An Insider's Guide to the Digital World

💾 Chapter Thirteen 💾

You weren't exactly sure what it was that woke you up.

The warm summer breeze blowing through your hair, the sound of seagulls flying high in the sky above you, or the smell of salt water wafting through the air.

You quickly sat upright and found yourself lying on a picturesque beach.

You could see that Tai, Matt, Sora, and Mimi were locked in an intense game of volleyball. T.K. and Izzy were building elaborate sandcastles underneath a lush palm tree. While Joe seemed happy just to lay on his back and float through the water.

You sighed in content and relaxed as you watched the crystal clear waves rhythmically crash against the shore.

Everything was perfect...

Until you slowly came to the realization that your partner was missing. As a matter of fact... none of the other digimon were present.

The clear sky suddenly began to grow thick with dark magenta clouds as an icy feeling of panic stabbed through you.

You looked around frantically and opened your mouth to shout for Impmon, but it was all in vain. You could feel your vocal cords stretch and contort, however you remained silent, as if you had been muted.

Your friends however, were incredibly loud, instantly overpowering the natural sounds of the world around you. You could hear T.K. and Izzy screaming in terror as they began sinking down into the coarse sand. Looking back, Tai, Matt, Sora, and Mimi, were now tied up and being constricted by the volleyball net.

The colors around you began to shift into different shades of fuchsia and the sea itself had become a disturbing shade of deep red.

Joe quizzically perked his head up, only to bare witness to the true horror of the commotion on the beach. The taller boy immediately began swimming frantically towards the shore, only to be pulled under the water.

Tears ran down your face as you, once again, began to scream out your partner's name, only to be met with silence.

You noticed the waves begin to trash wildly as a whirlpool came into formation near the shore. Within seconds, a small silhouette of a ball emerged from the water and began floating in the air.

A deep sinister laugh filled your ears as two tiny battered wings sprouted out from the ball and a twisted, jagged smile spread across it's surface.

*Thunk*

The sand in front of your feet suddenly jolted, causing you to shift your focus. Looking down you could see a large silver spear, embedded in the sand.

The menacing laugh gradually became louder as you gazed up towards the thundering clouds. Hundreds of spears came hurdling down from the sky with intense speed.

You instantly felt your heart drop. There was no hope, no one would be able to escape the massive onslaught of deadly weapons.

Just as the spears began breaching the surface, the ear piercing metallic screech rang out, causing you to close your eyes and cover your ears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You bolted upright as the sound of a whistle being blown directly into your ear ripped you away from the unsettling horrors of your surreal nightmare.

Instantly you began whipping your head around, searching for your partner.

Impmon stood at the foot of your bed, looking up at you with a tired expression.

"I thought I said, I wanted you primed and ready for anything..."

You took a brief moment to wipe the crust away from your eyes and slowly looked to the left to see a familiar bright pink puffball floating next to you with a cocky smirk plastered across his face.