ZAFT: Here is chapter 14, and this is when things begin to kick off in a new direction. :)

DarkFoxKit: Feels like it's been a while since the last update, but I think the small break between is nice. Gives us time to recharge.

ZAFT: I can't argue there. Gives me time to work on other stories too. :P

DarkFoxKit: On a plus note, I'm trying out a new computer. :D

ZAFT: That's always nice to get. :)

Chapter 14: Resolving Jealousy

"DexDorugamon is a Ghost Digimon and a carrier of the X Antibody. It was experimented on in search of further digivolutions, and was said to, at the time of the experiment, resemble Dorumon's Champion form, Dorugamon. Since it keeps preying on the DigiCores of other Digimon, it is active despite its deceased condition, and is attempting to digivolve."

Agunimon heard this in his head, knowing that it was his spirit giving him information on the newly digivolved Dorimon. It was obviously Champion form, but its power felt closer to Ultimate.

He looked back at Phantom. "So what's going on?" He decided to play dumb about the whole situation, just to give Phantom a bit of control here.

"I need to get that ghost in Andy to follow me," Phantom said, there wasn't enough time to give the full story right now.

Agunimon nodded. "Okay, simple enough." But a look at DexDorugamon made him wonder if that would even be possible. "But that thing beside him is going to be hard to deal with if that is the goal."

"Can you fight it?" Phantom asked.

"Yes, please, I'd like to see how well this pet faces against your fiery superhero," Tucker taunted. "I want to get rid of you myself."

Agunimon growled again, but not as deeply this time. "You are seriously getting on my nerves." However, he had a few taunts of his own. A smirk played at his lips as one came to mind. "Or are you just chicken to fight Phantom yourself?"

"There's no way you'd catch me in Andy's body anyways, Sucker Phantom!" Phantom added.

'Andy' growled before his body floated.

"Pet! You take out that annoying armor guy! I'm going after Phantom myself!" 'Andy' ordered.

DexDorugamon's wings began to flap as he flew up before dive bombing at Agunimon. Agunimon's eyes widened before he was suddenly rammed into and tackled into the wall, leaving quite a hole.

Phantom frowned, but he had to get Tucker to the lab as quickly as possible, he silently wished Agunimon luck before he turned intangible and flew out of the school, with Tucker turning Andy's body intangible and flying after Phantom.

Now outside the school, Agunimon groaned as he sat up, some bits of brick falling from his armor. He could feel something wet and sticky running down from the back of his head, but he brushed it off. I have to take out that Digimon, DexDorugamon, before he hurts someone!

Agunimon got to his feet, but he was a bit unsteady at first before it faded. "Okay… Let's see if we can do this without turning Dorimon into a Digi-Egg again."

Agunimon was about to attack, but he gasped when DexDorugamon was suddenly right in front of him. The Digimon was fast, and didn't plan on giving Agunimon time to breathe.

"Metal Cast." The way DexDorugamon said that creeped Agunimon out, his voice was low and monotonous

Agunimon let out a scream as he felt the claws trying to impale through his armor, it was clear that Dex was trying to rip out his heart or something. Agunimon had to do something fast.

At once, flames licked at his armor before the Warrior of Flame spun around. "Pyro Tornado!" The flaming vortex forced Dex to back off, leaving Agunimon standing there panting once the flames dissipated.

Agunimon put a hand over his chest, feeling a hole in his armor from the impalement. Although DexDorugamon wasn't as powerful as DexDoruGreymon, he felt harder and creepier to fight. It didn't take Agunimon long to realize why. DexDoruGreymon was in constant agony and pain, screaming out how much he was hurting. While DexDorugamon, however, was completely calm and focused, he was analyzing Agunimon, waiting for the best opportunity to strike, like a predator.

It was this realization that made Agunimon's face grow pale. Crap… If this is how DexDorugamon fights alone, then imagine if Andy was here! He shook his head. No, I need to stay focused. But how can I beat DexDorugamon if he fights like this?

Then Agunimon remembered how Andy fought. That's right! Andy looks for weaknesses that he can exploit. Eyeing DexDorugamon, Agunimon began to look for any weaknesses he himself could exploit. Maybe there's something I can use against DexDorugamon here...

It was difficult to find any weaknesses due to how guarded DexDorugamon was as he studied Agunimon. Then he flew up towards the ceiling, making Agunimon dread what the Digimon had in store for him. Then Dex started to dive bomb towards Agunimon again. Agunimon was bracing himself this time, but then Dex opened his metallic mouth.

"Cannonball." Like before, the words were low and monotonous. Dex shot out a huge iron sphere at Agunimon while he was dive bombing him.

Agunimon saw the iron sphere coming at him and he knew he had two options; he could either kick it back, or dodge it. Dodging would be easier, but he may also be expecting me to kick it back. I have only one shot to make my choice. With his mind racing, the Warrior of Flame tried to figure out what the best choice was and fast. Maybe… "Pyro Tornado!"

Fire swirled around him as Agunimon launched his attack before using the momentum of the attack to kick the iron sphere back at Dex. However, he then followed that up with a fiery onslaught of his own. "Pyro Punch!"

Dex flew down, avoiding the iron sphere, but he did get hit by the Pyro Punch. Dex didn't let out a scream or anything, he was just flung back a few feet. Then Agunimon felt the impact of kicking a giant iron ball that was coming at him at fast speed. His left foot throbbed as he landed, making him hiss at the pain of it. Okay, that was a very stupid move on my part...

Agunimon let out a cry when he was suddenly pinned to the ground by a clawed foot. Dex recovered rather quickly from the Pyro Punch. Dex then reached his claws on Agunimon's chest hole.

"Metal Cast."

Agunimon almost screamed out again as the claws began to tear a larger hole in his chest armor, as well as trying to get at something in his chest. He could feel this thing pulsating quickly, but it wasn't his Spirits.

Then, before DexDorugamon could get any further, fractal code suddenly surrounded his larger form and Dex began to shrink down to a more recognizable size.

Agunimon watched in shock and relief when DexDorugamon had reverted back to Dorimon, who passed out after reverting back to his In-Training form.

Panting himself, Agunimon felt he could no longer hold his Digimon form and fractal code surrounded him as he reverted back to his human form of Takuya. Takuya groaned as he sat up, feeling his head aching, his foot was sore, and he had this ache in his chest. "Ow…"

Takuya slowly picked up the unconscious little Digimon, then he limped his way over to the D-Arc that had fallen out of Andy's pocket earlier and picked it up. "Jeez… I really hope that's not what you'll digivolve into later…"

Takuya put the D-Arc in his pocket, and he started to limp his way out of the gym, he needed to get to FentonWorks and see that everyone was okay.

A few minutes earlier…

Danny was flying outside, trying to get to FentonWorks quickly. It felt wrong and strange to have his brother chasing him down like this. Well, my best friend turning into a ghost inside my brother's body chasing me… doesn't make it any less weird and wrong.

Looking back, he could see Andy's face was wearing a menacing glare, which was unlike the normally calm boy. 'Andy' was easily frustrated when Danny turned invisible.

"Where are you? WHERE!?" 'Andy' demanded, before a blue mist came out of his mouth when Danny reappeared behind him.

Oh… I wonder if that's what I look like when my ghost sense activates… Danny wondered briefly. "What's the matter? Can't catch what you can't see?"

'Andy' flew at Danny to grab him, Danny quickly went intangible and flew around 'Andy'. Danny was glad to see they had made it to FentonWorks, but he began to worry when he didn't see 'Andy'.

"Where is he? I'm sure he would've followed me." Danny frowned before 'Andy' suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hey there, 'bro'~" 'Andy' smirked evilly at Danny.

"Uh… H-hey, Andy… err… Tucker." Danny stammered out. "Look, why don't we just talk this out? No need to overshadow my brother, right?"

'Andy' just smirked even more. "Oh, sure. I will just leave Andy's body so you can take me out!" This was said with sarcasm, which made Danny nervous. Then 'Andy' glared at Danny. "Of course I won't! I know you want to remove me from the picture! So I refuse to leave Andy's body! If you want to remove me, then you have to remove Andy as well!"

Suddenly, 'Andy' grabbed Danny and turned intangible, he began to dive down through FentonWorks. Jazz was walking down the hall to get something to eat, she had her blanket wrapped around her, when the two brothers suddenly fell from the ceiling, right in front of her, and through the ground in almost in the blink of an eye. Jazz stared ahead of her for a few seconds, before she walked backwards, came back into her room, then slowly closed the door.

'Andy' pinned Danny down into the lab floor, both of them turning solid again.

"Are you planning to throw me into the Ghost Zone then?" Danny asked.

'Andy' sneered at that. "I wasn't going to, but that is a great idea!" He looked at the Ghost Portal as he turned to face it.

Danny looked at the lock, seeing he only had ten seconds left. "I'm only going to have one shot at this…" He muttered under his breath as he channeled his ecto energy into his hands.

Then, out of nowhere, Danny felt a tickle in his nose. "Ah-ACHOO!" He sneezed right on 'Andy'! Ugh… great. Now Andy is going to get sick for sure.

Tucker, in Andy's body, let go of Danny. "Hey, cover your mouth!"

That moment of distraction gave Danny the opportunity he needed to shove Andy's body right into the Fenton Ghost Catcher. This caused both Tucker and the ghost possessing Tucker to come out of Andy. Andy and Tucker were in a daze, though Tucker recovered faster due to being the one who had possessed Andy. He blinked opened his eyes, and was shocked to see the ghost that was supposedly him floating just above him. The ghost that was Tucker was big, nasty, snarling, and looked ready to eat them with the way it was drooling from its sharp teeth.

Tucker looked up, staring in shock as he regained his senses. "Is that… me?" He was stunned. Is that what I was becoming?

Suddenly the ghost was sucked into the Fenton Thermos. Danny was holding it, and was sweating a little. "No, it's not you, Tuck, not anymore."

As soon as the ghost was in the thermos, Danny put the cap on the thermos. As soon as that was taken care of, Danny and Tucker kneeled down to Andy, who was still in a daze.

"Is… is he… okay?" Tucker asked in worry and regret.

Danny checked his brother over, Andy didn't even seem to be aware of them. "I think… other than a few scratches and bruises, he should be fine."

Danny then stood up and walked behind Andy, just in case, before he reverted back to his human form with a flash of light.

Tucker sighed. "I'm really sorry, Danny… I owe you, Andy, and Takuya an apology for attacking you like I did. I mean I was jealous, but that's no excuse for trying to throw you into the Ghost Zone or overshadowing Andy to do it."

Danny sniffled a bit. "Don't worry about it. You were under the genie's spell, and it was broken."

"Yeah, but that wouldn't have happened if I wasn't jealous." Tucker said sadly.

"Nor if I had been less of a show-off of my… talents." Danny admitted. "That was kind of my own fault…"

"Heeeey… did I miss something?" Andy groaned, rubbing his very dizzy head.

Danny and Tucker looked back at Andy, surprised that he was awake.

"Bro? Are you okay?" Danny asked in concern. "How do you feel?"

"Not very good… sore… and nauseous…" Andy groaned. "Why is my face a little face?"

"Ah… let's uh… let's get you in bed, bro, you've had a long day," Danny quickly said.

"Wait… is Tucker all fixed?" Andy asked, still somewhat in a daze.

Danny looked at Tucker before looking back at Andy and speaking. "Yeah, he's back to normal. Thanks to Phantom's help and the Fenton Ghost Catcher."

Tucker then looked at Andy. "Andy, I'm sorry for overshadowing you like that. I was just caught up in my own jealousy, and I didn't think about the consequences of my actions towards you."

"It's cool, dude, it happens," Andy replied. "Except magic and evil ghost spells aren't usually involved."

Tucker frowned. "Yeah, I know that, but I still feel bad about it." He then rubbed the back of his head. "And I don't think Takuya will be too happy when he hears I tried to overshadow him." Then, Tucker remembered something.

"Hold on. When I tried to overshadow Takuya, I remember something sort of… blocked me from getting to him to do that, and it was like a wall of fire." Tucker noted here. He then looked at Andy, who had recovered from the daze. "And I remember you having some kind of big 'pet' back at the gym. I mean I didn't question it at the time because I was more focused on D- that ghost boy… but what was that thing?"

Andy blinked at Tucker. "What are you talking about? What big pet?"

Tucker blinked, surprised Andy didn't remember that until he himself remembered that victims of overshadowing didn't remember anything about that time. "Oh, right. Uh… never mind."

"Maybe it was just coincidence? I mean these weird non-ghost monsters show up at random as much as ghosts do," Danny suggested with a shrug. "It sure was creepy looking though. I guess it didn't notice you."

Andy felt lost, he did remember Tucker coming at him, but that was it. He hated missing a big piece of the story. Not that Danny or Tucker seem willing to tell me… maybe Takuya might know what happened? Or maybe Dorimon?

Andy reached for his backpack, only to realize it was gone. "... Where's my backpack? Where's D- my stuffed animal?"

Danny remembered Andy had that stuffed animal he loved so much. "O-oh! I think your backpack fell off at school when Tucker took over your body."

"... WHAT-" Andy started to shout before he was cut off by a coughing fit, the shout was bad for his itchy throat.

"H-hey! Relax! Takuya's still at the school, so he will bring it home, I'm sure." Danny tried to assure his brother.

"Y-yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine," Tucker also tried to reassure. "Come on… let's get you upstairs, I don't think you should be standing right now."

Then Tucker started sniffling a bit as Andy leaned on Danny. "Dude… I think you got me sick with your little sneeze."

Danny chuckled. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

Andy frowned. "When did you even sneeze on-"

Andy rubbed his face, feeling a bit of mucus on it. "OH! Danny! That's gross!"

Danny smiled sheepishly. "Ehehe… Sorry, bro…"

Takuya hated that he had to nearly limp all the way to FentonWorks. Dorimon still hadn't woken up yet. The boy had never been so glad to see the big neon sign that pointed at the building of FentonWorks.

As Takuya limped to the stairs, he grimaced at the effort he would have to make to get up the steps with his injured foot. I'm glad my injuries are not as severe in my human form… He thought to himself. Really shouldn't have kicked a literal cannonball like that...

After some effort to get up the stairs, which earned Takuya a few muttered swears due to the pain of his foot, he managed to get to the door and open it.

"Ugh… never do that again…" Takuya muttered once he got inside and shut the door. He had to lean against it for a while just so his foot would stop aching.

"Takuya?" Takuya perked up at hearing Andy. "You have Dorimon… I'm glad. Are you… okay?"

Andy came closer to Takuya, frowning when he saw his cousin limping. "What happened to your foot?"

"I'll tell you when we get back upstairs." Takuya assured him. "But you may not like what I went through."

"There you are, cuz," Danny noted, walking over to Takuya himself. "Are you… okay?"

Tucker was watching Takuya silently.

"I'm fine…" Takuya replied to Danny. "Just… tripped badly while trying to get home. Sure, my foot hurts, but I'm fine otherwise. I just landed on it funny." However, Takuya took note of how Tucker was looking at him as well. What's Tucker looking at me like that for?

"Hey, uh… if you and Andy need to talk alone, feel free to," Tucker suggested. "I have something I need to talk with Danny about in private anyways."

Takuya frowned, but nodded. "Okay. I understand."

Tucker then turned and left with Danny to talk in private in Danny's room upstairs, leaving Andy and Takuya alone in the living room.

"Here…" Takuya said, giving Andy Dorimon. "He's exhausted, but I think he'll be fine after a goodnight rest."

"Thanks, but what happened to him? And to you?" Andy asked, frowning as he hugged Dorimon close to his chest.

Takuya sighed here. "When Tucker overshadowed you, your D-Arc reacted with a dark light from the screen, and Dorimon 'dark digivolved' I think it was. He reacted to the negative emotions from Tucker taking over your body, and I had to fight him when he reached the Champion stage. It was called DexDorugamon, and well… it was one tough Digimon." He then looked at his foot. "I made the mistake of kicking a literal cannon ball back at him too…"

Andy frowned before he paled a little. So what Tucker meant by a 'big pet', he must've met Dorimon… when he turned into this… DexDorugamon. "Wait… he dark digivolved? But why would he do that because Tucker took over my body?"

"I don't know…" Takuya sighed. "I just know what I saw. But, my best guess is, because he sensed the negative energy over your D-Arc, that was what caused it." He shrugged. "That's just my best guess. I can't explain it better than that."

Takuya took the D-Arc out of his pocket and handed it back to Andy.

Andy took the D-Arc with his right hand and looked it over. "... I hope I didn't break it or something. I don't want Dorimon to digivolve into something dangerous. I'm surprised he gave you such a hard time, I mean, you were able to match DexDoruGreymon pretty okay, didn't you?"

"Yes, but that was only one time. Plus, he was more in pain than anything. Here, he was focused and not in any pain. This time, he was like a predator, and that is saying something." Takuya admitted here. "In fact, Dorimon fought like you in that battle. He was observing me, looking for any weaknesses." A shudder escaped Takuya. "If you had been there, I'm not so sure I would have held my own so well."

"... If I had been there, I would've tried to stop him," Andy pointed out.

"Well, what I mean is, if that is how well Dorimon could fight on his own, I would hate to be your enemy when he is teamed up with you." Takuya clarified.

"Right…" Andy was mixed on that, he was flattered to hear how well he and Dorimon could do once Dorimon is able to digivolve into his more proper Champion form, but at the same time he didn't like that the one time Dorimon did become his Champion form, it was used against his cousin. "I'm going to need to figure out a defense against overshadowing. It would be horrible if it happened again. … Unlike you, I don't have a defense for it."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah. That is a problem…"

"And here's another problem you'll need to look out for," Andy suddenly added.

"What?" Takuya frowned.

"Tucker is going to be keeping a closer eye on you now, maybe even Danny and Sam if he decides to tell them what he saw when he tried to overshadow you," Andy warned.

Takuya paled at hearing that. "Wait… what?!" He was shocked. "Tucker saw my Spirits when he tried to overshadow me?!" Oh crap! This is not good!

"I don't know if he saw your Spirits, he just mentioned that something blocked him from overshadowing you, like it was a big wall of fire," Andy informed.

"Great… Now I have to work twice as hard to keep my secret…" Takuya groaned.

"Meanwhile I have to explain about this 'big pet'. Well, at least not remembering what happened actually came in handy," Andy chuckled. "Danny made the excuse for me, but from now on I have to be more careful with Dorimon, especially when he digivolves into bigger forms. And… I need to study how this D-Arc works. I don't want it turning Dorimon into an evil monster again."

Takuya nodded. "Good idea." He then saw Andy sniffle again. "And you can do that while you're in bed resting. At least then you can hide it under the covers and do that while Danny is with you."

Andy groaned and put his forehead on Dorimon's back. "I hate this stupid cold…"

Danny sat down on his bed while Tucker sat at his computer desk.

"So what's wrong, Tuck? You seemed nervous around Takuya," Danny asked. "I know he'll be mad about the overshadowing, but I'm sure he won't stay mad at you for long."

"It's not that." Tucker finally said after a moment of silence. "It has to do with when I tried to overshadow him."

Danny frowned. "You did say you were blocked by a wall of fire… that's… unusual, I guess?"

"It is unusual! You may not overshadow a lot of people, Danny, but I did… I overshadowed a lot of people while I had my ghost powers, and while many of them had different souls and minds, none of them had such a way to kick me out. Especially not literal fire! I was actually burning, Danny!" Tucker rambled on.

Now Danny was concerned, that wasn't something he could explain with simple logic. "So… what, do you think Takuya might've been already overshadowed by a fire ghost or something?"

Tucker frowned. "I'm not sure what it was. All I know is that there were three figures in that fire, one of which was Takuya. The other two were acting like they were protecting him. Then, there was a light and I was pushed out, literally!"

Danny furrowed his eyebrows at that.

"I'm… not entirely sure that Takuya is all human anymore, Danny," Tucker finally said. "I don't think he had ghosts inside him protecting him, they didn't feel like ghosts. I should know, I had my own ghost sense by that point. They felt… different…"

"Different how?" Danny asked, now worried for his cousin. "Is it hurting him?"

"No, at least, not that I could tell anyway." Tucker admitted. "But these beings were mad that I tried to overshadow Takuya. I think they might be… I don't know, part of him or something! The only thing I could tell about them is that they're… digital, somehow… like actual data."

Danny blinked, before he remembered seeing data wrapping around a few beings before, this included Agunimon, Dash before he turned into Petaldramon, and that mysterious data cocoon that showed up before that creepy cybernetic fox dragon thing showed up beside Andy.

"Tuck, I don't think there are just ghosts out there if what you are saying is correct." Danny finally said. "Remember what happened with Dash at the football game, and that armor guy? Both had data come surrounding them, and I mean ribbons of it. Ghosts don't have that happen to them."

"But then, what are these creatures?" Tucker asked finally.

"When I'm in ghost form, I noticed these creatures are made of data, but I just wasn't sure if that was accurate or not because it just seemed so… weird, you know? You wouldn't think data could exist in the real world, yet here they are," Danny remarked, starting to go into thinking mode. "If they are digital beings though… maybe we could call them digital creatures? Or digital monsters?"

"Well, if we have to call them 'digital monsters', that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue very well, does it?" Tucker pointed out. "We could shorten it to maybe, I don't know, D-monsters?"

"D-monsters work, I guess," Danny shrugged.

"Or maybe Digimonster? Digimon?" Tucker questioned.

"... Nah, that sounds stupid," Danny said.

Tucker chuckled. "Then D-monster it is!"

"Okay, now let's get back to Takuya for a moment," Danny replied. "Do you think he might be a D-monster himself? Or have… parts of D-monsters in him somehow?"

Tucker frowned at that point. "I would have to say it is more like he has the parts inside him. I sensed he was still human, but the parts were not exactly… all there. Like they were… It's hard to describe to be honest." He shrugged here. "The only way you'd see it is to overshadow Takuya yourself, but I wouldn't recommend it."

Danny shook his head. He didn't like using his overshadowing abilities very much. It was cool when he first discovered it, but he came to realize that controlling people like a meat puppet was not only wrong, it was incredibly creepy. Danny resolved to only use it if he felt like he had to.

"It would be hazardous to my health to try," Danny waved off. "I'll just have to take your word for it. … But you know… I think Andy might know, or at least suspect something about Takuya. They have been hanging around each other a lot lately."

Tucker blinked at that. "You're right. Those two are more like peas in a pod than you and Andy are lately, and you two are twins!"

"Don't remind me… I haven't exactly been… fair to Andy," Danny sighed. "I was just… too scared to let him know the truth. I mean… what if Andy wouldn't want me around anymore if he saw I had become half ghost due to the accident? What person would want a brother who's now a freak of nature like me? Am I even dead or alive? Am I human or ghost? I don't even know!"

"Dude, just calm down." Tucker said as he put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "It's normal to want to protect your brother from such a thought. But if Andy did find out, he would accept you. I mean, you two are brothers, twins even! I don't think he would look at you as a freak."

"... I don't know, Tuck… I mean… you should've seen how he reacted when he found out you had ghost powers," Danny sighed. "He said that… you were either dead, or had a ghost possessing you. Being a ghost… does have a very dark implication… and if Andy does suspect anything, he's more likely to believe I have a ghost inside me or something rather than being half ghost."

Tucker sighed. "Look, either way, if Andy suspects anything about Takuya or if he knows his secret, then we will just have to keep an eye on both. Your brother because he is in on this secret of Takuya's, and Takuya because of what I saw when I tried to overshadow him."

Danny nodded. "Maybe… maybe if Takuya's secret is anything like mine… maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to tell Andy if he took Takuya's secret as well as he did."

Tucker smiled. "That's the way to look at it."

Then both boys let out a sneeze.

"... On another plus note… we get to miss a few days of school to recover from this event," Tucker added.

The next day…

Danny and Andy were in their beds, wrapped up with three blankets. Dorimon was snuggled up to Andy under his chest, hoping to keep his partner warm. Like with Andy, Dorimon didn't recall his time as DexDorugamon, but he did apologize constantly to Takuya. Like every time Dorimon saw Takuya, and if nobody else but Andy was around, he'd start apologizing again.

As it was, Takuya was stuck at home too due to his foot being hurt, but it was just a minor sprain. He was able to move around with the help of crutches, but it was still a pain to do so.

Due to the entire family being sick or nearly incapacitated, Sam decided to pay them a visit to help them out a bit. Tucker was at home sick as well, but his parents were healthy enough to take care of him. Sam brought in some medicine to help Jack and Maddie recover quicker. Due to their insistence on it being a ghost virus, Sam got them to take the medicine by telling them it was 'ghost medicine'. Sam also made some chicken noodle soup for Jazz. After she brought it to Jazz, who wasn't quite as sick as the boys were since she actually took proper care of herself unlike her parents, she still believed she was sick due to the 'hallucination' she saw yesterday.

Sam brought in two bowls of warm chicken noodle soup to the twins, who sat up from their beds, still wrapped around their blankets, and had ice packs on their heads.

"Jeez… do you guys have to share everything?" Sam sarcastically asked as she put down a tray of the two bowls of chicken noodle soup.

"Are you sure you should be here, Sam? You could get sick again," Danny asked in concern, sniffling.

"Nah, my immune system can kick this stuff to the curve since it got rid of the cold already. That and I also took a few vaccines before coming here," Sam reassured.

Takuya limped over to the twins' room, using his crutches. "Good to see you're better, Sam." He gave a look to the twins. "Unlike my cousins who didn't take care of themselves."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I know, these two knuckleheads would rather dive into a frozen lake than stay at home and get bed rest."

Takuya chuckled as well. "Yeah, but these two knuckleheads are my knuckleheads, and I would do anything for them."

"And I have no regrets," Danny pouted before sneezing. "... Okay… maybe a little."

"Hey, Takuya, can you come over here for a moment?" Andy requested. "I promise I won't sneeze or cough on you."

Takuya blinked, but limped over to Andy. "Sure. What's up?"

Andy lifted Dorimon up a little before Dorimon whispered. "Hey, Takuya… sorry about attacking you. I'm really, really sorry. I'm sorry it happened. I'm sorry."

Takuya sighed before whispering back. "It's okay. I already told you that. Things happen. I'm fine, so don't worry." He patted the little Digimon fondly. "You just worry about your partner and making sure he stays in bed."

Dorimon gave a small purring noise before sinking back into Andy's chest.

"Little guy can hold quite a bit of guilt," Andy whispered.

Takuya nodded. "Yeah, but he will get over it with time." He said this in a whisper as well. Then he stood up. "I'd better let you get some rest. Don't want to get sick myself~"

Andy groaned. "Lucky…"

After about a week… that Thursday night...

Andy and Takuya were rushing through the dark streets. Dorimon looked up from the backpack, looking a little bruised up.

"We're never going to make it!" Andy panted as he was lagging a bit behind his cousin.

"Just keep running!" Takuya shouted back, trying to keep Andy right behind him.

Andy was currently in his hazmat suit, and it had some scratches on it. "You… may… have to… go on… without me… that last… battle took a lot out… of me…!"

Takuya shook his head. "No way! We're going to make it together, even if I have to carry you myself!" His outfit was torn a bit along the bottom, and one pant leg had a scratch across the knee.

"Come on, Andy, you can do it… just a little bit longer… I can see it!" Dorimon called out in encouragement.

They could see FentonWorks just up ahead.

"Come on, once we get to the door, we're home free!" Takuya urged.

Andy panted more, feeling his lungs burning, but he put all his determination into his legs to make it to the final stretch.

Then… Amity's clock let out a loud banging sound that sounded like a metallic BONG.

Takuya's mind was now filled with colorful languages. Andy paled.

"... We're dead," Andy groaned.

"Literally or figuratively? Takuya grumbled.

"Take your pick," Andy sighed.

"Uh… I wish you luck," Dorimon said before burying himself into Andy's backpack.

Danny suddenly appeared right next to them, which caused all three boys to yelp and flinch away from each other.

"Danny… how… where… Don't do that!" Takuya exclaimed as he tried to calm his racing heart. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"You two scared the living daylights out of me!" Danny pointed back.

"You were the one who appeared out of nowhere!" Andy argued.

They were standing in front of FentonWorks' door, and it opened while they were arguing about who scared whom. They all stopped when they noticed the door opened, and slowly turned to see Jack and Maddie, hands crossed, tapping their foot, with a stern expression on their faces.

"You're late again, boys." Jack said in a stern tone.

Takuya flinched at his uncle's tone while Danny just groaned in response. "Aw, poop!" Then Danny was hit on the back of his head with literal bird poop.

Andy and Takuya stepped a few feet away from the boy who got bird pooped on.

Maddie sighed, rubbing her face. "Danny, go get cleaned up. When you're done, I want all three of you boys on the couch. We need to have a talk about this."

Andy sighed, he knew this would become a problem eventually. Ever since they changed their training schedule to evening, they had been coming home later than their curfew time. It was too easy for him, Takuya, Dorumon, and Dash to lose track of time, because the training was lasting longer due to their stamina becoming better, and the fact that none of them could wear a watch without it becoming covered up, either by the hazmat gloves or the evolutions, none of them could keep track of time.

After Danny got the bird crap off his head, and Andy was out of his hazmat suit, all three boys were in the living room sitting on the couch.

"This is becoming a problem, you three." Maddie said sternly as she looked at her twin boys and her nephew. "You are constantly late coming home,"

"You're shirking from your chores." Jack added as he looked out from whatever it was that he was inventing.

"Your grades are slipping," Maddie continued.

"You're shirking from your chores." Jack mentioned again.

"You already said chores," Danny spoke up.

"I know, but when you three don't do them, I get stuck with them," Jack said. "Trust me… that's a lot of chores to do."

"We're sorry, it's just… we've been doing a lot of stuff lately, and we usually end up losing track of time," Andy tried to explain.

"And just what are you two doing that causes you to lose track of time?" Maddie asked as she looked at Andy and Takuya.

"We're… hanging out with a friend." Takuya said, which was the truth, just not the whole truth. "We like to go to his house and play all sorts of video games."

Andy sighed, and rubbed his head. It's not the worst excuse ever, but that just makes us sound really irresponsible.

"And you, Danny? What is your excuse?" Maddie asked.

"I have a lot of stuff on my plate lately," Danny answered. "You and Dad have no idea what it's like to be a kid today."

"C'mon Danny, that's the oldest excuse in the book." Maddie said in a disapproving tone. "There's nothing that you're going through that your father and I didn't go through when we were your age."

Danny suddenly flinched on the couch, which caused Takuya and Andy to flinch as well, both of them looking at Danny as he quickly hid his left arm behind his back.

Danny sighed a little. "I beg to differ."

"Can't help but agree…" Andy grumbled.

"Same…" Takuya added.

Jazz, who had been sitting on an armchair nearby and was reading one of her psychology books, closed her book. She decided to take matters into her own hands. "Mom, Dad, listen. The reason why they feel you can't relate to them is because you two never take the time to tell them about your childhood."

"Jazz, don't," Andy hissed.

"Have either of you even told them how you met, what school you went to?" Jazz kept going.

Takuya felt like smacking his face at that point. Doesn't she know I am only one year younger than her?! It's like she treats me like a kid!

"Jazz!" Danny hissed as well.

"Or maybe where you went to college?" Jazz added.

Maddie and Jack were already in thinking mode.

"Jazz, what are you doing?" Andy hissed over at his sister. "Don't try to use psychology on Mom and Dad, it will only end badly!"

Then Jack had an idea. "You know, Jasmine, that's a great idea!"

"It is?" Jazz asked, confused now.

"What is?" Maddie questioned.

No… no… no…. Andy inwardly groaned.

Jack held up an invitation that said '20th college Reunion University of Wisconsin at Madison'. "You kids can come with your mother and I to our college reunion."

Takuya blinked. "Um… wait, you want us to come with you?"

"Of course! I was just thinking about it when I received this in the mail today." Jack smiled. "It'll give you kids a chance to see more of the world, and even meet one of my oldest college friends!"

"Wait, are we going all the way to Wisconsin!?" Jazz yelled. "But what about school? What about all my homework? And my projects?"

"Your mother and I can write you kids a permission slip," Jack waved off. "Besides, this is a great opportunity. You kids get to learn about our college days, and while we drive, I get to blather on about ghosts!"

"You see what happens when you try to meddle?" Andy sighed to Jazz, already sounding defeated.

Danny and Andy were in their room, packing since they would be leaving out tomorrow morning. Maddie was going to call the school about their absences. Andy had Dorimon on the bed. Danny looked over at Andy for a moment, seeming to be thinking about something.

"So… uh… why were you and Takuya late coming home?" Danny asked.

Andy was looking through his closet to pack some extra clothes and pajamas for the trip. "We… were doing a school project, or at least we were supposed to, while at another friend's house, but they got caught up in playing video games. But what's your excuse for coming home late?"

Danny blinked, unsure of how to answer, but he gave it his best shot. "I was out… with Tucker and Sam. We all were… helping the… birds that fell out of their nests." Lame excuse!

Andy looked back at his brother and raised an eyebrow at that. "... Did… did it really take you all afternoon and evening to help these baby birds? Maybe you were pooped on by their parents for taking so long."

Danny pouted at that. "Oh, the irony…"

Andy couldn't help but grin at that. Dorimon snickered silently from inside Andy's suitcase, his giggles hidden by the clothes.

"Yes, quite the irony," Andy chuckled. "Shall I pack you some extra wipes in case you get hit by more?"

"No," Danny grumbled.

"Suit yourself, bro~" Andy grinned.

Dorimon had to bury his face under Andy's packed shirts to hide his burst of laughter, lest Danny find out about him.

Danny sighed a little. "Hey… uh, bro? Do you know what's been going on with Takuya?"

"Hmm?" Andy blinked, looking back at Danny. "What do you mean?"

"I just… can't help but notice that Takuya's just… been acting a little weird. Sometimes I would see something feral in his eyes, and he lets out this heat that makes me feel uncomfortable," Danny explained.

Andy was surprised to hear that. I didn't know Danny noticed these things about Takuya. Then again, it's possible Phantom is sensitive to a Digimon's aura. However, Andy was a bit worried now too. This doesn't look good if Danny is aware of this stuff. We'll have to be extra careful now.

"I was… just wondering if maybe you might know something, since you do hang out with him a lot," Danny finished.

Andy thought for a moment, he didn't really like hiding this from Danny, but at the same time, it wasn't his secret to tell, at least the secret about Takuya himself. And there was a part of Andy that was still bitter about Danny keeping a secret from him.

"I couldn't say… he just seems like the same old Takuya to me," Andy waved.

Danny frowned. I was sure Andy would be willing to tell me. Well, at least, I hoped he would. I guess that was hope was for nothing then. "Yeah, okay, bro. I guess I was just seeing things then…"

The two brothers were quiet after that, just packing up their things for the road trip.

The next day, on the road to Wisconsin.

Andy, Danny, Jazz, and Takuya found themselves inside a tank that was labeled as an RV. Andy had Dorimon in his arms. Maddie and Jack sat at the front with Jack driving.

Takuya found himself squished between Danny and Jazz, the latter of whom was miffed about going on the trip. "How is it that when you three mess up, I somehow get stuck in the Fenton Ghost RV for four days?"

"That's the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle, everything in this vehicle is a ghost's worst nightmare," Jack announced proudly.

"You were the one who suggested the whole 'share your childhood' thing to them, Jazz," Andy pointed out.

Jazz grumbled under her breath as Danny sighed. "Ugh… I think I need to get some fresh air." He was feeling a bit hot being stuck next to Takuya, who was, as he had told Andy, giving off a slight heat. Danny reached for a button to open the window, making Jazz give him a warning.

"Don't touch any unknown buttons!" Jazz warned as Danny's finger hovered over the first button he saw.

But it was already too late, Danny pushed one of the buttons on the window, thinking it would roll down the window, when suddenly a bunch of weapons came out of the RV, and opened the back window. Looking out, the kids saw a poor goose getting frozen in ice, a tree getting blasted by a laser, some poor driver getting hit by a laser as well, giving him a smoking face, and Jazz got hit in the face with some green goop.

Andy and Danny looked at Jazz as she just gave Danny an angry glare through the goop.

"I'll get you for this," Jazz grumbled.

Takuya, feeling bad for Jazz, took out a washcloth and handed it to her.

Jazz took the washcloth without as much as a 'thank you', which told Takuya she was mad. Yep, if she doesn't say 'thank you', then she's mad...

Not that Takuya could blame her, she was not happy about missing school, and having to be cramped in this ghost assault vehicle. Takuya did look over at Danny though, who was talking to Andy. Takuya wondered if Phantom felt any fear while being inside Danny inside a vehicle designed to obliterate him in many different ways.

However, the thought was not answered, leaving Takuya to sigh to himself. So much for a pleasant trip...

The trip was long, 4 days long. Whenever the Fentons made a stop, Takuya and Andy would sneak away from the rest of them to have Dorimon digivolve and get some exercise, the poor Digimon was not used to having to pretend to be a stuffed toy for 4 days straight.

At one point, Danny almost followed them, but was called back to help with the Fenton RV, as in filling it with gas.

They usually stopped to rest sleep somewhere, but it was mostly in the RV itself, which wasn't the best sleeping arrangement, since Jack took up most of the room with his large body. Andy was glad to be sleeping on the far right while Jack was on the far left, especially since he was holding a teddy bear.

Takuya was more in between Andy and Danny, while Jazz was on Danny's other side and Maddie was between Jazz and Jack. Once again, Danny felt a bit uncomfortable because of Takuya's slightly higher body temperature that was from his Spirits, but it wasn't too bad.

On the 4th night, Jack parked the RV at a truck resting place. Once again, the family were sleeping inside the RV.

"Alright, let's get some sleep everyone, I want the family to be bright eyed and bushy tailed when we meet Masters tomorrow," Jack announced, looking excited.

Takuya blinked, not sure what his uncle was talking about.

Jazz looked at Jack. "Hold on, you mean Masters, as in Vlad Masters, who was named 'Billionaire of the Year' by Affluence Magazine?"

"That's the same guy." Jack smiled.

"We're going to see someone like him?" Andy asked, surprised.

"Yup. Vladdy and I were the best of friends in college," Jack answered. "We were quite popular in college as well. In fact, me, your mother, and Vlad were the only people who took up the paranormal science during our college days. So we had the lab all to ourselves. We were actually building a prototype portal that would open up the Ghost Zone like the Fenton Ghost Portal we have in our basement lab now. Only this one was much smaller, think of it as like the model version."

"So what happened?" Danny asked curiously.

Takuya was not sure he wanted to hear what happened next, so he kept his mouth shut and tried to cover his ears. Something was telling him to not listen.

"Well, things were going relatively well, until the hands of fate stuck their fingers into Vlad's eyes," Jack explained. "Vlad was standing in front of the portal, analyzing it, while Maddie and I went to check the calculations and turn on the portal."

"I noticed the calculations weren't right," Maddie spoke up, remembering this part of the story. "But Jack was too excited to stop even after I warned him."

Jack chuckled sheepishly. "Heh… yeah, well… I guess I just wanted to see what would happen. So I yelled out 'banzai!' and turned on the portal with the remote control."

Andy and Danny both frowned, remembering that their dad told them Vlad was standing in front of the prototype portal when Jack turned it on.

Takuya had by now buried his head under his pillow. He wanted to get some sleep, not hear a horror story before bed.

"The portal sort of worked," Jack sheepishly continued. "Green ecto energy began to form in it, before it suddenly all came blasting out right into Vlad's face. Maddie and I were worried about Vlad after he got blasted, his hair was black, but it was white after that blast. Then, when Vlad turned to us, we gasped in horror. His eyes were glowing blue, and his face was covered with acne. We later found out he was diagnosed with Ecto Acne, he was put in the hospital for years, killing his social life. Vlad and I hadn't spoken to each other since that day… but, after all these years, I'm sure he's finally forgiven me."

Andy frowned at hearing that. "If he has forgiven you, then why is this the first time we are hearing of him? I mean, wouldn't he have called you or something?"

"I like to think that Vlad sent that invitation as a way to reconcile, or surprise us. After all, why would he send me the invite if he hadn't forgiven me, right?" Jack optimistically said.

Andy and Danny looked at each other, both unsure about that statement.

"Anyways, it's time to get some sleep. Goodnight, kids!" Jack announced before he quickly fell asleep.

Andy looked at Dorimon, and began to rub his fur, feeling it sooth him a little. What did that ghost portal do to Vlad? What did this 'Ecto Acne' do to him? He was apparently hospitalized for years. Would he have turned out like Danny? … Maybe not, Vlad's accident sounded smaller in scale than Danny's. Maybe I'm just thinking too much into this...

Sighing, Andy decided to try and get some sleep for tomorrow.

I found myself walking down a dark hallway. It was large and fancy looking. I looked down to see a red carpet, and I looked up to see it looked like some kind of castle wall. It was creepy though, there weren't any lights. I didn't know what I was doing here. I kept walking, wondering where anyone was. I didn't even have Dorimon with me, which unsettled me even more.

Then I stopped when I saw some kind of dark blue creature, with a white underbelly. This creature had bat-like wings on its head, and yellow eyes that reminded me of Dorimon's eyes. They had a little stubby tail, and were standing on all fours.

I was confused as I saw the small creature. Is this a Digimon? I wondered in my mind before I saw fractal code surround the small creature, only to disperse and show a form in shadows, one that looked intimidating.

I gasped as this large shadow with what appeared to be 8 wings leering down on me. I quickly ran away, sensing an ill aura around it. I was sure it only had ill intentions for me. I kept running, not even bothering to look back before I hit something that made me fall on my butt.

I shook my head before looking up to see what I had slammed into. I was surprised to see Agunimon was standing there. I was about to say something in relief when I noticed something was off about Agunimon. He looked spaced out, and just stood there like a statue, he didn't even seem to notice me.

I tried to get Agunimon's attention, only to notice that in addition to being spaced out, he was shaking ever so slightly. It was like he wasn't even there, his mind was on something else.

"Agunimon!" I shouted, trying to get his attention. "Snap out of it!"

I gasped when I was suddenly pulled through the floor, and hit the ground hard. I groaned a little before looking up, seeing an unknown ghost floating before me. This ghost… I couldn't see their face, they were shrouded in shadows, but I could see their red glowing eyes, the sharp fanged grin, and I think they're wearing a cape from the way the cloth was wavering on them as they floated. The hair, or maybe horns, looked menacing.

I was shaking as I stared at the creepy-looking vampire like ghost above me. A hand reached down towards me, making me get to my feet and run for my life. I didn't get very far, my body was grabbed by an invisible force and I was being taken back towards the vampire ghost. Then suddenly, I saw Dorumon, in his Rookie form, tackled the ghost. I gasped as I fell to the floor again.

"Dorumon!" I called out in worry.

"You are in the way," The ghost hissed in annoyance before blasting Dorumon with a pink-red ectoblast.

I heard Dorumon crying out in pain as he was blasted away. I reached out a hand.

"Dorumon!" I got to my feet to run towards him, but I was suddenly grabbed from the back of my shirt roughly, almost choking me.

"You're not going anywhere except with me," The vampire ghost stated.

I had never felt so scared and hopeless in my life.

"Let him go!" I heard someone else shouting.

Suddenly, Phantom came up from the ground and punched the other ghost, but the other ghost didn't let me go. The vampire ghost smirked when he saw Phantom.

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want this precious boy back alive~" The vampire ghost sneered.

Phantom charged at the vampire ghost, only to be grabbed by the throat by the other ghost's hand. Then Phantom let out a scream of agony as he was being electrocuted.

"Calm down and think before you go charging headfirst into battle," The vampire ghost scolded lightly before he threw the weakened Phantom to the side.

The vampire ghost looked at me before he reached his other hand towards me.

"No! Get away! Let me go!" I shouted and began struggling as hard as I could to get out of the ghost's grasp.

"Let me go!" Andy shouted as he struggled around in his sleep.

Takuya groaned as he heard Andy's shout, only to have his eyes snap open when he saw Andy squirming around. He reached out and shook Andy's shoulder. "Andy, wake up!"

Danny heard Takuya moving around and looked back sleepily before he saw Andy moving around in his sleep. His eyes widened as he saw that and reached out to his brother. "Wake up, bro!"

Dorimon was discreetly chewing on Andy's sleeve, pulling on it gently himself.

Andy suddenly opened his eyes and let out a gasp. Danny, Dorimon, and Takuya stopped as they let Andy breathe after having woken up from the nightmare. It took Andy a few seconds to realize he was back in the RV, and not about to be strangled by some weird vampire ghost.

Takuya and Danny were looking at Andy in a worried manner while Dorimon was slightly nudging Andy to get a pat of reassurance.

"Andy, are you okay?" Danny asked in concern.

Andy blinked for a moment before nodding. "Y-yeah… yeah, I'm fine… I just had a nightmare is all."

Andy picked up Dorimon and hugged him to his chest, wanting some of the comfort.

Dorimon gave a slight purr that only Andy could feel, which was relieving to his partner. Takuya frowned at that point.

"What kind of nightmare?" Takuya asked, not sure what could possibly have scared his cousin so bad.

"I'm… not really sure… I was in some kind of dark castle corridor, and this weird bat-like creature showed up, then turned into some kind of dark looking figure with 8 wings. Then I saw… uh… that armored creature that we sometimes see," Andy explained. "He looked to be frozen, like his mind was somewhere far away. Then I was suddenly grabbed by a shadowy scary looking vampire ghost, and he blasted that Phantom ghost kid away before he reached towards me."

Takuya frowned, as did Danny, but both for different reasons. Takuya frowned because that sounded like Andy had seen him in his evolutions, and Danny because he was mentioned fighting this ghost and Andy seemed to be in danger in this dream.

"Okay… Look, bro, it's just a dream." Danny said, trying to reassure Andy. "And dreams can't hurt you."

"... Right… it was only a dream," Andy agreed, though a part of him was unsure about that. "S-sorry for waking you guys up like that."

Takuya gave a wave. "No harm done." I wonder what that dream means though. The mention of the 8-winged figure reminds me of Seraphimon. Does this mean Andy saw him? I don't know if that is the case though.

Jazz, Maddie, and Jack hadn't woken up from Andy's little episode, so the boys just got settled into their sleeping bags and tried to fall back asleep again.

The next morning, Jack drove the Fenton RV through Wisconsin. Andy, Danny, and Takuya looked out through the window, seeing a lot of farms as they were passing by. There was a lot of land to roam around if they wanted to. Jack finally parked the RV in front of a huge castle-like mansion.

The family exited the RV, and made their way to the main entrance, where a man with white hair pulled back in a ponytail at the back of his neck came out of the shadows. He had blue eyes, and wore a black suit with a white shirt under the top. He had a smile on his face as he saw the Fenton family.

"Jack…" Vlad greeted before he suddenly became more genuine. "And Maddie, you've never looked lovelier. Please, come on in."

Vlad ushered everyone except Jack into the entrance of his castle mansion. Jack didn't seem bothered by it, and just smiled. "Vladdy my man, it's great to see-"

Jack hit the door that was suddenly closed on him. "Uh… hello?"

Andy looked around inside the castle. The entire place was covered with green and gold, there were also pictures of people wearing cheese hats, and some kind of football team. Wow, someone's a huge fan.

Jazz was less impressed as she looked around, feeling the scene was too gaudy for her. "What is with the green and gold colors? If you're a billionaire, why didn't you hire an interior designer?"

"Jazz, hello? Look at all this stuff, it's obvious he's a Packer's fanatic," Danny spoke up. "I mean if I had billions of dollars, I'd probably spend all my money on NASA merchandise, and maybe an actual rocket ship too."

"You would," Andy rolled his eyes.

Vlad chuckled. "Oh, 'fanatic' is such a negative word, but you're right, dear boy."

Takuya sighed. It seemed like everyone here had an obsession lately. From his aunt and uncle, to which it was obvious, to Danny with his heroics, and now to this man, Vlad Masters and the Packers stuff. "And it's a wonder he doesn't own the team…"

"I would've bought the team, but the Packers are owned by the city of Green Bay and they won't sell them to me," Vlad grumbled before he looked at Maddie, who was standing beside him. "One of two things that my wealth has of yet been able to acquire."

Maddie gave a nervous smile.

Takuya grimaced at seeing this man flirting with his aunt. Okay, if Aunt Maddie was not married, that would be fine, but because she is married, that is a bit creepy if not disturbing...

"Is he hitting on Mom?" Danny whispered to Takuya and his siblings.

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Considering the road trip we took to get here, as long as this guy has working toilets and Mom says no, I don't really care."

"It's still creepy though," Andy muttered.

Maddie then gave a response. "I'd… uh… better let Jack in…" She hurried towards the door.

Danny looked over and saw a football sitting on a stand and walked over. "Wow! Cool!" It looked quite valuable.

"Indeed," Vlad replied as he walked over to the football himself. "This football was autographed by the legendary Ray Nitschke himself. It's my most prized possession."

Vlad picked up the football, smiling at it proudly.

"How much are you into American sports, Takuya?" Andy asked his cousin.

"I haven't paid much attention save for baseball and soccer." Takuya replied honestly. "Baseball is more popular in Japan, and soccer because I played it a bit in middle school."

"Heads up, V-Man!" Jack's voice suddenly shouted.

Before Vlad could even react, he was all but tackled by Jack into the floor. Everyone cringed at that.

"I see you've still got the old moves!" Jack smiled while he was on top of Vlad before he stood up.

Angered, Vlad stood up as well before he yanked the football out of Jack's hands. "GIVE ME THAT!"

Then Vlad stomped over to the stand before carefully placing the football back onto it, then he turned back to Jack. "I never had any old moves! All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!"

Everyone blinked in confusion, before Andy leaned to his cousin and whispered. "Someone is mad…"

"Can't disagree there…" Takuya whispered back.

It was obvious that Vlad never actually forgave Jack, but Vlad quickly calmed himself and gave a smile. "Yes, well, it did give me some time to chart out a course for my life, helped me make some decisions that made me very wealthy, very quickly. And it never would've happened without you, Jack."

Andy, Danny, and Takuya, sensing the tense atmosphere, all backed away. Jack didn't seem to notice, and just smiled proudly. Jazz rolled her eyes at Jack. Maddie, also noticing the atmosphere, quickly spoke up. "Um… yeah, maybe we should go…"

But Vlad was quick to dismiss that idea. "No, no, you should stay with me! After all, that's the whole reason I'm throwing the reunion here at my castle!" He put an arm around Jack's shoulders as he directed Jack's attention to a picture on the wall. "Previously home to the legendary Wisconsin Dairy King, just so I could reconnect with you, Jack. I insist you stay."

"Oh, I don't know, we do have a really cool RV," Jack said, seeming proud at the fact they could stay in the RV overnight.

"Let's stay here," Jazz quickly said while looking like she was sneezing.

Andy rolled his eyes as Danny spoke. "Smooth, Jazz."

Takuya just sighed as he shook his head.

Vlad had a secret weapon though. "You know, Jack, the Dairy King's ghost could haunt these very halls~"

As if those were the magic words, Jack smiled. "I'll get the bags!"

And Jack was gone in a flash while Vlad gave a sinister looking grin.

After being shown to their rooms, Andy snuck into Takuya's room, holding Dorimon. He made sure nobody else followed him, before he put Dorimon down so Dorimon could stretch out his legs.

"Ugh, I was so stiff! I hate not moving for such a long time," Dorimon grumbled.

"Well, I wasn't about to leave you back home, and no one save for Takuya can know you are alive, remember?" Andy pointed out as Dorimon nodded.

"I remember…" The little In-Training Digimon sighed. "But still, that doesn't make this any easier."

"I know… hopefully now that we're off the road, you can move around a little bit more," Andy chuckled. "With how big this place is, it shouldn't be hard to keep you hidden."

Dorimon nodded. "This place has a great running place, look at how long those hallways are!"

Andy had to agree with Dorimon there, the hallways looked endless, which creeped him out, and reminded him of something. The boy turned his attention to Takuya. "Hey, so how are you holding up?"

Takuya looked back at Andy. "After being cramped in that RV for four days, I feel like I just want to evolve and let some energy out." He then chuckled. "Like I would do that here though. Not sure how Vlad would like it if he found some of his stuff smashed up because of it."

"Heh, yeah, I guess it would feel nice to release some pent up energy," Andy chuckled. "But… I'm also worried. Didn't Vlad seem… off to you? Like his smiles were… fake… I mean the look he gave Dad was unsettling."

Takuys shuddered at that memory. "Yeah. I think something is off about Vlad, but I'm not sure what it is yet." He then looked down at his D-Tector. "And yet I'm not sensing anything like a ghost or a Digimon. Maybe this Vlad guy is just… normal. I mean, he seems like a fairly decent person aside from holding a grudge against Uncle Jack."

"Hmm… was he genuine about reconnecting with Dad?" Andy asked. "I wondered about that…"

Takuya frowned here. "I can't say for certain. It could be he is, or… I don't know. Maybe we're just thinking too much into this." But there was a sliver of doubt in Takuya's voice. Or Andy could be on to something...

"Maybe we could do with some fresh air," Andy suggested. "This castle just gives me the creeps, and I'm not sure why. Besides, it'll be safer for Dorimon to digivolve and get some exercise outside than in here."

"Yes, I like that idea!" Dorimon agreed.

Takuya chuckled. "So you're saying we explore the castle then?" There was a grin on his face.

"No, I'm saying we go outside. Though I guess that would be exploring the castle to find the door out of here," Andy remarked. "... Just hope there isn't an actual ghost here, or this will turn into a real horror movie really quickly."

Takuya nodded. "Sure. Let's see if we can find that door." He then gave a mischievous grin. "Or the evil teddy bears will come get you~"

"Oh shut up!" Andy grabbed the pillow on Takuya's bed and threw it at him.

"Hey, it's just a joke!" Takuya laughed as he dodged the pillow. He then picked up his D-Tector. "Let's go. Dorimon needs to get some exercise."

Dorimon cheered. "Yay! Outside, outside, outside~" He did a little dance in place before leaping onto Takuya's head.

"Looks like you got a fancy hat to go with your goggles, cuz~" Andy laughed.

Takuya rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "C'mon. I don't want my 'fancy hat' to get any more energetic."

The two boys laughed as they left Takuya's room, and nearly ran into Danny.

Danny jumped as he saw his cousin and brother coming out of Takuya's room, surprised to see Andy was in there. "Whoa!"

"Jeez! Why do we keep running into each other?" Andy groaned after recovering from the sudden heart attack.

Danny looked at Andy. "Any particular reason you and Takuya are headed out of his room? And why do you have Andy's toy on your head, cuz?" He was curious now, as Takuya had Andy's stuffed animal on his head. "It… kinda looks cute on you though."

Andy had a hand over his mouth as he was laughing while Takuya turned a little red.

"I… just wanted to put it on my head is all," Takuya mumbled.

"And anyways, we just wanted some fresh air. The castle just kind of gives me the creeps," Andy answered after recovering from the laugh.

"It does?" Danny asked, getting an idea in his mind. Maybe Andy and Takuya would like to explore the place with me.

"Yeah," Andy answered. "What about you? Why are you out of your room?"

Danny gave his brother and cousin a grin. "I just wanted to explore the place. Creepy castle at night? It's like a horror film come to life."

Andy deadpanned at his brother. "Yes, that's exactly why I don't like this place."

"Come on, bro, why do you always hate horror movies? They're fun," Danny replied.

"Because, oh I don't know, I don't like being scared? I'm also a bit squeamish around a lot of blood," Andy grumbled.

"You're into biology! How can you be squeamish around blood?" Danny pointed out.

"Just because I'm into biology doesn't mean I like seeing a lot of blood outside of someone's body," Andy rolled his eyes.

Takuya shook his head at the twins' antics. "Okay, we don't need to argue here." He gently got between the brothers, staying there in case the argument got underway again. "C'mon Andy. I think getting outside will do us some good."

"Awww, are you two not going to explore with me?" Danny whined.

"Maybe later tonight, bro. Does that sound good to you?" Andy asked.

Danny grinned. "It does." He then looked at the small 'toy' on Takuya's head again. "And don't lose that 'hat', cuz~"

Takuya groaned as he tried to bury his face in his shirt to hide his blush.

"I should take a picture of Dorimon on your head~" Andy smirked.

Takuya now felt like smacking his twin cousins upside their heads, but he refrained from doing that. Instead, he had a different idea. Maybe Andy and I can get some training in while we are outside.

When Andy and Takuya finally found the front door, and pushed it open, they were both happy to greet the sun, and the fresh farm air.

"Wow… It's so clean out here." Takuya said as he breathed in the air. "Reminds me of when I was in the Digital World too, what with how clean it is."

"I really wish I could've joined you on your adventure in the Digital World. It sounded like a fun place when you weren't being harrassed by corrupted Digimon," Andy sighed.

Takuya shook his head. "Andy, I don't think you would have had a fun time. My friends and I had difficulty just trying to relax while there because of being attacked."

"The Digital World is actually quite relaxing now though, if you could go there, it'd be a great vacation spot~" Dorimon smiled.

Takuya smiled as well. "Heh. I guess you're right. Things have no doubt been peaceful there with the Celestials ruling it."

"Though I still wonder how I even got here in the first place, and why I was in so much pain," Dorimon wondered.

"A mystery we will solve later, for now, let's enjoy our little vacation in Wisconsin," Andy gestured. "We've got a lot of land to run around in. I also hope we get to try out some of the famous Wisconsin cheese for dinner."

Takuya looked at Andy. "Yeah? Sounds good to me!" He then looked at Dorimon. "Why don't you go and run around? This is the best place to do so~"

"YES!" Dorimon hopped down from Takuya's head and immediately began running around.

"Don't go too far!" Andy called after the In-Training Digimon.

Dorimon didn't really hear Andy, but he knew he couldn't go too far because then he wouldn't be able to get back to his partner if something happened.

Takuya chuckled as he shook his head. "That little guy sure likes to run."

"I can't really blame him, poor guy's been cooped up in the RV just as long as we have, but he wasn't even allowed to move much," Andy sighed, shaking his own head.

"Yeah, but now he can run to his heart's content." Takuya pointed out. He then looked at his D-Tector before he pocketed it. "I think we can keep an eye on him while he runs, to make sure he doesn't go too far."

"Are you going to spirit evolve and run around yourself?" Andy asked. "I'll bet it'll feel really good~"

Takuya looked down in thought before a grin crossed his face...

Things were silent for a bit before a shout of euphoria echoed across the landscape, revealing Andy on Agunimon's back. The Warrior of Flame was carrying his cousin to show just what it was like to be a Digimon. Andy could see the landscape moving faster than a human could run, but not as fast as a vehicle. At the same time, the boy could feel the power of Agunimon's movements, giving a slight show of how strong a Digimon could be.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Andy shouted.

Agunimon looked back at Andy with a grin. "I know, right?" And this can show Andy just what it is like.

The Legendary Warrior kept running, only to meet up with Dorimon, who looked excited to see Agunimon with Andy. Dorimon grinned widely."You decided to join me?"

"Let's run across the field together." Andy smiled before he held up his D-Arc.

Dorimon digivolved into Dorumon, his legs feeling much longer and freer now.

Agunimon smiled as well when he saw that. "You ready?" He was very eager to make this a race. "First one across wins."

"You are on!" Dorumon smiled.

Andy looked at his cousin. "I think Dorumon has an edge here~" The teasing tone caused Agunimon to sigh a bit and give the boy a slight bump on the shoulder with his other fist. It wouldn't hurt either.

"So you say," The Warrior of Flame muttered before he smiled again as he looked up. "Okay, Ready… set… GO!"

With that, he shot off, Andy clinging to his back and a big grin on the boy's face.

Dorumon was surprisingly fast for a Rookie level Digimon, he could also jump really far, likely using his wings to be able to glide a bit while in the air. While Agunimon was fast, Dorumon was able to keep up. The two of them were nearby each other as they raced across the large field. Some of the farmers, who were outside doing stuff with their crops, suddenly saw blurs of a red armor man with a boy on his shoulders, and a purple bi-pedal fox creature jumping over them, before they nearly disappeared out of sight at the speed they were going. The farmers all blinked, looked at each other, then shrugged. "Kids."

The end of the field was clearly the castle, and the two Digimon were closing in on it. Agunimon had the feeling Dorumon was planning something, but he didn't pay it much heed. This was all just for fun, it was not a real competition, so he didn't mind if he won or lost.

They were getting closer to the castle, Agunimon was still in the lead. Dorumon moved just behind Agunimon before he shot out several small iron balls from his mouth that went just in front of Agunimon, they were about the size of large marbles. Agunimon didn't notice until the very last second when he tripped over the little iron ball marbles. Andy quickly jumped off of the Legendary Warrior before he could fall face first into the muddy ground. Leaving Dorumon to jump over him and cross the border finish line.

Agunimon groaned as he began to recover from his small 'trip' so to speak. "Ugh… I should have guessed that would happen…" However, he still had a smile on his face. "I guess that means you win, Dorumon."

"Hehe." Dorumon smiled proudly as he walked back over to Agunimon. "As Andy had taught me, it's important to have a plan, even when you're not in battle."

"That was pretty clever, Dorumon." Andy grinned as he walked over to the two Digimon.

Agunimon got to his feet with a grunt and brushed off his armor, clearing the dust and dirt off his form. "Yeah. I wasn't thinking about that." He walked over as well.

"Though it probably would've been a bad thing if you did try to use any of your fire attacks," Andy chuckled sheepishly. "Wouldn't want to accidentally set someone's crops on fire."

Agunimon rolled his eyes at the teasing regarding his element. "Yeah, I get it. I'm the Warrior of Flame and I can set stuff ablaze. No need to tease me about it."

"Maybe I could be the Warrior of Iron!" Dorumon puffed his chest out.

Agunimon chuckled at that. "Maybe. But there already is a Warrior of Steel." He then grinned at Dorumon. "But you are fast. I was surprised you could keep pace with me."

"Dorumon and I have done a lot of sneaking around and running during our training sessions, so I suppose it's only natural we'd get faster due to it, I mean I was able to jump off of you while you were losing your balance. I would not have been able to do that prior to our training sessions," Andy noted.

Agunimon looked at Andy in thought. "I suppose that is a good point." He had noticed that too, when Andy had jumped off of his back while he had fallen for the iron ball tactic.

"Yeah, if I wasn't confident Andy would've been fine, I wouldn't have tripped you up back there," Dorumon explained.

Then Agunimon sensed something, it wasn't a ghost, but he did sense something familiar. Dorumon looked up, and seemed to be sniffing the air.

"What is it, you two?" Andy asked, noticing their sudden attention to something.

"I think I smell a Digimon," Dorumon answered.

Agunimon nodded. "Yeah. I'm sensing it too. But it feels… familiar in a way. I don't know how though…"

Andy frowned. "A Digimon? But I don't see any rampaging digital monsters running around."

"It's small," Dorumon explained. "Likely in the In-Training or Rookie level like me."

Agunimon began to look around for any sign of it. "But I don't see anything. Where is it?"

Dorumon started to move, following his nose. Andy and Agunimon decided to follow Dorumon to see if he would find the Digimon. They were going towards the castle, however.

"Wait… you can't go into the castle as you are, Dorumon," Andy spoke up.

Dorumon perked up. "You mean I have to devolve back to my In-Training form?" He looked himself over. "I guess you do have a point. I don't want anyone to panic."

"But if there is a Digimon in there, we might need him in this form," Agunimon spoke up. "I'll have to revert myself, but Dorumon might be able to stay hidden if he has to. The castle is big."

Andy nodded. "That's a good point."

Agunimon was surrounded by fractal code before he reverted to his human form of Takuya. "Don't worry, Dorumon can find some good hiding spots, I'm sure."

"Alright. We should know when someone's coming anyways," Andy remarked. "Dorumon's got a great sense of smell and hearing."

Dorumon nodded. "Okay, come on, that Digimon is in that castle somewhere."

Titanic X: ZAFT: You will see.

DarkFoxKit: Andy got overshadowed in the original story too. I just wanted more to happen here.

Luna Lillyth: ZAFT: Then you will enjoy this next chapter~! *Evil laugh*

Irusha the Kitsune: ZAFT: Andy will, but you will see when. ;)

DarkFoxKit: Andy will have to explain what to Danny? Dorimon? Well, not exactly as you can see.

Guest: ZAFT: To make this easier, I will ask you to use a consistent anon user name so reviews can be replied to in a more personal manner. Just 'Guest' doesn't work out much. In terms of the story, I am glad you like the twist. :)

DarkFoxKit: 'Guest' is what Fanfiction defaults to if people write reviews without an account, and don't put in a name.

ZAFT: I know, but it doesn't seem that personal to me, and it makes the review response seem impersonal. But, if they want to use it, it's fine.

DarkFoxKit: As for the review itself, let's just say that Andy and his partner are linked in a way. The D-Arc shows what happens to the link when something happens to one or the other. I thought that would be an interesting way to connect between a human and Digimon partner, as opposed to someone like Takuya or Dash who become their Digimon.

ZAFT: And it is a good idea. :)