Chapter 2
"What is the meaning of this?" Koushirou questioned in horror. He should be excited, if not glad that BlackWarGreymon, the Digimon who had been an enemy but turned to be their comrade, was alive. He was the one who had sacrificed himself so Vamdemon could not enter the Digital World on their last battle after all. Heck, the reason the Chosen Children decided on a reunion was because today was his death anniversary!
Yet, he couldn't, because it's BlackWarGreymon.
He was a virus Digimon, created by Archnimon, not born from a digiegg. Plus, his cold eyes and dark aura reminded all of them of the first time they met him. The BlackWarGreymon who was meant to destroy them, not the one who decided to sacrifice himself for them.
"How... How are you alive?" demanded Iori while trembling. It seems he has the same opinion as his predecessor, but the virus Digimon ignored his questions as he made his way towards the group.
"Hey! Answer his question, you jerk!" yelled Miyako, causing her Digimon partner to hastily calm her down. "C, calm down, Miyako-san!"
"BlackWarGreyMon," Hikari started. "don't you remember us? We're your friends!" The girl's statement made him stop in his tracks.
It was silent for a few moments before he began to finally speak. "BlackWarGreymon? Is that my name?"
Hikari almost shivered at his cold and low voice, but she answers him nonetheless. "Yes. You... look as if you don't remember any of us."
"I don't."
"Do you remember what happened to you? How are you feeling?" It took another few moments before he answered again.
"I don't know. I don't remember. And I feel... numb."
"BlackWarGreymon-" "Enough with the questions!" He suddenly roared and the people and Digimon in front of him tensed.
"Hey, dude! She was only asking how you were!" Daisuke pointed at him.
"I don't care. But what I do care is..." He trailed off while looking around to each faces of the humans in front of him before focusing on the slightly breathless one.
"You."
He pointed at their original leader.
Each of the Chosen Children and Digimons present eyes went wide.
"Ta, Taichi-san!?"
'What could he possibly want from me?' thought Taichi. He's been quiet for quite sometime because, weirdly, every time BlackWarGreymon approach them, he felt dizzier and dizzier; like his energy was slowly being consumed by something.
"I don't know where I came from. All I know is that when I woke up, I didn't know who I was, and I can feel nothing... at least until a few hours ago." His armor clanked as took another step. "All this time I have been searching, waiting, for what I need."
"What do you need?" Taichi's question almost came out as a whisper.
"I don't know yet. But you..." He pointed at Taichi again. "you could be the answer."
Taichi felt Hikari and Daisuke's grip on him tightened. "But why my brother?" She felt something bad was going to happen and she didn't want this BlackWarGreymon, the Digimon she probably didn't know anymore, anywhere near her brother.
"I don't need to answer you." Everyone could tell that that last statement was final and there was no more talking. The virus Digimon began walking towards Taichi and not caring to stop when the boy with the goggles stepped in his way with a blue Digimon by his side.
"Watch it, ugly! If you want to get to Taichi-senpai then you have to go through us first!" Daisuke pointed at him before pulling out his D-3 and turning to his partner. "Veemon! Digivolve!"
"Way ahead of ya, Daisuke!"
"Veemon Digivolve to... ExVeemon!"
Ken and Wormmon nodded at each other.
"Wormmon Digivolve to... Stingmon!"
And so did Iori, Hikari and Miyako with their respective Digimon.
"Tailmon Armordigivolve to... Nefertimon!"
"Hawkmon Armordigivolve to... Aquilamon!"
"Armadillomon Armordigivolve to... Ankylomon!"
It was a silent thought, but they all were definitely thinking the same thing. If this BlackWarGreymon were not the same as the one when he was killed, then they have to go all out. He was powerful and dangerous alright.
"Guys! Don't aim to kill just yet!" warned Koushirou.
"Got it!" shouted Daisuke. "ExVeemon!"
"Heard ya! X-Laser!" The dragon Digimon's attack was cue for the other Digimon to begin their attacks too.
"Spiking Strike!"
"Blast Rings!"
"Tail Hammer!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
The various attacks hit BlackWarGreymon at the same time and in seconds he was engulfed in smokes.
Daisuke whooped. "Heck yeah!"
"Not yet, Daisuke! This is BlackWarGreymon we're talking about!" warned Taichi. The others acknowledged him with several nods before turning back to their enemy.
As if to correct their original leader's words, the smoke then clears up to reveal the unharmed Digimon in front of them. It didn't even bother to look at the other Digimon when they attacked. It seems to be only focusing his eyes on Taichi.
"There's not even a scratch on him!" Miyako grits her teeth while Daisuke clenched his fists. "Damn it, he's as strong as before!"
"I'd say he's stronger." murmured Ken in a low voice.
"Are you done now?" BlackWarGreymon asked blankly, as if he didn't even know how to sound arrogant because he was clearly stronger than all of them. In his mind, he could only focus on one thing. One person. That person, who was a few feet in front of him, he could feel something from him. He feels as if he could finally find the answer from him...
...and he was going to get it!
With that thought, before he knew it power starts to radiate through his body, flowing through his arms as he naturally shout, "Gaia Destroyer!"
Taichi's eyes widened and he instinctively reaches for his sister.
"HIKARI!"
"ONII-CHAN!"
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The Chosen Children and Digimons scream as the land before them shifted because of the single attack, and the force that came from the attack managed to separate and flew them off quite far. Smoke was everywhere, trees were burning and by adding the dark fog, the whole area seemed like a horror place.
The Digimon who had caused the damage walk with stalwart, not caring about the situation around him. He stopped when he reached his destination. There saw two people, a male and a female, the first lying on top as if he was trying to protect the latter from the chaos around them.
The male twitched and groaned when he sensed something standing near them. "Don't... touch Hikari..."
BlackWarGreymon, even though the human in front of him can't see him, gave a look of disinterest before saying, "I have no interest in her." And then he moved to grab the messy haired boy around the waist with his big armored hand to lift him up to his face.
"You hurt my friends... asshole..."
"I couldn't care less about that either."
Taichi, in all his glory; what with being held up in the air in front of his enemy and all, decided to spit on him. If it was any other enemy, he probably would have been thrown harshly to the ground, but when he looked at the Digimon's cold eyes, he didn't seem to care. About anything for that matter. Seeing his blank, cold eyes caused him to almost shiver.
Almost.
He's the Child of Courage, dammit!
He decided then to approach in a different way. "What the hell... do you want from us? Are you... even the same Digimon... the same Black...warGreymon... we knew...?" Yup. Interrogation it is. Breathless as he was, iff he could stall him long enough, Yamato and the others should arrive soon and get them the hell out of here. But being so close to BlackWarGreymon somehow makes him feel so weak that even speaking was hard. What is this Digimon doing to him?
"You." The black Digimon corrected. "I want only you. Not the other humans with you, I don't care about them."
"Why me?" Taichi tried to struggle.
"Because I can feel it. You are the key... to my answers. And I need you. I need... your light!"
And suddenly, a feeling of deja vu penetrates him .
"What was that?"
"I need your..."
"My...?"
"Your light..."
Taichi's eyes widened.
He could feel BlackWarGreymon's grip harden on him. He knows that aside from probably strangling him, the Digimon was doing something to him because as soon as he saw his dark eyes shined red, Taichi felt weak. He let out a pained groan as he felt the energy in his body being sucked out. He slightly noticed a red and orange color before completely giving in to the feeling of fatigue, and finally, passed out.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
When she heard her brother screaming in pain, Hikari quickly woke up. She was horrified to find herself looking at her brother being held up by BlackWarGreymon's hand in front of him as he was doing something to Taichi that made his whole body glowed in orange color. At first it was only Taichi who was glowing, but as his protests went louder, the glow went to illuminate BlackWarGreymon's body as well.
Hikari quickly stood up to her feet and went to grab BlackWarGreymon's hand, the one holding Taichi up, in an effort to make him let her brother go. "NO! Get away from him! Let go of my brother!" But the Digimon paid her no mind, continuing whatever he is doing to Taichi and not caring that his screaming went louder. Seeing this, the girl began to hit the Digimon's arm and continued her protests. "Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him! Please, stop!"
Annoyed, BlackWarGreymon pushed Hikari harshly, resulting in her landing on her back. It was another few moments before Taichi's screaming started to halt before he went completely silent. Then he went limp in BlackWarGreymon's grip, showing that he had passed out.
For Hikari, it felt like hours than just a few moments. She never wanted to hear her brother in pain like that. Never, ever since that fight with Piedmon that occurred years ago.
"There's no need to be here anymore."
The Child of Light noticed the black Digimon was holding her brother's body closer to him. His armored wings are now opened and ready to take flight. 'No way', she thought, 'He's going to take him away'. Tears were forming in her eyes. It was Tailmon being taken away by Vamdemon again. As she clenched her eyes shout, Hikari let out a cry. "Nooooo!"
"BABY FLAME!"
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"BABY... FLAME!"
BlackWarGreymon was surprised when he felt fire on his armored wings. He wasn't surprised at being attacked, he was surprised that the small attack managed to scratch him. He was even more surprise to find that the thing, no, the enemy that managed to put a mark on him was small. Tiny.
"You..." He didn't know why, but somehow, he felt a familiar vibe coming from the yellow lizard thing in front of him.
"Yeah. Me. Now let go of Taichi! BABY FLAME!" It shoot out a fireball at him and the fireball landed on his arm this time. Before he knew it he was encircled by other attacks.
"Blue Blaster!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Tsk." 'Other annoyances.' He jumped back from the attacks, evading them. In a second, he could feel a presence behind him beginning to strike.
"Light Speed Jabbing!" A cactus was attacking him with punches, faster than the speed of light. It was nothing for him, though. But as he made the effort to defend himself, he felt something slipped from his hand.
"Great job, Stingmon!" The insect Digimon took the chance to grab the brown haired boy and carry him to safety while BlackWarGreymon was distracted.
"Alright guys! Now's the time! ATTACK!" commanded the goggle-boy.
"X-Laser!"
"Blast Rings!"
"Tail Hammer!"
"Rosetta Stone!"
"Meteor Wing!"
"Needle Spray!"
"Marching Fishes!"
"Petite Thunder!"
"Air Shot!"
"Baby Flame!"
Meanwhile, as Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, Mimi, and Koushirou were supporting the Digimons to fight, Takeru, Hikari, Yamato, Sora, and Ken were surrounding Jyou who was tending to Taichi. Gabumon and Stingmon were behind them, keeping a look out if there was any stray attack from BlackWarGreymon or the other Digimons.
"Hikari-chan, are you okay?" The blond with the hat asked.
"I'm- I'm fine... but my brother is-" Hikari trembled, causing Takeru to frown in sympathy and putting his arm around her shoulders to keep her steady. If it were Yamato who was lying on the ground instead of Taichi, he was sure he would be in the same state.
Sora, who was kneeling beside the unconscious Taichi opened her mouth to ask Jyou, "How is he, senpai?" It didn't help that her voice trembled also.
The oldest member frowned. "His blood pressure is low..." He moved his hand and place it on his friend's forehead. "and he's got a high fever. He's bleeding from a few injuries but thankfully they all seem minor." As Jyou continued his diagnose, Yamato could only stare at his best friend's face.
It was Piedmon all over again.
He was late again.
From that moment on, all those years ago, he had promised himself he wouldn't be late if such a thing occured again. He would be there when Taichi needs him. He vowed.
...But look at where they are now.
Him, in this dark world (it was dark then too, he remembers distinctively), looking down at his unconscious and wounded best friend because of his tardiness. Clenching his fists while gritting his teeth, he accepted the fact that he was one of the reasons to his best friend being hurt. But he would curse himself for that later.
Now, he needs to deal with the other reason for the wounded Taichi.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
'This is getting out of hand', thought Koushirou. 'Sure, he's outnumbered, but BlackWarGreymon's a Mega, and that make's him stronger than all of the Digimons combined!' True to his words, one by one the Digimons around him were being knocked out by the virus Digimon. His friends seems to be thinking as their cheering turned from "Yeah, you go guys!" or "Kick his ass!" to "Come on guys, get up!" and "Damn it, he's too strong...!"
Thankfully, when Koushirou thought they were running out of options, his laptop went off. As he automatically turned his attention to open it, a familiar voice came out. "Koushirou-san!"
"Gennai-san!?"
True enough, he saw the old man on the screen on his laptop. "Thank goodness it finally came through. I see you're in a midst of a pickle. There's no time to explain, so listen carefully." That's Gennai-san alright! Late as ever, but also reliable! "I'm going to sent you a code. After I disconnect with you, I hope you'll quickly type and enter the code inside the application I just sent to you through my email. With that code, a portal will open and you have to get everyone through it so you can get to safety!"
"But where will we go?"
"I don't know." Koushirou wanted to scream in frustration. "But it will take you faraway from you worst obstacle at the moment."
Hearing a shriek from Birdramon and a scream from Sora who heard her Digimon's pain, Koushirou began to act. "Alright, Gennai-san, thanks for your help!"
"I hope you all manage to get to safety. I'll be in contact soon." And the screen went off.
He then quickly ran off towards the group surrounding Taichi. He quickly explained the situation to them while setting up the preparations for their escape, telling them that they only had one chance and the can't let BlackWarGreymon follow them in.
"We need to distract him, then." said Ken.
"With what?" started Takeru. "The Digimons fighting him are almost out of energy, plus he's a mega!" "If..." Everyone stopped their talking.
"If it were Onii-chan" Hikari murmured, hands holding her brother's limp hand. "If it were him, he'd jumped at the chance so we could all escape. Even without asking us."
"Hikari-chan..." The group went silent after that.
Then, Yamato stood up. "Yamato?" Jyou stood after his friend.
"You're right, Hikari-chan. Taichi would definitely do that." He turned to look at Taichi's lying form before nodding towards Gabumon. "That's why, because he can't do it at the moment, I'm the one who has to."
"Nii-san, he's a mega Digimon-" "I don't care, Takeru!" His shout silenced his brother. "...besides, I'm not stupid. Gabumon and I will fight only to distract him, I promise." he said to reassure his little brother. "Plus, are you forgetting that we have a Digimon who can Digivolve into a mega right here?" He smiles, nodding at his Digimon.
A look of realization went through the Chosen Children. It seems they did forget.
"But Yamato-san, we don't have our crests anymore, remember? How are you going to make Gabumon digivolve into MetalGarurumon?" protest Koushirou.
"Koushirou, remember when we fight Apocalymon? We don't need the crests because we never lose them. They're inside us. Besides... my best friend is right there, lying on the ground. If I can protect him... and making Gabumon digivolve is the only way to do it, then crest or no crest, I sure as hell will make him digivolve!"
A blue light suddenly appeared from Yamato's chest, radiating towards Gabumon. Gabumon can feel it. This power... it's so strong... it's-
It's Yamato's friendship!
GABUMON WARP-DIGIVOLVE TO... METALGARURUMON!
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"THEY DID IT!" Jyou screamed in joy while hugging the wide eyed Koushirou.
"Cocytus Breath!" BlackWarGreymon turned to his next attacker as he was about to finish Agumon.
"Cocytus Breath! Grace Cross Freezer!" MetalGarurumon continues to attack him while Stingmon quickly told the plan to the Chosen Children who were fighting alongside their Digimons. Soon after, all the other Digimons turn back to their rookie form and made their way to Koushirou with their human partners.
"Are you sure this will work, Koushirou-kun?" asked Mimi.
Koushirou, who was still setting up the portal answered, "Hai, Mimi-san, just give me a moment."
"What if we landed on the ocean though?" Miyako was scared of the thought.
"Don't worry, I'm here with you!" Gomamon said confidently.
"But can you hold this many humans and Digimons?" Miyako asked again, to which the small Digimon gave a hesitant reply with, "Uh, umm..." making Miyako panic more only to be consoled by Mimi and Hawkmon.
"Koushirou-kun, what's taking so long?" Sora asked, exasperated. It's not as if she hadn't been in this kind of dangerous situation before, but all those times, Taichi was there to lead them with confidence. Him being unconscious and quiet was something she wasn't used to, especially at a time like this.
Koushirou turned towards her and noticed that Taichi was being propped up against Sora. He was leaning backwards, head lolling against Sora's chest while her arms were around his shoulders protectively. He concluded that she was restless and was holding the other boy in that position unconsciously. Man, when Taichi-san wakes up, does he have a story to tell. He quickly averted his eyes back to his laptop and answered the red hair's question. "It's the fog, Sora-san, it's messing with the signal."
"Damn it, Koushirou-senpai, hurry it up!"
"I'm trying, Miyako-san, please be patient- no, don't hit my laptop! You of all people should know to treat this kind of stuff with delicacy!"
"I've got not delicacy when we're fighting to survive!"
Meanwhile...
"Cocytus Breath!"
"Great Tornado!"
"MetalGarurumon, dodge!" Yamato shouted. Thankfully MetalGarurumon managed to dodge the attack, but the situation wasn't getting any better because he was out of breath. It's not fair that their enemy wasn't.
"X-Laser!" The strike almost caught BlackWarGreymon, it missed him.
"Damn it, Daisuke!" The blond curses at the younger boy. "Stick to the plan!"
"Heh! I don't remember the plan being only you and MetalGarurumon get to be the 'heroes'! He acted his fingers in a quote at the word 'heroes' so BlackWarGreymon doesn't know their plan. Quite smart... for Daisuke.
"Besides..." The boy continued. "he hurt Taichi-senpai when I was there. I won't forgive myself for that..."
Yamato frowned. "Daisuke..."
Daisuke shook his head before raising his head, his face visible with anger as he pointed at BlackWarGreymon for the who-knows-how-much-by-now time. "But I won't forgive you more! Let's go, ExVeemon!"
"Right behind you, Daisuke!"
"Really... so reckless!" Yamato complained, yet he smirked at the boy's courage.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"IT'S READY!" shouted the Child of Knowledge. The group jump in joy and relief at the exclamation.
"Anddd... Enter!" Right after the boy pushed the 'enter' button on his laptop, a portal with rainbow color appeared in front of him. Not wasting any second, Ken and Takeru each move to Taichi's side to carry him through, with Sora, Hikari, and the others behind them.
When he finished counting everyone who had gone through, Koushirou yelled, "Yamato-san!"
Yamato turned to Koushirou and nodded. "Daisuke!" He called the younger boy. "We're done here! MetalGarurumon!"
"Got it! ExVeemon!"
At their partners' signal, MetalGarurumon and ExVeemon each manage one last attack at their enemy. "Freeze Bomber!" "X-Laser!" And their strikes hit.
Not wasting any second, Yamato and Daisuke grabbed the tired Tsunomon and Veemon and quickly ran towards Koushirou. Finally, the last three chosen jumped into the portal before it is closed and disappeared.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
BlackWarGreymon stood at the abandoned place he had just fought. Those humans.
Damn those humans for taking away his key to finding his answers!
Before, he was only feeling annoyance at them, but now...
He felt angry.
...
...When he finds them again, he will destroy all of them except the boy with his light.
He'll make sure of it.
.
..
...tbc
.
A/N: So I like a Taichi-centric story, sue me.