Digimon Adventure ND Book One: Manipulamon Reigns - Chapter Nine

It looks like this is becoming a Sunday thing. That's pretty cool, I guess.

Oh, and the kids have a skirmish with Manipulamon in this chapter.
You know, no biggie. 

Chapter Nine

Battle Manipulamon!

The Celestial Digivolution

I ran, following in the general direction of Jeremy’s escape. As I ran, I wrestled the portable Digicomp unit from my pocket and searched the programs folder for a way to track Jeremy and his damaged Digimon. I discovered a tracking program, which I directed to search for Mechamon’s signal. Serpentmon slithered along at my left, BlackStaliamon trotted along at my right, and the others followed close behind.

After only a few minutes I got a lock. “This way!” I yelled back to my team. I curved to the right at about a fifty degree angle. The others followed my path as best as they could. I was tired, thirsty, and out of breath, but if I stopped I’d lose Jeremy, and I’m a sore loser.

So I kept running, and as I ran, I noticed that Jeremy’s signal suddenly stopped. I assumed that he'd decided to turn and face us, and so I picked up my pace. As I rushed to catch up with him I vaguely noticed the trees beginning to change, becoming less like the denser trees of the deep forest, and more like the thinner, more scattered trees of the forest’s edge. I yelled back to the others that Jeremy was just ahead, and suddenly the forest gave way to a rocky area ringed by cliffs, mostly enclosed with no cover anywhere. The perfect place to lay a trap. My Digimon erupted from the forest at my side, followed by the rest of my team. We stood together, staring down a figure that we had hoped not to see for a long time.

A week ago, when we’d arrived in the Digital World, we'd found the Digicomp. The Digicomp showed us the face of our enemy, a gray-skinned creature with a humanoid body and a dinosaur-like head and tail. Here that figure stood. Our ultimate enemy, Manipulamon.

“Oh crap,” I said, juggling fear and anger.

“Hello Digidestined,” Manipulamon said in a massive booming voice. “So we finally meet! I’m sorry children, but I cannot let you continue to exist in this world. You are too great a threat to my endeavors. Since none of my minions so far have had any luck in destroying you, I’ve decided to test your powers for myself and, ultimately, do what they could not.”

Manipulamon waved his hand in a wide arc and called, “Manipulate Wind!” Ripples of air, made denser by Manipulamon’s unique powers, rolled straight at us at high speed. I threw up my arms in anticipation of the impact. The ground shook and I lowered my arms, and I could see that Chickomon had Digivolved, using his wings to shield us from the attack. He threw open his wings and cried out making a booming sound somewhere between a whale song and an eagle’s cry. With a flap of his mighty wings, BrauntoPhoenixmon soared along the ground, rushing his foe at full speed. It looked like he would hit his mark, until Manipulamon raised his hand, stopping the airflow along BrauntoPhoenixmon’s wings, causing him to crash face first into the rocky ground.

“That’s enough!” I cried. Manipulamon was trying my patience. I ran at him, catching him off guard, jumped and punched him in the face, to no real effect. He was shocked.

“How dare a human assault Lord Manipulamon!” He cried. He flicked his wrist and I went flying, landing hard on my right arm and sliding several feet along the hard ground. I’m lucky my arm didn’t break.

Manipulamon waved his hand, “Manipulate Wind!” The wave of air flew right at me, and I was too tired and beaten up to move in time. It would kill me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for whatever would come, and after a moment, when I didn't die, I smiled, because I knew that my friends had come through for me. I looked up and saw Dragonterramon, spinning in mid air. He'd deflected the attack with his tail and landed nearby, standing over me, protectively, BlackStaliamon at his side. Several yards away BrauntoPhoenixmon rose to his feet and spread his wings. The flames around his wings flared up to three times their usual intensity as he focused his energy into his attack.

“Dino Fire!” He cried, and spirals of flames shot from his wings with such force that they tore up the ground along their path. The flames were inches away from Manipulamon’s face when he redirected them. They crossed, curved, and hit the ground. There was a massive flash and an even more massive explosion that blinded the Digimon long enough for Manipulamon to attack unhindered.

In the period of a second and a half, Manipulamon flew forward, skimming the ground, and motioned with his and, tossing BrauntoPhoenixmon over his head, slamming him into the ground and sliding him into Dragonterramon and BlackColtmon, flipped to face them, landed on his feet, and fired another wave of air that sent the Digimon toppling over each other. They were hurt, almost too much so to move. They would de-Digivolve soon.

“He’s too strong!” I said, pounding the ground.

“Maybe not if we all work together,” said Jen.

“Ponymon, Coltmon,” said Sarah, “time to get in the game!”

The two small horses ran and jumped at Manipulamon. He blocked them with his arm and threw them back. They landed on their feet and ran in a circle, kicking up their Hoof Tornado attack. It bent and flew straight at Manipulamon. He motioned and the attack changed course, dispersing in the open air.

“Hoof Stomp!” called BlackStaliamon. He lunged at Manipulamon from behind, but Manipulamon was too fast. He spun and backhanded BlackStaliamon out of the air. The mighty horse Digimon landed sprawled on the ground.

“Terra Flame!”

“Dino Fire!”

Manipulamon was engulfed in flames, but when the attacks ended and the fire fell away, Manipulamon stood unharmed, protected by a cocoon of hardened air.

Manipulamon cried out and the cocoon shattered like glass into dozens of razor sharp shards. The shards exploded outward in all directions. Any one of them could slice any one of us humans in half.

“Nooo!” screamed Dragonterramon. He and the other Digivolved Digimon rushed to protect us, but it was too late. Unless something changed, we were dead. That’s when something miraculous happened. Sarah and Jen’s Digivices came online for the first time since the battle against Serpenterramon. Coltmon and Ponymon leaped into the air between us and the shards, glowing like small stars.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jen and Sarah called out, “Initiate Digivolution!”

Coltmon grew until he was the same size as BlackStaliamon, but with smaller, more proportionate hooves. He wore a military quality saddle and four curved blades, one attached to the outside of each horseshoe. He sprouted a pair of white feathered wings and his voice rang out, “Coltmon, Digivolve to! BattleStaliamon!”

Ponymon glowed even brighter than Coltmon. She grew until she was almost his size, sprouting a pair of silvery angelic wings. Her hooves became a silvery color, and her coat glistened with a brilliant silvery sheen. Her voice was lyrical, like a harp, “Ponymon, Digivolve to, Fillimon!”

BattleStaliamon and Fillimon shone with a bright light and called, “Celestial Ring!” Spheres of light spread from their glowing forms, merging into a single wave of light that vaporized the shards. Then the two Digimon took off, rushing fearlessly at the foe.

“Those two Digimon,” I said, looking up from the analyzer screen of the Digicomp handheld, “are both Celestial Beast Digimon. They exist to destroy Evil and Dark Digimon. They could actually win!”

“I’m impressed by your luck and timing in Digivolving,” Manipulamon said, still sounding unconcerned, “but you know that the area around me is a no fly zone!” He waved his hand, trying to make them crash by halting airflow across their wings, but they stayed in the air, continuing toward him.

“Wrong,” said Fillimon in her beautiful, lyrical voice. She and BattleStaliamon began to circle their foe. “Our wings don’t use air for lift. We fly by channeling our angelic auras along our wings, letting us interrupt gravity and levitate, pushing off of the ground to climb or to move. You are a resourceful Digimon, Manipulamon, but the one thing that you cannot manipulate is our own auras.”

The two Celestial Beasts charged at the foe once again. Manipulamon spread his arms wide, releasing a wave of thickened air in their direction. “Hoof Blades,” called BattleStaliamon, releasing two curved energy blades from the blades attached to his front hooves. “Filli-Beams!” called Fillimon, firing twin beams from of shining light at her hooves. The two attacks hit the air wave, canceling it out. The two Digimon fired their attacks again, this time aiming for Manipulamon himself. He hardened the air around him again, but BattleStaliamon’s blades, which were a millisecond ahead of Fillimon’s beams, spread along the surface of the barrier, canceling it out. Fillimon’s beams continued through, hitting Manipulamon square in the chest. He was thrown backward, landing hard on his back and sliding several feet before he finally stopped.

The Digimon positioned themselves to strike the finishing blow. BrauntoPhoenixmon took flight and dropped waves of flame onto Manipulamon. Dragonterramon launched his own flame, and BlackStaliamon stomped the ground, unleashing a wave of seismic energy. BattleStaliamon and Fillimon circled around and fired their attacks again from above. If the five attacks connected, Manipulamon would almost definitely die, higher level or not.

Manipulamon, in a last ditch effort to survive, levitated himself up into an upright position and threw up another barrier, summoning all of his strength, using all of his concentration to keep it strong. The combo attack hit, and despite the enemy's efforts, the barrier was shattered. The attacks hit, and he watched, awestruck as Manipulamon's body began to break apart. Our sense of victory turned to disbelief, however, as before he dissolved completely, Manipulamon's body changed. He became a Kuwagamon.

“What just happened,” I wondered. Jen started laughing.

“Don't you get it?” she asked. “It wasn't really Manipulamon. He altered one of his minions to act as an avatar for himself so he could be present at the fall of the only place in this world that can actually oppose him. At least that means that he was never technically here, so he doesn't actually know the location of the village personally.”

“So…tired!” BrauntoPhoenixmon groaned, as Jen spoke.

“Can’t…move!” Dragonterramon growled, sounding just as uncomfortable.

The two Digimon collapsed and de-Digivolved to their Baby II forms, Snakemon and Chomon.

BlackStaliamon, BattleStaliamon, and Fillimon became BlackColtmon, Coltmon, and Ponymon.

“I don't care if that was the real Manipulamon or not, we have to get to Jeremy,” I said, “he was just here before the fight.” I started walking, limping a little as I brandishing the handheld. Jen grabbed my arm to stop me.

“John,” she said, “Jeremy wasn’t here. It was Manipulamon. He made his avatar look like Jeremy to your scanner to draw us here. The whole thing, the attack on the village, Jeremy running away. It was all part of Manipulamon’s plan. I mean, you heard Jeremy. He said Mechamon was stronger than that. The only reason for him to run would be so we would follow him. So Manipulamon could test our strength.”

“No!” I said.

“Yes John,” said Jen. “If I see it, then I know you do too. I’m right-.”

“I know!” I screamed back at her, yanking my arm from her grip, and nearly falling over, “but it doesn’t matter. I’m the leader of this team. I have to save him!”

“Rushing blindly into the forest isn’t the way to do it!” Jen yelled back. “Manipulamon wants us dead, and as long as we have Coltmon and Ponymon, he'll think twice about trying it himself. He’ll send Jeremy back sooner or later to finish what he started!”

I may be a sore loser, but I know when to concede defeat. Jen may not be the least emotional person I know, but, unlike me, she knows how to set her emotions aside and look at the big picture. I dropped to my knees, sat back on my heels, and punched the ground. I punched it again and again, until my knuckles were bloody and raw. Then I put my face in my hands and cried my frustration away.


That night we made our way back to Gekomon village. I was asked to speak at a memorial service for ShogunGekomon, and my team and I were asked to witness the coronation of a new chief, an older, slightly larger Gekomon who was thought wise enough by his fellows, and who seemed close to Digivolving. He promised to lead with compassion and heart, and to do all he could to keep the village safe and whole, honoring the memory of ShogunGekomon. Everyone clapped, and several of the others, including Sarah and Amanda, cried.

That afternoon and evening we helped the Gekomon and Otamamon rebuild there huts and repair damage to the huts still standing after the attack. It was hard work, but none of us minded. We were glad to help, and even gladder to be among friends. The Gekomon and Otamamon allowed us to stay with them again that night, and this time we slept late a woke up well rested.

The Gekomon and Otamamon used their skill at making plant-based cloth to make each of us a pack and bedroll of irregular green, brown, and yellow patches. They gave them to us just as we were leaving. “Thank you,” I said to the new chief as he presented us with our gifts. “I don’t know what we would have done without your help.”

“It is the least we can do for our new friends,” said Chief Gekomon. “We wish you luck and a safe journey.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Jen asked.

“Yes,” Chief Gekomon answered. “I have already altered the enchantment that protects this village to prevent Jeremy and Mechmon from finding it again. I hope that one day soon such a precaution will no longer be necessary.”

I thanked him again, and with that we were off once again into the forest. Our new friends bid us goodbye, every one of them as painfully aware as we were that we were their only hope, and as worried as we were that we just wouldn't be enough.

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