Digimon Frontier: The Warrior's Return

Chapter 55: Disturbing the Hornet's Nest

Chapter 55: Disturbing the Hornet's Nest

~Your POV~

The cheeseburger on the plate in front of you not only looked delicious but it smelled like heaven in a bun. As the scent teased your nose, your stomach rumbled and your mouth began watering. There was nothing you'd like more than to fill your empty stomach with such a tasty sandwich.

But you were facing a dilemma. For days it seemed you'd been suffering bouts of the most awful heartburn. The pain was terrible and all-consuming, to the point where you couldn't even think straight.

And it wasn't like normal heartburn - instead of sitting in your chest around your heart it felt more like a pillar of fire in your throat. It felt as strange as everything else you'd been experiencing.

What on earth was going on?!

"What's the matter, Ally?" Junpei asked. "Not hungry?"

"No, that's not it," you replied and automatically smacked away Junpei's hand as it reached for your burger. "I feel weird. Like something is wrong."

"What could be wrong? The weather is great and classes have never been so easy. Everything should be perfect."

"That's kind of a part of it..." You glanced around the room and rubbed your arms as goosebumps erupted on your skin. "Something's not right."

Junpei just shook his head. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Come on," you insisted. The thoughts - or were they memories? - of the Digital World and the Legendary Warriors had been nagging at you with increasing intensity. "You've gotta know what I'm talking about! It was an amazing place, you couldn't possibly have forgotten!"

You reached for the memories that'd been simmering - they bubbled easily into your consciousness. "I remember... yeah, I remember traveling and looking for the spirits. Like when we were at the harbor and I got attacked by a big sea monster."

It was a vivid vision. A huge white serpent lunging out of the ocean in a rage, energy bursting out of its mouth. Your heart sped up at how real it felt.

More memories followed, bubbles popping in your mind. A wide open desert, glaring white under the powerful sun, with heat like a volcano's molten heart. A strange crimson forest with a tower in the center constructed out of something that looked like bones. A bustling marketplace and the impression of a large black wolf standing in the center of it.

Then another vision, the most realistic yet. A land shrouded in darkness but with a bright star glowing overhead. The ground was torn and fractured, like some great cataclysm had struck it, and there was a thunderous rumbling in the air. Trees were burning and the smell struck fear into your soul.

Amid this devastation stood a nightmare: an enormous monster made of bones, with an exposed heart and searing red eyes. It stared at you with palpable hate and its power weighed down the very air itself.

A jumble of pictures came to you. A fight. Lightning and fire. A scream. Then pain and darkness. Vicious eyes glaring at you...

It was the silence in the cafeteria that drew you out of the uncontrollable stream of memories of another world. No cafeteria was ever so silent.

Junpei had set his unfinished burger down and was staring at you. Rage was etched in hard lines on his face - he was nearly unrecognizable as your goofy, chocolate-loving friend. You recoiled instinctively from this stranger at your table.

Other faces nearby caught your eye. They too had their eyes on you and wore expressions of pure hate. Each looked eerily similar to Junpei's visage.