Digimon Adventure ND Book One: Manipulamon Reigns - Chapter Twenty-One

Here is another double chapter, because this is the chapter where, finally, after so long, Manipulamon reappears. In fact, this is the first time that our heroes actually meet him in the flesh, and yet I never felt the need to involve him more in the story. His shadow has been cast over everything. There has literally not been a single chapter, as far as I can remember, where his name hasn't been spoken, save the first. We have gotten to know Manipulamon's character through his mechanations, and his influence over others. While I could have written more encounters between Manipulamon and the Digidestined, I didn't really have to, and so such encounters would only have served as padding. So this, Manipulamon's technically first appearance, is also going to be his last.

But first we get a huge fight where I make a bunch of robots fight a bunch of bugs. This story is super serious, you guys. 

Chapter Twenty-One

Manipulamon’s Final Strike;

Battle GranKuwagamon!

After the battle with MetalSerpenterramon, and our confrontation with Pyro Tucker, my team and I waited at the Machine Citadel for the return of Machinedramon and his forces. Despite the overwhelming numbers commanded by Machinedramon, the battle was nowhere near over by sunset. The machines, who were really nice once you got past that fact that they showed almost zero outward emotion, didn't sleep, so they didn't have bedrooms to offer us in the Citadel, but they did offer us the floor of High Tower to set up camp. Even Birdramon, the largest of our group, was able to fit comfortably in the huge room. Also the Hagurumon were able to rig up a machine to revitalize Snakemon, and heal BlackColtmon. Both were conscious before we turned in to bed.

As impressive as the Citadel was during the day, it was even more so at night. At night the towers lit up like city buildings, and spotlights shone upon the walkways connecting them. The defensive outposts, which were once again manned by the remaining defenders, were not lit, as it would have only made them easy targets.

We were all out in minutes. We hadn't felt completely safe a night in this world so far, and it was a nice change. For the first time since coming to the Digital World I slept well enough to remember my dreams. They weren't very peaceful dreams, but still, it was pretty nice. I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, despite the fact that I had been awoken suddenly. A Hagurumon had come to us soon after first light and awoken us to inform us that Machinedramon had returned.

As the giant machine Digimon and his army stepped through the gates, I and the others were stunned. Just over night, Machinedramon’s force of a little more than one hundred fifty Digimon had been reduced to six, not including the dragon himself. Speaking of the Citadel leader, the immense Digimon himself wasn’t much better off. In addition to being scorched and dented, the mighty machine, who I had no doubt could defeat me and my team with a little luck, had taken severe damage. The armor was stripped away from his right arms as if he had used it to deflect a massive attack, and his right side cannon had nearly been blown off, hanging now by a few cables. His tail was also connected by just a few fiber optic cables, and the plating over his right eye had been blown off, revealing a large red bulb and an array of circuits.

I sighed, “You know, sometimes I really hate this world.”


“Manipulamon had anticipated our plan,” said Machinedramon. He, my companions, and I were back in High Tower. Several panels in the walls had opened revealing an extensive array of repair arms that hurried to reassemble their master. The surviving men were being repaired in a complex just behind the back wall of Machinedramon’s control room. “Manipulamon re-wrote the data of the Adult and Perfect Level serpents so that every strand of their code was like a small but powerful bomb. If I had not detected the irregularity in their data and ordered that measures be taken to prevent them from all drawing close to us at once, the combined energy released would have likely killed myself and all of my forces.”

Machinedramon paused and then looked straight at us, one of the repair arms replacing the missing part of his face as he did so. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but my first duty is to the Citadel. I must effect repairs to myself, and then oversee the restoration of my army. I cannot assist you in the coming battle against Manipulamon.”

“We understand,” I said. “We’re sorry for your loses.”

“I thank you,” said Machinedramon, “but they are not truly lost.”

I was confused, “What do you mean?”

“You saw the dish atop the tower beside this one?” he asked.

I nodded and Jen said, “Yeah, I remember thinking that it was a radar or something.”

“That dish is possibly the greatest technological marvel in this world,” Machinedramon explained. “This Citadel was built upon an artifact which gives us access to huge, constantly-renewing quantities of energy. By tapping into it, my Hagurumon companions and I have been able to build the machine that you see behind me.”

“The repair station for the Adult Level machines?” I asked, puzzled, looking past him.

“They are only such part of the time,” Machinedramon explained, “but the rest of the time they use data to produce new parts and construct machine Digimon bodies for each of my forces who have been lost in combat. Meanwhile the dish collects all free floating data in the region and transforms it into code, which is then beamed to the Fractal Code Generator in this tower. The Generator separates the data from enemy Digimon and general stray data from the data of my loyal troops and reconstructs their fractal codes from it, careful to maintain the minds of the fallen Digimon by shunting them through the server located there,” he gestured toward a tall box in the corner with a huge quantity of wiring running into it, covered in displays and blinking lights.

“Once the data of my forces are reconstructed,” Machinedramon concluded, “their Fractal Codes are re-uploaded into the appropriate bodies, and the data buffers are purged, returning the remaining data back into the world to do whatever it would have otherwise. However, this does not afford me an endless supply of troops. Even with all of our technology this process takes quite some time to complete.”

“A data collection dish,” I said under my breath. “Oh God!” I had just had a pretty horrible idea. I ran outside. Sarah, Amanda, Ponymon, and Chickomon watched me, confused, but Jen and Jeremy and their and my Digimon followed me.

“What’s up boss?” Jen asked, but I didn’t answer. I had to be sure first.

“Jeremy,” I asked, turning and staring up at the dish, my eyes wide, “can your calculator tell us what would happen to a Digimon if it absorbed all of the data that that dish collected?”

“One Digimon,” he said, “incorporating all of the serpents’ data and the data of all of the machines? He would get stronger. A lot stronger.”

“But no Digimon could do it,” said Mechmon, “It would tear them apart.”

“One Digimon could,” I said, my tone grim, a stern look on my face. “That’s it. Is has to be.”

“What?” Jeremy asked.

“I was wondering, if Manipulamon really did anticipate ours and Machinedramon’s plan, then why did he send MetalSerpenterramon ahead to face us? Did he really think that his snake baddy would win? And if he did, what if something went wrong and Machinedramon was still okay to fight at the end of the battle with the Serpenterramon and WingedSerpenterramon? He’d come back and crush MetalSerpenterramon, especially if he had us to help him. And then there’s the bomb plan itself. You said yourself, Jeremy, that manipulating the data of other Digimon taxes Manipulamon. So why would he do that? Why modify one of his last big armies to blow up, weakening himself, and his forces overall.”

"You're right,” said Jen, “It makes no sense tactically, unless Manipulamon’s only real purpose was to put a large amount of data into the air all at once."

“If I’m right, Manipulamon hasn't been trying to capture the Citadel to eliminate one threat before moving on to the other," I concluded, "he's been after that dish the whole time. That's why he held GranKuwagamon and his army back. He wanted his forces to die in the last attack and feed the dish, because once he has it, he won't need an army anymore. If I'm right, GranKuwagamon and his army is on its way right now, geared to breach the Citadel's weakened defenses and clear a path for Manipulamon himself to enter. If they all die in the process, well then even better.”

“I don’t understand,” said Jen.

“Manipulamon,” I explained, “has been chasing the powers of the Digidestined. He tagged Jeremy and tricked Pyro Tucker so that he would have generals with the power to Digivolve. I think he sees that power as the greatest power, and wanted to achieve that level of power and make himself Digivolve all of the way to his Ultimate Level form, a form which we've already established could curb stomp pretty much everything all at once. If Manipulamon were to reach the dish and use his abilities to compress it and combine it with his own data-.”

“He just might do it,” Jeremy interjected, “he just might Digivolve,”

“No,” said Mechmon, “it still wouldn't work. Fractal Codes also contain the data of Digimons' minds. If Manipulamon absorbed that many minds at once, even with his powers, it would destroy his mind.”

“Unless,” Jen said, reaching her own epiphany, “he also tapped into the server that's connected to the dish. The one that maintains those Digimon minds while the Codes are being reconstructed. He might be able to use it to remove those stored minds from the Fractal Codes as they enter him, like a filter.”

We were silent then. There was nothing else to say. The next attack had to be thwarted at all costs. If Manipulamon gained control of the dish, he would grow so strong that nothing would be able to stop him.


I went back inside and told Machinedramon what I had realized. He was silent for a long time. He would have to go offline for repairs to his weapon systems to be carried out before he could fight again. Before he did, he authorized me to take control of his remaining troops in his absence. He ordered them together near the gate, where I met them. I had under my command six Guardromon, two Tankmon, and three Mekanorimon. All that remained of Machinedramon’s army between the Digimon that returned with him who were able to fight and the Digimon that he'd left behind with me during the previous battle.

“There are eleven of you,” I told them, "and there are fourteen defense towers. Which of you are the most heavily armed?”

“We are,” one of the Tankmon answered, gesturing to himself and his nearly-identical ally.

“Then you two will cover the gaps left by the empty towers.”

The two Tankmon nodded.

“I want one of you in the tower five to the right of the gate, and the other in the tower facing the opposite direction. Next I want the remaining Digimon to set up as I have drawn here,” I showed them a sketch that I'd made on the scrap paper that I'd almost forgotten I carried in my pocket. “Be prepared to battle multiple fast aerial opponents. Manipulamon’s two primary sources of troops are the serpents and the Insectoids. He already sent serpents, so the next wave will be made up of whatever Insectoids he has left, which could be hundreds.”

The Tankmon, Mekanorimon and all but one of the Guardromon nodded agreement.

“Alright,” I told them, “get going, and stay vigilant. It might be the only chance we have to survive.”


The defense towers really were amazing. Not only did they boost the speed and power of the occupant’s attacks, they also boosted the range by as much as seventy percent. Also, according to Machinedramon, each tower was also equipped with an automatic energy wave with the power to redirect small, fast moving objects away from the towers in an effort to prevent damage to the city. Several panels opened in the top of the wall and automatic flak and gun turrets emerged. They would do little against an Ultimate Digimon, or even a Perfect Digimon, but they would go a long way toward repelling any Adult Level Digimon among the attackers.

My team and I, as well as Birdramon, Dokugamon, and Tuskmon, took up positions outside the gate again, ready to defend the Citadel with our lives. It was a good thing we were ready, too, because we didn’t have to wait for long.

The force that we were up against today was staggering. Ten Okuwamon and thirty Kuwagamon were being led by a much more menacing black insect, like a giant black Kuwagamon the size of Machinedramon. Around them swarmed maybe a couple hundred Flymon and Snimon. I scanned the lead insect, and my suspicions were confirmed. “The black one,” I announced, “is definitely GranKuwagamon, the Ultimate Level form of Okuwamon, and Manipulamon's final general. He’s gonna be trouble.”

As I spoke GranKuwagamon rose up above his troops and stopped, hanging in the air. I could hear him call out to them, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. But almost as soon as he had spoken five Okuwamon and ten Kuwagamon broke away from the main force and dove straight at the wall, with a few dozen Flymon close behind them. Fearing that this Digimon were living bombs as well, meant to blast the wall down, I decided to show our hand, and cried out to the gunners, “FIRE!”

Before the Insectoids were anywhere near the wall or the defense towers, the machines opened fire alongside the automated defenses. The automated gunfire tore through the swarms of Flymon like paper, while the fire from the Digimon defenders combined to drop two Okuwamon and four Kuwagamon from the sky. They would have gotten more, too, I realized, but the remaining larger enemies used the dying Digimon for cover and managed to get in close and then pull up high over head, above the Citadel, but nowhere near enough to actually attack anyone or anything inside.

What are they doing? I wondered, but I got my answer soon. As the machines reloaded, they suddenly found themselves overrun by several dozen much smaller Digimon. I looked closely. The Insectoids flying overhead had been carrying other Digimon on their backs, and had dropped them on their way up. They were green worms with purple claws, purple beaks, and purple stingers. Each one was about as big as a twenty to thirty pound dog. The flying Digimon had dropped them directly on the machines, where they began chewing at the machines' wires.

Suddenly the machines were too busy fighting off the worms to launch their attacks. The three remaining Okuwamon and the six remaining Kuwagamon from the first wave, undeterred by the automated defenses, swooped in, ready to destroy the machines, while the remaining Okuwamon and Kuwagamon forces moved in toward my team and I, with the Flymon forces flanking them, using their bulk as a shield against automatic fire.

“Birdramon,” I said, turning toward my friend, “get up there and get those worms off of the soldiers.” She took off, flapping her wings and blowing the worms over the wall where they were immediately engaged by the citizens inside. They were weaker than the soldiers, but they were still more than capable of defeating some Child Digimon. But Birdramon’s efforts came too late. By the time she got rid of the worms on the last of the soldiers, the Insectoids were on top of them. Nearly half of the troops were wiped out. Only two Mekanorimon and four Guardromon remained. Infuriated, Birdramon spiraled upward and charged right into the Insectoid ranks, drawing several of the larger enemies away after her.

Meanwhile the remaining Insectoids grew closer and closer. They made a pass overhead and dropped more of the worms, which I learned are called DoKunemon, in an attempt to distract us. “You ready Partner?” I asked the green snake on my shoulder. He nodded and began to glow, becoming Serpentmon. Serpentmon jumped up into the air and called out his attack, “Serpent Strike!” He released a spray of needles that impaled the DoKunemon and reduced them to data before they could even reach the ground. The larger Insectoids circled back around.

“You guys handle the Okuwamon and Kuwagamon,” I said to the others. “Serpentmon, BlackColtmon and I will take care of GranKuwagamon.” I ran toward the massive black insect that hung above us, my Digimon close behind.

“You dare challenge me alone?” GranKuwagamon asked me.

“No,” I said, gesturing to me Digimon, “we do.”

I pulled the Digivice and Digiplayer from my pocket and connected them together, inserted my two Digidisks together, and called, “Initiate Digiplayer Digivolution!”

“Serpentmon, Direct Digivolve to, WingedDragonterramon!”

“BlackColtmon, Direct Digivolve to, JousterStaliamon!”

The two Digimon split away from each other and circled the foe. JousterStaliamon turned and called, “Lightning Lance!” His lance stretched out, charged with electricity, reaching toward the enemy. GranKuwagamon spun and shattered the tip of the ice lance with his massive claws. Then he struck with his other claw. Energy ran down the lance, slicing it into pieces and knocking JousterStaliamon onto his side. GranKuwagamon raised his claw and called, “Dimension Scissor!” A wave of energy flew from his pincers and hit JousterStaliamon, tossing him up through the air. He landed among the shattered pieces of ice which had been his lance and reverted to his Child form.

GranKuwagamon turned back toward WingedDragonterramon, and found the dragon was right in his face, kicking. The massive bug was nearly knocked out of the air, but he recovered and jabbed at the dragon with energy charged claws. There was no time for WingedDragonterramon to dodge. I have to act, I thought, and I swiped my Digidisk through the slot in my Digiplayer, “Initiate Ultimate Digivolution!”

Energy washed over WingedDragonterramon. He threw his wings around himself, to defend against the enemy's attack. The blast from the attack obscured him from view, but when it passed, not only was my Digimon still more or less unharmed, he wasn’t WingedDragonterramon anymore. He was the Ultimate Digimon, MetalDragonterramon. He threw open his metal wings and roared, but GranKuwagamon was unconcerned. He swiped again and again with his claws. MetalDragonterramon dodged several attacks, but then one of the attacks came too close. He couldn’t avoid it. He raised his shield, deflecting the high impact blow, but costing him the use of his mechanical arm. Still he didn’t let it get to him. Without missing a beat my Digimon raised his rifle and fired, pushing the enemy back.

“Finish this up,” I said.

MetalDragonterramon took aim and fired again, but the insect rose to his feet and raised an energy charged claw, absorbing the attack and sending it back. It hit, and MetalDragonterramon was thrown to the ground. I ran to his side. He was barely conscious.

“Back off of my friends,” BlackColtmon cried. He ran to my side.

“MetalDragonterramon’s out cold, Bud,” I said. “Looks like it’s up to us this time. You ready?”

“I was born ready,” he told me, and I felt that he and I were completely, one hundred percent on the same page.

“Then here we go!” I declared. The Neo Crest of Friendship slid from its tag and became a disk. I swiped it through the input slot of my Digiplayer.

“I won’t let you do that,” said GranKuwagamon, raising his pincers.

“Initiate,” I called, “Warp Digivolution!”

BlackColtmon Jumped up between me and GranKuwagamon's oncoming attack. He began to glow, growing to the size of JousterStaliamon. His glowing body deflected the attack away, and he called, “BlackColtmon, Warp Digivolve to!” He became a man-shaped form of darkness, the same dark shade as BlackColtmon’s fur, wreathed in blue light. The light took form, becoming armor that clamped onto his body. He was a blue knight. A silver helm appeared over his head, the visor lowering over his eyes. A yellow plume appeared atop his helm, a shield emblazoned with the Crest of Friendship appeared in his left hand, and a cape colored and patterned like the blanket on JousterStaliamon’s back cascaded down from his neck. He gestured, and summoned a sword of super-condensed ice, stronger than steel. He held it in his right hand and pointed it at the foe, “Knighthramon!”

As my newest Digimon dropped to the ground, MetalDragonterramon found his feet again. He set down his rifle and popped the elbow of his mechanical arm into place. There was a crack and a spark, and his arm was working again. He picked up his rifle and the two Digimon looked at each other and nodded, jumping into the air. MetalDragonterramon flapped his wings, and Knighthramon summoned a platform of shifting ice beneath his feet, allowing him to ski through the air in his metal boots. He flicked his sword as if flinging water off of it, and it reshaped, becoming a lance.

Knighthramon weaved between the insects swinging claws and stabbed with his lance, catching GranKuwagamon between two of the plates that made up his exoskeleton, calling, “Ice Blade Strike!” Pulses of cold energy slid off of the lance, flash-freezing and then shattering GranKuwagamon's armor, gouging pieces of it away. GranKuwagamon cried out in pain, and Knighthramon let himself fall out of the air, away from the foe. MetalDragonterramon took aim at the point where his allies attack had hit.

“This ends it,” My dragon said, “Lightning Flame!” He fired, blasting all the way through the giant bug’s body, splitting him in half, as Knighthramon landed on his feet at my side. My Digimon and I turned and we made our way back toward the rest of the combatants. One of the Okuwamon had managed to force the gates open, and three Kuwagamon slipped inside. A Guardromon who had lowered himself down to the ground from one of the nearby towers had managed to cut off two of the insects, but the third made it through, bearing down on a group of mechanical bugs called Kokuwamon. He raised his pincers to attack the terrified Child Digimon. There was no way that we would reach them in time.

That’s when a new Digimon appeared. He was a small mechanical dog with a tazer on the tip of his tail and sharp metal claws and teeth. He leaped at the Kuwagamon fearlessly, knocking its pincers off course. Kuwagamon swatted the dog away and turned his attention back to the Kokuwamon, just before taking a sword through the back. MetalDragonterramon, Knighthramon, and I looked around. Guardromon fired one more missile at the only Kuwagamon left standing and it broke down into bits of data. Otherwise, there were no more Insectoids left standing.

We’d done it. We’d won. We'd repelled the enemy force, and Manipulamon was nowhere to be seen. With no more forces to lead the way inside, Manipulamon would stand zero chance of breaching the walls. At least that’s what we thought. When it had become clear that the battle was over, and the gate had been re-closed, we'd begun to cheer. Our celebration was interrupted, however, by a slow clapping from above.Oh no!

I turned my head slowly to look for the source of the sound, as did everyone else. There he was. Somehow in all of the confusion Manipulamon had managed to make it inside unnoticed and onto the side tower, where he stood beside the data collection disk. We had lost.

“Very impressive Digidestined,” said Manipulamon, “but you were too late. I have connected directly to this tower and the computers to which it feeds the data it collects. As I speak all of the data collected during today’s battles is being fed directly into my Fractal Code. Soon I will possess the data lost by GranKuwagamon, MetalSerpenterramon, and even the data bled by the injured Machinedramon. I have more than enough to Digivolve.”

I looked angrily into my enemies eyes and cried, “Defense towers, fire!”

The Digimon in the defense towers opened fire, but Manipulamon raised his hand and their attacks disappeared. Then he flicked his wrist and every defense tower and every Digimon in a defense tower exploded. He laughed, and he summoned up a barrier around himself and the tower that wouldn't allow anything else in.

“We have to stop him from Digivolving,” I said. “MetalDragonterramon, use your rifle and destroy the server!”

Without a moment's hesitation, my Digimon fired all the way down the length of avenue between us and High Tower. There was an explosion inside, in the distance, and I knew that the device had been destroyed. With any luck now Manipulamon would stop the process, but I realized a moment later that I had acted too late. Manipulamon had already started to change. He writhed, and his barrier shattered and fell away.

Desperate, I cried out, “Attack him!”

I ran toward Manipulamon as mine and my team’s six Digimon flew at him overhead, Birdramon close behind. Behind me ran my team mates, Dokugamon, and Tuskmon. The Digimon were inches from the target when he jumped back, impossibly far, his face contorting, and floated on the air, landing on the edge of the wall behind him.

I could hardly seen him now, at that distance, through the maze of towers and walkways, but I saw well enough to see that my two Digimon reached him first. MetalDragonterramon and Knighthramon slammed into him, and the three forms all fell down the outside of the wall, and out of sight.

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