Digimon Adventure ND Book One: Manipulamon Reigns - Chapter Two

Chapter Three of Reaper is finally here, and it's a gruesome one, so I figured that all zero of you guys who read this could use something a little more uplifting to help you recover. Here is chapter two of this story, which is some action, followed by an infodump. Why are the characters given so much information at once? Well, I always thought that it was really unfair of the characters who pulled the main characters of the original show into the Digital World to basically send them right into the action with no clue what to do, and I didn't want my story to be the same way. Getting all of this out of the way not only establishes the plot of this book, but gives my characters a chance to decide for themselves if they can handle what they are being asked to do. It doesn't completely solve the problem of kids saving the world being kind of a silly plot device, but I think it helps.

Oh, and future updates to this story will come more often. I'm not sure if they'll have an official day, like Yu-Gi-Oh!, but more often nonetheless. I kinda forgot about it, or else this one would have come a lot sooner...

Chapter Two

Ambushed! The Hidden Knowledge of Desert Tower

After the battle with the monstrous Serpenterramon, the nine of us (four humans and five Digimon) began walking. Our goal was to leave the Forest Region for the neighboring Desert Region. It would be hot, but according to the Digimon, it was better than the forest, which is the region most densely populated by Digimon, and more Digimon means more potential battles.

“So how far are we from the edge of the forest?” I asked Serpentmon, who was hanging around my neck like an untied tie. BlackColtmon walked at my side.

“Don’t know,” He answered dismissively. Serpentmon's not what you would call the knowledgeable type. In fact, he's more than a little goofy, a stark comparison to the fierce and powerful Dragonterramon.

“I think its about another half mile,” said Chickomon, the largest Digimon in our group (at the moment anyway). He was carrying a sleeping Amanda on his back. On either side of him, Sarah and Jen walked with their Digimon. We were tired, we were sweaty, and we were on edge. The initial excitement a memory of hours past, and the adrenaline finally gone from our systems, we were left worrying whether or not another enemy was right around the next corner.

“At the rate we’re going,” said Jen, sounding somewhere between upbeat and droll, “we should get there well within the hour.”

“And look,” said Sarah, “the sun’s on its way down. That means it won’t be too high when we reach the desert.”

“Yeah,” I said, “but we still need to be careful.” I pulled a sheet of paper and a pen out of my pocket, and I began to scribble out an idea.


“Okay,” I said to the others as we neared the forest’s edge, showing them my drawing, “We all have over shirts or jackets. If we fold them up like I’ve drawn here and tie them on with one of our shoestrings, we can shade our faces from the sun. The only problem is, I don’t know what to do for the Digimon.”

“Oh, don’t worry about us,” said Chickomon.

“Yeah,” said Coltmon. “This is our world. We know how to handle it.” The other Digimon nodded their agreement, save BlackColtmon, who never really expresses himself.

“Alright then,” I said, excitedly, “onward ho!”

“Yippy!” said Serpentmon. We tied our over shirts over our heads, I lowered the sunglasses that I often wear on my head into place over my eyes, and we headed forward into the sandy expanse.


The transition from the forest to the desert was odd, at least to us humans. It was like we'd stepped across a line between two completely different biomes, with not crossover between them. One second we were in a temperate forest, and the next we were in a dry, dangerously hot desert. The Digimon had warned us, but it was still pretty shocking, and the unusual nature of the transition was enough to keep us interested until we noticed the odd feeling. It was about another twenty minutes before we felt it. It was like someone was tugging at us, just enough to give us a feint indication as to where we needed to go.

“Feel that?” Amanda asked, stretching herself awake.

“Yeah,” Sarah said, “we all do.”

“We think its directing us toward something,” said Jen.

“Toward what?” Amanda asked.

“Toward that,” I answered, pointing at a spot near the horizon. Everyone looked, and they saw what I’d seen: a half-ruined tower rising out of the sand, right in the middle of nowhere. We headed right for it, ready for anything, except what we were about to find.


“So this is it?” Jen asked as we slowly circled the tower. It was 65, 70 yards in diameter with one window near the top. The base had long since sunk deep into the desert sands, leaving only the top floor accessible through the window, which had sunk close to the ground. We climbed inside.

Once inside the tower we found ourselves in a wide open room, the floor tilted at a slight angle. There was no light, save the light that filtered through the window from outside. The room was dusty, dirty, sandy, and covered in cobwebs. The only path down into whatever was below this single floor had long since filled with sand and become inaccessible.

“So what now?” asked Sarah.

“I’m scared!” Amanda whined.

“Me too,” said Sarah.

“Okay,” I commanded, automatically taking charge, “Sarah and Ponymon, take Amanda and Chickomon back outside and wait for us in the shade, okay?”

“Yeah,” said Sarah, frowning and nodding, “sure.” She led Amanda back out through the window, their Digimon following close behind.

“Okay, boss,” asked BlackColtmon, “now what?”

“Now we spread out and look for anything that seems out of place. We were called here for a reason, and I get the feeling that it was to find something.”

“What should we be looking for exactly?” Serpentmon asked.

“Not sure,” I answered. “Just anything less dirty and less made of stone.”

“Okay!”

But before we could do much searching Sarah and Amanda started having a freakout outside. Gotta love those interruptions. Jen and I and our Digimon partners ran to see what was wrong. I jumped through the window first, and was startled as Chickomon’s attack, an energy blade fired from his eyes, flew by my head. I traced the path of the attack to the top of the tower where a large dragon, black in color, with four glowing red eyes, stood perched, roaring. It spread its tattered wings and dropped down, blood red claws swiping, barely missing our ducking heads.

“Get him Serpentmon,” I said. Almost instinctively I pulled the orange and black device from my pocket, hit the activation key, and brandished the screen toward my Digimon, calling out, “Initiate Digivolution!”

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to, Dragonterramon!”

My own black dragon Digimon let out a very distinct roar and leaped up, calling, “Terra Strike!” and clipping the foe’s right wing with his razor sharp claws, glowing with a white light. Both Digimon landed hard.

“Looks like you're grounded,” Dragonterramon said with a gruff chuckle. I smiled, I guess as big and tough as he gets, he’s still Serpentmon at heart.

“I will not let the Crests fall into your hands,” the dragon called out in a raspy, deep-throated voice. “By order of Lord Manipulamon!” He called out, “Crimson Claw!” and his claws began to glow red.

“Terra Strike!” called Dragonterramon, his own claws glowing white. The two dragons pushed off of the sand and charged at each other at full speed. Both slashed, and for a second, they just stood there, almost back to back. Then Dragonterramon fell and changed back into Serpentmon.

“No way!” Jen said in disbelief.

“Serpentmon!” I called out, and ran toward him.

“No,” said BlackColtmon, “stay back!” He leaped between me and the foe, “I’ll take care of this guy.” At that moment the orange device activated again.

Taking my cue, I raised the device and said, “Initiate Digivolution!”

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to!” BlackColtmon grew until he was as large and as powerfully built as a plow horse, with a long, wild mane, silky black fur, and huge, earth shaking hooves. He reared up and neighed at the top of his lungs, “BlackStaliamon!”

“I will not let you attack,” said the foe, his words mixed in with a piercing, screeching roar. His eyes started to glow brighter.

“Sorry,” said BlackStaliamon. “I’m a true fighter, unshakable in my desire to defeat my enemy. You can’t hypnotize me the way you hypnotized my friend to weaken his attack.” And with shocking elegance, my second Digimon launched himself into the fray.

“Hoof Stomp!” BlackStaliamon called. He launched himself front-hooves first at the foe. The foe caught the blow with his left arm and flung BlackStaliamon over his head, toward the tower, spinning instantly, preparing to counterattack.

BlackStaliamon stained powerful muscles, flipping in midair and pushing off of the tower’s exterior wall, giving him a serious boost in leaping speed and power. He called his attack once again and slammed his massive front hooves into the dragon’s chest, crushing him to digital bits. BlackStaliamon landed with unparalleled grace, and reverted back into BlackColtmon. I ran to his side to congratulate him, but he's gone back to his grumpy quite self and acted like he hadn't done anything impressive at all.

Jen, Coltmon and I re-entered the tower. Serpentmon and BlackColtmon stayed outside to rest. It took awhile, but we managed to find what we had been meant to find: five necklaces ending in gold tags, each bearing a different symbol, four mini ROM disk players colored to match our first four devices, and an orange and black laptop computer with a large symbol on the top that matched a small symbol pictured on my first device and on the orange disk player. The laptop had a slide out palm unit in the bottom and a plug in the back for connecting with other digital devices.

“Looks like we found it,” I said. I knelt down and lifted the laptop, inspecting it. I noticed that the power was on, so I opened it up and looked at the screen. There was a dialogue box open asking, “Play stored message" followed by the typical options, OK and Cancel. It was the only thing on the screen.

“A stored message?” I said, looking to the others. “I think we may all want to see this.”


I led the way out of the tower. “What did you find?” Sarah asked. She, Amanda, and the Digimon listened intently for my answer.

“Not sure,” I answered, “but we’re about to find out.” I knelt down, placing the laptop on my over shirt to keep it from picking up sand, and pressed enter, playing the stored message.

“Welcome, Digidestined,” said a computerized voice. “I am the artificial intelligence program that controls the fully equipped portable data storage unit, known properly as the D-4 Digicomp. I was programmed by the Great Protector to explain your place in this world.

“Centuries ago, Old Time, the four Sovereign Digimon of the Digital World determined that the data in their world was growing at a greater rate than expected. They used their immense power to create a second Digital World, meant to be an overflow for the original, tying it together with the five Digital Cores.” On the screen flashed images of five distinct environments throughout the Digital world: a forest, a desert, a volcano, an ocean, and a cavern.

The voice continued, “Circumstances in the original Digital World forced the Sovereign Digimon to choose a group of human Guardians to pair with a group of Digimon to protect it from the evil Digimon that inevitably surfaced. Seeing that it would soon be time for him to pass on, the Great Protector of this world followed the Sovereigns’ example and, looking into the future, selected a group of his own. They would be charged with protecting this world, dubbed File Two, in his place. That group is you. John, chosen for your courage and leadership skills, and because of the high value you place on the lives of your friends. Jen, chosen for your heart and compassion. Sarah, chosen for your inner strength. Amanda, chosen for your untapped potential.

“You have each been given one of each Digivices,” images of the first devices, the cell-phone-sized ones, flashed on the screen, “to help your Digimon in reaching their fourth, or Adult, forms, and Digiplayers,” images of the second devices, the disk players, flashed on the screen, “to aid your Digimon in reaching a level beyond Adult. You have also each been given one or more Crests, representing your best traits.”

An image of two golden tags, one bearing the sun-like symbol that was on my Digivice and on the Digicomp, and the other resembling a yin yang with two curved spikes protruding from either end appeared. “John, you have been given the Neo Crest of Courage and the Neo Crest of Friendship.” The image changed to a tag bearing a star-like symbol. “Sarah, you have been given the Neo Crest of Light.

“You, Jenifer, have been given,” an image of a tag bearing a heart-like symbol appeared, “the Neo Crest of Love.” An image of a tag bearing a symbol like a boomerang sitting next to an orb appeared, “And you Amanda have been given the Crest of Loyalty. When you have grown enough your Crests, in combination with your Digiplayers, will give you the power you need to defeat your enemy, saving this world and all life in it.

“Of course,” the computer said, nearing the conclusion of its presentation, “you will be curious as to the identity of your enemy.” An image of a gray, human-like creature with a dinosaur-like head appeared, “this is Manipulamon, an evil Digimon that can manipulate almost any data, energy, or element, converting it into virtually anything. He uses borrowed energy to create M-Tags, small patches that he uses to tag and control wild Digimon. They are distinguishable by the red “M’s” that he emblazons them with. Manipulamon is working toward his goal of enslaving the entire population, and it is believed that this goal will soon be within his reach. Manipulamon is aided by five generals, powerful beyond the level of his usual followers. They are IceDevimon," an image of a tall, gangly white demon with tattered wings replaced the image of Manipulamon, "SkullScorpiomon," an image of a massive, bone white, armored scorpion replaced IceDevimon's, "MetalPhantomon," an image of a robotic floating skeletal torso wearing a cape and carrying an energy sickle appeared next, "GranKuwagamon," a massive black beetle replaced the image of the reaper, "and MetalSerpenterramon," a final image of a massive robotic serpent with a tank-like body blinked onto the screen last, rounding out the presentation.

"These generals each represent one of Manipulamon's combat forces, which make up the bulk of his army. The rest of the Digimon under the influence of Manipulamon are used as scouts, seeking out new Digimon for their master to control. It is unknown if this encompasses all of Manipulamon's forces, however, as he is aware of your presence here, and his army is always expanding. In the end, the danger you face could be even greater.

“The Great Guardian would not ask you to risk your lives for another world's cause without the ability to say no,” the computer concluded. “If you so choose, you will be sent home immediately, but your decision must be unanimous. Choose now and voice your decision aloud.”

I looked around at my makeshift team, and they stared back at me, there minds racing. “Well guys,” I asked, “what do you think? Do we play hero, yes or no?”

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