The sky was choked with endless dark clouds that smothered all light, plunging the land below into deep gloom. Under that oppressive sky, you could see, etched into the ground, craters hundreds of meters across and dozens of meters deep. These craters stretched one after another across the continent without end. Seen from high above the Digital World, the entire landmass looked like a shattered ruin.
Out at sea, countless black whirlpools were devouring the boundless ocean. One after another, Digimon who had survived the great battle let out cries of despair as they were swallowed. Even Ultimate-level Digimon who had once ruled their regions of the Digital World couldn't escape once the whirlpools' gravity got hold of them—they were dragged in without a trace, not even so much as a splash.
The Digital World once had vegetation even more abundant than the human world. Now, the vast, endless forests had become fields of smoking ash. Here and there, small tongues of fire still flickered from half-burned chunks of charcoal. There was no green anywhere in the forest—not even a single blade of grass had been spared. Only a few surviving Digimon stood there in a daze, staring at the home that had vanished before their eyes.
The mountain ranges had been pulverized into something like a desert. Majestic peaks that had once scraped the sky were gone, shattered by the energy blasts that rained down during the battle and ground into dust. When the wind blew, it whipped up waves of sandstorms and turned the sky a lifeless gray.
What now appeared before the children was a world utterly in ruins—completely different from the Digital World full of life in their memories. Even at the height of the Dark Masters' era, the Digital World had never looked this bleak and desolate. Back then, at least it had still shown signs of life. Now… there wasn't even a hint of it left.
Every one of the children was stunned by the sight of the current Digital World on the screen.
"How could this happen…?" Sora murmured blankly.
"This is really the Digital World?" Matt couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"No way… no way…"
Mimi covered her eyes with both hands, refusing to look any longer.
"Isn't the Digital World made of data? How could it be destroyed to this extent?"
Izzy's head was full of questions.
"Why? Why…?"
Kari kept repeating the question, but no one had an answer for her.
Tai walked forward in silence and tapped a few keys, switching the image on the screen.
Now, what appeared before the children were seven enormous domes of light, each a different color. Inside each dome were many Digimon of all kinds, their eyes still filled with lingering panic—the terror of the recent battle had not yet faded.
At the center of each barrier, a Holy Stone's light shot up, then spread out at the top into countless beams, forming these protective shields that had saved so many Digimon's lives.
Then the image on the screen shifted again, and the new scene made the children's eyes light up.
"Piximon!"
T.K. shouted in delight.
But what came next left them all horrified.
Piximon thrust his spear, and the vast barrier forest he lived in appeared within the Digital World. Countless Digimon, desperately dodging lethal blasts from nowhere, sprinted toward Piximon's barrier as fast as they could, hoping to escape the mysterious attacks.
Piximon kept swinging his spear, diverting incoming energy blasts away to uninhabited areas.
At last, the Digimon had all made it inside the barrier. Piximon hurried to close it. But just as only a sliver of the barrier remained exposed, another energy blast came hurtling in.
Piximon quickly unleashed his special move, "Primal Bomb."
When the flames cleared, the energy blast was still there, unchanged, and about to smash into the barrier.
Inside, the Digimon's eyes were filled with despair.
Exhausted, Piximon's eyes flashed with resolve. He glanced once around at the Digital World, then his entire body began to shine with light. He burned his own Digicore, trading his existence for a massive surge of power that slammed into the energy blast head-on.
Fire engulfed the sky, dyeing it a violent red—like Piximon's own blood.
The barrier disappeared. The Digimon within the Digital World were saved, but Piximon had sacrificed himself.
"Why…? Why do they have to fight? How long are they going to keep fighting like this?"
Mimi sobbed into her hands.
"Why did they have to come here? If everyone just stayed in their own world, wouldn't there be no fighting at all?"
T.K. couldn't understand. Witnessing Piximon's sacrifice had shaken him to his core.
The Digital World no longer resembled its former beautiful self. It had become dim and bleak, torn apart and broken everywhere. Seeing this shattered Digital World made the children's hearts ache.
All around the control hall, everything was in pieces as well. It no longer had the clean, tidy, sci-fi look it once did. And it wasn't just this hall—the whole of Tai City had been reduced to a ruin. Black smoke and flames rose everywhere. Rubble and twisted metal covered the streets, and countless mechanical Digimon lay collapsed on the roads, sparking with electricity. Whether Champion or Ultimate, none of them had been able to survive in a battle this intense.
File Island too was wreathed in black smoke and flames. Half the island had sunk beneath the sea, and the half that remained was battered and broken.
"Everyone."
Tai looked around at the children.
"Once again, the Digital World needs the power of the Chosen Children. We need to draw out the power of the Crests in our hearts and use it to restore the Digital World."
"Restore the Digital World?"
Question marks popped up in everyone's head.
"How are we supposed to restore it?"
In Sora's mind, she immediately pictured herself holding a needle and thread, literally sewing the Digital World back together.
Ignoring the various bizarre images forming in the others' imaginations, Tai continued.
"To fend off the encroaching darkness, the Digital World is already using every last bit of its energy. There's no power left to spare for repairing itself. That's why we have to use our strength to restore it."
"So what should we do?" Izzy was the first to ask.
"Our Crests correspond to the emblems in our hearts. All we have to do is bring out the power within ourselves. But…"
Tai paused when he got this far.
"But what…?"
Matt asked, puzzled.
"If it's important, just say it all at once."
"The power in our hearts that corresponds to our Crests is the key that lets our Digimon evolve to Ultimate. If we use that power to repair the Digital World, then until it recovers, our Digimon won't be able to evolve to Ultimate at all."
Tai's voice dropped low.
Everyone looked at their partner Digimon with complicated expressions.
"Come on, guys."
Agumon stepped forward.
"Yeah. We're talking about saving our Digital World."
Gabumon chimed in.
"Right, right. It's not like we're in the middle of a battle now anyway."
Tentomon added in his Kansai lilt.
"Even if we can't evolve to Ultimate, it doesn't really matter."
Palmon followed up.
"As long as I'm with Sora, I know I'll be able to evolve again someday."
Biyomon flung herself into Sora's arms, nuzzling against her.
"That's right, T.K."
Patamon fluttered his wings and looked up at his partner.
"Let's do it, Joe."
Gomamon clambered up onto Joe's shoulder, waving his flippers.
"Get down, Gomamon, you're heavy."
"Kari."
"Gatomon…"
"Yeah." "Mm."
The two of them answered in unison.
"Let's go, everyone."
Out in an open space outside, Tai spoke with a serious expression.
"Yeah."
Seven voices responded in unison.
The orange of Courage, the deep blue of Friendship, the red of Love, the purple of Knowledge, the green of Sincerity, the silver-gray of Reliability, the gold of Hope, and the pink of Light—
Eight beams of colored light shot up into the sky. At the top of each beam floated a Crest, the emblem of each child's heart.
High above the Digital World, the beams converged into a single rainbow-colored sphere of light that shone down on the world below.
The pink light of Light turned into firm lines that connected all the missing and shattered pieces of the Digital World, forming a vast grid. Then the other colors began filling in the gaps.
The green light of Sincerity restored the forests.
The silver-gray light of Reliability healed the ocean.
The purple light of Knowledge reshaped the land.
The orange light of Courage raised the mountains.
The deep blue light of Friendship mended the rivers.
The red light of Love drove away the dark clouds and lightning.
And the golden light of Hope brought brightness back to the Digital World.
Life returned to the Digital World. The barren ground turned green again, covered in flowers, with butterflies and bees flitting through the air.
"It's so beautiful…"
Mimi breathed in awe at the sight before her.
"But how is this possible? Weren't there no butterflies or bees in the Digital World before? And where did all this grass and these flowers come from?"
Izzy asked, his head once more full of question marks.
"I think it's because the Digital World was restored using our power," Tai said. "That brought along some things from the human world as well.
From now on, the Digital World probably won't just be a world of pure data anymore. It might become a world that truly exists, just like ours. And Digimon won't just be data either—they'll be real living beings."
"That's wonderful. Gatomon is really alive now."
Kari said, helping her partner up.
After the children poured out the power of their Crests, the Digimon began to grow listless. Bodies that had been brimming with strength now felt weak, as if all that power had drained away.
The children helped their exhausted partners to their feet, gently asking how they felt. Only after confirming they weren't hurt did everyone finally relax.
The Digital World was alive again. Everywhere they looked was filled with the vibrant greens of new life and the colors of flowers.
The children played to their hearts' content with their Digimon. Laughter rang out across the grasslands, washing away the sadness of being unable to evolve to Ultimate.
They immersed themselves in the joy and happiness of being reunited with their partners, and for the moment, they stopped worrying about anything else.
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