Ukkomon had not actually participated in the battle against MetalSeadramon, for Lui didn't want to risk his partner getting hurt, and he just didn't evolve like the other digimon did. Perhaps that was why he didn't get knocked out by the Poseidon Divide, why he was simply sent flying a long way, fully conscious, together with his partner.
Or perhaps all this was just part of granting Lui's wish that Ukkomon not get hurt.
There was nowhere remotely soft to land in this part of the digital world; the canyons and boneyards of the east are a very rocky place. Fortunately, unlike the others, they didn't have to; once the momentum of the Poseidon Divide wore off, Ukkomon simply extended a tentacle to catch Lui and drifted slowly down to what passed for the ground.
"It's just like old times." Did Lui mean the scenery, with its fossils and dinosaur digimon, a Brachimon pacing by the ruins near where they had fought Pinocchimon? Or did he mean traveling with only Ukkomon by his side?
"Do you miss them?" Ukkomon asked. It was a fair question. They were so much older, and Lui was still shy and quiet and doing everything he could just to keep up with them.
"Yes," he answered. "They treated me well, it was nice to have company. I wonder where they went?"
Ukkomon would've liked to just answer that for him, right away, to even project images of their locations. But this wasn't Earth, and he didn't have the same kind of power here. "I don't know. All we can do is search."
"It's not every day that even you don't know something!" Lui said with a laugh. The day would come when he realized just how little Ukkomon understood, about humanity and Earth. But they were in the digital world, and that day was still many years away.
Lui remembered his mother, back when she was cruel, saying he couldn't do anything on his own. But he wasn't alone. He had Ukkomon now, and together they would surely find their way.
To the east of the land of dinosaurs, tucked away on an easily overlooked path, is the land of dragons. It is a subtle distinction, one shading into another, with transitional digimon like Birdramon and Raptordramon lining the hidden passageway where the two areas meet.
Lui was, in truth, somewhat frightened of dragons; Megadramon fought on his side, but even she was a powerful force of destruction, while Groundramon and MetalSeadramon were truly menacing enemies. But he was determined to be brave, so he continued walking, one foot in front of the other, past the heat of the Volcdramon, past the sheer speed of the AeroV-dramon whose wind made his hair stand on end.
He remembered a recent outing to the zoo, his father's assurance that the animals were more afraid of him than he was of them; if anything, the dragons were acting the same way. Or perhaps it was Ukkomon they feared, Ukkomon who made them to keep their distance.
Jewels and chrome digizoid glimmered in the distance, the very walls of the region having become a dragon's hoard. The presence of a shrine in this location, with a jewel-encrusted torii, struck him as garish; did these digimon worship money? Then again, these were dragons, so it should not have been too odd that they valued their hoards.
Lui raced through the entrance of the shrine. No one had attacked him since he landed, yet with so many powerful and menacing digimon roaming the area, the prospect of sanctuary had an immense appeal.
The head of a sleepy Majiramon stretched out of an enormous offerings box, and Ukkomon created a gold coin, which he handed to Lui. "Place it in the dragon's mouth."
Lui never grasped why dragons cared so much about money, but he didn't get why humans did it, either, why his mom started being so much nicer to Ukkomon once he handed her some bills to buy him toys and treats. Concepts like an economy or a unit of exchange were beyond the ability to grasp of even the brightest minds at age four; tallying the numbers on the bills was about all that Lui could manage.
He trusted Ukkomon, so he carefully approached the dragon, looking at the heavy coin in his hand – it was different from the yen he knew from Earth, marked with dejimoji symbols he did not begin to understand. Majiramon's white beard blocked his mouth as he slept, and Lui shook from fear as he brushed it aside; one must feed the dragon to make it friendly, right?
He slowly inserted the coin between the gaps in the green dragon's teeth, and it suddenly sprang to life. "Welcome, Chosen Child!"
Lui turned back to Ukkomon, as if to ask 'Okay, what do I do now?', but his partner was silent.
"What do you want to do?" Had Majiramon read his mind? No, in that case he wouldn't need to ask, would already know the answer. His indecision and nervousness were so clearly written on his face that no digimon could possibly miss it.
Lui then realized that Majiramon was simply the local shrine god, who he'd awakened and given money to, without so much as writing down anything on a tablet. Maybe the digimon was just confused by his hesitation.
"Do you think it is funny to go around waking up dragons? What. Is. Your. Wish?"
"I'm sorry, Majiramon." It wasn't Lui who spoke, but a regretful Ukkomon. "And I must apologize to you too, Lui. I should've told you to have a wish in mind."
Perhaps there is not a four year old kid on Earth who truly knows what they want; there certainly was not, at this time, one in the digital world. Ukkomon's presence had genuinely been a miracle; before, he felt like he was just in the way of his busy, stressed, and abusive mother, and now his wishes and dreams almost all came true.
"Do I truly want to save the digital world?" Lui wondered. It would be good for all the digimon, but it'd mean this fun adventure would finally come to an end. And what of the other kids? They were so much older. Even if he could convince one to babysit him, did they live anywhere nearby?
Did they live at all? Ukkomon had protected him, but could protect only him – what if they all died in MetalSeadramon's attack? What became of the dead in the Digital World?
He had so many questions. Which is natural, especially for a young child, and it is a wise adult who does not lose their inquisitive spirit with age. But making decisions requires information, and Lui had a strong feeling that he was about to make the most important decision of his short life. Or maybe the second most, after befriending Ukkomon.
Yet there was one overriding concern, and if they were dead, well, maybe a dragon could fix that. "I want my friends to be okay!"
Majiramon stood up, stretched its wings, and got out of the offering box, towering over Lui. then lowered his long neck to bring himself back down to eye level with the child. "And what will you give me to make that wish come true?"
"Do you need more money? Ukkomon," Lui motioned for his partner, but his digimon kept its distance.
"Have you ever wondered why Ukkomon hasn't evolved?" Majiramon asked.
"Ukkomon is Ukkomon. He's always been like this." Lui said. "It's who he is. There's nothing wrong with that."
"And you two have never won a battle. If you want to truly become a partner digimon, you'll have to transform like one!" Majiramon stretched out a long, golden, three-clawed hand cradling a small blue orb to Ukkomon, ready to hand the object over. And Lui began to cry.
"I'm giving you everything you want, without even a real test, and you refuse it? Stupid brat. Do you want to protect your friends or don't you?!"
Lui hid behind Ukkomon for protection from the angry dragon – protection, in his current form, being precisely what he was totally incapable of providing. And once it roared, Ukkomon saw no choice but to take the orb.
"Ukkomon, warp shinka! Qinglongmon!"
Lui would later attribute the strange split in his digimon partner – the one who returned with him to Earth, and the god who continued to guard the eastern quadrant of the digital world – to his own indecision at this critical moment. It should not be forgotten, however, that Ukkomon is a wish-granter, and that multiple evolutions of the same digimon are also attested as coexisting in the world of dreams.
The so-called 'clown room' in which four evil generals discussed their digital world takeover was, ironically, perhaps the brightest spot left in that world. Piemon enjoyed his white background, filled with stray red or blue shapes, as a backdrop for his elaborate tricks; if it gave his audience a feeling of dissonance, all the better for an entertainer!
"Dark Masters, we gather here on the eve of our final battle," Piemon said. "I trust that there will be no interference?"
"What are you even worried about? I told you I destroyed the chosen children!" MetalSeadramon said.
"Did you actually see them die, or did you just attack them?" Piemon asked, and took the sea serpent's lowered head for an answer in the negative.
"They're children," Mugendramon scoffed. "We're Ultimates. Nothing to worry about, you're all filling your heads with prophecies that will never come true."
"Do not forget, Mugendramon, that these children have the power to make digimon evolve. I warn you, do not underestimate them," Pinocchimon said.
"Just because you got taken by surprise doesn't make them a threat to the rest of us," MetalSeadramon roared. "Getting punched out by a Togemon? Embarrassing!"
"Silence!" Piemon said. "There is no use in this endless squabbling over whether our enemies are a threat! If they show themselves, we shall be prepared; if they are dead, all the better! Now, onto the rest of our preparations!"
"It is true that my cannons can not break through Infinity Mountain," Mugendramon said, "but they won't need to. No one shall get in or out without being hit by my Infinity Cannon!"
"What if they don't leave?" Pinocchimon asked.
"Then they can enjoy their tomb!" Mugendramon did not sound in the least bit disturbed by the prospect of an endless siege.
"And what will become of your sector if you are constantly to stand watch on Infinity Mountain?" MetalSeadramon asked. "I should remind you that I'm the only one of the four of us who's actually conquered a quarter of the digital world; I've heard your complaints about bandits and endless passageways.
"Worse comes to worse, we seal the place up and bury them alive." Piemon said. "Infinity Mountain is the sole remaining place which openly resists us. Soon, this world shall be ours!"
Every day, when Himekawa Maki went for a flight on Megadramon, she hoped to find a sign of her fellow Chosen Children. What she witnessed instead that day broke her heart.
It was not just that the Dark Masters were coming – she knew they would be, although she doubted that they had the strength to handle them, to do more than hold out until the others (if they were still alive, and if they had miraculously gotten way stronger) could help. Until a miracle came. It was everyone they brought with them, the lines of virus digimon as far as her eyes could see.
"Should I blow them up?" Megadramon asked. Admittedly, some of those digimon were pretty small, and reducing their numbers was not without its appeal, but…
"No. We can't afford to give away our position. Let's just report back to Buraimon before Mugendramon shoots us down." A streak of light behind them from a distant cannon, like a shooting star in the wrong direction, gave the two a foreboding warning of just how close they had come.
"Infinity Fortress is under siege."
The digimon were gathered in the same audience cavern where Buraimon had once been appointed governor, but there was no celebration this time around. Maki stood beside him, giving her report of what she saw; any extra authority could only aid them in such a troubling time.
"There will be no more leaving the mountain to forage. I want every digimon at the Child level or higher to spend half their hours on guard duty; there are many entrances to watch, and that includes through the tunnels. We have a sufficient supply of food and water to hold out until the Chosen Children return. This is what our fortress was built for, and right now, I truly believe this is the safest place in the digital world!"
Even Maki could tell that Buraimon was putting on a brave face; the sound of explosions in the background, despite the guards already posted, demonstrated just how tenuous their position was. Maki didn't have any concrete knowledge that the other Chosen Children were alive; she couldn't imagine a world without Daigo, and the attack hadn't been enough to kill her. But the possibility that MetalSeadramon had sent them falling to their deaths was not one she could intellectually reject.
And if she could tell that Buraimon was just trying to keep morale up, couldn't all the digimon? But no one said anything, no one argued, out loud, that they were doomed. To say it was to admit it, and to admit it was to give up. If they were to die, they wanted the world to remember that they had gone down fighting.
For now, Megadramon and Maki would wait near the summit, daring any flying digimon to attack from that direction, occasionally firing a Genocide Attack through the fortress slits at the Hagurumon below.
Despite all that was going on in the digital world, Daigo thought, there was still something positively exhilarating about riding on Baihumon's back. Golden digicores hovered around him as he sat on the blue-striped white tiger, moving at a speed that dwarfed any car he'd ever been inside, with no windows to channel the winds that whipped around him.
It was enough to take his mind off the scenery. The western digital world was deserted, and with so few digimon around, its very structure had begun to decay. He would've liked to ask a local digimon – any local digimon – what was going on, but he couldn't find any.
He had witnessed what Mugendramon did in Terminal Port, so he had a good idea what had happened.
Baihumon's speed allowed him to leap over gaps in the ground which would have severely troubled LoaderLeomon, let alone a human traveler. Daigo didn't want to say he could never return to Infinity Mountain on his own, but it would've been a considerably longer journey, with countless dead ends and detours, and at a far slower pace.
He hoped the others were still alive. He hoped they weren't worried too much about him. And he hoped that they had the same idea he did. They had never made any promises like "Meet up at Infinity Mountain", but its summit towered above File Island, and they had friends living inside.
A rotten forest now stood at the western approach to the mountain, in a place which had been an open plain when he had viewed it from the summit. Woodmon had massed in the area, a couple of them pushing a battering ram into the fortress door, a few more standing on each other's heads, a makeshift siege tower for a higher cavern.
Entmon and Tropiamon flanked the smaller trees. The rotten and bright tree-dragons both stood watch for any desperate sorties – or, for that matter, any beast gods riding to the fortress's relief.
"Kongou!" A spiraling white gale swirled out of Baihumon's mouth, ripped through the forest, and toppled the siege towers, sending digimon flying in every direction.
"Pinocchimon-sama, help! The Chosen Children are here!"
Daigo and Baihumon did not stick around that particular entrance long enough for Pinocchimon to help. They raced up the mountain, preferring to take their chances with the Devidramon and LadyDevimon who contested the air, for Daigo could've sworn he saw Megadramon's "Genocide Attack!" blow up a pod of Gesomon.
His heart sank not long after, when he saw the Gigadramon halfway up the mountain. Genocide Attack and Genocide Gear can not be easily distinguished from a distance, for the blast of the explosion makes it far too difficult to spot the gears which pop out of the latter technique like shrapnel.
"Tekkousou!" A leap, an iron claw, and a blue dragon crashed into a mountainside. The other flying digimon kept a safe distance from Baihumon, if they did not instantly flee to Piemon to report his presence; the tiger's very arrival had filled the virus digimon with fear.
Near the summit, not far from what had once been a train stop, a boy and his tiger knocked on the door, and a girl, standing next to her own orange dragon, opened it. She flung her arms around him the moment he stepped through, leaving Megadramon to seal the fortress behind them with her tail.
Hope.
The power of the crests was not something which Homeostasis had yet discovered; perhaps it was not yet something the digital world, in 1996, had the power to process. When the crests finally did become associated with the digital world's gods, it is worth noting, Baihumon did not govern hope, but courage and friendship.
And yet, all the same, there was something about the arrival of a beast god and a surviving chosen child that lifted the spirits of everyone inside Infinity Mountain, Maki's most of all. She certainly hoped that the others were okay as well, but it was Daigo she found by far the easiest of the group to get along with, Daigo who she was closest to, and not only in age. She was of half a mind to confess to him right then and there, but the thought soon passed – in part out of fear of rejection, but mostly because everyone had far bigger things on their mind.
One of the things on Maki's mind was evolution. She asked Daigo how Baihumon evolved, and when he mentioned the shrine, she spent most of her free time (for she was quite often on guard duty) searching the depths of Infinity Mountain for some kind of tucked-away shrine. There was no doubt in her mind that Bakumon represented the center, that she had landed so close to this mountain for a reason. So surely, somewhere deep in this place's tunnels, there must be a way to turn her partner into Huanglongmon.
Ironically, it was Daigo who remained the gloomiest, who reminded all the digimon that his partner represented hope, just hope, not certain victory. Buraimon maintained a calm face, but privately shared his concerns; they delayed their final confrontation, for it would still be four on one.
Baihumon did not devolve to Bearmon; he never again would. He spent most of his time going on sorties, where he would take out whatever digimon minion was trying to force its way into the Infinity Mountain fortress, only to return once a Dark Master or two showed up to help. When he traveled through the mountain, the digimon inside would flock to him and cheer.
On the other side of the mountain, "Kongou" and "Ultimate Stream" were shouted simultaneously, a whirlwind would meet a laser, in a clash which lasted until Pinocchimon joined and Baihumon retreated yet again; so these incidents went. For now, at least, the doors held.
Oikawa Yukio was downright amazed by Floramon's – by Pipimon's – final evolution. People spent their whole lives searching for a phoenix, for immortality, for power – here he had one, with four wings and a narrow beak, and together it felt like they could do anything.
Dragons were common in the digital world. Phoenixes were not – yes, he'd met Birdramon and Saberdramon, and he'd heard rumors that there were others in the games. He'd also run into practically every concept that he could imagine, with 'dramon' appended to the end of its name, but encountered few birds at all. More than having a beast god, he felt special just to have a phoenix as his partner.
Baihumon does not far exceed Zhuqiaomon in speed, and it is easier to fly than for even Baihumon to run across this terrain; had Oikawa gone at once to Infinity Mountain, they might have arrived almost together. But his next step, while different, struck him as obvious – for what but a fire god's power could repair the Firewall?
So they flew in the other direction. The Digital World looked in dire straits from the air, even worse than when they rode on Birdramon the last time they flew; darkness was everywhere, with more spots of black than actual terrain. File Island looked more like File Archipelago.
They passed the digivice temple (still intact, despite being so close to the edge), and Oikawa tried to wave to Centarumon, but was too high up for the guardian digimon to see him. It was not a long flight, for they were already in the south; soon the ground was white and the sky was partially on fire.
"Let me fix this. Zanka!" Zhuqiaomon opened his mighty, narrow, angular beak as wide as he possibly could. Fire from his attack poured into the firewall, renewing much of what had been broken.
It was then that they spotted it. A creature whose very existence made Oikawa shiver, even while atop a firebird. He'd seen its polyhedral shadow once before, back when what was on the other side only fascinated him. But it was coming through now, intent on keeping the firewall breached, with more terrifying silver claws atop long and whirling chains than he could even count.
"Darkness Zone!" the humanoid figure atop Apocalymon spoke, and the rapidly spreading darkness was more than enough to undo everything Zhuqiaomon had accomplished there; it wounded the beast god, as well, black cuts on his wings which diminished his flames.
"I can still fly. Let's get out of here!" Zhuqiaomon turned around and fled, and did not stop until he had flown halfway across the digital world. Maybe, once they were all together, once they beat the Dark Masters, they'd actually stand a chance against that hideous creature; it was the only hope which Oikawa had left.
Infinity Mountain, in its natural state, is indeed hollow, but there is no way in. The various caves and rock shelters on its sides do not naturally connect to one another, and early generations of mountaineers struggled to find any place to rest.
Its many entrances were slowly carved by Drimogemon and Digmon, most (but not all) under Buraimon's direction, to convert it into a place where digimon could actually live. Yet there is no such thing as a gate which can only be opened by friends, no antivirus at this time which was capable of keeping the Dark Masters and their many (if rapidly diminishing) minions out. The digimon themselves had to do that, and Mugendramon, in particular, was by no means easy to bar. Dirt and poop and gunk from the mountain clogged his cannons, which Buraimon had correctly identified as their number one threat, and Megadramon flew around to bomb anyone who tried to clean him.
Yet against such a powerful enemy, this could only be a temporary reprieve. Mugendramon was a sophisticated virus with a cleaning program of his own, and the number of defenders who could disrupt him diminished quickly when faced with his claws. Numemon paid a horrible price in this battle, just as they would three Earth years later; Vegimon fared no better.
At last, a door was in his sight, and Mugendramon thought himself ready to fire – when he was distracted by a bird overhead.
"Kouen!" Brilliant fire rained down on Mugendramon with every flap of Zhuqiaomon's wings and set his mechanical body aflame.
"Mugen Cannon!" There are plenty of digimon out there capable of ignoring an attacker to focus on the greater mission. But Mugendramon was not one of them; he considered this bird a greater enemy than anyone inside the fortress, Baihumon included. The blast pierced Zhuqiaomon's wing, but the firebird has another set; he landed with Oikawa on the summit. The Dark Masters and their flying minions scattered on the bird god's approach, offering them all a brief reprieve from defending the uppermost door.
It was nice to see Daigo and Maki again. It gave Oikawa not just hope, but confidence – confidence that Hiroki and Lui were still alive. "Just hold out until we're all together, and then we take the fight to the enemy. We can win this!"