Digimon Dark Worlds Tri: Screeching darkness

It was the next day, pretty early in the afternoon, as the whole group hung out in the room talking while they were waiting... Today was the day the other Digidestined were finally gonna arrive here from the airport, and right now Taeka was picking them up, everyone ready for them to arrive any second now.

“I’m sure Taeka will be back any minute now...” Erik says.

“I can’t believe I get to meet even more Digidestined! Eeek, this is so exciting!” Jazmine squeals with excitement.

“Hey, everyone... I’m back!” Everyone suddenly hears Taeka’s voice, seeing her peeking into the room. “And I’ve brought company!” Taeka walks into the room, immediately followed by all the younger Digidestined.

“Hey guys! Nice to see you all again!” Jake says, everyone jumping up and running over, everyone saying hi to one another.

“Jazmine! Liam! I wanna introduce you both to everyone!” Taeka says, Liam and Jazmine quickly running up to her.

“This is Allison! And her partner’s name is Tsukaimon.” Taeka says.

“Yo! Nice to meet you all!” Tsukaimon says.

“Whoa, Allison, you look completely different.” Cora says, noticing that Allison no longer had her long, jet black hair. “Did you dye your hair?”

“No, uh... This is actually my natural hair color.” Allison says.

“Whoa, really? It looks really nice on you, Allison!” Erik says.

“Yeah, I guess so...” Allison responds. “But from now on, I don’t want anyone else talking about my hair!”

“And these two... Are Logan, and his partner Veemon!” Taeka says. “Logan’s like the brains of the group... He’s super smart, and he even managed to create this Digimon named Maildramon, that can travel between both worlds!”

“Aw, stop Taeka, you’re gonna make me blush.” Logan says, smiling.

“You created a Digimon? That’s so cool!” Jazmine says.

“Yeah, how the heck were you able to do that?” Liam asks.

“It’s a long story...” Logan says. “I’ll tell you more about it later.”

“And these two here... Are Hoshi, and his partner Kudamon!” Taeka says. “I’d say Hoshi is like, the more quiet and mysterious member of the group, heh...”

“Uh, hey... It’s nice to meet you both.” Hoshi says shyly.

“And this here is uh... Your names Charlee, right? This is the first time I’ve met you too, heh...” Taeka says, chuckling. “She’s not actually a Digidestined. She’s Hoshi’s older sister...”

“Yeah. I’ve told her a lot about the Digimon, so she wanted to come along with us to learn more about them.” Hoshi says.

“Ah, well... It’s still nice to meet you! A friend of the Digimon is a friend of ours...” Jazmine smiles, her and Liam shaking Charlee’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Charlee smiles, curiously looking around the room, her eyes landing on the Digimon, who were all hanging out across the room. “I’m gonna go say hi to the Digimon.”

Cora and BlackGabumon were hanging out in another area of the room, Cora staring at Charlee as her face started turning a bit red.

“Hey, Cora, are you alright?” BlackGabumon asks, Cora ignoring him as Charlee approached the two.

“Hey. What’s your name?” Charlee asks.

“Uh... I, uh...” Cora stuttered, swallowing nervously. “It’s... It’s Cora.”

“And my name’s BlackGabumon! Nice to meet you!”

“Whoa...” Herissmon walked up to Charlee, staring up at her in awe. “You look so cool! What’s that gigantic thing on your back?” He asks, pointing to the guitar case strapped to her. “Oh, this? My guitars in here. I’m actually in a band, I wanted to keep practicing my music a bit while I was away. Hey, maybe later I can play some music for you guys.” Charlee pauses, looking behind her at a bunch of her bags and suitcases stacked against the wall. “I uh, probably brought a bit too much of my band stuff, didn’t I? Heh...” Charlee smiles, chuckling in embarrassment.

“No don’t worry, I think it’s all super cool!” Herissmon says. “I’d love to see it all later!”

“Hey um, who’s your partner supposed to be?” Charlee asks.

“Oh, uh... I don’t exactly... Have a partner yet.” Herissmon responds.”

“Hmm... Maybe we could become partners then?” Charlee asks.

“Ooh, really?! I’d love that! I’ve always wanted a partner!” Herissmon says, hopping up and down excitedly.

“Hey, don’t you need a Digivice to be partners with someone?” BlackGabumon asks.

“Maybe we can find a Digivice later?” Herissmon says. “Hey Charlee, you want me to introduce you to the other Digimon?” He asks.

“Yeah, I’d love that!” Charlee responds.

“Great! Then follow me!”

“I’ll come with you both!” BlackGabumon says, the three of them walking away. Cora looked around, noticing that Taeka was right next to her, Taeka giving her a big smirk.

“Ew... Taeka, why are you looking at me like that?” Cora asks, cringing.

“I saw that look you were giving her...” Taeka says. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Wh-what?! I, um...” Cora’s face turns a bright red, looking around to make sure Charlee wasn’t nearby or listening. “Um... Maybe? I don’t know, she seems pretty cool...” Cora smiles awkwardly, lowering her voice.

“Oh my gosh, this is awesome! You should totally ask her out!” Taeka says.

“What? I can’t yet, I just met her...” Cora says. “I really gotta get to know her more first.”

“Aw, fine. Just talk to me if you need any help with that...” Taeka says, smirking. “Then the love master will be able to help you out.”

“The love master? When’d you start calling yourself that?” Cora says, laughing.

“Just now, heheh...” Taeka chuckles.

“Hey, is anyone hungry?” Jake asks everyone in the room. “We should all go out for lunch together!”

“I would, but I just ate earlier.” Erik says.

“Yeah, me too. I’m good.” Blaine adds.

“Yeah, and me and Jazmine ate earlier too.” Liam says.

“Me and Taeka ate earlier too.” Lily says.

“Ooh, can me and Guidemon come with?” Herissmon asks.

“Sure! Alright everyone, let’s go!” Jake says, him, Logan, Allison, Hoshi, Charlee, Cora, and Axel all coming with, alongside their Digimon partners... All leaving the room.

“Hm...” Erik looked around the room, noticing that Jazmine was gone. “Hey Vorvomon, you know where Jazmine went?” He asked.

“I don’t know... I saw her leave the room a few minutes ago, but I have no idea where she went.” Vorvomon responds.

“Weird, I hope she’s ok...” Erik pauses, looking out the room. “Hang on, I’m gonna go look for her.” Erik leaves the room, walking down the hallway a bit, until he finally found Jazmine sitting on the floor in a more secluded area, her body slumped as she stared at the floor.

“Jazmine? Why are you out here by yourself? What’s wrong?” Erik asks.

“Um, it’s... It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it, I-I don’t wanna bother you or anything...” Jazmine muttered, Erik sitting on the floor next to her. “It’s alright, Jazmine, you can tell me whatevers bothering you... I’ll listen.” 

Jazmine was silent for a moment, lifting her head up as she took a deep breath.

“It’s probably gonna sound stupid, but...” Jazmine sighed. “I just feel like a... A failure of a Digidestined. I don’t even know how to be a proper Digidestined... I mean, I can’t even control Vorvomon’s champion form! It makes me feel more like I just get in the way of things...”

“What? Jazmine come on, you’re not getting in anyone’s way...” Erik responds. “Lavorvomon’s aggressions don’t make you a failure, that’s not your fault... Besides, you’re not the only one in this group who’s had to deal with their partners going aggressive before. It’s happened before and we’ve managed to work through it.”

“Yeah, but I’m not as strong as you guys are... What if I never learn to control Lavorvomon?” Jazmine whimpers. “Lavorvomon, he... He’s already done some bad damage before. Worse then what he did a few days ago.”

“Hm? Like what?” Erik asks.

“It’s a long story, I don’t feel like talking about it right now... It just hurts to remember.” Jazmine responds. “Um, b-but it’s not like he’s killed or seriously hurt anyone or anything! It’s nothing that serious, don’t worry...”

“Well, that’s a relief. Hey, just try not to worry about it too much for now, alright?” Erik says, comfortingly patting her on the shoulder. “Everything happens for a reason. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out how to control Lavorvomon eventually. And if you ever need help with anything, don’t forget that we’re always here to help you.”

“Thanks, Erik...” Jazmine says, her giving Erik a hug, who quickly hugs her back for a moment. “This means a lot to me.”

“Of course.” Erik smiles. “Now, let’s go back in the room and relax.”

Sometime later...

Everyone hung out in the room while the rest of the group was still out for lunch... Lily and Jazmine were watching TV with the Digimon, while Blaine, Erik, Taeka, and Liam were all hanging out at a nearby table, most of them typing on either their phones or laptops or such.

Beep! Liam gets a text on his phone, reading it in his head as he groans, rolling his eyes. “Ugh, for god sakes... It’s one of my exes again.” Liam grumbles.

“Uh, why’s your ex texting you?” Taeka asks.

“Another long text talking about how she wants me back... Ugh, I swear this is like, the 5th time this girl has texted me this week.” Liam says. “I’m just gonna block her number. Man, this type of shit is exhausting... I am so glad I’m taking a break from dating right now.”

“Me too... Did one of your exes do something bad to you?” Erik asks.

“Not really, actually. Most of my exes are fine, this one girl in particular is just annoying and clingy as fuck.” Liam responds. “What about you, Erik? Any of your exes do something bad to you?”

“Yeah, I had this really bad breakup a couple years ago...” Erik says.

“Man, this girl that Erik used to date... What she did was completely nuts!” Taeka says, Erik groaning as he looks to the ground. “Erik, can I tell him what happened?” She asks.

“Yeah, it’s fine, I just... I don’t wanna hear this.” Erik mutters, putting on some headphones and cranking up some music, pressing them tightly against his ears so he couldn’t hear anything.

“Ok, so... There was this girl Erik was dating for a couple years...” Taeka explains. “And they two were actually a pretty good couple! They were completely in love, pretty close, seemed like the popular perfect couple. Well, one day, everyone at the school found out she cheated on him... When this video got leaked of her gangbanging the entire football team.”

“Damn... That is fucked up.” Liam says, eyes widening with shock.

“Yeah, well... Thank god those two aren’t together anymore! That’s the trash taking itself out.” Taeka says. “Later on, the girl found out she was pregnant, so now she’s got like, at least twenty different guys on the football team who could possibly be that baby’s father. After that she either like, dropped out of our school.”

“Damn, that really is screwed up. At least he got out of that situation in time.” Liam says, Blaine looking over at Erik, who had his face pressed down onto the table.

“For god sakes Taeka, would you stop talking about that story already? You know how much it upsets Erik to even hear about it.” Blaine snaps.

“Ah man, but it’s such a good story! Ah you’re right though, sorry Erik...” Taeka apologizes, Erik taking his headphones off and pausing the music. “Hey Liam, wanna go downstairs and buy some snacks from the vending machine?” Taeka asks.

“Hell yeah. Let’s go.” Liam responds, him and Taeka quickly getting up and leaving the room.

“Urgh, sorry about Taeka being so annoying...” Blaine says, Erik lifting his head up to face Blaine. “You know how she is sometimes.”

“It’s fine, I’m not mad at her...” Erik mutters. “It’s just that, the more I think about what happened with her, the more I start to realize it was all probably my fault anyways... Back then, I was so busy with school work that I wasn’t spending as much time with her as I should have. She must’ve cheated on me because she was feeling lonely... Maybe I did deserve it.”

“What?! Erik what the hell, how could you say that about yourself?” Blaine says, eyes widening with shock. “Come on Erik, you’re like the most amazing guy ever. Any girl in the world would be extremely lucky to have you!”

“Yeah right, I’m not as perfect as everyone thinks...” Erik sighs. “And what about you, Blaine? You’re way cooler then I am. How come you’ve never had a girlfriend?” Erik asks, Blaine awkwardly looking away. 

“It’s... Complicated.” Blaine mutters. “And besides, I’m really not that cool. I mean come on, I’m such a socially awkward and boring person, I don’t even know why any of you wanna hang out with me.”

“Blaine come on, don’t be like that. You’re like the coolest guy I know!” Erik says. “I mean, you must’ve been making a bunch of new friends at your new school, right?”

“...No, I haven’t.” Blaine muttered in response.

“...What? Why not?” Erik asks, eyes widening with shock.

“I’ve never had any other friends outside of the Digidestined, why would it be any different at a new school?” Blaine says.

“I-I don’t know, I just... I thought you were super busy making friends and such at your new school. That’s why I thought you stopped talking to me...” Erik says.

“No, that’s not why I stopped speaking to you...” Blaine sighed. “I just... I still feel horrible about what happened, and after everything that happened, I thought it’d be better if we weren’t around each other. That you’d be better off without me. B-besides, I’ve already graduated from school anyways, so what does it matter? I’ve never cared about making any other friends.”

“Blaine...” Erik sighed, his voice low and serious as he scooted a bit closer to Blaine. “Come on, you’re an amazing guy, you don’t deserve to be alone. I don’t and will never care about what others think of you, you’re my best friend and I care about you a lot...” Erik says, both his hands placed on Blaine’s arms. “Whatever you do next in your life, just please... Don’t cut me out of it, ok?” Blaine was silent for a moment, awkwardly looking away as he thought of an answer. “I-“

BANG!! Blaine was quickly cut off by the door suddenly slamming open loudly, startling the two as everyone who was previously out for lunch was now back, also accompanied by Liam and Taeka, who were carrying a bunch of vending machine snacks. “Hey, we’re back everyone!” Allison states. “What’d we miss in here?”

“BEEP! BEEP! EVIL DIGIMON INCOMING!!” Almost if on cue, Guidemon quickly blurts out, everyone running up to him. “Guidemon, where are the evil Digimon? How many are there?!” Taeka asks.

“A lot of them! I can’t exactly count how many, since they haven’t crossed over into our world yet...” Guidemon says. “But I do detect strong spikes of digital energy that will be arriving in our world soon, at around... Tomorrow night, at 8:31 PM! Right exactly when the sun goes down... Look!” A map appears on Guidemon, showing a neighborhood where the digital energy is supposed to show up.

“I know where this neighborhood is, it’s only like, twenty minutes away from where we are right now.” Axel says.

“We gotta make sure to show up to this neighborhood as early as possible...” Jake says. “Make sure these Digimon don’t hurt anyone.”

“EEEEEEK!! OH MY GOSH!!” Jazmine suddenly squealed loudly, looking down at her phone.

“You guys... Tomorrow is Halloween night!!”