Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

Three worlds coexist side by side yet never interacting; one of life, one of death, and one artificial. Twins Andy and Danny are roped in when an accident occurs and a relative returns from Japan. But the twins are on opposite sides; Danny on the world of death, Andy on the artificial. Can they find out how the three worlds rely on each other? Or will they fall to an enemy in wait?

53. Different Perspective

DarkFoxKit: We're getting lots of rain, but it's too warm here for it to snow. But I like the cold, especially after suffering through a warm front two days ago, with no working air conditioner. I NEED a working air conditioner, or I'm gonna go crazy in the heat! *Shakes Andy* You hear me!?

Andy: P-p-please! C-calm d-down!

ZAFT: And the heat is coming to where I am now. XP

Takuya: Um… Can you please release Andy now, Kit? I don't think he likes it... *Sweatdrops at seeing DarkFoxKit shaking Andy*

DarkFoxKit: *Drops Andy, but then turns her attention to Takuya* You… you're the Warrior of Flame. Are you making it hot!?

Takuya: N-no! I'm not! I've been with ZAFT the whole time! *Nervously backs up*

DarkFoxKit: Either fix my air conditioning or find Danny or Kumamon, and bring them over to my place and have them cover it with snow!

Takuya: I would if I could do that! *Hides behind ZAFT* Help me!

DarkFoxKit: *v* You can run, Takuya, but you can't hiiiiiiiiiide~

ZAFT: Okay… I think Takuya is going back to the chapter so Kit can't get to him… And the readers should get to it too… ^^'

DarkFoxKit: YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME, FIRE BOY!

---

(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(Shows three forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley)

Three worlds, connected side by side

(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)

Connections, with many secrets to hide

(Andy Fenton is shown with a small purple fox-like creature, Dorimon, in his arms as Takuya Kanbara appears behind him, a form in shadow behind Takuya himself)

Is one always chosen by fate?

(Danny is shown transforming into his ghost form, Danny Phantom, flying towards a vampiric looking ghost, Vlad Plasmius)

Or can one make their own destiny?

(Andy is shown looking on as his cell-phone transforms into a Digivice, the D-Arc)

Digital Phantom!

(Andy holds up his D-Arc as a heart symbol appears on the screen)

The power is deep inside!

(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire just as Dorimon glows and becomes Dorumon, firing off a metal ball into the distance)

Digital Phantom!

(The metal ball blasts past Vlad Plasmius as he fires off a ghost ray at Andy, who blocks it with his Fenton Rod)

Destiny is unbound!

(The Fenton Rod is smacked away by Vlad, going spinning before Sam, with a small puppy-like creature next to her, reaches up and catches it, a shadowed form with wings appearing behind her, transparent in appearance)

Digital Phantom!

(Sam throws the Fenton Rod to Tucker, who spins it before throwing it at Plasmius, a big bunny-like being with gun-hands appearing behind Tucker, transparent in appearance)

Fight on, without regret

(Shows Takuya looking up from his D-Tector as he makes eye contact with his Human Spirit of Agunimon, who give a smile back and reaches out a hand as Takuya takes it)

Two sides never rest

(Danny is shown reaching for a glowing Digi-Egg, before the light glows to reveal Patamon in front of Danny, green eyes meeting Danny's baby blue ones.)

Digital Phantom!

(Jazz is shown with the form of Lopmon beside her, a larger, shadowed form behind them both)

Never regret or look back

(Takuya is shown looking up as a ball of fractal code covers his hand, surrounding him before it dissipates to reveal his Fusion form of Aldamon)

Fight on, with victory

(Aldamon fires off a slew of fiery bullets from his cannons, each of those bullets hitting Plasmius before the ghost teleports away, revealing a shadowed form behind him)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(Andy, Dorimon, Danny, Patamon, Tucker, Terriermon, Sam, Salamon, Jazz, Lopmon, and Takuya all appear with Vlad above them, sneering evilly as all ten look on defiantly)

Digital Phantom!

---

Chapter 53: Different Perspective

It was late in Japan. While it was afternoon in America, it was late at night for those in Japan. So when Tommy was woken up by a call from his D-Tector, he was, understandably, a little bit grumpy. But he was a doctor with one of the best healing abilities, so it was only natural he would get called, even if it was at the most inconvenient time for him.

Tommy answered his D-Tector, yawning a bit as he sat up from his bed. "Yeah? What is it?"

The symbol of a snowflake crystal was on the screen. "We need your healing abilities." It was Sorcermon's voice.

"Okay. I take it the location is at Seraphimon's Castle? Who's the patient?" Tommy asked as he started coming out of his bed, rubbing his eyes groggily. It's a school night… I'm going to be quite tired in class tomorrow...

"It's the Warrior of Flame…" Sorcermon's voice replied grimly. "He's in… pretty bad shape…"

That woke up Tommy quickly. "Okay, I'll be right there!"

Tommy hung up his D-Tector and quickly scrambled out of bed. He didn't have time to be sleepy, his friend and other big brother needed him. He hurried over to his laptop to turn it on, however, it wasn't turning on for some reason.

"What? What's wrong with this stupid thing?" Tommy frowned before he noticed the charger was missing. Oh, that's right, Yutaka needed to borrow the charger for his laptop the other day. Crap! I think he left it on the coffee table downstairs!

Tommy hurried over to his door and opened it. It was pretty dark in the hallway, he used to be afraid of going through the hallway at night when he needed to use the bathroom, but the dark hadn't been nearly as scary to him since his adventures in the Digital World. Though he was still a bit wary of it at times. Tommy began to quickly move, trying not to wake up his parents or big brother. He carefully, and quietly, went down the stairs.

Tommy sighed quietly in relief as he made it into the living room without incident. Now he needed to find the charger.

Tommy crept forwards, trying to find his charger for his laptop. Where is it? I don't see it so far… it's hard to see in the dark. Maybe I should try to find the light switch…

Suddenly, the lights turned on, startling the 12 year old boy.

"Hey, Tommy, did you come down here looking for this?" A teenage boy asked, holding the laptop charger in his hand.

"Yes. I need that, Yutaka," Tommy said.

Yutaka Himi frowned. "I see." He was tempted to not give his younger brother his charger, but he wanted to see what was going on with his baby brother in recent weeks.

"Mind telling me why you came down here in the middle of the night to find your charger and not at any other time of day?" Yutaka asked.

"I… just remembered that there was a report I needed to do for school tomorrow, and needed my laptop for it," Tommy lied.

Yutaka frowned, but accepted the lie. "I'm surprised you didn't remember the report before bed." He tossed Tommy his charger anyway.

Tommy caught the charger, but looked at his older brother. "Wait… why are you up at this hour, in the living room, with the lights off… holding onto the charger?"

Yutaka shrugged. "Who knows? Perhaps I was waiting for you to come and get it."

"Why?" Tommy asked, looking at his brother.

"You didn't come and get it earlier." Yutaka replied. "I didn't expect you to remember it so late though."

"If you were waiting for me to get it, why not just tell me before I went to bed for the night?" Tommy questioned.

Yutaka didn't answer. He didn't want his little brother to know what he had been planning on doing. I want to know what you are doing disappearing lately...

"... Right… well, thanks for the charger, Yutaka," Tommy said. "I better get back to my room now."

With that said, Tommy walked up the stairs, but as soon as he was up in the hallway, he hurried to his room. He had a feeling Yutaka was getting suspicious of him disappearing lately, even with Sorcermon's copy. Tommy quickly closed the door to his room and called Sorcermon on his D-Tector, knowing he didn't have much time before Yutaka decided to come up here to see what he was doing. Hurry and answer, Sorcermon!

The symbol for Sorcermon appeared on the screen. "Are you on your way yet?"

"I have a small problem," Tommy said. "My laptop died, so I went to get the charger, but Yutaka was there. I think he's going to come and see what I'm doing in my room soon. Can you get a copy of me here right now?"

"Of course, don't worry." Sorcermon assured Tommy.

"Have him working on something on the laptop, that's what I told Yutaka I would be doing," Tommy instructed, and he heard footsteps coming towards his door. "He's coming, I better go. Hurry!"

Tommy quickly locked his door and hurried over to the laptop, plugging in the charger. He turned on the laptop, and it was booting up. Then Tommy heard the door trying to open, Yutaka was there. Tommy felt his heart beating against his chest.

"Tommy? Why did you lock this door?" Yutaka asked, knocking on Tommy's door.

"Can't I have a bit of privacy?" Tommy said, trying to sound annoyed rather than scared.

Yutaka gave a sigh. "You had better be working on your report then… Just so you know, I do have a spare key to your room in case you ever got locked in."

Tommy gulped, knowing that meant he had about 2 minutes at most before Yutaka came back to unlock his door. Come on, hurry Sorcermon!

The laptop finished booting, but he couldn't leave until Sorcermon sent his copy, and Yutaka was likely not going to leave him alone for the rest of the night.

As Yutaka went to get said key, the copy of Tommy appeared from a small portal from the Digital World.

"Oh good, you're here. Start working on something, pull up a research on Google or whatever, just look busy, okay?" Tommy quickly instructed the clone.

The clone of Tommy nodded and got ready to do that.

Tommy could already hear Yutaka's footsteps coming back. He fumbled with his D-Tector, trying not to drop it. He managed to get a good grip on his D-Tector and held it in front of the laptop's screen. The screen flashed brightly as it took Tommy into the Digi-Port. Not two seconds later, Yutaka unlocked the door, and opened it. He saw the clone of Tommy typing away on the laptop innocently.

Yutaka blinked. "Huh… You were working after all."

"Of course I was," Tommy 2 rolled his eyes.

Yutaka frowned. "Then you won't mind if I stayed here with you while you work."

"Of course not, but hey, it's your own health for not sleeping," Tommy 2 said nonchalantly.

Yutaka frowned. He was sure something was going on with Tommy now, but what it was, he had no idea. I will find out what is going on with you, Tommy, whether you like it or not...

---

Calumon was lying facedown on the floor, groaning. I had never felt so relieved to be lying facedown on hard floor… I better hurry and get to Takuya, he needs me!

Calumon quickly expanded his ears and flew up, heading straight for the medical bay.

In the medical bay, Danny and Andy were on some chairs, looking at Flamemon. Patamon was on Danny's lap while Dorumon was curled beside Andy's chair.

"Did I look like that when I was brought in here?" Danny asked.

"Yeah…" Andy answered. "Seems like I'm seeing all sorts of my family on the hospital bed."

Dorumon frowned. "He will be fine… He has to be…"

"Takuya will pull through, he's been through worse. I think your main worry for him should be his mental state," Patamon stated. "He normally could get back up after an attack like that, but he fell too easily. That's worrisome."

"Jazz and Lopmon said it's because of what happened with Jack," Dorumon remarked. "Ever since then, Takuya's been really off with his battles lately."

"You mean, he's normally much stronger than he has been lately?" Danny asked. He then frowned. "Yeah… I have noticed he is not at his best lately…"

"What are we going to do?" Andy frowned. "We can heal his physical wounds, but… wounds from the mind are… much more difficult to heal…"

Danny flinched a bit at that. "Yeah… I can see how…" Andy… you have a few such wounds, don't you, bro? From Vlad...

Andy noticed Danny looking at him worriedly. "Hey, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just want to make sure everyone will be okay."

Danny sighed. Yeah… Andy is definitely denying it...

Patamon looked at Danny. He's not the only one, Danny.

"How does one go about healing a mental wound?" Dorumon asked. "Go into the mind?"

"That's not even possible… I think…" Andy frowned. "Wait, Danny, didn't you go into the other's minds that time when you woke them up from Dreammon's Nightmare Syndrome? And I think Sorcermon sort of went into my mind that one time? I… think? Or maybe that was just my soul? Argh! That's too confusing!"

Danny frowned. "I have no idea on how that would work, healing a mental wound… With Dreammon, I had a magical force to fight against, but this is all Takuya. A dream was one thing, but going into an actual mind? That might be too complicated."

"True… we wouldn't know what to expect anyways if it was even possible," Andy sighed.

"His biggest problem is that he's afraid of what Jack will do, right?" Dorumon spoke up. "So… what if he confronts that fear?"

"If he even could… it might either work or scar him," Andy grumbled.

Danny frowned. "I don't know if it is possible. You weren't there, Andy, but I did tell you about it. Takuya was definitely scared. I never saw him so freaked out before. He put up this sphere-like defense that was hot enough to force Dad away, but it allowed Jazz and I through."

"That just made my point," Andy pointed out. "We can support him all we want, but it's up to Takuya to get over it or let it consume him."

Danny sighed. "I'm just not sure if he can, bro…"

"Don't think like that. It's that defeatist line of thinking that will not help Takuya," Andy sighed.

"I guess all we can do is wait and see then…" Danny admitted.

"Sorry! Whoops! Didn't mean to ruin your papers! In a hurry!" A familiar voice shouted as they came closer.

A messy Calumon with tape, sticky notes, and some lollipops stuck to his fur, came in. "Sorry I'm late!"

Danny looked up. "Calumon?"

"Is that really you under all that?" Dorumon questioned, trying not to laugh.

"... We had a lot of In-Training and Rookie Digimon here for check-ups today…" Calumon grumbled, pulling a lollipop out of his fur. "Furry lollipop?"

Danny grimaced. "Uh… No thanks…"

"Calumon, I'm glad you're here," Sorcermon said before looking at him. "... You might want to take a bath once you're finished healing Flamemon."

"Yeah, yeah," Calumon sighed before he floated over to the unconscious Flamemon.

Calumon had to peel off a sticky note that was on his forehead before he started analyzing Flamemon's injuries. "Slightly melted fur… fire is weak, low on oxygen and heat… his breathing is slow… his pulse is rapid… likely experiencing a nightmare right now…"

"Wow, he can tell all that just by looking at him?" Andy asked, impressed.

Danny frowned. "What kind of nightmare is he suffering from?"

"I don't know, I can just tell that he's likely having them due to his heart rate," Calumon answered before turning back to Flamemon. "Okay, I'm going to activate my Culu Prayer now."

Calumon put his claws together and closed his eyes, the triangle on his forehead began to glow.

"Prayer of Healing… Restore this brave warrior's fire, and heal his wounds. Restore him to strength…Fire and ice will work as one to bring back the brave warrior's flames." Calumon prayed.

Calumon's triangle symbol glowed brightly. The room heated up quite a bit, before it got really cold. Flamemone's fiery fur suddenly flared up, he let out a gasp as his eyes shot open.

Now awake, Flamemon shot up, panting heavily. He was shaking a bit too, but it was not too noticeable.

"And this is why I float before I do my Culu Prayer…" Calumon muttered before he landed on Flamemon's bed. "Hey… how are you feeling, Takuya?"

"Takuya! You're awake!" Danny said in surprise and relief.

"We were worried about you," Andy remarked.

Flamemon looked at Andy, Danny, Calumon, Patamon, and Dorumon. "H-how… How did I get to the Digital World? And… where is Ranamon?"

"We brought you here after Ranamon retreated," Andy answered. "Though we don't know where she is now."

"You were hurt pretty bad," Danny added. "We had to take you here to get healed. Sorcermon even had to call in Calumon to help you."

Flamemon frowned. "Was I that badly hurt? I didn't think it was that bad…"

"You haven't been at your best lately," Patamon stated. "Your body, well, your Digimon body, became weak with your current mindset. That's probably why you were beaten so badly by Ranamon's Dark Vapor."

Flamemon frowned some more. "But I held my own just fine against the Fright Knight."

"As Aldamon, and even then, you got beaten pretty badly," Dorumon pointed out.

Flamemon frowned even more now as he looked down. He hadn't thought about it much. He just assumed the Fright Knight was a powerful ghost. He looked at his hands. What's been going on? Have I really become that weak…?

"Maybe it might be best for you to stay here for a little bit," Sorcermon suggested. "If what your friends say is true, then you might need some time to recover."

"..." Flamemon was silent, but it was clear he was mulling over what Patamon and Dorumon had said.

Calumon looked at Flamemon in a sad way. He could tell that his data had been pretty weak lately, but he had been hoping it was just because of the injuries. But even though he was fully healed, Flamemon's data was still weak.

"Takuya… what happened to you?" Calumon questioned in concern.

"It's… It's nothing…" Flamemon replied, but he knew it was an obvious lie.

"It's not nothing, if it was, you wouldn't be like this right now." Calumon frowned.

"It has to do with our dad…" Danny sighed. "He did something that… well, it scared Takuya badly."

"Is that true?" Sorcermon frowned.

"Unfortunately it is," Patamon confirmed. "I even saw how he reacted to their father."

Flamemon didn't answer. He went as silent as a clam at that.

Calumon looked at Flamemon worriedly. I wish I had the power to heal your mental scars, Takuya… but not even I have that power…

"Takuya… what do you want to do?" Andy asked. "You know this can't go on. If you keep fighting the way you are, you might not get so lucky next time."

"I know…" Flamemon whispered softly. "But… I can't just… That incident…" He closed his green eyes tightly as he gritted his teeth. Tears were forming in his eyes, and they ran down his fur.

Calumon frowned, he hated seeing his big brotherly figure like this. Takuya had always been so strong, but to see him crumble down like this was very depressing. Calumon thought back on Dreammon for a bit, and an idea came to him. But he didn't like the idea, he wasn't sure if it was a good one, but sometimes drastic measures needed to be taken to help someone.

"Sorcermon, I think Takuya should stay here for a few days," Calumon spoke up. "He can't go back to his home in the human world as he is now. It would be bad for his health at the mindset he's in."

Sorcermon nodded in agreement. "I agree completely. I might not know the circumstances behind this, but it is clear to me he is not in the best shape to head back."

"I don't know if I ever will be…" Flamemon sighed depressingly.

"Not with that mindset," Andy grumbled. "Listen, Takuya, it might feel like it's impossible, but it's only impossible if you keep letting yourself give up. The Takuya I know wouldn't give up so easily. You were able to save this Digital World, twice now. So don't give up on yourself."

Flamemon gave a small smile. "I'll try." He then sighed. "But it won't be easy…"

"Don't worry, I promise I'll help you through this, Takuya!" Calumon spoke up with a grin. "After all, I am a doctor. Even mental wounds should be healed."

But it's never easy to heal one… Danny thought to himself. And even then, they never heal completely...

"Come on, Danny, don't give Takuya that worried face before we leave," Andy grumbled.

Danny grinned sheepishly. "Ehehe… Sorry, bro… We hope you'll be able to recover soon, Takuya."

"Until then, I'll be tending Takuya 2 for school and whatnot," Sorcermon stated.

"That's very resourceful of you, Sorcermon, I'm impressed," Patamon complimented while Dorumon was snickering at Sorcermon's red cheeks.

"Err… Well, anything to help out the Legendary Warriors…" Sorcermon admitted sheepishly.

"We'll check in on you tomorrow after school, okay, cuz?" Andy said casually, hoping to bring some relief to Flamemon.

Flamemon nodded. "Thanks, Andy…"

"You try to relax," Danny said.

"Have fun with Calumon!" Dorumon smiled.

Patamon giggled at Dorumon's comment.

The brothers and their Digimon partner left the medical bay to get back to one of the TV monitors to go back to their world.

Flamemon sighed, feeling pathetic.

I can't believe I'm so weak! It's pathetic! I'm supposed to be a Legendary Warrior! Flamemon thought in disgust.

Calumon jumped a bit as Flamemon's fiery fur flared up with his anger. Flamemon noticed and quickly calmed himself down.

"S-sorry, Calumon," Flamemon apologized.

"It's fine… you probably feel like you don't deserve to be a Legendary Warrior right now," Calumon commented.

Did he just read my mind? Flamemon thought in surprise.

"Hey, it's okay, Takuya. Everyone, even Legendary Warriors, have times of weaknesses. You are also only a human child to boot. I'm surprised we- I mean you all made it through that adventure 4 years ago when you did without getting PTSD from it. I know I… uh… some of them likely still have nightmares from it though," Calumon explained, slipping a few times.

It was then Flamemon remembered his suspicion of Calumon possibly being Tommy.

Flamemon wanted to ask, but decided to hold off. He was not in the mood to ask questions right now anyway.

"Maybe you could get some sleep? It's pretty late," Calumon yawned.

"It is? It was afternoon last I checked," Flamemon pointed out.

Calumon froze for a moment. "... Right… of course! Silly me, I must've pulled another all-nighter that it just feels late to me!"

Flamemon frowned, but he brushed it off. He did feel a bit tired after the fight. "I guess some sleep wouldn't hurt…"

"Right, you do that." Calumon smiled. While I go visit an old friend.

---

Calumon had been flying through the sky for a while. He looked down, seeing the TV forest just below. "Finally, I'm here."

Calumon flew down into the forest and landed on the grass. "Hello! Tapirmon? Are you here?"

Tapirmon came out of hiding. "Hello, Calumon."

"Hey, Tapirmon, glad to see you're looking well." Calumon smiled. "I was wondering if you'd like to help me with something."

Tapirmon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What do you need help with?"

"I need your Nightmare Syndrome to help a friend," Calumon answered. "He's suffering from post traumatic stress disorder because of a family member. I'm hoping that this will at least help him take that first step in healing."

Tapirmon frowned. "That… is risky, you know."

"I am aware of the risks," Calumon sighed. "I was debating on the idea. But… I don't think Takuya is going to take that first step on his own. I know Takuya, he acts first and thinks later. He needs stimulation to help push him into doing what needs to be done, not words. I know this is risky… but I feel this is also the best way to help him."

Tapirmon sighed. "If you think it's necessary, then I will help."

"Thank you, Tapirmon." Calumon smiled. "Come on, follow me."

The two Digimon flew back to Seraphimon's Castle. Calumon led Tapirmon to the medical room where they were keeping Flamemon.

Calumon looked at the sleeping Flamemon. He felt dirty for doing this to Takuya, but he also meant what he said, about this being the best way to help him. While he knew it was risky, the world would be a boring place if risks were never taken.

Tapirmon looked at Calumon. "What do you want this nightmare to be? And how will he come out of it?"

"First… I'm going to need you to tell me what this Jack looked like and what he did in detail to Takuya," Calumon instructed.

Tapirmon nodded before her eyes glowed pink as she looked into Flamemon's memory of Jack Fenton specifically. With Flamemon asleep, it was easy for her to look through his memories without resistance.

Tapirmon's eyes went wide as she saw the most recent memory that was seared into his mind. "Oh… Oh dear…"

Tapirmon explained to Calumon in detail what had happened when Jack caught Agunimon and brought him to his lab. Calumon frowned, he would've been scared silly too if he had been in Takuya's position.

Calumon took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay… then here's what I want you to do with the nightmare…"

After Calumon told Tapirmon his plans, Tapirmon looked hesitant. "Isn't that a bit harsh though?"

"Sometimes in order to get over your fear, you have to face it. People often run away from what they're afraid of… this will force Takuya to face it instead of running away from it," Calumon explained. "I… I know this is cruel… but… if it will help Takuya, I'm willing to go through with it."

Tapirmon nodded. "O-okay… let's do it then…"

Tapimon floated over Flamemon and took a deep breath. "Nightmare Syndrome."

A dark purple energy went into Flamemon's ear. Calumon bit his bottom lip. I hope I didn't just make a big mistake...

---

Where… where am I? I opened my eyes finding myself on the all too familiar lab table.

I could feel I was in my Human Spirit form, and the cuffs on the table were firmly clamped around my wrists and ankles. I looked around, feeling nervous. Then, I saw him. The orange jumpsuit with the white lab coat over it, and the goggles on his face. It was my uncle.

He was grinning at me as he approached, holding up a few dissection tools. I began to feel my Digi-Core pick up in its pulsations as my breathing began to pick up as well. I wanted to run, but the cuffs held me down firmly. I squirmed against them, but to no avail. I was unable to break free from them. Uncle Jack reached the side of the lab table and grinned wickedly.

My blue eyes went wide in fright and horror as he held up the scalpel and began to bring it down closer to my body, in slow motion. I began to hyperventilate before I closed my eyes and screamed out in pure terror.

I didn't even expect the blade to hit me, but it did, starting from my chest and working its way down my upper body. I cried out in pain as I felt the blade pierce my armor, bodysuit, and skin all at once. Blood and data flowed freely as tears ran down my cheeks. How… How could this be happening?! I thought in despair. I wanted the nightmare to end, but alas, it didn't. As I felt the blade move down lower, I screamed out before there was a flash, and then everything went white…

I opened my eyes again, and found myself back in one piece. I wasn't being cut open, but I was still strapped to the table. Once again, I could see my uncle looking at me sadistically.

---

It was late in Amity Park now. The children had school the next day, so they were turning in for the night. Andy just came out of the bathroom after cleaning up, and put on his blue pajamas, but he saw his brother's bed was empty. "Oh come on! He's out on night patrol again? He's going to be exhausted tomorrow."

Dorimon snickered. "Your brother has quite the hero complex."

"Looks like he took Patamon with him too," Andy noted, not seeing Patamon anywhere. "He may be half ghost, but he is still half human. He needs to sleep, darn it. Maybe I should get some ghost proof rope and strap him to his bed…"

Dorimon busted out laughing and fell off of Andy's bed.

"Hey! I'm being serious!" Andy pouted.

Then there was a knock on his door. Andy blinked, before looking at the door. "You can come in, the door isn't locked."

The door opened to reveal Jazz there. She was also wearing her pajamas, and Lopmon was on her head. "Sorry to bother you, Andy." Jazz said.

Wow, Lopmon looks like a pillow on her head. Andy couldn't help but snicker to himself. "It's fine, Jazz, I was just complaining about our brother going out on a night patrol on a school night… again."

Jazz sighed. "Of course he is…" She then looked up at Andy. "Andy, I want to talk to you. Danny said, the night the Fright Knight came, something about you having 'future visions', that it was how you knew I would get hurt by a skeleton."

Andy blinked, he didn't expect to have this kind of conversation tonight. "Well… I… wouldn't… call them future visions…"

"Then what would you call them?" Jazz asked in her matter-of-fact tone. "Because if you knew I would be attacked before it happened, that can only be described as seeing the future."

"... Very accurate daydreams," Andy answered.

Jazz gave Andy a deadpan look. "Yeah… sure they are…"

"Look, I don't know what's been going on lately, but I can't see the future. Nobody can, it's preposterous. Maybe it's just a fluke, or maybe it's just a Digimon thing," Andy grumbled.

"Well, whatever they are, you have been having them and I want to know why you didn't tell me about this." Jazz scolded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Lopmon chuckled. "Andy's in denial."

Jazz looked up at Lopmon before looking back at Andy. "You may be right, Lopmon. Denial is what a person does when they don't want to accept something about themselves or reality."

"Hey, don't start psychoanalyzing me now," Andy grumbled. "I just don't believe in human psychics. Now if it was a Digimon or a ghost, I can accept that. But I'm not a Digimon or a ghost, as you can clearly see."

Jazz sighed. "That's true, but you have had several 'accurate daydreams', way too many to be mere 'daydreams' as you call them."

"How did you know that? I thought Danny told you just that one," Andy asked.

"He… may have told me it's happened before, and I deduced it was more than just twice," Jazz pointed out.

Dorimon was giggling like an idiot now, rolling around on the floor as he laughed.

"You know what? You are not helping with all your laughter!" Andy snapped at the laughing In-Training.

Dorimon stopped laughing and rolling around, but he still had that stupid grin on his face, one that said he was enjoying this.

Andy glared a little more at Dorimon before he turned to Jazz. "Look, these daydreams could be coming from something else and I just happen to see them. Maybe they're coming from Dorimon."

Dorimon lost that grin on his face as he frowned. "Hey! I can't see the future!"

"I… honestly don't know that much about Dorumon's species," Lopmon admitted. "But I don't think they're usually the type of Digimon that can see the future like Shamamon, and even then, their visions are usually pretty vague."

Dorimon gave a grin. "Yeah! I'm not one to see the future!"

"Well I haven't had another vi- daydream lately, so it was likely just a temporary thing if I did somehow gain the ability to see the future," Andy argued.

Jazz was about to say something, when Andy's head started getting that dizzy feeling all of a sudden. No… no! Not now!

The boy couldn't hold back the incoming vision.

I saw Danny and me at school, in the cafeteria. The jocks and the cheerleaders were all surrounding us. These were the popular kids, the highest on the food chain at Casper High. Why were they surrounding us? I could see Danny smiling that lovesick smile at Paulina, which… she returned. I wanted to throw up, but I had no control over my body. Calvin looked pretty annoyed, but he gave Danny a folder that had the words 'A-List' on them.

I suddenly found myself talking to Dash on the football field. Dash looked worried about something, and suddenly, all the football players were surrounding us, looking very shocked. The vision shifted again. I was sitting down on the bench, when Dash approached me, looking very embarrassed about something. He then, hesitantly, without looking at me in the eye, handed me a folder with the words 'A-List' on them. I felt my hand shakingly taking the folder, staring at it.

Andy blinked a bit, coming out of his vision, hearing Jazz calling his name.

"...ndy! Andy! Andy, snap out of it!" Jazz said seriously, shaking Andy's shoulders gently.

Andy shook his head a bit, blinking at Jazz. "I'm- I'm fine, Jazz!"

Jazz blinked before she sighed in relief. "Good. You spaced out there for a moment."

"Yeah, that tends to happen whenever he gets a vision," Dorimon revealed.

Jazz looked at Andy. "And you were trying to deny you could see the future? I think I have evidence to prove you can now."

Andy frowned. "That wasn't the future! That was just a weird fantasy."

"Why do you say that?" Lopmon questioned.

"Because… Danny was dating Paulina, PAULINA of all people! And not only that, he was accepted into the A-List! And then I was! ME! An A-Lister! None of that could possibly happen! Not now, not ever! You see? I can't see the future!" Andy quickly said, shouting a bit in hysteria.

Jazz blinked in surprise. "Whoa! Calm down Andy!" She exclaimed. "No need to get all hysterical!"

"Nope, nope, nope, I don't need this!" Andy said as he started to walk around in the room.

"To be honest with you," Dorimon said to Jazz and Lopmon while Andy was having a minor freakout. "I think he does know he can see the future… he just doesn't want to admit it. And he's freaking out now because he's worried about it coming true."

Jazz looked at her pacing brother. "That would make sense. If I could see the future, I would probably freak out like that too."

"Perhaps we should give him some time to accept it on his own then? Pushing it may just make him want to put up more barriers after all," Lopmon suggested.

"Wow, Lopmon, you sound like Jazz," Dorimon chuckled.

Lopmon stuck out his tongue at Dorimon in an immature manner, which was unbefitting a Celestial Digimon, but he didn't care right then and there. "It's only natural I would start to pick up on what she knows, since she is my partner."

"You know what? I'm going to sleep," Andy suddenly said. "With any luck, that… daydream I saw will just fade away."

Dorimon frowned, but he didn't say anything.

Jazz frowned a bit as well. "You can try to deny it, but it won't just go away." She then sighed. "You know what? Forget it. You won't listen to me, so I'll just drop it."

"You know who else doesn't listen? Our ghostly brother," Andy grumbled. "If he flies off again at night, I'm going to tie him to his bed with ghost proof rope."

Jazz blinked at Andy. "You…" She then shook her head. "That would probably be a good idea, since he is still half-human."

"Exactly, if he won't take care of himself, then it's our job as his siblings to take care of him." Andy grinned.

Jazz chuckled. "That it is, baby bro. That it is."

Andy pouted at being called a 'baby bro', but he decided to let it slide, reacting to it would just prompt Jazz to tease him more after all.

---

It was the next day at school. Takuya 2 was off doing his own thing at Casper High, meanwhile, Tucker was greeting Niki while Danny, Sam, and Andy were walking down the hallway. Danny, remembering that Paulina had discovered his secret, was very self conscious. He even went as far as to bring up the collar of his shirt over his mouth as if to hope to hide in it somehow. As usual, Patamon, Dorimon, Terriermon, and Gatomon were in their partner's backpacks during the school hours.

"Is anybody looking at me funny?" Danny skittishly asked.

"Sort of… because you look like you're trying to eat your way out of your shirt," Andy commented.

Sam sighed. "Lighten up, Danny. It's probably not that bad."

"How can I lighten up?!" Danny exclaimed in a whisper to his friend and brother. "Paulina knows I'm half ghost! I mean, she says she will keep it a secret but how can I trust her?! She's one of the most popular kids in school! You know how they like to gossip!"

"Well… Paulina is pretty dim, maybe she would've forgotten all about it," Sam said, hoping to reassure Danny.

"She just saw someone turn into a ghost… or rather, a ghost turn into a human, I doubt anyone is going to forget that any time soon," Andy remarked. "As dim as Paulina could be, even she wouldn't forget that easily. Gatomon even said that it's unlikely she would."

Sam frowned, knowing her partner had been right. "That's true… I would imagine something that shocking would be seared into anyone's brain."

"And that someone's brain is Paulina's." Patamon whispered from Danny's backpack.

"Thanks guys," Danny sarcastically grumbled. "That really helps me feel better."

"Maybe Tucker will know, he is talking to Niki right now. If Paulina had spread it around, we'll know soon enough," Andy stated.

"And if they do?" Danny frowned.

"... Uh… maybe it won't be so bad?" Andy sheepishly grinned. "Come on, teens love superheroes."

Danny grumbled under his breath at Andy's remark. "Way to make me feel better, bro…"

"What? That didn't make you feel better? Would you rather I said that they would call the G-" Andy stopped as a familiar blue mist came out of Danny's mouth. "... You know what, nevermind…"

Danny looked around for the ghost he was sensing. "Where is it?"

Niki was getting some water at the water fountain, when suddenly the Shadow came out from it, grinning. Niki let out a terrified scream while Tucker grabbed her arm to pull her away from the ghost.

"So that's where the sewage water ends up… I knew it," Sam remarked.

Andy looked rather sick when he saw that.

Danny grumbled. "Great… just what I needed…" He found an unused locker and pulled himself into it before there was a flash of light and he turned into his ghost form. Danny then turned intangible and flew out of the locker before chasing after the Shadow, which flew through the halls of the school, terrifying the students.

Danny caught up to the Shadow. "You're making it really hard for me to keep a low profile…" Danny growled as he flew above the Shadow. However, the Shadow grinned and separated into two copies of itself and squished Danny between them before Danny fell away from the impact. The two copies fused back into one Shadow before flying off.

Danny hit the ground with a grunt, bouncing along like a basketball until he hit the Science Lab door. The Shadow was coming after him. Danny turned intangible and went into the Science Lab. Looking around for anything to remove the Shadow, Danny caught sight of a magnifying glass on the table and grabbed it.

The Shadow flew into the lab and chased Danny outside. "Looking for me?" Danny taunted before he held up the magnifying glass and aimed a ghost ray through it. The amplified ghost ray incinerated the Shadow with ease.

"Aren't we going to help Danny?" Dorimon asked in Andy's backpack as they stood in front of Danny's locker.

"I don't think he needs it this time. Shadow isn't all that strong on its own, especially since this school is lit," Andy whispered back.

"Besides, we don't want to expose you guys while we're in school. People are bound to notice a cat suddenly punching a ghost," Sam agreed.

Danny, now intangible again, flew into his locker before a flash of light was seen. The door opened, revealing Danny there in his locker. Patamon, dizzingly came up from Danny's backpack.

"Whoa… that was weird… I think I got transported to a pocket dimension… or Danny's mind…" Patamon groggily said, his eyes spinning.

Danny gave a sheepish grin to Patamon. "Ehehe… Sorry, Patamon… I didn't think my transformation would take you somewhere… I was wondering why you weren't in that battle actually."

"Uuugh…" Patamon just slunk back into the backpack, trying to ride off the dizziness.

This just made Andy very curious though. So his clothes DO go somewhere whenever he transforms.

Just then, a familiar voice called out to the group. "Good job, Danny!" It was Paulina.

Andy and Sam jumped a bit, while Danny nearly stumbled out of the locker in shock. He quickly closed the locker behind him. "W-where did you come from?"

"Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer said as he came up to Danny. "You were due to smack the erasers five minutes ago. Where were you?"

"I… uh…" Danny tried to come up with a believable excuse. But Paulina had one better.

"He was with me, Mr. Lancer." Paulina said with a smile. "We're dating now!"

With that announcement, everyone around them was staring, gasping in shock, some dropped their books. One boy, who was putting a picture of Paulina into his… shrine to Paulina in his locker, he looked devastated. "NOOOOOO!"

Andy was staring, unmoving, not saying anything. He just stared.

Dorimon poked his head out of Andy's backpack slightly. "I think… that broke Andy's brain…"

"And I think that I broke a vein…" Sam said, unable to take her eyes off of the apparently new couple.

Tucker and Niki were also staring dumbfoundedly.

Paulina grinned at Danny before she wrapped an arm around his.

"Well, that certainly ups your street cred, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer said, surprised and delighted at this new development. He then looked at Andy. "You're not dating anyone out of your league, so you can smack the erasers." Mr. Lancer tossed the erasers to Andy.

Andy dropped the erases, still unable to compute.

"I'll… uh… help him with that, Mr. Lancer," Sam quickly covered.

"See that you do, Ms. Manson." Mr. Lancer said before he turned and left.

Sam then gave Andy a shove on his shoulder. "Andy, snap out of it!"

Andy fell over to the ground, still unmoving. But his eyes were still on Danny and Paulina.

Sam blinked. "Okay… I think Dorimon was right. Andy's brain is broken…"

"Just give him a moment," Gatomon whispered.

Mr. Lancer smiled at Danny and Paulina. "You two enjoy lunch."

There was almost a romantic music being played in the background as Danny and Pauline walked away, smiling dreamily at each other, not noticing the broken brother on the floor, or the jealous goth girl glaring at them.

"Sam? Andy? Uhhh…" Tucker looked at the lying down brother and the angry goth girl. "Are you two… okay?"

"They… don't look okay…" Niki said in concern.

Andy started laughing hysterically. And Sam punched a locker door, making quite a dent in it.

Tucker blinked as he eyed the dent in the locker. "I… think you need to get your temper under control…" He said to Sam, warily though in case she tried to punch him instead of another locker.

"Shut it!" Sam snapped.

"We… should uh… probably get the nurse for Andy…" Niki said, looking at the laughing boy in concern.

"Yeah… His brain is broken…" Tucker said, worry in his voice.

---

It was a bit later. Danny and Paulina were sitting together at the school cafeteria. They were still smiling at each other.

Andy, who had miraculously recovered from his hysterical breakdown, was sitting with Tucker, Sam, and Niki, who were watching them. Andy was glaring at Paulina, who didn't return it this time, but Andy was pretty much on fire right now. Sam was too, though for different reasons.

"Dude… calm down, Andy. Aren't you happy for your brother?" Tucker asked in concern.

"With Paulina? Hell no!" Andy hissed. "She's going to break his heart, you'll see."

Tucker frowned, but he didn't call Andy out on it.

Niki looked concerned for Andy. She had heard of how cruel Paulina could be to the boys she dated if they were not up to snuff, and she was worried for Andy's sake, because his brother was dating Paulina. Sam didn't look much better either, she could just see the jealousy wafting off of the goth girl.

"Tucker… maybe we should be careful with what we say right now… they look like they're very angry predators ready to jump on the next person who says something wrong," Niki whispered to Tucker.

"She's got a point," Terriermon whispered in agreement.

Tucker hated to admit it, but both his girlfriend and Digimon partner were right. "Yeah… I think we should give them some space for a bit to cool off…" He agreed in a whisper, his reply meant for both Niki and Terriermon. "So… Niki, want some chicken legs?"

"Oh, I'd love some." Niki smiled.

Tucker loved that about Niki, she did eat fruits and vegetables too, but she loved meat as well.

With Danny and Paulina, Danny was still smiling like he was on cloud nine. "So… uh… I'm really happy you're cool with this, Paulina." Danny said as he put his elbow on the table, resting his head on his hand. "But everyone's kinda staring."

Indeed, there were jocks, cheerleaders, and other popular kids staring at them. Some looked happy, some looked annoyed, others looked curious.

Andy noticed that it was just like in his vision last night. Oh no… could I actually… really see the future? There's no way this could've actually happened… but it's happening before my eyes!

Dorimon was concerned for Andy now, worried he would have another brain breakage.

"That's because you're with me now." Paulina said in a dreamy tone.

The boy with the Paulina shrine in his locker began to cry again before he turned and ran off.

Oh please, it was never going to happen anyways, get over it! Andy inwardly snapped at the crying boy. Then again, I thought the same thing about Danny and Paulina.

"Speaking of… how would you like to go to a bowling party with me on Friday night?" Paulina asked.

Danny gave a big smile at that. "You mean… like a date?"

"Not like a date…" Paulina purred. "A date."

"Ugh…" Calvin was sulking as he walked up to the two of them. "As much as this pains me, Fenton… now that Paulina likes you, you're officially… a… cool kid." It sounded like Calvin didn't like saying it at all, as he was forcing himself to say it to a nerd. It was evident in his body language he was not willing to say it.

It's… actually happening? This isn't a dream, is it? Andy asked himself, before he pinched his arm. Ow! … Nope, it's real.

Dorimon frowned to himself. Don't go nuts again, Andy… Once was enough...

"Officially?" Danny asked before he grinned. "Like a club?"

"Not like a club, a club." Calvin clarified, but he looked unhappy about it. He then shoved a folder at Danny, that read A-List on it. "Here's your membership packet."

Danny looked at the A-List, it was unusual, because the last time he began to fit in with the cool crowd, he never got one of these. Must be because it was official now, rather than temporary. Danny couldn't help but grin, it felt like a dream come true.

"And this is Mikey," Calvin spoke up, holding the smartest nerd in Casper High by the shoulders. "He'll be doing your homework from now on."

And the teachers allow this or they don't know? Or are they turning a blind eye? Andy grumbled.

Tucker blinked. "Okay… I'm not sure if the teachers are aware of this…" He whispered to Niki. "This feels… wrong…"

"I'm afraid that is something most popular kids do. I'm not sure about the teachers though, but they do seem to favor the popular kids," Niki noted.

Tucker nodded, a frown crossing his face.

"Hi Danny," Mikey greeted as if Danny was an old friend, which he kind of was, Danny wasn't close to him, but they would sometimes talk when they saw each other in the hallway.

"Don't talk to him!" Calvin scolded Mikey. "You're nowhere cool enough!" He tossed the nerd aside, but to Mikey's surprising relief, Dash was near his landing spot and helped the nerd to his feet.

Mikey was surprised at how Dash was helping him, but he wasn't going to question it.

Calvin then took out a card and handed it to Danny. "Here's your hall pass card. After the hall monitor stamps it ten times, you get a free frozen yogurt."

"We have a hall monitor?" Andy asked, mostly to try to keep his mind off of the strangeness of the situation.

Sam just shrugged, but didn't really answer otherwise.

"Welcome to the A-List, jerk…" Calvin said before correcting himself. "Err… I mean, pal." It was clear he hated the fact a nerd was now in the A-List, which was evident on his face. It looked like he was going to vomit every time he addressed Danny as 'pal'.

"Fenton's cool now? I thought we didn't have room for new members," Kwan remarked in surprise.

"There's a limit to how many A-Listers there could be?" Andy raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently, not like we would know," Tucker shrugged, sipping his soda.

Calvin looked at Kwan. "Normally we don't, but we had to make room so, I have some bad news for you, Kwan."

Kwan didn't like the way Calvin was saying that. Uh oh...

"So… you're feeling all this anger, yet Danny doesn't notice?" Sam asked Andy after a bit. "Didn't you say you two had a stronger link now or something?"

"That doesn't mean we feel everything the other's feeling… that's just creepy," Andy grumbled. "Besides, it's possible the link could be weakening due to our… um… different statuses…"

Dorimon didn't like hearing this at all. "Andy… I think you should try talking to your brother about this…"

"You think he's going to listen? He's too blinded by love with Paulina to hear a word I have to say right now," Andy grumbled. "Besides, I'm not an A-Lister, why listen to the 'loser brother', right?" Wait… didn't I have a vision of me… no, no, no, that isn't going to happen, ever!

Kwan slowly made his way over to the group. "Hey… I'm… I was told I had to sit here now…" Kwan sounded outright dejected, like he was depressed almost.

Tucker gaped, only for Niki to shut his mouth by pushing his chin up.

"Wait… why?" Andy asked, surprised to see the jock sitting with them.

"Because your brother was accepted into the A-List… I had to get kicked out to make room for him…" Kwan sighed.

"That makes no sense. Why kick you out? Couldn't they make room? And even if they couldn't, why kick out a football player?" Andy questioned.

"I don't know!" Kwan exclaimed. "Apparently Calvin thinks I'm expendable! I don't know why they kicked me out! I just…" Kwan sighed here. "I'm sorry… I just felt the need to vent a bit…"

"I think we all do," Sam sighed.

"Hey… Valerie got kicked out, but she's doing okay," Andy spoke up, hoping to reassure the guy. "Maybe we can find a way to help you get through this as well."

Kwan remembered Valerie's situation and smiled a bit. "I'm glad to hear Valerie is doing okay. And… thanks…"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Sam grumbled, still quite angry.

Andy rolled his eyes. "There's more to life than being in the A-List club. You like poetry, right?"

Kwan's eyes widened. "How did you know that? I've only ever told Dash."

"He… may have told me," Andy sheepishly answered. "But I wanted to suggest that you could write poetry and maybe join the poetry club. Since you're not an A-List anymore, you have nothing holding you back, right?"

Kwan smiled a bit more. "No… No there isn't." He was feeling a bit better already.

"Well there you go, it's not the end of the world because you got kicked off, it's just the beginning of something new. Maybe you'll make new, real friends there." Andy grinned. "People who share your interest and not judge you for them."

"That would be great." Kwan agreed. He grinned a bit as well. "I would love to see how my poetry is received by others besides my family."

Kwan smiled more, getting excited. "I'm going to see if I can sign up for the club right now! Thanks for the suggestion!"

Kwan practically skipped out of the cafeteria.

"Wow, I didn't know you had such a way with words," Niki complimented. "Or turning a former bully into a happy school girl."

Andy shrugged. "Kwan was never a real bully, he's just a nice guy who keeps giving into peer pressure. I think him getting kicked off might be a good thing for him."

Tucker nodded with a grin. "And it means one less bully in the long term."

"Great, I'm so happy for him. Meanwhile we're just looking longingly at the person who used to sit with us all the time at lunch," Sam growled.

Niki frowned. "Sam…" She didn't say anything more, not wanting to upset Sam even more, but her face was showing sympathy for Sam.

"Calm down, Sam. Getting angry will not help your situation," Gatomon whispered. "Let's wait and see what happens. If Paulina is as you say she is, she and Danny will not keep their relationship for long."

Sam looked at Gatomon and nodded. "Okay…"

"Yeah, Andy, remember, Paulina won't be able to keep the relationship for long. Danny will soon see through to her actual nastiness and dump her," Dorimon whispered to Andy.

"I… I know… I just… still can't believe it. I suppose it didn't help that one time she did go out with him, I ended up turning into a dragon…" Andy sighed.

Niki blinked, looking at Andy with a raised eyebrow.

Andy noticed her looking at him, and he quickly corrected himself. "N-not literally! I just meant I acted like a dragon, you know, just really angry."

Niki nodded, accepting that answer. "I can see why then, if her reputation is anything to go by."

"At least you seem to have calmed down," Tucker remarked in relief. "Chicken legs?"

Andy sighed, but took the chicken leg.

---

Later that afternoon, as the classes went on, Danny and Paulina continued doing things together. However, football practice was also going on. Dash was running down the hallway, looking for someone. He then saw Andy walking to his locker to get his books for the next class.

"Andy! I need you to come with me, now!" Dash frantically said.

"What? What's the-" Andy was cut off as Dash grabbed his arm and pulled him with him. "Wah! Dash! Careful, you're going to rip my arm off!"

"Sorry…" Dash replied as he let go of Andy's arm.

Dorimon poked his head out of Andy's backpack and looked at Dash. "What's wrong?"

Dash frowned. "Just… come with me, okay? I'll explain everything."

Something was definitely bothering Dash. Andy frowned, and quickly followed after the Warrior of Wood. They headed out into the football field.

"Dash, what is it? Is it a Digimon attack?" Andy asked in concern. "Did Ranamon come back?"

Dash shook his head. "No, but I wish it were." He sighed. "Someone had the bright idea to spread the fact that you and I are best buds around."

"Wait, what!? Who found out? I don't think any of my friends would tell anyone! They're… way too good at keeping secrets after all." Andy frowned.

"I didn't say it was one of your friends." Dash replied. "I have a feeling it may have been Kwan. He's a nice guy but… keeping secrets is not really his specialty."

Andy frowned as he narrowed his eyebrows. "Wait… how could Kwan possibly know you and I are friends?"

"Last I heard, he joined the poetry club… any idea why?" Dash asked, looking at Andy.

"... I may have suggested it to him, since you told me he liked poetry…" Andy admitted.

Dash sighed. "Yeah… I thought so…"

"Why? What does that have to do with him knowing we're friends?" Andy questioned, still confused.

"Kwan was the only real friend I had. So I was the only one he ever told that he liked poetry to," Dash answered. "The fact that you told him that I told you, to him, means that we must be friends since I would never share that secret otherwise."

Andy paled. "O-oh… I… can't believe I didn't think of that…"

Dash perked up, his senses with nature picking up on others coming around them. "Uh oh…" He looked around, seeing other jocks and cheerleaders beginning to surround the two of them.

"So it's actually true?"

"They are actually friends?"

"Well Dash and Fenton are out here, and Fenton isn't getting beat up."

"... Uh… how about I go sit on the bleachers while you do your football practice?" Andy quickly said, starting to get uncomfortable with the situation.

Dash gave Andy a sympathetic look. "That would be best. You look like you're about to fall over."

Andy quickly ducked his head and hurried away from the crowd that was surrounding him. He climbed onto the bleachers, sighing.

"Take a few deep breaths, Andy," Dorimon whispered.

"This is… really starting to look like my vision… could I… actually see the future?" Andy questioned.

"Just take deep breaths. Don't worry about it…" Dorimon assured Andy. "Just don't think about it, you will break your brain again."

"I didn't break my brain," Andy grumbled before noticing that the football players were all huddling together, including Coach Testlaff, instead of starting the practice. "Oh great, what are they discussing now?"

"WHAT!? No! One Fenton is bad enough!" Calvin suddenly shouted angrily.

Dorimon winced. "I think I have an idea on what it could be… if that yell was any indication..."

"... Maybe I can sneak away while they're debating," Andy decided.

Dorimon frowned. "I hope you can…"

Andy started to slide across the bleacher, only for a vine from the ground to grab his ankle. "Wh-what the?"

"Looks like Dash isn't going to let you go so easily," Dorimon noted.

"How can he use his Digimon powers in human form?" Andy hissed.

"Well… he did use his Healing Leaves in human form," Dorimon pointed out.

Dorimon wasn't sure how it was possible, but he had the feeling that a Spirit meant for a certain human would allow that human to use certain Digimon abilities in human form. He wasn't sure about it though, so he was keeping it to himself for now.

Suddenly, the football players finally dispersed. Dash started walking over to Andy, looking quite sheepish. Andy looked at Dash.

"... So… what were you guys talking about? Planning a new strategy for the game?" Andy asked in a hopeful tone.

"Not exactly…" Dash admitted. "It was more of… who gets moved around on the high school food chain… And well…" He trailed off here, not looking too happy about it.

Andy frowned, already knowing where this was going. "You don't have to do that, Dash. You know I don't like being a part of the A-List, right?"

"I know," Dash sighed. "But… because our friendship was revealed, and… I really rather not have to pretend that you're not my friend, and have to prove it by actually beating you up in front of everyone… so I confirmed it. I am the captain and the star of the football team, meaning… well, while Paulina is on the top of the food chain as the popular girl, I'm at the top as the jock, even if Calvin is trying to take my place. Meaning… well… you kind of have to be a part of it."

"Why? Can't I be your friend and not a part of it?" Andy asked.

"It's the rules of the A-List." Dash revealed with a sigh. "It would look too weird if you were not part of the A-List and were seen hanging around with me. Either way, you're now officially a cool kid." He then looked back up at Andy. "Not that it would be a bad thing, err… hanging out with you if you were not part of the A-List."

Andy looked down.

"Hey, don't worry so much. I know you don't like the popular kids, but maybe you'll enjoy being an A-List. You never really gave it a try, and you can still be yourself. You already made it clear you weren't going to conform yourself just to be popular. And… being yourself is kinda what got you into this," Dash pointed out.

Dorimon gave a nod. "He's right! You were just being yourself, and look what happened! Dash is now your friend and a Legendary Warrior because you were being yourself when you helped him out!"

"Conforming yourself to be popular is bad," Dash stated. "But being popular for being yourself, that's probably the 'right way' of doing it. At least try it, please?"

Andy gave a sigh. "Fine… I doubt the others would let me go if I didn't anyways. Maybe they'll kick me out after about three days."

Dash sighed. "If they do, I won't protest it. But thanks for at least giving it a chance."

Dash then pulled out the A-List folder from his jacket and handed it to Andy. "I'm sure you already heard the speech from Calvin earlier, right?"

"Yeah, two questions about that," Andy said as he took the folder, as well as the hall pass card. "One… do I really need to get Mikey to do my homework?"

Dash chuckled. "No, you don't. Calvin makes Mikey do his homework, as well as that of the other popular kids, but not me. I've been doing my own homework for a while now, and you can keep doing it yourself too."

Andy nodded. "Okay. And two… do we really have a hall monitor?"

Dash blinked. "Uh… You know… I've never seen a hall monitor. But someone has to be stamping the hall passes."

"... Ooookay, let's not talk about that," Andy quickly said.

Dash noticed Andy's nervous look and nodded. "Good idea…"

"I'll see how well I can handle this," Andy remarked, looking at the A-List folder. "Maybe I'll like it, who knows. Just as long as it doesn't change me. Dorimon, you have permission to bite me if I start acting like a jerk."

Dorimon giggled, but he knew Andy was serious. "I will do what I can~"

---

Things were different since Danny and Andy ended up on the A-List. Paulina had been clinging onto Danny since they were officially dating. Danny was so blinded by love that he didn't have a problem with putting a photo of him and Paulina over the photo of him and his friends and brother. He did check on Patamon though, to make sure the little guy was alright. Paulina mistook him for a cute stuffed animal though, and decided to hold him. Danny just gave a lovesick grin, hoping that it would be fine for Patamon to be held by the most beautiful girl in school.

Patamon didn't argue back, finding it enjoyable to be held by the human female, but his Digimon instincts were telling him something was off with the girl. He didn't want to ruin it for his partner though, so he kept it quiet. Besides, it wasn't like he could speak to Danny while Paulina was holding him anyways, not if he wanted to remain as a 'toy' in public.

Meanwhile, Andy was walking down the hallway, trying to find this mysterious hall monitor, when he was bumped by Calvin and a few other jocks. Calvin looked like he wanted to pick on Andy, but Dash was there, and gave him a firm look. Not only that, Calvin wasn't allowed to pick on another A-Lister, so he just gave a fake grin at Andy before walking off. The other nerds who walked by quickly lowered their heads when they saw Andy, like they weren't worthy to gaze upon him. Andy frowned a little at that.

Dash sighed as he saw Andy's reaction to the nerds, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as he tried to figure out how to stop that reaction. Andy put a comforting hand on Dash's arm before giving a small smile at him.

Tucker, Sam, and Niki were mostly going on about their business as usual. Kwan would sometimes go talk to them, excited about his new friends at the poetry club, and how they understand his sensitive soul. Thankfully, though, Kwan didn't bring them along for any activities. Sam had a feeling Kwan's activities would've been hazardous to their health. But since Andy became an A-Lister himself, it had been difficult for him to join them at lunch. The other popular kids kept wanting him to sit with them, maybe help them out with something. And Andy, being the good boy that he was, sat with them to not disappoint them.

It had gotten lonely for the duo, Tucker and Sam, to not have the two boys with them anymore, Takuya 2 usually disappeared after classes, because Sorcermon's magic was a bit low when he made him, so the clone had to rest a lot in hiding. Tucker was glad to have Niki, of course, but even she couldn't fill the void that the Fenton brothers left.

Sam looked down, feeling a bit saddened by the 'loss' of two of her best friends. She was missing them, and they were not even dead! Well, fully dead in Danny's case of course, but it still counted. Her memories of hanging out with the Fenton twins still brought her joy, but knowing she would not hang out with them anymore was hurting her in a way not even Gatomon could help with. It felt like her heart was breaking in two, slowly bit by bit.

"Sam? Are you going to be okay?" Tucker asked Sam as they were sitting outside of the school. "You seem… well… more down than usual."

"Give her a break, of course she does. The boy she's secretly in love with is going out on a date with Paulina, and the other boy has been busy with the other popular kids," Terriermon spoke up since they were pretty much alone.

"Sam… I don't like seeing you like this," Gatomon said with a frown. "I think it's time you tried talking to them."

"I want to, but they just sit with the other popular kids." Sam sighed. "If I try, it may seem weird and I may just be shoved aside. I still can't believe Andy of all people is part of the A-List, he kept saying how much he hated the popular kids."

"Well, he hated the idea of being popular," Gatomon corrected. "And I don't think he's ignoring us on purpose."

"Let's try to be positive, it's only been a day, right?" Tucker said, trying to remain optimistic.

"A day that could change one's life forever…" Sam muttered.

---

Andy sighed tiredly. He had no idea so many popular kids were so dismissive of their homework. He had to convince a lot of them to at least try to do their own work, or they may not get far in life after high school. It was for their own good, really, and they… surprisingly listened. They would have never taken his words seriously before.

Is this the power of being high on the popular scale? The A-List is the highest on the popular scale after all… Andy realized as he was putting his books away into the locker. Maybe this won't be such a bad thing. I could probably help change how things work around here. Maybe have the popular kids get along with the 'unpopular' kids.

As soon as Andy closed the door, he was surprised by Valerie suddenly being there. "V-Valerie! Whoa, jeez, I didn't see you there."

Valerie blinked. "Andy? You're… You're in the A-List? How… when…?" Valerie tried to find her voice as she stared.

Andy bit his lip, remembering that Valerie was an A-Lister herself not that long ago. "It just… happened. I honestly didn't want it, Valerie, I promise. But word got out that I was Dash's friend, and… apparently that was enough to put me in the A-List."

Valerie frowned. "Well, being friends with a popular kid will do that, I suppose."

"Are you… upset about that?" Andy asked. "Maybe I could help get you back into the A-List if you want?"

Valerie blinked as she looked back at Andy. "Wait… What?!" She was shocked. Could she be brought back into the A-List? Just like that? "Andy… is that even possible?"

"I don't see why not. I mean I got in it just by being friends with Dash Baxter, and Danny got in it for dating with Paulina," Andy chuckled slightly.

Valerie frowned. "But I saw Kwan was kicked out. Who will have to get kicked out for me to rejoin?"

Andy sighed. "That… well, I suppose it depends on how bad you want to be an A-List again, Val. I'm not sure if I would stay as an A-List for long to be honest. But I am trying to help change the popular system while I'm an A-List. Maybe then they won't treat other kids poorly just because they're not as popular as they are."

Valerie frowned. "Yeah… I'm not too sure about being an A-List again if what I experienced when I lost all my wealth is anything to go by."

"Well, let's hope things will change soon." Andy smiled. "After all, people should treat other people as that… people, no matter their social status."

Valerie nodded. "Yeah…"

"Is everything okay, Val? Or are you still in shock about all this?" Andy asked, seeing how somber Valerie looked.

"It's just… I… lost my literature book yesterday night… Mr. Lancer is going to let me have it, and I'll get in trouble with my dad again. He's already got enough on his plate though…" Valerie sighed.

"Oh…" Andy then opened his locker before taking out a literature book. "We have the same class, right? Why don't you borrow mine?"

Valerie blinked. "Are you sure? I mean, you're an A-List and I am not… besides, don't you need it?"

Andy shrugged. "Valerie, I'm still me, you know. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you out when you need it? Besides, I rarely get in trouble with Mr. Lancer, so I can afford missing a literature book. I just don't want you getting in trouble and causing more stress for your dad."

Valerie gave Andy a smile. "Thanks, Andy…"

Valerie's fingers accidentally touched Andy's fingers while he was holding the book out to her. A strange, warm feeling came onto Valerie's cheeks suddenly before she finally took the literature book from the boy. She didn't know why she was feeling that way though. Nobody really ever helped her this way before, not unless she was still an A-List and she asked for someone else's textbook herself.

"I'll see you in Mr. Lancer's class," Andy chuckled, seeing Valerie looking a little flustered.

Valerie nodded. "Yeah… sure." She walked off, feeling a bit embarrassed that Andy had seen her flustered look.

"Wow," Dorimon giggled from in Andy's backpack. "You just made her blush."

"I'm sure she's just embarrassed that she had to borrow my book for a class. She likely lost her literature book when she was chasing down the Box Ghost or something," Andy quietly said.

Dorimon giggled again. "You still made a girl blush~"

"You be quiet, she's just a friend," Andy hissed, trying not to blush himself. "Ugh, anyways, where are Tucker and Sam? I haven't been able to interact with them since I kept getting swept away by the other popular kids. In a way, I'm glad the populars are so eager to listen to me, on the other hand… I'm worried Tucker and Sam think I've left them for the popular kids."

Dorimon frowned. "Yeah, that would be worrisome. Why don't you go and find them? I'm sure they would be happy to talk to you."

"Yeah, and after that, maybe I can track down Danny and talk to him about his relationship with Paulina," Andy remarked. "... So, work that sniffer and help me find Tucker and Sam. They're the only other kids who have Digimon with them anyways, aside from Danny."

Dorimon nodded with a grin. "Right away!" He began to sniff around, picking up the scent of Gatomon and Terriermon.

Andy picked up Dorimon from his backpack and started moving in whatever direction Dorimon was pointing at. Though he had to be careful, not wanting another popular kid to sweep him up again before he got to his friends. Too bad I can't just go invisible like my brother, that would've made this ten times easier.

---

Thankfully, Andy was able to find Tucker and Sam sitting just outside of the school. They appeared to be talking to each other about something. Sam looked a bit depressed. Andy frowned, having a good idea as to why. He began to approach them, when suddenly a familiar, feminine voice spoke up from not that far away.

"Where have you been? You should have made your move on me hours ago!" It was Star, Paulina's former 'satellite'.

"What?" Andy looked at Star, confused, he didn't even see her there.

Star was sure Andy was there to date her, and this sent Dorimon into snickers, but he bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing out loud. "You heard me." Star said as she looked at Andy.

"I'm sorry, but-" Andy started to say before Star suddenly put a pile of books in his arms.

"Here are my books. I like to bowl on Friday night," Star continued, putting a big bag on top of the books.

Andy blinked, trying to process what was happening right now.

"And if you try to hold my hand before the third date, I'll break yours in half." Star finished before she turned and walked off.

As soon as Star was gone, Andy's backpack began laughing loudly. Andy responded by dropping the books and bag, then he took off his backpack, unzipped it, and flicked the laughing Digimon in the face. "This is not funny, Dorimon!"

"Ow!" Dorimon whined. "What did I do?!"

Andy sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe Star is just as demanding as usual. Why would she think I want to go on a date with her? Besides, I thought she didn't like me."

Dorimon wanted to laugh again, but he kept his mouth shut on that. "I have no idea." He said with a perfect poker face.

Andy glared at his partner, seeing a bit of humor in the Digimon's eyes. However, before Andy could say anything else, he heard Tucker calling out to him.

"Hey, Andy!" Tucker called as he waved at Andy. Terriermon was making no effort to hide his laughter at the scene with Star earlier.

"Looks like you just got yourself a date this Friday night," Terriermon laughed.

"This isn't funny, Terriermon! For one, I didn't want a date, and another, I have no interest in Star, she's the one who just came up to me and expected me to go out with her!" Andy growled in annoyance.

Terriermon went silent at Andy's glare. "Never mind…"

Tucker looked at Andy. "Wow, dude. You got saddled with Star? Who knew she was so demanding?"

"She used to be Paulina's best friend," Andy muttered.

"So she's used to being spoiled," Sam added as she came over to the group.

"Hey, how've you guys been by the way? Sorry I've been neglecting you guys. I was hoping to try to change the popular chain a little bit," Andy apologized sheepishly.

Sam waved it off. "No, no. It's fine you've been ignoring us." She said sarcastically before Andy's last words registered in her brain. "Wait… What?! You've been trying to change the popular chain?!"

"Well yeah, at least the best way I can. I am still new after all, there's only so much I can do at the moment," Andy answered. "I was able to get the… uh… 'lower tier', for the lack of a better word, popular kids to care more about doing their homework than getting the nerds… the smart kids to do it for them. At least I hope they're planning to do that and not just say that to appease me."

Sam blinked before she smiled a bit. "I didn't think you had it in you to do something like that."

"It is something you've been wanting to do, right?" Andy chuckled.

"That she did," Gatomon agreed. "She just didn't know how to go about it though."

"Can you blame me? Since I'm not one of them, they don't listen to me. If I show I have wealth, that would just make me no better than them anyways," Sam grumbled.

"To be fair, I don't think I'll be an A-List for long anyways. I'm not wealthy, I don't have any exceptional skills, I'm not particularly good looking. Really, I'm only an A-List because I'm friends with the football captain," Andy shrugged. "I doubt that would maintain my sudden new social status for long."

Sam frowned before she smirked. "Well, make the most of it then, because even if you lose that status, I think you can make a lasting impact on how the popular kids treat the other kids."

"Well, that's my hope anyways," Andy chuckled.

"It's cool that you're working from the inside at least," Tucker laughed. "What about Danny?"

Andy sighed, shaking his head. "I haven't seen him since the lunch he and Paulina had."

"He's still in school, I can still smell Patamon nearby," Dorimon stated. "He's somewhere on campus, I think."

Sam frowned. "Oh, I hope he is enjoying himself with his new girlfriend."

Gatomon sighed. "Sorry… Sam's been like this for a while now since Danny fell for Paulina."

"I kinda figured," Andy chuckled sheepishly. "Believe me, Sam, I don't like it either. I'm planning to talk to him about it soon."

"By the way, what are you going to do with your Star situation?" Terriermon asked.

Andy frowned a little, looking down at the books and the bag she had dumped on him. "Hmm… if she wants a date, she'll get one~"

Dorimon saw the look in Andy's eyes and grinned wickedly, showing off his mouthful of sharp chompers. "Planning revenge?"

"Oh please, how petty do you think I have to be to get revenge over something like an unwanted date?" Andy remarked.

Tucker and Sam looked at each other.

"Maybe you can bring Niki to the Amity Park's Lanes, Tucker," Andy suggested. "I'm sure she would like to bowl there."

Tucker blinked before he grinned. "Another date? You know I will ask her."

Dorimon tilted his head in confusion, but since that was most of his body, he looked quite funny as he looked at Andy. "What's your plan then?"

---

Takuya's Nightmare

I could see my uncle approaching, holding up the scalpel as he got closer and closer. I squirmed against the cuffs around my wrists and ankles, trying to break free. Using my enhanced strength, I could see the cuffs beginning to give under the stress I was putting them under.

My uncle kept getting closer before I felt a surge of adrenaline rush through me and I broke free from the cuffs, surprising him. I rolled off the lab table and got to my feet, running for the door to the lab. My uncle followed me, looking enraged as he chased me.

I ran up the stairs and to the door, but it wouldn't open, much to my dismay. I slammed my armored shoulder into it twice before it gave, throwing it open before I ran for it from the lab. The doors to the house however, were solid metal instead of the usual appearance. I skidded to a halt in front of the front door, seeing how it was locked. I was panting, and I looked back, seeing my uncle approaching still. Slowly he crept closer and closer. Looking around, I saw the windows were not covered and ran towards one. I jumped, breaking through the glass and landing outside before getting to my feet.

I turned and ran, not even caring what happened now. I just knew I had to get away. I ran towards the library and ran inside. I found the nearest computer and held out my D-Tector towards the screen, hoping to escape to the Digital World. The screen of the computer flared with light, which gave me hope I would get away. But when the light faded, I wasn't in the vortex.

The light faded, revealing the lab again. I panicked when I saw I was back in the lab, strapped to the lab table once more. I didn't want to look over, but I did anyway. There, like before, was my uncle, slowly approaching me.

How many times had I been back here? At the beginning of this… this… cycle? It keeps going. Even after he started dissecting me, I was always going back to the beginning of it. Even despite my various attempts to escape, I'm still back at the beginning of this cycle. Is there a way out of this hellhole? Maybe… maybe my best way out… is to take out the source.

My blue eyes turned hard as my uncle approached again, holding up the scalpel as usual. I gritted my teeth, revealing my sharp fangs. I strained against the cuffs again, this time focusing my fire abilities on the cuffs as well, heating them up before breaking free. I got to my feet and ran at my uncle, having had enough of this nightmarish place.

A shout escaped me as I then launched into a back-kick, hitting my uncle in the face. The impact sent him stumbling back, but he didn't back down. I then encased my fists in fire and threw a punch at my uncle, engulfing him in flames. I wasn't about to go back and experience this cycle all over again. But something changed while I watched the man burn. He was no longer shrouded in shadow, but he was the man I loved and called uncle. He gave me a look of shock and agony, a look of betrayal, before he disappeared.

I felt something run down my face. Reaching up, I realized I was crying. I fell to my knees, wondering what was going on. I had just taken out the source, hadn't I?

"Do you want out of this nightmare, Takuya?" A voice asked me.

I perked up. "Out of…?" I muttered to myself. I was in a nightmare?! I then looked up. "How? How do I get out of this?"

I wondered if Dreammon might have been responsible for this, even though I was sure we had defeated him.

"You must confront your fear, Takuya," The voice answered me. "Otherwise, you will keep trapping yourself here, unable to move on."

I blinked, and was back at the first cycle. Back on the table, with the man shrouded in darkness, holding the scalpel again.

"Confront my fear…" I muttered to myself. "How…? I never told him it was me he attacked… besides, wasn't getting rid of the source confronting it?"

"No, you only attacked what had you scared. That's not confronting your fear. And I don't think you'd actually want to do that in real life either," The voice stated.

I narrowed my eyes a bit at that. The voice had a point. I wouldn't dare do that to my uncle. Sure, he could get a bit excitable at times, but he would never hurt a family member… would he?

"Think about why you're so afraid… and perhaps the answer will come to you. Until then, you have trapped yourself in this nightmare of fear over and over again. Your mind will make you relive this moment until you can break free of it. Or at least take the first step to getting over your fear." The voice explained.

I watched the man in shadow coming closer and closer carefully. I could feel my heart racing and my Digi-Core pulsing with fear, but I was slowly beginning to realize what I was scared of. It wasn't really being dissected. No… It was more I was scared of being… My eyes went wide a bit as it came to me. I was scared… of my family rejecting who I was if they knew. The form in shadow was representing my family, and the scalpel was the pain that would come from it. At least, I was certain that was what it was. But now the question was… how do I confront this fear in this nightmare?

---

Sesshoru: DarkFoxKit: It's unknown to what happened to Koji and why he lost the Spirit of Water. Perhaps it'll be discovered later on.

Titanic X: ZAFT: Yeah, it's getting crazy now. XP

GirlFish: ZAFT: Well, you will see what happens here. Right now, Paulina doesn't have the Spirits of Water, as they are looking for a host, but trust me, if she does get them, she won't have them for long. XP

DarkFoxKit: I mean I didn't think Calmaramon was that ugly, I felt everyone's reaction to her was a bit overexaggerated, especially since there are much uglier Digimon out there. Though I guess compared to Ranamon, she is pretty unsightly. I'm not sure if we'll have any more characters with the Legendary Warrior Spirits any time soon, because we're already overwhelmed with the amount of characters we have to work with. ^^' But we will have to see later.

As for the Demon Lord Digimon, they're not a thing yet right now. We're mostly focusing on Danny Phantom's side of the story, since this was uploaded on the Danny Phantom website.

ZAFT: As for Takuya, he will recover from this. It will just take some time. :3