Today the Digidestined learn the story behind Elder Gekomon's statement in the last chapter. All at once we learn that Tyranterramon was able to bypass the protection of the Azulong Crystal, put in place by the Protector himself, and that the Gekomon and Otamamon are refugees now, and not all of them survived. The group has one last hope. Babamon and Jijimon know of a potential ally who might be able to give them an edge against even this form of Tyranterramon, if the stories of his power are true, but it will again necessitate fighting near a Digital Core. I don't know what could possibly go wrong.
Also, hurray for cliffhanger chapter endings!
Chapter Nine
The Mountain Core
That night we heard a story. A terrible story. “What happened?” I asked Elder Gekomon. “I thought the Gekomon Village was protected by the Azulong Crystal.”
“Yeah,” said Mechmon, “the damage from the destruction of the Forest Core shouldn’t have affected you for weeks.”
“Not the core,” said Elder Gekomon, taking a sip of water from one of our water bottles before passing the bottle to his companions. “No, this happened before the Forest Core was destroyed. Our village was already prospering after the defeat of Manipulamon. We’d even found another plot of land suitable for growing meat, and began tilling it just yesterday. But then he came. He called himself Tyranterramon. He tore the village apart, as if looking for something, killing many of my people in the process. When he didn’t find anything in the village itself he went on toward the cave of the Azulong Crystal. He tore the cave out of the ground and took the crystal. But he seemed disappointed. I don’t know if he kept searching. I gathered as many of my people as I could and we made our way to the mountains.”
“It sounds,” I said, “like Tyranterramon was sensing for energy that might be a core, and that led him to the Azulong Crystal. I’m sorry. If we’d been able to destroy Tyranterramon earlier this wouldn’t have happened.”
Jen put her hand on my shoulder, “John, I know you. I know what’s coming next. I’m gonna have to say stop before you go blaming yourself for this and doing something stupid. It’s not your fault. No one’s at fault here, except Tyranterramon.”
I nodded. I knew she was right.
“We came here hoping to get help from the current Mountain Guardian, SkullMeramon.” The Elder Gekomon said. “Do you know of him?”
I nodded, “Mechmon told us about him on the way here. He’s well known throughout the Digital World as one of the most powerful Digimon alive, but only while on the volcanic mountain up ahead, which is why Manipulamon never came here much. It’s said that SkullMeramon was a servant of Phoenixmon late in her life, and that when she was about to break down, partially due to age, and partially due to her injuries in a recent battle, she gave her data to SkullMeramon, giving him the power to control fire. Any fire. Even the fire found in the crater of a volcano. He lives in a temple, and he’s the only one who will recognize Phoenixmon in her reborn state.”
“Huh,” said Mechmon thoughtfully from his perch on Jeremy’s shoulder, “I didn’t think you guys listened to me.”
“SkullMeramon is a Guardian,” said Elder Gekomon, like he was trying to convince himself as much as us, “or at least the closest thing to a Guardian that’s still known to this world. The Guardians are just and heroic. SkullMeramon will help us.”
“That’s what we’re hoping as well,” said Jijimon. “Phoenixmon was the second strongest of the Five Regions’ Guardians. If SkullMeramon has her data, then there’s a good chance that he will be able to help us in the fight against Tyranterramon. As much as I hate to say it, we can’t rely on the power of Bio-Merge, since without the Forest Core, Bio-Merge becomes unreliable. We don’t have the Protector’s power, so we can’t seal him away again. That means our only remaining option is to overpower him, as unlikely as that is.”
The Gekomon and Otamamon began to talk quietly amongst themselves. Then, finally, the Elder Gekomon turned back to me and said, “We may not be much, but we owe you a lot. Tyranterramon must be destroyed. We will help you fight.”
We woke up early the next morning and began the tedious and grueling climb to the top of the only volcanic mountain in the Digital World. There were fewer and fewer trees surrounding us with every step we took. As we walked, I decided to look up SkullMeramon’s information so I’d know what we were up against. Guardian or not, there was a good chance that we’d have to confront this guy to some degree.
Amanda, who was riding on Chickomon’s back just behind me, saw me checking the Digicomp Handheld. “Well?” she asked.
“Well what?”
“What did you find out about SkullMeramon?”
By now everyone was listening, so I said, “Well, there’s not much here actually. It gives his level, Perfect, and some size figures. He’s about InfernoKnightmon’s height. It says his primary attacks involve fire, and using the chains that he wears on his torso as weapons. He’s not the most calm Digimon either. Somewhat territorial.”
“Even at Perfect Level, with the power to effortlessly control fire,” said Jeremy, “he could be serious trouble for any Digimon at the mouth of an active volcano.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I know.”
After walking for a couple more hours we reached an area that was completely clear, ringed by sparse but tall trees. I could see the lip of the crater even from here. We stood before a massive version of a Japanese-style temple built into the sloping rock.
“There it is,” said Jijimon, referring to the temple, “the home of the Mountain Guardian, and the site of the Mountain Core.”
I nodded, “Well, if that’s the case, I’m gonna go see if anyone’s home.” I ran excitedly toward the entrance to the massive building, Serpentmon and BlackColtmon following close behind. Once I’d reached the entrance I cupped my hands around my mouth and called inside. There was no answer.
“Nobody’s home,” I said to the others as they reached me. “You guys stay here and wait for SkullMeramon to get back. I’m gonna go in and check things out.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Jeremy asked.
I smiled, “I’m just breaking into his home. What could happen?”
So my Digimon and I made our way foolishly down a short, wide open corridor and through a set of massive wood doors into the temple interior. The room was open to the outside by way of several small rectangular windows positioned close to the ceiling. The light from the outside lit the entire fifty-foot-high room. In the rear of the room was a stone throne, positioned at the base of a massive statue shaped like a bird with four wings, a metal helmet over its head and beak, and a ring around each ankle. Its eyes gleamed red.
“Is that a statue of Phoenixmon?” I asked.
“I would think so,” answered BlackColtmon. “What’s that red crystal in its eye?”
Realizing what he was thinking, I scanned the crystal. I smiled, "It's the Mountain Core!"
“We know where the core is,” said Serpentmon. “Now we just have to convince SkullMeramon to help us fight to protect it.”
“I hope he will help us,” I said. “The power left over from Phoenixmon to control fire could be the last chance we have of beating Tyranterramon. If he refuses to help us, we won’t stand a chance.”
I sighed, and then I continued, “We should probably get out of here. We don’t want SkullMeramon to get back and find us in his home.”
But as soon as I spoke, I heard an explosion outside.
“Either Tyranterramon’s early,” said BlackColtmon, “or this SkullMeramon guy has a worse temper than we thought.”
My Digimon and I ran from the temple, ducking under an oncoming ball of blue flames. I looked around. My team was facing down a large humanoid figure with blue-gray skin, wrapped in chains, wearing a metal face mask. His body was wreathed in blue fire. As I watched, he pulled one of the chains free and lit it on fire, holding it like a whip. Jijimon, Babamon, and Arukenimon and Mummymon took up positions around the foe, ready to pin him down if need be.
SkullMeramon looked to each of us, counting the number of enemies that he would have to face. Even discounting the Gekomon, the Otamamon, and us humans, he had quite a few opponents to worry about. His stance changed from one of pure aggression to one of caution, and he asked, “Who are you, and why are you here?”
“We’re not your enemies,” I replied, walking toward him slowly with my hands raised in a non-threatening gesture. “A Digimon is on his way to destroy your core. We’re here to help you fight him.”
“I’m here,” said SkullMeramon. “No one else is needed to protect the core. No matter the foe, I will defeat him. No Digimon gets by me.”
I started to point out that, technically, we had just gotten past him, but Jijimon stopped me.
“What if,” Jijimon asked, “that foe is your former master’s greatest enemy, Tyranterramon?”
“And what if,” Babamon continued, “he has already absorbed the data of three Digital Cores. I’m sure you’ve seen the devastation taking place in the Forest, Desert and Ocean Regions.”
SkullMeramon laughed, “Do you really expect me to believe that Tyranterramon is alive? Impossible!” But even as he spoke, I could tell that SkullMeramon was apprehensive.
“Can you really afford to take that chance?” Mummymon asked. As he spoke I noticed that a member of our group was missing. So I turned to Jeremy and asked, “Where’s Birdramon?”
“She flew off to scout the area at about the same time you entered that temple.”
That’s when SkullMeramon spoke again. “I am SkullMeramon,” he declared, “holder of Phoenixmon’s Legacy Code. In this area, no one can defeat me. Even if the foe is Tyranterramon, I’ll kill him myself and release the Core data back into this world’s matrix. And unless you can prove your good intentions to me immediately, I’ll kill you first to get you out of the way.”
“We don’t have any proof,” said Jeremy. “You’ll just have to give us the benefit of the doubt.”
“Not good enough,” SkullMeramon cried, a massive ball of flames rising from the crater overhead. “Now, prepare to die!”
“Sorry,” said Jeremy, “but we can’t die yet. Sorry, but I have to fight you. Initiate Warp Digivolution!”
As the flames bore down on us, Mechmon took on his mighty Ultimate form, “Mechmon, Warp Digivolve to, Decimatormon!”
Decimatormon took aim with his weapons and fired. SkullMeramon waved his arms and the fire surrounded him like a shield, absorbing Decimatormon’s attack. Then SkullMeramon thrust his hands forward and the flames flew straight at his foe. Decimatormon jumped up, fanned out his wings, and weaved around the relentless flames.
Decimatormon flipped forward his arm-mounted guns and called, “Cutting Beams!” He fired at SkullMeramon’s exposed head, but SkullMeramon spun his chain, deflecting the attack. He waved his arms again, and the flames circled back, overcoming Decimatormon completely, creating a virtual oven around him, as hot as molten metal. When SkullMeramon finally called the flames away, Decimatormon had become Mechmon again. SkullMeramon laughed and summoned the flames to strike the final blow.
This guy is getting on my nerves, I thought. I was about to act, but something happened.
“Stop it!” Amanda screamed. I turned to her. She was standing near the entrance to SkullMeramon’s temple. There was a red flash from inside. Distracted by this, none of us reacted to Mechmon's impending death, none except for Chickomon who, so accustomed to acting as the group's shield, jumped in the way of the flames. He threw Mechmon out of the way, and the flames consumed him.
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