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Digimon: Infection Episode 1

Deviation Actions

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Episode 1: Death; Deceived; Deleter

The thunderous crack of the shattering floor beneath them still rang through the air, large clutters of debris crashing to the ground, each dissipating soon after. Narrowly evading the massive shards, a blur of black maneuvered its way through the white rain. Making its way stealthily around the gaze of the massive blue titan, it watched as it marched unscathed through the torrent. Catching sight of its prey, the iron clad behemoth stretched out its mechanical left arm, which sprung out like a torpedo at the small black lizard.

"Trident Arm!" cried the MetalGreymon. With only seconds to react before the inevitable contact of metal on his scaled skin, a voice laden with light static called out through the roar.

Program Accessed: Power Leveler – CvP Activated

The dwarfed Digimon began glowing with a bright blue aura. Using his newly gifted power, he caught the beast's middle claw under his arm. With a heavy heave, he began to twirl the dinosaur around like a fat plumber. He released his grip on his metallic frame, spending him flying into the wall of the battle arena. To finish it, the reptile began to focus energy in his mouth, which took on a light-purple hue and...

"Disconnect Grenade!" He let out a powerful volley, which slammed hard into the MetalGreymon's chest. Almost immediately, the same staticy voice rang out:

Game Over – Winner, Linkmon

The match had been won. A small vid-screen, which appeared to be connected to a web-cam, expanded into view. On it was the face of a young man, Linkmon's human partner. "Good job, Link. Looks like not even a perfect level can stand up to you."

Linkmon stared back at the newly formed crater where the Greymon's body still lay. "No. If it had not been for your support program, Kurohi, I would have surely met my end."

Kurohi scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed at his partner's comment. "On come on, don't say it like that. I'm your Tamer. It's my job to look after you."

Their conversation was interrupted, however, by the angry outbursts of the Tamer they had just defeated. His vid-screen darted from one end of his MetalGreymon to the other, all the while mumbling curse words to himself. He turned his attention to Kurohi and Linkmon. "Damn Illegals. Always messing up this game. You wanna cheat? Go fight some other fu-"Censoring foul language"...damn computer. Go play some other hacker instead of us who actually wanna play the right way!"

Both he and his Digimon logged out of the battle server. Linkmon's vestigial wings drooped. He was obviously upset by the comment, and Kurohi knew why. "Don't let what he said get to you. C'mon, I've still gotta take a shower before class starts."

Linkmon nodded. The two of them logged out.

----------

Kurohi got up from his computer and scratched his messy black hair. He made his way over to the one window in his apartment, and threw open the curtains him mom gave him. He gazed his eyes on a beautiful Tokyo morning, or he would if there wasn't an eight-story building in front of him. It was still nice to get some natural light in, thou. He could see his own reflection through the glass. He wasn't anything special; average height, average weight. The only interesting thing about him was probably his blue eyes and the fact that he was...not wearing any pants. He closed the curtains.

A few dozen minutes later, he was showered and changed (with pants). He sat down at his computer once more before leaving. "C'mon, Link. Time to get going, so transfer over, if you'd please."

A 3d render of Kurohi's Digimon partner appeared on screen. "Understood." There was a quiet beep from the computer, followed by a quiet beep from the tiny black device next to it. With the wireless transfer done, Kurohi picked up the DP. He hit the left button to bring up the clock.

"Uh...Link, is the time right?"

"Yes. It is currently 7:58."

"Which means..."

"You are late. Again. As per usual."

He bolted to the door, fumbling with the handle in his haste. After the few seconds it took to open it, he proceeded to make up for that time by jumping from his second-story balcony. It took only a moment after his feet hit the ground for them to give way, plummeting him face-first into the dirt.

Linkmon audibly sighed. "Just because you can do it when you are intoxicated, does not mean that is possible for you to do it when you are sober."

"Shu' u'. A' vash 'un fime. Awl 'ounsh 'ack." He pulled his DP out of his pocket and flipped it open. He thumbed through his contacts until he found the name 'Riko'. He sent her a text: Legs may b brkn. Wil b late. Plz expln.

He flipped himself over and stared at the sky. "I guess I have a few more minutes to rest, then."

"You're hopeless."

"No, hopeful."

He laid there for exactly three minutes.

----------

Kurohi slammed his fist on the door. "Nobu! Nobu, open up!" A pale face poked through the door.

"K-Kurohi-san? What are you doing here? I'm in the middle of class, and y-you should be too."

"It's okay, I'm late. Listen, I need bandages and a crutch and a sexy female nursing student."

"W-w-w-what? Where in the world would I get those things?"

Kurohi pointed his finger to the sign next to the door: Medical Department.

"W-w-well, why do you need a nurse?"

"I need somebody to dress me, don't I?"

Nobu sighed. "You do not get a nurse. I will dress your wounds for you. Get in the classroom; let's make this quick."

A few minutes later, Kurohi was hobbling into class, one leg very authentically covered in bandages and a crutch in each hand. He definitely needed to thank Nobu again. The teacher looked up as he entered. "And why are you late, Furijin-san?"

Kurohi lifted his leg. "I fell off my balcony this morning." The teacher looked skeptical, but did not argue.

Class went on as usual from that point, except for the ungodly itching under Kurohi's bandages. As they were dismissed, the teacher called him back. "Furijin-san, a moment if you'd please?" Kurohi stumbled toward the front of the room. "Furijin-san, I appreciate the hard work you must have put Endo-san through to pull this off, so I will not mark you tardy this one time for his sake. " He looked at him sternly. "But if you try pulling this kind of stunt again, you will be marked more than late, is that understood?"

"Yes sensei." And with that, Kurohi left the class. Someone was waiting for him on the other side of the doorway.

"You shouldn't lie to sensei." The girl, Riko, gave him a sharp glare, almost identical to the one he had just received in the classroom.

"I didn't lie, I really did...descend from my balcony to the ground..."

"Descend? How do you descend without falling?" It looked like she had already found the answer.

"I may have...I was rushed...so I could have..."

"He jumped." The voice came from Kurohi's pocket.

"Link!"

Riko's attention was now also focused on his pocket. A small smile pushed through her usually straight face. "Looks like that toy of yours is good for something after all."

"Don't call him a toy." Kurohi's response was quick, like he had said it many times before. "He is not a toy, he is a rendered AI life-form, and my partner. And if I remember correctly, when your computer was swarming with viruses, wasn't it my 'toy' that got rid of them all."

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or your… Digimon."

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

She gave him an incredulous look. "I'm sorry, Link-Mon."

They did not talk as they went their separate ways to their next classes.

The rest of the day went off without any more problems, and luckily any more arguments either. With classes over, Kurohi set off on foot to his next destination: work.

----------

Kurohi walked up to the convenience store where he worked. The sign protruding from the front had a picture of a plushy-style lion's head on it and read "Venience Store". He had been working there for over six months, and he still had no idea what that sign meant.

Kurohi made his way to the back and changed into his uniform, a blue polo with the little lion's head over the heart and a pair of matching slacks. He made his way up to the register. "Good afternoon, Suzuki-senpai."

The shaggy-haired man looked up from his work. "Good afternoon to you too, Kurohi. How was school?"

"..."

"That bad, huh?"

"Not so much 'bad' as...no, bad is a good word for it."

"Well, why don't you pull up a chair and...Jin-san?" The bald woman who was restocking the shelves pulled an ear-bud out of her ear and turned her head toward Suzuki. The faint sound of punk music filled the air. "Jin-san, I asked you not to listen to music during your shift." She shrugged and put the ear-bud back in.

This had basically been the daily routine since Kurohi had started working there. Suzuki's constant smiling and Jin's constant...Jin-ness. The only thing missing was his boss's yelling, but he could do without that.

"Kurohi!" Never mind, the picture was officially complete. "You're late!"

"No I'm not, sir. My shift doesn't start for another three minutes."

"Well...You're not getting paid extra!"

"I know. You said that yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. And every day I've worked here."

The balding red-faced man stuttered for a minute, before turning his attention to Jin. "Takashi, turn off that blasted music!" She didn't even look up. He then moved to Suzuki. He opened his mouth, but said nothing. Suzuki could do no wrong. Unable to instill order on his employees, he stormed to his office in the back of the store.

Suzuki eyes trailed after him as he left.  "Looks like Sato-san had a bad morning."

"He always has a bad morning."  Kurohi muttered snidely.

----------

Store stocked, customers served, and light fading, Kurohi was heading home at the end of his shift.

"Alright! Time to head online and get a couple rounds in!"

"Shouldn't you work on some of your homework? What about that paper on the lasting effects of feudal rule, or the one on the importance of binary codes that you still have to write?"

"I have plenty of time. There's nothing wrong with getting in a few matches."

"They're due tomorrow..."

"Like I said; plenty of time."

Linkmon sighed. "Sometimes I envy you. That unbelievable work-ethic of yours."

Kurohi let out a light chuckle. He had only had Linkmon for around seven months, but they already knew each other inside and out. He wasn't that surprised, all things considered, but it was still a nice feeling to know someone was that close to him.

"Kurohi?"

"What?"

"You look lost in thought. The thoughts you get lost in are normally perverted or end up getting yourself, and inadvertently myself, into trouble."

Kurohi put on a slight frown, though it didn't reflect how he was actually feeling. It was more for show. He did get the little lizard into more hijinks then he'd like to admit, but it comes with the territory of being a tamer. Not to mention one who owns an illegal Digimon; that just complicates things even more.

"Kurohi, you should pay attention to where you're walking."

"Whoa!" A car came streaming past his vision. In all his reminiscing, he had walked to the crosswalk two blocks past his apartment. "Whoops. That was close."

"What could you possibly be thinking about to be that lost in your own head?"

"It's...nothing. Just... stuff."

The look Linkmon shot him through the monitor was one of mild confusion. "Never mind." Kurohi spun 360 degrees on his heels and started back to his apartment.

----------

Linkmon materialized in the white, spherical space of Kurohi's desktop. It was dotted with a few shortcuts and folders, but no wallpaper. Since Kurohi was running a pirated OS, it kept deleting anything he put up.

A vid-screen maximized next to him. "Ready to kick some ass, partner?"

"You have two papers due tomorrow. Finish at least one, and I will be willing to 'kick some ass'."

"Tell you what; I'll cut you a deal."

"I thought I just presented you with a deal?"

"Multitasking."

"Multi...Oh, no. Kurohi you know that-"

"Up-up-up, let me finish."

Linkmon remained quiet as the image of Kurohi straightened himself up, like he was giving a business proposal.

"You go out, fight a couple low-level opponents. Opponent's that you can handle on your own fairly well without my assistance." Linkmon nodded his head, following Kurohi's train of thought. "Meanwhile, I will put the majority of my attention on my paper. When I finish my first one, we can do one or two more challenging matches as a reward. Intensive is always nice way to keep people working, right? Then I'll get back to work on my second paper, and you can rest up. I get my homework done, and you gain experience at the same time. It's a win-win. Sound good?"

Linkmon scratched his chin with one of his claws. "Much to my surprise, it does sound quite the compromise." Linkmon may not have wanted to admit it, but the day had been even more boring for him than it had been for Kurohi, having been stuck in a portable electronic device the duration of it. He very much wanted to spread his wings, but to let Kurohi know that would give him much leverage in future situations like this.

"I suppose that is an acceptable option as well. As you said, it is 'win-win'."

"Okay! I'm gonna start googling feudal stuff. You head to the arena and get us signed up for some action!"

A tube, the same color as Kurohi's PC background, appeared behind Linkmon, meaning he could now depart for the internet. He took off down the new opening, heading in the familiar direction of the battle arenas. Linkmon spread his wings to their fullest, activating some of his lesser used programming, which drastically increased his speed while surfing through the data space. He would be there in no time at all.

As Linkmon turned and headed down a newly opened pathway, he ran head-first into a clump of discarded data. He stopped and wiped it off of his face. It was a texture pattern. Blue and purple, like a Gabumon or a Psychemon.

"Something wrong, Link?"

"Shouldn't you be studying?"

"I am. I'm just checking in on you. So why the sudden halt? Spot a cute girl?"

Linkmon ignored him and held the texture data up to Kurohi's vid-screen. "What does this look like to you?"

Kurohi examined the fragment the best he could from his side of the monitor. "Isn't it just trash data? Why? What do you think it is?"

"It looks to me like it may be a piece of a Digimon."

When Linkmon next looked at Kurohi, his face had paled slightly. "Are you sure?"

"No. It's just a hunch." Kurohi looked uneasy. Linkmon could tell that something was wrong. "Do you want me to investigate?"

"Yea, sure. Let's clear up what's going on here. Then maybe you should head back, I'm a little worried."

Something was definitely wrong with Kurohi. He was so excited to fight just a minute ago. Linkmon did not know what it was, but if he wanted answers, he'd have to find where this data came from.

Linkmon continued slowly down the pathway, placing all of his focus into searching for anything suspicious in the vicinity. It didn't take long before he stumbled upon more loose data. This time it was a bright-orange fur texture. A Gizamon? Or maybe it came from a Zudomon? In the depths of his programming, he hoped it was not the later. The thought of something like this, whatever it was, happening to a perfect level made him feel insecure of his chances.

"Kurohi, this one is different."

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean it looks like it came from a separate Digimon than the previous one. What do you think could have done this?"

"No clue, but I don't like this. Maybe you should head home now."

"Let me search around a little more first. I think we may be getting closer to the source of the problem."

"Link…"

"I'll be fine. I have my partner with me, after all."

Kurohi cracked a small smile at Linkmon's words of encouragement. "Okay, but be very careful. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I will."

Happy that he could lift Kurohi's spirits, Linkmon continued forward, only to discover a sight that not only undid all of Kurohi's rejuvenated energy, but Linkmon's as well.

They were Digimon. Their bodies had been broken into pieces, their eyes blank, and their mouths open, as if they had been screaming. Linkmon saw a Gabumon and a Gizamon, just as he had predicted from the pieces of data he had found. Both had been torn in half, the first was missing his lower half, and the second his entire right side. Amongst the others he could see, there was a Muchomon, a MoriShellmon, and an Airdramon. Each of them had also been ripped to shreds; all that remained of the MoriShellmon was its head.

"Wh-what could have caused this…"

"Link! Get out of there, now!"

"Why. If they were deleted, they should have become Digitama. Why would…how could..."

"Link!"

"K-Kurohi, what is…"

However, before Linkmon could do anything, another pathway opened up behind him. From it emerged a Kabuterimon, flanked by a Centarmon and a Sagittarimon. The three of them stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them. It took a minute before any of them spoke. Unfortunately, they were not kind words for the dead.

"You! Illegal! This was your doing wasn't it!?" The Kabuterimon snapped angrily at the only living thing in the digital sea of death.

"N-no. I found them by chance."

"Do you expect us to believe that!?" The brute loomed in on Linkmon, followed closely by his lackeys. Their intentions were as clear as a subspecies of ToyAgumon.

"Link, there's no use arguing with them. The only way we're gonna get out of here is by blasting through 'um."

"But what about-"

"Believe me, I wish there was another option, too."

Taking advantage of Linkmon's momentarily dropped guard, the Kabuterimon launched his attack.

"Mega Blaster!" The electric blast barreled toward the small Digimon.

Snapping back into focus, Linkmon used his enhanced speed to narrowly evade the beetles blast, which ripped through the severed head of the green crustacean. Without even a moment to breathe, the two horsemen charged in for a melee attack.

"Jet Gallop!", "Meteor Gallop!"

These attacks were not as difficult to dodge, but his two opponents quickly switched to their own ranged attacks.

"Hunting Cannon!", "Judgment Arrow!"

Even with his increased speed, there was no time time to dodge. All Linkmon could do was open his mouth wide and..."Disconnect Grenade!"

The blast slammed head-on into the oncoming projectiles, canceling them with a small explosion. The two of them did not stop, however. They, along with the Kabuterimon, fired assault after assault on their small target. Linkmon did the best he could to avoid the attacks, and blast away any he couldn't, but he would be in trouble quickly if they didn't ease up their attacks soon. He could not reason with them, and injuring them would only add to his look of guilt. There had to be a way out of this situation.

Linkmon streaked toward one of the walls, he cranked back his arm, and smashed it into the wall with all his might. "Up-link Claw!"

Debris flew out, obscuring him from his opponents. He took in a quick breath and quickly tried to devise a strategy.

"Kurohi! Three versus one is not favorable odds! Is there anything you can do from your end to turn this around?"

"Message received! I've got the winning play all set-"

Before Kurohi could complete his sentence there was an ear shattering screech and a bizarre pathway, almost like a tear, opened up behind the unorthodox battlefield. From it erupted a large red form, snarling and howling like a savage beast. It turned its half of a face at the battling Digimon, and shrieked...
It's my birthday! And, instead of asking all you for gifts (thou, I've already received some), I thought I'd give all you guys something instead.

This is the first chapter in the Infection series I've been working on since...Last September? I dunno. But, I've been promising this for forever, so here it is.

A couple things: There is only one original Digimon mentioned in this chapter. If you don't recognize some of the names, that's probably because I'm using the Japanese ones, and the Japanese attack names, for good measure.
Oh, and I spell 'though' as 'thou', because it has too many letters for what it's supposed to mean.

I'll probably upload episode 2 in about a week, and 3 a month after that. After that depends on how motivated I get due to your comments, so praise away and beg for more.
© 2012 - 2024 reversemoon
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darkone4587's avatar
Great first chapter, nice action good bits of character and good dialogue, but the imagery, editing, and descriptions could use a bit of work, the set up is awesome but it's hard to picture where everything is taking place. But over all it's a great first outing.