Yang-Yin
Chapter Thirty-three: “In Brightest Day”

There was no fanfare as Koji arrived suddenly at their base, no explanations for what happened to him, nothing. The others just stared at him in complete surprise as he walked past, as if he had never been gone for a month or so.

“Koji?” Zoë asked.

“Hey, great to have you back,” J.P. said.

Koji seemed to ignore them, just walking past them without even looking at them. As Zoë and J.P. gave each other confused looks, Tommy asked, “Are you okay?”

Takuya got up and walked over to him. “Koji?” He stopped, but he didn’t look over at Takuya. Worried, Takuya reached for Koji’s arm, then paused when he remembered that Koji wasn’t fond of physical contact. But this behavior was too weird to be busy worrying about his comfort. Takuya grabbed his arm and asked, “What’s wrong?”

There was no answer. Now, frustration was compounding Takuya’s worry. He pulled Koji around to face him and was disturbed to see a too-serene, impassive face, not quite meeting his gaze. Alarmed, Takuya nearly started shaking him, demanding, “Buddy, snap out of it! Koji, can you hear me?”

One of Koji’s hands seized his wrist. He glanced down in surprise before looking back over at Koji, who had finally decided to make eye contact with him. He looked a bit annoyed, but there was something wrong with it. In fact, there wasn’t anything right about it. Takuya was used to getting glares and various other annoyed reactions from Koji. This? His eyes didn’t seem to focus on him, almost like he was seeing someone completely different. This was just… “Broken” seemed to be the only word that worked for it, other than “wrong.”

As Koji broke free from his hold, Takuya was left watching him leave, feeling deeply unsettled. There was complete silence as he vanished into the depths of their base, before finally, Zoë found the courage to speak.

“I thought Lady Ophanimon was supposed to be helping him.”

“Yeah,” Takuya answered, his voice betraying his doubts. “Me too.”

-------

Teruo awoke with a jolt, seeing Katsuharu leaning over him, holding his hands down.

“Another nightmare?” Katsuharu guessed.

“I think so,” he answered, sitting up. “I can’t remember, though.” Then, seeing that Katsuharu was rubbing the side of his face, he asked, “Did I hit you?”

“Yeah, but badly aimed,” he replied. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve had worse.” Teruo hesitated before nodding.

“Sorry if I woke you.”

“Nah, I was up,” Katsuharu said, and Teruo noticed a troubled look on his face. “Couldn’t sleep. I’ve got a bad feeling about everything. I think we’ve been here too long.”

Teruo nodded again. “Yeah. I think something’s going to happen.”

Katsuharu snorted. “I know something’s going to happen. With our record, and with Chiaki’s spy deal exposed? I’m surprised we haven’t been attacked already.”

“So what do we do?” Teruo asked.

“Get ready,” Katsuharu ordered. “I’m waking everyone else up. We’re getting out of here.”

It didn’t take long to pull the half-asleep Warriors and Digimon out of bed, but any annoyance at being woken up was quickly overcome by adrenaline when Katsuharu explained why he and Teruo thought they needed to leave. Packing enough provisions for the road went fast, and they left without telling a soul. Even the guards surrounding the city didn’t see them cut through the shadows and slip away.

They walked several miles in silence, too tense to speak. The sense of danger was everywhere—in every tree, rock, and shadow. They had no idea where they were going—only that they needed to get out of here and off the continent as soon as possible. Finally, Katsuharu stopped in the woods, looking all around for any sign of their mysterious threat.

“Okay,” he said at long last. “I think we’re…”

“Not yet!” Teppei shouted, as a tree fell near them.

They dove out of the way, and Teruo and the Digimon ran for cover as the attack became substantially less subtle. It was death from above. Missiles fired down all over the place, blowing huge holes in the ground and blasting trees into splinters. Without a second thought, the four Warriors evolved to their highest levels and waited for the next attack. There was a tense silence as they just waited for the hell to come. The Beast-types were set to attack and the Fusion-types held their weapons at the ready. No one dared breathe for fear of breaking the uneasy calm. No one wanted to be to blame for the next assault.

Suddenly, it happened; just as soon as it had ended, it began again. More missiles burst from the sky and lasers fired down. Xolotlmon shouted, “Scatter!” and they did so without hesitation. Smoke and dust stirred up all around them, making it hard to see where another attack might come from—from the sky again? Or was it the sudden bite of cold blue flames rushing through them from all sides, almost all at once?

“Damn it,” Ymirmon swore, “why doesn’t he just show himself already?”

There was no question that it was Koji, of course, and they all were ready for him. Or at least, they thought so. A sudden voice behind Koichi said with insane calm, “Good to see you, Brother.”

Koichi barely had time to dodge the slash coming from his back, and he whipped around to follow up with an Ebony Blast, but Koji blocked it with a gauntlet before extending his arm out to his brother again. The missiles and laser shot out toward JagerLoewemon, who desperately tried to get out of the way.

It became some sort of signal to the others—protect Koichi at all costs. Xochitl flowers went flying into the missiles, cutting them in half and detonating them. They could do nothing for the laser, which did hit JagerLoewemon, but Calmaramon was fast in retaliation. Acid Ink was projected toward Beowolfmon, who deftly leapt above it and out of the way, but Ymirmon was ready for him. With a fierce cry, he swung his mace, but Beowolfmon held his sword broadside-out in defense. He caught the weapon and defused the explosive force behind it before whipping both mace and wielder off to the side, intent on fighting Koichi and Koichi alone.

JagerLoewemon had recovered and was preparing a Dark Master, just perfect as Beowolfmon summoned his Frozen Hunter again. Both darkness and light charged one another, and for a moment, they were at a stand-still. Neither could quite surpass the other, but JagerLoewemon’s claws tore through the illusory wolf soon enough and he continued his charge toward his brother. Beowolfmon swung his sword at JagerLoewemon, narrowly missing as JagerLoewemon fired a point-blank Ebony Blast into his chest. Beowolfmon went staggering back, and Koichi expected to see fury on his face. But no, nothing but a smirk marred the calm, and even then it hardly looked like there was any emotion behind it.

“What…happened to you?” Koichi asked, his voice barely above a whisper in horror.

The smirk became an insane smile. “After your lies left me confused, it was up to Mother to set me straight again, though with a few…improvements. You won’t be attacking my mind any time soon. My mind is completely clear for the first time in my life.”

While Koichi was still struggling with the extent of the brainwashing his brother had gone through, Teppei had clued in on a key word in the monologue: “Wait a second, ‘Mother’?”

“He can’t mean Ophanimon…” Katsuharu realized.

“I don’t need to be Teruo to know the literature pointing to ‘hell yes, he does,’” Teppei answered. “And if he’s this brainwashed and crazy…”

“No kidding,” Katsuharu agreed. “Everybody, keep Koichi safe and let him have it.”

Beowolfmon had his sword raised, apparently ready to decapitate JagerLoewemon. Before he ever got the chance to, Calmaramon slammed into him, yelling, “Koichi, don’t just stand there, fight!”

The shout roused him again, and he changed evolutions, settling for the disadvantage his Human Spirit gave him in terms of power, but knowing he needed a weapon and two legs. As he ran back into the battle, Ymirmon was unleashing Ragnarok and panting from the exertion.

“Are you okay?” he checked.

“Don’t worry about me,” Ymirmon insisted. “Just go to hell on him.”

Loewemon nodded and ran in shooting, with the meteors of Ragnarok smashing into the landscape around him. Beowolfmon’s agility was hampered by his heavy sword and clunky armor, giving Loewemon that much more ground to stand on, and he shot a powerful Shadow Meteor toward him. Beowolfmon tried to raise his sword to block it, but roots and vines had entangled around his weapon, forcing him to drop it.

“Now, you think we’re going to make it that easy for you?” Xolotlmon asked, double-teaming him with Calmaramon. Poisoned blossoms threatened to cut into his armor’s weak points, and Acid Ink was ready to make more weak spots if Beowolfmon dared to try and get out of the way. He was forced to block the flowers with his gauntlets all the while trying to avoid the acid, leaving him easy prey for the Shadow Meteor. It blasted him clear into the path of more acid, which burned his skin through the cloth of his armor and ate at the metal.

Meteorites were falling toward him as he lay on the ground, so he had to quickly move to avoid a messy death. Loewemon waited for him to get up, holding his staff at his side rather than in attack position. Koji saw this and sneered.

“So, you’re refusing to attack while I’m down, how noble,” he mocked. “Don’t expect the same favor from me. You may not intend to win in this battle, but I certainly do.”

“Koji, I’m sorry,” he answered, his voice low.

“Well, you should have thought of that before you spoke,” Beowolfmon replied, swinging his sword.

Ymirmon popped out of the ground suddenly, using his mace and his own considerable strength to block the swing. It gave Loewemon enough time to jab the bladed end of his staff into Beowolfmon’s weakened breastplate. It tore through, but Loewemon was careful not to stab too deeply and risk piercing his brother’s heart. He ripped his staff out quickly, exposing the holes. Beowolfmon had instinctively drawn back at the hit, leaving Ymirmon’s mace free to bash into the breastplate, creating a massive dent and jamming the sharp edges of the holes into Koji’s chest.

“So much for being sorry,” Beowolfmon said.

“I am,” Loewemon insisted, “but I’m not backing down. You’ll just have to accept both.”

“Better get down on your knees if you’re going to beg my forgiveness,” Beowolfmon spat. “Even then, I won’t show it to you.”

“Good to know,” Xolotlmon said, summoning the broken trees and hurling them at him.

“Means we don’t have to hold back either!” Calmaramon agreed, spewing more acid.

The attacks came in all forms, over and over. Ymirmon created earthquakes to throw off Beowolfmon’s balance while he also helped Loewemon fight in armed combat. Calmaramon eventually gave up spewing Acid Ink in favor of slamming into him with Titanic Tempest whenever he had her friends down. Xolotlmon pummeled him with everything the Spirit of Wood encompassed—the trees and roots, the weeds and grasses, flowers and petals, pollen and more. What didn’t beat down on Beowolfmon aided in tripping him and throwing off his center of balance enough that his sword was becoming a liability. Finally, Loewemon changed evolutions once more to JagerLoewemon and charged up a Dark Master while the others kept Beowolfmon busy. When they saw that he was ready, they quickly fled, leaving an unsteady Beowolfmon easy prey for the dark attack rushing through him.

Koji hit the ground and devolved as the dark power faded and Koichi did the same. Both struggled, but finally it was Koichi who made it to his feet first, and with a weary smile, he held up his prize—the Human Spirit of Steel.

“You did it,” Calmaramon marveled.

Koji let out a bitter laugh. “You think this is the end of it? Mother will avenge me. She won’t abandon me.”

“Hate agreeing with the kook, but he’s got a point,” Ymirmon said. “We need to run like hell now.”

“Let’s get Teruo and the Digimon and get out,” Xolotlmon decided.

“Come on,” Calmaramon insisted, giving a hand to Koichi.

He took one last look at his brother and whispered, “I’m so sorry,” before taking Chiaki’s hand to escape. He tried to convince himself later that he didn’t hear the sounds of derision, but he couldn’t quite delude himself as well as Koji could.

-------

It was only when they reached the ruins of a castle buried deep in the woods that the Warriors finally settled down to rest. They gathered food and firewood and set up camp in the catacombs, but no one felt all that hungry. Koichi, in particular, didn’t bother eating. He transferred the Spirit of Steel to Teruo’s D-tector and sat against the wall, staring off into space.

“Are you okay?” Teruo asked.

Koichi shook his head. “How could Koji believe something like that? It doesn’t make any sense!”

“Well, I’ve got an answer,” Teppei said. “If you want a good one, though, I’ve got nothing.” Koichi didn’t react, and Teppei frowned before adding, “Face it, he doesn’t want to believe you. He’d rather believe what Ophanimon’s feeding him, no matter how little sense it makes, because he can’t stand the thought that maybe his life isn’t as perfect as he thought it was. Think about it—if you were in his shoes, if you were on the other side and you knew that you had a brother that your mom wouldn’t tell you about and your father tries to tell him you don’t exist, wouldn’t you do the same?”

Unable to answer that question, Koichi got up and wandered off deeper into the catacombs. As everyone was about to follow him, Chiaki said, “You know, one thing I noticed about Ophanimon while I was undercover? Being around her was like being around a mom, or at least an ideal mom—warm, comforting, willing to listen… She never orders and she never yells. She makes you want to please her.” She looked down. “That’s what I think makes her so dangerous.”

Katsuharu sighed. “Koichi never hears this, got it?” The others nodded. “Come on. Let’s make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid right now.”

They made their way down, deeper into the catacombs, following the signal of Koichi’s digivice. Eventually, it led them to a long, dark staircase with a bright light at its end—bright enough to see Koichi lying unconscious on the steps.

“Koichi!” Chiaki cried, as they raced down the stairs.

Katsuharu made it there first, and he immediately began to check him for injuries. But the moment he touched him, Koichi’s form flickered, and Katsuharu felt his fingers slide right through his body.

“Did you guys see that?” he asked. When they nodded, he said, “This is getting weirder all the time.”

“It’s not the first time something like this has happened,” Bokomon explained to Chiaki. “After you—well, attacked him, he had no injuries whatsoever when he should have. In fact, he’s never really been hurt.”

“What’s going on?” Chiaki asked, giving Koichi a puzzled look.

Koichi moaned suddenly and opened his eyes. Seeing the others standing over him, looking worried, he asked, “What happened?”

“You tell us,” Teppei said.

Koichi sat up and began rubbing his head. “Don’t know. My vision got blurry—kind of staticky for a minute. Then I was dizzy, and I guess I passed out.”

“Are you okay now?” Chiaki asked.

“Yeah,” he answered, getting to his feet. “I’ll be fine.”

As the others helped Koichi get to the bottom of the stairs, Teruo grabbed Katsuharu’s arm to pull him back.

“What’s up?” Katsuharu asked.

“He was rubbing his head again,” Teruo said.

“Yeah,” Katsuharu agreed, looking grim. “Left side, if you noticed.”

“But he was lying on his right side,” Teruo pointed out, puzzled.

After a moment, Katsuharu sighed. “Don’t say anything, okay? The last thing he needs right now is more to worry about.”

“Yeah,” Teruo agreed. Neither wanted to admit that they weren’t sure they wanted to know what was really wrong with him either.

They joined everyone at the bottom of the stairs to find a bright mausoleum. Everyone stared around in surprise until finally, Bokomon said, “This looks familiar.”

“Yeah,” Koichi agreed. “It’s like the atrium at the village of the Demon Lords, except without all that darkness.”

“Well, that’s a good sign,” Teppei deadpanned. “It’s like the village of all evil except without the evil.” Chiaki promptly hit him.

Katsuharu had stopped listening and instead walked over to a massive tree in the center of the mausoleum. Its diameter was easily the size of Petaldramon, and the trunk was covered in ivy and blossoming vines.

“Bokomon, any idea what this place is?” he asked.

“I can’t say,” he admitted. “The book has absolutely no information. But if I had to guess, I’d say this was a memorial of some kind.”

“Or a tomb,” Teruo suggested, his voice low.

“Yeah, funny thing about tombs?” Katsuharu asked, digging through the ivy. “They usually contain something.”

His fingers brushed up against something hard and cold. He yanked the ivy as hard as he could, and as if responding to his Spirit, it fell away to reveal a series of shattered crystal sarcophagi. Bokomon and Neemon screamed in terror and rushed to cling to each other while Patamon and Lopmon dove out of their way.

“Calm down,” Katsuharu insisted. “They’re empty.”

“Katsuharu, seriously,” Teppei said. “When a coffin’s empty, that’s usually not a good thing!”

“But here?” Chiaki reminded him, and he scowled. She grinned in reply.

“All I’m saying is that we ran into this kind of thing before,” he replied. “Remember IceDevimon?”

“I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about that,” Katsuharu said. “Whoever these guys were, they got out a long time ago. Besides, look at the designs of these things: crystal with gold plaques? Who would seal someone evil like that?”

“Seraphimon was sealed like that,” Teruo pointed out, but slowly he came forward and looked at the sarcophagi. “But this does look different. More like they’re being honored. Heroes.”

“Guys?” Koichi called from the other side of the tree. They made their way over and found him pointing at a pair of sarcophagi. “I don’t think everyone got out.”

The two sarcophagi were still whole with figures sleeping within the crystal. As everyone stared at them in amazement, Bokomon read the plaques.

“This one belongs to Dynasmon,” he said, reading off the plaque of the left sarcophagus. “And this one is Crusadermon. According to this, they were part of an order called the Royal Knights, and they were sealed in deep sleep after fighting in the war against Lucemon.” He frowned suddenly and flipped through his book.

“So they are heroes?” Teruo asked.

“It’s hard to say,” Bokomon confessed. “The language is a little archaic and ambiguous. The way it was written, it could indicate either that they fought against Lucemon or simply that the war itself was against Lucemon, without revealing which side they fought on. And to be honest, the book is hazy on the Royal Knights’ alliance too.”

Patamon and Lopmon moved to get closer to the sarcophagi, and Teppei warned, “Whoa, hold on there! You don’t want to get too close.”

Chiaki smirked. “Why, Teppei? Scared?”

Teppei held up his hands. “Look, all I’m saying is we should be careful this time. I know, it’s me, but don’t you think that’s a good reason to listen? Besides, every time we decide to poke the ancient artifacts, something happens.”

There was suddenly a glow coming from Patamon and Lopmon, followed by a hum.

“…Like that,” Teppei muttered.

The glow and the hum grew more intense, and the kids had to step back, closing their eyes and covering their ears. The humming became loud enough to crack the crystal, and it finally shattered completely. As it did, the light and noise faded and Patamon and Lopmon woke as if from a trance.

“Okay, that was weird even for us,” Katsuharu admitted as Bokomon went over and started mother-henning Patamon and Lopmon.

There was a moan coming from one of the sarcophagi, and the kids remembered that there had been Digimon still inside them. They looked over to see Crusadermon and Dynasmon trying to emerge from their cases, but they were not entirely awake yet from their long slumber, and they slumped over. Koichi and Teruo hurried over to help support them.

“Easy,” Teruo said.

“We’ve got you,” Koichi added.

“Who are you?” Dynasmon asked.

“Don’t worry,” Teruo insisted. “We’re the Legendary Warriors.”

“Legendary Warriors?” Crusadermon repeated in surprise.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps echoing from the stairs. Immediately, the kids got into defensive stances. Holding his D-tector, Katsuharu said, “Well, looks like we’re going to have to protect the Knights.”

It wasn’t a long wait. Takuya was the first to make it down the stairs, and the moment he saw the Warriors, he began running toward them, quickly followed by the others.

“You guys didn’t even evolve?” Teppei asked. “I’m insulted!” Chiaki shot him a look while Katsuharu rolled his eyes.

“Looks like our lucky day,” Takuya said. “Ophanimon told us to investigate this place, and what do we find?”

“All the traitors, lined up in a row,” Koji finished. “Mother will be pleased.”

“Mother, right,” Teppei mocked. “I can see the family resemblance, but don’t make me picture the birth.”

Katsuharu froze and suppressed a shudder. “Thanks for that mental image.”

“Anytime,” Teppei replied while Chiaki hit him.

“Guys?” Katsuharu called.

“We’re on it,” Koichi affirmed, setting Crusadermon against the sarcophagus while he grabbed his D-tector. Teruo followed suit.

“Ready?” Takuya asked.

“Just about to ask you the same thing,” Katsuharu dared.

“Execute Spirit Evolution!”

It was possibly a one-in-a-million chance that the ten Warriors would gather in this very spot and try to use the Spirits simultaneously. So, naturally, it happened.

At once, the Fractal Code wrapped around the ten Warriors, just as it normally did. That was where normal ended. Before any of them could transform, the Code unraveled around them and began to connect the D-tectors together in a large circle. The Spirits flew out of the D-tectors and came to rest before their keepers. Leaves changed color and fell, the earth trembled and grew spires, water burst forth from underground and rained down, liquid metal trickled from the soil and pooled at their feet, and shadows danced around them. Fire burned, wind blew, lightning crackled, snow fell, and light shined. And then as suddenly as the elemental storm had started, it ended, and everything fell at their feet. The elements pooled together and combined, and a runic circle formed beneath them out of golden light. The Fractal Code of the area showed itself, and the ground vanished under their feet.

“What’s going on?” Takuya demanded.

“You’re asking us?” Teppei asked.

White feathers burst up from the abyss beneath them, and a white light shot up to settle above them. The ten looked up to see the figure of a winged young boy, apparently asleep.

“This is not good,” Koichi realized.

“Who is that?” J.P. asked.

Bokomon didn’t even need his book. Trembling, he answered, “I’m afraid that’s our greatest fear realized: Lucemon.”

And the children stared in horror as the digital tyrant opened his eyes.

This chapter title comes from the iconic Green Lantern Oath made famous by Hal Jordan. Major inspirations for the scenes of Koji’s newfound insanity come from Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.