Myotismon hissed from Angemon's attack, dropping to his knees and hugging his torso. Hikari joined the other Chosen in a rousing cheer. Angemon hovered over the heaving undead digimon. "Have you had enough, or do you want some more?"

The vampire lord smirked, fangs peaking over dark lips. "Funny," he spat, "I was about to ask you the same question!" He leaped to his feet, twirling around on his feet as he threw open his arm. "Grisly Wing!"

Tailmon stood in front of Hikari with his arms outstretched, a vain attempt to shield her partner from the incoming onslaught of snarling, gnashing bats. The young girl could see from the corner of her eye Wizarmon rushing towards them, but not fast enough. Hikari held her breath and tensed, waiting for the end.

Someone leaped in front of them, someone who rushed in from the other side. Fear seized her heart but at the same time made her scream. "Taichi!"

The Light of Love

"Hikari! Hikari, you're having a nightmare."

The young girl opened her eyes and found Sora standing over her. The older girl gave a weak smile. "Hey, Hikari. Are you okay? Do you remember what happened?"

Hikari sat up and blinked to take in her surroundings; she was lying on a makeshift cot in the remains of the Fuji television station. Tailmon-no, Plotmon was curled up in her lap. She strained her neck to study the ceiling. She saw in her mind Taichi falling to the ground, her Crest of Light glowing, Tailmon evolving to Angewomon and impaling Myotismon with her arrow. The vampire kind vanished in an explosion of light but it was too late for her brother.

She tried to bite back tears but they still flowed freely from her eyes. Sora sighed. "I'll take that as a yes." She pulled Hikari into a hug and squeezed. "I'm so sorry."

The young girl felt Sora's tears mix into her own. "Where is he?" Hikari asked.

Sora sniffled. "You've been asleep for a few days. We…" She hissed and was silent.

Hikari twisted her head to look up at her. "Sora?"

The other girl opened and closed her mouth before sighing. She swallowed. "You passed out right after Angewomon deleted Myotismon, but when his attack hit Taichi, it did a lot of damage, and…" She turned away.

Hikari started heaving; her lungs seemed to have a mind of their own. "Where is he?!"

Sora turned back. "I'm sorry Hikari, but we already cremated his remains." She shook her head, "You wouldn't have wanted to see him."

In her mind, Hikari saw her parents and brother walking away from her, leaving her crying alone in a dark room. "No!" she screamed, "No! I need to see him!" She pushed Sora away and jumped to her feet, knocking Plotmon off her lap. "Taichi!"

Sora grabbed her and had to hold her in her arms to keep her from running. "Hikari! We had to!"

Hikari's body went limp and she sobbed into Sora's chest. "Everyone's gone! Everyone…"

Sora hugged her again. "I'm still here!"

"Yeah," Plotmon chirped, "So am I!"

Sora and Plotmon were both there with her. That was enough to slow her tears. Sora knelt down to look her in the eyes. "But we kept his ashes for you."

The young girl gasped. "What? Really?"

Sora nodded and brushed brown hair out of Hikari's face. "Yeah."

"T-then can we cremate Mommy and Daddy and scatter their ashes all together?"

Sora blinked. "Hikari, your parents are still alive."

The girl gasped. "What?"

"Yeah!" Sora's smile faded, "But they're all…well, Jyou thinks it's some kind of coma."

Plotmon blinked. "You mean, they're like, asleep?"

Sora chuckled. "That's one way to put it." She turned back to Hikari, "But the others are doing what they can to find out how to help them."

Hikari sniffled again and used her hand to dry her eyes. "Can I…can I see Taichi's ashes?"

Sora nodded and took her hand. "Sure."

She led Hikari, with Plotmon following, over to the other side of the building. A small shrine had been arranged, with a picture of Taichi leaning up against the urn. "Jyou helped us through everything. It was the best we could do," Sora explained, with a weak shrug, "We should have waited for you, at least, but, well, we weren't even sure that you…" She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. After a moment, she took a breath and continued, "But you pulled through just fine."

Hikari put her two palms together and bowed before the picture of her brother. Plotmon unable to stand on her hind legs, only bowed. "Thank you for saving me," she said.

"Plotmon," Hikari asked, "What happens to digimon when they die?"

"Usually digimon reconfigure back at a Primary Village," she explained, "Unless their data gets too degraded, but Wizarmon told me that it's not the same with humans." She stared at the floor, "I had no idea when I came here with Myotismon."

Hikari gasped. "Wait, where's Wizarmon?"

"He's fine," Plotmon explained, "He's out helping the other Chosen look around the city."

"He's been here a lot," Sora added, "Paying his respects to Taichi."

"What?" the young girl asked, "Why?"

"Because Taichi saved me too," Plotmon responded, "At that close range, Myotismon's attack might have destroyed my data, so I wouldn't have reconfigured."

Hikari stared at the picture of her brother, the full weight of what happened crashing down onto her shoulders. "He…he died because of me!"

"No!" Sora protested, "He died to save you. It wasn't your fault."

"She's right," Plotmon nodded, "Myotismon killed your brother, not you."

Hikari wanted to believe it, but she knew that was not true. "Can I see Mommy and Daddy?"

Sora nodded. "Sure. I was on my way to see my Mom too."

Sora studied Hikari as the young girl stared at her parents. Like all the other people in the room, probably most of the people on the island of Odaiba, Susumuu, and Yuuko Yagami lay on the ground, eyes closed, bodies unmoving save for the steady rhythm of their rising chests. The redhead stole a moment to turn to her mother, lying not far away.

"Sora, are you okay?" Piyomon asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

The pink bird studied her. "I know you're worried about Hikari," she whispered, "But it's okay for you to be worried too."

Despite herself, Sora smiled. "Oh, Piyomon,"

Hikari's shoulder twitched. "My fault, this is all my fault."

Sora winced; Jyou warned her about this. "No, it's not," she said, reciting what she had gone over in her mind, "You didn't do any of this."

"Myotismon came for me," she sniffled, "All these people are suffering because of me, Taichi's gone because of me." She cried, "I'm all alone!"

"No, you're not!" Plotmon protested, "I'm here!"

"Me too!" Piyomon chirped

"And so am I," Sora nodded, "So are everyone else." She knelt down to Hikari's level and rested her hands on her shoulder. She thought back to the first time Taichi invited her to his apartment and his little sister ran out to meet them, a smile on her face. She could remember attending both Taichi and Hikari's birthdays, watching the love shared by the two siblings, as an only child, a bond she never had. In her mind, she could see Taichi pleading with her to keep his sister safe.

"I'm here for you," Sora told Hikari, "I promise."

Piyomon and Plotmon cried out and the two girls turned, their mouths dropping open in unison as Sora's mother bolted to an upright position, staring forward with glassy eyes. "M-mom?" Sora asked.

Her mother continued to stare forward, but words came from her mouth that froze Sora's blood. "Lord Myotismon. Lord and Master."

The others sat up as well, adults and children alike, and all began chanting the same. "Lord Myotismon, Lord and Master."

"Sora?" Hikari gasped, taking hold of her hand.

The older girl pulled Hikari closer. "Let's get out of here. We need to find the others."

The girls ran out of the building just as a giant shadow passed over the moon. They gave a yelp and leaped backward, watching as a stream of bats fluttered overhead, descending towards a building further in the city.

"Bats!" Plotmon snarled, "I bet PiccoDevimon's around here somewhere!"

"Bats?" Piyomon gasped. She turned to Sora, "Do you think…?"

Sora bit her lip, cold anxiety washing over her. "It has to be."

Hikari blinked. "What is it?"

Sora pulled on her hand. "Come on."

They had run for only a few minutes when the building exploded, revealing a towering digimon covered in red and black fur; a demon complete with horns and two leathery wings. "What's that?" Piyomon screamed.

Plotmon shook her head. "I think the better question is who is that!"

Sora pursed her lips and ran forward, followed by the others. The demonic digimon started to battle two other digimon, a wolfman riding atop a giant horned beetle. Hikari watched with her eyes wide. "That's Yamato and Koshiro's partners, right?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, they're with us. WereGarurumon and AtlurKabuterimon."

Piyomon fluttered into the night sky. "I'm gonna give them a hand! Piyomon evolve to…"

She flashed through her evolutions to Garudamon and shot across the sky, catching WereGarurumon after the demon digimon backhanded him with ease. Plotmon and the humans continued forward until Yamato and Koshiro came into view. "Guys!" Sora shouted, "What's going on?"

"Sora!" Yamato heaved, "Thank god you're here. We're in big trouble!"

"Yeah, I can tell," she gasped. She pointed at the demon as he fought against the three digimon. "Who is that?"

Koshiro looked up from his laptop. "It's Venom Myotismon."

A chill shot up Hikari's spine and she squeezed tighter on Sora's hand. "Myotismon?" they said in unison.

"Yeah. He evolved again."

"I thought he was Fully Evolved!" Sora protested.

Yamato crossed his arms, "Apparently not. He's at some kind of Mega level."

"Where are the others?" asked Sora.

"I told Jyou and Mimi to get Takeru," Yamato answered, turning to Hikari "Good thing you're with Sora. I think we're gonna need you and Takeru."

Hikari blinked. "What? Why us?"

Sora turned to Koshiro. "It's that prophecy, right?"

He nodded.

Hikari tugged on the older girl's arm. "Sora? What are you talking about?"

"Yeah," added Plotmon, "What prophecy?"

"We'll explain in a minute," Yamato said, "The others are here."

Despite the situation, Hikari smiled slightly as Takeru arrived with Jyou and Mimi. Aside from Sora, she had only just met the Chosen, but Takeru was the same age. "Hi, Takeru."

"Hi," he responded, "What's going on?"

Jyou frowned at the battle occurring in the distance. "I see the situation hasn't gotten any better."

Mimi scowled. "Well, we're gonna help, right Palmon?"

"No!" Yamato ordered, "Wait." He nodded at Koshiro. "Go ahead."

Koshiro turned to Hikari. "Hikari, Plotmon, while you two were still asleep, we received a message from Gennai, who was sort of like our guide in the Digital World. He told us about a prophecy." He began reading from his laptop. "The sky will be darkened by the wings of many bats. The fallen people will invoke the name of the undead Digimon king and when the clock strikes the hour of the beast, the undead king will reveal himself in his true form as the beast. Then angels will shoot arrows of hope and light at the loved ones of those they've been sent to protect and a miracle will happen."

He looked back at the others. "Near as I can tell, PiccoDevimon and the rest of the bats devoured the remains of the digimon and gave that energy to Myotismon to revive him.

Sora nodded. "And everyone at the TV station just sat up and started calling Myotismon lord and master like they were in a trance."

Takeru pulled his crest from around his neck. "Hope? Like my crest?"

Plotmon gasped. "Then Light must mean Hikari!"

The girl studied her crest. "But what can I do?"

Koshiro sighed. "I've been racking my brains over that and I think I have a solution. Angemon and Angewomon have to fire arrows."

"At Venom Myotismon?" Mimi asked.

Koshiro shook his head. "No, think about it. Palmon was chosen to protect you, right? And who do you love the most?"

"My Mom and Dad, obviously," she answered.

"Right, but Takeru and Hikari have something else too." He then winced, realizing what he had said.

"Oh!" Mimi gasped, "They have brothers who-eep!" Her face turned bright red.

The girl felt her stomach drop. "But…but I don't have a brother anymore."

"Don't worry about it," Yamato said, "Takeru and I will do whatever we have to."

Takeru nodded. "Yeah!"

"Should we even try?" Jyou asked, "I mean, that prophecy was supposed to have both Yamato and Taichi. What if something goes wrong?"

"What do you want us to do then?" Yamato barked, "Get someone else to take Taichi's place?"

Hikari felt Sora tense next to her.

Venom Myotismon roared and smacked his palm into Atlur Kabuterimon. WereGarurumon leaped from Garudamon's shoulder and executed his Kaiser Nail attack. Venom Myotismon only laughed and spewed out a blast of flames that enveloped both digimon, throwing them to the ground before their partners in their Child forms.

"Piyomon!" Sora cried.

Yamato dropped in front of Gabumon. "Are you two okay?"

"I've been better," Piyomon responded, her head bobbing as she tried to stand.

Gabumon rubbed his head. "That guy sure packs a punch."

Mimi huffed. "You guys keep talking about that prophecy all you want, me and Palmon are going in!"

She and her partner ran for Venom Myotismon, Palmon evolving to Lillymon.

"Jyou!" cried Gommamon, "We've got to help!"

The older boy nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Hikari watched Gommamon evolve to Zudomon and then glanced down at Plotmon. "Can you help them?"

"Yeah, I think I've recovered enough energy, but are you sure you don't want to try that prophecy?"

"How?" she asked, fighting back the tears she felt pushing at her eyes, "Taichi's not here anymore."

Yamato smiled. "We've got it, right Takeru?"

The younger boy glanced at Patamon before looking back at his brother. "If you're sure." He grabbed his digivice. "Go, Patamon!"

Patamon evolved to Angemon and grabbed the beam of light that shot from Takeru's crest. The light twisted into an arrow, a bright yellow arrow. He pulled back his arm. "Are you ready?"

Yamato nodded, holding his breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Angemon was about to throw when Sora cried, "No, wait!"

She dropped down to look Hikari in the eyes. "Hikari, you have to hit me with the arrow of light."

"What?" Koshiro gasped, "Sora, you can't."

"Yes I can," she answered, "I've known Hikari for a while now. If Taichi can't be here then…"

"Sora, are you sure?" asked Piyomon.

Hikari shook her head. "But…but I can't."

"Yes you can," Sora replied, "Hikari, please, you need to try. We can't let our world be destroyed by Venom Myotismon, we have to try everything we can. If there needs to be two people in the prophecy, then I'm willing to try."

Hikari looked at Takeru and Yamato and then back at Sora. Her mind flashed the memory of only moments before, when the two shared a hug in the t.v. station. "I'm here for you," Sora said, "I promise."

The Crest of Light in her hand started to glow. "A-all right," she nodded, "Plotmon, go for it."

Plotmon evolved to Angewomon and hovered beside Angemon, grabbing the light from Hikari's crest, which, like Takeru's, turned into a pink arrow of light. Sora took her place beside Yamato. "Are you sure about this?" Yamato asked.

Sora held her breath before nodding. "If Taichi can't be here, then I'm going to take his place. I'll…" Despite herself, her cheeks darkened, "I'll be her big sister."

Beneath her shirt, her Crest of Love glowed.

Then she smirked. "Why, are you scared?"

"No!" he protested, "I was just, um…worried about you." His cheeks darkened. "But, I think you're the best person to watch over Hikari."

Beneath his shirt, his Crest of Friendship glowed.

"Are you ready?" Takeru asked.

They both nodded. "Yeah," Sora said.

"Do it!" Yamato ordered.

Angemon and Angewomon threw their arrows, the projectiles striking the preteens' backs. They were enveloped in a mix of yellow and pink light, which grew to include their partners. Hikari joined Takeru and Koshiro in holding her breath in what was an agonizing stretch of only seconds before two voices shouted out from the light.

"Gabumon warp evolve to MetalGarurumon!"

"Piyomon warp evolve to Hououmon!"

The light faded, revealing an unharmed Yamato and Sora.

"Woah," Yamato said.

"Cool," Sora grinned.

"Megas!" Koshiro exclaimed, looking down at his laptop, "They're the same level as Venom Myotismon!"

MetalGarurumon and Hououmon engaged Venom Myotismon with a combined assault of Cocytus Breath and Starlight Explosion. Takeru ran to Yamato's side while Hikari did the same for Sora. "We did it!"

The older girl looked down at her and for a moment, Hikari saw Taichi smiling. "Yeah, and VenomMyotismon is finished!"

Author's note:

I'm pretty brutal to Taichi, aren't I? Heh.

I'm torn on this story. I think it does well as a one-shot, but I also have some ideas for continuing it somehow. What do you guys think?