Digimon: Dark Worlds

Erik, Terriermon, and Labramon, who was now finally back in his rookie form, treaded through some woods. They had been walking for days, but still saw no sign of the others, all three of them now visibly exhausted.

“Erik, are you ok?” Labramon asks, looking back at him. “You sure you don’t want to rest?”

“No...I...” Erik weakly responds. “I’d rather rest...When we find the...Others...”

“Ugh, but we’ve been walking for days, and we haven’t seen any sign of the others!” Terriermon whines, his stomach growling loudly. “And I’m so...Hungry...”

“Sorry Terriermon, but I don’t have any food left...” Erik mumbles. “That’s another reason...We...Gotta find the others...” Both the Digimon groaned in response, as they kept walking.

“Ugh, can’t we atleast-“

“RAAAAUGHHH!! HEY!!” Terriermon is interrupted when two ShadowWereGarurumon pop out from the bushes, teeth bared as they glared at the three.

“Look, it’s one of the Digidestined, all by themself...” One of the ShadowWereGarurumon says.

“Did you do something to Laylamon?!” The other says. “I bet you did!!”

“What?! N-no, I swear we didn’t do anything!” Erik whimpers, stepping back from the two.

“LIAR!! SHADOW CLAW!!” One of the ShadowWereGarurumon screeches, clawing at Erik as he quickly dodges it.

“BUNNY BLAST!!”

“RETRIEVING!!” Both Terriermon and Labramon strike, but do nothing to the two ShadowWereGarurumon, who only get even angrier.

“Labramon, you’re gonna need to Digivolve if you wanna defeat them!” Erik says.

“I can’t! I’m still too weak!” Labramon responds. The three back away nervously, as the two ShadowWereGarurumon step closer to them, raising their claws...

“KING OF FIST!!” Before an unfamiliar Digimon suddenly charges from the bushes, punching one ShadowWereGarurumon and knocking them both back.

‘GrapLeomon: Ultimate level, Vaccine. A beast Digimon that took in the data from various fighting games, now using the turbines on its arms and legs to fight. Main attack is Cyclone Turbine, where it rotates its whole body for a barrage of kicks.’

“OW!! Ugh...You really think you can defeat us, you stupid kitty cat?!” The ShadowWereGarurumon growls. “FULL MOON KI-“ The ShadowWereGarurumon tries to kick GrapLeomon, but he grabs his leg midair, leaving him defenseless. GrapLeomon then throws him hard against a tree.

“CYCLONE TURBINE!!” GrapLeomon unleashes on the ShadowWereGarurumon, the force of the kicks with getting banged against the tree, caused the ShadowWereGarurumon to screech in pain, before poofing to dust.

“...You’re gonna pay for that!!” The other ShadowWereGarurumon growls, suddenly grabbing GrapLeomon and pinning him to a tree, raising one claw. Erik and the others have no idea what to do, only standing and watching in horror.

“Labramon, are you sure you can’t-“ Erik looks down at Labramon, but freezes when he notices Labramon’s body, especially his mouth, shaking violently, almost looking like he was about to throw up.

“Whoa, Labramon, are you alright?” Erik asks. Labramon doesn’t respond, as a thick, dark blue sludge starts to ooze from his mouth, alongside a horrid smell that reeked like a dumpster.

“Urgh...BREATH OF DECAY!!” Suddenly Labramon spits a huge blob of the sludge at ShadowWereGarurumon.

“Ugh, GOD!! What the hell?!” ShadowWereGarurumon hisses in pain, releasing his grip on GrapLeomon.

“CYCLONE TURBINE!!” GrapLeomon takes this chance to strike immediately, quickly turning the ShadowWereGarurumon into dust as well. GrapLeomon turns to the three, who all look back cautiously.

“...You just used Raremon’s attack, didn’t you?” GrapLeomon asks, looking down at Labramon.

“Er...I think so?” Labramon responds, cocking his head in thought.

“Well, no matter who’s attack it is, it smells terrible!” Terriermon scrunches his face in disgust, covering his nose with both paws.

“Hey! Would you rather have all of us get killed by those ShadowWereGarurumon?!” Labramon barks back.

“Guys, we don’t need to fight about it.” Erik says, before looking up at GrapLeomon. “You really saved us there, thank you.” He says, GrapLeomon nodding in response.

“Of course. You’re one of the Digidestined kids, aren’t you?” GrapLeomon asks.

“Yeah, I am.” Erik says. “My names Erik. Labramon’s my partner, and Terriermon here is our friend.”

“Erik...That’s one of the names Silphymon gave me.” GrapLeomon says, Erik looking with thought. “By any chance does the name Lily sound familiar to you?” He asks.

“Yeah, she’s one of our friends.” Erik says, GrapLeomon nodding.

“...Good. My friend Silphymon is with Lily right now. I can guide you all to them right now if you’d like.” 

“Ooh! Yay! Lily’s alright!” Terriermon jumps up and down excitedly, Erik and Labramon both breathing a sigh of relief.

“Alright, let’s go.” Erik says. “But...”

“Hm?”

“Can we try and look for the others first before we go? Or atleast look a bit on the way there?” Erik asks, GrapLeomon nodding in response.

“...Of course.”

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Axel and ToyAgumon walked through some low mountain terrain, feeling more and more tired with each step. ToyAgumon was trying his best to stay energized, but...Axel was struggling to do the same.

“Axel, come on! I’m sure we’ll find the others soon!” ToyAgumon hurriedly skips across the rocky road, turning to Axel...But stops when he no longer sees Axel moving, who only stood still with his head down.

“...What’s the point?” Axel somberly mutters, sitting on the ground. “All I do is hurt people, why would the others even want me around? They’re way better off without me anyways...” Axel mutters, staring down at the ground.

“What?! Come on, that’s not true!” ToyAgumon says. “They were all happy to have you join the group!”

“...They were probably just trying to be nice. Why would they even want me around after everything I did as the Dark King?” Axel mutters.

“Of course they want you around!” ToyAgumon says. “They wanted you to join to help fix everything you did as the Dark King! Besides, you helped them defeat Laylamon!”

“...Not good enough. Nothing I ever do will be good enough.” Axel mumbles, his voice getting weaker. “I’m just a leech. All I do is hurt people and make mistakes.” Axel buries his face into his knees, curling up into a ball, as a sudden dark, cold aura starts to form around his body.

“Whoa! A-Axel, please snap out of this!” ToyAgumon cautiously takes a step toward Axel, feeling a cold breeze out of nowhere that made him shiver.

“What the...This isn’t...What I think it is, is it?” Thoughts flow through ToyAgumon’s head for a moment, as he stares at Axel, who’s body looked like it was starting to become fuzzy, almost like it was starting to fade.

“Oh no...Axel?! Axel, don’t go!” ToyAgumon leaps to Axel, but ends up phasing through him, instead falling onto the ground.

“Ow, ugh...Axel?” ToyAgumon whimpers, tries to call for Axel, but he remained motionless, not responding or moving an inch.

“...Axel, no...” ToyAgumon chokes on his words, starting to feel tears well up in him. “Axel...I know you’re upset right now, but please...Don’t go to the Dark Ocean...” ToyAgumon’s voice gets weaker, as he sadly slumps down onto the ground right in front of Axel. “I can’t...I don’t want to...Go on without you...” ToyAgumon nestles himself into the middle of Axel’s fading body, curling himself into a ball as well as he squeezed his eyes shut, feelings of sorrow and worry flowing through him...Almost like...A wave. A wave of cold...Dark...Water...

‘...What the...?’ ToyAgumon kept his eyes shut, but he could indefinitely feel what felt like water surrounding his body. Cold, dark water, that felt like it went all the way up to his neck, but there was also something else. Despite feeling the cold waves around him he also felt a...Warm embrace, enough to make him question it...Finally opening his eyes.

...ToyAgumon was sitting in Axel’s embrace, looking up at his tired eyes, Axel looking he was out of it.

“Axel?!” ToyAgumon called to him, this time being able to snap Axel out of his thoughts, who looked down at ToyAgumon in shock.

“ToyAgumon?! What are you doing here?” Axel asks in shock.

“I came here to help you! And I should be asking you the same thing!” ToyAgumon says. The two look around at their surroundings. Most of their bodies, up to their necks, was surrounded with water, which somehow kept them afloat. The mountain surroundings were now gone, replaced with nothing but a gloomy, dark gray sky above them.

“...Maybe this is where I deserve to be.” Axel mutters, looking back down. “I bet the Digital World put me here for a reason.”

“What?! Axel, stop with that, it’s not true!” ToyAgumon shouts. “This is the Dark Ocean, it’s a place where people with negative thoughts end up at! But...If this is where you’re meant to, or...Want to be at, then I’m staying here too.” ToyAgumon says, tightly hugging onto Axel.

“ToyAgumon...Why would you ever want to do that?” Axel looks down at his partner with disbelief.

“Don’t you get it, Axel?! It’s because I’m your friend, and I care about you!” ToyAgumon yells, with tears in his eyes. “I don’t care about anything you did in the past as the Dark King! Heck, we all make mistakes, even me...I only care about who you are now, and what’s happening right now...And if you’re going to go down in this ocean, then...I’m going down with you.” ToyAgumon states, Axel looking down at ToyAgumon with tears in his eyes.

“ToyAgumon, I...I can’t believe...You really care about me that much.” Axel says, staring wide eyed as the realization was finally starting to get through to him.

“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” ToyAgumon softly sobs. “Even if it turns out nobody else wants to be here for you, you don’t have to worry...Cause I always will.”

“...Thank you, ToyAgumon. I appreciate it so much.” The two sob quietly, tightly hugging each other as they close their eyes, staying embraced for a long moment...And the longer they stayed embraced, the more they felt the cold waves starting to dissipate, ToyAgumon’s form in Axel’s hug starting to feel bigger...And softer. Until they finally opened their eyes, noticing they were no longer in the Dark Ocean, and back in the mountains...And ToyAgumon had somehow Digivolved back to ExTyrannomon.

“Woah, what the...” Axel and ExTyrannomon release their embrace, standing up and looking around as they wipe the tears off their eyes.

“That was...So weird...” Axel says. “Was that really the Dark Ocean we just went to?”

“Looked like it...” ExTyrannomon says. “I’ve always heard of it before, but that’s the first time I’ve ever seen it!” The two awkwardly look around for a moment, thinking.

“Er, thanks for pulling me out of that, though. I really appreciate it.” Axel says, smiling as ExTyrannomon nods in response.

“So...How about we go look for the others now?” Axel asks.

“Yeah...Let’s go!”

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Heh...Finally...”

In the middle of a gigantic, dark hole, a Digimon holds up a gear, admiring it as it glistened against a small beam of light that shined from an open hole in the high ceiling. The Digimon looked down at a motorcycle standing next to him, placing the gear in an open compartment on the side...As the motorcycle suddenly sprung to life, making a loud, revving noise the second he put the gear in.

“Damn, listen to that baby purr!” The Digimon stares down at the motorcycle, smirking. The Digimon looked up at the open hole where the sun shined, looking up at another Digimon that was looking down at him.

“...That gear was perfect. Thanks, SkullMeramon.” The Digimon says, giving a thumbs up.

“...No problem, lord Beelzemon.”

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Silphymon, Lily, and Lopmon all walked down a path on the mountains. Lopmon was looking a lot better, but still rested on top of one of Lily’s shoulders to conserve her strength just in case.

“Wow Silphymon, you are like, the coolest Digimon ever!” Lily excitedly says. Tell me another story, please!” 

“Aw, I don’t know, it’s a bit embarrassing telling so much...” Silphymon smiles, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, blushing in embarrassment. “I don’t want it to look like I’m bragging or something...”

“No, it’s fine! Please please, just tell me one more story?” Lily asks. Silphymon is silent for a moment, thinking, before smirking.

“Heh, alright...Wanna know how I Digivolved to the ultimate level in the first place?” Silphymon asks.

“Yes, yes, please tell me!” Lily says.

“Alright, well...I used to be a Gatomon when I was in my champion form. I was partrolling these mountains one day, when a whole horde of aggressive Aquilamon suddenly came through here and started causing a whole lot of damage. Well, long story short, they refused to leave so I had to fight and defeat them all, which took a lot of time and effort, but...By the time I defeated them, I ended up absorbing all their data, and Digivolved into, well...Who I am now. Silphymon.”

“Woah...” Lily takes in the story, in awe. “That is so...COOL! You took down all those Aquilamon on your own?! How many where there?”

“Heh, sure did. It was hard to keep count, but I’m sure there were atleast six of them, maybe more.” Silphymon states.

“So cool...Tell me at least one more story! Please?” Lily stares up at Silphymon with pleading eyes, who couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Alright, alright, just...One more...” Silphymon speaks, but suddenly goes quiet, looking around the mountains for a moment.

“...You two hear that?” Silphymon asks. Lily and Lopmon listen for a moment, until they start to hear what sounded like...A vehicle. The sound of a vehicle’s engine that was coming from behind the mountains, getting closer, until the vehicle finally comes into view...

...To reveal Beelzemon, riding a motorcycle and stopping right in front of the three, who all stare at him with shock.

“...Ah, finally, after so many years, I’m out of that dang hole, and into the sunshine!” Beelzemon says, laughing loudly. “Man, I miss all this fresh air, riding out here on the Behemoth...” Beelzemon pauses, staring down at Silphymon, smirking. “...And all the Digimon I used to fight.”

“...Beelzemon...” Silphymon stares frozen with horror, staring up at Beelzemon.

“Aw, come on baby, don’t be shy.” Beelzemon teases. “Why don’t ya come over here and fight me, I haven’t had a proper battle in years!”

“Silphymon, you gotta snap outta this and kick his butt!” Lily says.

“...Is that a human child?” Beelzemon cocks his head curiously, finally noticing Lily and Lopmon. “Hm...Now this’ll be interesting.” Beelzemon says, taking a step towards the three as Silphymon protectively stands in front of Lily.

“BACK OFF, Beelzemon. I’m not gonna warn you again.” Silphymon hisses.

“Damn, now you’re getting feisty, I like that!” Beelzemon says. “But don’t worry if you wanna make this fight fair, I got a friend with me too...” Beelzemon whistles, and in a few quick seconds, a familiar Digimon comes out from hiding behind the mountains.

“Wha...SkullMeramon?!” Lily looks with shock, as SkullMeramon’s body starts to glow.

“SKULLMERAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...”

“...BOLTMON!!”

“...Boltmon?! Oh god no, this can’t be happening...” Silphymon stares with a horrified look.

“What’s wrong with Boltmon?” Lopmon asks.

“...Boltmon was Beelzemon’s right-hand man those many years ago.” Silphymon says.  “He was the only one from Beelzemon’s army that was rumored to have possibly survived the fight, so we ended up banning him from these mountains...But...Have you really been here this whole time?” Silphymon asks.

“Heh, of course...Just figured if my Boltmon form wasn’t allowed, I’d just stay in my SkullMeramon form.” Boltmon says. “Then I could help Beelzemon escape by slowly giving him parts while no one was looking. I really did appreciate you beating up that Armormon for me earlier though. Without your help, I never could’ve that gear to Beelzemon and gotten him free.” Silphymon’s body shakes with fear, as he slowly backs away in horror and disbelief.

“Oh god, I...I’m the reason Beelzemon is awake now...” Silphymon choked on his words, barely able to speak. “This is all...My fault...”

“Heh, sure is, but I’m sick of talking!” Beelzemon says, pulling out two guns. “Time to fight! DOUBLE IMPACT!!”

“STATIC FORCE!!” Beelzemon fires both guns at Silphymon, but he quickly blocks it with his own attack.

“DOUBLE IMPACT!!” Beelzemon fires again, this time hitting Silphymon as he falls off his balance, tipping close to the edge of the mountain cliff side.

“HEARTBREAK SHOT!!” Beelzemon fires one shot directly through Silphymon’s chest, causing him to stumble back...Falling off the mountainside.

“TOMAHAWK CRUNCH!!” Boltmon then throws his axe, which flies like a boomerang, hitting a big stone and causing it to crumble into rubble, the rubble all falling on top of Silphymon and burying him.

“SILPHYMON NO!!” Lily cries out.

“Ugh, come on, that was too easy!” Beelzemon grumbles, him and Boltmon staring down at Lopmon, who protectively runs in front of Lily.

“Lopmon, you can’t fight, you’re still too weak!” Lily says.

“Somebody has to protect you!” Lopmon says. “BLAZING ICE!!” Lopmon fires at Beelzemon, who only looks at her with a confused look.

“DOUBLE IMPACT!!” Beelzemon fires at Lopmon, but she carefully dodges the shots.

“Lopmon, please, I don’t want you to die! I care about you too much!” Lily cries out, as her necklace and Digivice start glowing a soft pink.

“TOMAHAWK CRUNCH!!” Boltmon throws the axe, Lopmon dodging that attack as well. Beelzemon and Boltmon keep attacking Lopmon, who dodges each attack, getting more and more tired out as Lily can only watch in shock.

“LOPMON, PLEASE!!” Lily feels tears streaming down her face as she cries out to Lopmon. “LOPMON, I LOVE YOU!! I DON’T WANT YOU TO DIE!!”

“Wait...What did you say?” Lopmon, out of breath, stops and turns to Lily.

“HEARTBREAK SHOT!!” Using this distraction, Beelzemon fires straight at Lopmon’s chest, the force of the hit causing her to go flying...Right off the side of the mountain.

“LOPMON!! NO!!” Lily screeches, not hesitating to run...And jump off the side of the mountain, quickly grabbing Lopmon midair...

...The second Lily grabbed ahold of Lopmon, it felt like the world around her slowed down, as her necklace and Digivice exploded into a burst of color, a warm light surrounding Lopmon, Lily feeling the light as well...

“...LOPMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...

...

...

...”

“...CHERUBIMON...”

...Lily had her eyes squeezed shut from falling, but opened them when she noticed she was going up instead, and couldn’t believe it. Lopmon’s new mega form, Cherubimon, who floated gracefully in the air, standing now to be many times the height of Beelzemon and Boltmon, the holy rings on her ears glistening in the sunlight. Cherubimon carefully held Lily in her big, pink hands that felt as soft as silk, as Cherubimon lifted Lily back onto the ground, Lily staring up at her partner with a sparkle in her eyes.

“...Don’t worry, Lily. I’m going to take care of this now.” Cherubimon says, smiling.

“Woah...Your mega form is amazing...” Lily says, in awe.

“What...The hell...” Boltmon stared in shock, while Beelzemon smirked.

“Heh...Finally, a real fight! DOUBLE IMPACT!!”

“TOMAHAWK CRUNCH!!” Both fire at Cherubimon, but she gracefully dodges the attack, her body spinning elegantly.

“...My turn.” Cherubimon smiles, a pink energy forming in one hand. “LIGHTNING SPEAR!!” Cherubimon fires a pink bolt of lightning at Beelzemon, who screeches in pain from the electric shocks. “Augh...Jesus...”

“LIGHTNING SPEAR!!” Cherubimon fires again, this time aiming at Beelzemon’s Behemoth instead, the motorcycle’s engine hissing as it bursts into flames, Beelzemon staring in shock.

“Dammit, are you serious?! YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!!” Beelzemon screeches, his face twisted with fury. “HEARTBREAK SHOT!!”

“TOMAHAWK CRUNCH!!” The two attack Cherubimon multiple times, but she keeps dodging each attack with grace, her effortless dodging almost making it look like she was mocking the two, which only make them more angry, attacking mindlessly.

“JUST...STOP...DODGING ALREADY!!” Beelzemon screeches. “DOUBLE IM-AUGH!!” Cherubimon suddenly tackles the two, knocking Beelzemon off his feet, and grabbing Boltmon with both hands, flying high up into the air. Boltmon struggled to get out of Cherubimon’s grip, but to no avail, as Cherubimon suddenly tossed Boltmon high into the air...Cherubimon raised her hands high, as storm clouds suddenly appeared above them...

“HEAVEN’S JUDGEMENT!!” As multiple bolts of lightning struck from the clouds, all hitting Boltmon, and one hitting Beelzemon, as Boltmon screeches in pain...Instantly poofing to dust.

“Ugh...Why...” Beelzemon weakly huffs, out of breath. “How...Am I losing so...Easily?” Lily stares at the fighting in awe, until she hears some rustling rocks behind her, turning around to see Silphymon hopping up the mountain, next to her.

“Silphymon! Are you alright?” Lily asks.

“Yeah...It’s gonna take a bit more then that to take me out.” Silphymon huffs, giving a weak smile.

“LIGHTNING SPEAR!!” Cherubimon fires at Beelzemon again, the attack knocking him onto his knees. Silphymon cautiously watches the fighting, quickly hopping over to Beelzemon and Cherubimon.

“Cherubimon...How about we take out Beelzemon together?” Silphymon asks. Cherubimon looks down at Silphymon, nodding.

“...Of course.” The two turn to Beelzemon in sync, eyeing him down as he struggled to stand up.

“Ugh...Dammit.” Beelzemon hisses under his breath.

“STATIC FORCE!!”

“HEAVEN’S JUDGEMENT!!” Both the attacks hit Beelzemon at once, the pure force of both causing Beelzemon to screech with pain, the electric attacks causing him to immediately poof into dust as well...

“Yay! You both did it!” Lily cheered happily.

...But out of nowhere, a familiar face, Barbamon pops out from behind some rocks, holding his hand out, and absorbing Beelzemon’s floating data.

“...Tsk. And I thought Laylamon was useless.” Barbamon hisses. “...Atleast now I can put your data to good use. Man, it feels so powerful carrying the data of two of the others with me.” Barbamon smirks, staring down at his hands.

“Wha...Barbamon?!” Silphymon looks up at Barbamon in horror.

“Ugh, you are such a jerk!” Lily angrily shouts. “Stop absorbing every demon lord we defeat, it’s super unfair!”

“...UNFAIR?! HAHAHA!! You think I care about being fair, stupid little girl?!” Barbamon whistles, and in a flash, the two Ghoulmon pop up from behind the rocks, standing next to Barbamon.

“...I am DONE playing these games with you, Digidestined.” Barbamon growls, glaring at Cherubimon. “It’s time for YOUR demise now.” Before Cherubimon can move, Barbamon quickly grabs her and pins her down, the two Ghoulmon readying attacks.

“DARK INFERNO!!”

“EXPLOSION EYE!!” “EXPLOSION EYE!!” All three attack at once, creating a huge, fiery attack that engulfs Cherubimon...

...Causing her to dedigivolve to her fresh form, Silphymon quickly catching her, and scooping up Lily as well, cautiously backing away from the three.

“I am NOT letting you hurt these Digidestined, Barbamon.” Silphymon hisses. Barbamon glances at Silphymon, barely lifting one eyebrow at him.

“...Too late. DARK INFERNO!!” Silphymon tries to dodge the attack, but barely makes it, the fire burning his legs and knocking him off balance...Causing Silphymon, who still held onto Lily and Conomon tightly...To fall off the side of the mountain.

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Cora?! Please get up, everything will be fine, I swear!” BlackGabumon pleaded to a saddened Cora, who didn’t respond, only sitting on the ground, curled into a ball.

“...What’s the point?” Cora mumbles, her voice muffled into her knees. “It won’t be fine. Everyones better off without me anyways. I’m just useless.”

“Cora, no, you’re not useless!” BlackGabumon pleads. “If this is about the fact that I haven’t Digivolved to mega yet, then...” BlackGabumon tries to think of what to say, but can’t, only feeling more and more down.

‘This isn’t...My fault, is it?’

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“Look, I can see one of the others over there!” Labramon says, pointing to a close distance in the area.

“Yeah, I think that’s Cora...” Erik says, looking in the direction. Erik, Labramon, Terriermon and GrapLeomon all stare at Cora in the distance, noticing her saddened posture...Alongside a dark aura, that looked like it was just starting to form around her body.

“What the...What’s wrong with her?” Erik asks. “Is something happening to her?!”

“It’s the Dark Ocean. She’s getting pulled into it.” A voice suddenly says. Erik turns around to see that the voice came from Axel, who had ExTyrannomon.

“Axel, I’m so glad you’re ok!” Erik says. “But uh, what do you mean by Dark Ocean? What is that?” He asks.

“Er, I’ll explain it later, but uh...You should hurry and talk to her. Before she sinks too deep into this.” Axel says. Erik looks with confusion, before turning to Cora.

“...Alright. You all wait here.” Erik quickly runs off, walking over to Cora. Erik eyes Cora, noticing that most of her body was starting to fade.

“Erik! Please help me, I don’t know how to snap her out of this!” BlackGabumon pleads. Erik slowly kneels down to her level.

“Cora...Would you mind telling me what’s wrong?” Erik asks.

“...Useless.” Cora barely mumbles a response back.

“...What?” Erik looks at her in confusion.

“Useless. I’m useless.” Cora mumbles the same word again, and the second she speaks, her body looks like it starts to fade.

“Wha...Cora, please, snap out of this!” Erik tries to reach his hand on Cora’s shoulder, but phases through her. “What...Cora?!”

“Useless...Useless...Useless...” Cora doesn’t respond to anything Erik says or does, only mumbling the same word over and over again.

“I don’t think she can head us...” BlackGabumon whimpers. Erik’s eyes hurriedly scan her body, and quickly notices that her hands were the only part of her body that wasn’t fading. Then, in a flash, Erik hurriedly grabs onto both of her hands...

“CORA!!” Then proceeding to shout her name as loud as he could, which managed to get her attention, as she slowly lifted her head up to look at Erik.

“Cora, please don’t ever call yourself useless!” Erik pleads. “I don’t know what this is about, but we’re all equally important in this group, and I don’t want you to ever feel like you’re not important, no matter how long it takes for you and BlackGabumon to reach the mega level, alright?” Erik continues pleading, Cora staring at him with wide eyes full of emotion. Using this moment, Erik roughly yanks Cora’s arms, pulling her out of the cold waves she felt around her...The dark aura, fading, and her body returning to normal.

“...Sorry if I was a bit rough there.” Erik says. Cora stares at him, wide eyed for a moment, before shaking her head, snapping herself out of it.

“...No, you’re good. Thanks Erik.” Cora says, Erik helping her stand up. The three then proceed to walk back to the rest of the group.

“Alright, now we should-“

“Wait a minute. I hear something.” Erik gets cut off by GrapLeomon, as the group goes silent, hearing what sounded like...Rapid footsteps coming towards them. Everyone turns towards the sound of the footsteps...To see Silphymon, carrying Lily and Conomon, running towards them.

“Silphymon?! What happened to you?” GrapLeomon asks, who noticed that they were all clearly hurt, and out of breath.

“Lily! Are you alright?!” Erik asks.

“We got attacked...By Barbamon.” Silphymon huffs. “And his Ghoulmon.”

“We also fought and defeated Beelzemon...” Lily says. “Lopmon finally Digivolved to her mega form and defeated Beelzemon, but Barbamon came through and absorbed all his data, then defeated us!” Everyone gasps in unison, all staring with shocked looks.

“...I’m sorry I couldn’t defeat Barbamon, GrapLeomon.” Silphymon says.

“Don’t worry about it, Silphymon, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to defeat a mega level Digimon.” GrapLeomon says. Erik looks away from everyone with a pained look on his face.

“Are you alright, Erik?” Axel asks.

“Yeah, I just...Hearing about this makes me even more worried about Blaine and Taeka now.” Erik says. “What if something has happened to them too?”

“I know we all got separated from each other, but you know those two pretty well...You think you might have an idea of where they’d head off to?” Axel asks. Erik is silent for a long moment, thinking as hard as he can.

“...Taeka’s a bit unpredictable, so I’m not sure where she’d be, but...” Erik thinks, remembering any places that Blaine could be at.

“...I might know where Blaine could be.”

• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“HAHAHAHA!! YOU AGAIN?!” Leviamon cackled loudly, his laugh booming through the air as he stared down at Blaine and Ryudamon, who refused to budge, not losing eye contact with him. “LET ME GUESS, YOU CAME HERE TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED BY ME AGAIN?!” Blaine only narrowed his eyes at Leviamon, glaring through his soul.

“... No. I don’t plan on losing to you this time.”