Digimon.EXE 3

By Wolf O'Donnell

Author's Note: Well, this is the end. I did plan a fourth installment, but I got horribly disinterested in the entire series, so I'm leaving it at three fanfics. If you enjoyed the Digimon.EXE Series, e-mail me for a complimentary Digimon.EXE Guide. It'll tell you about the history of the Digimon.EXE Universe, the rules, what the world is like and will even give you a preview of what Digimon.EXE 4 was supposed to be like. I hope you enjoyed the Digimon.EXE Series and hope you'll enjoy reading my other fanfics, and my original story work at .

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Slowly, all three of his eyes opened. The leather-clad Digimon looked up and saw the kind of snow you get on television screens. Nothing but static. Slowly, he sat up and looked around him. He looked down at himself and saw black boots and black gloves that ended in clawed finger tips.

Where was he? Who was he? What was he? Why did he have black wings?

The Digimon could not answer these questions. His mind was a blank. The Digimon did not know anything about himself. He could not remember anything about himself nor where he had been or what he had done. Memories were fleeting, hidden in shadow and he could not grasp a single one. So, he staggered along the black path with lights set in it at intervals. So he floated along the path.

This would be a journey of discovery, a journey to find himself.

* * * * *

Takato sighed, as he sat with his back to the dinosaur-shaped slide. He paid no attention to the kids that climbed up its ladder and slid down its smooth surface. It had been almost two months since the defeat of DAEMON and Hypnos, and every Friday, he would go to the slide and sit and think.

The slide had been Guilmon's favourite place. Though the Digimon couldn't ride on it, it was the DigiBattles he encountered right next to the slide that he remembered the most. After the fight against the Digimon, he would make friends with the Digimon. That was how Takato and Kai had become friends, because of the friendship between their two Digimon.

'Well, Guilmon, it's been two months now,' thought Takato quietly in the manner of a prayer. 'If only you could see me now, Guilmon. I do my homework and hand it in on time and ever since I bought an alarm clock, I haven't overslept.' He smiled, as he leaned back and looked upwards. 'I still haven't got a replacement D-Tector,' Takato continued to think. 'Yeah, it's made doing things pretty difficult in such a Internet-dependent world, but I'm doing fine. You see, Guilmon, I just can't bring myself round to replacing you, no matter how easier it'll make my life.'

That last thought made Takato think about what had happened when he had got back to the Orbital Space Ring. He bit his lower lip, as he thought about it. His friends had been very supportive and had been there for him whenever he needed it. 'You know Guilmon,' thought Takato, 'at first, I felt so alone when I realised that you had been deleted, that I would never see you again. I moped about all the time and even avoided seeing Ruki. Yet one day, they all came to see me and from that day on, I realised that with friends like them, I could never be truly alone.'

"So there you are!"

Takato turned round and saw Ruki looking down at him.
"Oh, hi, Ruki," he greeted weakly.

Ruki sighed, as she shook her head.
"What are you doing all alone out here?" she asked Takato. "Have you forgotten we're to meet the others at Agu Town?" She had a sneaking suspicion that Takato was 'talking' to Guilmon again and moping about.

"No, I haven't forgotten," replied Takato with a slow shake of his head. "I was just sitting out here. You know, Guilmon really liked this spot. Sometimes, we'd just sit around here, not saying a word to each other and just enjoying being next to one another. Sure, we'd say a few things to each other, but it was always... always..." He trailed off, not knowing what word could best describe those moments. "It was always special."

Takato then laughed and much of it was down to the expression on Ruki's face. She looked as if she was going to gag.
"Okay, then, let's get going before the others think we forgot about them!" he cried, as he leapt to his feet. He then reached out for her hand. "So, shall we?"

"I don't know what makes you think I'd hold your hand after the way you've been acting the past month," said Ruki huffily, as she crossed her arms and turned her back to him.

"What?" exclaimed Takato in disbelief. "Oh, not again! Come on, Ruki, we break up and make up so many times none of our friends or family know when we're a couple!" He thought carefully about what his mother had said a few days ago. "In fact, my mother has completely given up trying to keep track of our relationship. She's trying to set me up with Juri."

"Well I'm not taking second place to a Digimon's ghost, Takato," stated Ruki sternly. "Sure, it was sad that you lost Guilmon, but you have to get over it sometime."

"But I have gotten over it!" protested Takato, as he attempted to get close to her. It was a lie, of course, he hadn't completely gotten over Guilmon's deletion, but he had to do something to preserve some of the happiness in his life. "You know I love you, Ruki," he said. "You're the only one for me and I won't let you be second to anyone."

One of Ruki's eyebrows rose upwards. Did she hear Takato correctly? She turned to face him.
"Okay, who are you and what have you done to Takato?" she asked the brown-haired youth. The Takato she knew wouldn't have been so confident when it came to talking about love. He would have been stuttering and have said completely the wrong things even when he tried not to.

Jenrya looked boredly at the clock on the wall and then at Ryo and then at the fries they had bought. His gaze then wandered over to Juri, whom was trying her best to make an origami crane and then at Alice, whom was making a fort out of fries. He sighed.
"They're arguing again," he said mysteriously, at which point the others nodded silently in agreement.

"Or perhaps Ruki's yelling at Takato again," suggested Juri, at which point the others nodded silently in agreement.

Ryo sighed.
"Man, why can't those two just get along like Jenrya and me?" he wondered out loud, as he wrapped an arm around Jenrya and pulled the dark-haired youth close to him. "Those two are always together and not together and together again, it's as if they're... they're..." He trailed off and tried to think up of a good, non-insulting, non-offensive way to describe them. "...nuts!" He failed.

Ruki sneezed once. Takato sneezed once.

The equivalent Western phrase would be, 'My ears are burning'.

"Say, I got an idea," exclaimed Ryo all of a sudden. "Seeing as Ruki and Takato are taking such a long time to get here, why don't we..." He then leaned over to whisper in Jenrya's ear with a devious smile on his face, and as he continued whispering Jenrya's pupils got bigger and bigger and bigger, as his mouth dropped wide open.

Jenrya pulled away and then stared at Ryo incredulously.
"No, way!" he protested loudly.

"Oh come on!" whined Ryo imploringly. "Please?" He gave Jenrya the best puppy dog eyes he could manage, which was enough to make anyone feel sorry for him. "Please, Jen?" he pleaded, his hands clasped together. Still no reply. "Oh, please? You've been making me wait for such a long time!"

"Yeah, if you've waited this long, I doubt that you can't wait even more," retorted Jenrya. "Now be a good boy and eat your fries." He turned away and then muttered something rude underneath his breath with a shake of his head.

There came a knocking at the door.

"We're closed!" called out Mr. Matsuda, as he walked out from behind. It was then that he saw who was at the door through the light that filtered out of the shop and into the street. He rushed over and unlocked the door, opening it wide open. "Tal, it's nice to see you!" he greeted Dr. Lee, his old school buddy. "Why, we haven't seen each other since that last reunion two years ago."

Dr. Lee nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it has been a long time," he agreed with Mr. Matsuda. "So, how is the business doing, Takehiro?" He listened and then nodded at certain intervals in agreement with some of the statements that his friend said.

"I suspect it's all got something to do with the DAEMON incident," said Mr. Matsuda in an attempt to explain the good business he'd been receiving of late. "You know, the people are buying up more DMDs to help protect their D-Tectors from virus infection, that sort of thing. How's work at the Officials?"

"Not bad," replied Dr. Lee. "We've been working around the clock, non-stop to ensure that nothing can do the same amount of damage that DAEMON did. I've been designing a number of special firewalls for the military, especially aggressive ones. Let me tell you this, there'll be no more viruses infecting military systems anymore." He paused for a while and then said thoughtfully, "Although I have no idea how the holes in their security could have appeared in the first place, although one of my colleagues is suggesting that OOKAMI caused them when the Program first went on the rampage."

"Oh and by the way," exclaimed Dr. Lee all of a sudden, as he delved into his pockets, "I've got your son's D-Tector here. Turns out that the note from my father, the one my son gave me, contained enough data to help me repair your son's D-Tector and restore Guilmon." He brought out Takato's D-Tector and handed it to Takehiro. "Where is he by the way?"

Takehiro smiled as he held Takato's D-Tector in his hands.
"He's up in bed," replied Mr. Matsuda. There was a silent pause, as the smile disappeared from his lips. "Say, Tal, I've been wondering about something. You know how you guys never were able to find Dr. Yamaki?"

Dr. Lee nodded.
"Yeah, we're still unable to find him," was Dr. Lee's reply.

"So, you think there's a chance he could still be out there?" asked Mr. Matsuda.

"There is a chance," replied Dr. Lee solemnly, "but I doubt that he'd be able to cause as much trouble as he did with DAEMON."

A smile spread back across Takehiro's face.
"Thanks," he said to Dr. Lee. "My wife's been obsessing over what would happen if Hypnos ever made a come back," he said in the way of an explanation. "Telling her that will certainly put her at ease."

"Yes, well, I've got to get going," said Dr. Lee. "It's been a while since I've been home."

"I understand," said Takehiro with a nod of his head. "Thanks for taking the time to fix my son's D-Tector by the way."

"Oh, it was nothing," stated Dr. Lee with a smile on his face. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Takehiro."

"It was nice seeing you too," said Mr. Matsuda. "Perhaps we could go out for a drink sometime?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice."

Dr. Lee and Mr. Matsuda then bid farewell and Takehiro accompanied his friend out to the street where Dr. Lee's car awaited. They exchanged a few more words, before Dr. Lee soon drove off.

As Mr. Matsuda stood outside in the street, he smiled to himself. Tomorrow morning there was going to be one very surprised and happy teenager. He turned back and went back in, closing and locking the front door behind him. His thoughts soon turned to the Biofeedback Headsets that he was going to receive tomorrow. He'd have to stock them and put up adverts all over his shop. Perhaps Takato would be able to help out by getting Guilmon to post an ad on the InphyNet DigiSquare's Message Board.

Perhaps.

The future was uncertain, but one thing was for sure.

Guilmon was back.

* * * * *

Generations ago, a meteorite struck the Earth and caused a great disaster that befell all those that lived on the planet. Countless died and the environment was wrecked beyond belief. It took several years and plenty of hard work to return the Earth to normal. To prevent further incidents, nations of the Earth banded together and built the Orbital Space Ring. It was a gigantic ring-shaped space station built around the Earth and designed to spot further meteorites and destroy them before they reach the planet.

With the expansion of technology that followed after, the Digital Age was created. Everyone now carries a portable exploration device called a D-Tector. This mobile phone-like devices act as advanced portable digital assistants. Using it, you can make phone calls, send and receive e-mails, keep a calendar, store data, shop online and check news from around the Earth Sphere (the Earth and the Space Ring). These D-Tectors have become so convenient and useful that they have become essential for everday life!

Every D-Tector has a program installed into it called a Digitally Integrated General Information Manager and Online Navigator or DIGIMON for short. By customing your D-Tector's Digimon program, you can give it a unique personality and even talk to it and befriend it.

Yet the Digital World or Internet, is a very dangerous place, filled with computer viruses. To protect their D-Tectors, people had begun installing DigiModify Chips– special chips encoded with battle programs called DigiModify Data or DMDs for short. When a DMD is installed, a D-Tector is then armed to fight off viruses and hackers in battles known simply as DigiBattles. It is such an important process, that is even taught in schools.

My name is Takato Matsuda and you have been reading my story. It's not just my story, though, it's the story of all the Digimon and the people that befriend them. This may be the end of this story, but it's certainly not the end of my adventures, of our adventures. I mean, there's the one time, Guilmon goes into the DarkNet and does battle against the Twelve Sentinels and the DarkKing and finds... Uh, but that's another story...

As long as there are people, there will be adventure in our world and in our own hearts. There'll be good times and there'll be bad times, but as long as we realise that we're not alone and that there are others out there just like us, we'll be able to overcome the bad times.

And when people realise that life is precious, that it's not worth destroying someone or their world just because they don't agree with your point of view, then there won't even be the bad times. Perhaps some day people will realise all that but until then, we must always strive towards creating a better world free from hatred and fear.

Man, that's deep! Ha, ha, ha! Bet Ruki won't even recognise that I said all that. Well, it's nice been talking to you. I hope we can see each other again. ^_^

The End.