ZAFT Convoy: Well, here is another chapter~ One thing I will point out, I do not own any of the franchises involved here, or Andy Fenton, as he belongs to DarkFoxKit and is used with permission.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah. Right now we're setting up the story itself, so the beginning will be a little rough and take up from My Brother's a Ghost for a bit. But it'll start to divert once we get to the second episode, I promise. By second episode, I mean the episode in Danny Phantom, not like the second chapter to the story.
ZAFT Convoy: Yep. And by the second episode of Danny Phantom, which would be around chapter 3 for the story, it will get good.
DarkFoxKit: Until then, we hope the beginning parts will still keep your attention until things start to change and become more interesting.
Chapter 2: A Giant Meat Monster Rampage
Andy, Danny, Tucker, and Takuya found themselves sitting in chairs in Mr. Lancer's office while he was digging through their student files.
"Tucker Foley, chronic tardiness, talking in class… repeated loitering by the girl's locker room…" Mr. Lancer listed.
Tucker gave a secretive smile at that last part. Which made Takuya easily picturing Zoey punching the living daylights out of Tucker.
"Daniel Fenton, 34 beakers dropped in science class, banned from handling anything fragile again…" Mr Lancer continued.
Takuya was shocked to hear that Danny broke 34 beakers, nobody was that clumsy.
Mr. Lancer then moved on to Andy. "Andrew Fenton… no mischief or misbehavior of any kind was recorded for you."
Then Mr. Lancer looked at Takuya. "And you, the transfer student...Takuya Kanbara...your record is clean as well, it seems…" He continued.
Mr. Lancer then put the folders down. "So… that does leave me to question… Why did the four of you conspire to destroy the school cafeteria!?"
"I…" Takuya trailed off here. He had no idea why Danny had thrown that plate of mud anyway. Just that he had. He looked at Danny in confusion.
Danny quickly spoke up his defense. "Dash started it! He threw a mud pie at my head!"
Which was technically the truth, Dash was the one who threw the mud pie first.
Takuya then remembered that. "Yeah! Dash was bullying my cousin!" He explained at last. He cursed his distracted mind at the time.
Mr. Lancer sighed at that. "Perhaps, but Dash wasn't the one who shouted 'garbage fight', now did he? Besides, Dash won us the last football game, so I have to exempt him from punishment according to the school boards."
Takuya frowned at that.
What Mr. Lancer said had some truth to it. Danny had shouted 'garbage fight', but there had to be a reason. Danny has to have a reason why he did that, but what is it? Takuya thought to
"Doesn't seem very fair…" Andy spoke up.
Mr. Lancer sighed. "I can see why you would think that. But unfortunately that is out of my hands. I will have to map out your punishments when I return. Don't leave this room, there are cameras set in this school that will let me know if you four try to leave without permission."
With that warning, Mr. Lancer walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.
As soon as the boys were left alone, Takuya was the first to speak up. "Okay, what the heck happened back there in the kitchen? Where's Sam? What was going on with those ghosts?"
"Ghosts? What ghosts?" Tucker quickly asked, looking nervous.
"Takuya saw you and Sam in the middle of a ghost battle," Andy explained.
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, and you and Sam got taken by this ghostly kid through the wall," He added. "And where is she? Is she okay?"
The older boy didn't like the fact Tucker was lying to him. He knew, but wasn't saying anything.
"Sam is… somewhere," Danny said, looking worried about something.
"I get the feeling you're not going to tell us, right?" Andy said, crossing his arms.
Tucker and Danny grinned nervously. "Uh...she is safe," Danny said as he looked at his cousin and brother.
"I doubt it," Takuya said as he folded his arms over his chest. "That lunch lady ghost didn't look happy about something, and she targeted you and Sam for a reason."
"She was mostly targeting Sam since she changed the menu…" Tucker muttered, which promptly earned an elbow to the ribs by Danny. "Ow!"
Takuya frowned at that, but didn't press the issue. Okay, I'm sure Danny and Tucker are hiding something now. He thought. "So Sam was the target? I see." He said before his eyes went wide. "WHAT?!"
"If this Lunch Lady is a ghost, then perhaps it makes sense that she would target Sam," Andy said, which got surprise faces from the other three boys. "I mean think about it, from what we were taught about ghosts, they have Obsessions, right? That Lunch Lady ghost must've worked here at some point in her life, and the menu was her passion before she passed away. So having it changed must've made her go on a rampage."
Takuya had to admit, that explanation made sense to him. But it also worried him now, because Sam was in danger. "Listen, we need to find Sam, and fast!" He exclaimed. "She could be in danger!"
"How are we going to find her? She could be anywhere if she was taken by a ghost!" Danny shouted back.
"Wait…" Tucker spoke up before he started to sniff the air. "My meat senses are very high, and I can definitely smell the strong scent of meat that was recently cooked. That Lunch Lady ghost can use meat as armor, so I'm guessing she's still in the building somewhere, likely with Sam."
Looking at Tucker with a grin, Takuya nodded. "Makes sense. And you can lead us there." He said before his grin became a frown. "But how are we going to get to Sam if we are in here?"
Danny frowned, he looked like he had an idea, but he didn't want to say it.
"Hang on…" Tucker said before he looked at the video monitors that Mr. Lancer had in his office. "I see some meat trail, that looks like that leads to the school's basement."
Looking at the monitor, Takuya could see it. "Yeah...I see it." He agreed. "I think that is the trail we need."
"Well, the best way we could get out of here is through the window," Andy pointed at the window. "But… we're on the second floor… so we'll need to climb down, without falling… that's going to be fun."
Takuya winced at that. "Yeah...sounds fun…" He looked out the window and saw a tree branch nearby. "Maybe we could climb down that tree?" He suggested.
"Tree climbing?" Tucker gulped. "I'm… really bad at climbing…"
"Well, you can stay here then, we'll go and find Sam ourselves," Andy said.
Tucker groaned. "I don't want to stay here…" He whined before he opened the window and climbed out onto the tree, shimming down the trunk as he did so. Takuya was next, with Danny and Andy bringing up the rear. They had to be careful, because if they slipped, they would hit the ground hard.
As they were climbing down, they could hear Mr. Lancer's voice shouting. "WORSE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!"
"Well… we're going to get in double trouble for this…" Danny gulped.
Once they reached the bottom, Takuya looked at Tucker. "So, where to?" He asked.
Tucker sniffed the air again. "This way," He said as he led the group into the main entrance, making sure to stay away from anyone who could see them.
Takuya, Danny, and Andy followed the meat lover boy back into the school, careful to keep themselves hidden. They moved between lockers while in the hallway as Tucker led them to a door that led down into the school's basement. Which turned out to be the school's meat locker.
"Sweet mother of mutton…" Tucker stared at all the boxes and boxes of meat.
Takuya looked at the meat and frowned. "Since when did the school have a meat locker?" He wondered out loud. Then, he felt that surge of heat again, which was odd. Looking around, he saw the meat trail. "Hey, I found the meat trail!" He exclaimed.
"Shh! Don't talk so loud, or the ghost will hear you!" Andy hissed. "Do ghosts have a stronger sense of hearing?"
"Uh… how would we know that?" Danny nervously asked.
Andy blinked before shaking his head. "A better question is once we do find this ghost, how are we going to handle her and rescue Sam? None of us know how to fight ghosts, or are equipped to. Maybe we should call Mom and Dad…"
Takuya frowned at that. "I'm not sure that is a good idea," He said cautiously. "They may get a bit too...enthusiastic about seeing a real ghost…" He also had something else on his mind, but he wasn't sure if it would work out, considering how it had been four years since he last did so.
"What about that ghost kid you said you saw?" Andy asked. "Shouldn't we keep an eye out for him? Apparently when those two see each other, they clash, probably fighting over territory or haunts or something."
Hearing that made Takuya pause. "Yeah...we probably should keep an eye out…" He agreed.
"Um…" Danny spoke up, looking nervous. "How about you two go on ahead? Tucker and I will watch your backs in case any other ghosts come by."
Takuya and Andy looked at Danny before the older boy nodded. "Okay," Takuya said. "We'll go look for Sam ahead." He then went on ahead, Andy looking at his brother before following Takuya.
"... That's kind of odd…" Andy whispered as he and Takuya went ahead. "Why would Danny insist to 'watch our backs'?"
There was a sudden flash of light behind them, and Takuya felt that familiar unnatural freezing aura.
He turned around, but Danny and Tucker were gone. "I don't believe this…" He growled. "They're gone!"
Andy whirled around, only to see his cousin was right. "What the? What happened to them?"
"I have no idea," Takuya admitted. "But whatever happened, it isn't good."
Looking ahead, he wondered if they would find Sam. "Let's keep going. We need to find Sam." Takuya said as he continued to walk on.
"Wait… what if that ghost boy came in just now, and took Danny and Tucker?" Andy asked.
Takuya paused in his walking. Oh, crap… He looked back at Andy. "I...I'm sure those two would have found a way to escape," He assured his younger cousin. "I mean, you two are the children of ghost hunters, right? You must have been taught some things to escape from a ghost, right?"
Andy frowned a little. "We… ignored Mom and Dad's lecture about ghosts after a while…"
Suddenly there was meat coming out of the boxes, and were floating. The floating meat was going all in one place. Andy stared at the floating meat in shock, he had never seen anything like it before.
Takuya was also in shock, as this was all new to him as well. He didn't know what to think until that heat flooded his body again. He looked at Andy. "Hey, why don't you go see where that meat is headed? I can probably try and sneak up on the ghost from the other side." He suggested. In reality, he was hoping to find a place to bust out his secret weapon.
There was a sudden scream that sounded similar to Danny, but also different. Then they heard two more screams, and they saw Tucker and Sam running past them.
"Hey! There's Tucker… and Sam!" Andy pointed out. "But what are they running fro-"
Andy and Takuya heard a roar behind them, and they quickly turned around, seeing a giant meat monster with glowing green eyes glaring down at them.
"Andy...RUN!" Takuya shouted, shoving Andy in one direction before he ran in the other direction. "SPLIT UP!"
Andy nearly lost his balance at the sudden shove, but he managed to stay on his feet as he ran towards Tucker and Sam.
"Head for the door!" Andy shouted to them.
"Andy!? What are you doing here!?" Sam asked in confusion as he caught up to them.
"I was looking for you! What do you think I'm doing here!?" Andy answered back.
"And where's Takuya?" Tucker asked.
Andy looked back at him. "He shoved me aside as that meat thing attacked us!" He exclaimed. "But then he ran down another way. I lost him."
As they almost reached the door that would lead them out of the meat locker, it was suddenly covered by piles of meat.
"Are you kidding me!?" Andy hissed.
It was then that Takuya came running up. "You okay?" He asked, panting. Avoiding the meat monster had not been easy, considering his reflexes were not as good as they were in his other form.
He looked at the blocked off entrance. "Great…" He hissed. Running over, Takuya made to grab at some meat. "Help me move this!" He exclaimed.
"No! Run!" Tucker suddenly warned.
The meat monster was about to body slam Takuya.
Andy grabbed Takuya's arm and pulled him away from the meat monster, and the four of them started running in the other direction together. The meat monster started to chase them. However, the ghost boy flew out from the wall and started to fly towards them.
Looking back, Takuya saw the ghost boy coming towards them, and began to panic. What is this ghost going to do?! He thought in a panic. What does it want?!
The ghost boy suddenly dived down towards them, and he grabbed onto Andy and Sam, then he flew up a little bit, and moved his ghostly tail in front of Tucker and Takuya.
"Grab on!" The ghost boy instructed.
Tucker didn't hesitate to grab onto the ghost boy's tail.
While Takuya did hesitate a bit, the fact a meat monster was chasing him prompted him to grab on as well. He held on for dear life as he waited for the ghost boy's next move.
The ghost boy struggled a bit as he flew up with four people. He struggled a bit as he focused on something. Andy and Takuya felt a cold tingly feeling as their bodies started to turn clear and see-thru. Takuya fought down the urge to panic and let go. The ghost boy then flew them through a wall, which was an odd sensation for the two boys. The next thing they knew, they were in the sky, outside the school.
"Oh my gosh!" Andy yelped, as if just realizing he was being carried by a freaking ghost.
Don't look down...don't look down...don't look down! Takuya repeated in his mind as he had closed his eyes so he couldn't see what was below them. Flying under his own power was one thing, but being carried off by a ghost was quite another. He had to consciously make sure he wasn't letting go of the ghost boy's tail.
Sam was looking at the ghost boy in concern, she noticed that he was looking exhausted. "Maybe you should la-"
The ghost boy suddenly lost consciousness and fell down, dropping the people he was carrying as well. This caused his tail to become faded, causing Takuya and Tucker to fall through it. Andy and Takuya screamed as they fell into bushes, while Tucker and Sam fell beside the ghost boy.
Takuya popped up from the bushes, a few sticks and twigs in his brown hair before he ran a hand through his hair to remove the pieces of branch. Andy groaned as he sat up, rubbing at his sore head.
Looking over his person, Takuya saw he was unharmed, and still had his D-Tector in his pants pocket. He sighed with relief at feeling it in there. "That was close…" He murmured.
Andy grumbled as he moved his way out of the bush he landed in, his shirt and hair covered with twigs and leaves. There was a blinding flash of light for a second, which caught Andy and Takuya's attention. Both boys were surprised to see Danny was lying unconscious between Tucker and Sam.
"What… where did Danny come from?" Andy asked, confused. "Where did that ghost boy go?"
"Sam! Tucker!" Takuya exclaimed as he ran over. "Is Danny okay? And where is the ghost boy?" Last he had seen, Danny had been missing in the meat locker, and now he was outside? What is going on here?
"He uh… the ghost boy dropped us off here and flew away somewhere," Sam answered after a moment of hesitation. "I think he managed to grab onto Danny back in that chaos with the meat monster."
"Danny probably passed out after seeing that giant meat monster, or maybe he just passed out because he ran so much," Tucker shrugged. "He should be fine after we get him home to rest."
Takuya frowned at that, but had to admit, that claim did have some merit to it. He hadn't seen Danny and the ghost boy in the meat locker, so it seemed possible the ghost boy got Danny out first. "Okay…" He said after a while. "Do you want some help getting him home?"
"Yeah, that might be helpful. Danny isn't heavy, but we're not exactly strong people," Tucker chuckled sheepishly.
"Speak for yourself. If you'd eat your vegetables, you'd be able to lift Danny pretty easily," Sam retorted.
"Maybe if you ate some meat, you'd have some actual muscles on your body!" Tucker snapped back.
"Hey, let's not get into this debate right now, we need to get my brother home," Andy spoke up, diffusing the argument before it could escalate. "I also want to get out of here in case anymore ghosts decide to show up."
Takuya had to agree with Andy. "I agree. I just want to get away from here and get Danny home as well." With that said he made his way to Danny and lifted him onto his back so Danny's head was resting on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around his neck. "Okay, I got Danny. Let's go."
He began to walk off towards Fenton Works, still carrying Danny.
"Wow, Takuya, when did you get so strong?" Tucker asked, impressed at how he was carrying Danny.
"Must've went through some anime life changing stuff back at Japan," Andy joked.
Takuya put on a smile at that. "You could say that." Takuya said, although his smile seemed fake. Andy had no idea as to how close to the mark he was.
Things were a bit hectic when they got back to Fenton Works. As soon as Takuya opened the door, he, Andy, Tucker and Sam saw Jazz had a vacuum cleaner's hose stuck on her hair, with Maddie and Jack holding her feet.
"This is all going in the memoir," Jazz hissed in annoyance after her parents let go of her feet and she stormed away.
"Um...I didn't need to see that…" Takuya muttered with a disturbed look, as he was clearly recalling his own attack by them at one point.
Maddie looked over at the five, seeing Danny passed out on Takuya's back. "What's wrong with Danny?" She asked in concern.
"Oh, Danny just had a rough day at school," Tucker replied with a big grin. "Just needs to sleep it off. We're taking him to bed right now."
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, don't want him to be too sleepy tomorrow," He said in a falsely cheerful voice.
"Did you get attacked by a bush or something?" Jack asked, pointing at the leaves and twigs that were caught in Andy's hair.
Andy quickly rubbed his hair to try to get the leaves and twigs out. "Uh… I might've… been in a bush earlier because… I saw… a bird's nest."
Takuya looked at Andy, surprised he had come up with such a believable lie. "Yeah!" The older boy chimed in. "I saw it too." He added. "I fell in earlier and Andy tried to help me, but he fell in as well."
"Yes, so we'll just get Danny up into his room. Don't worry, we know where to go," Sam quickly added as well.
Jack and Maddie looked at them as Tucker, Sam, and Takuya were giving wide grins as they were heading up the stairs. Andy was the only one who acted normal as they went upstairs.
As soon as they were in Danny and Andy's room, Takuya put Danny down on one of the beds.
"That's my- oh nevermind," Andy sighed. "You know, you guys aren't very good at lying, are you? Those big fake smiles are almost a dead give away."
Takuya flinched at that. "Eh...sorry, Andy," He apologized. "But I didn't want your parents to worry."
Well, I shouldn't say they're terrible at lying, they're able to keep whatever Danny's secret is for an entire month after all. Andy remembered.
"At least we were able to get Danny here safely, it would've been terrible if we got attacked by that meat monster ghost again along the way." Sam frowned.
"Yeah," Takuya agreed before he gave a pointed look to Sam. "And that meat monster attacked because you changed the menu without asking." He pointed out.
"To be fair, that meat monster ghost would've attacked if Sam had changed the menu at all even with asking," Andy spoke up before Sam could. "From what I could tell, she's completely obsessed with the menu. I'm guessing the change in the menu is what brought that Lunch Lady ghost to our school in the first place. But that ghost boy is a mystery to me. I don't know why he was helping us."
The older boy had to agree. That is odd. He thought to himself. If I recall Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack's rants about ghosts, then ghosts are not capable of doing good things. Then a realization struck him. But those ghosts...they are nothing like the Bakemon… He realized. Bakemon are more mischievous. That ghostly lunch lady was not causing mischief. That was outright destruction.
"Maybe Sam shouldn't have messed with the menu at all," Tucker grumbled.
"The school needed a change, Tucker!" Sam snapped. "I was sick of only having meat to eat there, so I had to bring my own lunch."
"Why was that so bad?" Tucker frowned. "Your lunch was good anyways."
"Because it meant I had to interact with my parents!" Sam growled.
"Sam, couldn't you have just added the vegan menu instead of taking away the other food?" Andy suggested.
But unfortunately, the boy was ignored as Sam and Tucker were staring each other down.
"Oh boy…" Takuya muttered as he saw that. "Andy, I don't think they're gonna listen to you when they are like this…" He said worriedly.
"Of course, nobody listens to the voice of reason," Andy grumbled.
Danny then groaned and woke up. His baby blue eyes opened slightly, only to see Sam and Tucker, and Andy and Takuya in the room with him. "Ugh...what happened?" Danny asked as he sat up.
Thankfully when Danny had woken up, it diffused the heated argument Tucker and Sam were having so they could focus on him.
"Danny, I'm glad you're awake, bro, you had us all worried," Andy said in relief.
"Yeah, you passed out," Tucker added. "We brought you home. You've been asleep for 4 days."
At that, Danny jolted up from the bed. "FOUR DAYS!?"
A jab from Takuya made Tucker correct himself. "Nah, it's only been about fifteen minutes or so," Tucker corrected himself.
Danny seemed to relax at hearing that. "Oh, I was worried…"
"Did you have to almost give Danny a heart attack?" Sam frowned at Tucker.
"You know, the only reason why this even happened was because you had to be 'unique' and take the meat away!" Tucker snapped, having lost his patience with Sam's attitude. "And you know what? I'm going to get the meat back!"
Sam glared back at him. "Well, I'm not letting you change the menu back! We don't need meat, and you know it!" She snapped back.
Takuya gave a wary glance between the two arguing teenagers. "Um...you guys? I don't think Danny needs to deal with this right now…" He began, but they ignored him like they did with Andy.
"Well you may not need meat, but I do, and I'm getting it back even if it kills me!" Tucker snapped before he hurried out of the room.
"Oh yeah? Well if you want to change that menu back, you'll have to go over my own dead body!" Sam shouted after Tucker before she ran out the room and slammed the door shut.
"I suddenly feel like there's an even bigger disaster ahead of us tomorrow," Andy sweatdropped.
Takuya had to agree. "Can't disagree there, Andy," He mused as he too sweatdropped at the idea of something coming up tomorrow.
Danny sat up from the bed he was laying on. "Why am I in Andy's bed?"
"I...uh...I put you on his bed," Takuya replied. "I was the one who carried you back, and I just picked a random bed. Sorry about that." He said sheepishly.
"Um…" Danny looked at Takuya and Andy nervously. "So… what did you two see while we were running from that meat monster?"
Takuya frowned mentally at hearing the nervous tone to Danny's voice. "Just a ghost boy, but we didn't really get a good look at his face or anything since everything moved so fast," He replied honestly. He didn't even see the boy's face because he had been so panicked at the time.
"Then he suddenly dropped us, and disappeared… and you suddenly appeared, right next to Tucker and Sam," Andy added. "I guess the ghost boy picked you up earlier and got you out or something, because I didn't see you after we split up to look for Sam."
"Oh...Yeah, he did," Danny said as he agreed with Andy. "I didn't see him come up, but he said he was getting me out because it was getting dangerous."
"Do you know anything about that ghost boy, bro?" Andy asked. "Like why he was helping us? Or why was he fighting with that Lunch Lady ghost?"
Danny looked nervous as he realized what Andy was asking. "Um...well...that ghost boy...I passed out in fright at the sight of him…" He said, looking like he was sweating a bit.
This didn't go unnoticed by Andy, however, but he didn't push the matter, he likely didn't think his brother was willing to answer if he did. "Then… do you think we should tell Mom and Dad about these ghosts at least? I mean what if they come back to the school again? I mean we did kind of leave that meat monster back at the school."
"No!" Danny protested suddenly. "I mean...I don't want to have Mom and Dad mistake a student for a ghost, right?" He clearly remembered the incident with Takuya and being sick.
Takuya couldn't help but cringe at the memory of how Jack treated him when he was sick that day. There was no real harm done, but it wasn't an experience Takuya would wish on anyone.
"But these are real ghosts, Danny, it would be dangerous to leave them alone. Someone could get hurt, Sam could've been killed by that crazy Lunch Lady," Andy pointed out seriously.
"Yeah," Takuya agreed. "But what can we do? I mean, we're just two fourteen-year-old kids and a fifteen-year-old kid." Although he was not saying what he had on his mind regarding that issue.
"Let's not get too hasty," Danny said, frowning. "Mom and Dad haven't been able to work the bugs out of their inventions yet. What if they try to go into battle with one of these ghosts and they get themselves hurt? You know how passionate Mom and Dad are when it comes to ghosts, but this would be the first time they've seen a real ghost, let alone battle one. They would run headfirst into danger!"
Takuya paused when he realized what Danny was saying. "Oh...I don't like that they would just run into danger," He said as he looked between the two boys. "They don't know much about how a ghost fights."
Andy frowned. "That's… true, but who actually does? The Ghost Busters don't exist, they're just in movies. Mom and Dad are supposedly the ghost experts. Who else could we call for something like this?"
"The school wouldn't believe it anyways," Danny sighed. "Nobody but us even saw these ghosts."
Andy grumbled. Takuya could understand Andy's frustration. If the school didn't see it, then it never happened, so there was no reason to close down the school for a paranormal investigation. But that also put everyone in danger if those ghosts decided to come back and start fighting again. There would be a lot of people caught up in the crossfire.
"Look," Takuya sighed. "Maybe we should just go on about our day tomorrow, assuming the ghosts left. Maybe the lunch lady ghost may have left the school and found a bingo hall to haunt or something." He added as a joke.
But the goggle-wearing boy was fairly certain that the ghost was still there. He just wasn't sure how certain he was.
I hope I am wrong about her staying… Takuya thought grimly.
Later that day, Takuya found Andy in the living room. He was alone there, sitting on the couch, seeming to be writing something on some paper.
"Hey, Andy!" Takuya greeted, but this caused Andy to suddenly jump.
Takuya frowned as he saw that, but realized that Andy had to be a bit jumpy since the revelation ghosts were real. "You okay?" He asked as he walked over and sat down by Andy.
Andy frowned and sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I don't know. Things have been… weird this past month. I felt like I was seeing things that weren't really there not that long after the accident. But after seeing that these… these ghosts are real, and they attacked our school… and seeing how dangerous they could be… I can't help but feel like a ghost would jump me at any second, you know?"
Takuya gave a slight wince at that. "I know it all too well," He admitted. "I've been uneasy since the revelation too. I just feel like something is...watching at times, and I hate it. And I think because of the idea of someone watching me, I have been feeling a bit sick to my stomach too…" That last part was somewhat true, but he was also leaving out the odd flashes of heat he got whenever around ghosts, if that was what it was caused by.
Then what Andy said earlier caught Takuya's attention. "What did you mean you saw things that weren't really there?"
"I… I saw…" Andy hesitated. "I remember seeing a flying cat at one point. And I thought I saw Dash mutating. But Dash wasn't mutating. I also had these dreams… everyone I knew was in it, but nothing made any sense. There was this grandfather-like figure, I guess, who asked me if I could 'keep up with my brother'. Said something about Danny being meant for great things."
"You mentioned you saw everyone you know, but did you see me as well?" Takuya asked. "I mean, I am your cousin, right?" He wanted to make sure Andy was alright.
"I think so. I wasn't sure if it was you though, since I hadn't seen you in 6 years, you could've changed since then. But the person I saw did look like you, but… older than when I last saw you, but younger than you looked now. I'd say you were probably 12 years old in the dream. You were standing with your back turned to me when I saw you, but when you turned around, I saw… fire burning in your eyes. Then you were suddenly engulfed by fire. It scared me. I didn't know what it meant or what to think about it," Andy explained before sighing. "Well… at least you're alright."
Takuya had unknowingly tensed at hearing that explanation. That sounds a lot like my evolution… He thought before he smiled at Andy, shoving the shock aside. "Yeah, and you're obviously doing well, too." He joked before he sighed. "Well, as well as one can be doing after those ghosts attacked…" Takuya added.
"Danny seems a bit worried, but he doesn't look as shaken up as we are about it," Andy remarked.
"How can you tell?" Takuya asked.
"He's my twin brother, you think I wouldn't notice these things about him?" Andy bluntly answered. "He's acting far too casual, he could be acting, yes, but even Danny wouldn't be able to truly hide his fear if he was so afraid of the ghost boy that he passed out just by seeing him. I don't know, I just feel like his emotions don't add up to his story."
"That is true," Takuya admitted. "He doesn't like to hide his emotional state. Danny likes to wear his heart on his sleeve so to speak, if you get what I mean."
Andy couldn't help but chuckle. "That is true. You and Danny both are too honest with your feelings to hide them much."
Takuya blushed at that. "Andy!" He exclaimed. "I'm not that open with my emotions!" But his blush just made Andy chuckle again.
"Well, being open with your emotions isn't a bad thing," Andy stated as he started to write something on the paper like he was doing earlier. "It makes you more sociable, and people are more likely to flock to you and trust you easier."
"Has Jazz been talking to you about psychology?" Takuya asked as he cocked an eyebrow. "Because that sounds like something she would say."
"Maybe…" Andy muttered. "I… may have asked to borrow some of her books as well. I was desperate to find out what was going on in my brother's head that I was willing to study psychology. I thought maybe the accident might have done something to him. Did the trauma change something, is Danny trying to hide how he felt to keep us from being worried, what would make him try to hide a secret from us, especially me, his own twin brother? These were the questions I've been trying to figure out for a while now."
Takuya frowned at hearing all this. It seems Andy is opening up to me… He mused in his thoughts before he spoke to the younger boy. "Well, I can't really say what could be going on in Danny's head, since I am not that good at thinking about that deep stuff," He said, kind of making a jab at himself to try and cheer Andy up. "But...based on what I am hearing from you, I can't help but be concerned as well. I just don't know what to think, because I wasn't there at the accident. I just got back here. All I know is Danny was in this accident, and it affected him badly."
Andy then stacked up his papers before he looked at Takuya. "If you want the full details of the accident… I can show it to you in words if nothing else."
Takuya blinked at that. "You kept record of that? Wow…"
"Well… it's not because I wanted to keep a record of it. But I needed an outlet for how I was feeling at the time," Andy said. "Jazz said that writing things out helps put things in perspective, and well, it also helps to let out some kind of steam that doesn't hurt anyone."
"Well, at least you don't have to tell it to me in detail," Takuya said. "I wouldn't want to make you relive that if I can help it." He then smiled. "I would like to read those notes for sure."
"These? These are just…" Andy blushed a little. "They're more… tactical notes for in case we run into those ghosts again, specifically the Lunch Lady ghost since we didn't get to gauge how the ghost boy fights really well."
Takuya blinked before he took one of Andy's papers and read it. Andy had listed out the Lunch Lady's powers from what he saw and what Takuya had told him. There were notes on telekinesis, fire, bringing objects to life or possessing them, and the ability to create meat armor around her body from the meat products. There were also ideas on how to counter such things, but they were small, limited, most of it was listed on how to hide or get away. Andy was no fighter, he also didn't know much about fighting against ghosts or what kind of tools or weapons to use.
Takuya frowned mentally as he read over the notes. These are decent notes, but there needs to be more than just running away or hiding, if ghosts can go through things… He thought to himself before handing Andy back the notes. "These notes are pretty good, but didn't that ghost boy show he could go through walls as well? I would think hiding against a ghost would be a bad idea if they can just hover through walls and other solid objects."
Andy shook his head. "There are many varying factors on that. That's only if the ghost is pursuing you for whatever reason. If they have no interest in you, then as long as you're out of sight, you're out of their mind, and they'll ignore you. If the ghost is chasing you, however, then they would have to know where you are in order to get to you. Hiding isn't the same as trying to get into a place they can't reach, it's trying to be somewhere they can't see you."
Takuya smiled at that point. "Well, regardless, I'm impressed. I never thought about that myself," He admitted. "See? I'm not a thinker like you are!" He joked as he rubbed Andy's black hair.
Andy smiled a bit sheepishly at that. "Well, I do like to observe things around me…" He admitted. "And unfortunately, I can't write out true counters for such things. I can only write what a normal person can do without the ability to fight back against a ghost, which is to run or hide. Basically, we're like prey trying to hide from our predators. Not a very nice feeling, being hapless prey…"
Takuya gave a grimace at hearing that comparison. It sounded a bit too much like when he was in the Digital World and not evolved. That feeling I know all too well, Andy… He thought sadly.
"But, since… you know, there's not much we can do about these possible ghost attacks, I just hope that everyone will be okay. Maybe I'll make copies of these notes or something and hand them out to the teachers… assuming they'll take it seriously," Andy sighed. "I guess we won't know until I try, right?"
Takuya sighed as well. "We're just students," He admitted. "Teachers won't listen to us because they see us as young and impressionable."
"Young and impressionable doesn't equal stupidity…" Andy grumbled. "But that's what most people see it as these days. How troublesome."
Takuya then looked at Andy again. "Well, as you said, we can at least try, so why don't we do this? We make a few copies, and then hand them out to a few teachers. If the teachers don't take it seriously, we won't do it anymore. But if they do, then we can hand out more of these notes," He then grinned. "Sound good?"
Andy gave a small smile. "Yeah."
The next morning, at Casper High
"Okay… yeah…" Andy sighed as he looked around. "This has officially crossed the line."
Danny and Takuya were staring at two very different protests. On the left side were people barbecuing all kinds of meat. There were sausages, hot dogs, burgers, chicken, turkey, beef, and a lot more meat that Takuya couldn't identify. There were girls all dressed up in a wiener's costume, dancing around on top of a stage before Tucker came up with a microphone in his hand.
"WHAT DO WE WANT!?" Tucker shouted.
"MEAT!" The crowd answered back.
"WHEN DO WE WANT IT!?"
"NOW!"
And on the right side was what looked like a party for hippies, with people holding signs that read about veggies while others were eating lots of veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli, potatoes, etc. And on the main stage was Sam, holding a microphone in her own hand. Just like Tucker, she was shouting to the crowd. "VEGGIES NOW, VEGGIES FOREVER!"
"VEGGIES NOW, VEGGIES FOREVER!" The crowd chanted with her.
Sam and Tucker stopped, however, when they noticed the three boys.
"Now would be a good time to hide," Andy whispered.
Takuya looked like he wanted to take that up. "I would agree, but I think it is too late for that…" He muttered with a sweatdrop.
Takuya had seen people and Digimon take things to the extreme, but he never knew how far that could go until he saw what Tucker and Sam did.
"Come on, bro, these are our friends, we shouldn't have to hide," Danny assured.
Then Tucker and Sam stormed up to them. Danny gave a nervous grin. "So… you two put up two protests in one night?"
"Meat eaters, Danny," Tucker said. "We're always ready to fight. And our high-protein diets give us the energy to do it quickly."
But Sam had a counter to that claim. "Vegans are always ready to protest!" She exclaimed. "And because we don't have to cook our food, we can do it even faster."
"Don't you two think this is a little extreme?" Danny asked, which was an understatement.
"No choice, buddy, you, Andy, and Takuya are either with me…" Tucker began.
"Or you're against him," Sam spoke up.
"So who's side are you three on!?" They both shouted in unison.
For two people who are on opposite sides of the food spectrum, they sure are in sync with each other. Andy mused.
"Okay, that's it!" Andy shouted, losing his patience. "First of all, why are you two spending so much energy over what the menu of the school should be? There's an easy fix for this; options! Give us freaking OPTIONS! Nobody should be forced to eat one thing, especially if that one thing isn't very favorable! Sam! You preach on about being different, but what you're doing is no better than what your parents would've done, which is forcing your ideals down people's throats! And Tucker, I get that you want to bring back the meat, but you can't take away the vegetarian options either, believe it or not, some people do like to eat vegetables! Look at how out of control you two are being!"
Takuya smiled at Andy's outburst. This was the first time Andy had asserted himself, so he was proud of his cousin. "I don't think I could have said it better myself, Andy," He praised, making sure to give Sam and Tucker a glare each.
Tucker and Sam rubbed the back of their heads as if just seeing how ridiculous this whole thing was. Sam likely started to understand when Andy brought up that she was acting like her parents. Sam's parents were a touchy subject, it was because of them that drove Sam to be as 'different' as possible.
"And second, don't you think we have enough problems to worry about than what's on the menu at the school cafeteria?" Andy continued. "Like a deranged ghost Lunch Lady?"
As soon as Andy said that, the entire area started to shake, wind began to pick up. Meat from Tucker's side of the protest suddenly began to float up into the whirling sky, including all the meat that was inside a meat truck. There was a loud laughter, as well as a roar, or rather, someone shouting 'roar'. Everyone's attention was on the meat as something huge began to form in front of them. People were in shock, though Takuya vaguely noticed blue mist coming out of Danny's mouth during this.
Takuya wondered if it had to do with the ghostly meat monster that was forming. Can Danny sense ghosts? He wondered before he felt that surge of heat again before it faded once more. Looking back at the meat monster, the older boy had the feeling that surge of heat was related to sensing ghosts.
A colossal meat monster was staring down at everyone. For a moment, nobody moved, nobody made a sound, everyone was deathly quiet and still as the colossal meat monster looked down at them. And then, the meat monster shouted. "IT'S LUNCH TIME!"
As if that was the trigger, the deathly still and quiet crowd became a stampede of screaming, panicking people. Everyone threw their signs away as they all began to run. Andy and Takuya were quickly shoved away from the others by the panicking stampede.
Takuya landed with a grunt on the ground as he felt himself shoved aside by panicking students and people. As Takuya was trying to push himself up, someone landed on top of him.
"Oof!"
Takuya groaned as Andy rolled off of him. "S-sorry, Takuya."
Takuya looked back at his cousin. "Just be more careful where you land, please." He said as he got up and pulled Andy to his feet. "But that is not important. We have to get away from here!" Or more like you do, Andy...
Andy frowned, looking up at the colossal meat monster, before seeing something black and white flying at it before it hit the meat monster so hard that it stumbled. "Is… is that the ghost boy?"
Takuya cursed not being able to rely on his other form's enhanced senses, namely the sight. "I think so…" He murmured. "But what can it do to that meat monster?"
Andy looked around. "Come on, Takuya, we need to find Tucker, Sam, and Danny."
Takuya quickly grabbed the back of Andy's shirt before he could run into the danger. "Andy, I know you want to find Danny, Sam, and Tucker, but this meat monster is too dangerous for mere humans! We need to get to safety!" He gave Andy a slight shove away from the fight. "Go on. I'll see if I can find a place to hide near here so I can look for Danny and the others."
Andy looked like he was going to argue, but something stopped him. He looked at Takuya for a moment, before he gave a small nod, then he began to run in the opposite direction.
Taking a deep breath, Takuya steeled himself before he ran towards the fight, his hand flying to his pocket as he did so. In his grasp was that red and black device he knew all too well, his D-Tector. If I have to do this, then I will… He vowed to himself. At least I will stand a better chance of survival when I do...
Looking around, Takuya realized he had to hide before he got seen. But there were so many people around. But where can I hide? He wondered.
Takuya looked around before spotting a dumpster near the school.
Smirking to himself, he ran over. It looked like it was a good place to hide behind. Once behind the dumpster, he looked down at his D-Tector before he invoked the ball of Fractal Coding on his left hand.
Takuya invoked the power of his Beast Spirit. The red outline of his second Spirit roared and appeared on the screen of his D-Tector as he invoked a ball of fractal coding on his left hand. Takuya swiped the D-Tector over the coding and called out the phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!" He felt the primal power of his Beast Spirit flowing into him as his clothes ripped away and his body became surrounded by the coding. Takuya cried out as the power flooded into his body. His body grew in strength and power as well as size, with red, yellow, black, and white armor forming on his body. A tail extended out from the base of his spine as two large orange wings appeared on his body. His head became like a dragon's almost, but not exactly, and the top of his head was white. His eyes turned sky blue, but had a feral edge to them as well. He landed, crying out his name. "BurningGreymon!"
Now evolved, the Beast Warrior of Flame flared his orange wings and took flight, his eyes set on the meat monster.
As Takuya, now BurningGreymon, flew towards the giant meat monster, however, something black and white whizzed past him, and it tackled the meat monster like a speeding bullet. This caused the meat to explode and go everywhere. BurningGreymon blinked, surprised at the sudden attack on the meat monster. However, it was far from over. The Lunch Lady ghost was still there, not looking exhausted at all. The ghost kid, who was the one who tackled the meat monster, made a crater in the ground, and he looked pretty tired. The Lunch Lady was saying something, but BurningGreymon couldn't hear it. Then suddenly, all the meat around her turned into smaller meat monsters, and they began to surround the area.
There was a sudden scream that got BurningGreymon's attention, and he turned, seeing some little girl cornered by these meat monsters.
Fear flooded his very being as he saw that. But BurningGreymon was torn. On one hand...err...claw, the ghost boy was in trouble, but on the other, the girl was too. He looked back at the ghost boy before turning and flying towards the young girl. His cannons on his arms turned to firing position and he aimed as carefully as he could, as opposed to his usual attacking methods. "Pyro Barrage!" The small red flame bullets sped out of the cannons and towards the meat monsters before the girl.
The meat monsters roared as they were being literally cooked alive. The girl started crying at the sudden fire.
Then suddenly, before BurningGreymon could get to the girl, he saw someone running up to her. It was Andy. Andy grabbed onto the girl's hand and hurried her away from the area.
BurningGreymon saw that and sighed with relief. Andy had played it smart, getting to safety and doing the same for the girl. Turning around, he now began to fly back towards the ghost boy, intent on helping out as well.
However, BurningGreymon didn't see the ghost boy anymore, instead, to his shock and horror, he saw Danny, being carried into the air by the meat monsters, and hanging upside down. Danny yelped, waving his arms around frantically.
The Beast Warrior of Flame saw Danny and felt his heart almost stop. He had to save Danny. He flew in as quickly as he could, intending on saving the boy. His cannons were primed to fire again, but he held off. I can't fire, or I will hit Danny. He reminded himself. Instead, BurningGreymon decided to opt for a more physical approach. So, using his bigger size, he flew in and between the meat monsters, slamming one away before whacking the other with his tail.
However, this just caused the meat monsters to drop Danny. Danny yelled as he was falling, before something metal hit his face. It was some kind of metallic container. Danny grabbed it off his face. BurningGreymon was a bit too distracted to notice Danny was falling, until a bright flash of light caught his attention. And to his horror, he realized that Danny was dropped. But when he looked down, he didn't see Danny, but he saw the ghost boy again, who went through the ground.
Realizing Danny was nowhere to be found, BurningGreymon wanted to find the boy, but the meat monsters kept his attention on the battle. With a growl, or more like a roar, he tried to intimidate the meat monsters into backing off from him. Surely ghosts would respond to a show of power, right? He hoped.
It was rather strange, BurningGreymon was used to Digimon attacking him more fiercely while he was in his Beast form, however, the meat monsters looked more scared of him than anything.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The Lunch Lady suddenly asked, surprising BurningGreymon that she was addressing him.
Looking at her with sharp blue eyes, BurningGreymon had an idea cross his mind. If she wants to know who I am, then I will show her. He thought before he roared again and let a few fiery bursts of flame come from his body.
Then, BurningGreymon addressed her directly. "I am the Beast Warrior of Flame, BurningGreymon. And this...is my territory!" He snarled in the most menacing voice he could muster. It seemed to work on the meat monsters. Maybe the show of force will work on her. He thought.
Suddenly, the ghost boy came up from the ground, and was surprised to see the dragon-like creature in front of him. Tucker and Sam came up from under one of the fallen tents, curious and worried. Andy crawled out from under some meat that had likely buried him while he was looking for his friends, after all, BurningGreymon wouldn't put it past the boy to leave safety if he thought his friends were in danger. All of them were staring at BurningGreymon in shock.
The Digimon paid it no heed, for his mind was more on trying to remain intimidating to the Lunch Lady. "What is it that brought you here?" He demanded, his tone trying to be commanding to her.
Despite the fear that was clearly shown in the Lunch Lady's eyes, to her credit, she didn't back down. "That is none of your business, Digital Being! You shouldn't be here!"
That threw BurningGreymon for a loop. She knows what I am?! He was confused. However, he brushed aside his shock at the revelation. "I see I won't get any answers out of you…" He growled. "In that case, leave now!"
"Never! I am here for my own reason, and you won't stop me!" The Lunch Lady roared angrily.
The ghost boy looked afraid of BurningGreymon, but despite this, he steeled his courage before he flew past the dragon-like being, opened up the container he was holding, and pointed it at the Lunch Lady. BurningGreymon was surprised to see a blue beam was fired at the Lunch Lady, and when it hit her, it sucked her right on inside the container. As soon as the Lunch Lady was sucked up, the ghost boy quickly put the lid back onto the container.
Looking back at the ghost boy, BurningGreymon gave a slight smirk in his eyes. "Heh...thanks for the help," He said.
The ghost boy looked at BurningGreymon, frowning a little, he looked very uncomfortable with BurningGreymon. "Uh… yeah… I should go."
The ghost boy looked a little shaken up, and he quickly flew away.
Realizing Danny was still missing, BurningGreymon flew off as well to turn back to human form and search him out that way. Once behind the dumpster, Takuya let his evolution go and ran out, looking for Danny. "Danny!" He cried, trying to find his cousin.
Takuya was getting worried when he didn't see Danny anywhere. He remembered he last saw Danny being held by the meat monsters in midair, but he didn't know what happened to Danny after that. He had thought maybe the ghost boy saved Danny from falling, but maybe he was wrong.
Looking around again, the goggle-wearing boy tried to find Danny again. "DANNY!" Takuya shouted. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
"Takuya?"
Takuya turned to the voice, and saw it was Andy. Andy walked over to him. "Are you okay, Takuya?"
"Danny's missing!" Takuya exclaimed. "I can't find him anywhere! Last I saw he was being carried off by meat monsters, and then, he's gone! I would like to think the ghost boy saved him but...I don't want to be proven wrong with that…"
"Danny? He's fine," Andy reassured. "He came back over to us after the ghost boy captured that Lunch Lady ghost in the Fenton Thermos, at least I think it was the Fenton Thermos, I don't know why the ghost boy had that. The ghost boy left, and… this weird… dragon, lizard, winged being thing was also there, it claimed it was the Beast Warrior of Flame, BurningGreymon. It left too shortly after the ghost boy left. I don't know what all that was about, but this… 'BurningGreymon' didn't seem to be a ghost."
Takuya remembered Andy had seen his Beast form and looked a bit nervous. "O-oh? I didn't see that. I was...hiding behind a dumpster…" He said, keeping his voice as level as possible.
"A… dumpster… you were hiding from a meat monster ghost… behind a dumpster…" Andy repeated.
"Umm...well, hiding keeps one out of sight, right?" Takuya said with a sheepish grin. "Like those notes you took said."
"Right… well… I guess I didn't really do much of hiding or running," Andy admitted. "I was trying to help some people that didn't do a very good job at running away."
"Well, I didn't expect any less of you, Andy," Takuya said. "You're one of those people who would do that even if it was against the advice given to hide or run."
Andy raised an eyebrow. "Since when was I classified as one of those types of people? This is actually the first time I've been in such a stressful situation. In fact, I'm pretty surprised at myself for not running away like everyone else."
"It takes stressful situations to reveal something like that about a person," Takuya admitted. "But I will be honest, when you told me that you were helping people, I knew you were a person who would not run and help. I had no idea either."
I mean it takes quite a bit of courage to just run into the fire like that to get that little girl to safety. Takuya quietly noted to himself. Especially for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with things like this.
"Right… I guess you have a point there," Andy chuckled.
"FENTON! KANBARA!" Mr. Lancer's voice suddenly boomed. "GET OVER HERE!"
The two boys winced at the sudden shout. "Uh oh…" Takuya muttered. "I think that is Mr. Lancer…"
"And I think we're in quite a bit of trouble for skipping out on our punishment yesterday," Andy added. "I'm surprised he didn't call our parents."
"Well, more like your parents who happen to be my aunt and uncle," Takuya pointed out. "But it still counts."
"Imagine how your mom would've reacted if she did get called though," Andy remarked, which promptly caused Takuya to pale.
"Oh no…" He murmured. That did not make for a good mental image in his mind.
"Come on, let's go before Mr. Lancer does just that," Andy quickly said.
Takuya nodded as the two of them went off to see Mr. Lancer.
So now, Takuya, Danny, Andy, Tucker, and Sam were cleaning up the entire campus of meat and vegetables. During the fight with the Lunch Lady, Sam's vegetable side was also scattered all over the place. Mr. Lancer was using a megaphone to order them to pick up certain foods, especially Tucker needing to pick up the 'turfwich', and Sam needing to pick up a t-bone steak.
Takuya grumbled as he picked up a piece of chicken. I'm glad I'm wearing my gloves right now… He thought to himself.
Danny and Andy were scrubbing the smaller pieces of meat with a couple of brooms, pushing them closer to the dumpster. Dash was watching them and snickered. Danny was glaring in irritation, and for a split second, Andy could've sworn he saw Danny's eyes flash green. Andy did a double-take as he looked at Danny, blinking in surprise.
Danny looked at his twin in surprise. "Is everything okay?" He asked as Andy blinked again and shook his head.
"Did… didn't your eyes just… glow green for a second there?" Andy asked, sounding unsure.
Danny gave a nervous chuckle. "You must have been seeing things," He assured his twin. "It may have just been a trick of the light."
Andy squinted his eyes at Danny. "Right, because the trick of the light tends to cause one's eyes to suddenly change color and glow."
Dash then spoke up. "Hey, dweebs! Get back to work!" He shouted as he threw a chicken bone at the twins from his spot near the dumpster.
"Don't you have anything better to do than to watch us clean?" Andy grumbled.
"What did you say, Fenturd 2?" Dash hissed.
"... Nothing," Andy backed down.
Takuya heard that and looked at Andy in surprise. He hadn't expected his cousin to just back down like that. Not after what he had shown he was capable of today. Unless it was just a heat of the moment kind of thing… He mused to himself.
Despite how crazy the day was, Takuya was relieved that the danger was gone, for now. He didn't know much about the ghost boy, but he didn't seem to be malevolent, so Takuya decided to just wait and see what will happen with the ghost boy before deciding on anything. Clean up was a nightmare, but it wasn't so bad. At the very least, what Andy said did get through to Tucker and Sam, so they both promised not to go overboard with the whole menu thing, and decided to just add the vegan option instead of having it take completely over. So it was a pretty good day all things considered.
Titanic X: ZAFT Convoy: It will get better.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, soon.
Unknown User: ZAFT Convoy: You will see as the story goes on.
DarkFoxKit: Personally I like playing "A World For Us All" while reading the chapters myself, because I love that song, and it goes pretty well with this story.