DarkFoxKit: *Is humming a familiar song*
ZAFT: What are you humming?
DarkFoxKit: Oh… let's just say… I remember her name! Do you remember her name?
ZAFT: Ember!
Andy: Hey! Don't you start talking about Ember now, you're not even on that chapter yet! So calm the heck down about it before you start spouting spoilers!
DarkFoxKit: You're just mad that you don't get to hear her awesome music for a few more chapters.
ZAFT: She does have catchy music. :)
Andy: *Rolls eyes* I'm going to be in the sanity corner while you two have fun with your music. But you should get the chapter up before you forget.
DarkFoxKit: Oh? But it hasn't been two weeks yet, has it? It's only been one. Hmmmm, a little surprised, readers?
ZAFT: I know I was when I got your PM, but who am I to be complaining? :)
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, well my main co-writer, Onyx, hasn't been in a writing mood lately. So while she's taking a break, I figured I might as well be a little more productive and continue writing this with you. And since I'm on early, I figured we could just update the next chapter today instead of waiting for another week.
ZAFT: I hope Onyx feels like writing again soon. Writer's block or losing the desire to write is never fun.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I think she mostly just feels burnt out though. Hopefully she'll be able to get back into the swing of things before too long. Anyways, let's get on with the chapter!
ZAFT: You got it! :D
Chapter 16: Vital Discussions
Andy had never been glad to be in the Fenton Assault Vehicle until that night. After ShadowSeraphimon left them alone, everyone gathered up their things, packed up, and went into the Fenton RV before leaving the mansion. Jack did try to say goodbye to Vlad, but Vlad just ignored him. Jazz didn't know what happened, but she did see cuts on Andy, and bruises on Danny. She put some healing cream on them to help with their injuries. Andy managed to convince Maddie that they didn't need to go to a hospital, though Maddie was going to keep a close eye on them for the next few days when they got back home.
Dorumon was Dorimon currently, resting in Andy's arms while Andy, Danny, Takuya, and Jazz all sat in the back. Jazz was frowning.
"I still wish you would all tell me what happened." Jazz frowned. "You don't just get cuts and bruises from falling down the stairs."
"It can happen." Andy replied with a shrug. "I just didn't see where I was going and Danny tried to stop me, only to come down with me."
Jazz didn't buy it, but it was hard to deny it was impossible too, as people had gotten injured from that too. "Fine… but when I wake up in the morning, I'll be putting more cream on you."
"Thanks, Jazz," Andy said gratefully, the cream definitely helped with his cuts.
"Hey, you and Danny are my little brothers, I've got to look out for you two," Jazz remarked before she walked over to one of the seats that was stretched out like a hammock or a small bed, then laid down on it.
Takuya had conked out, so he was basically out like a light. Although he did have a few cuts of his own, as those had been sustained in his Digimon form, it meant they were less severe now that he was back as a human. His hand was near his stomach though, almost clenching it because of a slight burn, unseen due to his suit, he had there.
While Takuya and Jazz were asleep, Danny and Andy decided to have a private conversation with each other and Dorimon.
"So… Vlad is half ghost…" Andy remarked quietly. "And so are you…"
"... Yeah… but… Vlad has a Digimon partner… and so do you," Danny said back. "Does that mean you could eventually fuse with your Digimon?"
"I don't know… does that mean you could eventually become as scary looking as Vlad?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm just as much in the dark about this as you are, bro…"
Danny sighed. "I guess we will have to figure this out as we go since we don't know much about this whole thing yet."
Dorimon looked up. "That was scary."
"Yeah… it certainly was… we were no match for Vlad, or his Digimon partner," Andy sighed. "The only reason we walked out of this battle breathing and in one piece was because of Vlad's love for Mom."
Danny nodded. "Yeah. I hate having to use that against him, but we had no choice. It was that or we get hurt or worse."
"When you're in a life or death situation, you do what you have to do," Andy said. "There isn't much of a way around that."
Dorimon yawned. "I want to sleep…"
"Go ahead and sleep then, buddy, you deserve it," Andy replied softly, gently stroking the little Digimon's head.
Dorimon nodded and conked out as soon as his eyes closed.
Danny gave a worried look to Andy. "Are you alright, bro? You look… kind of troubled."
"I'm just… not really sure about a lot of things right now," Andy sighed. "I mean barely an hour ago, I just discovered my brother is a ghost… half ghost, but still… does that mean you did actually die in that accident? What does being a half ghost do to a person's body or psyche? How will it affect you later on down the road?"
"That's…" Danny frowned.
"And not to mention there's a lot of things about Digimon I don't understand either. How is it possible for a non digital entity like a human being can fuse with a Digimon? Or become a Digimon in general? Am I really holding back Dorimon from his full potential? What if when Dorimon does digivolve? Would he lose control of himself and become a monster? Would it be my fault?" Andy sighed again. "I'm sorry, bro… I guess you revealing your secret to me just caused more questions than answers."
Danny sighed. "It's okay, bro." He put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "We'll figure this all out together. You, me, Dorimon… We'll figure this stuff out as a team."
Andy looked at Danny, he noticed that Danny's hand was cold, another reminder that his brother wasn't all human anymore. But instead of showing his unease, he gave a small smile to Danny. "Thanks, bro… I'm just glad you and I don't have such secrets to hide from each other anymore." Except for Takuya… I have to leave it up to Takuya for when he wants to tell Danny. Then there's Dash...
Danny smiled back. "No problem, Andy. After all, we're brothers, twins even. And we need to stick together." Then he sighed. "And… I'm sorry I pushed you away after the accident. I just was scared you would think of me as a freak if you knew about my ghost powers."
"A freak? No… A boy with the ability to fight off other super powered entities? Probably yes," Andy chuckled. "Seriously, you're like something out of a superhero comic or something."
"So I'm like Superman?" Danny asked with a cheeky grin.
"Nah, Superman can't turn invisible or go through solid matter," Andy replied. "But I will say… while I don't think you're a freak, you are… unique. I mean how many people can say they're half ghost and half human?"
"Aside from Vlad?" Danny winced at the man's name.
Andy frowned, he realized the implication that came with that. The fact that only, so far, Vlad was half ghost like Danny meant that only Vlad could truly understand what Danny was going through and will go through in the future. There were no other half human and half ghosts that they knew of. Which meant a lot of things that would happen to Danny will be compared to Vlad. They had little answers to go off of with Danny's unique status, and they had no idea if Danny would eventually turn out like Vlad or not.
"Vlad is… Vlad. You're you, just because you're both half ghosts doesn't mean you'll be exactly the same," Andy finally said. "Vlad was carrying a lot of bitterness and resentment that became hate. Hate would corrupt anyone, no matter if they were human, ghost, Digimon, or something in-between. You don't have that, so I doubt you'll turn out like him just because you're half ghost."
Danny smiled a bit. Andy's words made him feel a bit better. "Thanks, bro…"
"Now how about we let our tired bodies and minds rest for the night?" Andy suggested before yawning. "Like you said before; we can figure all this stuff out as we go."
Danny nodded. "Good idea, bro. Takuya is already out, and so are Jazz and Dorimon. Let's join them."
The two brothers laid down on the backseat as there was plenty of room for them to stretch out their bodies, though they were a little bit cramped with each other, neither of them wanted to let the other go at the moment. Andy was still worried about Danny's half ghost status and what it could mean, while Danny was more worried about Andy's mental state.
Soon, sleep came to claim the twins, and they fell into its comforting embrace. Maddie looked back at everyone else from her passenger seat while Jack was driving, she couldn't help but smile a bit to see the twins were bonding again.
"Jack, it looks like the reunion wasn't a total disaster. Danny and Andy are bonding again. I was getting worried about them when they started drifting apart since the accident," Maddie whispered to her husband.
Jack smiled at hearing that. "It seems it was a good idea to bring the kids then after all." His voice was not the booming tone it always seemed to be now, as he didn't want to wake them up. "But I still can't but feel bad about what happened. First that ghost takes over me like a human meat puppet, then that weird angel monster thing appears and takes you away, and hurt our children, and Vlad was so mad that he didn't even say goodbye…"
Maddie gave Jack a reassuring smile. "Hey, at least you had fun, right? And I would say that our college days are only one part of us. Who we became from that time is more important. If you can still be a handsome ghost-butt kicking adult even though you were a bit of a goof in college, then that says something."
Jack gave a smile. "Thanks Mads, you always know what to say. What did I do to deserve a loving wife like you?~"
Maddie giggled at that. "Just being your goofy self."
The next morning, the family stopped at a restaurant to eat breakfast together. It was a Pancake House, a place that was usually open 24 hours a day for travelers and locals to enjoy at any time.
Takuya was sitting beside Andy and Danny, and he was hungry. Then again, my evolution can take quite a bit of my energy...
Andy had Dorimon on his lap again, and was slipping him some pancake bits every now and then too. Danny was doing the same since he was sitting beside Andy and now knew that Dorimon was a living creature who needed to eat as well, he also liked Dorimon.
While Jack was stuffing his face with stacks of pancakes, and Maddie was eating her own set of eggs and bacon, Jazz was reading a book while eating her own food.
Takuya looked over at Andy for a moment, he had been wanting to ask Andy something since their confrontation with ShadowSeraphimon last night.
"Hey, Andy…? Can I ask you a question?" Takuya asked as he looked at his cousin.
Andy and Danny looked at Takuya curiously. Realizing this may be a private conversation Takuya wanted, Andy looked at Danny.
"Hey, bro, do you need to use the bathroom? You did just eat a lot of spices with your eggs earlier," Andy asked.
Danny looked confused, but then saw how Takuya was looking at Andy and realized what Andy wanted. "Oh! Uh… Yeah. I think I do." He then got up and left to go to the bathroom, leaving Andy and Takuya alone.
Since Danny was the only person who had been close to Andy and paying the slightest bit of attention to them, Takuya figured it was safe to whisper his question to Andy now. "Andy… did you meet ShadowSeraphimon beforehand? There's no way you could have known who he was so quickly if you hadn't."
"I haven't met him before, and I only knew him because Dorumon scanned him," Andy shrugged.
"No… I mean… how did you see him in your dream before we even got to Vlad's castle?" Takuya clarified.
Andy blinked before frowning. "... I… honestly don't know… I even saw Vlad's ghost form, and Tsukaimon in the dream as well before we even met them. It's not the first time I've seen people or ghosts in my dream before I saw them though…"
"It isn't?" Takuya asked in surprise.
"Before you came to our house, I had a dream about you and your spirits, remember?" Andy pointed out.
Takuya did remember that. "Yeah… that is true. But… wait, how? That doesn't make any sense. I mean you'd have to be a psychic or something to have dreams like that."
Andy shrugged. "Maybe my mind's creativity just got extremely lucky with these figures? I sure as heck know I'm not psychic."
Takuya sighed. "Okay… I think we should worry about that later as we don't know much about it. Right now, we have more pressing issues, like Vlad and Tsukaimon." He then frowned at the memory of the little Rookie level Digimon.
"Oh yeah, you said you knew Tsukaimon before," Andy remembered. "He was that Patamon Digimon who hatched with your two travelling Digimon companions, right?"
"Yeah… He was." Takuya confirmed. "But somehow, he became corrupted. It could have been Cherubimon, or it could have been something else, I don't know."
"It is a high possibility that Cherubimon corrupted him, from what you told me, that giant rabbit Digimon likely got influenced by a remnant of Lucemon's darkness, and that Cherubimon went to go find Seraphimon, and there was apparently a big fight where they were before they disappeared," Andy noted.
"That could be." Takuya agreed. "But we can't make assumptions on that either. Remember, Ophanimon checked that area out herself, but there was no evidence to point to that being the case, or anything else."
"True, there are possibilities, but until we get the full story, all we have are theories at the moment," Andy stated.
Takuya nodded. "Did Danny figure anything out about Dorimon yet? I mean, I wasn't there and had gone to stop Vlad myself when you told me to."
Andy hesitated from that, he knew Takuya would've asked eventually, but he hadn't thought of if he should tell Takuya about Danny's secret. Andy looked down at Dorimon for a moment, who gave Andy an encouraging nod.
"Well… while I was trying to get Danny out of that cube he was in, he did ask me about Dorimon," Andy admitted. "And then… he told me his secret, the secret he's been keeping from us since the accident. And after that, he asked me about my secret. I did tell him, so he knows about Dorimon now, and Digimon in general. But don't worry, I didn't tell him your secret. I decided that it was up to you if you wanted to tell him or not."
Takuya blinked, surprised that Danny knew, but it was also thoughtful of Andy to let him decide on whether or not to tell his own secret. "I'm glad that you two got it settled, and thanks for keeping my secret, Andy."
Andy nodded. "Of course. Dorimon is my secret, like how Agunimon and BurningGreymon are your secrets."
Takuya then realized Andy hadn't specified what Danny's secret was. "So… what is Danny's secret?"
"As I've said before, I decided that I didn't tell Danny your secret since it's your secret, and not mine. Just like Danny's secret is his secret. Perhaps if you really want to know, you could trade your secret for his like he did with me, but you must ask him, not me," Andy stated.
Takuya frowned at that, but decided it was best to not pry. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind."
"Don't worry though, if I feel Danny's life depends on it or something equally as drastic, I'll tell you," Andy promised. "But the same goes for you if your life depends on it. I'm not going to let your identity secrets get you killed if I can prevent it."
"That sounds fair enough." Takuya agreed. "I can live with that."
The rest of the trip home was pretty relaxing. Despite the cramps that Dorimon got from having to sit in the RV for 4 days again, he was glad he didn't have to stay as still as when they went to Wisconsin since Danny is in the know now, and usually only Danny paid them any mind anyways, so Dorimon was free to move and stretch a little when Maddie, Jack, and Jazz weren't paying attention, which was often since Maddie and Jack usually sat in the front, while Jazz was keeping herself busy with her school projects and books.
Takuya was busy with his D-Tector, messing around with it as he had thoughts running through his mind. He then looked back at Andy and Danny playing with Dorimon. He smiled at seeing that. It was good to see the twins being close again, and that Danny seemed to enjoy playing with Dorimon. Though Takuya wondered if he should tell Danny about his own secret or not.
Still, he decided to let that come on its own time. I think I'll just let Danny come to me with his secret on his own time. Then I will tell Danny when I am ready as well.
When the Fenton Assault Vehicle pulled up into Fenton Works, everyone brought in their things and began to unpack. When Takuya was alone in his room, he decided to call up his friends to update them on what was going on. They also needed to know what happened to Seraphimon.
It didn't take long for him to get a hold of one of the twins, Koichi this time. The symbol of Darkness appeared on his D-Tector's screen. "Koichi? It's Takuya."
"Oh, Takuya. What's been going on?" Koichi asked, sounding surprised to hear from Takuya again.
"Listen, I know where Seraphimon is." Takuya replied. "And I don't think you will like it."
"Seraphimon? Okay, tell us what you know," Koichi answered back.
Takuya began telling Koichi about Tsukaimon, how he was the corrupted version of Patamon, not only that, but Tsukaimon was also partners with a bitter, hateful man named Vlad Masters, who apparently had a ghost inside him that could shift forms. And Vlad himself can fuse with Tsukaimon to create ShadowSeraphimon.
Koichi took a moment to let all this sink in. "That… doesn't sound good at all… I also don't think this is something you should be handling on your own, Takuya. It's dangerous. Even with your cousin's Digimon's help… you're just lucky to be alive right now."
Takuya nodded. "Tell me about it. I was sure we would be hurt if not worse in the last battle." He lay back down on his bed as he said this, still looking at Koichi's image. "And I wasn't sure if I should bust out my Fusion form either."
"Even if you did… I'm not sure if Aldamon would've been able to handle this version of ShadowSeraphimon alone. Before, it was just Mercurymon using Seraphimon's data, the data didn't originally belong to Mercurymon, and Mercurymon wasn't used to using Seraphimon's form. But this is the original Seraphimon, and he fused with a powerful man who apparently has a powerful ghost inside him as well," Koichi noted.
"True, but at least I would have had a better chance of fighting if it came to that." Takuya pointed out. "Fusion is stronger than Beast Spirit. But you do have a point too." He could concede to that.
"Did you see any traces of Cherubimon while you were at Wisconsin?" Koichi asked.
"No. There was no sign of him there." Takuya sighed. "It was like he wasn't even there. Tsukaimon was the only Digimon who was there, aside from Dorimon."
"I see… What intrigues me is that this Vlad guy has a ghost inside him and can also fuse with his Digimon. It's like how we're able to fuse with our Spirits and turn into Digimon ourselves…" Koichi noted.
"Oh, there is also more I need to warn you about," Takuya spoke up. "You have to be extra careful when fighting with ghosts. Their attacks do double the damage against Digimon, and vice versa, we can do double the damage back at ghosts."
Koichi seemed surprised. "Ghosts can hurt us as Digimon? Yikes! That doesn't sound good."
"Believe me, it isn't good." Takuya agreed grimly.
Koichi was silent for a moment, then suddenly, Takuya heard a different voice on his D-Tector. "I don't like how this is starting to sound, Takuya. This shouldn't be something you should face on your own."
Takuya recognized the voice as Koji. "Hey, Koji. And yeah, I know. Your brother was saying the same thing." He couldn't help but chuckle at how the twin Warriors seemed to say the same thing.
"Koichi and I have been discussing on what we should do. We also managed to meet up with J.P., Tommy, and Zoe a little while ago," Koji informed. "And we've decided on what we should do."
"What do you have in mind?" Takuya asked as he sat up from laying down on the bed.
"Let's just say we would like to keep it as a surprise," Koji responded.
Takuya blinked, but he smiled. "Only you would keep something a secret." He had a teasing tone to his voice. Then it faded as he became serious. "I will try to keep you informed as we learn more."
"We hope to hear from you again soon," Koichi's voice spoke up. "Keep an eye out for this Vlad Masters guy, and Tsukaimon. And also for Cherubimon in case he's involved with this somehow."
Takuya nodded. "Okay. I will." The line went dead as his D-Tector fell beside him. Takuya sighed as he placed his head in his hands for a moment. I feel like something big is coming, but I don't know what it is. Ah well… We'll just take it one day at a time, I suppose. He removed his head from his hands and stood up. Maybe I can see what my cousins are up to.
Takuya got up from his bed that he had been laying on while he was talking to Koichi and Koji, and headed for the door. He walked over to the twins' door and knocked on it.
Danny opened the door. "Oh, hey Takuya, what's up?"
"I just wanted to see what you guys were doing." Takuya replied with a shrug. "And see how Dorimon is doing too."
"Oh, Andy and I were just talking about going to the park to have the little guy run around," Danny said, smiling. "We can make up an excuse and say he's a rare breed of a dog or something so people don't freak out when they see him."
Takuya grinned at that. "Before Andy told you about Dorimon, he actually did that same trick. It was very easy to pull off since Dorimon is so small."
"Yeah, it's why I'm glad I was able to degenerate him," Andy spoke up. "If he was kept in his Rookie form, it would be much harder to explain to people about a purple fox creature standing on two legs, with a gem on its forehead, and two small bat-like wings on its back."
Takuya chuckled. "I suppose Andy showed you how he does that?"
"Yeah, he showed me the cards and how his D-Arc works, or at least what he's figured out with it," Danny chuckled. "It looks interesting. Tucker might have a heart attack if he saw it."
"I don't doubt that!" Takuya remarked with a grin. He would really have one if he found out what I can do though...
"You know what I'm not looking forward to though?" Andy asked. "The massive amount of make-up work we have for school."
Takuya gave a cringe at that. "Yeah… And I'm not either, especially given how I'm not as familiar with some of the subjects as you two are."
Danny pat Takuya on the shoulder. "Well, we can all work together to make up for our assignments. Maybe Jazz can help out too, she's really good with this book stuff."
"That would be called booksmarts, Danny," Andy chuckled.
Takuya grinned. "She isn't a genius for nothing~" It was a joke.
Both Danny and Andy gave looks of self consciousness, however, which made Takuya realize both of them felt like the black sheeps of the Fenton family due to not being geniuses themselves.
"Oh… Sorry guys. Bad joke…" Takuya muttered, feeling embarrassed.
"It's fine, Takuya, we just wish we were as smart as she is, because then school would be so much easier," Danny sighed. "Then I can get Mr. Lancer off my case a little. Out of all the teachers, Mr. Lancer is definitely the most strict."
"He's also probably the most active teacher ever, like seriously, he would substitute and take over for any other teacher at any time," Andy pointed out. "But yeah, having a genius mind in school would definitely make things easier."
Then Andy frowned. "Or… maybe not. Jazz can be… a basketcase if something goes wrong for her."
Takuya gave a wince. "Yeah… I remember that well…" There was one time Jazz had thought she had done something wrong on a test when it had actually been a prank by someone else, hiding her real score, and Jazz had panicked, almost losing it mentally.
"We've gotta talk to Jazz one day about that," Danny sighed.
"Yeah, but for now, let's go to the park and just relax, I feel we deserve that after that 'family vacation' disaster," Andy chuckled.
Takuya nodded. "Sure. It would be good to get Dorimon out and about too." He then gave a look at the little guy. "I think he wants to run now, actually."
It took the Fenton children and Takuya a few days to catch up on their school work. Takuya had a much easier time when Andy and Danny helped him out with it. Jazz was also an excellent tutor, likely from the experience from tutoring Dash, she told Takuya he was easier to work with since he knew some of this stuff already, rather than having to start from scratch like she had to do with Dash. Dash wasn't an idiot, but he hadn't had the proper teaching from his parents, and his teachers weren't teaching him in a way that he could understand.
During that Thursday evening, Danny and Andy were working on their math homework, which was a subject they both struggled in.
"Takuya… how good are you at math?" Andy asked his cousin.
"I'm fairly good at it. Why?" Takuya asked as he looked over at Andy.
"Danny and I have been struggling with this particular math question," Andy said.
"Yeah, take a look," Danny stated before holding out the text book for Takuya.
Takuya looked at the problem they were doing, and furrowed his eyebrows a bit.
"I think I can help, but just to be sure, maybe we should ask Uncle Jack since he is more the mathematical mind. It seems a bit advanced for me." Takuya replied at last as he gave a look of apology to the twins.
"Oh yeah, Dad may not seem too bright most of the time, but he is a math genius," Andy noted.
"Yeah, he kind of has to be with the stuff he and Mom have been inventing," Danny chuckled.
The three boys made their way down to the lab, where Jack was actually working on a new kind of vehicle, one that had been in the works for a while now.
"Hey, Dad, could we ask you a question?" Danny requested, holding the textbook.
Jack looked back with a grin. "About the Specter Speeder?"
Andy had to wonder if that was the name of the vehicle, it couldn't be anything else. Jack then grinned even more as he took Danny and Andy, who had been, foolishly, standing right next to Danny, shoving them into the 'Specter Speeder'. Both twins gave a grunt each, Andy smooshed against Danny, who was pressed against the cockpit glass.
"Dad, we just wanted to ask a math question," Andy groaned.
Jack didn't listen, instead he started going on about how the Specter Speeder was made to traverse through the ghostly world of the Ghost Zone because it can hover and fly.
"And it's even got a cupholder!" Jack smiled proudly as he had a large cup sized cup holder pop out.
Takuya, who was outside the Specter Speeder, frowned as he saw this occurring. Okay, I know Uncle Jack likes to explain his inventions, but it can get to be a bit much sometimes...
He then heard familiar footsteps, ones that sounded lighter than his own. Looking back, Takuya saw his aunt, Maddie, coming down into the lab.
"Jack, honey!" Maddie called out, getting Jack's attention.
Jack came out of the Specter Speeder to see what his wife wanted. "Yes?"
"It's getting awfully late," Maddie stated. "Do you think that maybe there's something you may have forgotten about today?"
"Today?" Jack asked in a confused manner.
"About today's date?" Maddie continued. "Of September 9th?"
Jack began to mutter the word "ninth" over and over again, trying to jog his memories, but to no avail. "Nope, still not ringing a bell."
Andy was further away from the door than Danny was, but he was trying to signal Jack about what today meant. He even ripped out one of his pages from the notepad he usually carried around with him and wrote in big letters "ANNIVERSARY", but Jack didn't look in his direction. All Andy did was wave around frantically until he and Dorimon fell on Danny's lap facefirst.
"Oof!" Andy groaned as Dorimon gave a small yelp and fell onto the seat. "Okay… I won't be doing that again…"
"Ouch…" Dorimon moaned softly.
"Heh… I didn't think my lap was that comfortable for you, bro," Danny teased.
Andy grumbled.
Maddie, however, was pretty furious about the fact that Jack couldn't figure it out. Takuya could see the anger in her eyes despite wearing her red goggles. "Our… anniversary, dear… oh well, I guess it just slipped your mind…"
Maddie gritted her teeth as she started to shake a little, before she finally popped. "FOR THE EIGHTEENTH YEAR IN A ROW!"
Takuya gave a grimace as he covered his ears at her shout. Yep, Uncle Jack did it again...
Maddie banged her fist on the Specter Speeder's right thruster, which caused it to activate and push it forward, right into the open Fenton Ghost Portal, with the twins and Dorimon inside the Specter Speeder. Takuya paled when he saw that, though Jack and Maddie were too busy arguing to notice.
"NO!" He shouted, but he couldn't reach the Specter Speeder in time, and it sped into the open Ghost Portal. Takuya could only stand there and watch helplessly as his twin cousins and Dorimon were sent into the Ghost Zone, hopefully not on a one-way trip either.
Danny was screaming when he saw they were taken into the Ghost Zone. Andy was on the floor since he rolled off of Danny's lap when the Specter Speeder suddenly moved.
"What are you screaming about?" Andy asked.
Dorimon hopped up onto the seat and stood on his hind legs. "Uh… did the lab turn green… gooey… and uh… scary looking in the last 2 minutes?"
"The heck are you talking abo-" Andy began to ask as he pushed himself back up onto the seat before seeing exactly what Dorimon was talking and what had Danny all freaked out.
Andy felt his face pale as he saw the lab was no longer around them. Instead, there were doors everywhere, green, gooey stuff dripping all around, and almost formless shapes swirling around and screeching every now and then.
"Oh…" Andy murmured, sort of scared and yet amazed at the same time.
There was a sudden formless neon green ghost with a pair of red eyes, and a mouth, flying past them, making the stereotypical 'OoOoOo' sound as it flew by.
"... Suddenly I feel like we're in a haunted house at an amusement park…" Andy commented.
"Well this is real, and it ain't no haunted house! It's a haunted ZONE!" Danny yelled, completely freaked out.
"How is that you're more freaked out about this than I am? You're the one who's half ghost here," Andy questioned.
"Being half ghost is not the same as this place!" Danny countered as he pointed out at the green scenery around the Specter Speeder.
Andy frowned a little as he looked around the black and green place, and the creepy ghosts that were flying by. I wonder if this is what it looks like inside Danny now that he's half ghost… is his blood green or half green? Or is it mixed with red?
"I don't like this place…" Dorimon shivered. "There's so many ghosts and ectoplasm here."
"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Andy asked Danny.
"No, but I think I can figure it out." Danny replied as he grabbed the control yoke. "It can't be that hard, can it?"
Then Dorimon yelped before jumping into Andy's arms, shaking like crazy. Andy frowned at what could've spooked Dorimon before he looked up, and his eyes widened. A giant, white humanoid ghost appeared in front of them, giving them a toothy frown, and had pupiless green eyes.
"Put up the breaks!" Andy yelped.
Danny pulled back on the control yoke, making the Specter Speeder come to a hover in front of this ghost.
"Trespassing in an unauthorized vehicle. That's against the rules," The giant ghost stated in a voice that reminded the boy of a sheriff they saw on TV.
Dorimon was shivering heavily as he tried to bury his head into Andy's chest.
"Ah… We're sorry! W-we didn't know, right bro?" Danny stammered out.
"We're not from here…" Andy added, sounding as nervous as his brother. He tried to hide Dorimon as a stuffed animal by hugging him tightly.
"Ignorance of the law doesn't give you the excuse of breaking it, punks. If I see your faces around here again, you and I will have a problem," The ghost said.
"Get us out of here!" Andy hissed.
Danny didn't hesitate to throw the lever to reverse, having an idea of what to do. As quickly as it came, the Specter Speeder went into reverse, heading back to the real world and the Ghost Portal.
Takuya looked up when he saw the Specter Speeder come back all of a sudden, he was just about to jump into the Ghost Zone himself when he was able to sneak away from Maddie and Jack and spirit evolve, but the brothers were able to come back quickly.
"Get this through your head, Jack Fenton, there some things more important than hunting ghosts!" Maddie snapped before she walked away.
Danny and Andy emerged from the Specter Speeder, each shaking badly. Even Dorimon was shaken up. Takuya was concerned as he ran over to them. "Are you two okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just as shaken up by your mother's reaction as you two are," Jack said when he saw the twins shaking. "I'm going to go see if there's someway I can make it up to her."
Jack walked away from the lab, leaving the boys alone.
"G-g-ghosts… big ghost… creepy place!" Danny shivered.
"Scary… s-so scary… s-strong ghost…" Dorimon shivered as well.
"What ghost?" Takuya asked, worried now. "Did you guys see something?"
"B-big white ghost… sheriff… maybe…" Andy answered, also shivering. "Big dimension… scary, ghostly dimension…"
"So many doors!" Danny yelled.
"Hold on! What are you talking about?" Takuya asked, trying to calm the three down. "What ghost sheriff? What doors?"
They kept blabbering on about ghosts, dimensions, big sheriff, and doors. Takuya sighed and decided they needed to calm down before he could get them to talk, so he pushed the two upstairs to see if he could make them some hot chocolate or something to help calm them down.
Maddie and Jack were talking in the living room, and Jazz was in her room, so the boys had the kitchen to themselves. Takuya just finished making two mugs of hot chocolate and set it in front of the boys on the table. Takuya just gave a chocolate bar to Dorimon since he didn't think the little Digimon would be able to drink hot chocolate out of a mug.
Danny and Andy started to sip their hot chocolate while Dorimon started to munch on his chocolate bar.
"Okay… Now I want you two to calmly tell me what happened in the Ghost Zone." Takuya said once he felt certain the twins were calm enough.
"I still can't believe it… we were in the world of the dead just now…" Andy said quietly. "We were in a world where spirits go when they can't move on to the plains beyond. Is it limbo or is that the afterlife waiting for us after our own lives expire?"
Takuya frowned. Okay, Andy's out of it.
"The Ghost Zone… is really, really green… has lots of floating purple doors… and creepy ghosts flying around," Danny explained the best he could. "We ran into a really big humanoid ghost that kind of reminds me of a sheriff I saw on TV. He… claimed we were breaking a law by trespassing in an 'unauthorized vehicle' or something like that. We quickly got out by throwing the Specter Speeder in reverse… we were lucky the portal was so close."
"There was just… so much ectoplasm…" Dorimon hissed. "It was almost suffocating."
Takuya frowned at hearing this. "I would be careful about going back there if that is the case then." He didn't like what he was hearing.
"Going back? We didn't plan on going in there in the first place!" Danny yelped.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Takuya groaned. "I meant it would be best to avoid going there again even if by accident! That means no going into the Specter Speeder!"
"Can you imagine the possibilities you could find in the Ghost Zone? Is it an endless realm that keeps going on forever? Are there other entities that live there other than ghosts? How many different types of ghosts live there? Is there a culture? Are there many different types of culture? Do those doors lead to other realms? How does it affect a living being or a Digital being?" Andy kept going on and on with endless questions and speculation while in a trance, he was clearly lost in his own world.
"Andy, can you please come back to us?!" Takuya exclaimed. "Jeez… and I thought my aunt and uncle would be lost in their world if they ever see what was beyond the portal..." He felt like his head was going to explode from hearing so many questions at once. This is just like when Andy learned my secret...
"Um… I don't think Andy can hear us, cuz…" Danny muttered. "Not when he gets like this."
"Well, I definitely don't want to go back there," Dorimon said. "Ghosts are already hard to deal with in this world. I don't want to imagine how they would be on their own turf."
Takuya frowned at hearing that. "Yeah, that isn't something I want to imagine either."
Then Takuya saw the math textbook Danny put on the table and realized they were never able to ask Jack the question they had.
A groan escaped him. "Ugh… Great… We never even got to ask about that math question either…" Takuya smacked his face with his hand, rubbing his eyes with one hand slightly.
"Forget that, there's more going on here than a stupid math homework!" Andy shouted.
"Bro… easy there," Danny soothed his riled up brother.
"There's so much to discover, so much to figure out," Andy said, looking at Danny. "You are a walking mystery!"
Takuya blinked at that, while Danny gave a nervous smile.
"... Ah… sorry," Andy apologized, snapping out of his moment of freakout. "I think I just need some time to recuperate from that… experience."
Takuya looked at Danny and Dorimon as well. "I think all three of you could use some time to recover from that. We can get that homework problem done later if that is what it takes." In truth, Takuya didn't care about the problem anymore himself. He just wanted his cousins to recover from that scary experience.
What Takuya didn't know was that Jazz was peeking into the kitchen. She was getting a snack since she was feeling hungry, and she noticed the three boys were there. She stopped and watched, and she was shocked when she saw the little 'stuffed animal' that Andy had was talking and eating chocolate. They were even talking about ghosts and the Ghost Zone, which worried her.
Jazz quietly moved away from the kitchen. What… is all that about? That… animal Andy has… what is it? How is it able to talk? That's not normal!
The older sister knew something had been going on with Danny since the accident, and she knew that something had also been going on with Andy since Takuya came. She didn't think too much of it at the time because Takuya had been helping Andy since Danny's accident, so it should be a good thing, but after what happened at the reunion in Wisconsin, seeing the bruises Danny had, and the cuts Andy had, she wasn't so sure anymore. Jazz knew they were hiding something, but she was worried it could be dangerous.
That night, in the outskirts of Amity Park…
A small, shadowy figure was running through the woods. "Have… have to… keep moving… can't let… them catch me…"
There was a loud, echoic roar in the distance. The shadow figure gasped before it jumped into a bush and stayed as still as it could. Please… please leave...
There was a loud buzzing sound coming closer and closer, the rabbit-like shadowy figure did its best to remain as quiet and still as possible.
The source of the buzzing was a grey insectoid form that had four legs, and two arms that had large pincers at the ends. Four wings were on its back, and the grey shell covers were open, showing it was flying. The mouth had sharp teeth, and there were two large tusks coming from its head, which was almost insect-like in appearance. Red symbols of some kind were on its face, pincers, and lower legs in the front as well.
The giant insect monster was looking around, it flew through the trees, using its pincers to cut through most of them. The little rabbit figure waited in anxiety. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the giant insect flew away from the area.
The little rabbit creature crawled out from the bushes, showing that the creature's fur was a light brown color, it had two long floppy ears, long enough to touch the ground, it had two pink stripes on its ears, pink color on the edges of its ears, it had pink on the tip of its hands and feet. There was a pink color around its neck. The rabbit creature also had three little horns on top of its head.
"... That was too close…" The rabbit creature sighed in relief. "Ever since I came to this world… I've been unable to Digivolve… what happened to Seraphimon after we were brought to this world? Why is he sending these Digimon to chase me? I have to find a way to get stronger again before I can face him…"
The rabbit creature moved forward until he saw what looked like a city in the distance. "A city… there will be humans there… but maybe I can find someone to help me…"
The next morning at Fenton Works…
Breakfast was loud. Maddie kept yelling at Jack for forgetting about their anniversary yesterday. However, Maddie didn't stay for breakfast for very long. She grabbed her suitcase and started walking out the door. Jack gasped at seeing this before he ran over to Maddie and grabbed onto the suitcase while Maddie, surprisingly, was able to drag him out the door with her.
This worried Danny when he saw his parents fighting, he had never seen them fight like this before.
Takuya was also worried. For as long as he could remember, his aunt and uncle had loved each other very much. To see them fight like this concerned him. "Wow… I haven't seen Aunt Maddie or Uncle Jack fight like this before… ever."
"Relax, Mom is just fed up after Dad forgot their anniversary again for 18 years, that was before Danny and I, before Jazz even, was born," Andy shrugged, not seeing any reason to worry. "Just give Mom some time to cool off a bit."
"Yeah, but…" Takuya trailed off here. "Has she ever left because of that before? I don't think she has…"
Danny stood up from the table before he grabbed Andy's hand and pulled him up as well.
"H-hey!" Andy yelped before Danny pulled him out the door, leaving Dorimon on the table.
"-the divorce?" Danny and Andy made it to the door in time to hear Maddie say to Jack.
Maddie was already in a taxi cab, she rolled down the window to say something to Jack. "There's a casserole in the freezer right next to the ectoplasmic residue samples!"
Jack however, chased after the cab for a bit, yelling about how he didn't know which was which, as was typical of him.
Danny came out, confused. "'Divorce'?" He was a bit worried now. "Did you hear that, Andy?"
"Okay, calm down, Danny, I'm sure there's an explanation for why Mom said 'divorce'. We only heard the last part of the statement, there's no need to go jumping to conclusions," Andy said, trying to remain calm.
Takuya came out as well. "What's going on? Did I miss something?"
"Relax, Mom always yells at Dad when she gets mad at him, she'll get over it," Jazz spoke up as she walked out of the door herself, planning to go to the library to check out some books to help dig into what she needed to figure out.
"Yeah… but I have never heard her so mad." Danny stated. "It is a bit scary to think about."
"Well of course she's mad, Dad did forget about their anniversary after 18 years," Jazz shrugged. "Dad will likely do nothing to apologize either, not because he doesn't want to, but because he's too clueless to realize he made a mistake."
"That's where you're wrong, Jasmine." Jack said suddenly as he came back to the house, funnily enough, already packed up and ready to go. "I have been a bit preoccupied with ghosts lately. So I am traveling to your Aunt Alicia's in Spitoon Arkansas to apologize and give your mother the greatest anniversary gift ever." A taxi cab pulled up and Jack threw the suitcase into the cab. Jack then got in and closed the door, but opening the window. "Wish me luck, and call me if you see a ghost." The cab then drove off.
With Jack gone, Andy blinked. "... Did our parents just leave us alone for a few days?"
Takuya blinked as well. "Okay… This has officially gone from bad to worse…"
Danny frowned, still worried about what Maddie said earlier. "... Do you… think Mom and Dad might split up?"
"No! We only heard the end of a statement, bro, that doesn't mean anything!" Andy quickly spoke up, though inwardly he was worried too.
Jazz frowned herself. "Dad was saying I was wrong?"
"Jazz… are you okay about this?" Takuya asked, worried about Jazz's mental state now. "Being wrong I mean."
Jazz remembered seeing that supposed toy talking yesterday, a part of her wanted to deny what she saw as a dream or a hallucination. Jazz also remembered seeing unnatural things occuring in school, like meat suddenly turning into giant monsters, or a dragon attacking the mall, there was also that time when the entire school shook, and all the textbooks and papers were flying everywhere. Jazz wanted to be a sensible woman, she didn't want to jump to conclusions that supernatural beings were behind all of these strange events, she didn't want to be like her parents who always jumped to the conclusion that every little thing was a ghost.
But Jazz realized something, she wasn't always going to be right either. Nobody could be, it was impossible. If she was wrong about things that seemed obvious, like Jack going to apologize to Maddie, then that meant there was a possibility that her entire life was wrong. Her view on life was wrong. What she thought didn't exist was wrong. The talking 'plush toy' already proved that. And her brothers and cousin are likely involved with something dangerous.
Without even saying a word to any of the boys, Jazz rushed back into the house, and started digging out as many books as she could.
Takuya looked back at Andy and Danny. "Looks like Jazz is going to be a basketcase for a while."
Andy sighed. "I'll go get Dorimon… you two head on to school."
Takuya looked at Danny, who looked back at him before both then looked back at Andy.
"Okay, Andy. We'll meet you at school." Danny replied.
Takuya gave a nod to Andy.
Andy felt awkward. He hadn't seen Tucker or Sam since Danny told him his secret. He wasn't sure if he should let Tucker and Sam know that he was in the know now, especially since Takuya wasn't. Andy didn't want to give Takuya the same treatment that Danny, Tucker, and Sam gave him. He knew they didn't do it on purpose, but they didn't know how else to keep Danny's ghost secret away from him otherwise.
So while Danny was talking to Tucker and Sam, Andy went off somewhere else with Takuya. Dorimon was in his backpack as usual.
"You okay, Andy?" Takuya asked.
Andy frowned a little. "... I'm not sure."
"Does it have to do with the fact you know Danny's secret now?" Takuya asked, although this was just a hunch because he was not entirely sure.
"Yes," Andy sighed. "I'm glad that Danny finally told me, but that just mostly brought up more questions than answers. And… well, as much as I would like to get back with the group again, I rather not exclude you just because you're not in the know. And besides that, I am also a little worried about Mom and Dad's relationship."
"It's fine about the secret thing. I mean, Danny will tell me on his own time, and that's fine." Takuya replied with a shrug. Although I hope Andy doesn't have to reveal mine unless those circumstances arise, which I hope they don't. He then sighed at the relationship comment. "That, I can agree on."
"They've had arguments before, but never quite to that extent, at least not as far as I could remember," Andy remarked. "And the fact that we heard Mom say the word 'divorce' kind of makes me worried. What was she talking about to Dad before she said it? Is she really that upset with Dad for forgetting their anniversary for 18 years?"
Takuya frowned. "I can't say Andy. I don't know… I'm sorry…" What can I say to calm Andy? I mean, I've never encountered this before either.
"Do you want to spar later to try to get your mind off it?" Dorimon asked from the backpack.
"... Yeah, maybe," Andy answered softly. "We haven't told Dash about what happened in Wisconsin yet, he needs to know about ShadowSeraphimon and Vlad."
Takuya nodded. "I think so too. It would be best since he is now a Legendary Warrior too."
"Think he's busy with class or football practice right now?" Andy asked.
"Even if he is, we still need to talk to him," Dorimon stated.
"Right…" Andy frowned. "I think Dash should be having football practice right now. Maybe we can see if he can spare 5 minutes for us to tell him what's been going on?"
"Sure. I actually passed by him on the way to one of my classes." Takuya replied. "I could tell him then when I see him next."
Andy shook his head. "No, I want to talk to him now."
Andy then started jogging off, and Takuya blinked before he hurried after the boy. Andy went out into the football field, where Dash just tackled a big player who was more buff than he was.
Andy jogged over to the coach, who was Tetslaff. "Ms. Tetslaff, I need to speak with Dash Baxter."
"What business do you have with Baxter, Fenton?" Tetslaff questioned.
"It's an important family business that I'm sure Dash would rather it stayed private," Andy answered. "And if I don't talk to him soon, his parents may pull him out of the football game. Wouldn't want that, would you?"
Tetslaff frowned, but agreed. "Very well. Family matters come first, I suppose. You have 10 minutes."
Tetslaff then blew her whistle, getting the team to stop what they were doing and gather up to her. Dash was surprised to see Andy standing beside the coach.
"Baxter, you have 10 minutes to talk to Fenton here about important, family matters," Tetslaff stated. "The rest of you, I want 50 laps by the end of this period!"
Dash blinked, a bit confused, but looking at Andy revealed it could not wait, so he went with Andy off to the side. "Andy? What's going on? Is something wrong at my house?"
"No, everything's fine with your house," Andy answered. "Sorry to pull you away from practice so suddenly, but I need to tell you something."
Takuya had no idea Andy could jog so fast, by the time he made it to the football field, Andy had already gotten Dash to the bleachers and was talking to him. How the heck did Andy get Tetslaff to let Dash spare a few minutes to talk?
Takuya ran over to join them, just before Andy could speak. "Hey! Don't leave me out of this!"
"You're slow, Takuya," Dorimon snickered. "Maybe you should work out your human body more."
"Oh ha ha, very funny!" Takuya snarked back before he looked at Andy again. "So… we gonna tell him?"
Andy nodded. "Yeah, we are."
Dash sat down as he began drinking his water bottle. "Alright, I'm all ears."
Andy and Takuya had to give Dash the run down version of their experience in Wisconsin, about Tsukaimon and Vlad, and how Vlad could shift into a ghost form, as well as bio-merge with Tsukaimon and become the Mega form ShadowSeraphimon. Dash was pretty shocked to say the least.
By the time the boys finished telling Dash what happened, Dash looked at Andy and Dorimon. "So… can you two bio-merge?"
"No," Both of them said at the same time.
"I don't even think we can, it might be more of a ghost thing," Andy said.
"Anyway, we felt you needed to know since you know about Digimon and are a Legendary Warrior." Takuya replied. "If that Vlad guy comes around here for some reason, or if another Digimon shows up, it may be because of Tsukaimon and Vlad sending it here."
"Okay, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. But it's really creepy knowing that there's a human that can turn into a ghost and a Digimon, a powerful one at that." Dash frowned.
"Which is why we'll continue our own training," Andy spoke up. "We need to be prepared for an attack at any time."
Dorimon and Andy frowned at each other, both of them looking down in shame. Dorimon felt ashamed that he hadn't been able to digivolve into his Champion form yet, and Andy felt ashamed that he hadn't been able to get Dorimon to digivolve into his Champion form yet. Devidramon's words still rang in Andy's mind, about how his partner Digimon can only be as good as the human partner.
Does that mean I'm not a good human partner for Dorimon? Am I holding him back? Andy wondered.
Takuya saw Andy's look and frowned. Are Devidramon's words still affecting Andy? Is that why he is looking sad right now?
"Hey, don't worry," Dash spoke up, noticing Andy and Dorimon's looks. "It takes time, effort, and lots of practice before you can get good at anything. Which is why we always have practice before a big game. We'll be ready for them, I promise."
Andy gave Dash a small smile. "Thanks, Dash."
Andy, Takuya, and Danny came back home for the day after school. It was rather quiet without Jack and Maddie being home.
"I'll start cleaning up around the house," Danny volunteered. "Maybe it'll help if Mom had a clean house to come home too."
"I'll help out, I can start in the kitchen, besides, Dorimon could use a snack," Andy suggested. "What are you going to do, Takuya?"
"I think I'll start with the upstairs," Takuya replied. "Can't have the sleeping floor all messy, now can we?"
"Then I'll start in the living room," Danny stated.
With that, Takuya went upstairs while Andy, with Dorimon in his backpack, headed into the kitchen.
"Jazz!?" Andy stared in shock at his sister, who was also in the kitchen.
Jazz looked like she hadn't slept in days, she was jittery, she had a coffee mug on the table, and she had books and papers everywhere. What disturbed Andy was the fact that she had pictures of himself and Danny lying around, as well as pictures of Takuya when he was younger.
"It's just supposed to be a simple thing. Find out what's been going on lately. So many theories. So many things happening, but no answers!" Jazz said while shaking, then she looked at Andy, who looked very nervous. "I have been wrong on so many things, Andy! What else could I have been wrong about? Is your 'plushy' alive? Can it talk!?"
"J-Jazz… Jazz, calm down. I think you had too much coffee, and you might crash soon," Andy calmly said to his jittering sister. "Why don't you go take a nap and take a break from… whatever it is you're doing?"
"I can't take a nap, not when there are so many unanswered questions!" Jazz replied frantically. "I need to know what those answers are!"
"What answers are you even looking for?" Andy asked, now worried for his sister's mental state.
"You three!" Jazz pointed at Andy.
"What?" Andy blinked.
"There are so many theories about you three! What have you been up to? Why are you so secretive? How come your plushy talks? What has Takuya been dragging you and Danny into?" Jazz rambled on.
Andy started trying to put the pieces together of what Jazz was doing from her ramblings. Okay, so apparently Jazz is starting to realize how secretive we've been. I guess we haven't been doing a good job at keeping it subtle. I could explain the plusy talking part by telling her it's just one of those 'talking plushies' you would see on TV. As for Takuya… that one might be harder to explain.
The younger brother looked at the older sister and frowned. But… should I lie to her? She already looks like she's on the brink of breaking down. I know how that feels, seeing how secretive your siblings are, and are trying to keep you out of the loop. It's not a very nice feeling. I can't just tell her the whole truth either though…
"Jazz… how about you try to relax and lay down on the couch in the living room or your bed in your room for a little bit? Maybe after you've had some time to relax, and gather your thoughts… we can talk about those theories you have," Andy said soothingly, hoping to calm down his frantic sister.
Jazz didn't look like she wanted to though. "No, not until I can figure out the mysteries around you three!"
"You're never going to figure anything out with how hyped up your brain is at the moment," Andy pointed out. "You obviously need some sleep before you can even think logically at this point."
Jazz gave Andy a look that said she wanted to protest, but she didn't say anything when he said that last sentence. It actually got her thinking about it.
"And after you get some sleep, then we can talk, alright?" Andy added, hoping to appease Jazz.
Jazz finally nodded. "Okay… I'll try to get some sleep." She then gave Andy a smile. "You're right. I'm probably looking like a basketcase, aren't I?"
Andy looked at Jazz's hair, which was all tangled up and sticking out. "Maybe just a little bit."
Jazz sighed. "Yeah, I thought so." She then looked at the notes and pictures all over the table. "I guess I did get a bit carried away." Jazz then stood up and stretched. "Some sleep will probably do me some good."
Andy nodded, relieved that Jazz was listening to reason. She started to walk in the living while Andy put his bag down on the table to let Dorimon out when he heard Jazz screaming all of a sudden. Andy quickly ran into the living room.
"What? What is it?" Andy frantically asked.
Jazz pointed up at the ceiling, Andy looked up to see the vacuum cleaner was moving on its own. Andy soon realized that the moving vacuum cleaner was likely being used by his invisible brother.
"... Alright, Jazz, go get some sleep, I think you're hallucinating," Andy sighed.
"Y-yeah… I probably am. Lack of sleep can do some crazy things to a person's mind…" Jazz murmured as she walked off, looking like she was in a daze, probably trying to convince herself it was true.
Andy really hoped that Takuya wouldn't be in his evolved form and make Jazz have a heart attack. The younger boy went back into the kitchen.
"Wow… is this you when you were a baby?" Dorimon asked, picking up a picture that showed Andy and Danny as babies, wearing diapers in their crib together.
Andy quickly snatched the photo away from Dorimon. "We do not speak of our baby days."
"Aww… But you looked so cute!" Dorimon whined.
Takuya was dusting around the upstairs, and he saw Jazz walking up, looking to be a mess. She was rubbing her head a bit, like she had a headache.
"Um… are you okay, Jazz?" Takuya asked as she walked past him.
Jazz stopped for a moment before she turned and pointed at Takuya. "What've you been up to? Have you been doing any drugs? How has Japan influenced you?"
Takuya blinked. "Um… Just dusting up here, no I have not, and living in Japan hasn't been bad to me." He listed off the answers before looking back at her. "Why?"
"I know you're up to something, Takuya, and that you've been involving my brothers," Jazz hissed. "And I will find out what it is!"
Jazz started to laugh a little as she walked backwards towards her room. "I will find out, Takuya!"
Takuya looked disturbed as Jazz went into her room and closed the door, a creepy grin on her face as she did so slowly.
"I will find out…" She whispered one last time before the door shut completely.
Okay… I think Jazz snapped a bit there… Takuya thought with worry.
After a few hours of cleaning, Takuya and Andy met up in the living room. Dorimon was relaxing on Andy's head.
"Okay, I think I cleaned everything in the kitchen. Though I think Dad had a point in not being able to tell which was the casserole and which was the ectoplasmic samples… they both look eerily similar to each other," Andy said in concern. "We might have to go out to eat dinner."
"And I managed to get the upstairs done, but Jazz did seem a bit off when she started rambling about trying to find out what I am involving you and Danny in." Takuya replied. "It was creepy the way she looked at me…" He shivered at the memory of it.
"Jazz is a bit hyped up on coffee and lack of sleep, and maybe a bit of paranoia," Andy sighed. "I'm hoping to talk to her after she gets some much needed sleep. I don't think she even knew there was school today."
"Yeah… I think you're right about the school thing. And I hope that she does feel better after some sleep." Takuya sighed.
"I still wanted to see those baby pictures," Dorimon pouted.
"Could you even tell which one was me and which one was Danny?" Andy asked.
"Oh…" Dorimon trailed off, realizing Andy had a point. "You two did look very much alike…"
"Identical twins tend to," Andy sighed.
"Oh, speaking of Danny, where is he?" Dorimon asked. "You'd think he would be done by now, especially since he can defy gravity."
"Yeah… I was wondering that too." Takuya realized. "Danny should be done by now. Surely it can't take that long to clean the lab, right?"
"Wait, Danny decided to clean the lab?" Andy frowned.
Suddenly there was a loud yelling sound coming from the lab. Andy and Takuya ran down into the lab, only to see Tucker and Sam standing, looking worried. Tucker was shouting into his PDA.
"Danny! Danny answer me!" Tucker begged.
"He can't hear you, that ghost took away his equipment," Sam said, getting into the Specter Speeder.
"What the- Tucker? Sam? When did you get in here?" Andy asked, surprised to see them in the lab.
"Umm… not too long ago?" Sam replied, raising an eyebrow. "Why? Did you not see us or something?"
"No, I was upstairs, and Andy was in the kitchen," Takuya pointed out. "We didn't even know anyone came in today."
"Nice hat," Sam pointed at Dorimon on Andy's head.
Andy then frowned. "Why were you yelling about Danny in your PDA, Tucker?"
"O-oh... Uh…" Tucker looked to Sam for some help.
"Danny is… at the grocery store… picking up something… and Tucker wanted to make sure Danny didn't get the wrong… thing," Sam hesitantly weaved.
Andy frowned again before he looked over at Takuya. "Hey, Takuya, can you go get us some juice to drink?"
Takuya frowned as well, but nodded. "Sure." He turned and left for the upstairs.
Andy knew he would have to apologize to Takuya later before he turned to Tucker and Sam. "Listen, Danny told me his secret, about being half ghost after the accident, he told it to me in Wisconsin. We hadn't had a chance to tell you two yet, or I guess Danny wanted me to be the one to tell you guys. And because I know, I want to know the truth; where. Is. My. Brother?"
Sam and Tucker were surprised that Andy knew the truth. It showed on their faces clearly. "Dude, I didn't think Danny would ever tell you!" Tucker exclaimed.
"Well he did, so start talking," Andy said firmly.
"Danny is…" Sam hesitated, she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Danny told Andy. "He… when he was cleaning the lab, he accidentally shot a present that your dad was planning to give to your mom as an apology into the… uh… Ghost Portal… and Danny… being half ghost… decided to… go in… after it?"
Andy felt himself get chills down his spine. "He WHAT?!" It came out as a shout, not that he intended to shout anyway, but still, that was shocking to hear. "First off, how could he have shot a present that Dad was supposed to take with hi- nevermind, it's Dad. Second, you just let him go in there BY HIMSELF!?"
"He told us to wait here!" Sam shot back in her defense. "He can cover more ground on his own!"
"Sam, it's the Ghost Zone, it is a completely unknown territory for all of us!" Andy snapped.
"Relax, realx, look, we can find Danny," Tucker spoke up, trying to calm Andy down. "We just have to take the Specter Speeder and… find him."
"Do you even know how to work that thing?" Andy frowned, pointing at the Specter Speeder.
"How hard can it be?" Tucker asked as he looked at the vehicle.
Tucker went into the Specter Speeder, sitting beside Sam. Andy looked at them from outside.
"Let's see… maybe if I just push this button…" Tucker began working on the controls before he pushed a button.
Suddenly, the Specter Speeders' thrusters roared to life and it thrusted itself forward, right into the Ghost Portal. Leaving a stunned Andy and Dorimon alone in the lab. Both of them just stood there, staring, their brains unable to comprehend what just happened, until Takuya came down into the lab, holding a couple of cups of apple juice.
"Um… where are Sam and Tucker?" Takuya asked as he looked around. "And...where is the Specter Speeder for that matter?"
Takuya looked back at the stunned boy and Digimon, both their eyes wide, and their mouths hanging open. Takuya looked down at his cup of apple juice before he tossed the contents at Andy's face.
"TAKUYA!" Andy shouted, now cold and wet.
"That wasn't funny!" Dorimon snapped, his fur now wet.
"You two were standing there like a couple of fly traps!" Takuya shot back. "Now where are Sam, Tucker, and the Specter Speeder?"
"They just took off into the Ghost Zone!" Andy yelled, now freaking out. "They're going to get themselves killed! Danny is in the Ghost Zone! Alone! Probably trapped, getting tortured, or WORSE!"
Andy grabbed onto Takuya's shirt and started shaking him. "WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"
"Calm down!" Takuya shouted back. "We will! Just stop panicking and shaking me!"
Dorimon made bubbles pop in front of Andy, making him stop and let go of Takuya. "S-s-sorry… you're right, I can't start panicking, that won't help anyone…"
Jeez, I think the Fentons are prone to freaking out… Takuya groaned, rubbing his chest.
Andy looked at the swirling green ghost portal for a moment. "We have no ghost powers, nor do we have a vehicle to traverse through the Ghost Zone. We're probably going to need to rely on Digimon power here, like BurningGreymon… Call Dash, we're going to need his help."
Takuya nodded. "Right." He then got out his D-Tector and proceeded to call Dash on his own.
Titanic X: ZAFT: I am glad you like it. :)
DarkFoxKit: Hmm… Dorumon won't be in his champion form for a few more chapters, but hopefully when he does, it'll be satisfying.
MikotoSuoh23789: DarkFoxKit: Yeah. I loved Digimon Tamers, it was my favorite Digimon season. Digimon Frontier was good too, and unfortunately it gets a bad rep among the community. I decided we could mix between the two along with Danny Phantom characters to give it a unique spice of its own. I'm glad to see it's doing a good job so far.
ZAFT: You will never know what we will do, so stay on your toes~!
GirlFish: ZAFT: It will be hard to say how long until Patamon returns to normal. That part we have yet to get to… ^^'
DarkFoxKit: But don't worry, we're already making plans for Patamon, and he won't stay with Vlad forever.
Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Yup, Vlad should always be the biggest threat, at least in the first season. He is supposed to be the more experienced half ghost, and is Danny's most dangerous enemy for a reason. And to be honest, Danny telling Andy he's half ghost was actually unexpected for us. We didn't originally intend for Danny to reveal the secret at all, and have Andy find out himself like in the original My Brother's a Ghost story, but… well, considering their characters, personalities, and what they went through together, it just didn't make sense for Danny to keep on hiding it, especially when he suspected his brother hiding big secrets from him as well. And they were in a situation where they needed to work together.
ZAFT: It worked out in the end, but there are still more secrets to be revealed… ;)