Digital Texas
By Izumi Ryu

Richard leaned against one of the walls of the school with his arms crossed and his head tilted downward. He was looking down towards the ground. Something he’s been used to ever since he moved back from Missouri. Many of the other students just looked away and chanted their rumors about Richard and what they thought. Most thinking he’d be the next one to go postal at a school. Richard just sighed, knowing full well that their words are nothing but bull.

Dwayne walked up to the white boy, shaking his head. “You’ve had that effect on people ever since you came back,” he said.

“At least, it keeps unwanted attention away,” Richard said.

“Along with all others,” Dwayne retorted.

Richard wanted to get off the topic and switched to another important topic. “I got an e-mail from Hank during my Computer Lit. class. He wants us to meet him in the Digital World this afternoon,” Richard informed. “It’s about time.”

“I was worried about that,” Dwayne said. “What do you think of this whole thing?”

“What is there to think about?” Richard asked.

“Now, that’s the Richard I know, even if it’s disguised with an attitude,” Dwayne said.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Richard asked.

“Nothing, Richard. You need to calm down. I don’t know or even care what happened to you, but you need to relax a bit more,” Dwayne said.

“Look who’s talking. You’re the one freaking over this digital whatever is going on. Yes, I’m scared of what’s going on. Big deal. There’s some reason we’re the ones being thrown into some kind of war. As much as I’d like to ask “why us?” I’d rather get whatever we need to do done,” Richard said. The way he responded revealed his frustration.

Dwayne couldn’t believe it. Richard hadn’t opened up this much since he got back, even to him. Richard kept everything closed. At least, he knew how to get him to open up, frustrate him. “You talk to your partner?” Dwayne asked.

“For some reason, I felt I could be open with Hagurumon. He doesn’t seem to understand a lot, but I guess I’m in the same boat he is in about understanding him,” Richard said.

“I know what you mean. It feels strange with Gotsumon. I even felt it during his fight with Starmon. He just kept going, even if he knew he was going to lose, all because Starmon threatened me,” Dwayne said.

“They all fought their hardest,” Richard said. He clutched his gut, remembering the sharp pain he felt when Starmon threw Hagurumon into him. “You know, I had been feeling that shot to the gut all weekend.”

Dwayne just shook his head. “I know THAT had to hurt.”

“I just hope we get out of this alive,” Richard said. “But then again, if Hank and his friends can survive, we should be able to as well.”

Dwayne shook his head. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later, then,” Dwayne said as he walked off to his next class.

Richard walked into his empty house. His school let out before his sisters’ school did and his dad usually didn’t get home until about 7 or 8 PM. “This will make things a lot easier,” Richard remarked. “Hey, Hagurumon! Where are you?”

“I’m upstairs in your room,” Hagurumon shouted.

“Get ready to go. We’re going in as soon as I contact Hank and Dwayne,” Richard said.

“Awww…man! I was kicking Lynx’s butt!!” Hagurumon said. Richard just palmed his head, thinking it was a mistake to allow Hagurumon to play any of his RPGs. Then again, Hagurumon couldn’t do much else. With RPGs, he didn’t need fingers to play.

“You of all people should’ve known this was coming one of these days,” Richard remarked, as he walked into the kitchen. He took a piece of paper out of a drawer and grabbed a pen out of his pocket. Then, Richard wrote a note, saying he was at Dwayne’s house.

“At least, let me get through the battle,” Hagurumon said.

“Just turn off the TV and leave the PS2 going. It should be fine,” Richard said, now walking up the stairs and towards the computer. Hagurumon floated up right behind him. A Digital Gate appeared on the screen as he held the silver and black D3 towards the screen. “Digi-port, open!”

The screen flashed as both Richard and Hagurumon were drawn into the Digital World.

 “Whoa!!” Richard and Dwayne yelled as they came out of a terminal. They collided with each other and hit the ground. They tried to get untangled from each other as they got up. Hagurumon and Gotsumon looked at the two boys, laughing at what was going on. The two boys got up as soon as they separated themselves and glared at their partners. The two Digimon stopped laughing almost immediately seeing the angry looks on the two humans.

“Ummm…sorry, couldn’t help ourselves,” Gotsumon explained.

“You’ll get used to it eventually,” Kokuwamon said, as he came out from behind the terminal. Kokuwamon had been waiting for a while in the area, even missing his chance to be with Elecmon for the night.

“Whatever,” Richard said as he shook his head.

Dwayne held his D3 up to the terminal they came out of and stood back a bit. “Digi-port, open!” With a flash of light, the Digital gate opened and Hank came out of the terminal. Hank stumbled forward and collided into Dwayne, knocking the boy to the ground. Hank fell on top of him in the process.

“Well, so much for graceful entries,” Hank remarked.

“Yeah. Now, will you get off of me?” Dwayne asked.

Richard just palmed his head while all 3 digimon started laughing at the two. Hank rolled off of Dwayne and stood up. Dwayne held his legs in the air and flipped from the ground and onto his feet. Hank, Kokuwamon, and Hagurumon had a look of awe on their faces. “Impressive,” Hank said.

“Big deal. Do it all the time,” Dwayne said, not caring. “A little quicker than lifting yourself off the ground.”

“Either that, or you’re a show boater,” Richard remarked. “I can never tell with you.”

“Heh…well, what do you guys think of this?” Hank asked.

“If we hadn’t experienced it first hand, we would’ve thought y’all were nuts,” Richard said.

Hank just chuckled for a second. “Some of us wonder if we are anyway.”

“Well, what are we supposed to be doing now?” Dwayne asked.

“There’s some sort of village or town nearby here. We’re going there to see what is going on,” Hank said. “Hopefully, we’ll find a link to the attack in San Antonio.”

The three Destined kids and their partners came to what looked like a town from the old west. It looked like a ghost town, since there was little to no activity in the town. All the buildings were made of wood and lined up along the main road with troughs of water where horses could drink from when tied up. Richard sighed and shook his head. “I hate Texan stereotypes,” Richard said.

“Things could be worse. Doc Holliday could show up any moment now,” Hank said.

“Ummm…what’s Doc Holliday?” Hagurumon asked.

“Doc Holliday was a famous gunslinger in the old west. In fact, he was the best,” Richard explained.

“Watched a few Wyatt Earp movies I see,” Hank said.

“My step-father is a Western fanatic,” Richard replied. “We need to find some sort of tavern or saloon or even a sheriff’s office. They’ll be the best places to find information.”

“I’m wondering if there’s anyone here at all,” Dwayne remarked. “We may have just stumbled on a ghost town.”

“Just because you said that, the first Ponchomon I see, dies,” Richard said.

“Better add Bakemon to that list,” Hank added as they walked through the town. They found the saloon and walked in, but the saloon was found to be empty, except for a bartender, a small humanoid head with arms and legs.

“And what is that thing?” Dwayne asked.

“Nanimon. Don’t worry about it. I’ll try and ask him,” Hank said. Hank walked up to the bar with Richard and Dwayne flanking him.

“How may I help you today? Would you like anything to drink?” Nanimon asked.

“No, thanks. I just want to ask you some questions. Do you know of any over-powering digimon that has been around here?” Hank asked.

“Over-powering digimon? Do you mean if a digimon has control over the area? Not really,” Nanimon replied.

“What about a Starmon perhaps, especially one in command of several Ponchomon,” Hank said.

Nanimon went silent. He seemed to be nervous about something as he looked around. “Look, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Nanimon looked at the three boys. “Take my advice and keep your nose out of things. It’s for your own good,” Nanimon said.

“This is no good,” Richard said. “He’s too much of a wuss to talk.”

“I can still kick your ass anytime,” Nanimon warned Richard.

“He’s a bit touchy, isn’t he?” Dwayne asked.

“Let’s go,” Hank told the others. They got up from where they were sitting and walked out of the saloon. “Guess the Sheriff’s office is next.”

Sorry, for not saying anything, boys, but it’s for your own good, Nanimon thought as he watched the group leave.

“Hey, check this out!” Gotsumon said, pointing to a few posters on the wall outside the Sheriff’s office. The boys walked up to the posters to take a look. They seemed to be some faded wanted posters. Four of them were all in one row while a fifth poster was in the middle and above that row. The furthest poster on the left had a picture of Starmon.

“That’s him!” Richard said, glaring at the wanted poster. That seemed to be the only poster Richard focused on.

“What’s with the others?” Dwayne asked. Looking over the remaining posters. The second picture from the left showed a humanoid digimon with a gun for an upper body with the barrel coming out of his face. The third picture showed an eagle with horns on its head. The poster furthest to the right showed what could only be described as a man made of rock. Finally, the poster above all of them showed a humanoid digimon that appeared to have both insectoid and reptilian features.

“I wonder myself, considering that the lower four posters are worth less than the top one. Some sort of gang perhaps?” Richard asked.

Hank read over the posters. “They’re wanted dead or alive. Well, that’s pretty much impossible to bring them in dead, considering they’ll just disperse into data particles,” Hank mused.

“How the hell will we find these guys? There’s no lead to where they could be,” Dwayne said.

“Well, let’s see if we can find the Sheriff,” Hank said. The trio walked into the Sheriff’s office, only to find everything deserted, even the jail cells.

“I guess there’s no one here,” Dwayne said.

“Thank you, Mr. Obvious,” Richard replied sarcastically.

“I thought I told you not to get involved in this,” a voice said from the door. Everyone turned back to look at Nanimon.

“Nanimon, you know more about what’s going on. Where’s the sheriff?” Richard asked.

“The sheriff, along with everyone else, was deleted. I’m the only one left in this town,” Nanimon answered. “I wasn’t saying anything because I didn’t want to see others killed. I know you’re Digi-destined and can evolve your partnered digimon, but you don’t stand a chance against them. Even the most powerful of us went up against that gang, but they would be killed in front of us as an example. The last time they did that, some of the citizens started to speak against them. Just for that, all five leaders of that gang killed everyone in the town, including babies, children, you name it. They intentionally left me because of my job as a bartender. They needed someone to serve them drinks.”

“So Starmon is one of the leaders of that gang. Those bastards,” Dwayne said.

“Calm down, Dwayne. That’s when you start making mistakes,” Richard said. “Just like on the court.”

“How can you be thinking of basketball at a time like this? It’s two different things,” Dwayne said.

“That part is true, but when you get riled up on the court, you make mistakes that could cost you the game. It’s the same in any situation,” Richard told Dwayne.

Their conversation was interrupted by some buzzing sound in a distance. Everyone looked around the office seeing that nothing in the room could make that sound. “I’ve got a bad feeling,” Hank said.

All 7 of the people inside the building ran outside, seeing a swarm of what looked like yellow striped bees or some form of insect. “Flymon,” Nanimon said. “They’re from that gang.”

“Nanimon, are they controlled in any form?” Hank asked.

“No, all members of this gang are willing members. Only the victims are under their control,” Nanimon said.

“Then, I guess we have no choice but to wipe them out,” Dwayne said.

“Are you nuts? We’re out-numbered heavily,” Richard informed in a bit of panic.

“Nope,” Hank said. “Flymon are pretty much easy pickings for our partners, so let’s rock.”

“Kokuwamon, evolve!!”

“Gotsumon, evolve!!”

Kokuwamon and Gotsumon were both engulfed in pillars of light as they evolved to their adult form. Kokuwamon changed into a bulky robot, while Gotsumon became a frozen version of himself.

“GUARDROMON!!”

“ICEMON!!”

“Deadly Sting!!” The swarm of Flymon fired off their stingers, hitting Guardromon and Icemon, but they just bounced off harmlessly.

“Was that supposed to do anything?”  Icemon asked. “Iceball Bomb!!” Icemon shot off several balls of ice, each one connecting with the insectoid digimon and freezing them on the spot. The Flymon, then, dispersed into data.

“DESTRUCTION GRENADE!!” Guardromon threw a grenade into the swarm. It came into contact with a Flymon and exploded, wiping out several of the Flymon there.

“That damage alone left them with about 25 percent of their forces gone,” Richard observed. “I guess Hank was right. I’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Look out! Old Man Punch!!” Nanimon warned. Nanimon jumped into the air and punched a Flymon that was attacking Richard from behind. That punch sent the Flymon into a hotel.

“Thanks, Nanimon,” Richard said with gratitude, though his tone of voice didn’t show it.

“Deadly Sting!” A stinger was fired from the hotel. Nanimon jumped back and fell to the ground; only to find out he’s been pinned down with several stingers surrounding him.

“Damn,” Nanimon said, now panicking. A Flymon dove towards Nanimon, stinger aimed right at him.

“Nanimon! No!” Richard yelled. He rushed towards Nanimon and tried to get him out, but found it too hard.

“Richard! Get out of there!” Hagurumon warned, but Richard wouldn’t listen, still trying to get Nanimon out of the trap. Richard’s D3 flashed white light. Hagurumon was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of light.

“Hagurumon, evolve!” Hagurumon became a bit smaller. He became a small ball with arms and legs. A lightning bolt shape appeared on his forehead. “THUNDERBALLMON!!”

“Thunder Bomber!!” Thunderballmon flew at the Flymon at lightning speeds and slammed into him with an electrified punch. He effectively zapped the Flymon. “You okay?” Thunderballmon asked.

“We’ll be fine. Just get the others before they come after us again,” Richard said. “Think you can zap them like you just did to the other one?”

“I can do better,” Thunderballmon said. He flew straight in front of the swarm, some more of the Flymon dropping due to Icemon’s and Guardromon’s efforts. “Check this out! Thunderbolt!” Thunderballmon fired a strong bolt of electricity, sending it through the swarm.

“I think it was a mistake to let him play Lunar,” Richard remarked, watching the Flymon disperse into data.

“Well, that ends it for them,” Dwayne said.

“Mind helping me out here?” Richard asked. He was still trying his hardest to pull the stingers out of the ground and let Nanimon out.

“Oh, umm…sorry, Rich,” Dwayne said before Hank and he ran towards the two.

A gunshot was heard as Thunderballmon fell forward as if hit by something. Thunderballmon just devolved to his child form. “Hagurumon!” Richard yelled.

Another gunshot was heard. Dwayne ran towards Richard and knocked him out of the way, but the bullet struck Nanimon. Nanimon was immediately deleted from the shot. “No! Nanimon, too?!” Richard yelled.

“Heh, heh, heh. I figured the Flymon wouldn’t cut it,” a voice said, chuckling to itself. “We can find another bartender, we didn’t need that Nanimon.” A humanoid digimon that looked like it had a gun for an upper body walked up to the group.

“Revolmon,” Hank hissed.

“You bastard!” Icemon yelled before charging at Revolmon. “Take this! Ice…”

“Justice Bullet!” Revolmon fired off a bullet at Icemon at close range. Icemon was knocked back several feet and hit the ground, devolving to Gotsumon.

“WARNING LASER!!” Guardromon fired a laser at Revolmon. Revolmon easily dodged the laser shot. “DESTRUCTION GRENADE!!”  Guardromon tossed a grenade at Revolmon. It created a cloud of dust around Revolmon. No one could tell whether Revolmon was hit or not, but surely Guardromon got him.

When the dust cleared, Revolmon had disappeared, but there were no trace of data particles. “Did Guardromon get him?” Richard asked.

“NEGATIVE, REVOLMON ESCAPED,” Guardromon said.

“Darn it,” Dwayne said in frustration.

“He didn’t want to deal with Guardromon,” Hank said.

“That figures,” Richard said. Then sighed. “Let’s just get home.”

“This is gonna suck for us,” Dwayne said, feeling tired as if he just lost a basketball game.

“Well, this should help a lot. I was instructed by Koushiro to give these to you,” Hank said, handing the boys each a disk. “This contains the information we know of about digimon and everything. Most groups have been helping the new members with details, but I’m sure you can figure things out for yourself.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, I think,” Dwayne said.

Dwayne, Richard and their partners flew out of the computer monitor in Dwayne’s room. Thankfully, they landed on Dwayne’s bed when they came out. “We…have got…to get used to this,” Dwayne said, grunting between words, trying to get out of the tangled mess.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Richard said.

“Dwayne, is that you?” a female voice said, then the sounds of footsteps started getting closer to the door.

“Great, that’s your mom. We gotta hide the digimon,” Richard said.

“Don’t worry. She knows,” Dwayne said.

“You told them?” Richard asked.

Dwayne shrugged. “How else was I gonna be able to go today?”

“You hide things really well.”

The door to Dwayne’s room opened, as his mother walked in. She had curled hair like most African-American ladies and wore a red t-shirt with a matching pair of pants. “Hey, Richard. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Then, she saw Hagurumon. “So you were dragged into a war like Dwayne, huh?”

“Yes, Mrs. Wright. I’m sorry to make this short, but I’ve got to get home,” Richard said. “See you later. C’mon, Hagurumon." 

Richard got off of the bed and walked out the door of the room and out of the house. Mrs. Wright watched as he left. “He’s grown quite a bit since the last I’ve seen of him.” Then, he looked down at Dwayne, who had proceeded to look over the disk Hank gave him. But I wonder if he’s grown up to know about his birth.

“Girls! I’m home!” Richard called out as he walked into his house, hiding Hagurumon behind his back.

“Hi,” was the combined response from two different places. One was probably watching TV downstairs and the other was on the computer. He shrugged and took his shoes off before running up the stairs, trying to keep Hagurumon hidden. He rushed into his room and set Hagurumon down.

“And how long are we supposed to be doing this? When are you going to tell your father?” Hagurumon asked.

“When it’s necessary. I need to be careful with you because we’re leasing this house, and the landlords won’t allow pets. I know you’re sentient, but many don’t know that,” Richard said.

Hagurumon did some motion that would pass for shrugging. “Oh, well. Now to get back to kicking Lynx’s tail!” Then, Hagurumon looked down at the PS2, and saw that the power light went off. “WHAT?!”

Richard flung the door open. “Okay, which one of you came into my room?!” Richard asked.

“I did,” the older of Richard’s sisters said.

Arguments ensued as Hagurumon sat sulking, saying, “I was so…close.”

Koushiro’s Files:

Name: Dwayne Wright
Age/DOB: 12 (March 21, 1991)
Family: Mother (Latoya) and Father (Timothy)
Gender: Male
Race: African-American
Hair: Black
Eyes: Hazel
Bio: Dwayne isn’t the brightest kid on the block, but at least he has a strong heart. He’s best known at his school for being among the best basketball players there. He’s been Richard’s best friend for years and was the first to notice Richard’s change in attitude when he returned.
Skills:
Basketball
Gaming
Digimon: Gotsumon à Icemon

  Name: Richard Thompson
Age/DOB: 12 (August 23, 1991)
Family: Father (Daniel), 2 younger sisters (Christina (10), Stephanie(7))
Gender: Male
Race: White
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Bio: Richard has a kind heart and a strong sense of justice, but he has a cold exterior. He had lived in Missouri for 3 years and it was unknown what happened to him while he lived there. However, what happened there had turned him into an introvert. He’s a decent basketball player, but doesn’t get as much respect for it as Dwayne because he’s white. However, it’s also known he’s a strong strategist, which seems to come from his choice of games. It is known that his mother is divorced and re-married and currently lives in the Missouri Ozarks. Otherwise, not much else is known.
Skills:
Basketball
Computers
CCGs
Gaming
Digimon: Hagurumon à Thunderballmon

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Also, this fic has been done with the permission of Lord Archive, since this is his series. The characters belong to me, though.