beelzemon as he lowered his gaze to glare at WarGrowlmon, "was a low down, dirty trick!" He smiled. "Just the sort that I like." Beelzemon pulled out his guns and then aimed and fired. His bullets smashed into WarGrowlmon, slicing off what little HP he had and reducing it all to 1HP. The smile on his face became a satisfied one, as he saw WarGrowlmon slump down to the ground unconscious. "The uglier they are, the uglier the indentation they make." He put his guns away and drew back a clawed hand. "It was fun while it lasted, but I think it's time to end this."
A white Digimon then floated over WarGrowlmon's unconscious body. He had his stubby little arms spread out, as he glared up at Beelzemon impassively. This little Digimon with his frilly ears with purple edges, large green eyes, small stubby little feet and arms looked exactly like the Programs that filled the Digital World. His name was Calumon and he was the original Program, the one from which all the others were cloned.
"I.M.P.M.O.N, I know that's you," said the little Digimon. "Why don't you stop all this and come back to Dr. Merzuno?"
Beelzemon glared down at the little Digimon angrily.
"Dr. Merzuno," he growled, his hands clenching tightly into fists. "Don't you dare ever mention that name again! You hear me? Never ever say that name again!" He roared and lashed down at the small Digimon and struck down at Calumon. "Huh? What?" exclaimed Beelzemon, as he floated backwards. "How is that possible?"
A small, red and translucent forcefield surrounded Calumon and it was the one that had protected him from Beelzemon's attack.
"Thank you, Dr. Merzuno," he whispered under his breath. "Beelzemon, you can't harm me, 'coz Dr. Merzuno was kind enough to give me a Crystal Aura. It's far more powerful than your UltraBarrier and can protect me from any attack that you can throw at me."
"More powerful?" laughed Beelzemon and he continued to laugh. "I doubt that!" he spat derisively, as he drew back his clawed hand. "Let's just see how powerful your Crystal Aura is. I'm sure I'll be able to crack it with one more hit!"
"Beelzemon!" called out a voice from apparently nowhere. It echoed all around them and made them look around for the source of the voice. "Beelzemon! Do you have the Red Phoenix Key yet?" asked the voice concernedly.
An angry look spread across Beelzemon's face. He knew that voice. It was the voice of that same old man that had dared to call him.
"What did I tell ya' about calling me, old man?" asked Beelzemon angrily.
"Do you or do you not have the Red Phoenix Key?" asked the voice.
"Yeah, I have it," replied Beelzemon nonchalantly. "What's it to you?"
"In that case," continued the voice, "you must return to HypnosNet at once! We have already sent an agent to retrieve the last TetraKey. It won't be long before we can bring down the firewall within the Forbidden Account and enter the Dark Ocean." The voice paused for a while to let that information sink in. "Remember our deal, Beelzemon. You must be there when I finally reawaken the 'Beast'. After all, how are you to become even stronger if you are not there to absorb the Seal Program that keeps it dormant?"
Beelzemon looked down at Calumon and then towards the hole he had made in the DarkNet.
"Very well, old man," sighed the Demon Lord Digimon. "However, this had better all be worth it." He turned to face Calumon. "I'll deal with you later, small fry." Beelzemon then floated through the hole, which slowly closed after him and then disappeared without a trace.
Calumon's Crystal Aura flickered and soon disappeared too.
"Wow, that was a close call!" he sighed, as he wiped his forehead. "One more hit and I would have been a goner." He then looked down at WarGrowlmon and then thought carefully. "Dr. Merzuno, that guy sounded a lot like Dr. Yamaki."
"Yes, it did," agreed Dr. Merzuno, "and I don't like the sound of what he was talking about."
"The Beast?" asked Calumon. "Do you think he could be talking about...?"
"I have a sneaking suspicion that he was," replied Dr. Merzuno gravely. "Heal WarGrowlmon for Takato and then log out."

* * * * *

As Takato watched Calumon heal WarGrowlmon, he began to wonder. He also blew his nose on a hankie, but that was irrelevant.
"Dr. Merzuno, why did your Digimon call Beelzemon by the name, Impmon?" asked Takato curiously.
"When I worked for the Officials, I was working on a special project. IMPMON was the result of it," replied Dr. Merzuno cryptically. "IMPMON stands for Individual Mechanised Peronsal Manager and Online Navigator. He was meant to be a more independent Digimon that was capable of recording the data from any viruses or Digimon it fought." He shook his head sadly. "Yet something went wrong with another project and Impmon was blamed for causing it. The Officials, whom I was working for at the time, blamed him and sent Digimon to delete him. Impmon escaped with his life and I never saw him again after that. The day after that, I was fired."
Dr. Merzuno sighed.
"It looks as if events from my past are catching up with me," he said quietly. "If my hunch is correct, Hypnos is trying to reawaken something that could very well destroy the entire Digital World and Society as we know it."
"Dr. Merzuno, I'm done," announced Calumon cheerfully. "Takato, I've also upgraded WarGrowlmon for you. He's now Mega Level."
"Gallantmon? How do you feel?" asked Takato curiously.
"I've never felt better," replied Gallantmon from Takato's D-Tector. "Shall I log out?"
Takato nodded.
"Please," he replied. Seconds later, he unplugged his D-Tector. "Say, Dr. Merzuno, where are you going?"
"Officials HQ," came the reply from Dr. Merzuno. "I've got some things to sort out. I'll be seeing you!" He then walked out of the room.
Moments later, Jenrya ran round the corner.
"Takato, there you are!" he cried, as he rushed in and grabbed the brown-haired youth by his arm. "Come on! Juri's woken up again!"
"She has?" exclaimed Takato, a slow smile spreading across his face. "All right! Let's go!"

Dr. Merzuno stood beside Juri's bed.
"So, to make up for it, I've paid for all the hospital expenses," he continued. "Not only that, I've paid for your father to come visit you. He'll be arriving tomorrow to see you and will be staying in Toronto until you're let out of hospital. I've even paid for your return tickets, so you've got nothing to worry about. All I ask for in return is your forgiveness."
Juri didn't know what to say. It was nice of him to pay for all those things. She felt flattered that he had gone out of his way to do all these things for her, to pay for her father to come visit her, to pay for the return trip.
"Thank you, Dr. Merzuno," she said gratefully. "Thank you very much."
"Juri! You're okay!"
"Takato!" exclaimed Juri ecstatically, as she saw the brown-haired youth rush in.
"Juri, I'm so glad you're okay," said Takato, as he gave her a big hug. "I knew you'd pull through. You're not the kind of girl to give up." He pulled himself away from the embrace to look at her better. "So, how do you feel now?" he asked her.
"Not too bad," replied Juri, "but the doctors say they have to keep me here for a week or so to see how I'm doing." She then looked at him in a manner that made Takato wonder what devious thought was going through her mind. "By the way, Dr. Merzuno told me all about what you did," she said, as she made a sideways glance at the bearded man. "Thank you, Takato. I couldn't have pulled through if you hadn't stopped that Hypnos Digimon." She then pulled him close and kissed him on the cheek.
A deep shade of humble crimson spread across Takato's face.
"Aw, it was nothing," he said modestly. "Anyone would have done the same thing if they were in my shoes."
"And thank you, Guilmon," added Juri. "I'd kiss you too, but that'd be a bit difficult."
Gallantmon went red too at the thought of Juri kissing him and was thankful that he was in his D-Tector in Takato's pocket, where no one could see him go so red that it could be seen through his armour.
"You're welcome," said Gallantmon politely. "It's nice to see you that you're okay," he added.
"Takato, a few minutes ago I was on the phone with the North American Authorities," announced Dr. Merzuno in the quietness that followed. "They heard about what you've done and are thinking about giving you a Commendation. If my proposal gets approved, you'll be famous amongst the North Americans and probably with everyone across the world. Isn't that fantastic?"
Takato had gone wide-eyed at the very thought of a Commendation. He would be awarded?
"Wow, this on top of the Championships!" exclaimed Takato all of a sudden. "Cool!"
"Actually, because of the events of late, I've decided that the Championships should be cancelled," stated Dr. Merzuno sadly with a shake of his head. "It's far too dangerous to continue the contest with Hypnos still at large and if I'm right about what their current plans are, then I think it would be best if all the Contestants went home and stayed at home." The smile on his face, which had been there only seconds earlier, had completely disappeared and was replaced by the most ashen, gloomy expression Takato had ever seen. "Well, I have to get going. Perhaps I'll be seeing you later."
"Goodbye, Dr. Merzuno," Takato said politely.
"Wow, a Commendation," sighed Juri, as she leaned back into her pillow. "I bet your parents will be so proud of you."
"Yeah," agreed Takato with a nod of his head. "A Commendation," he said to himself quietly. He liked the sound of that.

Yamaki couldn't help but smile. His dreams would soon come true and he would be able to destroy the Digital World and the Society that revolved around it. He would make them pay for ignoring his work in Robotics and BioEmerging. With the BioEmerging Technique, he could have mass produced cheap, digital robots for the entire society. Well, he would show them.
Three TetraKeys were now in his grasp. The last, he knew, had been confiscated off the DEVA Organisation and sealed away within the deepest parts of Zerva, the Web Domain of the Officials. It would be only a matter of time before the Blue Dragon Key was his.
"Soon, I shall awaken the Ancient Beast that nearly destroyed the entire Digital World, eleven years ago," said Yamaki sternly, his voice wavering as if he was about to break down into a maniacal fit of laughter. "This time you will not be able to save the Digital World. The Beast will devour it all! The Beast will devour and delete it all! Delete, I tell you! Delete! Delete! Delete!"

To be continued...