Chapter 9
Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery.
John Ruskin
"Coming with you?" said Spikemon, cocking his head. "Why?"
"You Digidestined are the ones who let Condormon take the digivice," said Leomon. "If someone like Hydramon gets his hands on it, it could lead to the premature reformat of the Digital World."
Savannah glanced at Zach. "But we're only here for the weekend..."
Leomon shrugged and turned away. Without knowing why, the Digidestined followed him.
The tall lion took a bus back to the train station, the Digidestined in his wake, and boarded a westbound train. This Railmon was sleeker than the last one, and it too took off and roared along the track at eighty miles an hour, but this time Zach and Savannah were prepared.
They sat in seats facing each other and clung to the leather handgrips on the ceiling. Spikemon and Hissmon peered out the window with interest, and Leomon sat across the aisle from them, taking up a whole seat. There were ten minutes of uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Savannah. "Why do you care about what Condormon does?"
Leomon looked down at them. "I'm with Conduct Code Enforcement. We've had our eye on Tusk Mountain for some time, and we think that Condormon is working with a ring of viruses."
"So you're a cop?" said Zach.
Leomon nodded and looked out the window.
"What does Conduct Code Enforcement do?" asked Savannah.
"All digimon have a moral code built into them," said Leomon. "Everyone knows that murder and stealing are wrong, but some digimon choose to break their code."
"So you enforce it," said Zach. "I wish humans had it that easy." His digital identity lacked such a code, although he knew that stealing and murder were wrong in his own world.
"Humans don't have a moral code?" exclaimed Spikemon, staring. "That's it. I'm never going to the real world again."
"It's not like that," said Zach. "We have laws and things that make them wrong. If you do them you get punished."
"It's a mystery of free will," said Hissmon. "Everybody knows certain things are wrong. But they can act contrary to their coding."
"But how do you know it's your coding?" said Savannah. "How do you know it's not just laws and culture that make certain things wrong?"
This drew blank stares from the digimon. "You think murder is right?" growled Leomon.
"No, I was just saying, there could be cultural differences in what we think is right and what somebody else thinks is right--"
Leomon turned to face Savannah. "Morals do not shift and change, little girl. What is wrong in your world is wrong here. Condormon may believe he has the right to steal, but that does not justify his actions. If right and wrong were a matter of opinion, then we would not be having this conversation, for there would be no possibility that one of us were right. There is a moral code built into all worlds, and it is not a matter of opinion."
Savannah opened her mouth and closed it again. Zach hid a smile and looked at the trees flying by his window. Leomon turned and gazed out his own, and the conversation was over.
Tusk Mountain stood in the middle of a flat, treeless plain, and rose out of the ground like the tusk of a giant elephant. It was dark blue and looked as smooth as glass.
The Railmon track passed within a mile of it, but the train itself was reluctant to stop. He obliged by slowing down a bit before ejecting them and their luggage from the train, and sped off into the distance as they picked themselves up.
"Those Trainmon are so rude!" said Savannah, brushing herself off. "Are you okay?"
"If okay means flat," grunted Zach, whose pack and partner had landed on him.
Leomon had landed on his feet, cat-like, and was waiting for them at a little distance. When the Digidestined had themselves and their gear sorted out, they walked up to him. He pointed to the blue spike in the distance. "That's Tusk Mountain, and that's where we'll find Condormon."
"It looks like a lighthouse," said Zach. "A really tall one."
"Only without a light," said Spikemon.
Leomon strode toward it, and the four hurried to keep up.
"Tell me where they went!"
Chamelemon smacked into a brick wall and reeled back. He landed on all fours and sat still, orange body trembling. When he did not reply, a green tendril wound around his neck and lifted him up. A pair of yellow eyes glared at him from within the shelter of three thick white petals. "I could throttle the life out of you," hissed the plant, and threw the choking lizard on the ground. Chamelemon lay still, gasping.
"Where did the Digidestined go?" asked the plant again, its spiky leaves quivering with anger.
Chamelemon's lips moved, but no sound came out.
"What was that?" said the plant.
"He said, 'Go to the Recycle Bin,' creep!" said a voice.
The plant turned to see a baseball bat lying on the pavement where Chamelemon had dropped it. "What did you say?" said Stranglemon, picking up the bat in a long vine.
"I said there are a pair of pruning shears with your name on them," said Base. "I said you're a weed. I said that your mother eats bonemeal. I said--" Stranglemon threw him at the wall.
Base bounced off it and rolled to a halt near Chamelemon, who was a bruised, beaten heap. "Well Chamelemon, good buddy, I guess this is it," said Base. "I'd take him on if you'd try, but I guess you're too damaged. Now he'll make you snitch, and that'll be the end of Zach..."
Chamelemon clutched Base's handle, then leaped up and slammed Stranglemon across the center of his flower-face. Stranglemon staggered to one side, but before he could recover, Chamelemon was running like the wind; out the courtyard, down the street, through a skyscraper lobby, onto the back of a transport turtle for three blocks, then between two buildings, and up a fire escape to a domed roof, ten stories above Gigaterra.
He crouched there a long time, panting and watching for pursuit. Base watched, as well, but in all the swarming masses of digimon, Stranglemon had lost them.
"Okay," said Base after a while. "How many people are after you, again?"
"Not sure," said Chamelemon. "Thanks for that. I nearly told him."
"Can't have you spilling your guts to any thug who asks," said the bat. "Are we going after them?"
"Not yet," said Chamelemon. "I don't think Condormon is the head of the viral attack. Want to go to the Binary Plateau and see what Hydramon's up to?"
"Isn't he the guy who just killed all those people?"
"Yes, and I'd love to help destroy him. Imagine--I might get my attacks back!"
Base raised one non-existent eyebrow. "Get them back?"
"Got to go," said Chamelemon, and whisked down the fire escape without another word.
As the Digidestined approached Tusk Mountain, they realized that it was bigger than it looked. Its base was more than a mile in diameter, and grass grew up to its foot. As they drew closer, they saw that it was not one smooth spike: it was a mass of square, stairstep edges like a salt crystal. Some ledges were wide enough to park a car upon, while others could have been stairs for mice.
"It's like a big crystal," said Savannah, squinting as the afternoon sun glinted off the polished facets of the mountain.
"Some say that this is where viral data goes when a virus-type dies," said Leomon. "It glows during thunderstorms. Condormon will be near the top."
"Why not on the tip?" said Zach, shading his eyes.
"Don't you know anything?" said Spikemon, incredulous. "The topmost peak isn't finished. It won't be added until the last virus has been deleted." He glared at Hissmon, who flicked his tongue and said nothing.
Presently they reached the foot of the mountain itself, and Savannah touched it. "It feels like glass," she announced.
Leomon nodded and stepped up on one of its ledges. Savannah followed him, but Zach stayed where he was. "You mean we just climb it? No ropes or anything?"
"You got a rope?" said Spikemon, jumping up after the others.
Zach glared after them. "This is stupid! How are we supposed to fight Condormon on a bunch of glass ledges?"
"Leave your gear," called Leomon. "You can come back for it later."
Zach dumped his pack in the grass. "Fine," he muttered. "It can be my grave marker." And he stepped onto Tusk Mountain.
The climb was tricky, but not difficult. There were a dozen ways to climb, as every large ledge had smaller ledges growing out of them, and the smaller steps were formed by clumps of sloping crystalline angles. The digimon climbed like children on a playset, undaunted by the height of the mountain. The humans were less comfortable, and sweated in the sun.
Zach looked down once and saw that they had already climbed fifty feet. After that he kept from looking down. He disliked heights, and disliked still more the thought that there was a large, fearsome bird at the top, waiting for them. Instead, he focused on the shape and texture of the mountain's side. Square angles ran everywhere, all of the same dark blue color. The higher they climbed, however, the more transparent the edges and corners became. He pointed this out to Savannah, who replied that she had noticed it, too. He couldn't see how, for she was climbing and reading her digivice's screen at the same time.
Finally he said, "Put it away, Savannah. If you fall you'll get cut to pieces."
"I'm downloading modify patches," she replied. "You should, too. They have a couple to do with flight and attack enhancements, and they might come in handy, seeing as I can't digivolve Hissmon."
Zach sat on a ledge to rest, feeling its welcome coolness against his legs, and looked up Digital World downloads on his own digivice. Savannah was right--there were modify patches that had to do with flight and attacks, but they were large files and would take a while to download. He picked Birdramon Wings (Fire-type, Fly +9) and resumed climbing.
The others had climbed about twenty feet above him while he had rested, and all but Spikemon were out of sight. Spikemon had hung back to keep an eye on his partner. "You okay?" he called.
"Yeah," Zach called back. "Just working out plan B."
The little green dinosaur waited until Zach reached him, then said softly, "Condormon isn't here."
Zach frowned. "How do you know?"
"No smell," said Spikemon, scrambling up on a ledge. "He stinks, if you haven't noticed. I ought to be able to smell him by now, and I can't."
Zach glanced over his shoulder at the distant ground and quickly looked back at his digimon. "How close to the top are we?"
"We're more than halfway." Spikemon looked toward the ground indifferently. "You think I could push Hissmon off and say it was an accident?"
"No need to make this mountain any taller," said Zach, noticing a cut on his palm from the sharp crystal edges. "Besides, Savannah would kill you."
There came a sharp hiss from above. Zach and Spikemon looked up and saw Savannah, Hissmon and Leomon all facing the same direction. Zach looked, too, and saw a black bird against the blue sky, gliding lazily toward the mountain.
"Is that him?" said Zach.
"Yes," came Leomon's voice from higher up. "Everyone find a wide ledge."
Zach and Spikemon slid down a few feet to a ledge the size of a sidewalk, and Savannah found another ten feet to their left. "Don't use the stick yet," said Spikemon, noticing the digivice in Zach's hand. "Digivolving sends out an energy wave and he'll know."
"I have a modify patch," said Zach. "Wings for you. How do I use them?"
"Just hit 'apply' I guess," said Spikemon, watching their enemy's progress. "But they're only good for a few minutes and they only work once, so be careful."
Then Condormon swept over them. They had a glimpse of a pink head, black, angry eyes, and a mass of dark feathers, and then he was gone, leaving a lingering smell of carrion. But he circled back, scouting out their positions.
"Condormon!" roared Leomon. "You are to return with me to Gigaterra, where you will stand trial for theft and treason. Will you come peacefully?"
The bird swooped at him and screeched, "Never!" There was a second of confusion on Leomon's ledge, and then Condormon swirled away with a deep cut across his naked neck. Leomon stood still on his ledge, his knife drawn, panting.
Savannah yelled, "Try that over here, you lump of corrupt data!" Hissmon was coiled on a ledge to one side, waiting. Condormon swooped in with his feet extended to knock Savannah off the mountain, but she threw herself flat and Hissmon sprang off his ledge and sank his teeth into Condormon's face. He wrapped his long body around the bird's skinny neck as Condormon shrieked and wheeled off into the air.
Savannah sat up, selected a modify patch called 'power boost: +4' and applied it.
Coiled around Condormon's neck, Hissmon's strength suddenly quadrupled. He tightened his coils like a noose, shutting off Condormon's breath, and drove his fangs deeper into his enemy's skin.
"Savannah, do something!" Zach yelled. "If he falls, it'll kill Hissmon!"
Savannah ignored him, counting down seconds on her internal clock. "Three, two, one," she whispered, then selected her other modify patch, 'Demidevimon wings, fly +5.'
Hissmon felt his extraordinary strength give out, and at the same time a pair of bat wings sprouted from his back. He extracted his fangs, uncoiled his body from Condormon's neck and threw himself into the air, his temporary wings beating.
But Condormon was not beaten so easily. In midair he whirled about and screeched, "Condor Chain!" The chains looped about his body leaped from him, flew through the air and wrapped around Savannah, Hissmon, Zach and Spikemon, who were unprepared for a conventional attack. The chains flew at Leomon as well, but he beat them off before they could bind him.
Hissmon dropped like a stone to the side of the mountain, where he lay stunned. Savannah, Zach and Spikemon struggled, but the chains were the thick industrial kind, and it was difficult to move. Condormon swooped at Savannah. "You helped him, you filthy little human!" His claws curled around her and flung her clear of the mountainside.
Zach's finger was on his blue digivice button, and he knew the modify patch was selected, but there was no time to digivolve Spikemon. He hit Apply anyway.
A pair of hot orange wings burst from Spikemon's back, melting the chains. They were too big for him, but Spikemon dove off the mountain anyway, hoping to reach Savannah before she hit the ground.
He couldn't. The wings were for a champion-level digimon, and he was only a rookie. He could hardly lift the things, let alone fly where he wanted. He watched Savannah drop and roared in frustration as the wings faltered and carried him back toward Tusk Mountain against his will.
Something red darted into his range of vision, and he looked down. Some red-winged thing was streaking after Savannah, wings half-folded. He thought he glimpsed a figure standing on the plain below before he smashed into the rocks. Damaged 10%.
Savannah fainted after the first few seconds of her fall, and did not awaken until she had been plucked out of mid air and was stretched out on the grass.
The first thing she was aware of was that her knowledge level had gone from 6 to 7. The next thing she knew was the feel of grass under her, and the soft breathing of some animal above her. She opened her eyes.
Then she laughed out loud, which was the common reaction upon meeting Chargermon. Standing above her was a little donkey decked out in red medieval silks, with a pair of crimson wings folded to its sides. "Hello," said the donkey. "Are you all right?"
"I guess," said Savannah, still grinning and sitting up. "Oh, hi." Standing beside the donkey was a girl with braids in her hair and a shy expression. "Hey," said Savannah, "have we met/"
"Yes," said the girl. "I asked your friend if he still draws dinosaurs. I'm Tithonia."
Savannah stood up. "Did you catch me?"
"I did," said Chargermon.
Savannah looked at Tithonia. "Thanks. I didn't know you were Digidestined."
Tithonia only nodded, eyes on the grass.
Zach, Leomon and Spikemon were descending the mountain, jumping from ledge to ledge like mountain goats. Zach was less sure-footed than the digimon, and proceeded on all fours, or by sliding on his backside. Behind them slithered Hissmon, pausing often to lift his head high and peer about for danger.
"Savannah!" Zach yelled as he neared the ground. "You're alive!"
"Duh!" she yelled back. "Tithonia and Chargermon saved me!"
"Who?" Zach squinted toward them and kept descending.
Leomon reached the ground first and bounded away behind Tusk Mountain like the great cat he was. Spikemon reached the ground next, checked to make sure Zach would make it, then trotted up to investigate the newcomers. As he and Chargermon sniffed noses, Tithonia said, "He looks just like your friend's drawing."
"Hooray, another vaccine-type!" said Spikemon, not listening. "We need a flying one. Did you see Condormon throw Savannah off like she was nothing?"
"Yes, I saw," said the donkey. "Introduce us to your partner."
"Oh, right," said the dinosaur, as Zach walked up. "This is Zach, and I'm Spikemon."
"Oh, and I'm Savannah," said Savannah. She looked around. "Where's Hissmon?"
"Coming, coming," said a voice a little way off. They turned to see him slithering down the mountainside, winding sideways and hissing whenever he had to drop to a lower point. "That's my partner, Hissmon," said Savannah, pointing.
"How do you do," said Tithonia, shaking Zach and Savannah's hands. "I'm Tithonia," she said to Zach. "Your partner looks just like your drawing."
Spikemon cocked his head. "You've drawn pictures of me, Zach? I want to see!"
"When we go home," said Zach, reddening. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and there was an awkward silence. "So, uh, where's Leomon got to?" Zach said, and walked off, Spikemon at his heels. Savannah and Tithonia followed.
"How long have you had your digivice?" Savannah asked.
Tithonia tucked a strand of hair behind one ear. "About two weeks. This is my second weekend."
"Gosh," said Savannah, motioning for Hissmon to hurry up. "We've only had ours a few days. And your digimon can already digivolve."
"We were attacked by a Tyrannomon," said Chargermon, laying her long ears back. "It was digivolve or die."
Hissmon slithered up to Savannah's feet, his tongue flickering. "Hello," he said to Tithonia and Chargermon.
Chargermon sniffed him, then shied away. "You're a virus-type!"
Hissmon sighed. "Benign virus. Why is it such a big deal?"
"He just took on Condormon," said Savannah. "He's all right."
Tithonia gave Hissmon a hard look and said nothing.
They rounded the base of Tusk Mountain and saw Leomon in the distance, standing over Condormon, who was spread out on the ground. The bird's data was on the verge of breaking apart, and at times they could see through him. "Good grief," muttered Savannah. "How much poison did you inject?"
"Everything I had," said Hissmon. "My fangs will be dry for days."
The lion knelt over the condor and spoke to it. The condor turned its head in reply, then drooped. His data broke apart and evaporated into thin air, and Leomon was standing alone in the grass.
Zach, who was ahead of the girls, turned back. "Well, I guess that's that."
"Too bad he died," said Spikemon, pouting. "I never got a lick at him."
Zach glared at him. "You're so violent."
Leomon walked toward them, tail twitching. When he reached them he looked up and his heavy brows were furrowed. "The digivice is gone," he said to them. "He handed it off to a superior before we arrived."
"So we shouldn't have fought him?" said Zach.
Leomon looked at him. "He was a virus. If he had not been exterminated, he would have destroyed more innocent digimon." He shrugged. "This is where I leave you. My business no longer lies along your path." Before anyone could say a word, he bounded away in the direction of the train tracks.
The Digidestined watched him go, and Zach glanced at the setting sun. "Want to find a place to camp?"