Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

Three worlds coexist side by side yet never interacting; one of life, one of death, and one artificial. Twins Andy and Danny are roped in when an accident occurs and a relative returns from Japan. But the twins are on opposite sides; Danny on the world of death, Andy on the artificial. Can they find out how the three worlds rely on each other? Or will they fall to an enemy in wait?

15. Castle of Vlad Masters

ZAFT: A day late, but it's coming up now. At least we are within a day when we miss the usual update day.

DarkFoxKit: We sort of forgot to update yesterday. It might happen a few times. Especially since I've been doing a lot of different things lately.

ZAFT: Yeah, that can happen in life. :P But it's fine. I wonder where Andy is. He playing your Switch again?

DarkFoxKit: No, my Switch has been untouched for a while. Maybe he's hiding.

ZAFT: Hmmm… *Pokes around behind a wall* Where are you, Andy~?

DarkFoxKit: Hey… where is my PSP? I have a few Digimon games in ther- … I'm going to go find Andy now.

ZAFT: Uh… okay? My guess is Andy stole your PSP…

DarkFoxKit: This is why having a half ghost character in one's house is troublesome! They could literally be anywhere!

ZAFT: Maybe bring in a Digimon next time to sense Andy or Danny. XD

DarkFoxKit: Wait a second… Andy doesn't have ghost powers in this story, so how did he take my PSP?

ZAFT: Danny…

DarkFoxKit: BOY! You have some explaining to do! *Marches off*

---

Chapter 15: The Castle of Vlad Masters

Andy couldn't help but feel nervous as Dorumon was leading him and Takuya through the castle. The castle was not only huge, but it was creepy. Any minute now, Andy felt like something or someone was going to come out and grab him.

Takuya looked around, trying to spot the Digimon that Dorumon was smelling. But it wasn't easy, as he was not in his Digimon form, so that meant he had only regular human eyesight. "I can't see anything that looks like a Digimon here."

"Just keep going, Dorumon is still sniffing them out," Andy said quietly.

"Why are you talking quietly?" Takuya asked.

"So we don't alert anyone we're here with a bi-pedal fox creature," Andy answered back.

Takuya nodded. "Okay, good point." He then returned his gaze to the front and Dorumon, trying to seek out the Digimon.

Dorumon led them through a corridor, a corridor that was now starting to seem more and more familiar to Andy. Then, Dorumon stopped in front of a couple of large, red doors.

"I think that leads into the master bedroom, likely where Vlad sleeps," Andy whispered, suddenly getting a bad feeling.

Takuya had that same bad feeling, and he had a feral look in his eyes again. "I don't like this though. Why is Dorumon smelling that Digimon from here?"

"Maybe it snuck in there?" Dorumon guessed.

"Or… maybe Vlad is keeping a Digimon of his own…" Andy added with his own guess. "Surely I can't be the only one with a Digimon partner, right?"

"That is a pretty big 'what if', Andy." Takuya deadpanned. "The odds of that are one in who knows how many?"

"I know it's really unlikely, but… we should still accept it as a possibility," Andy said. "Remember how Vlad grinned when Dad agreed to stay overnight? That wasn't a happy grin, that was a sinister 'I have a plan to kill you in your sleep' grin."

Takuya remembered that grin well. "Okay, I'll accept that. That grin gave me the chills." He shuddered at that.

"What should we do?" Dorumon asked. "That Digimon is definitely in there, but… I don't think we should just go barging in, especially if that Vlad guy is in there too."

Takuya looked at Andy, since he was the unofficial tactician of their group. "What do you think, Andy?"

Andy thought for a moment. "I think our best bet is to wait. The Digimon isn't doing anything wrong right now, so we don't have the right to barge in on Vlad's bedroom. If the Digimon is harmless, we can leave it alone. If not… we'll just keep an eye on it."

Takuya nodded. "Okay, that sounds like a reasonable plan." He then looked at Dorumon. "I think that Andy's plan has merit. So, that means you have to revert to your In-Training form now."

"Andy? Is that you?" A voice suddenly called from the other side of the corridor.

This caused all three of them to jump in alarm, Takuya and Andy covered up Dorumon with their bodies as much as they could, before looking to the voice who called them. It was Danny.

"Danny! B-bro… uh… what are you doing here?" Andy nervously asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Danny retorted. "Why are you in front of Mr. Masters' room? Didn't you say we were going to explore the castle later tonight?"

"Ah… yeah, I did say that. I guess Takuya got a little too excited after we came back inside, hehe, shame on you cuz," Andy quickly said.

Takuya gave Andy a glare. "Yeah… Shame on me…" He could not help but grumble at that point.

"So we'll just go back to our rooms until it's dinner time, then we can go exploring together," Andy added.

"... Wait," Danny said, causing both of them to tense up. "Takuya… where's your cute plushy hat? Don't tell me you lost it."

"Uh… we were going to go back and find it." Takuya lied. "I didn't mean to lose your stuffed toy, Andy."

Andy frowned, now he had to act angry. "Yeah, how could you do that? Now he's lost out there alone, getting all muddy and stuff."

"Andy and I will look for his toy. You can go back to your room." Takuya said. "We will meet you there once we find it."

Takuya and Andy were walking backwards, and together as they were trying to keep Dorumon hidden. Danny looked at that, raising an eyebrow.

"Why are you two walking like that?" Danny asked.

"Because… because why not? It's a big castle, it'll be fun to try out different ways of walking," Andy answered.

Danny kept his eyebrow raised, but he didn't question it. It just seemed weird to him. "Okay… I'll let you two do that then… while I head back to my room."

"Great, see you later, Danny!" Takuya smiled as he and Andy pushed Dorumon back a little.

Danny blinked, wondering what all that was about. Yeah, my brother and my cousin are definitely hiding something.

---

Dinner in the dining hall had quite the tense atmosphere. Vlad was constantly trying to hit on Maddie, while giving Jack the death glare, though Jack never noticed and kept blabbering on about ghosts and his newest invention. Jazz tried to remain invisible behind her book. Danny, Takuya, Andy, and Dorimon who was on Andy's lap, kept a close eye on Vlad himself. Danny to a lesser extent, he was mostly looking at Takuya and Andy.

Now that dinner was over, however, the boys got together after everyone else went to their rooms to sleep for the night. Andy had Dorimon on his head now instead of Takuya, since they were sticking with the story that Takuya lost Dorimon, so Andy had to act like he didn't trust Takuya enough to hold Dorimon, even on his head.

"I still can't believe you don't trust me!" Takuya whined, making it look like he was pouting at Andy's 'distrust' of him.

"Well, maybe after we come back home I can trust you again, but not until then, we found him almost buried under some crops!" Andy pretended to snap. "It took me hours to scrub all that mud off his fur."

"Okay, I'm sorry!" Takuya said as he held up his hands in surrender. "I won't lose your toy again!"

Danny sighed. "Okay, enough arguing. You got your plush toy back, bro, so no harm done, right?"

"For now," Andy grumbled. "You better be glad I'm not Jazz, cuz."

Danny chuckled sheepishly before clearing his throat. "Alright, well, how about we start exploring now? I brought a flashlight with me in case the castle lights were going to stay off for the night."

Takuya nodded. "Good idea. We don't want to get lost in the dark here, what with how big this place is and all."

"I, for one, hope we find something interesting." Danny smiled.

"You would," Andy grumbled. "I just hope we don't get cut up by a living knight statue or something."

Takuya grimaced at that reference. "That is something I do not want to think about…"

Danny gave his cousin a teasing grin. "What? Are you scared of a possible 'knight ghost'?"

"Hey, I'd be scared of anything that could possibly get us killed," Andy huffed.

Danny shook his head. "Come on, let's go. The worst we'll likely get is we get haunted by a cheese ghost."

The three of them began walking down the corridor. Danny turned on his flashlight since it was dark, and none of the lights were on. Andy was glad he had Dorimon on his head, he felt a little bit safer with his partner nearby.

Takuya looked uneasy, but he didn't say anything. Something about this is creeping me out.

Danny looked a little creeped out too, but he was more excited than anything. "This place looks creepier at night."

"No kidding…" Andy agreed. Why does this look familiar?

Takuya, Andy, and Danny continued on down the hall, each wary, or in Danny's case, somewhat excited.

"Hey…" Andy noticed something glowing up ahead. "What's that?"

All at once, a blue mist in Danny's mouth came out, Takuya felt sudden heat, and Dorimon shivered. The glowing thing Andy saw were three old looking bird ghosts, and they were following Jack, who was wearing his PJs over his hazmat suit, likely looking for the bathroom.

Takuya looked unsure of what to do. He had to do something to save his uncle and fast. On one hand, he could evolve and take out the ghostly birds, but that would put him at risk of having his secret exposed. On the other, he could fight as a human, but that would mean he was at a disadvantage. Then again, Andy and Dorumon are at a disadvantage against other Digimon right now, so I guess it's not all that different.

"Uh…" Danny looked at Andy and Takuya. "Quick, we need to warn Dad!"

Without thinking about it, Danny ran towards Jack and the three birds, waving his flashlight around like a maniac. Andy ran after Danny.

"Make noises to scare them," Andy whispered to Danny.

The two brothers started making a lot of noises, which surprisingly didn't wake up Jack from his groggy walk to the bathroom, but it did cause the three birds to turn around, looking spooked.

"Vhat the heck is that!?" One of them asked in shock in some kind of accent.

Takuya ran at the birds as well, his Fenton Rod out and extended. "Your wake-up call!" He swung his rod at the three birdbrains.

The three birds all screamed before they turned transparent and flew through the walls and ceiling.

"... Wow, that was… way easier than I thought," Andy noted.

"Something isn't right…" Danny noted. "Hey, uh, you two stay here, I'm going to make sure Dad makes it to the bathroom."

Takuya and Andy looked at each other before Takuya glanced back at Andy. "Are you sure? I mean, what if those ghosts show up? Can you handle them on your own?" Sure, I know he can, but Andy and I can't have Danny suspicious that we are trying to figure out his secret.

"Yeah, don't worry," Danny reassured them.

Andy and Takuya waited as Danny followed Jack down the hallway until they were out of sight.

"... Danny had the flashlight… now it's really dark…" Andy noted.

"Do you think I should evolve?" Takuya asked. "I mean, I have better eyesight as a Digimon. Or maybe Dorimon should digivolve himself, just so we have someone who can see in this darkness better."

"Yeah, good idea," Andy agreed. "Dorimon?"

"Yes!" Dorimon jumped down from Andy's head.

Dorimon digivolved into Dorumon. The fractal code was enough to light up the area briefly before the digivolution ended.

Takuya smiled. "Now we have an edge to an extent. With Dorumon here, he can see things better than us humans."

Dorumon looked around for a moment, before his head snapped up at the ceiling. "Quick, hide!"

Dorumon quickly ran somewhere, taking that urgency, Takuya and Andy quickly ran to find a place to hide. Andy couldn't see where Takuya or Dorumon went, but he managed to find a door to another room, opened it, and went into it to hide before he peeked through the door to see what had Dorumon spooked.

Takuya had found another room to hide in as well, and was also looking out, trying to find what had Dorumon hiding now. He was also tense because he was not sure if it was a ghost or a Digimon. It didn't take long for Takuya to sense a ghost, but this particular ghost felt incredibly strong, like it almost burned his chest strong.

Suddenly, a pale blue skinned man came down through the ceiling, wearing a white suit with a cape that had red under it, he looked muscular, his canine teeth were unnaturally sharp, his eyes were a pupiless blood red, and his black hair was in an unusual shape almost like horns, but at the same time not. It was like all of his hair was shaped into the two prongs of horns.

Takuya gulped as he kept himself hidden, he really hoped he wouldn't have to tangle with that ghost. Andy was hiding as well, watching in anticipation.

That ghost… it looks like the ghost from my nightmare the other night! Andy paled.

The ghost grinned as he floated over to someone else who just appeared in the corridor, which, to Andy and Takuya's surprise, was Phantom himself. Phantom didn't notice the other ghost, until he turned around.

"What the… who are you?" Phantom questioned.

"I believe a better question is why are you here, boy?" The other ghost questioned. "This isn't your usual haunting place. In fact, I have every right to erase your existence for intruding in my home without my permission."

While this was going on, Takuya suddenly tensed up as he felt the heat that signified a Digimon nearby. It was close, very close. Takuya slowly closed to the door, wanting to see if the Digimon he was sensing was somewhere in this room.

Looking around, Takuya tried to see the Digimon, but it was too dark for mere human eyesight. Great… I can't see a thing… Maybe I should evolve, just to be safe.

Takuya reached for his D-Tector and was about to summon his fractal code, but then he stopped. No… with that powerful ghost out there, it would be too dangerous to alert where I am. Unless this Digimon attacks me first, I should wait and see what happens.

He put his D-Tector away and got out the Fenton Rod instead. "Okay… where is this Digimon…?"

While Takuya was searching for the unknown Digimon, Andy kept watching the interaction between the two ghosts. Phantom tried to punch the other ghost, but the other ghost easily caught his fist, which surprised Phantom, before the ghost tossed Phantom aside.

"So you're Danny Phantom, right?" The ghost questioned.

Danny Phantom? Andy frowned, hearing Phantom's first name for the first time. That… really adds to my suspicion that Phantom and Danny do have some kind of mutual relationship with each other.

"You… know who I am?" Phantom, or was it Danny, asked.

"Of course. You're the ghost boy who uses his powers for good and all that." The vampiric-looking ghost mocked. "How quaint."

The bigger ghost smirked as he got in close to the ghost kid's face. "Aren't you going to shove me into your ridiculous thermos?"

Phantom backed away, looking intimidated by this stronger ghost. "I… I don't want to fight you."

"No, no you don't," The ghost stated before he fired a pinkish red ecto blast at the ghost kid.

Phantom yelped as he was blasted right through the door Andy was hiding in. Andy jumped out of the way in time before Phantom could crash into him. However, this was only the beginning of the chaos that ensued. The other ghost flew through the room's walls, chasing after Phantom. Phantom quickly fired his own ecto blasts at the ghost, who just summoned a pinkish red energy wall in front of him that absorbed the ecto blast like they were nothing.

Andy was not sure if he should run or stay, but he knew he had to remain hidden, so he didn't emerge from where he was crouched down. However, he could hear the banter between the two ghosts.

"An ectoplasmic energy blast? So year one." The vampire-like ghost yawned as he continued to block Phantom's ecto-rays, or so Andy assumed. The battle he could hear, which unnerved him greatly.

Andy quietly peeked up from where he was, and saw the vampire-like ghost smirking at Phantom, who was looking quite scared now.

"Tell me, child, can you do this yet?" The other ghost questioned before suddenly three more of the vampire-like ghosts appeared around Phantom, who was shocked.

Phantom looked around. "No, no, I can't! How are you doing this?!"

Andy watched, feeling a bit worried and scared now. Oh… crap… If this is what a stronger ghost can do, what does that say about the really powerful ones? And what would happen if Phantom gets obliterated? Would Danny go too?

"Years of practice," All of the clones including the original said at the same time. "Which you have no time for."

Dorumon, where are you!? Andy mentally called out before taking out his Fenton Rod.

Just as the clones moved in to beat up Phantom, Andy ran over to them and slammed two of the clones hard with the Fenton Rod, hard enough to cause them to disappear in a flash of pinkish red light.

Andy stood in front of Phantom, his Fenton Rod held off to the side. "You stay away from him!" His green eyes were locked onto the other two vampire-like ghost's red ones.

"What's this?" The ghost looked at Andy in surprise. "What are you doing, boy? Why are you interfering between two ghosts? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

"He's right, Andy! You shouldn't be here!" Phantom hissed from behind Andy.

Andy looked back at Phantom before grabbed in his gloved hand. "You're right, then let's get the heck out of here!"

Phantom turned himself and Andy intangible, both of them flying out of the room, with Andy carried off by Phantom in the process.

The other ghost, however, took chase after the two boys. He looked more amused than anything.

"Really? Do you really think you can escape from me?" The ghost laughed.

Suddenly there was another of the vampire ghost that appeared right in front of Phantom, who stopped quickly, nearly giving Andy whiplash.

"Yikes!" Phantom yelped.

"Geez! How many clones can this ghost make?!" Andy grumbled.

The clone fired an ecto ray at Phantom, who gave a yell of pain as he was hit back, letting go of Andy, who hit the floor pretty hard. Darn it! Takuya, Dorumon, I could really use your help right now!

Speaking of Takuya, he heard some noises coming from outside the room he was in. Just as he was about to go check it, he saw something move in the corner of his eye.

Looking back, he saw what looked to be a form in shadow. It was small and looked like Patamon in outline, but he was not sure.

"Come out! Whoever you are!" Takuya demanded.

Then Takuya heard little footsteps approaching him. Takuya braced himself before he saw something small that was under him. Looking down, Takuya was surprised to see what looked like a Patamon, but it looked dark blue instead of orange, and its eyes were yellow instead of blue, but Takuya thought maybe the Patamon looked that way only because of the darkness in the room.

"Um… Patamon?" Takuya asked uncertainty.

'Patamon' looked up at Takuya before giving a smile. "Takuya! How long has it been? I didn't think I'd see you again after you and the others left!"

Takuya nodded, but he kept his guard up. "It's been over four years. But what are you doing here?"

"Only 4 years? It felt like over a millenia to me," 'Patamon' remarked. "Well, I'm here because I fell into this world. Mapapama must be worried sick about me by now."

Takuya gave a slight chuckle at that. "Yeah, that does sound like Bokomon." He could clearly recall how Bokomon had treated Patamon over their time in the Digital World. "Hey, what happened to your little cloth thing around your waist?"

'Patamon' looked down at his bare waist. "I think it fell off when I came to this world. So, Takuya, what are you doing here? Weren't you back in Japan or something?"

"I… came back here on a student exchange program." Takuya replied, not sure why Patamon was asking about that. Something felt off, but he didn't say anything on it.

"A student exchange program, huh? How interesting," 'Patamon' noted. "Did… any of the others come with you?"

"No…" Takuya said, becoming a bit skeptical now. "They remained behind…"

"Mm-hmm…" 'Patamon' looked thoughtful for a moment.

Suddenly there was a shout outside, and blasting noises. Takuya frowned, now worried for Andy, Dorumon, and Danny.

"Look, as nice as it is to see you again, I need to help my cousins." Takuya said suddenly. "It sounds like they are in trouble out there."

Takuya opened the door and looked out, he gasped when he saw Andy on the floor, and Phantom struggling just to keep up with four vampire-looking ghosts that all looked exactly the same.

The heck!? Is this guy a quadruplet or something!? Takuya questioned, very confused now.

One of the clones was aiming down at Andy, he rolled on his back and blocked the clone's hands with his Fenton Rod, while the three others punched Phantom into a wall and blasted him with a pinkish red ecto blast. The clone that was on top of Andy, slapped the rod out of the boy's hand and picked him up by the shirt.

Just as Takuya was about to get out his Fenton Rod, he saw a familiar Rookie Digimon coming at the vampire-like ghost clone holding Andy. Dorumon slammed into the clone hard, making it vanish in a flash of pinkish red light. He caught Andy by the back of his shirt, and set Andy down, using his wings to fly as he did so, or rather hover.

Phantom hit the ground hard, his jumpsuit looking torn. He could barely keep his eyes open any longer. The three clones fused together into one, and the ghost was about to finish the defenseless Phantom off when Andy threw his Fenton Rod right into the ghost's back, causing the ghost to go flying a few feet from the sudden impact of the rod.

The ghost managed to regain his flight and looked back over at Andy, only to see Dorumon beside Andy, trying to look bigger than he was by puffing up his fur.

"You…" The ghost glared as he looked at the Digimon and Andy.

Takuya quickly came in with his own Fenton Rod.

"He's not alone, either!" Takuya said as he spun the rod a few times before holding it in both hands.

"How annoying," The ghost hissed. "You children have no idea what you're getting yourselves into."

The ghost lifted up both of his hands and blasted Takuya, Dorumon, and Andy with the pinkish red ecto blast. Dorumon managed to block most of the attack with his body from Andy, but it still hurt both of them, sending all three of them back a few feet.

Takuya groaned as he regained his senses. "Okay… this guy is strong…"

Dorumon managed to get back onto his feet, he growled before he jumped at the ghost, he punched the little Rookie back to Andy's side on the floor.

"D-Dorumon…" Andy groaned, trying to push himself up, because he was the weakest of the group, the ecto blast did a lot of damage to him.

Dorumon looked over at Andy before he struggled back up to his feet again, facing the ghost. "Metal Cannon!"

The iron balls were launched at the ghost, who just turned intangible and allowed the attack to pass through him with a smirk. "How quaint. Such a weak attack won't do much to a ghost of my power."

Takuya got back on his feet, then he ran at the ghost himself. The ghost just shot Takuya back with another weak ecto-blast, causing Takuya to fall further back.

"Takuya, stop…" Andy begged.

Dorumon jumped at the ghost again.

"No! You're going to get hurt!" Andy called out.

Just like before, the ghost slapped Dorumon back again.

"It's pointless, why do you keep trying to fight?" The ghost hissed in annoyance.

There was a sudden flash of light behind the ghost, that caught his attention. The ghost looked back for a moment, and was surprised at something.

Takuya got back up, confused as to what the ghost was surprised at. "W-what's going on…?"

The ghost looked back at them for a moment, before he held up a blacked gloved hand, then he gave a snap of his finger.

"Purple Haze."

The entire area was suddenly covered in dark purple fog, and it made Andy, Dorumon, and Takuya start choking on it. It burned their lungs.

Takuya knew he had a short amount of time before he passed out because of how strong this fog was in choking them. Crap… I need to get us out of here, but can I risk evolving? No… I may get discovered… But it could be our only chance. What do I do?!

Unfortunately, Takuya couldn't evolve now even if he wanted to, his body was too weak to even move to get to his D-Tector. Andy and Dorumon had already passed out. Takuya was lying on the floor, struggling to remain awake. The last thing he saw was a black ring of energy appearing on the other ghost's torso.

Things then went black for Takuya as he finally lost consciousness.

---

"No! Get away!"

Andy shot open his eyes when he heard the voice of his brother crying out, and he jolted up from his position, only to see he was on a large, soft bed, and to his right, he could see Danny on the other large bed, before grabbing the blanket that was on top of him. Danny looked just as confused as Andy felt.

"Andy?" Danny blinked.

"Danny?" Andy asked.

"What happened to you?" They both asked each other at the same time.

Andy frowned. "There was a creepy vampire-like ghost that attacked." He then put a hand to his head in confusion. "Um… Or so I think… Could have been an odd dream or something."

Andy quickly looked around on his bed, and was relieved to see Dorimon was sleeping right next to his pillow.

Danny frowned himself. "... I… remember that happening too actually… was it really all a dream though? We both had the same dream."

"It's… not that unusual, we are twins after all, we sometimes have the same dream," Andy pointed out. But it certainly felt real… When did we even fall asleep? When did we change into our pajamas?

Andy then remembered their cousin. "Wait… I think I remember Takuya in that dream too… Where is he?"

"Uh… if that was all a dream, he's probably sleeping in his own room… we could go check just to be sure," Danny offered. "His room is right across from ours."

Andy got up from his bed and left his and Danny's room to go and check on Takuya in his own room across the hall. Andy opened Takuya's door, and sure enough, the older boy was asleep, in his pajamas. Seeing that Takuya was okay, Andy silently closed Takuya's door, and headed back into his and Danny's room. Danny had only gotten out of his bed.

"Sorry about that… I might've panicked a little bit," Andy admitted sheepishly.

Danny chuckled. "That's okay."

Andy walked over to Danny, and checked him over just in case, he wasn't sure if it was a dream or not, or if any of Phantom's injuries would carry over to Danny.

"Um… bro, I'm fine," Danny assured.

"Just… wanted to be sure…" Andy said hesitantly.

Danny frowned a little. "Why? I mean… I… never got caught up in the crossfire between Phantom and that other ghost like you and Takuya did."

Andy sighed. "I still wanted to be sure. For all I know, you could've gotten hurt after we were knocked out, assuming it wasn't a dream."

"... If it wasn't a dream, then wouldn't that mean that big scary ghost is still out there right now?" Danny asked, looking a little frightened with the idea.

"What is this about a ghost?" A voice asked as the form of Vlad Masters came out of the shadows. "I was surprised to see the two of you and your cousin on the floor of my castle, knocked out."

Andy couldn't help but feel uneasy when the man had suddenly walked in.

"You found us knocked out?" Danny asked.

"I think you three may have passed out from exhaustion. There weren't any injuries on you," Vlad answered.

Andy wasn't entirely sure if that was the truth, but he did notice he didn't have any injuries on him, which was strange since he was sure he had quite a few from tussling with that ghost in the corridor. "Yeah. I think that may have done it. We were cramped into our RV for a long time."

"Y-yeah…" Danny agreed with Andy, though he did share in Andy's doubts. "Must've been from the long car ride… we're sorry for the scare."

"Oh, what's a little scare between friends, son?" Vlad asked as he smiled. "Sleep tight, little badger, little fox!"

Danny and Andy blinked at those nicknames, but they just shrugged as Vlad left their room.

"He seems nice," Danny said as they got back into their beds.

"Yeah… but sometimes those are the people you have to watch out for," Andy warned as he laid in his bed, arms curling around Dorimon.

Danny chuckled. "Relax, bro. He's one of Dad's college chums. He can't be that bad, can he?"

"Never ask that question, bro," Andy groaned. "You're just tempting fate now."

Danny chuckled again as he rolled over in bed and fell asleep. Soft snores were heard from Danny's bed, making Andy sigh as he looked back at Dorimon. He gave his partner Digimon a few pats before he too fell asleep.

---

Night of the reunion

The day of the college reunion came and by the time it began to get dark, people started to show up. It was clear Vlad was making this a big shindig, as a lot of people were coming in. Danny and Andy wore matching black suits, neither were very comfortable in them, but Maddie insisted they look formal for the reunion, even though Maddie and Jack kept their hazmat suits on. Takuya wore his own suit which was more of a deep red color, and had a light blue carnation on it. The boy reached up and itched at it a bit. This thing is like a monkey suit.

Danny sighed as he came out of the theater room. "Looks like Jazz won't be joining us, she's going to stay in the theater room until the reunion get together party is over."

"Maybe I should join her," Andy huffed, Dorimon was on his head. "At least there's nothing against having a furry animal plush on your head. I mean if they're going to allow cheese hats, at least they're lenient on the hats."

"Only you would be glad for that, cuz." Takuya chuckled.

Andy gave his cousin a slight smack on the arm. "Shut up."

"I'm sort of jealous, I'd like a cute animal hat of my own," Danny pouted. "It would lighten up this formal attire I'm wearing."

Takuya chuckled. "Well, we'll see if we can't find you one one of these days." It just may not be for a long while, if at all. I can't help but wonder if Andy is going to be the only one with a Digimon partner, at least, if that is the case.

"Come on, let's get to the party then. Maybe we'll find someone else our age to mingle with, and try out some cheese recipes," Andy suggested, hoping to look at the bright side of things.

"They do have some pretty good cheese recipes," Danny agreed.

"All you two want to talk about is cheese? And I thought I had issues with my burgers." Takuya joked with a grin. He then waved his cousins to follow him. "C'mon. Don't want to keep your cheese tastes waiting~"

"You might like those cheeses if they were on a burger~" Andy smirked.

Takuya rolled his eyes at that. "Yeah, okay… C'mon, you cheese hounds."

When the boys joined up with Maddie and Jack, they walked into the large room where the reunion party was taking place. Everyone there was around Maddie and Jack's age, some were older, some were younger. Most of them looked like they just wanted to party silly, while others looked more sophisticated, like this one asian lady with long, ponytail black hair, wearing a light green suit, trying out one of the finger foods on a plate.

Jack was pleased to see her, as his face lit up like a Christmas light. "Hey, Harrie!"

The woman, whom Jack called 'Harrie', quickly spat out the finger food she was eating. She looked annoyed and disgusted, but she approached with a professional neutral look on her face.

"Jack… Maddie… how nice," Harrie said.

Jack smiled as he put his hand around the twins' shoulders. "Boys, meet Harriet Chin, she might be a big shot reporter for the Milwaukee Journal now, but back in our college days she was known as 'Harrie'. Harriet Chin, get it?"

Andy groaned at that comment. That sounds like a bad pun, and in more ways than one.

Maddie sighed at that, knowing how hard that must have been for Harriet in college. "I'm really sorry about that, Harriet."

Harriet didn't seem too bothered though, she just crossed her arms. "Sweetie, you married him, you should be."

It sounded harsh, but seeing how the two ladies smiled at each other, they knew there was no harm done in that bit of teasing.

Then a song started to play and Jack was eager to go and dance. "Hey, it's our song! C'mon, let's pogo!" He grabbed Maddie's arm and began to bounce away, leaving Andy, Danny, Takuya, and Harriet to stare after.

"Okay… does anyone else think that was weird?" Andy asked, blinking in what he was sure was a mixture of shock and confusion.

"This is normal for them," Harriet sighed. "At least it is for Jack."

---

After about an hour into the reunion party, Danny, Andy, and Takuya found out they were the only children there, either that or the other kids were in the theater room with Jazz. They were a little bored. The cuisines weren't that good as most of them were just tasteless finger food. Even Dorimon, when Andy had snuck him some food, had had a disgusted look on his face at the tasteless food.

"You think that a billionaire would be able to get some better food…" The In-Training Digimon muttered to Andy from under a table cloth at the table where the boys sat currently.

"I think that's the problem… most high class people think small, tasteless food is the best kind of food because of how fancy and expensive it is," Andy explained with a sigh. "At least yesterday's dinner was better than this… stuff."

Danny was trying out one of the finger food, before gulping it down. "... Uh… yeah… I think I'll wait until dinner to eat."

Takuya didn't look too happy either. "Make that two of us, Danny." He then looked around. "And I noticed that aside from us three, Jazz is the only other kid here. Or so I'm assuming."

"The others must've been smart and stayed in the theater room," Andy grumbled.

Another man bounced by them, not seeming bothered or cared that three kids were just sitting at a table looking bored.

"I see you three are looking much better," A familiar voice suddenly said, catching their attention, it was Vlad Masters.

"Oh… Uh… yeah. We are." Takuya replied as he looked up at Vlad. "I still don't know what caused us to pass out, but thanks for asking." Although I actually do remember that crazy purple fog… whatever that was.

"So… I was wondering if you two twins could do me a huge favor," Vlad said, giving a friendly smile. "Would you help me out, Daniel and Andrew?"

The friendly smile put the boys more at ease with Vlad, the smile seemed more genuine towards them.

"Oh sure, Mr. Masters, but call me Danny, 'Daniel' sounds too formal," Danny answered with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, I prefer Andy over 'Andrew' myself," Andy added.

Takuya frowned a bit, wondering why Vlad hadn't asked him the same question.

"Yes, yes, of course." Vlad corrected himself. "Now, could you two go and head to my lab, second door on the right in the basement? There is a present I have for your father."

"Okay," Danny agreed, standing up.

"Yeah, I'll go too," Andy stated, getting up as well. Anything is better than this boring party of old college people pogo dancing.

"What about me?" Takuya asked.

"We'll be back before long, cuz, just watch the… punch bowl for us," Andy said.

Takuya pouted as the twins left to head for the lab, though he did notice Vlad glancing over at Jack and Maddie.

---

Danny and Andy were down in the basement, where Vlad's lab was. Dorimon stayed on Andy's head.

"I'm kind of surprised this guy even has a lab, why would he need a lab for?" Andy wondered as the brothers walked around, looking for the present Vlad wanted them to get.

Danny looked around as well. "That's odd, I'm not seeing any present here." His eyes swept over the lab, trying to find the present in question.

Andy was looking around too, only to see what looked like a framed picture on a table. It was missing a piece, like part of it had been ripped out. It was of their mom and Vlad, or whom Andy assumed had to be Vlad; the other man in the picture with her had black hair, not white.

"... What happened to Dad's picture?" Andy wondered as he picked up the framed picture. "Did Vlad hate Dad that much that he ripped it out…?"

"Wait…" Danny approached Andy and looked at the picture himself, then he took out a small ripped piece of paper from his suit's chest pocket.

"Where did you get that?" Andy asked.

"I… uh… found it," Danny quickly said before he put the torn paper into the photo to see it was a perfect fit, the torn paper, as it turned out, was Jack's face.

Andy felt his face pale at seeing that. Something is very wrong here… But what is it? Why does Vlad have a picture missing Dad's face?

Danny paled as well, but he seemed to be more informed of the situation. "No way… he sent those ghosts…?"

"What?" Andy looked at his brother, hearing the comment.

Dorimon suddenly shivered on Andy's head while the blue mist came out of Danny's mouth at the same time. Both brothers quickly turned around to see two green, floating octopuses, leering down on them.

"Uh oh…" Andy gulped. "I don't like the way those things are looking down at us…"

Andy didn't bring his Fenton Rod with him due to wearing a suit, and also because he didn't expect to have to fight with ghosts, especially with his parents here.

"Move, Andy!" Danny quickly yelled.

Andy dove to the side as one of the ecto-puses tried to grab him, but missed. Danny jumped backwards, barely landing on his feet, narrowly avoiding the same fate.

Andy grabbed onto Dorimon. "Use Acid Bubbles, quickly."

Dorimon shot out pink bubbles at the one octopus that was coming right at him. The bubbles popped into the ghost's red eyes, and caused it to scream out in pain.

The ecto-pus faded away, leaving Andy and Dorimon to glance over at where Danny was, only to see Danny fire off what appeared to be an ecto-ray, but Andy couldn't be too sure. The green energy blast hit the other ecto-pus right in the mouth, causing it to cry out before exploding into green goop.

"Bro…?" Andy asked. "Did you just… fire off an ecto-ray?"

"No! No, of course not! I just used the wrist ray gun Mom made me wear… it uh… exploded after I used it though, must've had the setting on too high or something," Danny quickly explained.

Andy frowned to himself, but he didn't push the issue. Yeah, sure. That could have happened, or it could have been Phantom reacting. Well, whatever the cause, it sure saved Danny's bacon back there.

"How did you defeat that other ecto-pus?" Danny asked.

"Ecto-pus?" Andy raised an eyebrow.

"That's… what I decided to call those ghost octopuses, I mean they're made of ectoplasm, and they're octopuses… ecto-puses." Danny grinned a little.

"Right… anyways, I just grabbed a vial with acid in it, and threw it at the… ecto-pus's eyes, it didn't like that too much," Andy answered. While not the truth, it was not exactly something that couldn't be disproven either, considering all the vials around in the lab.

"How did those ghosts get in here?" Andy wondered as he put a hand to his chin in thought. Dorimon was back on his head, acting like a stuffed animal hat again.

"I don't know…" Danny frowned as he gave a worried look. "Those two ghosts…"

Andy looked at Danny. "What?"

"I've seen them before," Danny hesitantly admitted. "I was just wondering why they're here now."

"And they're not alone, pup!" A familiar voice suddenly said before Danny was suddenly hit by some kind of blue energy beam that caused him to slam into Andy, making both brothers hit the wall. Dorimon fell to the floor.

Andy and Danny both gasped at seeing Skulker, both brothers had a bad experience with the ghost hunter. Dorimon was on the floor, but he was growling a little. Not enough for Danny to notice, but Dorimon was ready to strike if he had to.

Andy looked nervous now. Okay… This is getting to be too much! How can Dorimon and I fight off Skulker if Danny is here?! Of all the times… Gah! Darn it! Mom and Dad wouldn't let us bring weapons to this thing, and now I can't fight back!

"Move!" Danny quickly said.

Both brothers scrambled away from another energy beam attack by Skulker.

"What are you doing here!?" Danny demanded.

"How did you get in here!?" Andy added.

"How did you get back into your ecto suit!?" Danny added.

"All excellent questions." Skulker purred as he crouched down like a predator hunting his prey. The sight reminded Andy of the look Takuya would get in his eyes, and he remembered their cousin was still at the reunion upstairs. But maybe...

Skulker slid some kind of black cube on the floor towards Danny, the cube quickly grew in size and trapped Danny inside it, with only his head sticking out from it.

"W-what is this!?" Danny frowned.

Andy saw Skulker was tossing another cube at him, but he reacted quickly and ran away from it before it could get close to him. Thinking fast, Andy pulled out his D-Arc from his pocket and frantically pushed the call button to try to get Takuya on. "Come on, come on, come on, pick up!"

There was a beep, and then Andy heard his cousin's voice. "Andy? What's going on? Did you find the present?"

Skulker turned to Dorimon, and was about to fire at him. Seeing this, Andy ran over to Dorimon and picked him up with his free hand, barely avoiding another energy beam attack. Takuya heard the blasts, however, and immediately became worried.

"Andy… was that an ecto-blast? Because if it was, then I am on my way!" Takuya said; he was actually headed down there now, as he had stood up as soon as he had heard the blasting noises.

"Yes, please hurry!" Andy frantically said before hanging up.

Skulker fired missiles this time, the lab was too small for the missiles to chase Andy effectively, but when the missiles hit the walls and exploded, it did cause Andy and Dorimon to go flying. Both hit the steel walls.

"Andy! Stop firing at my brother, Skulker!" Danny shouted angrily, struggling to try to get out of the cube.

"Why? He is just as much the prey as you are." Skulker replied with a laugh. "And I like it when my prey is interesting."

Dorimon got to his feet, he knew he had to keep himself a secret from Danny, but he couldn't just stand by and let Andy get hurt by this ghost hunter. His secret wasn't important enough to cost Andy his life. Just when Dorimon was about to digivolve, Takuya suddenly came running into the lab, his hands gripping onto a Fenton Rod, and he slammed Skulker with it with a loud CLANG! It was enough force to send Skulker into a wall.

"T-Takuya?" Danny blinked in shock at the sudden appearance of his cousin.

"Ugh… hey, cuz… glad you could make it," Andy groaned a little, rubbing his head as he managed to get back on his feet.

"So, the hunter ghost is back?" Takuya asked as he eyed Skulker. "I remember you wanted Andy for some reason. Why are you back here?"

"You are all troublesome," Skulker remarked before he held up his robotic arm, and a glowing green blade came out.

"Uh… the glowing blade is new…" Danny commented.

Skulker seemed to take delight in Danny's comment, as he smiled widely. "You like it? I've had some upgrades!"

Takuya wasn't sure if he should smack his face at that or take the chance to attack Skulker while his attention was on Danny. Okay…? Not sure what to think of that.

Skulker then looked at Takuya and smirked evilly. "Now then… perhaps I should skin you."

Takuya got himself ready to battle with the Fenton Rod. Andy frowned as he wished he had his Fenton Rod with him.

"ENOUGH!" A familiar voice suddenly boomed, stopping Skulker from advancing on Takuya. "I didn't free you to skin the boys, Skulker! Your work is only half done, but I can take care of the rest myself. You are dismissed."

Skulker looked surprised. "Well…" His arm then beeped, indicating he still had Tucker's PDA attached. "I… have to go and check out a book on a gorilla… again!" He turned intangible as he flew away, thanks to the partial control the PDA had over his suit. "And I will remove this infernal device one day!"

Everyone looked at the man who had walked into the lab, it was Vlad Masters.

"What is going on?" Danny asked. "Skulker… the ecto-pusses… I don't understand."

"It was him," Andy suddenly spoke up, frowning. "He was the one who sent those ghosts here."

Takuay frowned at that. "Why would you send ghosts here?" I know this guy has a grudge against Uncle Jack, but this is taking it too far!

"They are my employees," Vlad stated calmly. "But you are half right, Andrew, I did send those ghosts here, but I also sent them to Amity Park in order to test your father's skill. But instead, I find something even more surprising."

Before any of the boys could speak up, a familiar little bat mammal Digimon flew up on top of Vlad's head. Familiar to Takuya anyways. Dorimon blinked in shock, seeing the Digimon for the first time.

Now that they were in a well-lit lab, Takuya could get a clear view of the little Rookie Digimon, and it was not Patamon like he had first thought. No, the Digimon was dark blue where there would be orange, and had yellow eyes instead of blue.

"Wait… who are you?" Takuya asked, confused now. "You're not…" He trailed off, trying to keep himself from saying anything else, but he had a feeling things were about to get worse.

"Sorry, Takuya, I guess I wasn't the Patamon you were looking for," The dark blue Patamon look-alike chuckled.

"W-what is that thing?" Danny asked, surprised seeing that it was talking. "Is that a D-monster?"

"A what?" Andy blinked, surprised at what Danny just called the creature.

Vlad blinked as well before he chuckled. "You have it all wrong, Daniel. This isn't a D-monster. He is a 'Digimon'."

"... Digimon!?" Danny frowned. "... D-monster still sounds cooler…"

Vlad rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, regardless how it sounds to you, Daniel, the proper term is Digimon, or Digital Monster. This is Tsukaimon, and…"

Vlad took out a familiar looking device from his pocket. "He is my partner."

Andy, Dorimon, and Takuya stared in shock at the device, it was a D-Arc like Andy's, only this one was a blood red color with the screen border being black, having black buttons, and a black strap on the top of it.

Takuya felt his face paling as he also felt his Spirits urging him to evolve, but it would give away his own secret. Crap, crap, crap! This is so not good! Vlad has a Digimon partner like Andy?! How is this possible?!

"What is that?" Danny asked, the only one who was out of the loop here. "What do you mean that Suk… Tok… ke… mon… is your partner?"

"Tsukaimon, Daniel, at least try to get the name right," Vlad sighed. "I'm surprised that you don't know. After all, your brother has-"

"Wait!" Andy suddenly spoke up before Vlad could reveal Dorimon to Danny. "What are you doing? Why did you get Skulker to trap Danny and tried to trap me?"

Vlad then looked at Andy. "I'm surprised you are asking that, Andrew. You seem to be the smarter one after all. But, since you asked, I will humor you."

Andy frowned, he mostly asked because he didn't want Vlad revealing Dorimon to Danny, but if things went south, Danny may have to find out anyways, but he did want to hear what Vlad had to say.

"One more thing. How does Tsukaimon know about me?" Takuya added with a growl, trying to keep the feral look out of his eyes. "I mean, he just met me last night!"

While Takuya had Vlad talking, Andy crouched down to Dorimon and whispered something to him. Dorimon gave an unsure look, but nodded, and he slowly started moving towards the cube Danny was in.

"Really, must we keep having interruptions today?" Vlad questioned.

"It's simple, Takuya," Tsukaimon spoke up. "I am Patamon, or at least, I was."

Hearing that sent chills down Takuya's spine in dread. He remembered Ophanimon mentioning how Seraphimon had gone missing, but now he had an idea why. Seraphimon was somehow corrupted! That would explain why he suddenly went missing! Or maybe someone else did the corruption. Maybe Cherubimon? I don't know, but whatever the cause, at least I know where Seraphimon went now.

Dorimon was at the cube that had Danny trapped, he started to sniff it a bit before he bit into it with his teeth. The cube released an electric shock, forcing Dorimon to let go of it. Danny blinked, hearing a little squeak near him. Andy quickly raced over to Dorimon and picked him up in concern.

"I wouldn't try that, Andrew," Vlad chuckled. "I made sure Skulker made it so even metal eaters wouldn't be able to touch it. That box Daniel is in neutralizes all ecto and digital powers."

Danny gritted his teeth. That explains why I can't use any of my powers! … Wait, metal eater? Who tried to eat this cube?

Andy frowned as he heard that as well. That would explain why Dorimon couldn't bite into it to free Danny.

"Let me out of here!" Danny shouted.

"Why? So you can go back to stumbling around, desperately trying to get control of your ghost powers?" Vlad asked, which made Danny freeze. "Powers, by the way, that I've had for 20 years."

A black ring of energy suddenly appeared on Vlad's torso, then it split horizontally, changing him. The man had turned into the vampire-like ghost the four of them had seen the other night. Andy and Takuya's minds were at a total blank from shock, while Danny was surprised and horrified.

WHAT?! Takuya was shocked. He had total surprise and horror on his face. This is Vlad?! Fuck...

Andy just stared, his mouth dropping open. Dorimon stared as well, not sure what to make of this, but he knew something very clearly; they were all royally screwed.

Tsukaimon seemed perfectly comfortable on top of Vlad's horn-like hair, since he was lying in the half circle middle of the hair, but he somehow looked even more menacing sitting there.

"Y-you!" Danny shouted out in shock. "W-why…?"

"Why what?" The ghost, now revealed to be Vlad, asked. "Why would I come after you? Why do I have ghost powers? Or why do I have a Digimon partner?" He seemed to be enjoying mocking Danny at that point. "Because I can answer all three questions if you'd like."

"All of them! And why you were attacking us!" Danny snapped, getting angry now.

"I have these ghost powers because of your idiot father, Daniel, that lab accident cost me everything, including my humanity!" Vlad hissed.

"I came to this world… and I found Vlad. Something clicked between the two of us, his D-Arc appeared, and now we are bonded together," Tsukaimon answered the Digimon partner part briefly.

"And I want you, Daniel, because you are similar to me." Vlad finished, giving a sinister grin to Danny.

While that was going on, Takuya gave a glance at Andy, wondering if Andy wanted him to sneak out and evolve. But Andy wasn't paying Takuya any attention, his mind was in too much shock, trying to work things out with what he was seeing and hearing.

Vlad and Danny are… similar? That ghost that attacked us last night… that lab accident Vlad had in college… could it be? He… has a ghost inside him too? That ghost just… shifted from him? Is that how it works? Andy wondered. He said he had those powers for 20 years… he looks so evil, his mind is so twisted, he wants to kill Dad… did… did living with a ghost inside him for 20 years corrupt him? Could the same thing happen to Danny? Andy was starting to freak out a little.

Takuya, seeing Andy was starting to look a little freaked out, decided to take matters into his own hands and began to inch towards the door. If I can just get out of this lab and out of sight, then maybe...

"I have experience on both the ghost powers, and having a Digimon partner. So I have experience, children," Vlad spoke up, looking at both Danny and Andy. "There is so much I could teach both of you, and so much you could do with these powers and a Digimon partner, and all you both have to do is renounce your idiot father."

Danny had no idea what Vlad was talking about with the Digimon partner, but his eyes were starting to look towards the plush animal Andy kept carrying with him a few times.

"No," Andy suddenly said, finally snapping out of his shock. "We would never renounce our dad to take you up on your twisted offer."

"Yeah, because dude, you're one crazed up fruitloop." Danny added, agreeing with Andy. "That is never going to happen."

"Yes, well, when your father is out of the way, we'll see how you feel." Vlad smirked before he turned himself and Tsukaimon intangible and flew up into the ceiling.

Andy's eyes widened in horror before he quickly turned to Takuya. "STOP HIM! HURRY!"

Takuya, who had not yet made it to the door, looked to Andy. He had heard Vlad's words and gave a nod. "Right!" With that, he was out of the lab and running towards where the reunion was.

Andy quickly looked at the cube Danny was in, putting Dorimon down next to him. "There's got to be a button or something to turn this thing off!"

"Yeah, but where?" Danny grumbled. However, now was the perfect time to ask a question. "What did Vlad mean by offering to train you with a Digimon partner? What is going on, bro?"

"What did he mean by you training with your ghost powers, bro?" Andy shot back, not in the mood for this right now.

"Okay, fair point. But where is the button on this thing? Can't you find it, bro? We need to go help Dad!" Danny frantically said.

"I know! I'm trying!" Andy frowned before he noticed a silver button, he tried to press it, but he just got electrocuted. "Ack!"

"Andy! You okay, bro?" Danny asked in worry and concern.

"Ugh… Yeah. But I can't touch that button to release you. It shocks anyone who tries apparently." Andy grumbled as he shook his hand to rid it of the tingly feeling it had.

"So now what do we do?" Danny frowned.

Andy kicked the cube in frustration.

Danny sighed for a moment, before he looked at his brother again. "... Andy… I know you're not stupid… do you… know what's been going on with me?"

"Why are you asking me that now?" Andy questioned.

Danny sighed here. "Because I'm concerned, bro. I don't want you to be making assumptions. A lot of what Vlad said must've rang some alarming bells for you at least."

Andy frowned before he sighed as well. "I… suspected you might have some kind of relationship with Phantom. After the accident, maybe it caused both of you to fuse, and now you're kind of reliant on each other to survive. You and Phantom switch places whenever you need Phantom to fight, or whenever Phantom lets you take over for day to day life."

Danny couldn't believe how close, and yet so far, off the mark his brother was. "Wow. That sounded so plausible and yet is so far off the mark." He then shook his head. "Andy, Phantom and I are not sharing a body. I am Phantom, and Phantom is me."

Andy blinked at that before he stared at Danny. "What…? What do you mean Phantom is you? Phantom is clearly a ghost, Danny. If you're saying you are Phantom, then that would imply you're a ghost."

"I am," Danny confirmed.

Andy's eyes widened. "Y-you can't be, Danny! That would mean you're dead! You… you aren't dead… are you…?"

"Half-dead." Danny corrected. "The accident didn't kill me. I am still alive. I just… have ghostly abilities, that's all."

Andy's eyes widened again. "Like… superpowers?"

Danny gave a bit of a grin. "You could think of it like that."

"Wait… how can you be half dead? Are you a zombie?" Andy frowned. "You can't be half dead, you're either dead or you're not."

"I don't know…" Danny admitted. "I can't tell whether I'm alive or not sometimes either. I just know that is what the ghosts have been calling me, the Halfa. But I'm not a zombie, Andy, that much I know. I mean I don't want to eat your brains or anything."

Andy blinked, before shaking his head. "... Okay… you are a walking contradiction now. And I'm guessing Vlad is the same then…" Since he apparently lived with it for 20 years, at least I know it's not killing Danny. Though becoming twisted after a while is still up for debate. Mom and Dad always taught us ghosts were naturally hostile after all...

Looking around, Andy tried to find something that would help him free Danny without touching the button.

"But what about you?" Danny suddenly asked. "I told you my secret… so now it's your turn, bro."

Andy looked back at Danny and sighed. I can at least tell him about Dorimon. Takuya's secret is his own, so Danny will have to ask him if he wants to know Takuya's secret. I know I can trust Danny with Dorimon at least.

"Okay… Dorimon, say hello," Andy instructed.

Dorimon hopped up onto the cube so Danny could see him. "Hello!"

Danny blinked. "So… this is not a stuffed animal, but your Digimon Partner?"

"Yep~" Dorimon sang. "I have been with Andy since that prom school dance you had."

Danny blinked. "Wait, what?"

Andy then took out his D-Arc, revealing the silver device. "He's right. That big dragon thing that attacked the dance was Dorimon, but he was more in pain than anything at that time. He was supposed to be sent to me as my partner, or so we think anyways, but someone got to him first and made him go crazy."

"... So that creepy mechanical fox dragon that suddenly appeared when Tucker took over your body… that was your partner?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, that was him. I guess he got corrupted when Tucker possessed my body," Andy answered.

"Did I really look that scary?" Dorimon frowned.

"Yeah, you kinda did." Danny admitted. "But it was not your fault, as none of us knew that would happen." He added quickly, seeing the little Digimon looking a bit upset.

"Hey, I got it, I know how I can release you from this box!" Andy smiled. "Dorimon, shoot out your metal beads at the button!"

Dorimon nodded and hopped onto Andy's head before opening his mouth and aiming at the button. "Metal Drop!" The small beads were shot out at the button and they pelted it quickly. The button was pressed down, and the box faded down into being a small cube again.

"Nothing like having a Digimon to help you out." Andy smiled.

Danny chuckled as well before his ghost sense went off. He looked up, as did Andy, as a ghost came in. He had green skin, white hair, and wore royal garb. In his hands was a staff that was gold and had a top like a scoop of ice cream. This was the Dairy King himself.

"It looks like you boys didn't need my help there," The Dairy King chuckled.

"Oh hey, you're the Dairy King," Andy noted, seeing how he looked exactly like he did in the painting, only his skin was green.

"Oh great, are you going to cover us in cheese or something?" Danny frowned.

"Oh no. Some of us ghosts just want to be left alone there, don'tcha know?" The Dairy King replied. "Not all ghosts are evil, don'tcha know?"

Andy and Danny remembered Poindexter, and seeing how while he was misguided, he never intended any harm.

"Yeah, he's right," Andy realized.

"Hey, will you help us fight Vlad?" Danny asked suddenly, making Andy look back at his brother in surprise.

"I'm the Dairy King kiddo. Kings don't fight, they send others to fight for them." The Dairy King said apologetically. "But if you boys can get out of a scrape like that, don'tcha know, you can handle this fight yourselves. After all, if Digimon and ghosts can come together and work with each other, anything is possible. Oh, and try the gouda while you're here, it's dairy fresh!"

The Dairy King flew up through the ceiling, making the boys smile a bit.

"JACK!" They both heard Maddie yell out.

Andy and Danny looked at each other before nodding.

"Going ghost!" Danny announced as a bright white ring appeared on his torso, which split horizontally, changing him into Phantom.

It was the first time Andy saw Danny transform right in front of him, and he was very impressed. "Dang, that looked cool. Dorimon, it's your turn."

Dorimon jumped down from Andy's head. "Here we go!"

The D-Arc glowed brightly as fractal code surrounded the little In-Training. "Dorimon digivolve to… Dorumon!"

The fractal code dispersed, revealing Dorumon to Danny, who was also impressed. "Wow… So that's what he can do? Impressive. But I feel like I've seen him before."

"You probably did when we fought with Vlad the other night," Andy stated. "Now come on, let's go save Dad! Takuya probably needs help as well."

Danny nodded, remembering Andy's words to their cousin. "Okay, let's go, bro!"

The ghost boy, the Rookie Digimon, and the Digidestined boy all ran out of the lab and hurried to where the screams were taking place.

---

Speaking of where the screams were taking place, Takuya had already evolved and was now trying to stop his possessed uncle. As it was, Agunimon was forced to not rely on his full strength, lest he hurt Jack severely.

'Jack' was laughing like a maniac, his eyes red due to Vlad inside him. He slapped another man into a wall. "If you live to tell the tale, be sure to remember that big fat Jack Fenton did this to you!"

Agunimon took the chance to act, darting forwards and tackling 'Jack' as quickly as he could to spare yet another person from being smacked around by the man. He could sense someone was overshadowing his uncle, but that was all he knew. However, as soon as the two landed on the floor, Agunimon pinning 'Jack' down, two glowing red eyes met feral blue. Just looking at the eyes of 'Jack' made chills run down the Digimon's spine.

"So, I see that a Digimon was bold enough to crash the party, eh?" 'Jack' grinned. "Don't think that you can hold me down."

Agunimon suddenly felt something burning his stomach despite his armor, he looked down to see 'Jack' was blasting out the pinkish red ecto blast at his stomach. His armor wasn't able to keep him fully protected from the attack, and Agunimon was forced to let 'Jack' go from the pain.

"Oh? Didn't you know? Digimon and ghosts are each other's weaknesses," 'Jack' informed. "While I might be vulnerable to your attacks, so too are you vulnerable to mine."

Agunimon winced at the pain from where he had been hit, his hand on his stomach area. A hiss of pain escaped him, but he kept his icy blue gaze on 'Jack'. So much for fighting close range… Agunimon thought in dismay.

"But are you sure I'm the one you should be fighting?" 'Jack" grinned.

Agunimon paused briefly, wondering what 'Jack' meant.

"Dark Twister!"

Agunimon yelped when he was suddenly wrapped up in a tornado of dark energy.

On sheer instinct, the Warrior of Flame had fire erupt from his form as he spun around in the opposite direction the tornado was spinning, the fire canceling out the dark energy. Agunimon panted as he looked up. He saw Tsukaimon flying above him.

"Seems the Warrior of Flame is stronger than I thought," Tsukaimon noted. "I may not be able to take him on as a Rookie level, Plasmius."

Agunimon felt rage fill his body as he looked up at Tsukaimon. "What are you doing here?! Can't you stay out of this fight?!"

"Why would he? He is my partner, you attack me, he attacks you~" 'Jack' chuckled.

Then Vlad flew out of Jack's body, holding the man with one of his hands, before he took out his D-Arc from his suit's pocket. The D-Arc's screen glowed on Tsukaimon's body while the words, "DIGIVOLUTION" came on screen. Tsukaimon's body was wrapped up with fractal code.

Agunimon felt a gasp escape him as he saw this. "Oh no…"

"Tsukaimon digivolve to… Devidramon!"

When the fractal code dispersed, there was a black, demon looking dragon-like creature standing before Agunimon, it had leather, bat-like wings with holes, it had a tail with a spike at the tip, its arms were long, and its hands had huge, crimson red claws. It had two pairs of red eyes, and sharp, nasty looking teeth.

Agunimon tensed as he saw this. Safe to say, he was wary now. Still, he knew he could beat this thing, as it was a Champion level, which he was the equivalent of. "So you got stronger, huh? It won't do much against me." To emphasize the point, Agunimon stood up and slammed both of his fists together, fire coming into view around his hands. "Pyro Punch!"

Devidramon raised his claws before coating them with dark energy. "Touch of Evil!"

Agunimon's Pyro Punch and Devidramon's Touch of Evil ended up cancelling each other out. Devidramon kept deflecting Agunimon's Pyro Punches with its own melee claws.

"I should probably warn you that a tamer raised Digimon is often stronger than a wild Digimon," Vlad informed. "Have fun with that. Or maybe I should help dispose of you annoying fire gnat."

Agunimon was forced to jump back before the Touch of Evil could hit him. "How could you help him?"

Vlad dropped Jack onto the floor, who was unconscious from the possession earlier. "Simple…"

Vlad shot a plasma blast at Agunimon, knocking him into the floor, before Devidramon landed on top of his back, pinning him to the floor. Devidramon lifted his sharp claws. "Crimson Claw."

Agunimon grunted as the claws slashed across his back. His armor did a better job of protecting him this time, as it was against digital attacks. However, it still hurt. Andy… where are you?

"You know it would be a shame if I had to kill you, Takuya," Devidramon spoke up, surprising Agunimon as he thought Devidramon was mindless. "I did actually like you."

Devidramon stopped clawing at Agunimon's armor before he pushed Agunimon, turning him around so Agunimon was facing directly into Devidramon's four eyes. "Red Eyes."

Suddenly, Agunimon felt his body freeze up. It was like he had no control. No matter what he did, his body refused to move at his mental command. He was still able to breathe yes, but he could not move, or even speak because his whole body was paralyzed now.

"I won't kill you, you would be much more useful to me alive than Digital Data," Devidramon stated, which sent chills down Agunimon's spine.

Andy… help me! Agunimon pleaded in his mind. He had never felt so scared in his life, not even when he fought against Lucemon!

Suddenly a black and white blur flew past Agunimon, and he heard Vlad yelping in shock. Then he heard something else that was so relieving he thought he would pass out from relief.

"Metal Cannon!"

Devidramon was thrown off of Agunimon by being suddenly pelted by iron balls. A few seconds after Devidramon was off of Agunimon, he saw Dorumon jumping across him, then Andy came by, kneeling down to Agunimon.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay, Ta- Agunimon?" Andy asked in concern.

"If you call being paralyzed fine, then I'm just great." Agunimon remarked with a snarky response.

"You're paralyzed?" Andy frowned before he looked over at Devidramon.

Dorumon was growling at Devidramon as he stood in front of Agunimon and Andy. Dorumon's forehead gem glowed before Andy looked at his D-Arc, as a holographic version of Devidramon appeared.

"Devidramon is a Dark Dragon Digimon. It is known and feared as the "Many-eyed Demon". As a demon beast that was summoned from the Dark Area by the messenger of darkness, Devimon, there are no other Digimon as evil as it is," Andy read. "Wow, scary."

"Yeah… And it used some kind of paralysis technique on me." Agunimon explained. "I can't move. Don't look into its eyes, whatever you do."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Andy stated.

"How interesting… I didn't think there was another person with a Digimon partner in this town. I guess Ophanimon decided to take matters into her own hands again, that meddling fool," Devidramon hissed in annoyance.

Agunimon hated being paralyzed, as he would be unable to help protect Andy.

"We're limited on what we can do," Andy warned. "I didn't bring my pen or notepad with me. So I guess we'll have to be a little more creative. Phantom will keep Vlad's ghost distracted while we deal with his Digimon partner."

Dorumon nodded. "Right, Andy."

Behind the two, Agunimon lay there, completely helpless. However, it was ironic in a way too, since now Andy was the one protecting him. Heh… I guess this is Andy's time to shine then… A smile crossed his face as he saw this.

"Don't interfere with me, boy!" Devidramon roared.

"Why? You attacked a friend of mine!" Andy shot back. Well, more like my cousin but he doesn't need to know that...

"Crimson Claw!" Devidramon reached out his arm at Dorumon and Andy.

Andy and Dorumon scrambled out of the way while the claw pierced into the ground. Andy and Dorumon ran behind Devidramon while he was trying to get his claw out of the ground. Andy grabbed onto his D-Arc and a card.

The card spun around before two fingers caught it, Andy looking up from the shadows. He held up his silver and dark blue D-Arc, the side with the slot facing down towards his head while the card in his other hand was below it. He slid the card through the slot, and pulled the two, D-Arc and card, apart, the D-Arc from to the right and the card to the left. "Digimodify! Fridgimon's Icy Breath Activate!"

"Icy Breath!" Dorumon shot out white frosty mist at the Devidramon as it turned around, freezing its face, forcing its eyes to shut.

"Now it can't paralyze us, go in for the attack!" Andy quickly instructed.

Dorumon nodded and rushed in. A metal coat was forming on his head. "Hyper Dash Metal!"

With a strong tackle to the stomach, Dorumon knocked Devidramon onto the floor. A small fractal code ring appeared around Devidramon's waist. Thinking fast, Andy held out his D-Arc before scanning the fractal code with the card slot. Devidramon's form didn't change despite the fractal code being scanned, but a new card appeared on the card slot of the D-Arc. Andy took out the card, seeing four pairs of red eyes in darkness in the picture, it was labelled 'Red Eyes'.

Devidramon was angry now, he slapped Dorumon away as he got back to his feet.

Agunimon gritted his teeth as he tried to move his body, but he could only twitch his right hand's fingers a bit. However, it gave him some hope that this would wear off soon. I just hope it's not too late...

Dorumon landed on the ground with a grunt, but got back onto his feet easily. The blow had done some damage, but it was not enough to knock him down for the count.

"What is your main goal anyways?" Andy asked. "Surely you're not here just because of Vlad, are you? You came into this world for a different reason, right?"

Agunimon blinked, he hadn't thought of that. Tsukaimon only mentioned teaming up with Vlad, but he never said why he came to this world in the first place.

"I see you're a clever one, aren't you?" Devidramon remarked. "It is true that I came here for my own reasons. But why would I tell you that? To me, you are just someone who is in the way."

Andy felt his left eye twitch. "I'm not that insignificant!"

"Please, your weak little Digimon can't even Digivolve past the Rookie stage, that already indicates how weak you are. A Digimon partner is only as good as their human partner," Devidramon snickered.

Andy and Dorumon both frowned at that. Andy's self confidence was breaking from this Digimon's words. Devidramon had a point, Dorumon had been with him for almost a month now, and he still hadn't been able to digivolve past the Rookie stage, at least not without outside influence like Tucker possessing him.

Agunimon could feel his heart racing as he saw Andy's face gain a sort of tormented look. He felt fury rush through his form, but he was unable to move still. Damn it!

Devidramon raised his wings before he began to float in the air, with a sadistic grin, he called out his attack. "Demonic Gale!"

Devidramon suddenly flew past Andy and Dorumon at high speed, both of them screamed out in sudden pain as Andy's suit was being ripped up by the air itself, and Dorumon's fur was being cut off as well. Both of them fell to the floor in pain. Andy had several cuts on his skin.

"ANDY!" Agunimon shouted. He tried to move again, and found he was able to, even if it was minimal. His right hand was now able to move, but anymore than that and his body screamed in pain. "C'mon… Move, damn it…"

"Oof!" Agunimon heard a thud beside him.

Moving his head a little, Agunimon could see a familiar black and white figure lying beside him. It was Phantom, he looked like he got beaten up a little, but he managed to push himself back up. Phantom looked over at Agunimon and frowned a little.

"You… you're a Digimon, aren't you?" Phantom asked the Legendary Warrior of Flame.

Agunimon blinked, surprised Phantom hadn't asked that from the beginning. "Yeah, I am. Although I'm surprised you never asked that when we first met."

"Yeah, well, I didn't really have the time to ask before," Phantom said before he saw Andy and Dorumon. "Oh… no!"

Phantom hurried over to the injured boy. "Andy, are you alright? Dorumon?"

"I'm fine… just got a lot of cuts…" Andy groaned. "Where's Vlad…?"

Agunimon was confused that Phantom and Andy were working so well together now, and that Phantom knew of Dorumon. What happened while I was fighting Vlad?

Dorumon shook himself, groaning. "Devidramon is strong…"

Phantom looked up, seeing the dark dragon Digimon.

"That's what Tsukaimon turned into?" Phantom asked.

"Yeah," Andy answered.

Vlad phased into the room and frowned before standing beside Devidramon. "We don't have to keep fighting, Daniel, Andrew. You two should think about the things I could teach you, the doors I could open for you. Once you get your own Digimon partner, Daniel, you and I, Vlad Plasmius, could rule together!"

Andy frowned. "No way!"

"Yeah, I won't listen to a crazed up fruitloop." Phantom added. "Your money can't buy Mo- Maddie, it can't buy the Packers, and it can't buy us!"

Phantom fired a ghost ray at Vlad, who cancelled it out with an ecto barrier.

Devidramon's claws were coated in dark energy. "Touch of Evil!"

The claws were coming towards Phantom.

"Dorumon!" Andy yelled.

Dorumon jumped at the arm with his mouth open and bit down hard on the arm, forcing Devidramon to stop reaching for Phantom due to the pain.

Agunimon knew he had to help, but the paralysis was still affecting him. For once, he could understand how Andy felt when seeing more powerful enemies fighting. "Darn it… Why won't this wear off faster…?"

Vlad fired a ghost ray at Dorumon, who let out a scream in pain from the ghost ray as he let go of Devidramon's arm and fell to the ground. Andy scrambled over to Dorumon, seeing his partner was hurt. Dorumon hissed, but forced himself back onto his feet.

"Again… why do you keep getting back up to fight a hopeless battle?" Vlad questioned.

"Because partners don't quit…" Dorumon hissed back.

Hearing that, Agunimon felt he had to keep trying to move. Dorumon was right.

Phantom stood in front of Andy and Dorumon, glaring at both Vlad and Devidramon. Phantom fired his own ghost ray at Devidramon, but Vlad created an ecto shield in front of Devidramon.

"You see, when ghost and Digimon work together, they can become an unstoppable force." Vlad smirked.

Behind the battlers, Agunimon finally managed to get his body to move, despite the pain in it. He pushed himself to his feet, despite his muscles screaming at him to stop. "You may be right…"

Vlad fired another ghost ray at Phantom, while Devidramon used his Touch of Evil to stretch out his claws at Andy and Dorumon. Phantom managed to create an ecto barrier around all three of them, causing the ghost ray to dissipate upon impact with the shield, and the claws to bounce off.

Taking his chance, Agunimon rushed at Devidramon before he lashed out with a brutal round kick to the other Digimon's face. Agunimon moved beside the barrier that protected Andy, Phantom, and Dorumon, but he was panting heavily.

"Agunimon, stop, you're in no condition to fight!" Andy spoke up in worry.

"Dorumon had a point though…" Agunimon replied. "Even if I am in no shape to fight, it is still my duty as a Legendary Warrior to protect, and I will do just that."

Phantom gave a look of awe and concern for Agunimon when he said that. However, before they could do anything, there was a sudden crash. A familiar looking silver and green vehicle had just crashed through the wall, and was charging towards Vlad. Phantom quickly grabbed onto Andy and Dorumon before dissipating the barrier and flew up before the Assault Vehicle could run them over. Agunimon managed to jump out of the way in time before it ran him over.

However, the act of doing that caused Agunimon to collapse to his hands and knees, the exhaustion making him pant even more now. Sweat was running down the exposed parts of his face and he felt dizzy.

Agunimon could hear the Assault Vehicle firing several different weapons at both Vlad and Devidramon. The weapons did some damage, but it mostly annoyed the two of them. Devidramon hissed before fractal code surrounded him, though instead of digivolving to the next level, he degenerated back to Tsukaimon.

What is he doing? The Warrior of Flame thought.

"You know, this is getting a bit too noisy," Vlad hissed before he fired a ghost ray at the Assault Vehicle's tires, causing it to go out of control.

The Assault Vehicle crashed into another wall and out of the room. Vlad landed beside Tsukaimon before he summoned his black rings, changing back into a human. "Tsukaimon, I do believe it's time to show these boys what they're potentially missing out on, hmm?"

"Yes, let's do it." Tsukaimon smirked as Vlad took out his D-Arc.

"Huh? What's going on?" Phantom asked as he put Dorumon and Andy down.

Then all their minds were shocked into silence when they saw what happened next.

Vlad held up his D-Arc before light covered his body, holding the D-Arc close to his chest. He and Tsukaimon then drifted on top of one another as they both became data.

"Tsukaimon...Bio-merge to…"

A form appeared in black shadow before 10 bat-like wings came out of the shadows. The shadows seemed to become silver armor that had green accents, along with yellow and red parts to it as well. A clawed hand was in front of the form's face as two faces appeared over it, that of Devidramon and another form that had a goatlike face. Then the hand was removed as it showed a face that was covered by armor, and the symbol on it was an X-like mark. The form landed, flaring its 10 wings and speaking its name. "ShadowSerpahimon!"

"What…" Phantom started.

"The…" Andy added.

"HELL!?" Both of them shouted at the same time in pure and utter shock.

Not too far away from them, Agunimon was in pure shock. He hadn't expected to see that form again since… well, ever! He was shaking now, and his breath was coming in quick and shallow.

Dorumon glared as his gem glowed. Andy snapped out of his shock when he heard his D-Arc beeping, he looked at it, seeing a holographic screen appearing.

"ShadowSeraphimon is a Seraph Digimon. It has ten bat wings and wields power directed toward evil," Andy read. "Not much is known about it though…"

"Andy… be very careful…" Agunimon finally said, his voice hoarse with pure fright. "This guy is super strong… He's a Mega Form level."

At that, Andy paled, and so did Dorumon.

I… I remember now… this guy… was in my nightmare! Andy realized.

"Did Vlad just… fuse with his Digimon partner?" Phantom asked in shock before he looked at Andy and Dorumon. "Can't you two do that?"

"No! We can't!" Andy groaned.

"We didn't even know it was possible to do that…" Dorumon said, his eyes glued to ShadowSeraphimon's form.

"This is what you could achieve, if you would just work with me, Daniel. Same goes for you, Andrew," ShadowSeraphimon stated in a deep voice. "Human and Digimon can merge to become one. Ghost and Digimon can work together. With this, the barrier between our worlds does not need to stay up anymore."

Agunimon was shocked when he heard that. The barrier between worlds, what did that mean? Did he mean the barrier between this world and the Digital One or did he mean more?

Dorumon shivered at the sight of ShadowSeraphimon. "We can't possibly win against someone like that…"

Maddie, Jack, and Harriet all came out of the RV, they were looking disoriented, but they looked up at the dark angel Digimon in shock.

"Is that… a ghost?" Maddie asked. "It doesn't look like a ghost."

Andy looked over at Maddie for a moment, before remembering something about Vlad. He put his hand on Phantom's shoulder before he whispered. "Listen… there are times when fighting won't help us. We are clearly outmatched right now. It would be best to… make negotiations with Vlad."

"How could we negotiate anything with this… Digimon, human, halfa hybrid thing?" Phantom asked frantically.

"Calm down. Remember, Vlad still likes Mom. We know who he is, but our family doesn't," Andy informed. "Show you don't care about your secret being exposed, because he clearly has more to lose if you expose him than if he exposes you."

Phantom remembered that and gave his brother a look. "You sure, bro?"

Andy nodded. "At this point, we don't have much to lose."

ShadowSeraphimon looked over at Maddie before he reached out a hand. Maddie yelped before her body was lifted from the ground and she was brought to ShadowSeraphimon's hands.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Maddie shouted.

Agunimon saw his aunt in ShadowSeraphimon's hands and felt himself getting to his feet. He knew there was a chance he could get hurt or worse, but he had to do something. He rushed at ShadowSeraphimon, intending on catching the evil Digimon by surprise. Just don't pay attention to me… Stay focused on my aunt please...

"Never again, woman," ShadowSeraphimon said to Maddie.

Phantom and Andy looked at Agunimon for a moment before they looked at each other and nodded. Phantom picked up Andy. Dorumon looked back at them before he started running forward as Phantom flew with Andy towards ShadowSeraphimon. ShadowSeraphimon turned to the two boys who were coming at him.

"Andy!?" Maddie asked in shock, seeing a ghost was carrying her son towards the fallen angel Digimon.

From behind, Agunimon jumped up and pushed off the wall in his rush at ShadowSeraphimon. "Let her go!" He drew back a fist and thrust it forwards towards the fallen angel Digimon's back.

The punch caused a bit of a shockwave back at Agunimon, ShadowSeraphimon looked like he barely even felt it. However, as he turned to Agunimon, Dorumon jumped and tackled ShadowSeraphimon's leg. ShadowSeraphimon kicked the little Rookie Digimon away, but it was enough for Andy and Phantom to reach Maddie. Andy grabbed onto his mother with a hug. Before Maddie could even ask, Phantom turned them both intangible before pulling Maddie away from ShadowSeraphimon's hold.

Seeing that, Agunimon knew he was safe to use his element now. Taking the chance, his left foot became engulfed in flames and he spun around, kicking the evil Digimon with a back kick in the stomach.

"Insects… you are all… insects…" ShadowSeraphimon growled darkly as a dark aura began to engulf him.

Seven dark balls of energy began to form around ShadowSeraphimon. Agunimon's eyes widened in horror as he recognized that attack.

Fuck! Agunimon swore mentally. I'm not even Fusion-evolved! And Andy and Phantom won't survive it! Nor will Dorumon!

"Strike of the Seven Dark Stars!"

Everything was suddenly engulfed with darkness, hot energy of darkness began to fire, destroying the entire room. Luckily, the room had been evacuated at this point, unluckily, Agunimon, Phantom, Andy, Dorumon, Maddie, Jack, and Harriet were still in the room.

When the attack was over, Agunimon realized he wasn't injured. He dared to open his eyes to see if anyone else was unfortunate enough to get hit. He gasped when he saw Danny, human Danny, Andy, and Dorumon lying on the ground. Dorumon's fractal code was showing. Maddie was uninjured, but she was unconscious, likely due to the shock. Jack and Harriet were in the Assault Vehicle when the attack rained down on them, so they were fine.

Looking back at ShadowSeraphimon, Agunimon wasn't sure if that was a warning shot or if he was just playing around with them. He fell into a fighting stance just in case it was the latter scenario.

ShadowSeraphimon floated towards Maddie and the boys, seeming to have no interest in Agunimon. Andy and Danny were still awake, and they glared up at ShadowSeraphimon.

"Maddie! Kids!" Jack shouted as he ran out of the Assault Vehicle.

Acting quickly, Agunimon jumped in front of Jack, blocking his path. Of course, the Digimon's back was to Jack's face, but it didn't matter. He had to keep Jack from attempting something that was dangerous.

"Hey! Get out of my way! My family needs me!" Jack shouted.

"This guy's too dangerous." Agunimon snapped back. "You could get killed by him!" And I hope Andy and Danny have a plan before I have to take action myself.

Danny shakily stood up as Andy picked up a sharp debris piece that fell in front of him, and a rock. He started to scratch the surface of the rock with the debris. Dorumon groaned as he opened his eyes, his fractal code still showing.

"Do you really think you can still fight back, little badger?" ShadowSeraphimon questioned Danny.

"Listen… I swear that I will transform right now and expose us both… unless you agree to a truce," Danny spoke up.

"Hah! As if you could. If Jack sees you, I will simply kill him. Harriet wouldn't be too hard to silence either," ShadowSeraphimon pointed out. "And your mother is unconscious. You have nothing over me, little badger."

Dorumon had an iron ball on the rock Andy scratched something on. Then Dorumon's gem glowed as the iron ball melted onto the rock, then the melted iron moved over to Maddie. As soon as it touched Maddie, she suddenly opened her eyes and gasped.

Agunimon heard his aunt gasp as she woke up, but he didn't react. He was too focused on keeping Jack from going over to help them. He hated to do that, but it was best for everyone.

Danny looked over at his now awake Mom, who was looking at Danny and Andy in shock and worry. ShadowSeraphimon could see the love of his life was now awake, and staring in shock and horror.

"... As I was saying… my mom would love me, no matter what. But if I exposed you… and if you kill or hurt me right now in front of her… what do you think she would do?" Danny asked.

Even though it wasn't seen, Agunimon imagined ShadowSeraphimon was looking a bit worried now. I see what he's doing. Danny's using Vlad's love for Aunt Maddie against him. Clever… I can see why the Fentons are known as the family of geniuses.

"Using your opponent's weaknesses against him… I am teaching you something after all. Very well… truce, but eventually I will have you by choice, you, your brother, and your mother. But for now…" ShadowSeraphimon flew up. "I will see you next time."

With that said, ShadowSeraphimon flew through one of the several holes in the wall outside. With the danger now gone, Danny fell back down to the ground.

"Danny! Andy! What happened? Are you two okay? Oh my babies…" Maddie grabbed Andy and Danny into a tight hug.

"Maddie! Boys!" Jack ran past Agunimon, who no longer had a reason to stop him anymore, and hurried over to his family. Dorumon stayed still, not wanting them to freak out over him.

Agunimon sighed before he felt the exhaustion finally catch up to him. Against his will, his Digimon form dispersed into data, leaving him as a human once more. Thankfully, he was sure nobody saw that as they were too distracted. Harriet was trying to get out of the Assault Vehicle. Takuya managed to stagger over to his family.

"Andy, Danny! Are you two okay?" Takuya asked in concern. It was partially a cover up, but it was also out of real concern too.

"We're fine… sort of…" Danny groaned.

"I don't think I want to stand for a week…" Andy grumbled.

"We should get you boys to a hospital." Maddie frowned. "That angel… creature could've done some serious damage."

"N-no!" Danny quickly spoke up. "No… we're okay, Mom, really, just some cuts and bruises, that's all."

Takuya looked back at his aunt. "Are you okay, Aunt Maddie? Did that… thing hurt you?"

"No… no, I'm alright, but… what was it? It wasn't a ghost… I don't think…" Maddie frowned.

"Something we'll have to look into when we get home, Mads," Jack said softly. "We better prepare ourselves for if more of those non-ghost creatures decide to attack again."

Takuya felt his face pale at hearing that. "Um… are you sure about that? What if there are similar creatures that aren't harmful?"

"This… isn't up for discussion right now, Takuya," Maddie said.

Takuya pouted at that.

"This is so exciting!" Harriet spoke up, writing frantically in her notepad as she was out of the RV now. "Ghosts, real ghosts! And monsters! This will make your career, and mine!"

"Uh… you sure about that?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harriet paused at Andy's question. She looked down in thought before she realized he had a point. "Oh… Well… even if I can't publish this, it is still something exciting that I got to witness."

"I'll go get Jazz," Jack spoke up. "Then we should leave before something else happens. I just hope Vlad is okay too."

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: You will know if you watched Frontier. :3

DarkFoxKit: As for the dream… maaaaaybe, maybe not, you'll have to see.

Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Yup, I like that someone picked up on that, how both Tucker and Vlad are jealous of their best friend, or in Vlad's case, his former best friend. Though for vastly different reasons.

ZAFT: Tell me about it. I didn't pick up on that at all. ^^'

DarkFoxKit: It's usually one of those things you don't pick up on until someone else points it out. Hope you will continue to enjoy the chapters to come.