Digimon Adventure ND Book One: Manipulamon Reigns - Chapter Sixteen

Finally the time has come. Finally, in this chapter, John reaches his epiphany and unlocks his potential, and, ya know, other Shonen tropes. He unlocks a new power, defeats an enemy who represents his hidden fears in that this enemy and their fears are a mirror image to his, and then, as a reward for finally finding himself, Jeremy appears for the final battle that will decide if he is freed of Manipulamon's control. It all comes together so well that it almost gives me chills!

Or, you know, something more modest-sounding...

Chapter Sixteen

Okuwamon Returns!

John


Sarah, Serpentmon, BlackColtmon, Ponymon and I had now been walking for almost three days, minus time to sleep and find food, and still Jeremy remained out of our reach. We'd originally decided to follow aback the horses (Snakemon, at the time, wasn't ready to Digivolve again yet), but Jeremy evaded us, and eventually the Digimon got tired and had to stop. By the time they were ready to Digivolve again, it was too late. We knew that Jeremy would be long gone. So instead of Digivolving again, we continued on foot. It was slow going.

Ever since the split up, Sarah and I had barely spoken to each other. She was worried about Amanda and Jen, Ponymon was worried about Sarah, and Serpentmon was worried about me. I myself was only worried about finding Jeremy and freeing him and Mechmon from Manipulamon’s grasp, to the point that I hadn't even noticed all of the various other worry floating around at that point. Despite my previous conviction to focus on the well being of myself and my friends, which I had resolved to have only a few days ago, I'd begun to obsess over Jeremy again.

Was I just trying to forget that Jen, who I had thought would support me no matter what, had left? Possibly, but there was more to it than that, as I would realize soon. At the time, I justified my actions simply: I had resolved to be dedicated to my team, and Jeremy was one of my friends.

Serpentmon rode on my shoulders as usual, and, of course, BlackColtmon walked at my side. Things seemed normal enough, but there was none of the goofiness, the grumpiness, and the witty banter that typically accompanied these lengthy treks. I didn't notice then, but Serpentmon was obviously too concerned about me to know what to say, just as Sarah was.

We walked silently for about another half mile before anything happened. I was trying to lock down Jeremy's signal using the hand unit, which was proving as helpful as usual, when suddenly a massive signal came onto the scanner screed, rushing toward us. I stopped in my tracks and announced this to the others.

“Any clue what it is?” Sarah asked, peering at the blip on the screen.

“There's a new trick I figured out on the scanner this morning,” I told them, inputting commands. “I can do a committed scan of distant Digimon and analyze their fractal codes, like their DNA or whatever, and ID them from a distance, but it can take a few minutes if the size of a group is too large. This shouldn't take long, though. It's just one guy.

As I input the last command, a new window opened on the handheld's screen, and a form started to take shape there. After a couple of minutes, the image finished forming, and little data packets popped up all around it. We all gasped.

“It's an Okuwamon,” I said, “maybe even the one from the taggers army. It's certainly strong enough. He's coming right at us.”

“What would he want with us?” Sarah asked, puzzled.

“Yeah,” said BlackColtmon, “we already kicked his ass once, so he probably doesn't need any more bruises yet...”

Serpentmon laughed and said, “I think you mean that I kicked his ass. By myself.”

“Oh,” BlackColtmon said, “okay, you wanna go?”

“No time for that now guys,” I said, still watching the screen, following Okuwamon’s location. “He’s almost here. Time for the three of you,” I said, turning to the Digimon, “to slip into something more comfortable.”

Sarah stood tall by my side, and together we declared, “Initiate Digivolution!”

Mine and Sarah’s Digivices came online, vibrating, and radiating energy. In response, the Digimon began to glow, and change.

“Serpentmon, Digivolve to! Dragonterramon!”

“BlackColtmon, Digivolve to! BlackStaliamon!”

“Ponymon, Digivolve to! Fillimon!”

The three Adult Level Digimon circled Sarah and myself, acting as a defensive line between us and the oncoming foe. Just as they lined up, Okuwamon arrived, appearing above us, all alone. He seemed to know that we were there, confirming that he'd been looking for us, and battle scars etched into his shell confirmed that he was the same Okuwamon from before.

“What so you want, Okuwamon?” I demanded. “Do you have some kind of death wish, or did you think that showing up alone would make us laugh ourselves to death?”

Okuwamon didn't answer me. Instead he looked us over, and then looked around. He laughed, “Lord Manipulamon was right, your group has become divided. I guess I shouldn't have doubted him. I assume that his other information is accurate as well. Do you even know yet, Digidestined of courage? Do you even realize that your Crest has gone dark?”

“No way!” I said, far too confident in my power. I passed my hand over my Crest Tag, meaning to summon the Digidisk of Courage, “Initiate..!” But nothing happened. I looked down at my Crest of Courage. It wasn't glowing with Digivolution energy as it should have been. In fact, it didn't even have its usual orange sheen. It was completely dark, almost as if it had been grayed out.

I looked back up at Okuwamon, horrified, “Oh no!”

Okuwamon laughed again, “You don't even know, do you? Manipulamon is aware of your movements in this world. He always has been! You only grow stronger still because Lord Manipulamon allows it. But my master is no longer amused by you. He's sent me to redeem myself by killing you off, and he's armed me with the information that I need to do it.”

Okuwamon lunged. Dragonterramon scooped Sarah and I up and jumped out of the way while Fillimon and BlackColtmon moved to meet Okuwamon head on. They were thrown aside like rag dolls before they could even get off a single attack. They were up again in a moment, but Okuwamon ignored them. He was only concerned with reaching Dragonterramon, the Digimon who had defeated him.

Dragonterramon dropped me and Sarah behind a large rocky protrusion and turned to meet his oncoming opponent. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Okuwamon was after him. He jumped right at the giant insect, and they grappled fiercely, but Okuwamon, with his almost double size, had a clear advantage. As I watched my Digimon forced back, unable to match his opponent's strength, I fell to my knees, dumbstruck.

What happened? I thought silently. I-I’ve lost my connection with my Digimon! To my Crest!

I acted surprised, but really I already knew what the problem was, I just hadn't admitted it yet. But there, in the midst of battle, in that hopeless situation, I was in exactly the situation I needed to be to reach the conclusion that I would have to to win this fight.

This is pointless, I thought. I should have ignored Okuwamon and gone after Jeremy. He's getting even further away the longer that we wait!

And that's when it hit me. Jeremy. It all came back to Jeremy. If I made a mistake, I blamed it on my anxiety over finding Jeremy.

That's it, I realized, I’m afraid! But I'm not really afraid that we won't find Jeremy again, I'm worried that when we do, the same thing that happened to his will happen to me. I'm just making excuses to. I’m afraid of losing my free will to Manipulamon the same way Jeremy has, and I'd started to get over it, and then I met Okuwamon, the Digimon who probably tagged Jeremy, and then Jeremy himself, and it reminded me. Then I didn't stand up and insist that we all stay together because I didn't want to seem like I couldn't handle things on my own. I acted strong, but it was all because I'd allowed fear to overcome my courage.

I looked up at the Digimon battling overhead and gasped. That's the real reason why I’m chasing Jeremy. He’s my friend, sure, but the real reason I want to find and save him is so I can prove that Jeremy’s still himself under there! I’m not chasing out of anger, or out of a desire to save a friend like I allowed myself to believe. I’m chasing him to prove that I can overcome Manipulamon's mind control powers! I've been chasing him out of fear, I’ve been lying to myself about it, and because of that, I’ve lost half my team, as well as my connection with my powers!

As Dragonterramon was finally thrown aside by Okuwamon, avoiding the Insectoid's attack only because BlackColtmon jumped in and diverted it at the last moment, I realized what I had to do. I had to actually go into myself and cut it all loose. I had to actually come to terms with my fears, and make the decision to go on despite them. After all, that's what courage is, not the absence of fear, but the willingness to go on despite it.

Of course I had no idea how to do that.

Okuwamon slammed Fillimon into the ground, causing her to de-Digivolve. He could have killed her then, but he turned his attention back to my Digimon instead. Just like me, Okuwamon was afraid of something. He was afraid of WingedDragonterramon, and he was obsessing over defeating my Digimon, because he didn't want to meet my fully evolved Digimon head on again. He was making excuses, claiming that he knew we couldn't beat him, and saying that he was here to kill the one who defeated him, excusing his choice to focus on Dragonterramon first, but really he was just like me.

The only difference, I realized, is that he's only here because he was forced to attack us. I keep going because deep down I want to. At first it was just to be a hero, but now the reasons have changed. I want something different.

“Okuwamon,” I said, standing up and looking the enormous insect in the eyes, “you and I are exactly the same. We're both afraid of something, and it's eating us up, causing us to make bad decisions.”

“Idiot,” Okuwamon countered feebly, “I'm not afraid of you. I know you can't beat me. I have nothing to be afraid of.”

I was wreathed in a bright, flashing aura, growing brighter every minute. “The difference,” I continued, ignoring my enemy's words, “is that you, Okuwamon, have nothing to fight for but yourself, but me, I have a reason to overcome my fear. I will overcome it, because I have friends, friends who I refuse to let down, and my bond with them is greater than my fear. It's stronger, strong enough that, with that bond, I can go on despite those fears.”

“I think I’ll kill you first,” Okuwamon said, “starting with you dragon! Okuwamon raised his claws. My Digimon were weak, hurt, and out of breath. One of Okuwamon’s attacks could kill them both. Of course, he wouldn't get the chance to attack him, but of course he didn't know that yet.

The energy building around me flashed, and behind my Neo Crest of Courage, the Neo Crest of Friendship began to glow with a powerful light. It shone so bright that it shone through the Crest of Courage, washing the taint of my cowardice away, and my Neo Crest of Courage glowed as well. They floated out of their respective Crest Tags and formed into Digidisks.

This drew Okuwamon's attention. I couldn't see any kind of emotion in his alien, Insectoid eyes, but still I could feel panic rolling off of him. He raised his claws, this time moving to attack me. I stood my ground, connecting my Digivice and Digiplayer together and stacking my disks atop one another, inserting them into the Digiplayer at the same time and pressing the activate button. I allowed the energy building around me to roll off, knocking Okuwamon back, and I called out, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”

“Dragonterramon, Digivolve to!” he grew larger, his teeth and claws glowing sharper and more dangerous. He snarled, and two broad orange wings burst from his shoulders in twin bursts of flame, “WingedDragonterramon!”

“BlackStaliamon, Digivolve to!” blue, red-edged armor appeared over his lower legs. A metal helm, blue and red in color, sporting three forward-sweeping golden horns appeared over his head, and a blue, red-edged armor breastplate formed over his chest and partially across his sides. A blue blanket with red tassels appeared, draped over his back, with a saddle upon it. Ice formed over his breastplate, growing thick, and then spreading back over his shoulders like ornamentation. From the ice forming over his right side jutted an icy shaft that sprouted a point, becoming an icy lance. Ice tipped his hooves, and icy crests and an icy horn formed off of his helm. There was an icy blue flash, and the Crest of Friendship appeared, in icy blue, beneath the ice on my Digimon's chest, and on each side. My newest Digimon stomped his feet and he declared, “JousterStaliamon!”

“What? Impossible,” Okuwamon cried, stopping mid charge, “Lord Manipulamon said that you would be unable to Digivolve to Perfect!”

“Yeah, well,” I said, “your so called Lord Manipulamon was wrong, because I’m back! Now, normally I’d let you go tell Manipulamon that I’m myself again, maybe scare him for a change, but you seem to think that Manipulamon had been keeping tabs on us anyway on his own, and besides, I think I’ve had about enough of you.”

“To bad for you then,” said Okuwamon, “because I’m gone!” He looked up, preparing to take off, and found himself blocked by WingedDragonterramon. He let out a startled cry, and threw up his arms.

“This ends now,” said WingedDragonterramon. “Wing Fireblaze!” He built fire into his wings and flung it down on the foe. It exploded against the enemy Digimon, and knocked him out of the air. He stood up slowly, singed and scratched, his armor finally cracking, but Okuwamon was still alive, and I guess he'd decided that he no longer had anything to lose, because he decided to charge at the first Digimon he saw. That Digimon just so happened to be JousterStaliamon.

Okuwamon rose above the ground and dove at the horse Digimon. JousterStaliamon stood his ground, completely unconcerned. “Frozen Spear!” he called. His icy lance grew suddenly and rapidly longer, piercing Okuwamon’s thick exoskeleton armor at one of the points where it had cracked. Ice spread from the point of impact, locking the the tip of the lance onto the massive bug, holding him in place.

“Lightning Lance,” JousterStaliamon called. He rubbed his front hooves rapidly against the ground. Electricity charged up, building up rapidly and ran up his body, and across the lance, shocking Okuwamon with a massive amount of energy. Okuwamon cried out in frustration and pain, and dissolved into a cloud of data. In an instant, he was gone.

“Way to go, John!” Sarah said, running over to stand at my side, a wide, excited grin spread across her face. I didn't allow myself to celebrate, though, because there was something else that I had to say first.

“I’ve been a jerk,” I told Sarah. “Forget chasing Jeremy. We have to find the others. I have to make things right.”

“Yeah,” said Sarah, with a genuine warm smile now, “I know, but I knew you'd get things right in the end. I believe in you, bro!”

She punched my shoulder. I couldn't help but smile. Me and my sister butted heads sometimes, but when it really mattered she always had my back.

Then, suddenly, my good mood turned sour as things took a turn for the worse. I heard a voice from behind me, a good ways off, “This is all very touching, but it really doesn't matter at this point!”

Sarah, WingedDragonterramon, JousterStaliamon, the injured Ponymon and I turned and found Jeremy and Mechamon standing about fifty yards away.

“Did you really think that Manipulamon would really send Okuwamon against you alone? No. My master and I are almost ready to move against the only organized force left in this world with the power to oppose his power outright. He would never risk letting you live long enough to interfere with that, but as a Digidestined, as you guys grow stronger, I grow stronger. We resonate with each other. Now I'm just about as strong as I can be, and Manipulamon has no more need for you.

“Okuwamon was just a warm-up,” Jeremy said, “but now it’s time for the real workout!”

Mechamon jumped toward us. Jeremy connected his Digivice and Digiplayer and inserted his disk, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”

“Mechamon, Digivolve to!” He transformed into his tank-bodied Perfect form, “MegaMechamon!”

“The Digimon are too tired to escape,” I said under my breath. I looked Jeremy straight in the eye, “We can't run, so we fight. This ends today!”

WingedDragonterramon let out his mighty battle roar, my Digimon ran to meet their opponent, and a battle began the battle that would shape the future of the war with Manipulamon, and decide the fate of this world for better or for worse.

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