Digital Phantom: Evolution

by ZAFT Convoy

The human world, the Ghost Zone, and the Digital World all exist side by side. At the same time, new dangers arise, and to survive, Andy, Danny, and those close to them have to adapt, and evolve, to meet these new threats head on. New challenges arise, and old foes return in new ways. But can the team survive what is to come? Or will they fall to a foe in the shadowy wings?

2. Lost Memories

DarkFoxKit: Here we are with another chapter. Things are gonna get complicated for Andy.

Andy: When have they ever been not complicated?

ZAFT: Oh, you have no idea~ :3

Takuya: Why do I think this will lead to Andy- *Hand covers Takuya's mouth*

ZAFT: No spoilers!

Andy: Lead me to what?

DarkFoxKit: Oh nothing of your concern.

Andy: Considering it involves me, I'd say it's plenty of my concern!

DarkFoxKit: *Innocently whistles* Let's get to the story~

Andy: FOX!

---

Chapter 2: Lost Memories

When Andy woke up, he didn't expect to be back in his room, waking up from his bed. He also didn't expect to be holding an egg in his arms, until he remembered what happened yesterday. "Dorumon…"

This egg was all that was left of his partner. He didn't know what it was Dorugamon did that made him turn back into a Digi-Egg, but whatever it was, it was a hefty price. Not only do we have to start over, Dorumon may not even remember me… or everything we went through…

That thought alone made Andy want to cry. If Dorumon didn't remember anything when he hatches again, then that would mean the Dorumon he knew was essentially dead. He was never coming back.

The Digi-Egg moved a bit, but that was all Andy could feel from it. Then, a groan was heard from beside Andy's bed.

Andy turned to look at the other bed, seeing Danny waking up from it. Patamon was with him, so at least he was okay.

Danny sat up as he rubbed his head. "Wow… what a headache I have…" He muttered. "What did Dad give us to drink last night?"

"Ugh… I feel sore…" Patamon groaned.

"Danny… Patamon… are you two okay?" Andy asked.

Danny looked over at Andy, noticing the sad look in his eyes, and the egg he had around his arms.

"Uh… Yeah…" Danny replied before he looked at the Digi-Egg. "Is… everything okay, bro? You're holding that Digi-Egg a bit tightly."

"I… I just lost my partner… he likely won't remember anything once he hatches…" Andy answered back, starting to feel choked up. "Would that mean he… he wouldn't be the same Dorumon? Would that mean that my partner is effectively… dead? Gone? Never… coming back?"

Danny blinked. "Andy… You…" He was not sure what to say to his brother to reassure him. "Wow… this… Geez… what can I say?"

"It'll be okay, Andy," Patamon spoke up. "I'm sure that Dorumon will remember you eventually. He may not be a Celestial Digimon, but he had definitely proven himself to be a strong willed Digimon. He might keep his memories, he might not, but he'll still be the Dorumon you remember, I'm sure of it."

Andy could only nod in acknowledgement, hoping Patamon was right. Then he realized something odd about Patamon. "Patamon…? When were your eyes blue?"

Ever since Patamon had hatched, he had green eyes, but now they were blue for some reason.

Patamon blinked. "Um, my eyes have always been blue. Why do you ask?"

Danny blinked as well, just as confused as Patamon. "Are you feeling well, bro? Patamon has always had blue eyes ever since he hatched."

Andy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. That didn't seem right, he knew Patamon had green eyes before. In fact, he still wasn't sure how or why they ended up back home when the last thing he remembered was fighting with Desiree at the park.

Before Andy could question anything, they heard Maddie calling for them.

"Boys! It's time for breakfast!"

---

Andy was stirring his cereal. He didn't care how good Dr. Seuss' book made it sound, he was not touching the green eggs and ham Maddie made for breakfast. Danny and Jazz agreed with him, and decided to just have cereal and toast instead, or in Danny's case, just cereal. He fed his toast to Patamon. Jazz still had Lopmon with her.

Next to Andy, Takuya was poking at his own toast, not feeling very hungry for some reason. He had been oddly quiet, only glancing at Patamon every now and then, almost as if observing him for some reason.

Andy wondered why nobody was asking him about the Digi-Egg he had in his backpack, he left the backpack open so anyone could see it. It was as if they already knew about Dorumon becoming a Digi-Egg again.

Takuya finally spoke up to Andy. "Andy… what's… that egg doing in your backpack?" The way he emphasized the word that was a clue to Andy he was talking about Dorugamon.

"It's the egg of my partner," Andy answered.

"We're sorry about what happened to Dorumon. If only we could've been there to save him from that nasty ghost attack." Maddie frowned.

Wah? So they do know about what happened? Andy blinked. Who told them? When?

Takuya blinked, also just as surprised as Andy. His mouth fell open, making him look like a fish. H-How? What… who… What is going on here?! Did someone tell them?

"Not to worry! After Dorumon hatches, we'll get that ghost back!" Jack promised, who had no problems eating the green eggs and ham.

"Can we not, please?" Danny frowned. "I don't like fighting ghosts… they're scary and strong, and look at what they did to Dorumon!"

Takuya felt his brain cease working. Danny… scared of ghosts? Am I… in another world or something?!

Patamon frowned. "I just want my big brother back…"

"Besides, there aren't any ghosts. What we've been fighting are Digimon, and Digimon that are ghost-like, but not actual ghosts," Jazz remarked.

"Even if there were ghosts, we could take them if we had to," Lopmon stated confidently.

Andy frowned a little. "Um… this might be a silly question, but… what's the date today?"

"It's November 7th, 20XX," Jazz replied. "Why?"

"Just… wanted to make sure the date on my calendar was right," Andy answered. So… obviously we didn't go back in time. I should've figured that since we still have our Digimon partners, but I had to make sure. There's one more thing I could try to see if this is a different dimension… "So… uh… any news or plans to catch Invisobill?"

Jack perked up. "Did you say 'Invisobill?' Is there a ghost around?! I can't wait to catch it and blast our first ghost apart molecule by molecule!"

"Did you name a ghost, Andy?" Maddie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Andy gave a strained smile as he gritted his teeth, trying not to freak out. "No, I… made… an… imaginary friend… with a ghostly name."

Maddie frowned, but let the topic go. "I see. Well, don't go naming ghosts, Andy. It's very bad, because ghosts are nothing but ectoplasmic mimicries of humans and can be very manipulative."

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "An imaginary friend? Are you trying to cope with the trauma of losing Dorumon or something by making an imaginary friend?"

Andy looked at Danny, there was something different about him, though Andy couldn't quite put his finger on it. Danny didn't seem to react to the name 'Invisobill' either, usually he would at least cringe slightly at the name. Andy began to wonder about something. Why Danny didn't react to the name 'Invisobill', why he seemed to be afraid of ghosts, and why Patamon's eyes were blue instead of green.

"Um… will you excuse me? I need to check something," Andy requested, standing up from his chair.

Takuya watched Andy walking towards the stairs leading to the lab, before he looked back at his family. "I… will go see if Andy is okay. He looked kinda freaked out right now." He said as he followed his cousin down into the lab.

Danny frowned as he saw his twin brother and Takuya going down into the lab.

Andy quickly looked at the ghost portal, and was shocked at what he saw. Andy walked over to the ghost portal; it was inactive. There was no actual ghost portal swirling in this giant, octagon hole in the wall, something he had gotten so used to that it was odd to just see the empty insides of the portal. Andy put his hand on the outer shell of the metallic, futuristic hole, feeling that it was cool. It wasn't worn or warm in any way, it was as if it had never been activated in the first place.

Takuya ran down the lab stairs, only to see Andy staring at the inactive portal. "Andy?" He called as he reached Andy's side. "What's wrong?"

Andy frowned, starting to think he may have been transported into a parallel universe after all. He wondered if Desiree did that, or if Dorugamon did that.

"Takuya… what do you remember?" Andy asked suddenly, looking at his cousin.

Takuya blinked. "I remember you and Dorugamon fighting Desiree, then everything went black for me." He replied with a frown. "Why do you ask? Also, since when has Patamon had blue eyes since he hatched? Last I recall, his eyes were green to match Danny's ghostly eyes."

Andy sighed in relief. At least I'm not alone in this parallel universe. "Takuya, I think… we might be in a different universe. Or I guess a different timeline? We're on the timeline where Danny never turned on the ghost portal, and never became half ghost, therefore… never becoming Danny Phantom."

Takuya blinked. "I thought something was off when I woke up, but I wasn't sure what it was until now." He ran a hand through his hair. "But… if we are in a different timeline or universe… what does this mean? What about Tucker, Sam, and the others? Are they okay?"

"I'm trying to figure this out," Andy groaned. "Desiree might've done something. Sam made an angry wish, she was mad at Danny for being too overprotective of her, and I guess I worded my words wrong because she thought I was also accusing her, so she wished she never met us. Add that with a twisted ghost genie who grants twisted wishes, and what do you get?"

Takuya felt the blood draining from his face. "A world without Danny Phantom…" He murmured.

"Yeah. It was Sam who prompted Danny to go into the portal in the first place, if she was never there, then…" Andy frowned. "But that doesn't explain why we still have our Digimon partners. Would you have told us you were a Legendary Warrior if Danny Phantom had never existed? Danny and our friends wouldn't have had a reason to push me away in the first place."

Takuya frowned here. "I…" He ran a hand through his hair again. "That's… that's a tough one… I… Yeah, I would have, especially since you guys have Digimon partners still, but I guess the circumstances behind it would be different."

Andy then gave another consideration. "What if… what if we're not in a different timeline or a parallel universe?"

Takuya blinked. "Huh? If… If we're not in another universe or timeline, then what is going on here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we are really in a world without Danny Phantom, then how do we still have our Digimon partners? I don't think we would've still gotten them, since most of them came to us because of a ghost fight, or because we were in the Digital World at the right time, with Techatamon. What if… Desiree just rearranged everyone's memories? She couldn't make our Digimon partners disappear, so instead, she likely altered everyone's memories on how we met them. One way to grant Sam's wish was to erase the memories of her friends, so it would be like they never met her," Andy theorized.

"Then… Tucker and Danny will never know who Sam is… And without Sam, there is no Danny Phantom because Danny never went into the portal, and no one to stop Desiree!" Takuya realized. "But wait… if that were the case, then how did Desiree take away Danny's powers? And… why do you and I still remember everything?"

"I'm guessing Desiree took away Danny's powers with her magic, she had gotten strong from granting so many wishes, it was possible for her to turn him back to a normal human," Andy guessed. "I didn't even know that was possible… And as for why we still remember… Well, you have your Spirits. They prevent ghosts from overshadowing you, why not grant you immunity to wish magic too? As for me…"

Andy frowned more. "... That might've been what Dorugamon did that turned him back into a Digi-Egg… he wanted to protect me, so he sacrificed his body to shield me from Desiree's magic…"

Takuya put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Andy… Dorumon will be fine. He will hatch again. And… while it's not likely he will regain his memories, there is a chance he could, because I never took his fractal code. He might be able to come back with his memories intact because of that." He then sighed. "But even if he doesn't have all of his memories, or have them at all, he is still your partner. He may find a way to hold onto his memories, so don't lose hope, okay?"

"Andy? Takuya?" A familiar voice called out.

Andy and Takuya turned to the stairs, seeing Danny standing there, holding onto Patamon.

"What are you two doing down here?" Danny asked as he walked over to them.

"Andy was a bit freaked out, so I came to see what I could do to help him out." Takuya replied before he looked back at the inactive portal. "And… I saw Andy staring at the portal for some reason."

Andy stomped on Takuya's foot. Takuya yelped, then held onto his foot while bouncing on the other. "That wasn't the reason. I wanted to check on the portal to see if there might be a way to turn it on, you know? Mom and Dad seemed to have given up on it. Takuya came down here to see the portal, so I was explaining it to him."

Takuya grumbled as he rubbed his sore foot. Me and my big mouth… He thought angrily. "Sorry for 'lying', Andy…"

Danny frowned, he was Andy's twin brother, he knew when Andy was trying to hide something. "Is there… something else going on, bro?"

"No, no, let's just head on back upstairs and get ready to leave, we don't want to be late for school," Andy quickly said, before he held onto Danny's shoulders and turned him around so he could push his back. Huh… he's… a lot warmer. When he was half ghost, even his human half was colder than usual.

Danny blinked. "H-hey, bro! Stop pushing so hard!" Danny yelped in protest.

Takuya laughed at Danny and Andy's antics. Even with his memories altered, Danny and Andy still care about each other. Well, Desiree only made it where we never met Sam, not Andy.

When they got upstairs, Jazz was putting Lopmon into her backpack. "Do you guys want me to drive you to school?"

Takuya looked at his twin cousins before looking back at Jazz. "I think that would be a good idea. Since Andy lost Dorumon, it may give him some time to himself. I don't think the bus would be a good idea in this case."

"And I don't feel like dealing with Dash before school even begins," Danny grumbled.

"It's too bad I have to keep pretending to be a stuffed toy in public, otherwise I'd Boom Bubble that bully…" Patamon grumbled.

Takuya stopped in his tracks at hearing Dash was being a bully. "Wait… what?!" He asked as he looked back in shock. "What do you mean Dash is a bully?"

"Yes, he's been bullying Danny and me since we were kids, remember?" Andy hissed at Takuya.

Takuya heard the warning in Andy's voice and nodded. "O-Oh! Right. Sorry… I… forgot about that. Six years away in another country can do that sometimes…"

"You just saw him stuff us in a locker yesterday," Danny deadpanned while Andy facepalmed.

Takuya gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah… Sorry, Danny. I was kinda tired yesterday so I didn't remember much about that…"

"But why wouldn't you-" Jazz began to ask

"OKAY!" Andy suddenly spoke up loudly, picking up his backpack with his precious Digi-Egg in it. "How about we go to school now? Yes? Good, let's go!" Takuya, we really need to work on your deception skills!

Takuya followed Andy out of the kitchen, mentally berating himself for being such a horrible liar.

When they walked out of the house, and waited for Jazz and Danny to come out, Andy turned to Takuya. "Maybe don't talk a lot for now."

"Yeah… probably a good idea." Takuya grumbled. "Man… I'm such a terrible liar!"

"I wonder what else has changed…" Andy frowned.

---

During the car ride, Andy was sitting in the middle of the backseat, while Danny sat on his left, and Takuya on his right. Andy couldn't help but notice the body heat from his brother, something that had been pretty absent since the accident. Not only that, with Danny being fully human, Andy didn't feel that sense of natural unease around him anymore, and like that gap between them had closed. Though there was still a teensy gap due to the memory issues, but other than that, this had been the closest Andy had been to his brother since the accident.

When they arrived in school, they met up with Tucker, who still had Terriermon with him, but no Niki this time. And there was no sign of Sam either. They walked into school, apparently they were early since class hadn't started yet. Giving students time to just do whatever they wanted for about 20 or so minutes.

"This is going to be a weird day…" Takuya muttered to himself, so only he could hear himself speak.

Takuya saw Calvin and Kwan stuffing small nerds into one locker.

"There's still room for one more, go get Mikey." Calvin grinned before Kwan walked past them.

Where's Dash? Takuya wondered.

"So, what do you want to do tomorrow?" Danny asked Tucker. "Train with our Digimon in case another Digimon attacks?"

"According to my PDA, we're free every night through college, so I don't see why we can't." Tucker replied as he flipped through the calendar function on his device.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands grabbed Takuya and rushed into an empty classroom. Andy, Danny, and Tucker blinked.

"Where did Takuya go?" Danny asked.

Oh dear… Andy frowned.

Dash shut the door behind him after kidnapping Takuya. "I'm freaking out, man!"

Takuya blinked. "D-Dash? Wh-what's the big idea grabbing me like that?!" He wasn't sure if this was Dash with altered memories or if this was the Dash he remembered.

"What do you remember? You still have the Spirit of Agunimon, right?" Dash asked, looking at Takuya.

Takuya's eyes went wide. "Y-yes, I do!" He exclaimed. Dash remembers everything?! Please have it be true! "I remember a fight with a ghost going on and then things went black for me. Why?"

"Everything's topsy turvy! One minute I was training on the outskirts of Amity Park to try to see if I could sense ghosts from a distance. Then suddenly, I was hit by some purple beam by a ghost, and then I woke up at home. Everything was fine until I got to school, where everyone started acting all scared around me. Calvin and Kwan were looking at me as if I needed to decide the bullying schedule for them, when they know I quit bullying for a while now! It's as if everything started over or something." Dash frowned. "Do you know what's going on?"

Takuya sighed, running a hand through his hair to think. "There was a ghost and it altered people's memories. It was that wishing ghost, the one that made you go berserk in your Beast Spirit form a while back. I don't know much else, because things went black for me as well."

"So… somebody made a wish that altered our reality or something?" Dash frowned. "How do we fix it?"

"I don't know…" Takuya frowned.

Meanwhile, after Dash took Takuya, Sam walked up to the boys, smiling at them. Evidently she had cooled off from yesterday's fight.

"Hi." Sam said with a smile, her tone of voice more relaxed now.

Danny looked up, as did Tucker. "Do… I know you?" Danny asked, surprised this goth girl was talking to him, Andy, and Tucker when no one else seemed to.

Sam blinked at the weird response, before she figured out why Danny said that. "Oh, very cute. Yesterday I said 'I wished we never met' and now you're acting like we never met. Hilarious, Danny."

"No… seriously, do I know you?" Danny asked again, looking genuinely confused.

Andy didn't say anything, he wasn't sure if he should. Obviously he remembered Sam, but if he said he did, Danny would be incredibly worried for him. And if he acted like he didn't know Sam, then he would only make Sam feel worse. It was a no-win situation, somebody was going to get worried or hurt.

Tucker however, saw a chance to get a girlfriend with Sam. "But more importantly, would you like to know me? My name is Tucker, Tucker Foley." He sprayed some mouth spray into his mouth as he said that. "That's TF, as in, 'Too Fine'."

That actually freaked Sam out. "Oh… gross… Are you hitting on me?"

Andy grabbed Tucker's arm and pulled him back. "Sorry about him. He… uh… likes to do that with all the girls he meets." I hope Sam catches my meaning. Tucker doesn't remember meeting her.

Thankfully, Sam did get the meaning. "I… I see. It just caught me by surprise."

Suddenly, there was an angry voice. "OW! I wish somebody would show you what this feels like!"

Sam's eyes widened when she saw Desiree forming behind Calvin and Kwan. "So you have wished it, so- oh, you know the rest by now."

Desiree shot out her magic at Mikey, transforming him into some kind of green horse monster with sharp teeth and claws.

Calvin and Kwan both screamed as they saw Mikey's transformation. Desiree grinned as she felt her power growing. Then, she flew towards Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Andy. Or more like Danny and Tucker. Tucker turned and ran away, screaming before Desiree spoke to Danny. "Boo~"

Danny screamed. "A g-g-...a ghost!" Danny began to shake and shiver, looking away from Desiree in fear.

Desiree, satisfied, flew away. "No memories, no powers, perfect~"

"Hey! Let me at her! I can take her!" Terriermon shouted while Tucker was running. "Come on! She's not that different from Bakemon!"

"She's a ghost! A real ghost!" Tucker replied. "We don't know what she could do to Digimon!"

Patamon came up from Danny's backpack, feeling him shaking and hearing him scream. Patamon was about to fly at Desiree, but noticed she was flying away. He went back into Danny's backpack.

Sam came up beside Danny. "That's Desiree, the wishing ghost!" She realized. She then looked back at Danny. "Danny, you've gotta do something! Why aren't you going ghost?"

Danny pushed Sam away. "Look, you, I don't know who you are, but that's a ghost, and I rather not mess with it."

Danny started running down the hallway, the opposite of where Desiree went. He expected Andy to follow him. Andy, however, remained behind. He watched as horror realization came to Sam's eyes as she realized Danny not knowing her wasn't a joke.

"Oh no…" Sam murmured before she opened Danny's locker. There was a photo of Danny, Tucker and Andy in Danny's locker, with her missing from the photo. She reached in and took it out. "Last night I wished I never met Danny and Andy, and Desiree must have made it so we never met!" She took out an image from her backpack, one that showed her, Andy, Danny, and Tucker. Sure enough, the images were different.

"Which means, Danny never got his powers…" Sam frowned.

Then Sam noticed Andy standing there. "Andy… you… you don't remember me either, do you?"

Andy looked down for a moment, making Sam frown more, then he spoke up. "Of course I remember you, Sam."

Sam gaped at Andy's admission before she sighed in relief. "Ok, thank goodness! I was worried there for a moment." Then she noticed something was off. "Wait… why haven't I heard a word out of Dorimon? Is he okay?"

Gatomon peeked out of Sam's backpack.

"That's… the reason why I remember you," Andy sighed. "Dorumon sacrificed himself to keep me safe from Desiree's magic… he's… just a Digi-Egg now."

Sam gasped. "Oh… Andy… I'm so sorry…" She murmured, feeling bad now.

Andy shook his head. "He'll be fine… we have to figure this out now. As you know, Danny doesn't remember you or his alter ego Danny Phantom. He has no powers either. From what I can tell though, he does still have Patamon, and he had fought with Digimon before, at least according to his memories. But he and Tucker still seem to be afraid of ghosts."

Sam then remembered something else. "What about Takuya? Does he still remember or did Desiree affect his memories too?"

"He remembers. His Spirits likely protected him," Andy confirmed.

"That's good, so we're not alone on this," Gatomon said in relief. "I sensed something was wrong when we woke up this morning."

"So… what do we do?" Sam asked with a frown. "We need to stop Desiree, but without Danny having his ghost powers, we're kind of at a disadvantage here. Desiree looked like she had gotten a lot stronger."

"She has. Apparently the more wishes she grants, the more powerful she gets," Andy informed. "She's going to get… well… crazy strong this Friday night, and… that's going to be a problem if we don't stop her soon."

Gatomon frowned at that news. "So we have a limited time frame to stop her? It's not like we haven't fought with a time frame before, but this will be difficult to do."

"Can't you digivolve into Angewomon and Celestial Arrow Desiree away?" Andy pointed out.

Gatomon frowned at Andy. "It's not that simple. Desiree's power will surpass mine in my Ultimate form if she grants all of the wishes of everyone in Amity Park. I would need to go to my Mega form to even have a chance of beating her, and well… I can't exactly reach my Mega form right now. And there's another problem, while I could try to take her out now, despite the risks of people seeing me, Sam is not in the proper mindset for me to digivolve into my Ultimate form. It's very difficult for a partner to digivolve their Digimon to Ultimate level without practice, and I've only digivolved into Angewomon once."

Andy frowned. Fighting Desiree with only a Champion level Digimon wouldn't work so well, she was already too strong for that, as proven with Dorugamon. And Desiree was getting stronger still. Takuya might be able to handle her with his Spirits… but he was still weakened from the last battle. Andy was not sure if Takuya could even use Fusion Evolution right now.

"Can't Takuya do anything? I mean, he has his Fusion form, right?" Sam asked, not even aware of the last battle going down with Sakkakumon.

"Well…" Andy started.

Takuya and Dash came over to Andy and Sam.

"Andy, we- oh, hi Sam," Takuya greeted.

"Takuya! Did you see Desiree?" Sam asked. "Could you possibly beat her with Fusion?"

Takuya groaned. "Sam… I wi-... I would like to if I could, but I was in a big battle before this and… I took several bad blows. One of those was my strongest move and… It left me exhausted and burned. I can't use my Fusion form for a while because of it."

Dash frowned, he didn't have a way to use Fusion himself either. "Wouldn't our Beast forms be enough? What if we all worked together?"

"We can try that, but…" Takuya hesitated. "She's a strong ghost, fighting her with only Digimon is dangerous. Digimon are weak to ghosts, and she also has magic. She could create strong monsters with her magic to fight us too."

"Not to mention Dorumon is… going to be out of the fight for a while." Andy frowned.

Sam frowned at the options the group had before them. One Champion Digimon, two Legendary Warriors, and two humans were not enough to take on Desiree, but what else could they do? It wasn't like they could recreate the accident, could they? "We… Wow… We really are at the disadvantage here…" She sighed.

"What should we do then?" Dash asked. "I mean… we can't just give up without even trying, right?"

"We need Danny Phantom back," Sam decided.

"Danny Phantom? You mean that ghost boy, right? What happened to him?" Dash questioned.

Takuya paused here in mid thought. Oh crap… Dash doesn't know Danny is Phantom, does he?

"He's gone," Andy answered without hesitation. "Desiree took him away because of… a certain wish."

"But there's a way to get him back!" Sam spoke up with determination. I just have to get Danny to listen to me.

Sam then ran down the hallway where Danny was running earlier.

Andy crossed his arms. "She's never going to get him to listen…"

"How do you know?" Takuya asked.

Andy whispered. "Because I know my brother…"

Takuya groaned. "Oh boy… If Danny won't listen to Sam, then what can we do?"

Andy didn't give an answer.

---

Later, after school was over, Danny, Takuya, and Andy were walking home with Sam following them. She was exasperated.

"Why won't you believe me?" Sam frowned, looking at Danny.

"Believe what? That I had super powers? That we're best friends even though I never met you? And you're the only one that knows it?" Danny asked, feeling angry at this girl.

"Well sort of, but isn't that crystal clear? Come on, you can't say you don't believe that! You have a DIGIMON with you for crying out loud!" Sam pointed out.

Danny didn't stop walking to Fenton Works, but her words did get to him. How did the weird goth girl know about Digimon? He stopped in his walking and looked back. "You… know about Digimon?"

"Yes!" Sam nodded, seeing how she got his attention. "Look, I even have one myself!"

Gatomon popped out of Sam's backpack, landing on her feet. "Hi, Danny."

Danny blinked in surprise. Then is she… Danny looked back up at Sam, surprise on his face. His face then went neutral. Sure, the weird goth girl had a Digimon, but that didn't really convince him. But it did make him reconsider some of his thoughts on her. "So you have a Digimon partner? I guess some of what you said could be true, but I don't really believe you."

"What? Why not?" Sam frowned.

"First off, you said I had super powers, you know that couldn't actually happen, right? Not unless I was a Legendary Warrior, which I know I'm not," Danny grumbled.

Takuya was surprised, apparently even this version of Danny knew about Legendary Warriors.

"And I still have a hard time believing you and I were friends since I don't know you," Danny pointed out.

Sam groaned. "C'mon, Danny! It's not that hard to believe, is it?" She put a hand to her head in exasperation. "Look, if you won't listen to me, then listen to your cousin or twin brother! They remember me!"

Andy really didn't appreciate being thrown under the bus. Danny looked at him and Takuya.

Takuya froze at Danny looking at him. Way to go Sam… Takuya thought as he shot Sam a glare.

Sam didn't seem to care. "Listen, both of you, if we want Danny Phantom back and have a chance at defeating Desiree, you need to help me convince him!"

Takuya groaned. "This will not go over well…" He sighed. He then looked back at Danny. "Danny… I…" He trailed off, not sure what to say without sounding crazy.

Takuya looked to Andy, if anyone could find the words to convince Danny, it was Andy. Takuya knew he would just say the wrong thing and make things worse. Andy frowned, looking at Danny. Danny looked at Andy.

Memories of Danny screaming out in pain and agony, the flash of the portal, Danny's molecules being rearranged as ectoplasm began to fuse into his DNA, Danny waking up as a ghost, scared, terrified went through Andy's head. What kind of brother would he be if he allowed Danny to suffer all that again just to defeat one ghost?

Noticing the stress Andy was feeling, Danny shook his head. "Forget about it. We're not listening to you anymore."

Danny took Andy's hand and pulled him into Fenton Works.

Takuya sighed. "Sorry, Sam… I hesitated, and that cost us… I'll see if I can talk to Andy though..." He said sadly. He made his way into Fenton Works as well, leaving Sam alone with Gatomon.

Sam frowned, she wondered why Andy hesitated. He should know how important it was for Danny to become Danny Phantom again. She was determined to talk to them later tonight. They needed to do this.

---

Takuya wanted to wait until Andy was alone so he could talk to him, but Danny wouldn't leave Andy's side. Danny and Andy spent most of the day together, doing homework, watching TV, just chatting like normal brothers. Andy looked happy talking to Danny. Patamon would hold on to Dorumon's egg to keep it warm, he also wanted his own brother near him.

The older boy sighed as he sat down. He wasn't sure about the whole bringing back Danny Phantom idea himself; it would just tear apart Andy and Danny all over again. And he would be damned if he let that happen. But at the same time, they did need Danny Phantom to beat Desiree, so it was a no-win situation for him.

It's funny… just a few days ago, this was what I wanted. Danny being a normal human again… not a ghostly thing about him at all. Takuya mused. And now I'm thinking about how to get Danny Phantom back…

It wasn't until later that night, when Danny and Patamon were asleep, did Takuya even get a chance to talk to Andy. Andy had Dorumon's egg wrapped in a small blanket on a small sleeping bag beside his bed.

Takuya was going to open the door and ask Andy to talk to him, but Andy heard someone throwing pebbles at the window. Andy looked out, seeing Sam down there.

Andy sighed before he walked out of his room, seeing Takuya. "Sam's outside, waiting for us."

Takuya sighed. "I heard the pebbles being thrown. Let's go see what she wants." He was not looking forward to this.

The boys walked outside, meeting up with Sam on the front door.

"There you two are," Sam said. "We need to figure out how to recreate the portal accident so Danny can become Danny Phantom again."

Gatomon was silently watching them.

"Sam… I really don't know about this." Takuya began. "I mean, if we do this, then Danny and Andy will be torn apart again, and I don't want to see that happen. It's just… It feels like I'm going against being a Legendary Warrior if I do something like put Danny through the accident again." He held up a hand. "I know defeating Desiree is important, but I don't know about making Danny half-ghost to do it."

"Takuya, you know as well as I do why we need Danny Phantom, don't you? It's not just Desiree, there are other ghosts too, even without the ghost portal," Sam pointed out. "Danny Phantom is what gave us the advantage over these ghosts, and even some of the tougher Digimon too. If it weren't for Danny Phantom, you'd all become Dreammon's puppet, remember?"

Takuya gave a cringe at the memory of Dreammon. "Good point…" He admitted. Way to bring it home, Sam...

Sam nodded. "Great, now we just need to convince Danny to-"

"No," Andy suddenly said, bringing Takuya and Sam's attention on him.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Sam frowned.

"I'm not going to recreate the accident to half kill my brother again," Andy answered.

Sam blinked, surprised. "Why, Andy? We need Danny Phantom to beat Desiree!"

"Why do we need him to beat Desiree? We can fight her without him. Danny Phantom doesn't always need to rescue our butts, didn't you want to prove that yesterday when Danny wanted you to wear the Specter Deflector?" Andy pointed out. "So why do you suddenly want him back? You already got your wish."

Sam froze. She had gotten her wish, hadn't she? "Oh… Oh shit…" She was now beginning to realize the consequences of her actions.

Takuya decided to try to talk to Andy now. "Andy… I… I understand your reasoning, but we do need Danny Phantom. He's been an important part in protecting not just this town but the Digital World."

"Well we don't need Danny Phantom anymore!" Andy snapped before frowning. "You don't know what it's like, do you? How it feels to be ripped apart because half of your soul became something else entirely. Trying your damnedest to understand what he's become, and always failing. Always being uneasy or scared. Never quite able to just be a twin again… I had forgotten what it was like to be Danny's twin brother, and today… today I was reminded of that. I was reminded of why Danny being half ghost hurts me so much. I don't want to go through that again. I don't want Danny to go through the pain of the portal accident either!"

Takuya frowned before he sighed. "Andy… I do understand… at least the being scared and uneasy part. I don't want to go through that either. But… if Digimon can't beat Desiree, then who can? Only Danny Phantom can. It's either the hard, but right choice, or the easy, wrong choice. You can either have Danny become half ghost again and beat Desiree, saving more lives, or you can go about your easy life with Danny as a human, and let Desiree run rampant and cause damage and possibly taking lives." He gave a grimace at these words, unable to believe what he himself was saying.

"It doesn't have to be that way, you know," Andy pointed out. " You're thinking too narrowly. If we need a half ghost that badly, why not let someone else go into that cursed portal and be blasted by a shit ton of electricity and ectoplasm and let them be half ghost?"

Takuya paused here before he shook his head. "Andy… someone else could die if it wasn't Danny in that accident. Danny survived it because of something no one else has, even if I don't know what that something is. Whether it was a miracle or something else, I don't know, but I do know that no one else could survive the accident like Danny did. And before you suggest it, no, we are not using Desiree to wish one of us becoming half ghost, remember what happened to Tucker?"

Andy looked down, squeezing his hands into fists. Only Danny could survive… was it really just a miracle? Or was it destiny? Perhaps it was only Danny who could survive because of something in his genetic code? Either way, Takuya has a point. Just because Danny was able to survive to become a halfa doesn't mean anyone else could. If it was literally anyone else… they'd either be a full ghost or just… in the afterlife. But it's not fair… why does it have to be Danny?

"Why does it have to be Danny?" Andy cried. "Why couldn't it be anyone else? I… I had accepted that I would never be close to Danny like I used to be, that I could never truly understand him even though I would try my hardest to. But then… this… I have a second chance with him… and you want to take that away!?"

"Andy… please… I know it's hard, but… in the end, which is the better choice? Letting Desiree get away with whatever she wants, or having Danny Phantom around to stop that?" Takuya said in as gentle a voice as he could.

"How do you know he'll survive again? What if the first time was just an incredibly lucky fluke? If we recreate the accident, what if he dies for real this time? There would be no taking that back," Andy pointed out.

Takuya grimaced at Andy's rebuttal. It was a valid point, but they couldn't be sure it was a fluke. "Yeah… that is true… but what if it wasn't a fluke? What if he really did survive because of something that allowed it?" Takuya countered, feeling like he had a good counter-argument to stand on.

"What if it wasn't a fluke? Do you realize how dangerous it is to assume that?" Andy glared.

"Hey!" Sam shouted, getting their attention. "Look… Andy… I know this is hard for you, like much harder than I could ever realize… and I know what I'm asking isn't fair to you, but… please… we need Danny Phantom back. I… I can't explain it, but I'm sure… I know he would survive the accident again. He's strong, he's got what it takes, and he's the only one we can count on right now."

Andy rubbed his head, feeling a big headache coming on as he had a war waged inside him. His logical side, shouting that they needed to do this, it was for the greater good. And his emotional side, shouting that it wasn't fair, he wanted to have Danny back as his human brother again. I wish Dorumon was here…

Dorumon would've at least known how to comfort Andy enough to calm him down, but he wasn't.

Takuya frowned, noticing Andy looking a little ill.

Andy turned to go back into the house, but he did give Sam something before he did. "... Ask yourself this, Sam… how do you get through the mind of a thick headed 14 year old boy? Puberty tends to hit pretty hard."

As soon as Andy was inside, Sam realized what Andy was saying. "Oh no… Darn it…"

"That was pretty… dramatic. But I can't blame Andy. This… really isn't fair to him," Gatomon sighed. "I guess this is one thing he can't defy when it comes to destiny."

Sam sighed. "I guess you're right, Gatomon. Personally, now that I think about it, I don't think I could stand seeing Danny go through the accident again either, but at the same time, I know what needs to be done, and I can't let someone else's feelings stop it. Andy has some good points, and I will admit his reasons are good, but in the end, it is only Danny who can stop Desiree."

Gatomon blinked for a moment, thinking about another pair of twins that she knew. "Hmm… maybe…" Maybe it isn't only Danny who can stop Desiree...

Sam noticed Gatomon's look. "Gatomon? What's on your mind?"

Takuya, who was still out there, noticed the same look on Gatomon's face. "Hmm?"

"Andy had a point about one thing… we are thinking too narrowly," Gatomon said. "Are we sure Danny is the only one who could survive the portal accident and become half human and half ghost?"

Takuya looked confused. "What are you saying? That someone else could be similar to Danny, able to survive the accident?"

"Do you remember Koji and Koichi? The twins of Light and Darkness? How well they work when they're fighting together? And how much it hurt them when they were against each other?" Gatomon pointed out. "Now… who else would be similar to Danny that we know of, hmmm?"

Takuya paused for a moment before he realized what Gatomon was saying. "Oh no… Not him…" He breathed. "Andy…"

Sam looked surprised. "Andy…? Being… half ghost? Are you… sure, Gatomon?"

"It's only a theory. I can't say for sure if he could survive the accident himself, but… he is Danny's twin brother. We sort of forgotten that since we had become used to only Danny being a halfa," Gatomon pointed out.

Takuya looked down, feeling torn now. It was true Andy and Danny were twins, but at the same time… the risk was too great for him to accept and be comfortable with it. "Yeah… but… what if we kill Andy? I would never be able to live with myself if that happened…"

"Takuya… have a little more faith in Andy," Gatomon said. "But I'm not saying we should try that. I doubt Andy would willingly go into the portal himself anyways. It's just… something to consider."

"Until then… I have to get ready for tomorrow… I'm going to hate myself in the morning…" Sam groaned.

Takuya sighed as he turned back to go into Fenton Works. "I hope it's not what I think it is…" He muttered before he went inside the house.

Andy couldn't sleep that night. He was still at constant war with himself.

"Andy?" Danny yawned. "Is… everything alright?"

Andy wondered if they still had that bond between them, or if it had gotten stronger due to Danny being the same species as Andy again. "I… I'm just… having trouble sleeping…"

"Oh… Do you… want to talk about it?" Danny asked as he began to feel a bit more awake.

Andy hesitated, this wasn't really something he could talk to Danny about considering the situation. Andy sometimes wondered if Danny… when he was half ghost, thought the same thing whenever something was bothering him. It only made Andy feel worse about Danny's future about becoming a halfa again.

Danny noticed Andy's silence, feeling more worried for his twin brother since Andy usually told him everything, Danny got out of his bed, letting Patamon sleep at the foot of it, and went over to Andy. Andy looked up in surprise when Danny came onto his bed. Instead of saying anything, Danny wrapped his arms around Andy, giving him a comforting hug.

Danny then pulled away and looked at Andy. "What is wrong, Andy?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"There's just… a lot on my mind…" Andy sighed.

There were a lot of futures where Danny became a halfa again. Danny having to fight with stronger ghosts, stronger Digimon, getting hurt, having to figure out what to do on his own, getting targeted by ghost hunters, including his own parents. Andy could see that at some point, Danny would change more than just his biology. Once he started going into the Ghost Zone more, he would learn more about his ghost half, he would learn more about ghost culture. Which wasn't a bad thing, but… I guess I am being selfish after all… I don't want him to do all that because that would mean we'll start seeing each other less and less…

"I… I just… I'm worried about you… one day… just… well… have so much responsibility that you won't… really see or need me much anymore…" Andy admitted, despite this Danny not having a clue on why Andy felt that way.

Danny blinked. "Andy… we're not going to go away to different colleges. It's too soon to start worrying about that. And I'll always need you, bro."

Andy almost wanted to laugh, if only it was as simple as them going to different colleges. At least Danny would still be human. He might end up going to ghost college if there is one.

"I know you don't… really understand my mumblings, bro… it's just… hard for me to really describe it," Andy sighed. "Just know that… I will keep this moment between you and me forever in my heart." Perhaps the last moment we can really be just humans together again.

Danny couldn't help but give Andy a goofy grin. "That sure sounded cheesy, bro. You really are sentimental, aren't you?"

Andy normally would've been indignant at such a comment, but he felt a little too emotional to let that bother him. He was going to truly miss this moment, he was going to miss just having Danny as a human brother again. He hadn't realized how much had changed between them, how much they drifted apart since the accident until Danny was just human again. Andy didn't want to give it up now that he had it back again… but he knew… he would have to.

"Um… Danny… would you mind it much if we just… slept on the same bed tonight like we used to when we were little?" Andy requested.

Danny blinked. "I-I… sure?" Danny was confused, not sure what to make of this, but who was he to judge Andy based on his request? "I don't see a problem with it."

"Thanks, Danny… you really have no idea how much this means to me," Andy said softly.

"But could you maybe cheer up a little bit, bro? You make it sound like this is the last time we'll see each other again, or like I'm going to disappear or die the next day," Danny playfully remarked, mostly to try to lighten up Andy's strange melancholic mood.

Andy winced a little at Danny's comment, making Danny frown, wondering if maybe Andy knew something he didn't.

"Let's not… think about that," Andy said. "Let's just get some sleep… heh, don't want to be too tired for school tomorrow, right?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, not to mention Mr. Lancer's class could bore us to death again…" He added.

"Uh… maybe lighten up on the 'death' jokes for now?" Andy requested.

Danny sighed. "Okay, bro. Let's just get some sleep."

While it might've seemed weird to others, Andy didn't hesitate to cuddle with his brother. They hadn't done this very much since they turned 12, but they did used to cuddle with each other a lot when they were younger. Now they only did it if one or both of them were upset. They often found comfort in cuddling with each other. Andy just hadn't been able to do that with Danny lately due to him becoming half ghost. Andy felt too uneasy to cuddle with a ghost, even if it was his brother, not to mention he was ice cold, not very comfortable to cuddle with. And Danny would often go out on night patrols anyways. This was the first time in a long while that Andy could cuddle with his brother comfortably, and it would likely be the last.

Danny didn't protest Andy's cuddling, and just let him cuddle away.

---

The next day, school went by like a blur to Andy. It was difficult to concentrate in school, especially when one knew death was going to claim somebody they loved soon, even if it was only half death. The things Andy saw in store for his brother's future might as well be a fate worse than death.

Andy felt like he had been in a daze all day, just working on autopilot. Dorumon was still an egg, there hadn't been any ghost or Digimon attacks yet, Desiree's been oddly quiet. Andy did notice that Sam hadn't been around today though. Takuya had been trying to talk to Andy, but Andy didn't seem to be paying much attention to him. Andy's main focus was mostly on Danny. He wanted every image of his brother to burn into his mind before he became half ghost again. He knew it was coming, and he wished, inwardly of course, that it wouldn't.

When school was over for the day, Danny asked Tucker something, he sounded concerned and was shooting glimpses at Andy. Tucker made a suggestion, and before Andy knew it, they were at the Creamy King, which was Amity Park's ice cream place. It was one of the places teens liked to hang out, the other being the Nasty Burger.

"What're we doing here?" Andy asked, finally coming out of his daze.

"It was Tucker's idea." Danny admitted. "I kinda wanted help to cheer you up, and well… what teenager wouldn't like ice cream?" He added with a shrug.

Andy blinked, before realizing he had worried his brother today. "Oh… uh, sorry about being out of it today, bro. I didn't mean to worry you like that."

Danny chuckled. "It's fine, bro. I'm just glad you snapped out of your mopey daze."

"I told you that the Creamy King would snap him out of it." Tucker grinned.

"Hey, could you get me pistachio and chocolate, please?" Terriermon whispered from Tucker's backpack.

Patamon snickered at Terriermon's request, as well as the response of Tucker gently bopping Terriermon on the head, while inside the backpack.

Danny chuckled at Tucker's reaction as well. "Terriermon seems to be a chocolate hound." He joked.

"Could I get orange, please?" Patamon requested.

Takuya was chuckling, if there was one thing most Digimon had in common, it was that they loved food. "Digimon are basically walking stomachs if they get hungry enough." He joked. Although, the same could be said for me when I revert back to my human form...

Danny sighed. "Okay, fine. I will see about getting Terriermon his chocolate and pistachio and you your orange ice cream." He said with a sigh.

---

Danny, Tucker, Andy, and Takuya sat down at a table with their ice cream. Danny and Tucker got strawberry with chocolate chips. Andy got vanilla and chocolate swirls. Patamon and Terriermon were eating their own ice cream. As for Takuya, he got a simple chocolate ice cream cone.

Takuya licked away at the ice cream, but his mind was on what could be done to stop Desiree instead of what his cousins and Tucker were talking about. Andy seemed to be happier again, though he could just be acting so the others wouldn't worry about him.

"Hi…" A deadpanned voice spoke up. "Mind if I join you?"

The boys looked at who was speaking to them to see it was Sam. She was wearing a gaudy pink sweater, a white skirt with pink polka dots on it, purple sweat socks, and pink and white sneakers. She was also wearing blush on her cheeks and a big pink bow on her head. To add to her cute look, she had Gatomon beside her, acting like a real cat. She had a big pink bow tied around her neck.

Danny, Tucker, Andy, and Takuya were all staring at her.

W-what?! Takuya was shocked at what he was seeing. Okay… I must be dreaming if I am seeing Sam dressed like that! And Gatomon with a pink bow… why does that look cute…?

Andy knew Sam was going to try something crazy after the advice he gave her last night, but he didn't expect her to go that far. In fact, to make sure he could never speak again, or gap like an idiot, he stuffed his ice cream into his mouth, which was giving him a bit of a brain freeze.

Danny gaped before he threw away his ice cream, shoved Tucker out of his seat, making him drop his ice cream, and looked at Sam with an eager grin.

Not too far away at another table, Paulina was grinning at seeing the odd goth girl's attire. "She surrendered her individuality for a boy! I'm so proud of her!" She exclaimed, making Takuya groan before he shoved his own ice cream into his mouth to prevent himself from shouting at the shallow girl. Gah! Brain freeze sucks….

So does this mean Paulina would take Sam in as a friend now? Andy mused to himself after getting over his brain freeze.

As soon as Sam was beside Danny, she wasted no time to get down to business. She put her backpack on the table and dug out her scrapbook. "So, this is the photo I have of us in 8th grade."

Sam took out two pictures, showing Danny the one she found in his locker yesterday, and the other picture she had with her. One of them showed Sam with Danny, Tucker, and Andy, while the other excluded Sam.

"This is the same one you had in your locker. Notice anything?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, you broke into my locker and doctored an old photo of me." Danny replied, looking at the two photos. He then gave a dreamy grin. "You must really like me…" Then he became a bit creeped out. "Or… you're nuts… But if you have a Digimon partner, you are probably not nuts… are you?"

Andy almost snorted while Sam groaned, she pulled Danny out of his chair and shoved him down onto hers so he would have a direct line of sight of her entire scrapbook. "Focus!"

Andy had to admit, this was a good way to get his brother's attention. Danny can get easily distracted sometimes, but he wasn't stupid by any means. When Danny looked at the pictures, he started to realize that Sam may not have been crazy after all.

He saw images of him, Tucker, Andy, and this Sam girl, even one of them all down in the lab. "Wait a minute… that's the lab…" Danny frowned. He flipped through the images some more, seeing one of a ghostly boy flying, then one of him and Tucker hugging (which creeped Danny out), and then one of Danny and Andy holding up their white and black hazmat suit and white and dark blue hazmat suit next to the Fenton Ghost Portal.

Danny looked back at Sam, surprised and confused. "Who are you…?" He whispered.

"I'm Sam Manson," Sam answered. "And-"

"A few months ago, you went into the ghost portal," Andy interrupted, looking at Danny. "There was a bright flash of light… and then…"

Andy pointed at a picture of Danny Phantom floating in front of the very much active ghost portal.

Danny looked at Andy in surprise. "Wait… Andy… how do you know that?" He was worried for his brother now.

"Do you remember that ghost in the school yesterday?" Andy asked.

Danny nodded. "I do. It's kinda hard to forget a ghost." He replied.

"Her name is Desiree, she grants any wish she hears, and it makes her stronger. She also runs on genie logic, meaning she can and will twist your words and wish around," Andy explained.

Sam looked down. "You and I had a fight the other day… and I made a wish that we never met… and that ghost made it happen, that's why you don't remember me or have your powers anymore. I was wearing this…"

Sam held up the Specter Deflector. "Which is why I guess the ghost didn't affect me."

"But if you were wearing that… whatever it is… why does Andy still apparently remember me having these super powers?" Danny asked, confused.

"We call them ghost powers," Andy corrected. "And the reason why I remember is why my partner is currently an egg right now. He shielded me from Desiree's magic."

Danny was surprised, but at the same time it made sense. "Oh… So that's why…" He hadn't even bothered to consider how Dorumon had become a Digi-Egg again, so now things, despite being confusing, were beginning to make sense in a way.

"I'm guessing that ghost also changed our memories," Patamon noted from Danny's backpack. "On how we actually met. Because I thought it was strange you and I met randomly in Amity Park."

Dannny looked down at Patamon. "Huh… That was strange… But I guess it is oddly making sense."

"So you actually get ghost powers?" Tucker asked, having come back from being shoved out of his chair.

"Maybe?" Danny said with a shrug. "It sounds pretty cool though, I mean look at this picture, if that's me then that means I can fly! How cool is that?"

I wonder who took that picture of Danny Phantom flying without it being all blurry… Takuya noted.

"Danny…" Andy frowned. "I want you to think about what it means to have ghost powers. What are ghosts, exactly? Hmm?"

Danny looked back at Andy and frowned. "Andy… I know what ghosts are. They're entities made up of ectoplasm, and can often be seen as manipulative beings that want to mess with humans. Mom and Dad have always talked about hunting ghosts to see how they compare to humans, as they have always told us. Why do you ask?"

"They're more than just that, Danny, much more," Andy sighed. "They're like Digimon; different species, but have complex minds. In other words; ghosts are sentient. And besides that, they are often seen as people who have died."

Danny blinked. "So… Mom and Dad are possibly wrong about ghosts? Wow…" He was surprised, but that seemed to be quite common for the last few days.

Andy sighed. "Danny, do you get my meaning? If you get ghost powers, you-"

"Paulinaaaaa!" A voice hissed as the building shook.

Green claws stabbed into a wall, before circling around. The wall that was circled fell down, revealing a large woman, wearing black and red striped clothes, a black top hat, has green hair, sharp teeth, red eyes, red warts on her face, and her very sharp, very long green, glowing claws.

Paulina and everyone else inside the Creamy King began screaming before running for their lives. Tucker was shaking, but he wasn't planning on running. "I don't know what that is, but if that is a ghost, shouldn't we… I don't know, do something about it?" He asked nervously.

"Are you nuts? Do you know how dangerous it is to fight a ghost?" Terriermon frowned.

Patamon frowned, he also wasn't sure if he could take on a ghost. Ghosts could corrupt a Digimon's data, making it difficult to be reborn if something happened to them. Not to mention his partner was terrified, meaning he wouldn't be able to digivolve Patamon into his Champion form.

Instinctively, Sam turned to Danny. "Danny, you've gotta-..."

Danny was looking around fearfully, he was trying not to run away, but he was clearly terrified.

"He can't help," Andy said to Sam.

"Then I guess it's up to me…" Sam realized, remembering Takuya was obviously still sore from whatever battle he had been in previously. Her mind was racing as she tried to come up with a plan.

Paulina was trying to open the emergency exit door, but she was having trouble getting it to open in her panic. Despite not having his partner with him, Andy grabbed his Fenton Rod he kept in his pocket and ran forward. Sam and Gatomon were surprised to see Andy boldly attacking Nightmerica without his Digimon. After extending his Fenton Rod, he slammed it into Nightmerica's back before she could get to Paulina.

Nightmerica screeched in pain at Andy's Fenton Rod slamming into her back. She turned to face Andy, growling at the boy who had attacked her. She swung her claws at Andy in an attempt to remove him from the battlefield.

Andy jumped back, holding out his Fenton Rod to let the claws hit that instead. He kept moving around until Nightmerica managed to graze his side, pushing him back a bit. Andy groaned, his shirt torn from the claws, but he kept going.

"Come on, Sam! We have to help him!" Gatomon spoke up.

Sam snapped out of her planning and looked at where Andy was struggling. "Right." She put on the Specter Deflector before grabbing Tucker's beret and a knife, which she then used to cut out two eye holes to see through once she put it on. "Ready, Gatomon?" Sam asked as she looked at her partner.

Gatomon just nodded before running forward. Andy was trying to block more of Nightmerica's slashes with his Fenton Rod, and she was about to get through his defenses when Gatomon ran up to her. "Lighting Paw!"

Gatomon punched Nightmerica away from Andy. At the same time, Sam took out the Jack-O-Ninetails from her backpack, she knew they would need to trap the monster before they could catch her.

Sam fired off the Jack-O-Ninetails at Nightmerica, catching her in the many-tailed trap. Then Sam gave the Ninetails a good yank, pulling Nightmerica away from Andy.

Takuya had never expected Andy to just rush at Nightmerica, especially without his Digimon partner. "Is Andy insane?! That could have hurt him if not worse if not for Sam!"

Danny blinked as well, also surprised. "Okay… that is pretty crazy, even for my brother." Danny murmured.

"Andy's nuts, just as nuts as that Sam girl…" Tucker gaped.

"Excuse me, but we are the ones who are saving your butts right now!" Sam snapped.

Nightmerica managed to break out of the Jack-O-Ninetails' hold. She was about to slash Sam, but both Gatomon and Andy tackled the big woman away before she could. Gatomon and Andy were trying to hold her down so Sam could catch her in a Fenton Thermos, however, Nightmerica managed to shove both of them away. Andy and Gatomon landed on the floor.

"That's one tough ghost…" Terriermon frowned.

Danny gritted his teeth, he didn't like seeing his brother getting hurt. "Patamon, can't you do something?"

Patamon looked at Danny. "I could try." He said before he flew at Nightmerica. "Boom Bubble!" He sucked in a large amount of air into his body, puffing up like a balloon before he expelled the air in a large shot of air.

Nightmerica let out an angry and annoyed hiss when the air bubble slammed into her back. She backhanded the little Digimon into a wall. Patamon let out a groan of pain.

Sore or not, Takuya was ready to Spirit Evolve if he needed to.

He had his hand on his D-Tector, but he wasn't sure if he was needed yet or not. However, remembering Andy getting hurt was what prompted action.

Andy slowly pushed himself up, looking at Nightmerica. At once upon a time, these monsters didn't seem so tough. They had people like Agunimon, Ultimate form Digimon, Dorugamon, and Danny Phantom by their side. But now… their Digimon could barely digivolve past Champion level, Dorumon was gone, Danny Phantom was gone, Takuya was still recovering. And Andy was reminded that no matter how much he grew in the last few months, he was still only human. He wasn't much of a match for someone enchanted by a strong ghost.

Deciding enough was enough, Takuya acted. He held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now evolved, Agunimon charged right at Nightmerica, slamming into her and knocking her away from Andy. "That's it! You hurt him, you go through me!" Agunimon hissed, baring his fangs at Nightmerica in an intimidation move.

Agunimon then got one of his attacks ready to use. "Pyro Darts!" He threw small bits of flame at Nightmerica; he was not willing to risk using his more powerful moves in such a confined space.

Nightmerica let out a scream of pain from being hit by a Digimon's fire attacks.

Andy saw that Nightmerica was moving quickly, trying to get away from the Pyro Darts. She was also charging towards Danny and Tucker. Both of them looked surprised. Andy threw his Fenton Rod just under Nightmerica's feet, which tripped her up and made her fall flat on her face.

Gatomon ran towards Nightmerica and jumped on her back. "Let's see who's claws are the sharper ones."

Gatomon used her own claws to slash into Nightmerica's body. When Nightmerica let out another scream, Gatomon jumped off of her. Agunimon took his chance to finish the battle.

Agunimon ran at Nightmerica before he cried out and lashed out with a brutal roundhouse kick to Nightmerica's head, getting a direct hit on her. Nightmerica screamed out in pain from the blow, landing on the ground, weakened and drained from fighting.

"And for my final trick…" Sam pulled out the Fenton Thermos from her backpack, removed the lid, and aimed it at Nightmerica.

The Fenton Thermos shot out some kind of beam of light at Nightmerica, trapping her in it, before she was sucked into the thermos.

Danny watched this in amazement. "Whoa… that was so cool!" He hadn't expected Sam to use some kind of ghost catching device like that.

Patamon slowly flew back to Danny, deciding he had enough excitement for a while. Danny held onto Patamon. "Are you okay, buddy? You look like you took a pretty bad hit back there."

"Yeah… just not used to fighting ghosts," Patamon sighed.

"And you, Andy… why did you charge in like that?" Danny asked. "You didn't have any back up."

"I thought I could take her… or at least, I was hoping I would be able to…" Andy frowned as he picked up his Fenton Rod. "I guess I was only fooling myself…" I guess the only reason why I could put up a fight with ghosts as much as I did was because of Dorumon...

Agunimon walked over, sighing at Andy's actions. "Andy, you should have been more careful." He said in a lightly scolding manner before he groaned and fractal code surrounded him, reverting him back to his human form. Now human again, Takuya rubbed his left foot. "Ouch… Okay, I should have probably not kicked that monster so hard…"

"That's still so cool to see you turn into a Digimon," Tucker complimented.

Danny sighed before he looked at Sam. "So… that whole ghost fighting thing… did that happen a lot?"

Sam removed Tucker's beret and sighed. "More than you remember, Danny." She admitted.

Danny looked back at Takuya, rubbing his sore foot, and at Andy, rubbing his side a bit. Then he looked down at Gatomon, who was rubbing her messy fur.

Danny let out a sigh. "Okay, you've got my attention."

Sam perked up at hearing Danny's words and grinned. "Alright! Finally!" She exclaimed. "Now to get out of these gaudy clothes!" She reached down and ripped off the gaudy sweater and skirt, revealing she was wearing her normal gothic clothes underneath them.

Whoa, Sam must either be really strong, or those clothes were made with very thin fabric that's easy to tear through… Andy blinked.

All too excited, Sam grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him with her. "Come on, let's go!"

Danny was using his other arm to hold Patamon. "Whoa! Where are we going?"

"We're going back to your place, Danny!" Sam exclaimed.

Tucker quickly followed after them. "You owe me a new beret by the way!"

Takuya looked back at where Sam, Danny, and Tucker were headed. "Ugh… Andy, I think we need to follow them." He reached out and grabbed Andy's hand and began to make his way back to Fenton Works, dragging Andy with him. "C'mon, let's go."

Andy wasn't really helping though, if anything, he felt more like dead weight. Andy was dragging his feet, literally, he wasn't even moving. Andy was giving Takuya a pouty face while Takuya was dragging him.

Takuya looked back at Andy. "Andy, stop pouting! We need to get to Fenton Works with Sam, Danny, and Tucker!"

"Why? You want to see how Danny half dies?" Andy grumbled.

Takuya groaned. "No, but we need to be there anyway, to show we support Danny in whatever choice he makes." Takuya then grunted as he stopped and picked Andy up so he was on the older boy's back. "If you won't come willingly, I will carry you then."

Andy just huffed as he crossed his arms like a stubborn child. "I can already see the accident in my head, why do I have to watch the real thing?"

Indeed, Andy was constantly getting visions of Danny walking into the ghost portal, accidentally turning it on, a bright flash, Danny screaming as his colors invert, coming out as Danny Phantom. Rinse and repeat.

"Fine… Looks like I'm carrying you back then." Takuya sighed before he made his way back to Fenton Works, Andy being carried on the older boy's back.

"Darn it, Takuya! Put me down! This is embarrassing!" Andy shouted.

"Only if you come back willingly and don't make a fuss out of it." Takuya retorted with a glance back at his cousin.

"You suck, you know that?!" Andy snapped.

"Oh, I suck? How about you suck?" Takuya retorted with a growl. "You're the one making a big deal out of coming back to Fenton Works, you know."

Both of them continued arguing as Takuya carried the reluctant boy out of the Creamy King.

---

It was night by the time they reached Fenton Works. It was the perfect opportunity. Jack and Maddie were busy in the living room for the night, Jazz was with Lopmon in her room, studying. Tucker was on lookout duty.

"All clear!" Tucker called out.

"The walls are soundproof, right?" Terriermon asked. "Cause you know, if Danny screams, that'll bring everybody down here."

"Yeah, they didn't used to be, but they should be now," Takuya answered, remembering hearing Jack and Maddie talking about sound proofing the lab when he had to distract them when Andy and Jazz went to Wisconsin.

"Cool…" Danny said, looking a bit unsure. He then looked back at Sam. "How's it going over there?"

Sam was busy with the dials on the Fenton Portal. "Pretty good." She replied. "I'm guessing if we set everything the way it was when the accident happened, it will happen again." She turned one last dial, setting the Fenton Portal to the way it was the day of the accident.

Then Sam looked at Danny, suddenly feeling nervous. "Are you sure about this?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Andy asked. "He's already here." And there doesn't seem to be a change in any of my visions about this.

"Well… I'm not really sure about this, but…" Danny frowned. "You saw those monsters- those… ghosts! Those ghosts were attacking our school, and other places with innocent people. Patamon… might not be enough to take them on."

"That one ghost really knocked me for a loop…" Patamon grumbled, rubbing his face. "But… I don't know about this. What if you don't make it? You're my partner, if you die, I… well, will become a Digi-Egg again myself."

Danny frowned but sighed. "Look… if someone doesn't stop those ghosts, I don't know what else could happen. I can't take a chance of those ghosts hurting other people." He then looked up at the portal with a grin on his face. "Besides, I've always wanted to go in here. Who knows what kind of awesome, super cool things lurk on the other side of that portal?"

Sam picked up two hazmat suits, both of them primarily white, but one of them was also black, while the other was dark blue. Sam tossed Danny his white and black hazmat suit, and she gave Andy his hazmat suit.

"What's this for?" Andy asked, taking his hazmat suit.

"I wanted to check something out, and I need you to wear your hazmat suit for it. And also, we need someone to make sure everything inside the portal is still hooked up right. You never know, your parents might have messed with it since then," Sam informed.

Andy sighed, rolling his eyes, though he supposed checking the portal to make sure it would work properly was the best thing he could do for Danny to make sure the portal didn't actually kill him. "Fine."

Andy put on the hazmat suit over his clothes.

Danny looked at his hazmat suit before putting it on as well. "Well, here goes everything." Danny said as he zipped it up. However, he had the image of Jack Fenton's face on his hazmat suit's chest.

"Wait a minute," Sam spoke up, holding up something in her hands.

Sam peeled off Jack Fenton's face from Danny's hazmat suit, and replaced it with another sticker. This one was a black D with a hollow P in the middle.

Sam looked back at Andy. "Hold on, Andy." She reached up and pulled off Jack Fenton's face sticker before replacing it with a dark blue A with a hollow P in the center. "This way you two won't go around with your dad's face on your chest."

Andy and Danny looked down at the new logo Sam put on their suits.

"What is that?" Danny asked.

"Just trust me, it looks cooler." Sam smiled.

"Right… well, I'm going in now," Andy remarked before he went into the portal to make sure everything was in working order. Wow, it's pretty dark in here… should've brought a flashlight with me.

"Well, Andy? Does everything check out so we can do this?" Sam asked as she looked into the portal.

"Let me check on him," Danny sighed as he started walking into the portal himself, wanting to make sure his brother was okay.

It was out of habit, Danny and Andy would always do everything together, if one of them was having trouble with something, the other would go over to them to help them out. Danny didn't realize the chain of events he just set up by stepping into the portal.

Andy turned around when he heard footsteps walking into the portal, and to his shock and horror, he saw it was Danny. Not only that, but Danny was moving his right hand towards the wall to try to get a better feel of the dark portal. The ON button was right there, which was why Andy had been very careful to not put his hand on the wall.

"No!" Andy shouted just as Danny's hand landed on the ON button.

Andy tried to make a run for it to get out of the portal as soon as he heard the beep from the button, unfortunately he only made it right beside a very surprised and confused Danny when the portal turned on. There was a bright flash of light, blinding everyone in the area. White hot electricity flowed through Danny and Andy's bodies, as well as ectoplasm. The sensation itself was painful and confusing. It was like a part of them was crying out that they were dying, while another part was rejoicing that they were alive. One part felt like they were getting weaker, while the other part was getting stronger.

Even while being electrocuted by who-knows-how many volts of electricity, Andy could see visions in his head. All the visions of Danny being a halfa alone had all vanished, they faded away into darkness, never to come true. New visions began replacing them, but they were going so fast that Andy couldn't process them. He also heard a distant scream, and he thought that was Danny… but it wasn't just Danny, it was also him.

Sam, upon hearing the screams of the twins, gave a cringe. She hated herself for this, but it was a necessary thing for Danny. She had not expected Danny to go into the portal while Andy was in there. As a result, she felt guilt hit her. If Andy didn't survive this, then she may have killed one of her best friends. She prayed that Danny and Andy would survive this. Gatomon could only put a paw on Sam's leg in a reassuring manner; no matter how small a gesture it was, it helped Sam feel a tiny bit better.

Tucker and Terriermon grimaced, with Tucker looking away while Terriermon wrapped his ears around his head to try to drown out the sounds of Andy and Danny screaming in pain.

Takuya felt bad as he tried to drown out the screams of his twin cousins. He was seriously hoping that neither of them died, namely Andy since he was still in the portal when Danny turned it on.

As for Patamon, he gasped as he felt something off… like a part of him was changing. He could feel a strange energy filling his body, changing his fractal code every so slightly, but as to what this energy was, he did not know. Meanwhile, upstairs in the boys' bedroom, Dorumon's egg started to move around and glowed green.

When the flash of green light was over, the Ghost Portal now shaped into existence. Danny and Andy were standing right in front of it. Danny, of course, looked the same as he did when he was Danny Phantom. His suit inverted into primarily black in color, and white. His black hair turned as white as snow, his blue eyes were now green, his skin was a bit more tan, he now had an aura glow around his body, and he now had a white D logo with a hollow black P inside.

However, Danny wasn't the only one who changed. Andy's suit was now inverted as well, it was now primarily dark blue and white, his own logo was now a white A with a hollow dark blue P inside. Andy's own black hair was now as white as snow, just like his brother's. His eyes were now purple instead of green.

The two of them stumbled out of the portal, both very disoriented and weak, Andy more so than Danny. Danny fell to his knees while putting a hand on his face. Andy just straight up fell to the floor.

Takuya looked back, startled to see Danny was indeed half-ghost again, but even more shockingly was Andy's appearance. "D-Danny?! Andy?!" Takuya ran over to Danny and Andy, with Sam running over as well, right beside him.

"Ohmygosh! Danny… Andy?!" Sam exclaimed as she reached the twins alongside Takuya. Sam reached down and helped Danny up while Takuya picked up Andy as well.

Danny accidentally turned intangible for a moment, which made Sam's hands go through him. "You're a ghost, again! It worked!"

Andy groaned, trying to keep his eyes open. He noticed Takuya was holding him, which he was glad for because his legs felt unsteady. "What… happened…? Am I… still alive…?"

There was a minor echo in Andy's voice, just like with Danny when he spoke in his ghost form.

Takuya grimaced a bit. "Um… I would like to say yes, but… it's kinda… You… kinda have a ghostly glow right now…"

Tucker and Terriermon ran over. "This is so cool!"

"This is cool, isn't it?" Danny asked, still a little confused.

"Oh, it's way cool." Sam said as she touched Danny's chest.

Takuya looked worried about Andy though. "Yeah, it would be, if Andy wasn't in the portal when Danny turned it on accidentally." He replied.

Danny looked at Andy worriedly. "I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to turn it on while you were in there! Are you… okay?"

"Dunno… feel weak… sleepy…" Andy answered.

"It's probably because Danny's body actually experienced this before. Desiree didn't change the world, only the memories," Gatomon pointed out. "Andy's body never went through this before."

"The main question I have right now is more like is Andy still alive." Takuya said worriedly. "He was in that accident this time, so what if it really did kill him?" He then looked at Andy. "Do you feel any different, Andy? Like… do you feel like you still have a heartbeat or anything like that?"

Patamon approached Danny. "I feel a little weird myself."

"Patamon? Why are your eyes green?" Danny asked.

Patamon looked surprised. "My eyes are green?" He looked over at a reflective beaker, seeing his eyes were now indeed green. "Huh… that's odd…" He noted with interest.

"Andy! Please give me an answer!" Takuya spoke up worriedly.

"Dang it, Takuya, do you know how hard it is for someone to feel their own heartbeat when it's not beating against their chest?" Andy grumbled in annoyance.

Andy's body then turned intangible, making Takuya's hands go through him, and Andy fell back to the floor.

"Ow…" Andy groaned. "I still feel pain if that means anything…"

"Okay… the fact you feel pain will suffice…" Takuya murmured, feeling quite surprised at Andy suddenly turning intangible in his own hands. Is… Is Andy half-ghost too then?

"Do… I need… to check… for… radiation poisoning?" Andy groggily asked, still pretty out of it.

"Bro… hey, you feel alright?" Danny asked in concern, seeing how tired Andy looked.

"Hey… look at you… you're half ghost again…" Andy smiled tiredly at Danny.

"Yeah… but… you're kinda… well… all glowy and stuff yourself, bro… And…" Danny grimaced a bit. "You went through Takuya's hands…"

"Mm-hmm… radiation or ectoplasmic poisoning…" Andy said. "I'm… uh… probably going to pass out soon… so… goodnight…"

Before anyone could say anything, Andy already lost consciousness. When he did, a ring of light appeared on his torso, and split horizontally, changing him back to looking like his human self, but without the hazmat suit.

Danny blinked at what he saw, as did Takuya, Sam, and Tucker, along with their Digimon partners.

"Okay… I think that proves Andy is a half ghost too…" Takuya murmured in shock.

"Andy… is half ghost like me? So I can change back too, right?" Danny asked in surprise. Then he grinned. "That is so cool!"

"Is it cool?" Terriermon asked. "Doesn't that mean you're half dead?"

"Eh, semantics, they're also still half alive," Tucker shrugged.

Sam looked at Danny. "I didn't think you would turn on the portal while Andy was in there. I probably should have told you to wait until Andy was done checking everything out…" She looked down at the floor. She had, albeit unintentionally, made Andy half ghost, so she was not sure how she should feel about it. All that she knew was that Andy had half-died, just like Danny had.

"It was my own fault… I mean I knew that something was going to happen to me according to you if I walked into the portal, but I didn't think about that when I walked in. I just wanted to check on Andy… I guess that's what caused both of us to become half ghost, huh?" Danny said. "But is it really a bad thing? I mean Andy might need some time to recover, but… he survived the accident, right? So wouldn't that mean… both of us could take on ghosts now?"

Sam had to admit, that was a good point Danny made. Well, the point about them both being able to fight ghosts now. "Yeah… I guess it does mean that you two can fight ghosts now." She admitted, feeling a bit better. "And it's a good thing I thought to put that logo on him before he went in."

Sam smiled, looking proudly at the DP logo she put on Danny.

"What's going on down there!?" Jack's voice shouted.

"I guess the lab wasn't as soundproof as you thought it was," Terriermon said to Takuya.

Takuya smacked his face with his own hand. "Ugh… Just get Danny to change back to human, Sam… Please…"

"Change back! Right… uh… how do I do that? Do I need to knock myself out like Andy?" Danny asked, starting to panic a little.

"Speaking of which, we may need to explain why Andy's taking a nap on the hard, cold floor…" Tucker frowned.

Takuya tried to come up with a believable lie, and how to get Danny to change back to human, before he had an idea. "Wait! I think I have an idea." He exclaimed as he looked at Danny and Sam.

Jack Fenton came down the stairs, only to see Danny kissing a girl in front of the activated Fenton Ghost Portal, which was oddly making heart shape energies in the background, and Takuya was holding Andy like he had passed out in his grasp from shock while Takuya himself was gaping at the sight before him. Tucker was also looking shocked, before taking a picture of them with his D-Arc.

Of course, since Jack's memories had been affected by Desiree's magic, he didn't remember who Sam was either. So to him, Danny just kissed a stranger, and also brought her down into the lab. Though a part of him was ecstatic to see the ghost portal was working.

Danny pulled back from Sam, smiling and whispering something to her, while Sam was just blushing.

Jack came up to Danny, looking stern and serious. "You're in a lot of trouble, mister!" He scolded Danny, who let go of Sam and let her stand up. Both teens were still blushing from the kiss.

"You shocked your brother so much that he passed out, and I don't blame him!" Jack frowned, seeing Andy was unconscious in Takuya's arms. "And you… girl…. who the heck are you?"

"Um… I'm Paulina," Sam said, giving out the name of the most popular girl in school. Gatomon smacked her face with her own paw in response to Sam's remark.

Jack frowned. "Then Danny Fenton is never allowed to see you again, Paulina." He said sternly, which made Sam grin inside. "Go to your room, Danny. And you, Paulina, better go on home."

"Yes, Dad…" Danny sighed, trying to sound disappointed.

Sam whispered to Danny. "I'll see you in school tomorrow."

Danny gave a slight nod to Sam before he turned and left for his room. Patamon was picked up by Danny as he left. Jack then turned to Takuya. "You'd better get Andy back to his room as well, Takuya." Jack said to the boy, who gave a nod in return.

"Yes, Uncle Jack." Takuya replied as he picked up Andy and put his cousin onto his back again. Ugh… I'm sure getting a lot of exercise this week… Takuya left the lab, still carrying Andy on his back.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: Well, here you go! XD

DP-Marvel94: DarkFoxKit: Oh, is that so? XD And it's good to see you're finding this sequel to be exciting.