Digimon: Dark Worlds

Cherub | Chapter 35

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."
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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!"
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"Heh...Finally..."