Digital Souls Pt. 5 By Wanderer D ---------------------------- The usual Disclaimers Apply. ---------------------------- Things to take into account, This is a possibility of the time Matt deserted the group after talking to Cherrymon and the fight with Tai. We are assuming that the Digiworld is not only linked with the Digidestined world. We are also assuming that time passes faster in X's universe. (48 hours Digiworld = 302400 hours aprox. X's universe) This was supposed to be a spamfic, however I think I'll make it a oneshot. We are *also* assuming that more than one generation of robots passes between each of the Megaman X manga and games. I don't know if that was the plan, but the Digidestined act way more mature than they should at their age, so I'm taking advantage of that. --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Rant --------------------------------------------------------------------- A few minutes later they had reached the top of Spiral Mountain, and everyone was dead tired. They decided to stop for a few hours before continuing to Piedmon's hideout. "I'll make first watch," Matt told them. "You guys go ahead and rest." He then walked away from the group, followed by Gabumon and sat on a dune overlooking the area. As they rested, Sora noticed Jessie walking towards Matt. Making sure the others were asleep or occupied, she got up and followed her, finally hiding behind one of the rocks near them. *** "Zero..." Jessie started. "Matt." Gabumon corrected. Matt sighed exasperated. "Does it matter?!" He grabbed a rock and threw it into the distance. So far that neither Gabumon nor Sora could see where it had fallen. "I've been Matt for eleven years. And I've been Zero for almost six years. Not counting the thirty I spent in cryostasis. Now, I'm back, and I don't know if I can be T.K.'s brother again." Jessie looked at him. "Are you ashamed of what we are, Zero? Is that the problem?" Matt sighed. "No... I don't know. It's always been easy, you know." He looked up into the sky. "Back at HQ I just received orders; 'Zero, there's a group of Mavericks on the loose! Take your unit and take care of them!' It was just so simple. I just reacted. Now, I'm starting to feel again what I felt when I was with my little brother." Jessie looked down. "What?" "Helplessness." Matt said. "Before I left the group I couldn't believe that T.K. could take care of himself and that he didn't need me anymore. Now I'm back and I find that he needs me in other ways, but I never thought what to tell him when he discovered I wasn't the same." Jessie hugged Matt's shoulders. "He'll have to face it, like Gabumon did." Gabumon nodded solemnly. "Yes, but is he ready? What will he say when he finds out his big brother isn't even human anymore?" "He'll say that being human, Digimon or whatever you were doesn't mean anything as long as you are yourself, Matt." Sora said, stepping from behind the boulder. "Sora?!" Matt asked in surprise, jumping to his feet and taking a couple of steps back. Sora nodded. "When were you going to tell us, Matt? Or is it Zero?" "Both," Matt answered. "I'm Matt, the Digidestined wearing the tag of friendship; but I also happen to be Zero, Maverick Hunter." "Listen, Matt. Maybe you shouldn't tell T.K. just yet, but be sure to tell him when this is all over. And also tell me and the others the whole story. We are your friends, and deserve to know if you're ok." Sora turned away and started walking back to the others. "Remember, Matt, we've been together through thick and thin. I don't know what a Maverick Hunter is, but I know you'll tell us when the time is right." "Sora..." Matt whispered, as he looked at her retreating figure. *** "It's my turn," Tai offered standing next to Matt. "It's time for you to rest for a while." "I'm not tired." "Come on, Matt!" His friend insisted. "You've been awake most of the time. I slept on the flight. Come on, rest." Matt finally nodded and went back to camp. After gazing at the sky for a few minutes, he slowly fell asleep. *** "Matt! Matt!" Called a familiar female voice, although the Maverick Hunter couldn't identify her. Zero opened his eyes to find he was in the middle of a forest. It seemed to be day time, but he couldn't see the sun. Shrugging, he started looking around for some clue as to how he got there. "Matt! Matt!" Zero turned around trying to identify the origin of the voice. It seemed to come from everywhere, although he was sure it was because of an echo. "Matt! Come back!" This time he was able to deduce the point of origin of the voice. It came from his left side, where he could now see a small trail. Walking down the discovered trail, he was now able to hear another sound, the familiar sound of blasters and explosions. Zero started running towards the sounds, only to stop suddenly infront of a mirror. For a moment he regarded himself. He wasn't wearing his normal red armor, he was instead using the black version of it he had used against Repliforce. Shaking his head, he tried to find the sounds or the voice again, but he couldn't. Wondering what a mirror was doing in the middle of the forest he walked around it, stopping once again facing his reflection. The mirror glowed, and his reflection was replaced by an image of himself instructing X not to get involved. Why was he doing that? Oh, yes, X wasn't designed to fight. But why did leaving him behind seem wrong? Staring at the image, he noted the crystal in his helm shining with a white 'W' inside it. Suddenly the image was replaced by X about to be finished by Vile. Zero saw himself blow off Vile's Vehicle's arm, but when he knelt besides X, he changed into a young boy of about ten to twelve years old. The boy helped X to his feet, then was replaced by Zero again as he berated the Reploid on his interference. *** "Zero... promise me!" It was the voice of a young boy, familiar, but the Digidestined couldn't put a face to it. Or a name. Matt ran down the metal corridor, gradually getting closer to the origin of the plea. "If I go Maverick, you have to stop me!" The voice pleaded. Matt slid to a stop in front of a large door. "Can I count on you, Zero?" Matt grabbed the side of the door and pulled, opening it slightly, the voice was coming from the inside. Finally pushing the door open, he stepped into a gigantic room with a lake in the center. Matt looked around the place, but was unable to find anyone or anything. Sitting down next to the lake, he looked into the waters. He was greeted by his own image. Suddenly, the surface of the water blurred, and he found himself looking at the camp where it had all started. He watched his brother. T.K. run around happily. He saw himself smiling, but when it started to snow, he was replaced by an armored teenager with long blonde hair. He actually looked more like a robot. The robot picked T.K. up, much like he had done and carried him into the small house with the others. Matt found himself a little saddened at the lack of trust the robot was showing T.K., but he knew his little brother wasn't capable of taking care of himself, right? Then he saw that same robot marching towards Myotismon's last evolution, walking alongside Tai. The robot then changed into Matt when he grabbed Tai's hand, depositing his faith in his brother and Kari and Tai. It was Matt the arrow from Angemon struck. Then he turned back into the robot again when he had turned to stare at his mother. "Zero..." The same voice he had heard repeated, and Matt jumped up, still staring at the lake, which had started shifting again. "Matt..." Said the girl's voice again, and Zero took a step back as the mirror glowed yet again. Suddenly they were bombarded with images. Matt saw himself playing the harmonica for Gabumon. Zero saw himself telling X again to wait while he took care of things. Matt saw the robot, instead of him, pushing Tai away from Gabumon, forcefully, knowing that Tai wasn't talking seriously when he asked Gabumon for his pelt. Zero saw the young boy, not him, jumping on the back of Vile's war machine and blowing up, knowing that X wouldn't survive against those odds. Various memories and images played themselves in front of Matt and Zero, sometimes replacing Zero with the young boy, sometimes replacing Matt with the armored robot. The memories rushed, faster and faster, until, finally they stopped. Zero stood infront of the mirror, now noticing the tag that hung from his neck, bearing the symbol of friendship. Matt kneeled down, looking into the lake, his hand gripping the handle of the energy sword harder until his knuckles were white. Matt now saw the robot. "No," he thought. "Reploid." looking at him. Zero extended his hand towards the mirror that showed the young boy, noticing that the reflection of the mirror emulated his action. Matt touched the surface of the water at the same moment Zero touched the mirror. Everything turned white, and they found themselves standing side by side infront of the rotating symbol of Friendship, that had somehow grown to their size. "The only thing that marked you as being yourself was the value you gave to your friends and family." Intoned the female voice. "You fought your way towards that value yourself, and thus survived." Added the childish voice. "No one else could've fought the battle you fought, and no one else would have made it this far and gotten such a prize." Said both voices in unison. The symbol of friendship floated up and below it Matt and Zero could see the forms of various people. There was Tai and Agumon, Izzi and Tentomon, Sora and Biyomon, Mimi and Palmon, Joe and Gomamon, T.K. and Patamon, Kari and Gatomon, Peregrin and Gabumon, Dr. Cain and X, Iris and Colonel, Magma Dragoon and Shocker. Leomon, Andromon and Afroman were there too, along with a number of other Digimon and Reploids. Everyone bathed in the light of the symbol of Friendship. "No one else." Repeated both voices. Matt and Zero looked at each other in surprise, before smiling and shaking each other's hand. They were bathed in warm light as everything faded from view into whiteness. *** Matt opened his eyes as T.K. was backing away a little to give him space to sit up. "Are you okay, Matt? You were tossing and turning." Matt rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay now, T.K., I was just dreaming." "Really? About what?" Matt smiled at his brother. "Nothing interesting, T.K." "Matt?" "Yeah?" "Are you going to tell me where you went? Gabumon found you pretty fast, but you somehow got your hair longer, and you also look taller." "Well, T.K., I went to a world where everyone fought, and I had to fight too for a while. I met Pereg- Jessie there and another friend I'm hoping you to meet. His name is X." "What kind of a name's X?" Asked Patamon perching on T.K.'s shoulder. "Well, it's not his fault Dr. Light called him like that." Jessie muttered. "And this friend of yours fought too?" Asked Izzi sitting next to them, followed by Tentomon. Matt nodded. "Yup. X's probably the most powerful Reploid to ever walk the Earth. "Reploid?" Kari asked also joining the conversation along with Gatomon. "Yeah!" Gabumon commented. "Reploid are like robots, but able to feel and touch and cry..." Izzi looked very interested by now. "But, that shouldn't happen, robots are machines. They can't feel." Gabumon shook his head. "I couldn't understand it at first, but you should think of them as real people, only made of circuits and metal." Izzi deadpanned. "But I know for a fact that they feel! Just like-" Matt grabbed Gabumon, sweating a little. "Now, now, Gabumon, we don't want to bore them out of their minds. With small details, right?" Gabumon pulled Matt's hand from over his muzzle. "But, what about Sigma, the Dragoons, Dr. Cain, Spray Rat..." Matt closed Gabumon's muzzle with his hand. "Uh, no. We should concentrate on Piedmon, there will be time for stories later, right, Jessie?" Jessie rolled her eyes. "Sure." Sora was suddenly standing next to Jessie. "So tell me, Jessie, how long have you and Matt been dating?" "Well, um, about a week or so..." "A WEEK?!" Sora jumped infront of Matt, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. "How could you not tell us you had a girlfriend all this time?!" "Well..." At that moment Tai came running from his watch, followed by Agumon. They both looked a little worried. "Guys! I've just seen an enemy coming this way! It's Ladydevimon!" "A what?" Jessie asked. "A female version of Devimon!" Gabumon informed her. She blink blinked, still in the dark. Tai turned around. "Listen, I have a feeling that we'll need all the Digidestined here for the battle with Piedmon, Sora, you and Izzi take Birdramon and Kabuterimon and find Mimi and Joe." "But, you'll need us here!" Izzi argued. Matt placed his hand on Izzi's shoulder. "Go find them, we'll help here. I also have the feeling that all of us should be together." Just then Ladydevimon stopped over their heads hovering. "Digidestined! I will kill you by order of Piedmon!" Jessie braced herself for battle, analyzing her enemy. She looked like a 20-30 year old woman in very good condition. She was dressed in what looked like leather and it covered her completely except for the chin and mouth, it also covered what seemed to be two long horns that sprouted from Ladydevimon's head. "Gatomon digivolve!" Kari told her Digimon. Gatomon nodded. "Gatomon digivolve..." The cat-like Digimon was surrounded by white light as its body elongated and grew. "Angelwomon!" When the light faded, where Gatomon had once stood now was a female angel with a helm that covered her eyes. Where Ladydevimon was a seductress surrounded by evil, Angelwomon was refined and emitting dignity. Jessie sensed that this battle would be in the hands of Angelwomon. She had seen the looks shared by those two and she wouldn't want to be caught in the crossfire. *** (Note: This is happening at about the same time they fought Machinedramon.)(2) The huge werelion that was Leomon dared take a peek from inside the ruined house he was hiding in. He had found Joe and Mimi, along with Gomamon and Palmon helping Ogremon out and had saved the group from Puppetmon's and Metal Etemon's battle. Then, he had brought them all to the deserted town, where he had told them his story and the resent events. They had seen the forest part of Spiral Mountain disappearing and had guessed at Puppetmon's demise. It had been a couple of hours since then, and nothing out of the common had happened in that time. Suddenly, he noticed something, or rather someone walking into the small town. It was a young boy, with blue hair and blue metallic gauntlets, he was wearing a yellow T-shirt and blue Jeans. He was walking around the town as if he was searching for someone. Frowning, Leomon hurried into the house where Mimi, Joe, Gomamon, Palmon and Ogremon were. Leomon looked at Ogremon in disgust before telling them anything. His rivalry with the green smelly creature that looked like a mixture of a boar, human and oni had been a long one, getting worse with Devimon controlling them both. But this was not the time to dwell about the past. "There's another human boy out there." He informed them. "Really? Who is it?" Mimi asked. Leomon shook his head. "I don't know, he's not one of the group you were in when we met." "But, I thought we were the only humans here. He was human, right?" Joe asked Leomon, as he stood up. Leomon nodded. "He was no Digimon." "With Metal Etemon looking for us he might be in trouble!" Mimi exclaimed a little worried. Ogremon stood up. "Then we must warn him, or at least find out what he's doing here." "Right!" Mimi said. *** X looked at his radar yet again. The red dot was in this town, no doubt, but Dr. Cain's radar could only detect the general area where Zero's Digivice would be. He had followed the red dot into this deserted town, hoping to see his friends after 5 years. Suddenly, his motion detectors informed him that a small group was approaching. He had found no hostiles so far in this world, but he remembered Zero's and Gabumon's warnings, so he became attentive to anything out of the norm. The first one to approach him looked a little like Slash Beast. But, unlike the late Maverick, this werelion carried his power with more dignity. Behind him stood two kids whom he didn't recognize. One was a girl with long golden-brown hair in a western style dress and with a pink cowboy hat. A little taller than her, a scrawny looking boy with blue hair cut short, thick glasses, a white sweater and shorts stood nervously next to the two Digimon that seemed ready to protect them. One looked like the sapling of a palm tree with a red flower on it's head and eyes. The other looked like the cross of a seal and a dog. White with purple stripes. He noticed that both kids had Digivices and sighed. Almost. "Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see Zero, Peregrin and Gabumon pass by, have you?" Everyone stopped short at his mention of Gabumon. "You know Gabumon?!" The seal asked. X nodded as he remembered his friend's descriptions from long ago. "Yes, and you wouldn't be Gomamon, Palmon, Mimi and Joe?" This surprised everyone even more. "Have we met?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses up a little to take a better look at him. X shook his head. "No, but Zero and Gabumon told me about you." "Who's Zero?" Palmon asked. "Uh, yeah, that's right! You guys know him as Matt." X reasoned. "Who are you?" Gomamon asked. "We didn't meet you on Earth and you couldn't have got our stories from Matt knowing him only for a few minutes." "Well, I can say that I've known Matt for a few years..." X started. Just then an explosion rocked the ground where they were standing, and Metal Etemon waltzed into the town. X saw a silver monkey in a full body pajama standing there with a microphone in his hand. Metal Etemon gathered energy in his hands and sent a green ball at Mimi and the others. In a flash X was infront of them as his internal systems analyzed the green ball. Pulling out his antivirus/laser sword he batted it away. "Hey why did you do that, twerp?!" Metal Etemon raged as the others stared at him. "The friends of Zero are my friends." X stated as his armor started appearing instead of his clothes. "And I don't think you are one of them." When his transformation finished, X stood in a defensive position. He now sported a stylized samuraiish-looking helmet, a whole body armor with white edges against a deep metallic blue. His boots had also changed, instead of the normal blue boots, he now had metallic blue boots, with golden highlights going in three lines.(3) Joe and the others continued to stare at X while Mimi's eyes became small stars. "What a hunk!" She whispered. Palmon hear her, however, and elbowed her. "This is not the time for this!" Metal Etemon considered this new development, but he was sure that, since he was the most powerful being in the world he wouldn't have any problems with them. "Now I'll show you a trick Zero taught me!" X shouted as he jumped and landed just infront of Etemon. (4) "Raijingeki!" X shouted shoving his sword forward. Etemon was subjected to hundreds of Watts cursing through his body. "Shippuuga!" The reploid dashed towards Etemon slashing at the same time with his sword, and cutting a gash in the monkey's suit. "Kuuenbu!" Immediately after the slash, X jumped into the air, spinning with his sword cutting at Etemon. "Hyouretsuzan!" X stopped in mid spin and turned his sword into a spike made of ice of about his same height. He fell stabbing Metal Etemon with it. The monkey was frozen in place just as he was starting to register pain. "Ryuenjin!" Said X the moment he landed, doing an uppercut with his sword, which was surrounded by fire. The ice covering the monkey shattered and he was surrounded by flames. Metal Etemon was about to shout in agony when X landed and slashed down once, twice then slashed again diagonally. Etemon stared incredously at X before becoming digidust. X sighed, putting his sword away as his armor turned into clothes. He turned around to face the Digidestined and their friends. "Well, not as good as Matt, but I think I've got the hang of it." Joe fainted. *** The group was gathered around a small fire, surrounded by one of the many forests that covered the Digiworld. They had decided to go to Primary Village (5), which Ogremon had said was in a bad state. They had been joined by Gekomon and Otamamon two small creatures that looked terribly underfed and also looked like frogs with a hornet twisted around their necks. "So, X, you said that Matt taught you those attacks?!" Mimi asked incredously. Leomon had been very impressed by X's prowess, but also found it difficult to believe that Matt would've been able to do that. Much less teach it. X blink-blinked. "Yeah, I mean, I know Matt could have taught me better, but he, Peregrin and Gabumon wanted to get out of the city as soon as possible and get here." "But that's impossible! Matt never fought good enough to be able to teach someone something like that! At the most he traded punches with Tai!" Joe argued. "Well, since he came to my world, the two of us got into a lot of fights. I think Matt told Gabumon that the Mavericks we had to fight were like Mega level Digimon... but if that Metal Etemon was a Mega level Digimon, I have to say that Matt alone has fought worse." Joe's eyes rolled and he fainted again. "Joe!" Gomamon muttered putting one of his fins to his head. "You've got to be kidding." The others however were looking at X in disbelief. "Like who?" Ogremon asked. "Well, Sigma, of course, Vile, Magma Dragoon, Colonel, Repliforce's General, me..." X looked thoughtful for a moment. "Although Sigma was the hardest. He kept upgrading himself and one we had to attack him both at the same time to defeat him." This was a little too much for Mimi, who also fainted. Palmon ran up to her and shook her awake. "Mimi!" "Oh, Palmon, I had this dream... I dreamt that Matt had been fighting Mega Level Digimon bare handed and winning..." "Well, if it makes you feel any better, he wasn't bare handed and they weren't Digimon. That was just a comparison." X provided. "It wasn't a dream?!" Mimi shouted panicking. "Um... no?" Palmon informed her friend. "It's impossible!" Mimi cried out. Immediately Gekomon and Otamamon were at her side. "Is there anything you need, your majesty?" "Don't call me MAJESTY!" *** The next day they were on their way once more. X was going with them, since he was more likely to find Matt by sticking to his friends. Leomon and X had been a hit so far. As soon as X revealed his involvement in more than one battle for the sake of justice, Leomon had talked to him non stop, comparing notes and giving each other opinions and suggestions. They had been going at it like two old campaigners who hadn't seen each other for 4 wars and now had to trade their mutual experiences. The worst part was that X insisted on including Matt in most of those adventures and what he said was incredible. If that was true, Matt had changed a lot and was not the same good-natured-if-solitary friend they all loved. But a warrior who would kill his enemy without a second thought. The thought scared Mimi like nothing else. She and Joe had left the others because she didn't want to fight anymore. Not that it had helped since she had realized that she would have to do it at least one more time before peace finally came. So now, she was going to gather the greatest amount of Digimon who would be willing to fight against the Dark Masters. And she had a good start, so far she had two of the greatest warriors; Ogremon and Leomon, Palmon and Gomamon of course, Gekomon and Otamamon would be of some help, she guessed. She was sure to find willing Digimon at Primary Village or it's surroundings. Then there was X. She was actually very confused by X. He was obviously a warrior; he had taken care Metal Etemon in a very effective way -Ogremon had told her that he wouldn't want to fight X- and had shrugged off the death of his opponent almost casually. Almost. That was what had her confused. X seemed to have fought dozens of battles, fighting to survive every inch of the way, but still, he was... so different from what he should be. There was a constant sadness around X, she could feel it. As if he considered his own existence a paradox of some kind. Mimi had been called many things all her life, even by Tai and the others. Many considered her to be an insensible brat that would give in to tantrums. Even T.K. thought of her that way. But the truth was that she felt too much, and she didn't know how to deal with that empathy she had. Therefore, she stuck herself into a shell that fooled everyone. Except Palmon. The problem was that her empathy was going crazy with X, something in him called to her and made her want to hold him in a hug and tell him that everything was all right, that he hadn't done anything wrong. "Are you okay, Mimi?" Her faithful friend Palmon asked. "Yes. It's just..." "What?" Palmon encouraged. Mimi let her eyes drift to X who was now chatting with Joe. "Nothing, Palmon." Palmon looked at her a little hurt for a moment. "If you say so, Mimi." Palmon wasn't convinced though, and she had noticed the looks Mimi had been giving X. And she wondered. They walked for another while when suddenly, X tensed, looking at the forest ahead. Leomon and Ogremon also stopped, prepared for battle. Mimi joined Joe as Palmon and Gomamon stood infront of them. They watched as the trees infront of them parted for... a Snowman?! Joe looked at it closely and realized their error. It wasn't a snowman, it was a bear made out of snow. "Frigimon!" Joe echoed Palmon and Gomamon. Leomon and Ogremon relaxed their guards, and X imitated them, just as another Digimon followed Frigimon. He looked like a man surrounded completely by flames. "Meramon! Frigimon!" Leomon greeted. "Good to see you two!" Ogremon growled non-commitally. As the other two newly arrived Digimon looked at him in amusement. "And I thought the people I knew were weird..." X muttered, but Palmon was able to pick it up. "Now I know why Matt was never really surprised!" Palmon smiled to herself. She liked X, and it was obvious that Mimi had some interest in him. She would ensure happiness for her friend. That night as they camped out, Palmon whispered something to X, who left the group soon after. Just as Mimi was about to complain of being hungry, someone offered her an apple. Taking it gratefully she gave it a bite as she followed the metallic hand up to its owner; X. She gulped down as she gazed into those deep blue eyes. She almost slapped herself. She was ten years old! Well... eleven, since quite some time had passed in the digiworld. Still, X was either sixteen or fifteen. Way older than her, she thought gloomily. He probably wouldn't be interested in a child. X sat down next to her, biting his own apple. "So, Mimi, we haven't talked much since we met..." Mimi stared at him for a moment, before turning her attention back to her apple. "Yeah, I know. I guess Matt told you about us when he was with you, right?" X smiled. "Yeah once he told me I sounded like you." "He did? When?" "When I asked him why did we have to go on fighting. I wanted to end things differently, but he insisted that for the moment it was the only way." Mimi sighed. He had sounded like her then. "He was probably right," X continued. "But it doesn't change the fact that I wish it had been different." "There's always another way, the problem is getting people to listen. I believe that fighting is horrible, and I always want to avoid it, but if my lived ones are in danger, then sometimes, I have to take that path, to save them." Mimi told him, glancing at Spiral tower. "I think this is one of those times." X nodded. "I know what you mean." "I imagined." Mimi answered smiling back at him. X looked at her long enough to make her blush slightly, before eating his apple. When he noticed that Mimi had eaten hers, he offered her another one. And so they stayed silently until Mimi fell asleep. Palmon smiled. ------ End Part 5 (2) I'm twisting the timeline here a little, originally this happened at the same time as Puppetmon's last battle. (3) Yeah, copy/paste. I admit I'm not quite perfect, okay?! (4) This combo actually exists. I made it up during the fight against the second Sigma in X4. You can add to it by using [] for a second jump after the Ryuenjin and do either Kuuenbu or Hyouretsuzan before ending with Zero's triple slash. Most enemies don't survive the first part, but it's ideal against Sigma. I'm also taking advantage of the sword Zero gave X during X3. (5) Primary village is where all Digimon are born and taken care of. Well, part 5! I still need MORE EMAILS *MORE!* MOOOOOOREEEE! Cough! Gasp! Okay, I'm fine now, just ignore the nervous tick in my left eye... MuSt conTroL mYselF!