Here is chapter 4~ :3 DarkFoxKit owns Andy Fenton. Danny Phantom and Digimon do not belong to me.
Chapter 4: Dragon Vs. Digimon
Takuya was in the living room, watching the news. There was a news reporter talking about how the authorities didn't believe eye-witnesses of a dragon destroying the mall fighting with another dragon-like creature, and some kind of flying boy. Instead, the authorities claimed it was just a terrorist attack.
"Wow, there were several eye-witnesses of a dragon attack, and they still claimed it was just a terrorist attack," Danny mumbled as he was walking into the living room.
"Well, I think the terrorist claim is more believable," Takuya pointed out. "At least to the rest of the masses anyway."
"True, and if Mom and Dad heard about this ghost dragon, they'll be down at the mall with guns blazing," Danny chuckled. "That's the last thing we need."
The older boy gave a glance at Danny. "By the way, how's Andy been?" Takuya asked. "He seemed pretty shaken up last I saw." The concern was evident in his voice.
"Yeah, I don't blame him. Andy says he doesn't remember a lot while he was a dragon, but he knew he did a lot of damage at the mall, he was worried he really hurt or… even killed someone while he was on a rampage," Danny informed. "I did assure him nobody got seriously hurt, but he's still scared of what could happen the next time something sets him off."
Takuya frowned at that. I know Andy doesn't like to show his mental state, but I can't say I blame him for worrying about that. I know when I lost control of my Beast Spirit I was worried about losing control again for a while too.
"I just wish there was something I could say to help comfort him a little," Danny sighed.
Takuya nodded before he stood up, though his ribs were still sore, at least they were healing. "I'll go talk to him."
"Are you sure? I know you're not usually that good when it comes to emotional speeches, that's usually Jazz's forte, but considering the situation, she wouldn't be able to help comfort Andy since she doesn't even believe that he can turn into a dragon," Danny remarked.
"Heh...you would be surprised," Takuya joked back before he went upstairs, leaving Danny in the living room, and headed to the door of Andy and Danny's room.
He knocked on the door. "Andy?"
Takuya waited for a moment before he heard Andy's voice. "You can come in… the door isn't locked."
He opened the door, seeing Andy sitting on his bed. "Are you doing okay?" Takuya asked. "Danny said you were worried about hurting someone when as a dragon."
"Well… yeah, of course I am. I mean did you see the mess the mall was in after my little rampage?" Andy frowned. "That was no small mess. Half of the mall was pretty much destroyed."
"I can't say I blame you," Takuya said as he walked in and sat down on Danny's bed. "Anyone would be scared about that like you are."
"I would be worried if I wasn't," Andy remarked. "I knew it was going to happen… I just… well… knowing it would happen and having it actually happen are two very different things. What will I do the next time it happens? Would I end up destroying the school next? What if this time I really do hurt someone?"
Takuya pursed his lips at that, trying to think of a way to give Andy advice without giving away his own secret. Then, he remembered what Tommy had told him after that incident when he lost control of his beast spirit. Looking at Andy, he gave a small smile. "Just try to remember who your friends are. You don't want to hurt them, so just remember they are your friends and you won't lose control."
He wasn't sure how relevant that advice would be, given how this was a ghostly dragon amulet, but it didn't hurt, at least Takuya hoped it didn't.
"Maybe…" Andy said softly. "I… mostly remember fighting with that dragon. I don't know why, but something about it just… really worried me, and irritated me."
Takuya paused at hearing that. "Really? What worried you about that dragon?"
"It's a bit hard to put it into words. I didn't feel that way when I saw him before, but when I was a dragon… he felt unnatural, in a different way. Like… I could tell he was made of data, I could see and sense all those zeros and ones on him for some reason. It angered me. I… don't know, it might be a ghostly instinct or something," Andy shrugged.
Hearing that, Takuya had a thought. Maybe that flash of heat I feel is a reaction to a ghost… He mused before he paused. "Wait, you said 'he'. Is that dragon male?" He was a bit panicked now.
"Yeah, it's weird, but I could somehow tell that BurningGreymon was male. It might be because dragons can tell another dragon's gender," Andy said.
"Makes sense since most dragons are beasts of an instinctual nature," Takuya mused. He knew that bit from his own experiences.
Andy sighed. "About what you said… of remembering who my friends are… I thought that's what calmed me down in the first place."
"What do you mean?" Takuya asked.
"I thought I saw… Danny talking to me, he was telling me to calm down," Andy answered. "It was the first time I realized what I was doing as a dragon, then I shrunk down."
Takuya realized Andy had no idea that his brother was missing and that the ghost boy was the one who did it instead. Figuring a little white lie wouldn't hurt, he shrugged. "It was. I didn't see him from where I was hiding, but I could hear his voice."
Andy frowned a little. "But… that confuses me… he was obviously flying. How else could he have gotten up to me at that point?"
"I think the ghost boy was helping him, just remained invisible," Takuya lied.
"I guess… that makes sense… wouldn't want to risk angering the dragon more by carrying said dragon's brother," Andy muttered. "But even if I could remember who my friends are… I don't have a lot of friends, and it's very possible I would turn into a dragon if I was alone in the hallway with Dash or something."
"Then just think about who your family is," Takuya replied. "I mean, that also helps." He did consider his friends like family too, after all. "Your brother and sister, your parents, and me are all important to you."
"That's… not the problem. If I was alone with Dash, and my anger is at him, and none of my friends or family are nearby… what's to stop me from… I don't know, smashing, crushing, or eating Dash?" Andy pointed out.
Takuya frowned at that before an idea crossed his mind. "Then don't. Think about how they would react. Would they want you to do something you would regret?"
"That's easier said than done. You don't really think about these things while in a draconic rampage," Andy sighed. "But that's not to say I won't at least try. Maybe if we're lucky, that ghost boy or BurningGreymon will be nearby and stop me again."
Takuya could only nod and sigh at that. "I hope so…"
Andy looked directly at Takuya. "Now… would you tell me about those ribs?"
Takuya froze.
"I saw how you were limping and rubbing your ribs. You obviously got hurt back at the mall," Andy stated.
"It was from diving to the floor and from some debris that went flying," Takuya lied. "Some of the debris hit me in the chest. It cracked at least one rib." He was not revealing it was from when Dragon Andy tossed him aside when he was evolved.
Andy sighed. "I'm sorry, it's my fault you got hurt."
"N-no, it's not your fault!" Takuya assured him. "I was the one who was dumb enough to remain in the area."
"Well… regardless, I will have to be more careful from now on, at least until we can get rid of this amulet," Andy said softly. "I don't want to hurt anyone else, whether directly or indirectly."
Takuya frowned at that. But how can we get that amulet off of Andy? Danny can't, and I can't in either human or Digimon form.
"That ghost maiden we saw, the one who put this amulet on me…" Andy started. "She might be able to take it off… if only we could find her."
"That would require us to go to the Ghost Zone, and we have no transport to get around there. Plus, we have no idea what lurks in there anyway." Takuya pointed out. "Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack won't let us into the Ghost Zone anyway."
"Right… well, let's call finding the ghost maiden plan B then…" Andy agreed.
Takuya smiled at that. "Good." Then he grinned a bit. "Now, why don't we see if we can find you a date~?"
"Come on, going to the dance is the last thing on my mind," Andy grumbled.
"We need to get your mind off of that," Takuya said as he pointed at the amulet while putting an arm around Andy's shoulders. "And a dance is one way to do that."
Andy didn't look so sure.
"Come on, Andy, you can't lock yourself up in your room forever. That isn't healthy, and while I understand your concerns, you should still go out and let yourself have some fun. Besides, if you stay locked up, you're going to get angry and irritated eventually. You wouldn't want to turn into a ghost dragon while you're at home, would you?" Takuya pointed out.
Andy shivered at the idea, not only could he seriously hurt his own family, but his parents may also try to tear him apart.
Looking at Andy, Takuya spoke again. "So, which is it? Remain here and become irritated and angry, or get out and have some fun?"
"Either way, it's risky… so it's a 'pick your poison' situation?" Andy grumbled.
"More like pick the lesser of the two evils," Takuya chuckled.
"Fine… I suppose trying to find a date for the dance or something would help take my mind off it," Andy sighed. "Not that I'm expecting to find one."
Takuya grinned. "Well, you never know~" He sang before grabbing Andy's arm and pulling him out of his and Danny's room.
As Takuya was dragging Andy towards the front door, Danny noticed them.
"Hey, where are you two going?" Danny asked, curiously.
"Just going to see if we can find a date for Andy," Takuya answered before he opened the door. "We'll be back before dinner!"
Andy yelped as he was dragged out of the house with his cousin.
Takuya made sure to keep a firm, yet light grip on Andy. "So, where so we start?"
"Uh… well, since the mall is shut down for the time being… maybe we'll try the Nasty Burger?" Andy suggested.
"Is that the restaurant I saw when I first came back here?" Takuya asked. "Because it wasn't here when I left for Japan."
"Oh, yeah. The Nasty Burger was built a year after you left, so it's relatively new," Andy answered. "It's a great hang out place for Capser High students. Don't let the name fool you, their food is actually pretty good."
"Really?" Takuya asked with a grin. "Can you show me? I've never been there before."
Andy chuckled. "Sure. You like burgers, right? Especially ones with a lot of meat? Nasty Burger has that."
Takuya felt his stomach growl. It was then he remembered that his evolutions took a lot out of him and left him starving. "Yeah, I could eat a whole one of those. I'm starved."
Andy smiled as he lead Takuya down the street to the fast food restaurant. When they went inside the Nasty Burger, Takuya was greeted with the smell of food. There were indeed a lot of teens here from Casper High, he could already see people like Dash, other jocks, and even those who were deemed as 'nerds' around. There were also the girls from school, though several of them already had their dates with them.
The two boys walked over to the main counter. "What do you think I should get, Andy?" Takuya wondered as he eyed the menu. "Any good recommendations?"
"I usually like to get the number 10 combo myself, it includes two Mighty Meaty Cheesey Melts, along with fries, a large drink, and even a turnover pie," Andy recommended.
"Sounds good," Takuya grinned. He then faced the main cashier. "I'm going to try the number 10 please." Good thing mom sent me here with some American cash.
The cashier was a young adult lady with blonde hair tied in a ponytail, she looked to be bored as she typed in Takuya's order. "Will that be all, sir?"
Takuya blinked, but nodded. "Uh...yeah, that is." He replied. He looked at Andy with a confused look.
"She's been working here part time for a few years, it's bound to get boring after a while," Andy explained with a shrug.
"Okay then," Takuya shrugged.
The lady added Takuya's total. "That will be 13 dollars and 48 cents."
The older boy handed her a 10 and a 5 dollar bill from his wallet. "Is that enough?"
The lady employee took the dollar bills from Takuya, before she opened the cash register, put the dollars in, then handed Takuya his change and a receipt. "Your order will be out soon."
Takuya nodded before he turned and walked off to find a booth with Andy. "So, how long do the orders take?"
"Depending on how busy they are, it usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes," Andy answered.
Takuya shrugged. "I guess that's normal," He replied before he saw an open booth. It was next to Valerie, and she seemed to be sitting alone. "Hey, let's go sit over there."
Andy blinked as he saw Valerie sitting in the booth next to the one Takuya was going to. Andy walked over to the booth, and Valerie took notice of them.
"Oh, hey Andy, hey Takuya," Valerie greeted, taking a sip of her soda.
"Hey, Valerie. Who are you going to the dance with?" Andy asked. "Being one of the popular kids, I would think someone would be going out with you."
Valerie sighed, looking a little annoyed. "I was supposed to go with Kwan, but he blew me off because Veronica said she'll go to the dance with him instead."
"Oh… ouch… I guess that's the food chain in high school…" Andy rubbed the back of his head at hearing that Valerie got dumped by her date.
Takuya then gained a silly grin. "Well, Andy here is looking for a date as well," He quipped as he rubbed Andy's black hair mischievously. "Why don't you go together?"
Andy slapped Takuya's hand away. "Stop it!"
Valerie was smiling in amusement at their antics. "So you're looking for a date?"
Takuya looked at Andy and Valerie. "Andy is. He wants to go to the dance since his brother is, and his two friends are as well."
"Your friends and brother leaving you out again?" Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow at Andy.
"Not as much since Takuya got here, but you know, I could just go to the dance without a date," Andy shrugged. "Tucker was the one who was making a big deal out of getting a date. I think that desperation is what made all the girls reject him though."
Takuya put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm… I think Tucker needs to lighten up a bit. Then maybe some girls won't reject him as much."
"True, girls can sense the desperation," Valerie chuckled. "But since you don't have a date, and I don't have a date, nor am I interested in looking for another, I can take you to the dance, Andy."
Andy looked at Valerie. "I'm sorry, what?"
Takuya grinned as he put an arm around Andy's shoulder again. "You just hooked a date~"
Andy slapped his cousin on the head, but the grin didn't fade from Takuya's face.
"What say you pick me up at around 7? The dance starts at 7:30," Valerie suggested.
"Uh… y-yeah, sure," Andy answered, feeling some heat rushing to his cheeks, he hadn't really been expecting to find any date, he was just humoring Takuya.
Takuya then sat down in the empty booth. "This is my first time in the Nasty Burger," He commented before he had a thought. "By the way, why name it 'Nasty Burger'?"
"It was originally going to be called Tasty Burger, but someone put an 'N' where the 'T' was supposed to be as a joke, but it kinda stuck because a lot of teens liked it, and it became popular pretty fast. So why change it, right?" Andy informed with a small chuckle as he sat down in front of Takuya.
"Heh...I guess the joke backfired on the prankster." Takuya chuckled as well. "Some joke it turned out to be."
"I think the prankster ended up getting credit though, so that made them a winner in the end, just an unexpected one," Andy remarked.
Soon, a waitress came over and put a tray of food on the table. "Here's your order."
Takuya grinned as he picked up the first burger and took a bite. It was very good, just like Andy had said it would be. "Wow! This is good!"
Andy chuckled at the sight of Takuya with cheese all over his mouth. "Told you so."
Takuya couldn't remember having a burger this good since the burgers he ate at the Burgermon's place in the Digital World.
Valerie was laughing. "Looks like someone likes his burgers."
"Heh, Takuya loves burgers," Andy chuckled. "He once tried to suggest adding extra meat in his burgers once before he moved away to Japan. And that burger he had was already a big whopper."
Takuya went red beneath the cheese on his mouth. "I couldn't help it!" He exclaimed in his defense. But he was a burger nut. "I was younger at the time!"
"Yeah, and not much has changed, burger boy." Andy smirked.
Takuya grumbled. "Why did you give me that nickname anyway?" He muttered. "I am not that obsessed with burgers…"
"You once ate more burgers than Dad did," Andy reminded.
Takuya was now sure his face was as red as his armor in his Digimon forms. "Never mind…" He grumbled before he took another bite of his burger.
Despite having a rough start to the week, things were looking up again. Andy got a date with a friend, and there hadn't been anymore dragon rampages. Though Andy was still worried about it happening again. Although Danny, Tucker, and Sam would sometimes go off on their own to talk in private, it wasn't as bad as it used to be for Andy since he now had Takuya to keep him company, though both boys still wanted to know what it was that Danny, Tucker, and Sam were hiding.
And finally, on the night of the dance, Maddie was in the kitchen with Jack, Jazz, Danny, Andy, and Takuya. Maddie was putting on a tie on Jack, while Jack was grumbling.
"I still can't believe I have to chaperone this dance. I don't even remember agreeing to this," Jack complained.
That made Takuya perk up. He could clearly recall the day Jack had unexpectedly run out of the house with glowing neon green eyes. A thought crossed his mind at that point. Could the glowing green eyes have something to do with why Uncle Jack has no memory of asking to chaperone the dance? He wondered.
He looked himself over briefly. Suit? Check, D-Tector in pocket? Check. Small flower? Check. Tie? Check. He was certain he was ready to go now.
"Well, you did, Jack, and so we want to make sure we look nice for the dance," Maddie answered back.
"I think it's great when you guys do anything that doesn't have anything to do with your sick obsession with ghosts," Jazz inputted.
Takuya felt like smacking his head with his hand. "Jazz, there are no ghosts that will show up at the dance."
"At least, that's the ideal scenario," Andy grumbled as Danny was drinking a glass of cold milk.
"Don't worry," Jack assured them. "If a ghost does show up, I'll be there to drive it off, capture it, and then dissect it!"
Andy and Danny both cringed at that, with Danny nearly spitting out the milk he was drinking.
Takuya smacked his head against the wall with a thud. Way to go, Uncle Jack...
Jazz rolled her eyes at Jack's claim before she turned to the two boys. "By the way, Danny, Andy, I'm onto your little secret~"
At that, Danny actually did spit out the milk he was drinking, right into Andy's face. Danny coughed a few times while Andy was fumbling around for a napkin.
At hearing Jazz's teasing tone, Takuya too had frozen up. What does she mean? He wondered. For a moment he was worried she was trying to find out his own secret.
"The clumsiness, the nervousness, I can't believe I didn't see it before. You both have a girlfriend!" Jazz pointed out proudly.
For his part, Takuya let out an audible sigh. At least she wasn't trying to find out out mine… He thought in relief. Then he spoke up. "Um...yeah. They do." Takuya then paused. "But only for the dance!" He added quickly.
"No, they're not our girlfriends at all. There's a difference between a girlfriend and a date to the dance," Danny spoke up when he recovered from his spit take.
Andy finally managed to grab onto a napkin and began to wipe his face. "Danny, could you have aimed at the floor instead of at me?"
Danny had the decency to at least look embarrassed about what he did to his brother. "Uh...sorry, bro."
"That's great, boys! Perhaps you should let us meet your dates, so we can show them the proper way of tearing a ghost apart molecule by molecule!" Jack grinned.
"No thank you, these girls aren't interested in ghost hunting," Andy grumbled.
Takuya looked at his uncle. "So, um...are we going to go meet up with the girls?" He asked.
"Actually, we have to get to the school to get everything ready," Maddie spoke up. "You kids will have to go pick up your dates on your own. Think you can handle it? Maybe Jazz can drive you if you need to travel by car."
For once, Takuya wasn't sure how to react to that. On one hand, it wouldn't be an issue, but on the other, there was the amulet to worry about. "Uh…"
"It'll be fine, a stroll through the city at night will be nice," Andy spoke up for Takuya.
"Yeah, we can split up and pick up our dates and meet up at the school," Danny suggested.
Takuya nodded, realizing it would be better that way. Nice, Andy. He thought. If we are split up, if you transform, then there is less danger to the others. A bit of pride filled him at that.
"Great, you all go have fun," Jazz said.
"So you're not going?" Danny asked his sister.
"No. I'm not interested." She replied before turning away from the boys.
Takuya decided to follow Andy after Danny went the other way to pick up Paulina. Andy purposefully decided not to ask about Paulina to keep himself from losing his temper again. Andy and Danny were both wearing a fancy black suit, Danny wore a blue tie, while Andy wore a red tie.
As for Takuya, he wore a black suit with a black tie since that was all that had been left for him in the tie department, courtesy of Jack Fenton.
"So, what do you think Valerie will be wearing to the dance?" Takuya asked, trying to make conversation.
"A dress?" Andy shrugged. "This is the first time I'm going to a school dance with a date."
Takuya chuckled nervously. "I only went to one school dance back in Japan, and it was with my girlfriend. But she and I weren't truly there as dates. We were just friends at the time."
"Huh… you know, it's kind of weird to hear you have a girlfriend," Andy remarked.
"W-well, we're not...really an item...yet…" Takuya muttered, his face turning red. "I call her that because she's a girl and a friend. But…" His blush gave a lot away about how he felt about Zoey.
Andy was snickering. "Maybe later you should tell me about her~"
"A-ANDY!" Takuya exclaimed, his voice suspiciously higher than it should be, and his face was almost beet red now.
"You are just too easy sometimes, Takuya~" Andy laughed.
"S-shut up!" Takuya almost squeaked out before he looked up. "Um… are we almost at Valerie's house?"
"Yup, try not to get too heated up before we get there," Andy teased.
Takuya groaned as his younger cousin walked up to Valerie's door and rang the doorbell.
The door opened, and Valerie's father, Mr. Gray, was at the door.
"Ah, you must be that Fenton kid Valerie was talking about, Andy, right?" Mr. Gray asked.
"Yup, that would be me, Mr. Gray," Andy greeted.
Mr. Gray smiled warmly. "Well, I hope you have a fun time with Valerie."
"I will, Mr. Gray." Andy said as Valerie walked up in a nice yellow dress that was strapless, and wearing matching dress shoes. Andy felt his cheeks heating up at seeing her outfit. It looked quite nice on her.
"Thanks for coming, Andy~" Valerie grinned, seeing Andy's blush.
"Y-yeah… uh… g-glad to uh, be here," Andy shyly answered back.
Behind Andy, Takuya was snickering at his cousin's reaction. Andy is so shy sometimes, it's cute to tease him about.
"Have fun at the dance Valerie," Mr. Gray said as Valerie walked out of the door.
"Thanks, Dad!" Valerie smiled before she, Andy, and Takuya began walking towards Casper High.
"So, Andy, I've been meaning to ask… but what's with the amulet?" Valerie questioned as they were walking. "Isn't that a little… girly on you?"
"It… uh… someone really wanted me to wear it," Andy answered a little nervously. "Does it look that girly on me?"
Takuya looked at Valerie. "Uh...yeah. Someone gave it to him and said he could wear it for the dance." He added, trying to back up Andy's story.
"I just said that," Andy grumbled.
Valerie chuckled. "Well, it is unusual for a boy to wear an amulet, but I guess it does have a charm on you."
At this, Andy blushed even more. He put a hand on his cheek, trying to hide a bit of his blush.
Takuya grinned and rubbed Andy's hair with one hand. "She likes it~"
"Shush, you!" Andy hissed as he slapped Takuya's hand away. "And I spent an hour combing my hair."
"Sorry," Takuya chuckled, although he was not too sorry at all. "But you're just too fun to tease sometimes."
It wasn't exact, but Takuya did throw Andy's words back at him.
"Now, now, you two, let's not start teasing each other before we even get to the dance floor," Valerie chuckled.
Takuya gave a goofy grin before he calmed himself down. "Okay, I think I can wait." He said with a smile now.
Andy gave a small smile of his own at that. Sometimes I forget Takuya likes to tease us like we do to him.
Casper High
Andy, Takuya, and Valerie arrived at Casper High, it was already filled with students. There were nerds, jocks, cheerleaders, and average students alike. Not everyone had a date, but the majority of the students did have someone with them.
At least I'm not the only one without a date. Takuya thought as he looked around. He just hoped Andy could get through the night without turning into a dragon. But if that does happen, then I am ready… He added as his hand went to his pocket discreetly.
Inside Casper High, there were tables with all sorts of food, and a huge punch bowl. There was a disco ball on the ceiling, and a DJ with loud stereo speakers. The students were already dancing around. Mr. Lancer, Jack, and Maddie were watching the dancers.
"Hey, I see Tucker and Sam are already here," Andy noted.
Tucker was wearing a black suit himself, while Sam wore a black and purple dress, she looked quite pretty actually.
Takuya could see Sam did indeed look pretty, and a thought crossed his mind. Wow. I wonder what Danny would think if he saw Sam in that dress. He mused. She looks good.
"I wonder if Danny is here yet…" Andy looked around.
"You mentioned that Danny had a date, right?" Valerie asked. "Who was he going out with?"
Andy frowned a little. "He's going out with Paulina."
Valerie blinked at that. "Really? How did that happen?" She was surprised. "That doesn't sound like her at all."
"No, it doesn't, does it? Unless she was hoping to steal him away, or humiliate him…" Andy looked away as he could already feel his eyes burning.
Takuya noticed Andy's eyes were turning red and into slits.
"Um...okay, Andy. Remember, we're here for fun, not to think about her." He reminded his cousin. This is very bad...
"Right…" Andy took a deep breath and let it out to calm himself. "How about we hit the dance floor and just have some fun?"
Seeing Andy calm down, Takuya felt himself relax too. "Sure. Although...I don't think I will make a good impression if I try to dance…"
Valerie smirked before she took Andy's hand. "Then we can show you how it's done, burger boy~"
Takuya blushed at the nickname. "Valerie!" He squeaked out, his face turning red again. He was able to fight Digimon no problem, but that nickname...
Valerie took Andy into the dance floor, and the two of them started to dance. They didn't dance all romantically, mostly because the music was too upbeat for that, but they did have fun keeping in tune with the beat. It also helped that dancing kept their minds off of things.
Takuya sighed in relief as he went to the food table.
Even after that burger set, I am still somewhat hungry. He mused as he began to pick up some food, like chips, and some cheese sauce. There were even small sandwiches that he helped himself to. I guess I should have gone with my Human Spirit since that takes less energy...
Then Takuya saw a familiar girl wearing a pink dress. He recognized this girl as Paulina. She was talking to Dash, but he didn't see Danny.
Huh, that's odd. Takuya noted to himself as he swallowed his sandwich. Where's Danny? I could've sworn he was picking up Paulina.
Looking around, Takuya tried to find Danny, only to see his Uncle Jack come walking by with the glowing green eyes again. Uh oh...
The green eyed Jack was talking to Mr. Lancer about something, before he quickly whisked Maddie away from Mr. Lancer to go dance with her.
Takuya frowned at that, but he didn't dwell on it because a few seconds later, he saw Danny. Okay, that is odd. Where did Danny come from?
Danny walked over to Paulina, and was trying to talk to her. Paulina just looked away from Danny, like she was disgusted with him. Takuya frowned more at that. Danny looked sad, like a kicked puppy. Takuya realized that if Andy saw this, there would be a dragon going on a rampage right now.
Takuya walked over to Danny, hoping to give Paulina a piece of his mind before Andy realized what had just happened. "What is going on here?"
"What do you think? I'm dumping this boy for the captain of the football team. It's only natural, after all," Paulina said like it was fact. "Why settle for the run down car when you can just get a new sports car?"
"Yeah, Fenton's got nothing on me!" Dash puffed out his chest with pride.
"Yeah, well, sometimes the run down car is more reliable than the new sporty one." Takuya growled, trying to keep his temper in check. I don't need Andy to see me lose it, because then he will lose it!
"I thought you wanted to come to the dance with me, Paulina," Danny spoke up.
"I did, I wanted to steal you away from that goth friend of yours. But then I realized she wasn't actually your girlfriend, so there was no reason for me to keep up with being your date anymore," Paulina stated. "Don't feel bad though, I do this with all the loser guys I find."
Okay. I really want to call her what she is, but that won't do much good if Andy hears it. Takuya told himself. Just think it. She acts like a hag, yes, but I am not going to say it out loud.
Though the hurt look on Danny's face almost drove Takuya to do just that.
Then suddenly, Danny straightened up like something just shocked him, a weird mist came out of his mouth, but it wasn't blue this time, it was red. Danny looked confused, but alert.
"I'm… going to go… uh… cry my feelings out in the bathroom," Danny quickly said before he ran off.
Takuya was confused before he suddenly felt this rush of heat again, but it wasn't like it normally was. Whereas with ghosts it was more like a calm warmth, this was more primal. He looked around, only to feel his heart stop when he realized something. One of the monitors was flickering, and on it was a very familiar symbol he had seen only in the Digital World.
Feeling alarmed, Takuya rushed to where Andy and Valerie were dancing, but he only saw Valerie there.
"Valerie?" Takuya asked as he reached her. "Where's Andy?"
Valerie frowned, before shaking her head. "I don't know, he said he felt something was wrong, and he just ran off."
Takuya didn't like hearing that. "Listen, Valerie, I know this sounds crazy, but things are going to get a bit ugly here." He pointed at the monitor. "That is not a good sign to see."
"What does it mean? Do you know?" Valerie asked, looking worried.
"Just that it means danger," Takuya muttered darkly. He had not seen the symbol of the Celestials in four years, so to see it now was not a good sign, especially since it looked a bit...off, like it was...dark and corrupted. Is someone trying to mock the Celestial Angel Digimon? He wondered to himself.
The entire school started to shake, which stopped all the dancers as they looked around in confusion. Takuya could sense that there was heavy and powerful data being gathered just outside the school.
He literally let out a gasp at the sudden primal heat that filled his body. Running to the doors, he pushed them open, only to see an unusual fog that had not been forecasted earlier that day. "Okay… that is not normal…" He muttered under his breath.
Takuya could only wonder if this had anything to do with the Ghost Portal being opened. It doesn't seem likely, because the Ghost Zone doesn't have data. So then...what is going on here?!
Takuya wasn't the only one here, however, he saw Andy was standing there as well, looking into the fog.
Looking around, Takuya tried to ignore Andy was there, but he could not. This was not a good sign.
"What… is this?" Andy questioned, not seeming to notice Takuya was there.
All around them, there was a creepy fog that had come out of nowhere, enveloping the school and the town buildings in the immediate area. Andy let out a sudden gasp before he ran deeper into the fog, and Takuya quickly lost sight of him.
The older boy ran after Andy, trying to find him, but he realized he needed to evolve if this was a Digimon attack. Or even a ghost attack.
Since there was so much fog around, and nobody else was nearby, Takuya figured he should spirit evolve now before something happened. That way, he'd be ready.
Looking around and determining he was safe, Takuya invoked the power of his Beast Spirit. Then, the cocoon of coding surrounded him before bursting to reveal the form of BurningGreymon.
Now evolved, BurningGreymon landed as he looked around for any sign of the attack. He knew it would be wiser to wait until he could see the enemy, or wait until the enemy attacked first so he could find out where they were.
Then, suddenly, BurningGreymon heard growling, a dragon growl. And in the fog, he could make out a large, dragon-shape, with large wings, a long tail, and a long neck.
BurningGreymon was not sure if it was an enemy Digimon, or if Andy had gone into that dragon form again, so he decided to play it safe and try to find out what it was. He, with a swiftness and agility that his size should not have, crept towards the shape, making sure one of his cannons was armed in case there was something that went down.
When BurningGreymon got closer, he could make out the creature easier now. It definitely wasn't Andy. It looked to be bigger than dragon Andy actually. It was crimson red and black from what BurningGreymon could see, it had two pairs of wings on its back with spikes and arrows sticking out of it. Its tail looked to be wrapped up with tentacles, and a huge spiraling blade at the tip of it made of steel. Its head was covered by a metal helmet-like object, with a huge horn that resembled a saw-blade. It looked almost like a fox dragon of some kind.
"What… is that thing…?" BurningGreymon questioned, having never seen this creature before.
BurningGreymon's D-Tector began to act up, and a voice in his head spoke up.
"DexDoruGreymon is a Ghost Digimon and a carrier of the X Antibody. An Undead Digimon of the Prototype Digimon "DORU Series" that was experimented on in search of further digivolutions, and was said to, at the time of the experiment, resemble its final form."
It was that information that made BurningGreymon realize this was a Digimon. Okay, if that's a Digimon, how can it be here in the real world?! He wondered before he realized that he had to act. A growl escaped him before he flared his wings and flew in as fast as he could. A roar escaped him as he collided with DexDoruGreymon in a brutal tackle.
DexDoruGreymon let out a roar of its own when BurningGreymon tackled it, and slammed its tail into BurningGreymon's back, knocking him to the ground.
A grunt escaped the Beast Warrior of Flame as he landed on his side, trying to keep his ribs from cracking even further. He managed to stagger back to his feet, deeming long range was the best way to go. Okay, close-range won't work, so long range it is…
BurningGreymon started to fly back, but he saw a small figure that made him gasp in horror. Andy was running up to the Digimon.
BurningGreymon didn't waste a second as he flew towards Andy, trying to keep the human from running up to DexDoruGreymon. A clawed hand reached out and grabbed Andy around the waist as BurningGreymon flew up higher and away from DexDoruGreymon's physical attack range.
"What the? You again?" Andy asked in surprise as BurningGreymon carried him.
"That's a foe you cannot fight." BurningGreymon said, hoping Andy wouldn't recognize the hint of his human voice that still remained in his tone.
"Fight? I wasn't going to fight it. I'm not suicidal." Andy frowned. "But… it felt like it was…"
"... What?" BurningGreymon asked.
"It felt like it was calling out to me, like it needed my help or something," Andy answered softly.
Looking back, BurningGreymon narrowed his blue eyes slightly. Is it possible…? He wondered. Could I try it…?
BurningGreymon glanced back down at Andy. "Okay, look. I have an idea on how this can be handled." He began. "But I need you to just trust me when I say I can help it."
"What do you mean?" Andy asked.
BurningGreymon landed near the school and put Andy down.
"I am not known as one of the Legendary Warriors for nothing," BurningGreymon said as he faced Andy before looking back at DexDoruGreymon. "I have the ability to restore a creature like that to its original state."
The DexDoruGreymon let out a roar, though it wasn't in anger or rage, it was in pain, like it was going crazy. It started to fly up.
Andy looked up at BurningGreymon. "I… I trust that you can do that, but can you really face it all on your own? That thing looked pretty tough."
BurningGreymon looked down at Andy. "I can," He began. "And I will do my best to help it." He flared his orange wings and took flight. At least… I hope I can.
BurningGreymon closed in on DexDoruGreymon. When Dex saw Burning getting closer, it didn't hesitate to attack.
"Bloody Cave!" Dex shouted before it charged in with its saw-blade horn at Burning.
Burning saw that and almost yelped if he didn't flip his body to the side, the blade barely missing his stomach area. Though the blade did scratch his side, cutting through parts of his armor.
A grunt escaped Burning at that, seeing blood and data seeping out slowly. Okay...that was close!
Dex flew quickly around Burning, it was surprisingly fast for a Digimon its size. It was coming in again for another attack.
"Bloody Cave!" Dex's saw-blade horn got in close again.
Burning flared his fire attack in response. "Wildfire Tsunami!" Fire flared around him and flew towards the blade when he swung his tail, unleashing a fiery shockwave.
Dex ended up slamming headfirst into the fiery shockwave, not seeming as bothered by the flames as the ghosts were. Due to its dragon-like nature, it had resistance to digital fire.
Seeing Dex charging into the flames without being that affected surprised Burning, but he didn't let that get to him. Instead, he decided to go physical since it seemed long-range was not as effective as he had hoped. He flew in, slamming a clawed fist into Dex's head.
Dex's head was protected by the metal helmet, however, so Burning wasn't able to get a lot of damage in. Dex then shoved Burning away before it tackled him into the ground. He then lifted up its head and began to create a giant meteor that was ten times its own size.
"Metal Meteor!" DexDoruGreymon roared.
BurningGreymon's eyes widened in horror.
"Hang on! This might feel weird!" A familiar voice called out.
Burning felt something cold touching his shoulder, and his body was suddenly becoming see-thru.
The meteor wound up going through his body and creating a crater in the ground, only for Burning to return to solid form. He looked back and saw the ghost boy hovering there.
"We've gotta stop meeting like this," The ghost boy joked.
Burning chuckled at that. "That we do," He replied before getting to his feet again.
"So… what is that thing? It feels like a ghost, yet it also feels… very different from a ghost," The ghost boy asked as he and Burning looked at the DexDoruGreymon, which was shaking its head around, like it wanted to shake off water or insects.
"That's because it is similar to what I am," Burning muttered. "I can only say this thing needs help."
"How do we help it then? It's too dangerous as it is now… you don't think that thing was human and got turned into a dragon like An- that other boy, do you?" The ghost boy asked in concern.
"No," Burning assured the ghost boy. "It is not like that situation. I think someone has brainwashed this thing." As if that didn't happen enough when I was in the Digital World...
Dex finally got tired of waiting and began to summon several giant meteors in the sky. "Mass Metal Meteor!"
"That… doesn't look good…" The ghost boy gulped.
"You're telling me…" Burning muttered under his breath. C'mon...how can we beat that many meteors?!
"STOP NOW!" Another roar suddenly joined in.
Green fire went past Burning and the ghost boy all of a sudden, and it slammed into Dex. Dex let out a loud howl of pain and agony, the meteors in the sky all shattered due to the break in its concentration.
Burning was surprised as he saw that. Looking back, he swore to himself as he saw the form of Dragon Andy coming down.
"Uh… is this a good or bad thing?" The ghost boy questioned nervously, seeing Dragon Andy as well.
Burning carefully watched Dragon Andy, looking for any sign of him going on a rampage. But he could see no sign of that so far. Is it possible…? He thought with a bit of hope. Does he have control…?
There was no rage on Dragon Andy's face, but rather a look of focused anger. He seemed to be ignoring Burning and the ghost boy as he looked up at Dex. DexDoruGreymon looked down at Dragon Andy. Then both dragons let out their own roars at each other. Dragon Andy flew up towards Dex. The two dragons began to fight in the air, but the fog was still thick, so Burning and the ghost boy had trouble seeing the battle itself. But there was a lot of green fire from what Burning could see.
Burning wanted to fly in and help Dragon Andy, but his ribs were aching again, so he was effectively grounded for the time being. He tried to keep an eye on Dragon Andy, but the fog made it hard to do so.
"I've got to help him!" The ghost boy shouted suddenly in a worried tone.
Without waiting for a reply, the ghost boy shot up towards the fighting.
With BurningGreymon down, Danny knew that he had to do something. Andy, his brother, was fighting against this dangerous creature all alone, and he wasn't going to let his brother get himself killed. When Danny got close enough, he saw Andy barely avoiding a stab from the fox dragon's saw-blade, but he couldn't avoid a jab from its sharp tail. Andy let out a roar of pain as his back began to bleed out ectoplasm.
Danny saw that and gasped before flying in. He landed on Dragon Andy's head, grabbing onto his horns. "Hey, I think I have an idea!" He said to Dragon Andy. Dragon Andy looked up at him in confusion. "Just trust me!"
Andy, in his dragon form, looked back to the unknown creature before them. "Just fly towards it." Danny suggested. "I will turn us intangible, then when we return to tangible form, fire off your fire breath at it!"
Danny wasn't sure if Andy in this state could understand him, but he hoped that his brother got his message one way or another. Dragon Andy did start flying towards the creature, however, so it did look like he understood Danny at least.
Danny smiled to himself before he saw the creature preparing to unleash its meteor attack again. He concentrated and turned himself, plus Andy, intangible. The meteor attack passed through them with ease. Once that was over, they returned to a tangible state. "NOW!" Danny shouted. "Let it have it!"
Andy didn't hesitate to shoot out his flames at the creature. The creature quickly flew away to try to avoid the fire, but it wasn't able to escape it completely. Its underbelly got caught up in the flames and it howled out in pain. It still wasn't finished yet, however, and it spun around, slamming its tail into Andy's side. Andy roared out in pain as he was pushed to the side in the air. Danny hung onto Andy's horns to keep from falling off.
"What does it take to bring this thing down?" Danny hissed when Andy finally managed to stop their falling.
Then, Danny had a crazy idea. "Hey, try and dive bomb it!" He suggested. "Just fly up as high as you can and then dive in, firing off your fire. Think you can do that?"
Andy acknowledged it with a huff before he began to fly up into the sky quickly. It was at a speed Danny wished he could fly himself. The other dragon was roaring out and tried to chase after them, but it was slow due to the injuries it had.
When Andy reached the sky above the clouds, he started to move his body where he was at a nosedive. Danny held on tight to Andy's horns as the dragon boy began his dive. Andy instinctively began to tuck in his wings to move faster. The dragon amulet on Andy's neck started to glow white, and his body began to shrink all of a sudden. Danny gasped, wondering what was happening, and was worried that Andy was turning back to human.
However, that wasn't the case. Andy's body was shifting into a different dragon form. It was much smaller than the dragon form he was in, but still big enough for Danny to ride on. Andy was now a white dragon, with blue eyes. His wings were much bigger, he also had sub wings at the base of his tail, and two more sub wings at the tip of his tail. His neck was shorter and thicker. His claws weren't as sharp. And, if Danny didn't know any better, Andy actually looked cute.
Danny was surprised at the sudden change, but he was also thrilled to see his brother hadn't turned human yet. This was a good sign, he hoped.
Andy was going much faster now, so much so that he was making a whistling noise as he got closer to the dragon. With his eyes focused, his aim precise and true, Andy opened his mouth and unleashed a purple looking bolt ball at the other creature. As soon as the purple ball hit the creature, there was a loud and large explosion of fire that caused a shockwave.
BurningGreymon looked up at the sudden explosion, and felt worry jump into his throat at the sudden light he saw through the fog. Did they win? He wondered. Or was it that they lost…?
He hoped it was the former instead of the latter. Burning cursed his cracked ribs and the pain they were causing him.
All of a sudden, a large figure fell right in front of him. It fell so hard that it caused the area to shake a little. Burning blinked as he saw what looked like fractal code surrounding the creature, which turned out to be DexDoruGreymon.
At once, he knew what to do. Fractal coding surrounded him as he shifted to his Human Spirit. "Slide Evolution!" He cried before the coding faded and burst, revealing his smaller, humanoid form. At once, the Warrior of Fire walked over and drew out his D-Tector. "Time for the fires of revenge to burn out," He said before he drew the D-Tector across the coding. "Fractal Code, Digitize!"
He drew in the coding before the darkened form became smaller and turned into its Digi-Egg form. In a matter of moments, it was over. Takuya surrounded himself in a digital cocoon before he was turned back to his human form.
Not long after that, a white dragon flew down and landed, and the fog around them began to clear up. This was a new dragon to Takuya, but he could see the ghost boy was on top of it.
Takuya was unsure if this was a good thing, but he made his way over anyway. "Hey, where's Andy?"
The white dragon let out what sounded like a cooing sound. The ghost boy was about to answer when the dragon amulet around Andy's neck suddenly fell to the ground. With that, Andy suddenly turned back to normal, and the ghost boy was on his shoulders. This caused Andy to fall down, and the ghost boy right on top of him.
Takuya couldn't help but laugh at the sight. He walked over and held out a hand to both the ghost boy and Andy. "You two okay?"
"My back aches… but I think I'll live," Andy sighed as he was grateful to take Takuya's hand and stand up.
The ghost boy floated off of Andy and smiled. "Well… uh… I'm glad you two are safe."
The ghost boy looked like he was about to take off, when Andy suddenly called out to him. "Wait! … Um… who are you?"
Takuya looked at the ghost boy. He too was wondering the name of the ghost boy. "I want to know as well."
"Uh… well…" The ghost boy gave a sheepish grin. "You could call me Da- err… Phantom. Yeah, just call me Phantom."
"Phantom?" Takuya questioned as he tilted his head to the left in confusion.
"Yeah… I uh… you don't have to worry about me. I may be a ghost, but I mean no harm," Phantom explained. "I usually prefer to protect then cause harm."
Takuya recalled how Phantom had saved him when he was BurningGreymon and smiled a bit. "Well, I saw some of the results myself, so I see no harm in giving you a chance."
Andy was giving Phantom an analytical look. There was something about Phantom that was familiar to him.
Phantom gave a nervous grin. "Thanks… well, I should go. You two better be more careful next time with getting caught up in these battles."
Takuya gave a nod. "We'll try to stay away from the battles, but we can't guarantee it."
"Thanks for… helping out back there, Phantom," Andy said quietly.
Phantom nodded. "You guys take care now."
Phantom then disappeared, likely turning himself invisible before flying off somewhere.
With Phantom gone, Andy and Takuya looked around, seeing quite the destruction of the football area. But Andy was a little confused.
"The amulet… it's gone," Andy pointed out, seeing how the amulet that fell off of him was just gone.
Sure enough, Takuya could see it was gone as well. "Huh...That's odd," He noted before he remembered that Digi-Egg he had seen. Uh oh… he thought with worry on his face.
Takuya looked at where the Digi-Egg was. Normally, when he purified a Digimon and they turned back into a Digi-Egg, they would float away to a nursery village where they would be reborn again, but this Digi-Egg didn't. It likely couldn't due to it being in the real world.
He walked over to it and picked it up, confusion and concern on his face. What am I going to do with you…?
Andy looked at the purple and white egg that Takuya was holding. "Hey… where did you get that egg, Takuya? I've never seen an egg like that before. And what happened to that dragon creature? Did… did I obliterate it…?"
Takuya jumped at Andy's voice before he looked back. "Uh, no, you didn't get rid of it. That BurningGreymon did." He lied. "And I don't know what this egg is. I just saw it remain behind after BurningGreymon left."
Andy frowned. "I thought BurningGreymon said he would fix it, not kill it…"
Takuya winced mentally at that. "I think this is what he meant. He returned it to its...earliest form. It...wasn't exactly killed."
Andy looked at the egg curiously. "... It turned into an egg…? What… exactly are these creatures?"
For once, Takuya was at a loss at what to say. He couldn't just say what it was, now could he? Andy would think I am nuts.
Andy noticed the hesitation on Takuya's face, and frowned, he recognized that hesitation. It was the same hesitation Danny had whenever he tried to talk about his secret or the accident. "... I get it… it's not something you want… or maybe even could talk about…"
Takuya looked up at the younger boy as he turned around.
"... I'm going back to the dance… I'll let you handle that egg," Andy sighed before he walked away.
Takuya looked down a bit, feeling somewhat guilty for not answering Andy. I was doing so well with him… Boy, did I blow it now… He thought. And it's all because of my own secret...
Titanic X: Enjoy this next one~! :3