Digimon Dark Worlds Tri: Screeching darkness

“No... Not again...”

Lily sat alone in a dark, endless void, feeling the presence of the many cold, dark shadows all surrounding her, their hundreds of beady, soulless eyes piercing right through her...

“Lily... Did you... Miss us...?” The voices all whispered her name, echoing louder and louder as Lily covered her ears, struggling to make the voices go away...

“No... Please... Go away...”

“Lily... Lily... LILY...” The shadows all closed in on her, their cold, dead hands slowly creeping towards her...

“No... GO AWAY!! PLEASE!!”

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Lily was rustling around heavily in her sleep, whimpering loudly as Taeka, Dracomon and Lopmon shook her, trying to wake her up.

“Lily, what’s wrong? Wake up, please!”

“Lily, you gotta wake up!” Taeka and Dracomon both plead, but to no avail. Lopmon then hopped onto the bed, raising her big floppy ears...

“Lily... WAKE UP!!” As Lopmon slapped Lily in the face, finally jolting her awake.

“Ow... Wha... What the...” Lily sat up in her bed, wiping some tears off that were streaming down her face.

“Oh, thank god you’re finally awake...” Taeka says. “Lily, are you alright?”

“No, I...” Lily whimpered, more tears streaming down her face. “I had another one of those nightmares again...”

“Again...? I thought those started going away after our last adventure?” Taeka asks.

“They did, but they’re back again... Why is this only happening to me?” Lily’s hands shook with fear, covering her eyes. “Oh god, something bad is happening, I know it...”

“Lily, don’t worry, it’s gonna be ok...” Lopmon speaks to her softly, her, Dracomon and Taeka all comfortingly giving her a hug.

“Lily, don’t worry... We’re gonna find out what’s going on here, and then we’ll make sure all these nightmares finally go away once and for all... Alright?” Taeka says, everyone letting go of the hug, Lily wiping off most of her tears.

“We should probably get going soon, Lily...” Taeka says. “Jazmine’s bringing her brother, the new Digidestined, to the convention center room to meet everyone. We don’t wanna be late for that...”

“Yeah... Alright...” Lily weakly responds, Taeka giving her a reassuring smile.

“Come on... We’ll pick up a big coffee for you on the way there.”

Sometime later...

Taeka, Lily, and Erik were all waiting patiently in the convention center room, alongside Guidemon and Herissmon of course, waiting for Jazmine and Liam to show up. Axel, Cora, and Blaine weren’t here, all of them looking around outside for more clues instead, the three of them planning to meet Liam later on that day.

“They’ll probably be here any second now...” Erik says, looking at his watch.

“Man, this is really exciting!” Taeka says. “I hope this guy is nice...”

“Hey, everyone!” Everyone suddenly heard Jazmine’s voice, seeing her and Vorvomon walk into the room. “It’s so nice to see you all again! Look, I brought donuts!” Jazmine holds up a big donut box, her smile fading to curiosity as she looks around the room. “Hey... Where’s the other three?” She asked.

“They’re out looking around for clues or whatever.” Taeka responds. “Said they’d come back here again later.”

“Ohhh, alright then. Ok... Well, everyone, meet my brother, Liam! And his partner, Jazamon!” Jazmine steps asides, Liam and his partner casually walking into the room...

“Ah... Hey. It’s nice to meet you all.” Liam shyly waves, his voice a bit quiet and deep, with a light Jamaican accent. Liam was also a pretty tall guy, with a more buff frame to him.

“You must be the other Digimon then...” Jazamon says, looking over at the other Digimon. “It is nice to meet you all...”

“Yeah, you too, Jazamon! I always love meeting new friends... It’s so exciting!” Labramon excitedly exclaims.

“Come on everyone... Let’s all eat together!” Vorvomon exclaims, Jazmine lowering the donut box to him as he promptly grabs it, all the Digimon running to another side of the room and immediately chowing down.

“Liam, I met all these people through Erik... And his partner Labramon too of course.” Jazmine says, pointing to Erik and Labramon, Liam eyeing both of them curiously.

“Yeah, I remember you telling me everything last night...” Liam pauses, raising an eyebrow when he eyes Labramon. “Jazmine... You seriously thought that Digimon was a dog?” Liam says sarcastically. “You damn airhead.”

“Agh, I know... But you didn’t seem him before. He did such a good job at pretending to be a dog!” Jazmine says, her and Liam chuckling a bit.

“Liam, it is really nice to meet you...” Erik says, smiling as he motions for them to come over to them. “Come on you two, sit down with us!” 

Liam and Jazmine happily sit down at the tables, everyone asking Liam a bunch of questions right away.

“So, Liam... When’d you meet Jazamon?” Erik asks.

“A pretty damn long time ago...” Liam responds. “I was 14 when I met her. It was around the same time Jazmine met Vorvomon as well...”

“She looks like a pretty powerful Digimon...” Taeka says. “How strong is she?”

“Pretty strong, actually. It’s only happened once, but I have managed to Digivolve her to the ultimate level one time...” Liam says, everyone gasping quietly.

“Yeah, it’s really cool...” Jazmine says. “I wish I could get Vorvomon to Digivolve to the ultimate level! I’ve only gotten him to Digivolve to the champion level so far...”

“That is pretty impressive, Liam...” Lily says.

“Eh, it’s not that big of a deal.” Liam says, shrugging. “I don’t even know how it happened, actually...” Liam paused, looking back at Jazamon with a small smile on his face. “If y’all want a more interesting story, I can tell you guys about how I met Jazamon...”

“Ooh! Yeah! Tell us!” Taeka excitedly bursts out, Liam chuckling to himself quietly. 

“Heh... I still remember that day, like it was yesterday...”

Flashback...

It was a Monday, later on in the afternoon as all the kids roamed the hallways. Liam walked down the hallways, his fists balled up as they shook with anger, looking for a specific group of people that’d been really getting on his nerves lately. As he walked, he finally spotted the group of bullies, the ones who’d constantly been harassing Jazmine lately.

“HEY!!” Liam yelled at the bullies, stomping towards them. “My sister told me you were harassing her again yesterday...” Liam hissed. “I am so sick of you guys bullying her constantly!! Would you guys just knock this off already?!” Liam’s threats didn’t scare the bullies that much, the group only raising their eyebrows at him as they giggled. “Oh, I’m sooo scared...” One of the bullies remarks sarcastically. “If we don’t... What are you gonna do about it?” The bully then steps forward, pushing Liam...

WHAM!! This makes Liam immediately retaliate, punching the bully in the face hard enough to make him fall to the ground, earning a bunch of gasps from the other students around them.

“HEY!! What’s going on here?!” A teacher suddenly approached them, Liam turning around to face him. 

“L-Liam is crazy!” The bully he punched lied, the group of bullies now putting on a fake terrified facade. “H-he just came out of nowhere and punched me!”

“W-what?! I did not! I just...”

“I don’t wanna hear any excuses!” The teacher snaps, quickly cutting off Liam. “Liam, I’m taking you to detention... NOW.”

“WHAT?! Oh, come on! You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Liam shouts. “These people started this! They’re the jerks here, not me!”

“Don’t talk back to me!!” The teacher snaps back. “Now, come with me to detention now, unless you wanna make your punishment even worse...”

Liam sighed with defeat, not saying a word as he followed the teacher out of the hallway... And as Liam was walking, he knew he could hear the bullies all snickering quietly behind him.

Sometime later...

Liam was the only kid in detention, his head slumped over on a desk in pure boredom as another teacher quietly sat on the other side of the room, casually typing on a computer.

‘Ugh, I can’t believe I ended up in detention like this...’ Liam thought to himself. ‘Of course the teacher had to walk in the second I punched him... Some luck I have. Man, I’m bored as heck, I wish they’d just let me leave already. I feel like I’ve been in here a million years...’

“Hey, did you guys see that weird little creature earlier?” Liam heard some of the students talking outside in the hallways, turning his attention to the conversation. 

“Yeah, it was like some weird little robot thing! I tried approaching it but it just ran away from me.”

“How weird! We should totally go look for it.”

‘Weird... Robot creature? What’s that all about?’ Liam thought to himself.

Ding! A loud beep was heard on the teacher’s computer, the teacher groaning in annoyance as he stood up, heard towards the door.

“Urgh, I gotta leave for a few minutes...” The teacher says, looking down at Liam. “Don’t leave this room while I’m gone, alright?”

“Yeah yeah, I won’t...” Liam grumbled, the teacher immediately leaving the room, and closing the door behind him.

THUMP!! Almost immediately the second the teacher leaves the room, a loud thumping noise is heard from a nearby cabinet. Liam quickly stands up, cautiously looking at the cabinet the noise came from... As it suddenly bursts open, Jazamon popping out.

“Finally... That man is gone.” Jazamon said quietly to herself. “Now I can-“ Jazamon quickly froze when her and Liam made eye contact, staring at each other with the same shocked expression.

“Whoa, I... I thought I was alone in here...” Jazamon mumbled to herself. “D-don’t freak out kid, I’m not here to hurt you...”

“I’m not, I just...” Liam cocked his head at Jazamon curiously, taking a few more steps closer to her. “What... Are you exactly?” He asks.

“A Digimon. I’m from the Digital World.” Jazamon sternly responds.

“Digimon...? The Digital World...?”

“No offense kid, but I don’t really have time to explain everything to you right now... I have something important to do.” Jazamon tries to exit the room...

“Hey, wait!” But Liam stops her in her tracks. “You seem pretty cool actually, Jazamon... I don’t know what you’re doing in our school, but whatever it is... Maybe I can help you out?”

Jazamon was silent for a bit, looking down at the ground as thoughts swirled around in her head, finally speaking up. “Well... I’m actually looking for someone important... There’s a dangerous Digimon lurking around this school, and I need to find him and stop him. I’ve tried asking some of the other kids at this school for help, but most of them just attack me or run away...” Jazamon pauses, looking curiously at Liam. “Hey... How come you aren’t scared of me?” She asks.

“Er, I honestly don’t know...” Liam replies. “I’ve seen a lot of weird things in my life... In all honesty, you seem more cool to me then anything.” Liam paused, looking back at the empty teacher’s desk. “Hey, since the teacher is gone now, I can help you find that bad Digimon, if you’d like... Not like I have much better to do right now anyways.”

“Woah, really? Thanks kid. I really appreciate that.” Jazamon says. “But before we go fight him, I need to go and look for my Digivice. I know where I left it, but I’m not gonna be able to grab it without getting spotted by the other students out there...”

“Hmm... Maybe you can hide in my backpack then?” Liam kneels down, opening up his backpack as he shifts a few books around, making enough room for Jazamon to squeeze herself inside.

“This’ll work perfectly.” Jazamon responds. “Thanks, um... What’s your name?”

“Liam. And yours?”

“It’s Jazamon. Thanks again, Liam.” Liam zips his backpack closed, leaving a small opening for Jazamon to look around, as he slips it on, exiting the room. Liam slowly makes his way down the hallways and stairs, until he arrives in a secluded, empty hallway in the basement, Jazamon hopping out of his backpack. “This basement... This is exactly where I left my Digivice.” Jazamon says, motioning towards the end of the hallway. “I was fighting that bad Digimon in one of those rooms at the end... That’s how I lost it.” Liam gulped nervously, looking at one of the doors at the end of the hallway that Jazamon was pointing to.

“Liam, I know this Digimon is pretty dangerous, so this is gonna be pretty risky...” Jazamon says. “I don’t want you to get hurt or anything.”

“Don’t worry about it, Jazamon...” Liam says, taking a deep breath. “I can handle it. Can’t possibly be much worse then all these bullies at school...”

“Bullies? What have they done?” Jazamon asks.

“They constantly harass my sister just for being different...” Liam says. “And every time I try to fight them back and defend her... I get in trouble instead. That’s why I ended up in detention today.”

“Whoa, that sounds pretty bad...” Jazamon says. “They sound just as bad as these evil Digimon.”

“Yeah, I know... But hey, if I can handle dealing with those bozos for years straight, I can handle this evil Digimon.” Liam says, Jazamon nodding in agreement. “Alright... Just stay behind me.” Jazamon says. The two carefully look down the hallway, slowly tiptoeing their way through the darkness. The hallway had a pretty creepy ambience to it, only barely being lit up by a flickering bulb at the end. 

‘Man, this place is creepy...’ Liam thinks to himself. ‘I’m normally never allowed down here...’ 

The two eventually made their way to the room the Digivice was in, reading a label above the closed door, which read: ‘Freezer room.’

“Be careful. He might still be in there.” Jazamon whispers, Liam nodding as he slowly opened the door... The second he opened it, they were both hit with a rush of cold air, slowly walking inside the big freezer room, a dark room filled with shelves of frozen food, barely lit up by a soft lightbulb...

Beep... Beep... The two could hear a soft beeping noise, seeing a soft light at the end of the room... Coming from the Digivice. The two slowly creep towards the Digivice, Jazamon running forward as she tries to grab it... But Liam sensed something moving around in the darkness...

“JAZAMON!! WATCH OUT!!” Liam ran forward, pushing Jazamon out of the way...

WHAM!! “OWW!!” As Liam gets attacked, getting roughly slammed into some shelves.

“Liam! Are you alright?!” Jazamon panicked, Liam groaning as he rubbed his head.

“Oww, ugh... I’m fine. Jazamon... Look behind you.”

Jazamon slowly turned around, gasping as she face to face with a taller Digimon, gasping as she glared up at him. “It’s you... Exermon.”

“DEFIBRILLA SHOCK!!” Exermon whacked Jazamon with his palms, delivering a powerful electric shock.

“TAP-TIPPING PICK!!” Jazamon pecked at Exermon, but it didn’t do much damage, Exermon whacking Jazamon to the ground as he runs out of the room.

“Urgh... Get back here!!” Jazamon chases after Exermon, the two fighting it out in the hallway.

“Hmm...” Liam looked down at the Digivice, grabbing it as it suddenly shines brightly. Liam then runs back out into the hallway, watching the two Digimon fight, Jazamon freezing when she noticed the Digivice glowing.

“Whoa... Wait a minute...”

“DEFIBRILLA SHOCK!!” Exermon takes this distraction to attack, Jazamon grumbling with pain as she struggles to stand up.

“Jazamon, get up! I know you can do this!!” Liam shouts.

“Oh... Liam...” Jazamon slowly stands back up, the Digivice suddenly bursting with a powerful light, Jazamon’s body glowing...

“JAZAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...”

“...JAZARDMON!!”

“Whoa... What the...” Liam stared in shock at his partner’s new form... Jazardmon. Jazardmon was now a lot bigger, towering over the smaller Exermon, having to basically hunch over to fit inside the hallway.

“...LASER EYE!!” Jazardmon suddenly blasts out some powerful lasers, Exermon dodging the attack. Exermon quickly then leaps up the stairs and out of the basement, Jazardmon flying after him.

“Aw crap... Come back here!” Liam quickly runs after them...

CRASH!! And he suddenly hears the sound of glass breaking, running upstairs to find the two had broken through a big window, and were now fighting outside. Liam quickly runs outside, a bunch of kids and teachers following after him, everyone watching the two fight.

“DEFIBRILLA SHOCK!!” Exermon tries to attack, but Jazardmon dodges with incredible speed, flying up into the air...

“SONIC VULCAN!!” Jazardmon then fires from the machine guns on her shoulders, a bunch of bullets hitting Exermon and damaging him greatly. Jazardmon then tackles Exermon to the ground, pinning him down...

“LASER EYE!!” As he blasts one last attack, quickly poofing Exermon to dust.

‘Whoa... She’s ridiculously powerful...’ Liam thinks to himself. “Nice job, Jazardmon!” Liam calls to Jazardmon, but she completely ignores him, flying up into the air and out of sight.

“Whoa, wait a minute... Liam, how’d you know that robot thing’s name?” One random student in the crowd asks, everyone murmuring to each other.

“Um... I...” Liam started feeling nervous, trying to think of an excuse...

“Whoa... Look, over there! Another monster!” Liam lied, gasping dramatically.

“What?! Where?!”

“Over there! It ran into the school!” Liam pointed inside, everyone quickly running back into the school. Now that everyone was gone, Liam quickly took this chance to run off and find Jazardmon, eventually running into some bushes... And finding Jazamon, who’d now reverted back to her rookie form.

“Jazamon... Are you alright? Why’d you fly off like that?” Liam asks.

“Sorry about that, I didn’t want you to get in trouble just by being around me...” Jazamon says. “Don’t worry, I’m ok, now... Thanks to you. You managed to activate my Digivice, which was what allowed me to Digivolve and finally defeat Exermon...”

“Me...?” Liam looked down at the Digivice, feeling a bit confused. “Woah... I honestly have no idea how I did that, but... I’m glad I did.”

“I’m glad we’re friends now.”

End of flashback...

Liam finally finished telling the story, everyone pretty surprised and impressed by it.

“Whoa... That sounded like a pretty event filled day.” Erik says.

“Sure was.” Liam says. “After that, I ended up taking Jazamon home, and me and Jazmine quickly met each other’s Digimon partners.”

“Yeah! I gotta say, it’s-“

“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! EVIL DIGIMON DETECTED!!” Jazmine quickly gets cut off wheh Guidemon starts beeping loudly, a map popping up on their face. Everyone quickly runs up to Guidemon, looking at the map, which showed multiple red dots.

“Oh no... There’s a lot of them...” Lily says.

“Hey, I’m sure whatever they are, we can all take them out together!” Jazmine says confidently.

“Yeah, Jazmine’s right!” Taeka exclaims, everyone running out the door. “Come on, everyone... Let’s go kick some Digimon butt!!”