Hikari was devastated when healing her brother's body did not bring him back to life. She had hoped that if Taichi's body were no longer damaged, he would be alive again. But, it did not work. No matter how much she shook him or called his name, there was no response. She even tried using their mental connection, yet all she got in return was absolute nothingness from Taichi. The Light inside her was desperately trying to connect with the darkness that should be inside her brother, but it could neither sense it nor connect to it.
With a broken heart, Hikari continued to cradle her brother's dead body in her arms as tears ran down her cheeks.
"Onii-chan, please come back…please," pleaded Hikari as she tightened her hold on her brother's body.
"Hikari."
Hikari recognized her brother's voice and looked at the body in her arms.
"Onii-chan?"
"Look up instead."
Hikari did as told and immediately saw the spiritual form of her brother with a sad smile on his face.
"Hey, Imouto."
Hikari wanted to run over and hug Taichi, but he quickly spoke before she could.
"You'll probably go right through me if you tried to hug me, Hikari," he warned in a solemn voice.
But Hikari did not care. She gently placed Taichi's body on the floor before walking closer to her brother's spirit. She reached out her hand towards his.
Against his better judgment, Taichi stretched his hand to meet Hikari's. However, his hand immediately went through hers, proving that they could not touch.
"I'm sorry, Hikari," Taichi apologized, wishing he could physically connect with his sister.
Yet, Hikari was not deterred, and neither was the Light inside of her. A white aura surrounded her body as a look of concentration came on Hikari's face. She reached for her brother's hand once more, and this time, she could grab it.
"Hikari," said Taichi in amazement.
Hikari then settled for hugging her brother, and when she felt his arms encircle her to return the hug, a smile came to her lips.
"I missed you, Onii-chan," she declared as she faced him.
"I missed you too, Imouto," he replied with a smile of his own.
Even though she was holding her brother, Hikari could tell that the Light inside her was still troubled. Hikari was confused by this until she realized that she could not sense darkness in her brother as she usually could. This made her wonder if something was wrong, and the Light quickly began searching for any traces of darkness inside Taichi. The Light grew frantic when it sensed a lot of consciousness data blocking the darkness from it. The Light tried prying through the data to reach its darkness.
"Hikari, stop!" urgently proclaimed Taichi when he caught what the Light was doing.
Hikari frowned in confusion but coaxed the Light to draw back from her brother anyway.
"Why?" she asked.
"That data is what's keeping me safe right now. I'll explain it all later to you when I get the chance. But right now there are more important things that I have to tell you. So listen very carefully, okay?" Taichi told her in a severe tone.
Hikari nodded.
Her eyes filled with hope as her brother started telling her how she could help bring him back to life.
Fight for Life
Part 2
Taichi should have known that things were going too smoothly. Of course, something terrible was bound to happen sooner or later. And now here Taichi was, hiding in the castle that was being under attack. Taichi wanted to go out on the battlefield to help Lucemon and Belphemon, but the two Demon Lords refused to let him expose himself to their enemies. Taichi knew the two had a valid point. If one of the enemy Digimon caught sight of him, they undoubtedly try and finish him off for good. Still, that did not mean that Taichi liked hiding away from the battle like a coward either.
Taichi glanced in SkullGreymon's direction and could tell that his partner was just as unhappy about their predicament. However, Taichi knew that SkullGreymon would rather stay by his side to protect him than go out there and fight the enemy.
But the worse part about being under attack right now was the unfortunate timing of it all. After Taichi had contacted Hikari, the Digimon of Witchelny had been ready to perform the resurrection spell. Still, Taichi had wanted to let at least the two Demon Lords and his partner know before he left so they would not worry about him. Unfortunately, when Taichi returned to the Dark Area, he found a heated battle outside the castle. Taichi had been smart enough to not risk teleporting and found a safer way inside so he would not be spotted.
Once he was inside, he searched for someone who could explain what was going on. Taichi had soon run into Lucemon, who quickly explained that someone had caught wind of their plans to resurrect him and now an army of angels were at their door. The only good thing was that their enemy did not seem to know that he was here. Otherwise, they would have been searching around for him instead of battling the hordes of Demon Digimon.
But now Taichi was stuck. He could not teleport or try to sneak back to Witchelny without the risk of exposing himself. He did not doubt that things would be a million times worse than they are now if he was spotted.
Sadly, his time was limited.
Contacting Hikari had taken a lot of Taichi's energy. He had already felt incredibly weaker as a result. Taichi had planned to absorb more data when he entered the Dark Area, but he had been unable to with the battle going on. It had been almost an hour since he went into hiding, and Taichi could feel himself losing more strength every passing second.
If Taichi did not do something soon, he would cease to exist and then all of this would be for nothing.
Lucemon cursed as the onslaught continued. Lucemon was starting to regret not letting the remaining Demon Lords know that the Child of Darkness's soul was here. If he had, he knew they would have dropped whatever they were doing to come to Taichi's aid. But, with everyone knowing the child was dead, he had not wanted to risk someone discovering that the child's soul was in the Dark Area. Nonetheless, his decision to keep that a secret was for naught since the information had been discovered anyway.
As Lucemon continued fighting, he briefly spotted Belphemon, viciously tearing his opponents left and right. Lucemon was not surprised to see how determined Belphemon was to crush their enemies. Out of all of them, Belphemon was the most protective of the Child of Darkness, and it was shown through the violent way he was fighting. Watching Belphemon right now, one would think that he was the Demon Lord that represented wrath instead of sloth.
Lucemon finished off another opponent before going on to the next. As he battled, Lucemon caught sight of a SlashAngemon and LovelyAngemon in the fray. A surge of anger coursed through Lucemon. Lucemon rushed at the two angels and viciously attacked them in the blink of an eye. Lucemon was relentless as he fought the two angels. Every strike he made was lethal, and every movement he made was precise. He was not holding back at all.
Just when he was about to make the killing blow, he sensed Taichi teleporting out of the Dark Area. However, Lucemon was not the only one who felt it, as SlashAngemon and LovelyAngemon had picked up on it as well. Lucemon was both irritated and worried. He knew Taich would not have risked teleporting right now unless it was an emergency.
SlashAngemon and LovelyAngemon had the gall to forgo the fight with Lucemon and pursue Taichi instead. But Lucemon would not allow them to get away that easily. Lucemon cut them off before they could get far and immediately resumed his assault on the two Digimon to keep them from following Taichi.
Lucemon wanted desperately to prolong this fight and make these two suffer for murdering the Child of Darkness, yet time was of the essence. He knew that others in the enemy's army had probably sensed the child using his powers too and would start hunting him down as well. There was no way Lucemon would allow any of them to harm the darkness's chosen child any further.
Lucemon swiftly deleted SlashAngemon and LovelyAngemon and collected their data. Lucemon guessed that Taichi must be getting weaker and would need more data to sustain himself. Lucemon figured that giving Taichi the two angels' data to help strengthen him would be a much more fitting end for them.
Lucemon quickly met up with Belphemon. They both knew where Taichi had most likely teleported to and hastily made their way to Witchelny
Taichi and SkullGreymon barely made it to Witchelny. With Taichi growing weaker and teleporting both him and SkullGreymon, he did not have enough power to teleport them to their destination. However, knowing that the army of angel Digimon would not be too far behind them, there was no time for them to relax. The two rushed to Brocken Mountain and hoped they would reach the top before it was too late.
Lucemon and Belphemon, along with their army of Demon Digimon, were slaughtering and collecting data of all they could on their way to Witchelny. Unfortunately, they knew that some of the enemy's soldiers were still further ahead of them. At the rate they were going, the two Demon Lords worried that they might not make it on time to save Taichi. So with a quick nonverbal exchange between them, they came to a decision.
Belphemon began attacking those in Lucemon's way while giving all his collected data to the fallen angel. Lucemon shot Belphemon a grateful look before using his senses to locate Taichi and speeded off to him.
Taichi hated that he had to continue and leave SkullGreymon to fight off their pursuers. He wished he could have stayed with his partner to help him, but SkullGreymon reminded him that his energy and time were getting shorter by the second. Knowing that SkullGreymon was right, Taichi had no choice but to resume climbing to the top of the mountain on his own.
When Taichi finally reached the top, he let out a relieved sigh when he saw the familiar school of magic only several feet away. Taichi rushed towards the school and called for help when he entered the building.
But, when someone did answer his call, the response was a sword aimed at his throat instead.
"You lied to us, Tai…or should I refer to you as Child of Darkness," Mistymon coldly stated as he narrowed his eyes down at Taichi.
Taichi remained calm even though a sword was at his throat.
"I never lied," replied Taichi causing Mitsymon to scoff.
"Lying by omission is still lying, child," the Digimon retorted.
A feeling of irritation came over Taichi at that moment.
"Well, what did you expect me to do?! I'm dead because I'm the Child of Darkness, and now I have a whole army after me trying to finish me off because of it! So, forgive me for having some trust issues when it comes to announcing that I'm the Child of Darkness to anyone!" irately shouted Taichi.
Mistymon held Taichi's gaze for a second before lowering his sword. The anger had left the Digimon's face, and sympathy took its place instead.
"I see," muttered Mistymon before a firm expression crossed its face.
"You do not need to fear us, Tai. We in this dimension do not discriminate against the darkness like those from the dimension you come from. We will continue to help you regardless of who you are."
Taichi was surprised and eased when he heard this.
"Thank you, Mistymon," said Taichi with a smile.
Mistymon nodded before he frowned.
"You said that there is an army after you?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, even though I left SkullGreymon to deal with the ones that caught up to us, I'm not sure he can hold them off for long," admitted Taichi.
"Then we best be quick. Come, Tai, we can't waste any another second," proclaimed Mistymon.
Taichi agreed and followed Mistymon deeper into the school.
Lucemon soon arrived at Brocken Mountain and came across SkullGreymon, who was still battling against the swarm of enemy soldiers. Seeing that the Undead Digimon was starting to get overwhelmed by the numbers, Lucemon hastily stepped in to assist him.
With Lucemon's help, all of the soldiers were quickly dealt with. Lucemon knew it would not be long before more of the enemy's army arrived.
"Where is Tai?" Lucemon asked, having noticed that the child was not with SkullGreymon.
"I told him to go on while I held off the enemy. He should have reached the school by now," replied SkullGreymon.
"Good, let's hope they can keep him from fading long enough for me to give him the data we collected for him," stated Lucemon.
Understanding that time was of the essence, Lucemon and SkullGreymon rushed to the top of the mountain as fast as they could. SkullGreymon and Lucemon had arrived at the top only to see the inhabitants of Witchenly already fending themselves against the many angel soldiers. The two did not hesitate to join the battle.
Taichi could hear the sounds of battle happening outside the school. He was both honored and guilt-ridden that many of the Digimon he befriended here in Witchelny had willingly chosen to fight to help protect him. Once the angelic army had arrived, the Digimon of Witchelny had not hesitated in fighting them. Taichi just hoped that none of them would end up losing their lives just to protect him, but realistically Taichi knew that would not be the case. He wished he could do something to help all the Digimon who were risking their lives for him.
"Tai," called Witchmon, bringing Taichi's attention back to her.
"I know you're worried about everyone, but you need to stay focused. This resurrection spell is very delicate. We can't afford to make any mistakes," Witchmon reminded him.
"I know it's just…I feel kind of bad for getting so many Digimon involved in my mess. They're fighting out there for me, and I can't even help them," admitted Taichi with a solemn expression on his face.
Witchmon gave Taichi a sympathetic look.
"Trust me; I get it. I would love to go out there to help them, but I am needed here more. Completing this resurrection spell for you is more important than my desire to fight. Everyone is risking their lives so you can get yours back. So, let's make sure their actions won't be in vain, alright?" she replied with an encouraging smile.
Taichi realized that Witchmon was right. He could not afford to lose focus now.
"You're right, Witchmon. This is where we need to be," he agreed.
Her smile grew at hearing this.
"Then let's get to work," she enthusiastically announced.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Just follow my lead," she told him as she called forth her magic into her hands.
Taichi nodded as he immediately called forth the darkness into his hands.
Witchmon almost seemed elated by the display of power from Taichi.
"Now do what I do," she instructed as she made several movements with her hands that caused magical symbols to appear in front of her. She then made a few more gestures before the signs were placed on the floor in a half-circle pattern.
Taichi mimicked the movements perfectly, making the same symbols appear before him and bringing them to the ground to complete the other half of the circle.
"Wow, you're a natural. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Child of Darkness would be good at employing dark magic," praised Witchmon bringing a slight blush to Taichi's cheeks.
"Well, I did learn a lot from watching you guys these past weeks, so if anything, it means that you guys are excellent practitioners," Taichi humbly answered, making Witchmon grin in response to the compliment.
"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's continue," she said, and the two immediately got back to work on preparing the spell.
Yet as they continued working, the sounds of battle from outside were getting louder and more chaotic. Numerous explosions could be heard in the background, along with the cries of Digimon, who were being deleted. Occasionally, the ground beneath them shook because of a sudden impact caused by a Digimon or an attack.
Taichi tried very hard to ignore it.
"You know, when we found out that you were the Child of Darkness, I wasn't all that surprised," suddenly spoke Witchmon.
Taichi realized that Witchmon was providing a much-needed distraction and gladly capitalized on it.
"Oh, how come?" he asked back.
"Well, for one, when we tested to see which element best associated with you, darkness was the most predominant for you out of all of them."
Taichi was surprised to hear this since he had not known they had done such a test on him.
"When did you guys do that?" he asked.
Witchmon allowed a slight smirk on her lips.
"Remember when you first came here and Sorcerimon played that game with you?" she asked back.
Taichi's eyes widened in realization.
"He used that to see which element favored me the most," commented Taichi.
"Exactly. We needed to know which elemental magic would work best on you before we tried anything after all," she answered coyly.
"Oh," was all Taichi said.
"Also, the news about LovelyAngemon and SlashAngemon finally defeating the Child of Darkness had been spreading rapidly throughout the Digital World. So when you suddenly popped up and explained that you had recently died and wanted our help to find a way to bring you back to life, it was too coincidental. Honestly, part of me was waiting for you to come clean and tell us yourself."
Taichi immediately felt guilty about keeping who he was from Digimon that had been nothing but helpful to him.
"I'm sorry, I should've told you," Taichi remorsefully stated.
"There's no need to apologize. After seeing how much the angels are willing to do to destroy you, I don't blame you for keeping it from us. I would be hesitant to trust anyone if I were in your shoes," admitted Witchmon.
"I admit that I don't trust many Digimon or humans for that matter," began Taichi before giving Witchmon a caring look. "But I'm glad that you and the other members of Witchelny are among the ones that I know I can trust."
"I'm glad too, Tai," Witchmon said with a smile.
"Taichi," he told her with a smile of his own.
Witchmon was moved that Taichi had willingly given her his real name. It showed just how much Taichi trusted her. It was only fitting that she returned the gesture.
"Sadera."
Taichi did not expect Witchmon to share her name with him as well but understood that this meant that she trusted him just as much as he did her.
Taichi and Witchmon smiled at each other, knowing that their friendship deepened because of their ensured trust in one another.
The two were soon finished preparing the spell and were now ready for the next step.
"Alright, Tai stand in the center of the circle and get ready," instructed Witchmon.
Taichi nodded and was able to stand in the circle until he felt an immense pain course throughout his whole being.
"Ahh!" he screamed while falling on his knees.
"Tai!" Witchmon exclaimed in concern as she rushed to the boy's side. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Even though this had never happened before, Taichi instantly knew why he was suddenly in a lot of pain.
"It's SkullGreymon. He's hurt really bad," answered Taichi.
Before Witchmon could respond, a Wizardmon burst urgently into the room.
"More angels have come and are overwhelming our forces. It won't be long before they cut us all down and find a way to break through the barrier around the school," he told them seriously.
"How much time do we have left before they get inside?" Witchmon asked him.
"Five minutes at the most," he replied.
Witchmon cursed at the news. The resurrection spell would take at least seven minutes to complete fully. Still, at this point, they would have to try the spell regardless. Hopefully, they could finish the spell before it's too late.
"We'll begin the spell now. Hold them off as long as you can," she said to Wizardmon.
"Understood," he declared before leaving the room to rejoin the battle.
"Come on; I'll help you to the center," she told the boy as she helped him to his feet.
However, Taichi was reluctant to proceed further after hearing how bad the fight outside had become.
"But I can't just leave SkullGreymon and everyone when there is a literal war going on outside! They will all be deleted at this rate! I have to do something to help them!" remarked Taichi with an anxious but determined expression on his face.
"Tai, the best thing you can do right now is getting your life back! If you don't, then everyone's sacrifice will be in vain!" vehemently retorted Witchmon.
"I know, but…I'm the Child of Darkness for crying out loud! There has to be something that I can do!" frustratingly proclaimed Taichi.
Witchmon gripped Taichi's shoulder and forced him to look right into her eyes.
"We're wasting time. You need to be at the center of that spell circle now. Do you understand me, Tai?" she stated firmly.
Taichi knew that Witchmon was right, yet there was a part of him that still refused to give up. He was sure that there was a way for him to help his partner and friends who were out there fighting for him.
At that moment, Taichi felt the darkness inside him responding strongly to his desire to protect the ones he cared for. The darkness had been moved by his passion and drive to help, and it was ready to carry out his wishes. A resolved look came on Taichi's face as he now knew what he could do to help them. Taichi concentrated as hard as he could on the bond that he shared with SkullGreymon before giving every ounce of power he had left to his partner.
Witchmon realized what Taichi was about to do and started to panic.
"Taichi, don't! If you give up too much of your power, you might not have enough energy left for you to endure the resurrection spell!"
Nevertheless, Taichi would not be deterred.
"I have to do this Witchmon! I won't let everyone die because of me!" Taichi declared boldly.
Witchmon was both frustrated and awed by Taichi's willingness to do whatever it took to protect his allies. Taichi could be very stubborn at times, and she knew that nothing would change his mind at this point.
"I can at least help get your stubborn ass in that circle while you're giving all of your power away," Witchmon said with an amused tone in her voice.
A light laugh came from Taichi at Witchmon's words as she helped carry him to the middle of the magic circle.
SkullGreymon was barely holding on as data was leaking heavily from the injuries on his body. At first, he, Lucemon, and the Digimon of Witchelny had been able to handle the incoming of angel soldiers and delete them quickly. Yet, many more had eventually come and started to overwhelm them with their massive numbers. If it were not for the fact that Belphemon had shown up with more of the Demon Digimon army, they would have probably been deleted already.
SkullGreymon also knew that he was at a significant disadvantage in this situation. He was stuck on the ground while most of his opponents used their ability to fly against him. He was also one of the few Perfect Level Digimon fighting against most Ultimate Level Digimon. It was a miracle that it had taken this long for someone to land a critical hit on him. At least he had been able to delete the opponent before they could land another blow.
Unfortunately, SkullGreymon's body was disintegrating more into data as the number of angel Digimon continued to grow. But no matter the odds, he refused to quit. He had failed to protect Taichi once, he would not fail again. He would continue fighting down to his last data byte.
As if the Undead Digimon's resolve had moved fate itself, Taichi's voice reached him.
SkullGreymon, please take my power and use it to protect everyone!
Something in SkullGreymon immediately reacted when he heard Taichi's plea. The Digimon could sense Taichi's desire to fight and protect their allies through their bond. The Undead Digimon's face showed determination as his desire to protect Taichi, and their comrades erupted inside of him. Suddenly, SkullGreymon's data was reforming before he was encased in a cocoon of pure darkness.
"SkullGreymon Dark Ultimate Evolution!" SkullGreymon proudly shouted as he felt his body growing and transforming into a new shape.
The fighting was put on hold as every Digimon witnessed the unexpected evolution amid the battle. The angel Digimon sensing just how dangerous and powerful this new evolution would be tried to attack SkullGreymon before he could finish evolving. However, Lucemon, Belphemon, and the Digimon of Witchelny prevented the angels from reaching the Undead Digimon.
The dark cocoon suddenly burst open as the new figure emerged with a proud roar of his name.
"SkullWarGreymon!"
Everyone was shocked by this new form of the Greymon evolution line. SkullWarGreymon looked similar to WarGreymon except for his red skin and spiky black hair. Instead of the armor and weapons being made out of pure Chrome Digizoid, they were made out of skeletal bones coated in Cursed Chrome Digizoid. Its pupilless green eyes shined with intensity and fortitude as it glared at all of the angel Digimon in his sight.
SkullWarGreymon swiftly acted as he released a mighty war cry.
"Curse Wail!" he shouted, causing his voice to send out dark waves of energy across the whole battlefield.
Even though the attack stuck everyone within range of it, only the enemy's forces were affected. The Curse Wail not only paralyzed all the angel Digimon but was also depleting their energy. Seeing that the enemy was now incapacitated, SkullWarGreymon flew high into the air and lifted its claws above his head.
"Move!" was the only warning SkullWarGreymon gave as a gigantic reddish-black sphere of deadly energy swiftly formed above his head.
Those who could move headed the Undead Digimon's warning and hurriedly got out of the way of what would no doubt be a devastating attack.
I won't fail you, Taichi! I'll protect everyone!
"Death Gaia Force!" shouted SkullWarGreymon as he launched his attack at the enemy below.
After deleting the first wave of the angelic army, more had come, only to be quickly wiped out by SkullWarGreymon. The Undead Digimon was swift and brutal with his attacks, obliterating his opponents in seconds. Lucemon could not help but be amused when he saw that SkullWarGreymon was unaffected by any purifying or light-based attacks the angels tried to use on him. It was clear that the power of darkness was empowering SkullWarGreymon and shielding him from their attacks.
Lucemon wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. The angels had gone after Taichi because they feared that the Child of Darkness would lead to their destruction. Yet it was their very actions that led to the birth of SkullWarGreymon, who was singlehandedly slaughtering every angel Digimon in his wake. It was hard for Lucemon not to continue enjoying watching SkullWarGreymon; however, getting to Taichi was more important.
With SkullWarGreymon taking care of the majority of the enemy, Lucemon hurriedly found a Sorcerimon so that he could open the barrier for him. The Sorcerimon complied and made an opening big enough for Lucemon to enter before instantly closing it behind the Demon Lord. Now inside, Lucemon rapidly entered the school to search for Taichi.
Lucemon was relieved when he found the boy. He noticed that a Witchmon was supporting Taichi as they stood together inside the magical circle. Seeing how exhausted and drained Taichi was, Lucemon could not help but chuckle.
"You really can't help playing the hero, can you, Tai?" questioned Lucemon in a teasing voice.
"I'm pretty sure I'm more of an anti-hero at this point," joked Taichi.
"True," remarked Lucemon with a grin before gathering up all the data he collected into his hands.
"Take this data. It should be enough to replenish your strength."
"Thanks, Lucemon," Taichi gratefully said as he absorbed the data that Lucemon gave him.
Taichi looked much better now that his energy was fully restored. Taichi then turned to the Witchmon beside him.
"I can stand on my own now. Thanks for your help Witchmon," he told her with a warm smile.
The Witchmon returned the smile.
"You're welcome, Tai," she replied before her face became thoughtful.
"You know, I think you should have enough energy for the communication spell too. That way, you can let your sister know exactly when she needs to be ready."
"That's a great idea! Let's do it!" happily agreed Taichi.
"Alright then, I just need to add the Communication symbols to the spell, and that should suffice," explained Witchmon.
"Do you want me to help?" asked Taichi.
"No, you need to save your strength for these spells, Taichi. So you better not do any more stupid self-sacrificing power-draining feats again, or I'll finish you off myself." Witchmon replied sternly even though a hint of mischievousness was in her eyes as she said it.
"Yes, Witchmon-sempai," Taichi said in a teasing tone.
Witchmon playfully rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips before adding the new symbols to the spell circle.
From their exchange, Lucemon could tell that Witchmon and Taichi had gotten closer during their time together. Lucemon was not surprised by this. Taichi was a natural when it came to building relationships. The child was like a magnet. He would pull you in, and before you knew it, you found yourself becoming attached to him.
It was that very reason why he and his fellow Demon Lords had grown to care for Taichi. It was why SkullWarGreymon had defied death and hell itself to protect Taichi. It was why the Digimon of Witchelny were willing to join a war that was not their own and fight for him. And it was one of the reasons those of Light feared him. Taichi was able to connect with those around him no matter how difficult or different they were and could make them all work together when needed.
A sudden revelation hit Lucemon at that moment. Now, he understood why the Darkness had selected Taichi to be its Chosen Child.
Lucemon almost burst out laughing. The angels thought that the Darkness wanted to use its Chosen Child to conquer the Digital World. Instead, the Darkness wanted to use Taichi to help bring harmony to it.