ZAFT Convoy: Here is chapter three~ And this is where things begin to diverge.
DarkFoxKit: If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask them. We will try to answer them.
ZAFT Convoy: Without giving away spoilers. XD
Chapter 3: A Dragon Amulet
It had been a few days after the Lunch Lady incident. Things were getting back to normal. Maddie and Jack never knew about the Lunch Lady attack, but what infuriated Takuya was the school didn't believe him or Andy when they tried to explain the giant meat monster and the ghostly Lunch Lady. Instead, the school just thought it was some kind of elaborate prank set up by the protestors to change the menu back.
Andy and Jazz were in the kitchen, writing something down. Takuya was just there to get a snack, but he was a little surprised to see how into it Andy and Jazz were with whatever it was they were doing. Jazz was doing extra credit work, which didn't surprise Takuya, but he wasn't sure what Andy was doing, it certainly wasn't homework.
"Hey, Andy," He said as he walked over. "What are you and Jazz doing?" I've never seen Andy and Jazz so into something before.
Andy smiled before he held up the paper he was working on. It was a drawing of BurningGreymon. It was crude, of course, but Takuya could easily see that it was his beast form.
"I was telling Jazz about that BurningGreymon creature I saw the other day. Jazz isn't sure if it's a real being, but she is trying to find any research on it," Andy answered. "She won't believe me about the ghosts though."
"Well ghosts don't exist, but this BurningGreymon might. I mean there have been reports of odd and sentient creatures before," Jazz replied.
Takuya felt a new feeling fill him at that point. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt like the feeling he had experienced when holding onto the ghost boy's tail. Then he realized what it was. Hold on...Why am I feeling fear of all things?
It was then Takuya realized that if Jazz was looking for information on his beast form then his secret was in danger, and as such, he himself was in danger of being exposed. "Um, are you sure that's a good idea?" He asked, trying to discourage Jazz from her research. Although I doubt she will listen. She is too much like her mom to quit.
"It doesn't hurt to do some research, and it would be good for a report at school," Jazz answered. "But I still find it hard to believe that there actually would be a creature like that around here."
"Well, apparently he made Casper High his territory," Andy said. "I don't know much about dragons, but… apparently they can make territories around here."
"Come on, Andy, just because it looked draconic doesn't mean it was a dragon. Dragons don't exist, they're fantasy creatures," Jazz pointed out.
"Um, yeah. It couldn't have been a real dragon," Takuya said in agreement with Jazz. He then saw Andy's look on his face. "Not that I doubt you saw something, Andy." He added quickly.
"Well, whatever this creature is, I still want to find it," Andy said as he stood up. "It showed that it was intelligent enough to talk, so maybe I can ask what it's doing here, and maybe it can help protect the school from ghosts."
Takuya blinked in surprise. "B-but, Andy, what if that...thing...is just dangerous? It could be a wild beast! I mean, didn't you tell me it gave a big show of force to the Lunch Lady ghost after I asked about what you saw?"
Andy looked at Takuya for a moment, and Takuya realized that Andy was analyzing him. "I understand your concern, Takuya. But it's better than just doing nothing, and waiting for something to happen."
Takuya sighed at that. "O-okay...if you're sure…" He admitted at last. "I just want you to be safe." He added.
Andy nodded. "I'm going to the lab, maybe I can ask Dad if he has anything I could use to keep on me in case another ghost attacks. Better to be safe than sorry."
Andy headed down into the lab, leaving Takuya with Jazz.
"You know, I can understand why Andy is so interested in this creature," Jazz spoke up to Takuya, looking at the drawing.
"Why?" Takuya asked. He wanted to know himself if he was honest. I would like to know as well.
"Andy's always had a fascination with intelligent creatures, dragons especially. But I think the real reason why he's so interested is because it takes his mind off of his situation with Danny," Jazz replied softly. "He needed a distraction, a goal, that didn't involve Danny's secret."
Takuya frowned at that. I see...so that's why Andy wants to find out about my Beast Spirit form… He mused mentally. Well, if it helps him, I don't see the harm in letting him try to find out about it. He then had a thought cross his mind. But I hope I don't regret it...
Then suddenly, Jack came running out from the basement. He was rushing to the bathroom, to which Takuya wondered how much soda Jack had, seeing how he was wearing the soda hat. But not long after that, Takuya felt a sudden shake, and he felt that familiar heat when the Lunch Lady ghost was near.
"Whoa… what was that?" Jazz asked, most likely about the sudden shake.
"Sounded like it came from the lab!" Takuya exclaimed, not even aware he had that feral gleam in his eyes. "We should go see what it is."
Andy just wanted to ask Jack about any possible ghost weapons he could keep on him. He didn't ask to be holding the Fenton Fisher when Jack left to go to the bathroom. He didn't ask to stand beside Danny, and have the awkward atmosphere between the two of them. And Andy certainly didn't ask to be standing face to face with a huge blue and green dragon ghost that had grabbed onto the Fenton Fisher and crawled out of the Ghost Zone. The dragon grinned at them with its sharp teeth.
Danny and Andy were staring at the large dragon in disbelief and fear. The dragon let go of the Fenton Fisher before it lowered its head towards them.
"THERE YOU ARE!" It said in a loud, deep voice.
Danny and Andy started to run away as the dragon clawed the rest of its body out of the portal.
Andy didn't want to be anywhere near that ghostly dragon for whatever reason, but he didn't care. He wanted out of the lab and away from it. However, he didn't make it to the stairs, the dragon reached out and grabbed him in its claws.
"Ack!" Andy yelped. "L-let me go!"
"Let go of my brother, you big, overgrown ghost lizard!" Danny shouted.
It was then that the door opened and Takuya saw what looked to be a large ghostly dragon holding Andy its grasp. "ANDY!" He cried before running down the stairs. "Let him go, you oversized handbag!" He snarled as he grabbed a chair and threw it at the ghostly dragon.
The chair broke when it hit the ghost dragon's stomach. The dragon glared at Takuya before it opened its maw and shot out green fire at Takuya. Fire didn't scare Takuya as much as it used to since he was the Warrior of Fire, however, there was something about this particular fire that turned up his danger level senses.
Not taking a chance, he dove to the side, looking for any sort of weapon to make the ghost dragon drop Andy. "C'mon...where's a weapon when I need one?" He muttered under his breath.
"Get the Fenton Thermos!" Danny shouted as he ran across the counters, looking for the Fenton Thermos in desperation.
The dragon lifted Andy up to its face, then it surprisingly whispered something to Andy. Andy gave a confused look at the dragon.
"Huh…?" Andy blinked.
Then suddenly, the dragon shrunk down, turning into what appeared to be a young maiden. Her skin was green, her eyes were red, her hair was blond and baretted. She wore a blue dress. She had her hand on Andy's shirt to make sure he didn't go anywhere.
Takuya and Danny were looking in shock, not knowing as to what was going on. Then the ghostly maiden took off the amulet around her neck, and suddenly clipped it on Andy's neck. As soon as she did that, she let go of Andy, gave a knowing smile, then flew back into the Ghost Portal.
Takuya ran over to Andy. "Are you okay?" He asked, feeling relieved the ghost was gone now. He didn't know what the ghost wanted, but it couldn't be good.
Andy rubbed his head. "Y-yeah, I think so…"
Danny hurried over to Andy, looking him over. "You don't look injured, bro, but… why did she put that amulet on you?"
"I don't know…" Andy frowned before he reached up to try to get it off. "... It's… not coming off…"
Takuya wondered what was going on. "Huh?" He grasped the amulet, only to feel that surge of heat again and he hissed in pain, almost like it was burning him. He was forced to let go of the amulet, shaking out his hand to get the searing heat to fade. "Ow…"
Danny frowned as he tried to grab the amulet himself, but he pulled his hand away from it faster than Takuya. "Ow! That's hot!"
"It burned you two?" Andy frowned as he grabbed onto the amulet with both of his hands and tried to pull it off. "What is this thing? What is it going to do to me!?"
"I don't know, but maybe we should do some research on it," Takuya said. "And calm down, things will be fine." He assured his cousin. "It doesn't seem to be burning you, so I don't think it's too much of an issue."
"But look at it! It's glowing!" Andy pointed at the amulet around his neck. "It was on a ghost dragon! It's not normal, it's bound to do something, something horrible!"
"Calm down, bro, I don't think getting worked up is going to help," Danny spoke up as he looked at the amulet. "I think there might be something about this amulet on the internet. We can look it up and see if there's a way to get it off of you."
Takuya nodded. "Yeah. I mean, you can find anything on the internet nowadays, so why not a ghostly amulet too?"
Andy took a deep breath and let it out. "You're right, it would be best not to lose my head. For all I know, this amulet could run on emotions…"
Looking at the amulet again, Takuya felt his emotions surging inside. He wanted to get that thing off Andy as soon as possible. It was then he remembered the dragon had whispered something to Andy.
"Hey, Andy?" Takuya asked his cousin. "What did that dragon whisper to you?" He had completely forgotten about that in the heat of the moment.
"Oh yeah, it did look like it was whispering something to you," Danny realized.
Andy frowned. "It said… 'This will be your test'."
"'This will be your test'?" Takuya and Danny asked as one. That was the most confusing thing they had heard in a long while.
Andy looked down at the amulet. "I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with this amulet she put on me."
Takuya then sighed. "Okay, I think we should go and do that research." He said at last.
When the three of them came up the stairs and into the kitchen, Jazz was looking at them.
"You three look like you just went through a tornado," Jazz remarked. "Oh, where did you get that amulet, Andy?"
"Uh… a dragon ghost maiden gave it to me," Andy said honestly.
Takuya gave Andy a look that said, 'you really think she would buy that?', not that he said it out loud.
Andy only gave a shrug. He didn't expect Jazz to take it seriously, that was why he said it.
"Right… and I'm the tooth fairy," Jazz replied. "Is that for a girl you're planning to ask for the upcoming dance?"
Takuya blinked as he heard that. "Hold on, there's a dance?" He asked. In the commotion of the last few days, he had not paid attention to school activities, so this was the first he had heard of it.
"Didn't you know? There's a dance coming up in about a week," Danny said. "A lot of our classmates are looking for dates, Tucker especially."
Hearing that, Takuya chuckled at the idea. "Only Tucker would try anything to get a date," He joked. Then he went serious. "But with the hecticness of the last few days, I didn't pay attention to the school activities. That shows how inattentive I can get sometimes." Again, it was a jab at himself to make the twins not feel bad.
"I'm not attending this year, I have too much to do, and I never cared about dances," Jazz remarked.
"Maybe you can not do so much extra credit work? You're already good enough to graduate early if you wanted to," Andy pointed out.
Takuya snickered at the remark. That's just like Jazz to overdo everything. He thought as he gave a grin. "You always were the bookworm," He teased.
"You know, you three could use some of my 'bookworminess' to get better grades," Jazz retorted.
That earned her a flinch from Takuya. Yeah, my grades are not the best, but I still study. He thought to himself.
Danny frowned as he rubbed the back of his head, lately his own grades have been going down the toilet. Andy just rolled his eyes, his grades weren't stellar, but they weren't bad either.
"Speaking of which, I think we're going to do some research now," Andy said. "So you enjoy your 'bookworminess'."
Takuya grinned again before he led Andy and Danny up to their room. Once they were upstairs, he looked at Danny. "Okay, so how do we start? Just type in 'ghost amulet' into the search engine?" He asked as he sat down on Danny's bed.
"That's a start," Danny said as he sat down on a chair by his desk, he had his computer set up there.
Andy watched as Danny turned on the computer, waited a minute for it to boot up, then got on the internet. Danny typed in 'ghost amulet', but there were way too many different results, most of it were fiction.
"Maybe it might help if you could be more specific?" Andy suggested.
"Like how?" Danny asked.
"Maybe… type in 'dragon amulet'? Or 'dragon ghost amulet'? Or an amulet that turns someone into a dragon? Try any of those," Andy suggested.
Takuya looked at the screen in thought. "I would try 'dragon ghost amulet'," He suggested. "I think that would yield some sort of results. If not, then do 'dragon amulet'."
Danny sighed before he started to type in 'dragon ghost amulet'. The results were easier this time. There were a few from fiction, but there was one that had a picture that looked exactly the same as the one Andy was wearing.
Takuya saw it and pointed it out. "Hey, try that one."
Danny moved the cursor over the website and clicked it, bringing up the information they had been seeking.
"Wow…" Takuya murmured as he saw it was the same one Andy had on his neck. "I think we found our jackpot."
Danny nodded. "Yeah," he gave his cousin a grin. "Nice work on that."
"Look, it's called the Amulet of Aragon," Andy pointed out at the title. "It says that it's able to transform any wearer into a dragon under extreme emotions such as stress or anger."
For a minute, the three boys were silent as what Andy just read began to sink in.
"W-wait a minute… am I going to be turned into a dragon if I get mad?" Andy frowned.
Takuya gulped at hearing that as Danny somewhat paled. The two boys didn't like that idea, but each for different reasons.
"N-not if you keep calm," Takuya said.
"Yeah, bro." Danny agreed. "Just don't let anyone get to you."
Andy gave both of them a deadpanned look. "Uh-huh, do you not know how poorly that tends to go?"
The older boy grimaced at that. Yeah, he has a point… Takuya thought. "Uh...sorry. Not a smart suggestion on my part…"
"Listen, if we can't get this amulet off, then me turning into a dragon isn't an 'if' but a 'when'. I'm pretty much a ticking time bomb at this point," Andy stated.
Unbeknownst to Andy and Danny, that feral look crept into Takuya's eyes at hearing that. So that ghost maiden made it so Andy was to be a threat? He thought, feeling anger creeping up into his body.
"I'm sure there's got to be a way we can get that amulet off of you," Danny quickly said. "You said that dragon girl said this was a test for you, right? Maybe after the test is over, she'll take it back."
"But what is this test?" Andy asked. "She was way too vague, how do we know this test doesn't involve me turning into a dragon?"
"I'm not sure," Takuya admitted. "But whatever the reason, we have to tread lightly. That ghost maiden may have left it with you just so that could happen on purpose." Of course, he was hoping he was wrong on that, but when one had been through what he went through in the Digital World, chances could not be taken.
"Maybe the test is to see if you could control your dragon form?" Danny suggested.
Takuya remembered when he first got his Beast Spirit, he was out of control, and attacked his own friends. It was Tommy who managed to calm him down enough to snap him out of it. He couldn't imagine what would happen if Andy went on a rampage, especially in a public area.
For once, he was wondering if he could do something, or if that experience of his own could be applied in any way. I hope I can help Andy with this if that ever comes to pass… He thought grimly.
Danny looked at Andy. "I don't think you will have much of an issue with the control thing. You tend to be more level-headed than me."
"That doesn't mean I can't still get angry," Andy pointed out. "Well… I guess as long as this amulet is stuck on me, we can only wait and see… and just hope it doesn't become as bad as we fear."
Danny and Takuya both nodded in response. I hope so too… Takuya thought as he looked at Andy in a concerned manner.
The next few days at school were brutal. Not in a traditional sense, it was pretty average actually. But Takuya was stressed out, he was worried Andy would suddenly become a giant ghost dragon and go on a rampage. Though Andy had been doing a good job at staying calm so far.
Danny had told Tucker and Sam about the amulet, so they would know what was going on. Takuya had to admit that he admired their loyalty, since they believed Danny without asking a bunch of questions, but then again, considering what they experienced these past few days, it wasn't that hard for them to accept the whole 'turning into a dragon' thing.
For Takuya himself, he was not certain what to expect to happen. All he knew was that the stress was getting to him. He felt more jumpy than usual, and once almost socked Tucker in the face when the boy had spoken up from behind him.
During lunch, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Takuya, and Andy were all sitting at the same table outside of the school. Andy was pretty happy about that, since he hadn't been able to sit with them in a while since the accident.
"Takuya, relax, you act like you're the one with this dragon turning amulet on," Andy said to Takuya while they were eating lunch. "Actually, maybe it's a good thing you're not wearing it, otherwise you would've turned into a dragon twice over already."
Takuya chuckled at the remark. Hearing Andy make a joke seemed to calm him down somewhat. "You're, right. I would have gone on a rampage twice by now."
Danny grinned. "More like five times over."
"Come on, I'm not that bad… am I?" Takuya questioned.
"The way you almost socked me in the face, I'd say you are," Tucker muttered, though he was clearly not in a good mood after being turned down three times in a row by every girl he asked before lunch time started.
"So, strike three thousand?" Takuya asked as he looked at Tucker. "And sorry about that earlier…" He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at that last sentence.
"It's cool dude, but man… what does a guy gotta do to get hooked up with a girl?" Tucker grumbled. "Is it the glasses? Maybe girls don't like the whole 'techno geek' stuff? But even the geeky girls turned me down."
Takuya gave a shrug. "I can't help you there."
"Girls are complicated," Sam remarked as she was eating her salad. "Maybe you just don't have the stuff they're looking for in a guy."
"Like what? I've got charm, good looks, and a devilish charisma," Tucker said. "What more do I need?"
"Well, you're certainly not very humble," Andy pointed out before he took a bite of his turkey sandwich.
Takuya gave Tucker a look. "Um...I don't think I want to get into that topic…" He didn't feel like going into territory he was not good with, and relationships were one of them.
"It's fine, Tuck, I mean Andy, Takuya, and I don't have dates yet either," Danny comforted.
"You three haven't even tried yet," Tucker pointed out.
"Who would you want to take to the dance, bro?" Andy asked before smirking. "Would it be with a very close friend who's sitting to your left?"
Takuya gave Sam a glance. "I think said friend would appreciate it~"
Sam froze, she stopped chewing her salad in mid-bite.
But poor Danny was oblivious to what Takuya was saying. "Who would that be?"
Sam buried her face into her bowl of salad. Andy was trying not to laugh. Tucker rolled his eyes, and Takuya's jaw dropped, he had no idea anyone could be that oblivious.
"Um...never mind…" Takuya muttered. He had not expected Danny to be that dense. Wow...and Zoey would say I was dense sometimes...
Danny looked over at Sam, before frowning. "You…"
Danny suddenly stopped as he stared at something. Tucker followed Danny's gaze and he suddenly became lost in a trance. Both Danny and Tucker were smiling as they were staring at something.
"What are you two looking at?" Sam demanded.
"Pauliiiiinaaaaa~" Danny and Tucker both said dreamily at the same time.
Andy turned around to see who his brother and friend was looking at. There she was, the spanish girl who had the prettiest of looks when it comes to girls. Every guy she passed by couldn't stop staring at her in a dreamy way. One guy, who was riding on a bike, got so distracted by her that he fell into a pond. Paulina smirked before she walked to a tree, then sat down at the base of it, and brought out a low fat yogurt.
Takuya frowned. "I can see why many guys fall for her." Good thing I have a girlfriend already.
He gave Danny a nudge. "Danny?"
"H-huh?" Danny snapped out of the trance he was in. "Y-yeah?"
"You were staring. You okay?" Takuya asked. He hoped to distract Danny from the mean girl's hold.
"Dude, it's Paulina, the most popular and prettiest girl in the school," Tucker spoke up. "You know, what Danny? You could totally try asking her out."
"What? I-I can't… I mean, I get weak kneed if I try talking to a cute girl," Danny replied nervously.
"Oh? And you have no problems with talking to me?" Sam spoke up, glaring at Danny.
Takuya gave a slight flinch at Sam's tone. "You probably should not have said that, Danny…" He muttered. He remembered one time Sam had gone after a boy who said she wasn't pretty enough to be friends with the twins and he had been kneed in the stomach by her as a result.
"I-I didn't mean to imply you're not cute, Sam!" Danny quickly said. "I just mean you're my friend, you know? Of course I'm okay with talking to you."
Takuya could see the slight blush on Danny's face at that as he called Sam 'cute'. He smiled.
Andy turned away from Paulina, looking down at his sandwich. He didn't say anything, but he didn't look very happy.
Takuya glanced at Andy and frowned. He remembered Andy telling him about how he felt about Paulina, and he had to agree with his cousin. But does Danny know? He wasn't sure if Danny was aware of what Andy thought about her.
Sam stood up and pushed Danny out of his seat. "Why don't you just go give your weak knees some exercise?"
Danny stumbled towards Paulina.
"This isn't going to end well for him…" Andy sighed.
Takuya looked at Danny with a bit of worry. He didn't think this was a good idea. "Sam...I don't think that was smart. I mean, Paulina will just try to tear his heart to pieces."
"As much as I'm inclined to agree with you, I did always say not to judge a book by it's cover. Let's see how Paulina will react before we go judging her," Sam answered.
Takuya blinked. He hadn't expected the incident with the cafeteria menu to affect her like that. She would have been all about judging earlier. Wow...I guess Andy's words made her think for once. He mused to himself.
Andy frowned a little, but he turned to Danny. Danny's arm leaned against the tree, but it suddenly looked like his arm went through the tree, and this caused Danny to hit his face against the tree before he fell down face first in front of Paulina. Paulina rolled her eyes.
"Please don't say you've suddenly fallen for me. That line is so last semester," Paulina sighed as Danny stood back up.
"No, I haven't," Danny said as he straightened himself up. "I-I mean, I'm Danny." He tried to look cool in front of her in an attempt to win her over.
Then all of a sudden, Danny's pants became see-thru, but it happened so fast that Takuya and Andy weren't sure at what they were seeing before Danny's pants fell down, exposing his red and white polka-dotted boxers. Everyone immediately began to laugh at poor Danny. The turkey in Andy's sandwich fell down as he just stared in shock at the scene.
Takuya smacked his face with his open palm in exasperation. So much for things going smoothly… He thought in his mind as he ran over to Danny.
"You okay?" Takuya asked as he made his way over.
"You know, a gentleman normally tips his hat, but I'll give you points for originality," Paulina chuckled.
Andy walked over to Danny. "Come on, bro, let's get you out of public eye."
Takuya made to follow the twins, trying to keep his temper under control. He didn't like the way the students were laughing at his cousin Danny, but then again, who wouldn't after that little display? And how did his pants turn see-thru? He wondered. There's no way Danny escaped that accident without some kind of side effects now.
"Knock it off, Paulina!" Sam snapped as she marched up to the Spanish girl. "You know, at least Danny had the guts to ask you out instead of just ogling you like 99% of the boys here."
Takuya stopped and looked back at the two girls. "As much as I hate to admit it, she's right. Danny did have the guts to do that. Can't you at least respect that?"
"Why would I care about whether or not he was able to ask me out?" Paulina asked.
"Jeez, you're so shallow," Sam grumbled before she walked away.
Though what Sam said did make Paulina intrigued about something.
Later that day, Danny, Tucker, Andy, and Takuya were standing in the hallway of the lockers. Danny was pouting because people were still laughing at him.
"Hehe, hey look, it's boxer boy!" A student laughed, pointing at Danny.
Andy shut his eyes for a moment before he snapped at the student. "Get a life!"
The student just grumbled and walked away, but still chuckled anyway. Takuya grumbled to himself. "I don't see why students have to laugh like that at Danny. He didn't do that on purpose. I mean, someone had to have seen his pants turn see-thru, right?"
"My pants didn't turn see-thru, that sounds weird," Danny quickly replied. "But man, I blew it badly with Paulina. She would never even look at me now."
"Probably for the better," Andy shrugged. "And don't worry, sooner or later, everyone will get tired of laughing at you and move on to other things. I mean so you wear boxers, that just shows you have decency."
"I guess…" Danny sighed.
"I doubt they will remember this anyway," Takuya remarked. "I mean, with the dance coming up, no one will want to focus on you and they will want to worry more about finding a date." He then gave Andy a glance. "Is that right?"
"Yeah, teenagers are usually fickled like that," Andy shrugged.
Then suddenly, there was a familiar feminine voice. "Hi Danny!~"
Everyone looked to see it was Paulina, grinning. All the guys around her sighed dreamily, while the girls looked on with envy.
"What do you want?" Andy hissed.
Takuya glared at the girl, not trusting that attitude. His experience with the evil Warrior of Water in the Digital World did not give a good impression of someone who was vain, and Paulina matched that in spades.
"Oh don't get your pants in a bundle. I just came to talk to your brother is all," Paulina answered.
"Oh, I'm sure that's all you're going to do," Andy huffed.
"Hey, how about we leave them alone for a bit?" Tucker suggested. "This might be a good thing."
He then grabbed Andy and Takuya, pulling them away by the arms. Takuya yelped as Andy protested, but the techno-geek wasn't letting them spoil the moment for Danny.
Tucker turned the corner, making sure they were out of sight so Paulina and Danny could talk. "Alright, you two, what is your problem? Paulina hadn't been hostile to Danny yet, so at least give her a chance."
Andy frowned as he crossed his arms. "I… had a nasty run in with her once…"
"And I met a girl similar to her back in Japan when I lived there," Takuya explained. It was a half-truth, half-lie. I seem to be telling a lot of those these days. He thought grimly.
"Wait… really? You think Paulina is that bad?" Tucker asked.
Andy looked over from the wall to see Dash just pushed Danny into his locker. Though Andy couldn't hear what was going on, Dash suddenly started acting weird, he picked up Paulina's foot, to which Paulina backed away and gave him a look of disgust. Dash looked to be in a daze before walking away, and Paulina opened the locker door to let Danny out. After they spoke a bit, Paulina gave Danny a palm kiss before she walked away. Danny looked very happy.
"Heh," Tucker chuckled. "That looked like a yes to me."
"A 'yes'? More like a 'how can I dump him the most embarrassing way possible'!" Andy growled, he actually growled.
Takuya then jumped as he heard that. He looked at Andy in worry.
"Um...Andy… Calm down, please…" Takuya pleaded. He didn't like that sound at all. "Remember the necklace?"
Tucker looked at Andy's amulet. "You think Paulina might've liked that amulet?"
Andy let out an inhumane hiss as his tongue came out like a snake's forked tongue. Tucker quickly held up his hands. "O-okay, I guess not! Calm down, alright? Everything's going to be okay."
Takuya hoped Andy would settle down. Having him go all dragon would not be a good idea. "We can talk Danny out of his 'date', if that will make you feel better."
Andy shut his eyes for a moment to calm himself down. "I doubt he would listen. But I will be keeping an eye on Paulina during the dance."
The older boy frowned to himself. I guess that means I am going too, since my Beast form may be needed. He mused to himself with a small huff. "I guess I am going too, then."
"Great, meanwhile, maybe I can get a date if my own pants fell down." Tucker smiled excitedly.
"Tucker, don't," Andy warned.
Takuya nodded. "You may get teased even worse than Danny did."
Tucker frowned at the older boy's words. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Tucker ran off before Andy or Takuya could stop him.
"He might have a black eye or two tomorrow," Andy sighed.
"Oh brother…" Takuya moaned as he smacked his head against a locker.
"Speaking of brother…" Andy turned back to Danny, and was surprised to see Mr. Lancer there, handing Danny a belt, not only that, but Danny's pants were down again. "How the heck did his pants fall down again?"
Takuya frowned. "I think they went see-thru again."
"I wonder if Mom and Dad got a hold of his pants and made them 'ghost pants' or something…" Andy wondered.
Takuya looked at Andy. "I doubt Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack did something like that."
He then had a thought and put a hand to his chin. "Or maybe they did. It sounds like them."
At Fenton Works
"I still can't believe Mr. Lancer wants to talk to my Dad about this…" Danny groaned, his pants tightened with the belt Mr. Lancer gave him. "But at least I got an awesome date for the dance."
"Awesome isn't the term I would use to describe Paulina," Andy grumbled.
"And are you sure you're eating enough?" Takuya asked Danny. I'm sure not going to ask about how his pants went see-thru since Danny would deny it.
"Yeah, of course I am," Danny answered. "My pants are just… loose, that's all."
"They're not loose, they are…" Andy started before shaking his head. "Nevermind. Why don't you go ahead and talk to Dad about Mr. Lancer's request?"
Takuya, however, was lost in his thoughts, so he didn't hear the twins speaking. Rather, his mind was on Andy and the amulet. How can I help get that thing off if it burns me? He wondered. And for that matter, why did it burn me? I mean, I have the element of fire to use when evolved, but...it doesn't make sense I would be burned by that thing.
Takuya began to think. Maybe I have to remove it as a Digimon? I mean even though I am the Warrior of Fire, fire would still burn me as a human.
"Takuya?" The voice from behind him made him jump up in surprise.
"W-what?" Takuya turned around.
"I asked if you wanted to come and back me up when I tell Dad," Danny repeated.
"Oh...Uh, sure." Takuya replied, although he had no idea what he was agreeing to.
Danny gave him a deadpanned look. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"
Takuya gave a sheepish chuckle. "Not really. I got lost in my thoughts."
The younger boy sighed. "I asked if you would come and back me up when I told Dad about the situation with Mr. Lancer and his request."
"Oh… uh…" Takuya didn't really want to have to deal with an angry or annoyed Jack Fenton.
Danny then looked like he had an idea. "Actually, Takuya… nevermind. I can handle Dad myself. You and Andy can… uh… stay up here."
Takuya and Andy blinked. "What? Why?" Andy questioned.
"Uh...no reason," Danny replied. "Just...get to bonding or something. Find out about that amulet some more or something like that."
Before Andy could ask anymore questions, Danny rushed into the kitchen to get down into the lab where Jack was.
"He sure was in a hurry…" Takuya muttered.
Andy walked into the kitchen, frowning. "In a hurry, abruptly leave in the middle of something, getting cold chills, weird things going on with him. He's been all dodgy ever since the accident."
Andy took out a glass cup, and used the fridge's filter water to fill it up.
"Tell me about," Takuya said as he leaned against the wall. "Even though I have been back a few days, I noticed it too. And I don't like it. It's like the accident affected him in some way, but I can only wonder how."
Andy took a sip of the water before he sighed. "Whatever it was, Danny certainly doesn't want to tell us. Because I guess he can't trust us to know something happened to him. Because why the heck not? What does he think we'll do? Dissect him like monsters!?"
Andy's hand completely crushed the cup he was holding, shattering the glass.
Takuya saw that and paled. "Andy, I'm sure whatever is going on with Danny, he wants to get it under control before telling us." He held up his hands in a gesture to calm down his cousin.
Andy looked at Takuya, and for a moment, Takuya saw a similar feral look in Andy's eyes, the look of a dragon. But the feral look faded away quickly and Andy sighed before throwing the crushed cup into the garbage. "Right… I really shouldn't let it get to me, especially right now."
Takuya sighed in relief. "Yeah...good idea."
He then looked at the cup shards on the floor. "Um...I got it." He went to grab a broom and dustpan to sweep the shards into the pan so they could be tossed. Once that was done, Takuya grabbed a towel and began to wipe up the water from the floor.
Andy looked at his hand, the one that crushed the glass cup, but there was no blood on it. He took a closer look to see he had bits of dragon scales on it. He didn't let Takuya know, however, as the dragon scales faded back to skin.
This is going to be a long week… Andy frowned.
Suddenly, Jack came into the kitchen. There was something odd about him, his eyes were glowing an unusual neon green. Takuya even felt a familiar freezing cold aura coming from Jack.
"Ah, hi kids," Jack said with his voice sounding off. "I, Jack Fenton, will be going to Casper High to talk to Mr. Lancer. Because that's what we adults do."
As the bigger man made his way out of the house and kitchen, Takuya looked at Andy. "Okay...that was weird, even by Uncle Jack's standards."
"Yeah… it was…" Andy agreed before he looked back at the lab. "Where's Danny?"
"Maybe he is still in the lab?" Takuya asked as he stood up from the floor, the wet towel in his left hand. "I think we could go and look. If not, maybe he went to see Sam and Tucker."
"While we were in the kitchen?" Andy raised an eyebrow. "He'd have to come into the kitchen after leaving the lab."
"Well, odd stuff happens around Danny, remember?" Takuya pointed out. "Maybe this is one of those times."
"Quite. Because apparently Danny's limbs can go through solid objects, why not make him invisible too," Andy grumbled. "I'm going to my room."
Takuya frowned, but nodded. "Okay. Just...remember, stay calm and in control."
The next day, after school was out, Danny decided to go to the mall with his friends. He was a little grumpy about something. Takuya and Andy were with them, so Danny couldn't say too much, however.
"You know… if you could control someone, like say… a girl, would you…?" Tucker began to ask, as if hinting something towards Danny.
Hearing that, Takuya blinked as he looked back. "Control someone? Why would Danny control someone?"
"It's a hypothetical question," Tucker shrugged.
"And I would say no even if I could." Danny rolled his eyes. "You can get your own date for the dance, like I did."
"You know, Andy and I are going, and we don't have dates." Takuya pointed out. "It's not like it's a requirement or anything."
"Are you kidding? People who show up to the dance without a date are considered losers!" Tucker waved his arms around. "Besides, this could make or break my image."
"You don't even have one," Sam grumbled. "I don't have a date either, not that I care, because I don't like this stupid dance anyways."
Takuya looked at Tucker. "You know, I think Sam wants to go. Why don't you ask her? I mean, she wouldn't reject you, right?"
Tucker blinked at that, and so did Sam.
"Well… I guess since nobody else wants to go with me, and I've asked just about every girl in school already… would you like to go to the dance with me, Sam? You know, as friends?" Tucker asked.
Sam blinked in surprise, but then, a small smile crossed her face. "That would be nice, Tucker." Then it went serious. "But just as friends."
"Of course, just friends," Tucker promised quickly. "At least a date with a friend is better than no date at all."
Takuya smiled at that. "See? Now was that so hard?"
"I'm glad to see you two are growing on each other." Andy grinned. "If you're not careful, bro, Sam may just end up falling for Tucker instead."
Danny was drinking something when Andy made that comment, and this caused him to spit out his drink and cough a little. Andy was now laughing.
Takuya laughed as well as Danny looked at Andy.
"Andy! That wasn't funny!" Danny whined as he threw the plastic cup at his brother.
Andy chuckled when the plastic cup hit his forehead. "Come on, that was gold. If it were anyone else, you'd be laughing your head off right now~"
"You know it too~" Takuya added in the same sing-song tone as his cousin.
"Ugh!" A loud voice grumbled. "I can't believe they sold out of the Flee-Cee-Tee! A fashion outcast for 16 weeks!? I can't survive that long!"
Everyone stared as Paulina was storming around, looking quite angry.
"Looks like your date is throwing a temper tantrum," Andy remarked to Danny.
Takuya grimaced at the sight. "And a big one at that."
Then, he had a grin on his face. "And if you're such a gentleman, then why don't you go and help her?" He suggested.
"W-what? Uh…" Danny frowned, he wasn't sure what to do when a girl was throwing a temper tantrum. "I mean… I guess I'll try."
"Are you sure you should, Danny?" Sam asked. "It's usually not wise to talk to a girl when she's really angry."
Andy gave a glare to Takuya in response. "You just had to make that suggestion, didn't you?"
Takuya paled as he realized Andy was getting mad again. "Um...I was just kidding around!" He exclaimed in his defense. "I didn't mean it literally!"
"Hey, if I don't try to calm her down, then what kind of boyfriend would I be?" Danny asked before he stood up and started to walk over to Paulina.
Takuya looked at Andy and swore he saw draconic scales on Andy's face. "Uh oh…" He muttered to himself. His teasing of Danny had seemed to set Andy off.
However, Andy wasn't quite changing yet. He was able to calm himself down to stop the change. Unfortunately, however, when Danny came up to help Paulina, Paulina started yelling at Danny.
"You know, if you really were boyfriend material, you would've bought me a Flee-Cee-Tee shirt before they sold out!" Paulina snapped at Danny.
"B-but I don't even know what that is." Danny frowned.
"Doesn't matter, you should know what I want! I'm your date!" Paulina hissed.
At this point, Andy stood up from the table. He hissed as he was struggling to contain his emotions, but his anger at Paulina was building. The amulet around his neck started to glow, power began to flow through Andy.
"SHALLOW LITTLE WITCH!" In an instant, Andy grew into a giant, blue and green dragon. He let out a loud roar.
Everyone in the mall stared at the giant glowing dragon in shock, much like with the Lunch Lady when she suddenly became a colossal meat monster, everyone was deathly still and quiet.
Gaping, Takuya realized he had inadvertently set Andy off with his teasing of Danny. Oh...crap… He thought before he looked around for a place to hide to evolve. If this was a dragon fight, he would need the power of the beast.
When Dragon Andy made a move, everyone finally snapped out of it to start running away, screaming in a panic. Tucker and Sam were caught up in the stampede this time. Paulina stared up at the angry dragon, and she passed out.
Danny held onto Paulina and looked up at Dragon Andy. "N-now Andy, calm down!"
Dragon Andy gave no indication that he heard Danny, his red eyes were set on Paulina.
Takuya tried to find a decent hiding spot, only to see a closed off store that was empty. He frowned, realizing it was partly exposed, but it was the only place he could find that was safe.
He ran into the store after some people had moved away from it, and knew he had to evolve.
Looking around and determining he was safe, 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!"
While Dragon Andy was reaching out to Paulina, BurningGreymon flew towards him.
The draconic Digimon slammed into Dragon Andy and knocked him aside before landing and letting out his own roar of dominance. He flared his orange wings wide as he glared down Dragon Andy, sharp blue eyes meeting glowing red.
While the two dragons were facing each other, Danny picked up Paulina with surprising ease and started hurrying out the mall to get her to safety.
Dragon Andy glared at BurningGreymon with such venom that it almost looked like Dragon Andy really hated him. Dragon Andy let out an angry roar before shooting out green fire at BurningGreymon from his maw.
BurningGreymon narrowed his blue eyes before he called upon his one attack that could cancel out the green flames. "Wildfire Tsunami!" The red flames flared into view, forming a protective barrier around his form. The green flames were canceled out by the fiery red barrier, which faded with the flames dissipating.
"WHY MUST YOU INTERFERE!?" Dragon Andy shouted angrily.
"This is not you!" BurningGreymon shouted back. "You are better than this!" Although deep down, the Beast Warrior of Flame had the feeling Andy was too caught up in his rage to realize what was being said to him. Andy seems to be more dragon-like ghost than human right now.
Dragon Andy's wings stretched out and he started to fly. Although he was bigger than BurningGreymon, he was surprisingly fast, he flew around BurningGreymon quickly, which caught the Digimon off guard, before a blue scaley tail slammed into him with such force that BurningGreymon hit the mall's ceiling.
A grunt of pain escaped the Digimon as he hit the ceiling hard before falling to the floor with a loud CRASH, leaving a crater, in which he lay for a moment before his eyes snapped open and he flew out of the impact crater towards Dragon Andy.
"Time to remove the problem!" He exclaimed as he flew towards Dragon Andy and reached for his amulet. But as soon as he grabbed it, the thing burned his three-clawed hand, earning a yelp of pain before BurningGreymon pulled his hand back, panting as he landed in front of Dragon Andy. Okay, removing it as a Digimon is impossible...
Dragon Andy, however, wasn't too keen on showing mercy just because BurningGreymon's claws got burned, he proceeded to punch BurningGreymon into the ground with his dragon fists.
In desperation, BurningGreymon called upon his attack once more to drive Dragon Andy back. "Wildfire Tsunami!" The flames forced Dragon Andy to back off, which gave the Digimon some breathing room.
Dragon Andy did back off, however, he wasn't through with BurningGreymon. In his rage, he attacked without hesitation, he shot out another green stream of fire at BurningGreymon. BurningGreymon didn't have time to react. Thankfully, however, he didn't need to. A black and white blur shot in front of him and tackled him down, barely avoiding the green fire.
Looking back as soon as the flames went past them, BurningGreymon was surprised to see the ghost boy from earlier. Wow, I guess I was wrong about this ghost boy… The Digimon thought to himself. He saved me.
"Thanks…" The Beast Warrior of Flame panted.
The ghost boy gave an awkward look at BurningGreymon, still not sure about him. "I just… didn't want you to get hurt. But listen, don't hurt that dragon. He's just a human boy who got caught up in a ghost spell."
BurningGreymon was far from dumb, and he knew that Andy was caught up in the spell, but he decided to play along with the news from the ghost boy. "I see. Well, I wasn't trying to. In my defense, I sensed the sudden emergence of an unknown energy and came to merely investigate. Then that ghost...err...the victim attacked me."
Dragon Andy gritted his sharp teeth as he glared at BurningGreymon and the ghost boy. While he was still angry, he seemed more cautious.
"I think maybe it might help if we could calm him down. He's running on rage right now," The ghost boy analyzed.
"But how?" BurningGreymon questioned. "I tried to remove that amulet, get to the source of the problem, but it didn't work. The thing burned me."
"It burns you too?" The ghost boy asked in surprise.
Dragon Andy took this opportunity to attack while they were distracted. He shot a fireball at them, which caused BurningGreymon to move away quickly, and the ghost boy dodged by diving underground, however, the fireball was a distraction. As soon as BurningGreymon moved away from it, he was quickly caught by Dragon Andy's claws, which Dragon Andy used to pin him down on the ground, creating a crater. Dragon Andy glared down at BurningGreymon.
"DIGITAL BEAST!" Dragon Andy roared.
BurningGreymon was once more shocked that a ghost, albeit Andy, knew what he was. Why is it that ghosts here can tell what I am? He wondered frantically. BurningGreymon wanted to use his Wildfire Tsunami again, but the ghost boy's words made him pause. No. I can't use that again. He reminded himself. Then, he got an idea. Swinging his tail, BurningGreymon whacked Dragon Andy in the side, hoping it would get Dragon Andy to back off.
Dragon Andy let out a roar of pain before he lifted up BurningGreymon and threw him to the side.
Another pained grunt escaped BurningGreymon as he was tossed to the floor hard. Okay...I think that cracked a few ribs… He thought in pain.
Dragon Andy flew over BurningGreymon, and was about to fire another fire breath at him, when the ghost boy suddenly flew up in front of Dragon Andy's face.
"Stop! Please, you're not a destructive monster!" The ghost boy called out in desperation. "You can stop this, Andy! Please listen to me!"
Surprisingly, Dragon Andy stopped his fire breath and glared down at the ghost boy.
Looking back, BurningGreymon was surprised to see Dragon Andy stop at the ghost boy's pleas. What the…?
He wondered.
"That's it, just calm down… keep looking at me… don't be a monster," The ghost boy said in a soothing voice.
Dragon Andy kept looking at the ghost boy, and his face started to calm down, no longer rage filled.
For once in his life, the Warrior of Fire was stunned. He had expected to fight Dragon Andy seriously, but this, this changed everything he thought he knew about fighting. Wow...I guess taking a more calm and rational route is the way to go sometimes… BurningGreymon thought to himself.
Dragon Andy took a moment to look at his surroundings, before spotting BurningGreymon. He gave an unknown look at BurningGreymon, it wasn't rage, or fear, but analytic, if such a look could be on a dragon. Then Dragon Andy looked at the ghost boy one more time before he started to shrink down. The ghost boy quickly disappeared, or turned invisible as the dragon shrunk down to human size.
Grunting as he got to his feet, BurningGreymon let his evolution go, having seen no other humans around. He figured it was safe to do so, and soon was back to being the human Takuya. Takuya ran over to Andy. "Andy!"
Takuya stopped when he saw Danny already there, hugging a frightened looking Andy.
Takuya ran over. "Is Andy okay, Danny?" Worry was clear on his face.
"Y-yeah, I don't see any injuries on him, but… he's pretty shaken up," Danny answered in concern.
A sigh escaped Takuya before he winced and his hand flew to his chest. Okay, that fight definitely at least cracked a few ribs… He thought as he hissed in pain. These ghosts are no joke… and I was fighting with someone who had no experience with fighting as a ghost dragon.
"I-I'm sorry… I didn't… didn't m-mean to hurt anyone…" Andy shakingly said, burying his head into Danny's chest.
"I don't think you did," Takuya assured Andy. "As for me, I just got some dumb luck of nearly being squashed by some falling debris. I think I cracked a rib or two when I dodged the debris."
"H-how's… P-Paulina?" Andy asked, afraid to hear the answer.
"Don't worry, bro, Paulina's fine, she just passed out from fright is all," Danny reassured his brother. "Come on, let's get you home. This place will be surrounded by cops soon."
Takuya nodded. "Yeah...good idea…" He agreed, hissing in pain at his cracked ribs. "And I think I need to get my ribs looked at…"
"Do you need any help?" Tucker asked as he and Sam came back into the mall seeing that the dragon was tamed.
"Gotta admit though, that was pretty wild," Sam chuckled sheepishly, hoping to cheer Andy up a little. "I mean this would've totally made for an awesome monster movie."
Takuya wasn't sure if he should be offended by that or if he should just brush it off like it was just a mere comment. In the end, he decided to just let it slide. Sam doesn't know what BurningGreymon really is. He reasoned.
Takuya had to lean on Tucker as the group left the mall, and hoped the authorities would think some kind of terrorist attacked the mall rather than a boy turning into a full blown dragon.
"I'm just glad the ghost boy calmed Andy down," Takuya said at last. "I don't think that that BurningGreymon would have stood a chance otherwise." Even if that was me...
"BurningGreymon is kind of a mouthful, I'm thinking about just calling it Burn," Tucker chuckled light heartedly.
Takuya had to admit, it was a mouthful of a name, but he chuckled as well. Well, I'll let Tucker have this one. He is right in a way too.
Though Takuya thought it was weird that the ghost boy was able to calm Dragon Andy down, Danny, Tucker, and Sam didn't seem to think it was weird, or they didn't express it. Takuya decided not to think about it right now, because his ribs were killing him.
Titanic X: ZAFT Convoy: Well, enjoy this chapter then!
Irusha the Kitsune chapter 1: ZAFT Convoy: I hope you enjoy this as well. And welcome to the story!
DarkFoxKit: Hi FaravusGaming, glad that you're loving this so far.
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