Digimon Dark Worlds Tri: Screeching darkness

Panic room || Chapter 14

A day or so had passed, Blaine and Ryudamon still being held captive inside of Doctor X's lab. After many, many hours of Doctor X being gone, he finally returned back to the lab, dragging Troopmon in there with him, who had his arms tied with ropes. Troopmon was trying to wriggle free form the ropes, but to no avail, as Doctor X roughly set Troopmon on the floor.
"What the... Troopmon?! Wh-what's he doing here?" Blaine asked, wide eyed with shock.
"This Digimon has betrayed me... And he has to pay the price for it." Doctor X hissed, moving Troopmon so he was sitting upwards.
"What? How? He's not your partner or your slave, he can do whatever he wants." Blaine says.
"Shut up! I created him, so he's MY Digimon!" Doctor X snapped, Blaine rolling his eyes at him. "Troopmon, are you alright?" Blaine asked.
"Ughh...I..." Troopmon grumbled, looking around the room with a mix of confusion and curiosity. "Wh-where am I?" He asked.
"Oh, come on! Like you don't know..." Doctor X angrily snapped. "This is where I created you, remember? You're MY Digimon!"
"N-not anymore, I..." Troopmon kept trying to wriggle free. "Just let me go and be with my real friends and master, please!"
"I AM your real master!!" Doctor X snapped. "You're the last Troopmon that I have left, and now that I have you back, there's no way I'm taking my eyes off of you."
Blaine noticed that Doctor X's demeanor seemed slightly off, like he had a more darkened, angered expression in his face, making a chill run down Blaine's spine.
"I'm gonna bring you back into my control, cause I need you to tell me more about those Digidestined, see?" Doctor X says.
"What? Are you serious? You literally know where we are at all times thanks to our Digivices, why do you neee to drag Troopmon into this?" Blaine asked.
"SHUT UP!!" Doctor X screeched at Blaine, rapidly turning back to Troopmon with a furious glare. "Troopmon..." He growled. "I'm gonna force you to cough up this information and become my slave again... No matter what it takes."

Meanwhile...
"Guys!!" Tsukaimon flew into the room in a panicked state, shouting to the group as he quickly gained their attention. "It's horrible... Allison and Logan, and Veemon and Troopmon... Th-they all just got captured by a Digimon!"
"WHAT?!" Everyone gasped, quickly running up to Tsukaimon. "Tsukaimon, what happened to them? Tell us everything." Axel says.
"Well, we um... We all fought this Digimon, known as IceDevimon..." Tsukaimon explains. "We ended up defeating him, but afterwards they all got captured by this shadowy hand that pulled them into another dimension... And Troopmon got kidnapped too..." Tsukaimon took a deep, shaky breath, visibly panicking. "And, um... Now that I've seen the aura of who captured them... I think I know who it is... It's the dark one."
Everyone looked pretty shocked, having a mix of shocked and confused reactions.
"Who's the dark one supposed to be?" Taeka asks.
"Well, you guys remember our last journey through the Digital World, where there was this other Digimon helping out the Demondestined?" Tsukaimon says. "That's who the dark one is. Only Digimon who have lived in the dark area are really aware of their existence. I first found out about them before I met Allison..." Tsukaimon explains. "The dark one, it... It exists in a space between both our worlds, where it can see everything that happens between each one. It's powers allowed it to help the demon lords reach out to the human world, and look for partners. No one has ever seen the dark one's true form or what kind of Digimon it's supposed to be... But I do know that they're incredibly powerful, and has the power to easily destroy both our worlds once it reaches full strength."
"Oh god... Y-you think the dark one is the one who took Cora and Hoshi as well? And possibly Blaine too?" Lily asks, looking freaked out.
"That's most likely what's happening here..." Tsukaimon sighed. "Back all those years ago, the dark one must not have been at full power yet, so they we're probably using the Demondestined to fulfill their plans of destroying both worlds. But after we defeated them, the dark one must have went back into hiding, waiting for their powers to come back. Now that they're becoming stronger, they must be taking us one by one for revenge..."
Everyone all had horrified looks on their faces, exchanging looks of worry.
"This is worse than I thought... Wh-what are we gonna do? How are we gonna find the dark one?" Jake asked.
"I-I don't know, I'm just too worried about Allison right now... I need to find a way to get her back!"
"Tsukaimon, wait!" Before the others could do anything, Tsukaimon suddenly flew out of the room.
"Guys, what are we gonna do? We gotta find a way to get the others back!" ExTyrannomon says.
"...I think we should split into groups of two, and go look around." Taeka says, everyone nodding in agreement. While everyone was grouping themselves into pairs, Lily stood there frozen, panic rising in her rapidly. She felt like her heart was pounding in her ears, her face sweating and her breath shaky.
"Lily, are you alright...?" Jake spoke gently to her. This only spooked Lily, as she suddenly ran out of the room.
"Lily! Wait!" Lopmon chased after her, following Lily out of the building. She continued chasing after Lily for a minute, until she finally stopped at some sidewalks.
"Lily, what's wrong? Come on, talk to me..." Lopmon says.
"What's wrong?! Lopmon, my friends are getting kidnapped, that's what's wrong!!" Lily snapped, her voice cracking with fear. "Wh-what if they never come back? What if it gets Taeka, or Jake... Or you or me?! Oh god..."
"Lily, breathe. It'll be ok..." Lopmon speaks to her softly. "Just take a few deep breaths, and listen to me... Us Digidestined have defeated so many horribly powerful Digimon, and have gotten through each fight alive and well, even when the odds were against us... Whoever the dark one is, we'll find them, defeat them, and get our friends back... Alright?"
Lily took a few deep breaths, listening intently to Lopmon as she started to calm down a bit. "I know you're right, Lopmon. This Digimon stuff really just freaks me out sometimes..." Lily says, giving Lopmon a weak smile. "Thanks, Lopmon. I'm glad you're with me..."
Lily tried to approach Lopmon, but was suddenly grabbed by a shadowy hand. "LILY!! NO!!" Lopmon tried to grab Lily and pull her, but to no avail... As Lily was pulled under.
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"Ugh... What the..." When Lily woke back up, her body felt like it was trapped in a tight space, like she could barely move. She looked around, looking like she was trapped now in a dark, endless void. "What... Wh-where am I?"
"OH, HOW DREADFUL... LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE ALONE, NOW, AREN'T YOU LILY?" From the darkness, a voice spoke to her, echoing as it felt like it came from all directions.
"What the... A-are you serious? It's your fault I'm alone now!" Lily snapped back at the voice, keeping a brave front. "You took me away from Lopmon and my friends, just release me and leave me alone already!"
"I'M NOT THE ONE HURTING YOU HERE, LILY, I'M JUST BEING HONEST HERE... NOBODY WANTS TO BE AROUND YOU ANYMORE. THINK ABOUT IT... WHY DIDN'T ANYONE COME WITH YOU TO LOOK FOR THE OTHERS?"
"What...? Come on, Jake wanted to come with me..." Lily says. "But I ran away, cause I was so scared..."
"AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT EXACTLY?"
"I-I just do, ok?! Back off already!" Lily snapped.
"JUST FACE IT ALREADY LILY, NOBODY WANTS TO BE AROUND YOU... REMEMBER WHEN YOUR SISTER LEFT FOR THE DIGITAL WORLD FOR YEARS? TRAMUATIZING YOU? GIVING YOU THOSE NIGHTMARES?"
"What? She went there to protect the Digital World, that had nothing to do with me!" Lily snapped, starting to panic more and more. "She didn't cause that trauma, and those nightmares had nothing to do with her... How do you even know all this stuff about me?"
"I'M EVERYWHERE, LILY... I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU, AND WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR FAMILY... THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. THEY WANNA LEAVE YOU... YOU KNOW IT, YOU JUST DON'T REALIZE IT YET..."
"Y-you're wrong!! Stop trying to read my mind already!!" Lily started breathing heavily, trying to cover her ears with her hands, but could still hear the voice echoing in her ears.
"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT. LILY, THINK ABOUT IT. OVER THE YEARS, YOUR FRIENDS HAVE STARTING DISTANCING THEMSELVES FROM YOU... WHY IS THAT?"
"W-we've just been growing apart, finding our own paths in life..."
"INCORRECT. THEY ALL HATE YOU. EVEN LOPMON DOESN'T LIKE YOU... WHY ELSE DOES SHE LEAVE FOR THE DIGITAL WORLD THE SECOND CHANCE SHE GETS?"
"That's not her choice! Just stop! Please!!" Lily pleaded, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.
"YOUR FRIENDS HAVE SLOWLY STARTED GOING MISSING... BUT NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE BEING KIDNAPPED... BUT BECAUSE THEY WANNA AVOID YOU."
"THAT'S NOT TRUE!! STOP IT!! STOP!!" Tears were streaming down her face, curling up as she pressed her hands tighter to her ears... But no matter what, she could still hear the voice. The voice kept echoing and repeating the same phrases in her ears over and over again... "Everyone hates you... Nobody likes you... You're all alone..."
"Oh god, no no no, just stop... Please..." Lily's voice was weak, barely above a whisper.
'Wh-why is this happening to me? I've never done anything wrong in my life to deserve this...' Lily thought to herself.
"Just stop... Please... I...
...I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!!"