Andy: *Is watching an episode of Digimon Frontier* Huh… that's really cool.
ZAFT: I know, right? It's one of my favorite seasons aside from Tamers. :3
Andy: I see why you and DarkFoxKit made elements of Tamers into the story with me and my friends then. It seems to compliment well with the Frontier characters.
DarkFoxKit: Probably shouldn't let Takuya see this, he might end up with an existential crisis.
ZAFT: I won't. He's off somewhere with Danny. Hopefully those two aren't butting heads. ^^'
Andy: Butting heads? If anything, they get along better than he and Koji ever did.
ZAFT: I mean arguing. They are both a bit impulsive, unlike you Andy. :3
DarkFoxKit: Best take that as a compliment.
Andy: Fine. After I watch Takuya's adventure in the Digital World, I'm gonna test some of his Digimon powers out~
ZAFT: Oh boy… ^^'
Chapter 20: Implanting Doubts
After Takuya heard from Danny and Andy about what happened, a ghost and Digimon attack in the student counselor's office, he was a little upset that he didn't know about this sooner, and that his cousins got in trouble for it. So now they had an appointment with Penelope Spectra, the school's teen therapist. There was something about her that Takuya didn't like.
Takuya knew he was sensing something, but as to what it was, he didn't know. He wasn't a pure Digimon like Dorimon, so his senses for that were muddled. But what is it about that Penelope Spectra that feels off? It's like she is too peppy. Or is it her last name? I can't tell what it is, exactly...
Takuya was caught up in his thoughts, so he wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around him.
Takuya bumped into Jazz in the hallway.
"Oof!" Jazz dropped the books she was carrying from the bump.
"Ouch…" Takuya groaned before he realized he had bumped into Jazz. "Oh! Sorry, Jazz!"
"It's completely my fault, Takuya, I'm sorry," Jazz apologized before she bent down to pick up her books. "I've just been having a lot on my mind lately, so I wasn't paying attention…"
"Heh… Same here, actually…" Takuya admitted. "I was too caught up in my own thoughts I didn't see you."
"Oh? Is something bothering you?" Jazz asked as she stood up after picking up her book.
"... You… could say that…" Takuya began, trailing off slightly. "I… guess I've been getting a bad feeling about someone…" He wasn't willing to say much more than that, but he did drop a hint that something was off.
Jazz frowned a little, looking down at her book for a moment. "Um… have you… have you ever seen anything strange lately? Like… maybe strange creatures that look kind of like animals, yet aren't normal animals?"
Takuya blinked, unsure of what to say to that. Okay…? That sounded like Jazz was talking about something… supernatural? Digital? "What kind of creatures? Ghosts?"
"Don't be silly, ghosts don't exist," Jazz laughed before frowning. "... Do they?"
Before Takuya could answer, Jazz shook her head. "Nevermind… maybe I'm just tired from all this stress. I'll see you later in class, Takuya."
Jazz quickly walked away before Takuya could say anything.
Okay… that was weird… Takuya thought as he watched Jazz walk away, one eyebrow raised in confusion. What's gotten into Jazz?
Takuya decided to tackle one problem at a time. He continued his way to Penelope's office, but he wasn't going to see Penelope himself, he wanted to see one of his cousins. Danny was pouting as he was sitting on a chair next to Penelope's office. Though Andy wasn't there.
"Danny?" Takuya asked as he walked up to his cousin. "Are you okay?"
"Not really. I can't believe Jazz signed me up for a session with this lady…" Danny grumbled. "Well, me and Andy. Does she really think that there's something wrong with us that we need to see a shrink?"
Takuya frowned to himself. "Well… Jazz is your older sister. She has a right to be concerned about you." But he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say to Danny, given his bad mood.
"She needs to butt out," Danny hissed.
Takuya couldn't help but notice that Danny seemed to be in a foul mood lately, he seemed fine earlier, but ever since he and Andy failed to stop that ghost and Digimon, he's been rather angry.
"Danny, failing to stop a ghost and Digimon isn't the end of the world. There will be other chances to get at them." Takuya tried to reassure Danny. But maybe it would be best if Koji, Koichi, Dash, or I handled it.
"I'm more angry at the fact that they hurt my brother and Dorimon," Danny admitted. "It wouldn't be the first time a ghost got away from me, but I wasn't able to keep Andy or Dorimon safe. Andy seemed to be off his game lately. He made mistakes he normally wouldn't have made in that battle. He and Dorimon had taken on Digimon stronger than one Champion before, yet they struggled against this one."
Takuya felt a bit of guilt creep into his gut at that point. That's because Andy had help with me and Dash. And I wasn't there to help this time...
"Um… so where is Andy now?" Takuya asked.
"He said he'll be here soon after he got some food for Dorimon. Dorimon was drained of energy, so he's hoping food will help replenish that," Danny answered.
"Better hope Dorimon doesn't eat another lunch tray." Takuya joked, hoping to boost Danny's spirits.
"He… actually ate a lunch tray?" Danny blinked.
"Yeah… He did." Takuya confirmed. "Only because he was hungry."
Danny actually smiled at that. "Hopefully that means the school will start ordering actually clean lunch trays."
Takuya smiled as well. "That would be good."
Suddenly, the office door opened. Takuya was surprised to see Paulina walking out, looking worried about something.
"So you're saying my popularity is completely dependent on my beauty?" Paulina asked, looking uncomfortable.
That reminds me of someone… being popular with others because of her beauty. Takuya noted.
"I'm not saying it's fair sweetie, but if you feel you need something, like a lot of make-up, I say go for it! You're the only you you've got!" Penelope said with a smile before she turned to Danny. "Danny! Come on in!"
Completely ignoring the worried teen girl, Penelope went back into her office while Danny gave a small frown to Takuya before he stood up and walked into her office.
With the door closed, Takuya noticed Paulina looked a little depressed, and despite what she put his cousins through, Takuya couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Paulina.
Maybe I could try to help her? Takuya shook his head. No, I can't help her. I could talk to her yes, but I can't do much otherwise. Still, he gave a worried look as Paulina walked off, looking down at the ground in worry.
Meanwhile, Andy was walking down the hallway. Dorimon was a lot better now after a good meal, and he was currently napping in Andy's backpack. But despite this, Andy couldn't help but feel guilty for allowing his partner to get drained in the first place. Am I really that useless without Takuya or Dash backing me up?
"Ow!" A somewhat familiar voice exclaimed as Andy was bumped into by another body.
Andy was knocked to his butt, and blinked in surprise when he saw he had bumped into someone. It was one of the Japanese twins.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry about that!" Andy quickly apologized as he got to his feet and offered a hand to help the twin he knocked down up.
The hand was taken, only for Andy to see it was the short-haired twin, Koichi if he was right.
"It's fine." Koichi replied as he stood up, still holding Andy's hand. "I'm Koichi Kimura."
"Ah, well, it's nice to meet you Koichi, I'm Andy Fenton," Andy introduced before he looked down at his hand that was still holding Koichi's, and started to move it up and down in a friendly handshake.
Koichi chuckled. "Takuya told me and my brother he had twin cousins. I wasn't expecting to bump into one of them."
"Heh…" Andy blushed a little. "Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention. I was just on my way to Ms. Spectra's office."
"Ms. Spectra?" Koichi asked in confusion. "Who's that?"
"She's the school's teen therapist," Andy answered. "Danny and I… sort of made a mess in her office, so as punishment, we're to have a session with her. Oh, by the way, if you don't mind me saying, I was surprised to see another pair of twins. Besides me and Danny, I've never seen another twin before."
Koichi blushed a bit. "Well… I wasn't expecting to meet you either. I mean, twins aren't that common, but nor are they rare."
"I think Takuya told me about you, he did talk about how he had friends in Japan, and two of them were twins," Andy chuckled.
Koichi made like a tomato when he was told that. "Oh… He did, did he? I… wow… Sorry. I'm not good with this kind of thing…"
If I remember Takuya's story right, Koichi is the Warrior of Darkness. Poor guy had been through a lot. Andy recalled. "It's fine, you don't have to overthink it. And trust me, I can be pretty bad with that myself."
Koichi smiled at that. "Good to know I'm not the only one then."
Andy gave a small smile. "I should get going, I don't want to be late for my appointment with Ms. Spectra. It was nice meeting you, Koichi."
Koichi gave a nod back as well as a smile. "Nice meeting you too, Andy." Koichi then turned and walked off down another hallway, but he stopped just beyond the corner, out of sight of Andy. Something was bothering the Fenton twin, and the Yin twin could sense it.
When Andy couldn't see Koichi anymore, the younger Fenton boy gave a sigh before he started solemnly walking down the hall again.
Koichi peered out, seeing Andy's dejected look. He frowned at that. Why is Andy so upset? Did something happen?
When Andy reached Penelope's office, he was a bit surprised when he saw Danny walking out like he was in a daze.
"Danny?" Andy spoke up. "Is everything okay?"
Danny looked at his brother, almost like he was snapping out of said daze. "Huh?"
"You… uh… looked like you spaced out there," Andy pointed out.
Before Danny could reply, Penelope stuck her head out from the open door with a peppy smile at Andy.
"Andy! Come on in!" Penelope said with that cheerful smile.
Andy suddenly felt worried about talking to Penelope, but he followed her into her office before she shut the door.
"Please, take a seat, Andy," Penelope said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk.
Andy hesitantly sat down on the chair. He hated how cold it was in the room, the chair itself felt cold despite it being sat on by other people. The cold also made it hard to think.
"So, Andy, I hear you have been having some troubles lately." Penelope began, acting all caring towards Andy.
Andy wasn't sure what Jazz had been saying about him, but he had a pretty good idea. "Well… it's nothing that I can't handle."
"Of course not." Penelope nodded. "Of course, you would need some help from your brother or cousin for things that you can't handle on your own, right?"
"What?" Andy frowned. "Why… would you think that?"
"Sweetie, everyone needs a bit of help, right?" Penelope cooed. "I mean, even those who don't ask for help can need it from time to time."
"I mean… I guess that's true," Andy agreed. "Nobody can handle everything on their own."
"But even then, those who ask for help need to know when to not hold others back." Penelope continued. "Because if they are in the way, then they are not truly helping."
Andy frowned at that.
"There is a difference between asking for help sometimes, and asking for help all the time," Penelope added. "Those who ask for help all the time can't do things on their own, and thus they burden other people."
"I'm… I'm not like that… I'm not… am I?" Andy asked, feeling desperate to hear an answer.
"I'm not saying you are, Andy." Penelope assured him. "But maybe you could be holding someone back if you keep asking for help."
Andy thought back on those times he thought he was helping Takuya in battle, but he was the one who kept getting hurt, when Vlad biomerged with Tsukaimon, Takuya couldn't do anything because he and Danny were in the way. When in the Ghost Zone, Takuya was stressing out over him because he got blasted away by a giant ghost's sonic boom attack, and there were other instances where his presence only hindered Takuya rather than help. Those other battles, Andy was sure Takuya could've handled himself, and Takuya was just indulging him. Andy thought he was helping, but all he was doing was just getting hurt, and making things harder for Takuya. And now his brother, Danny was the one who had to save Dorumon earlier, while Andy could do nothing but watch.
Maybe I am just a burden… Andy miserably thought before he felt Penelope's hands on his shoulders.
Andy suddenly felt exhausted, and his mind felt hazy.
Penelope gave a peppy smile. "But that's okay. People need to learn when to just not burden others, and that can make a big difference."
"... Yeah… I'm sure…" Andy replied, feeling tired.
Penelope then knelt down in front of Andy. "You might be a bit of a mess now, but mess is just the beginning of message! Now go out there and be a better you!"
I just feel patronized… Andy frowned before he stood up and started to walk out in a daze, almost bumping into a wall, but he managed to stop himself before he did, and walked out the door.
After what felt like a long, grueling day, the bell rang. The kids were leaving the classroom and were taking books out of their lockers, or putting them in. Danny, Andy, Tucker, and Sam were walking down the hallway together. Takuya joining up with them after he put away his books. Takuya frowned when he noticed the twins' expressions. Danny looked annoyed and mad, while Andy just looked depressed.
"Andy, Danny? Are you guys alright?" Takuya asked as he looked at his cousins. "You seem… off."
"That's what we were about to ask," Tucker remarked.
"Yeah, are you two okay?" Sam questioned in concern.
"I'm fine," Danny sighed. "But I still can't believe our sister told that shrink I'm a loser!"
"What? That doesn't sound like Jazz," Sam said, confused.
Takuya frowned. Did Jazz really say that? I doubt it, but if that is the case, then why would Ms. Spectra lie about that? "Jazz isn't the kind of person to say something like that, right Andy?"
"Huh?" Andy blinked as if coming out of a trance. "What?"
Now Takuya was getting concerned. "Andy? I just asked you a question. Jazz wouldn't say Danny was a loser, would she?"
"Oh… uh…" Andy looked unsure, which was unusual, he should know his sister well enough to know she would never call one of her brothers a loser, or anybody. "I… don't think she would…"
Takuya was beginning to get a bad feeling, and it wasn't from his Spirits this time. Okay… This is not normal, even for Andy and Danny. But what is going on around here?
"Andy? You okay? You sounded… off there," Tucker asked, also concerned.
"Am I okay?" Andy asked before realizing what he just asked. "Oh… um… yeah, I'm fine… I'm okay."
Takuya was showing clear concern on his face now. "Andy… Are you sure you're fine? Both you and Danny? Are you sure you're both alright?"
"We're fine," Andy said before looking at Danny. "We're fine, right?"
"Yes, we are," Danny huffed, still annoyed.
"Danny, you should know Jazz would never say something like that." Takuya said seriously.
"Should know Jazz would never say what?" A familiar voice asked from in front of the five.
Standing in front of them was none other than Jazz herself, she was giving Danny and Andy a concerned look.
Danny just gave a glare at Jazz.
"Still mad?" Jazz asked with a sigh.
"Wow, you are the smart one." Danny snarked, his tone still angry.
Of course she is, Jazz wouldn't have been stupid enough to realize that she was doing nothing to contribute to a battle. Andy's inner critic stated.
Jazz walked over to them, and spoke in a softer tone. "Danny, I know you're angry, but I'm worried about you. I mean ever since the accident-"
Takuya looked at Jazz, surprised she was bringing that up.
"Jazz, I know you think you're helping, and I'm sure when I'm older I'll appreciate it, but right now, I don't." Danny remarked in anger.
"You have to talk to somebody, Danny. You and Andy barely have any friends, besides these two." Jazz added when she saw Tucker and Sam glare at her. "And I guess Takuya counts? And you don't have any extracurricular activities."
Andy looked at Tucker and Sam, and at Takuya for a moment, he was about to correct Jazz that he also had Dash as a friend, but stopped himself. No… nobody is supposed to know about that… right? Is Dash actually my friend? Or is he just pretending he is? Maybe he prefers Takuya since they can both Spirit Evolve.
"Well, maybe this is me now!" Danny exclaimed in anger. "Not everyone's pumped up full of spirit all the time you know!"
Takuya frowned at Danny's behavior, he knew that Danny and Jazz didn't always see eye to eye, but he didn't usually yell at Jazz, and even if he did get angry with her, Andy usually stopped them. But Andy just looked unsure and uneasy.
Just then, Takuya gasped as he felt that flash of heat and cold at the same time. He knew what that meant, but why was a ghost here?!
At the same time, Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off, which surprised him. "My ghost sense…?" He then began to fake being cold.
Andy noticed Danny's ghost sense, but he was hesitating rather than being on alert like Takuya and Danny were as they quickly started looking around. Andy's heart was beating against his chest, he hadn't expected another battle so soon. He didn't even know if he should help or not.
Danny started to shiver, like he was cold. Jazz gave a concerned look at her brother. "Danny? You're shivering, what's wrong?"
Danny didn't want Jazz around though. His act had to go through if he wanted to get to the ghost. "Leave me alone!"
With that shout, Danny ran down the hallway. Andy looked surprised and worried, though Takuya had an idea why Danny did what he did, if Andy's theory held up about Danny having Phantom inside him. But when Takuya turned to Andy, he was surprised to see Andy seeming to have genuinely fallen for the act.
"I didn't know he was this upset…" Andy frowned.
"It's worse than I thought…" Jazz murmured in worry, only for another student to come running up to her.
"It's a freakishly large hornet and four ghosts with witch's hats!" The student exclaimed before screaming and running away.
Tucker and Sam quickly ran away as well. Takuya ran himself, hoping Andy would follow so he could get Dorimon to digivolve. But Andy didn't follow, instead, he just stood there beside Jazz, looking unsure and worried.
"Andy! C'mon!" Takuya snapped as he grabbed Andy's arm, not even thinking to grab Jazz's arm as well. His mind was too focused on getting to a spot to evolve.
"Wah!? H-hey! Wait a second!" Andy yelped as Takuya dragged him.
Jazz screamed when she saw the freakishly large, neon green and black hornet down the hallway, and it was looking at her. There were four ghost looking creatures with witch hats floating around the giant hornet as well. The five of them flew up to Jazz.
As Jazz was dealing with those, Takuya managed to drag Andy into an empty classroom.
"Okay, we should evolve. I will get the twins and Dash here. We need their help for this." Takuya said as he took out his D-Tector.
"You mean you should evolve! I can't evolve!" Andy suddenly snapped.
Takuya glanced at Andy in surprise. "Andy...wh-wha? Dude, I meant you evolve Dorimon!"
"Dorimon isn't well yet," Andy said before he opened the classroom door. "You can do this without me."
Before Takuya could argue, Andy ran away.
Takuya stared after before he remembered what he had to do. Right. Ghosts and Digimon first, Andy later.
"Dash, Koji, Koichi, we have a bit of a Digimon issue…" Takuya said over his D-Tector to the other three Warriors.
"Understood!" All three of them said at the same time.
Takuya was glad to have back up, because Andy apparently wasn't going to help this time.
As soon as Dash, Koji, and Koichi reached the classroom. Takuya gave them the order. "Time to evolve."
Koji was first. The white outline of his first Spirit appeared on his D-Tector and fractal code formed on his hand. Pulling out his D-Tector the boy was quick to act next. He held up his D-Tector and the white digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the energy of the Spirit entered his body. His eyes became red as his hair shortened and turned almost platinum in color. A white helmet covered his head as white and blue armor covered his body. He grasped the familiar beam sabers and swung them a few times before clasping them around his waist and firing off his arm laser. "Lobomon!"
Koichi was next. He held out his D-Tector and the purple digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes vanished as his body became digital, and coding surrounded his body as the power of the Spirit coursed through him. Grey and gold armor formed on his body, his strength increasing as well. He seemed to grow in height, and his eyes opened to reveal them a reddish color. He landed, forming a staff in his hand and a shield in the other. With two swings of the staff, he called out his name. "Lowemon!"
Takuya was next. He held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"
Dash was last to evolve. The tan digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held up his hand with the fractal coding around it. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Dash felt his body increase in strength and power as he felt his skin become more like wood and he felt his senses increase in sharpness and sensitivity. His eyes turned a golden color as he finally landed, crying out his name as he did so. "Arbormon!"
"Wow, didn't think we would meet someone who actually inherited Arbormon's Spirit," Lobomon noted.
"Yeah, nice to meet ya, didn't know there were others like us," Arbormon chuckled.
Agunimon gave a slight cough. "Once this is over we can handle introductions. We have a small group of Digimon to take care of."
"Right, let's go!" Arbormon nodded.
Jazz shut her eyes as the ghost hornet grabbed onto her shoulders, keeping her from running. The Soulmon around her wanted pieces of her soul for themselves.
"Tiny Twister!"
A mini brown and pink tornado suddenly surrounded the four Soulmon, knocking each other to each other.
"Wah?" Jazz blinked.
"Back off, ghost bug!" A voice shouted before something black and white kicked the giant hornet off of Jazz, and both of them phased through the wall, right in front of Jazz's eyes.
"What the? That was a ghost? That was two ghosts?" Jazz questioned in shock, before those Soulmon recovered from that tiny tornado, and were floating towards Jazz again.
"If you want to live, human, you must use your legs and run!" A voice spoke up from under Jazz.
Jazz looked back and down. There was the same rabbit creature from before, and it was talking! Jazz felt like her brain wanted to disconnect and stop working at seeing that, but she had to move, so, she turned and ran, heeding the small creature's advice. Surprisingly, the creature was following her.
The Soulmon, however, were quickly catching up. Lopmon turned around and took a deep breath.
"Blazing Ice!" Lopmon shot out cold air at the Soulmon.
Due to ghost type Digimon having colder body temperature, they were soon covered in frost, which was slowing them down.
However, Lopmon knew that it was only buying him and the female human time before the Soulmon caught up to them. I have to hope the Legendary Warriors can get here in time before these Soulmon get to us first...
Jazz then ran into somebody, causing both of them to fall down. Okay, I feel like this has been happening a lot today.
"Jazz!?" Andy groaned, rubbing his head.
Jazz blinked. "Andy?! What are you doing here?! We need to get out of here!"
Andy's eyes widened in horror when he saw not one, but four Soulmon coming at them. He couldn't even handle one, let alone four. Andy grabbed Jazz's arms and quickly pulled her.
"Hurry! This way!" Andy yelled frantically.
Andy vaguely noticed the rabbit creature running beside them, but he would have to ask Jazz about it later.
The Soulmon, now free of the frost, were beginning to close in again. Lopmon knew he could try his Blazing Ice attack again, but it would only delay the inevitable. He wasn't a Celestial just because of his strength; he knew when a battle was going downhill quickly, and this was one such time.
Andy shut his eyes, praying that his competent cousin and his friends would get here soon.
As if hearing his prayers, he heard their familiar attacks.
"Pyro Darts!" That was Agunimon's attack, and it hit one of the Soulmon on the face.
"Blockade Seed!" Arbormon's attack entangled the group of Soulmon, but the next two attacks were totally foreign to Andy.
"Howling Laser!" Andy's eyes snapped open at that new attack and he looked back, only to see a bright white laser impact another Soulmon.
"Shadow Lance!" This dark-colored shockwave of energy hit the last Soulmon into a locker, denting the metal badly.
The four Soulmon weren't done yet, however, they were now aiming for the four Legendary Warriors. They started to float around in a circle.
"Necro Magic."
The entire area was suddenly coated with eerie darkness, and souls of the dead began to wail out. Every human that was in the area all fell to their hands and knees, feeling weak and nauseous. This included Jazz and Andy.
Agunimon growled as he saw the attack, but when he glanced back, he saw Andy and Jazz almost on the ground due to how weak they were feeling. Worry made his heart race, but he also couldn't just leave his fellow Warriors to deal with these Soulmon alone. He glanced back at Lobomon, who was his second-in-command. "What do you think we should do?"
"We have to get rid of the Soulmon quickly, before they drain everyone's lifeforce," Lobomon answered.
"How do we do that?" Arbormon asked. "They're flying in a fast circle."
Andy looked up at the Soulmon. He noticed that they seemed pretty fond of their hats. Would they be weakened if their hats were knocked off?
Andy thought about telling this strategy to Takuya, but his unsureness made him stop. Maybe I'm wrong, I might just be spouting something that wouldn't help and waste everybody's time.
Agunimon frowned at that. He looked around at the Soulmon, noting they were indeed moving quickly, and they seemed to be closing in too. "Well, whatever method we use, we have to act fast because those things are closing in on us."
Lowemon looked around as well, seeing their leader was right. "He's right. Maybe we can use Arbormon's Blockade Seed to trap them."
The Legendary Warriors quickly went to work. Arbormon used his Blockade Seed, but the fast circle just slapped the seeds away, Arbormon couldn't get a good aim on them with how fast they were flying in the tight circle. Agunimon, Lobomon, and Lowemon tried to attack as well, but the Necro Magic got stronger and was starting to weaken them.
Then, all of a sudden, they stopped. The Soulmon stopped, and the Necro Magic stopped as well. They suddenly flew up through the roof, disappearing.
Agunimon looked up at the ceiling, noting this wasn't normal. Those Soulmon had us on the ropes… Why would they retreat suddenly? A frown was on his face as he pondered that thought.
Lobomon frowned as he saw that as well. "Okay… what is going on here? I was sure those Soulmon would do more damage to us."
"I'm not sure, this is unusual…" Lowemon agreed.
That ghost from earlier… he must be controlling those Soulmon somehow… Andy figured before he backpedaled. Or… is he? I might be wrong...
Then Agunimon remembered Andy and Jazz. "Crap…" The swear was said low under his breath before he turned and made his way to Andy and Jazz. "Hey!"
"Ugh… that was… horrible…" Jazz groaned before she suddenly gave an excited smile. "But that was also awesome! Real ghosts! I can't believe it! And super powered creatures! It's like we're in a movie or something!"
Agunimon made his way over, trying to make sure no one else was in his way. "Hey! Are you two okay?"
"That armored man!" Jazz recognized from the news. "He's real!?"
"We're okay, I think," Andy said to Agunimon.
Agunimon gave a nod, trying to hide his relief at hearing that, although it was somewhat hard because he had been worried sick about Andy and Jazz during that fight. "Good. I...I'm glad to hear that."
"Agunimon," Lobomon spoke up. "We should go."
Agunimon gave a nod. "Right." With that, he ran off with the other Legendary Warriors, but as he did so, he gave a glance back over his shoulder, not even bothering to hide his concern for Andy and Dorimon this time. Andy… Why didn't you help that time…? What's gotten into you?
As Andy stood up, he noticed that rabbit creature was nowhere in sight. I guess it ran off when the Legendary Warriors showed up… Was that a Digimon? It had to have been… right? What else could it be?
Jazz had been excited to tell Danny what she and Andy had witnessed in school, but she was quickly disappointed by Danny's reaction.
"What do you mean you didn't see a ghost or those other creatures?" Jazz asked as she, Andy, and Danny were sitting at the kitchen table.
"It didn't look like a ghost to me, it looked like a big bug. So I ran, like a 'loser'." Danny pouted, drawing out the word 'loser'. "And I didn't see any other creatures."
"I was right," Jazz sighed. "You're not going to listen to me, are you? You or Andy."
"Nope~" Danny said in a smug tone as he gave a smirk to Jazz.
"Wah?" Andy blinked at being called out, he had been munching on some mashed potatoes and gravy when Jazz suddenly said that neither he nor Danny was going to listen to her. "Why wouldn't I listen to my smarter sister?"
"You've been pouting all day, Andy," Jazz pointed out. "Even when I told you there was nothing to be upset over while we were walking home."
"Upset? I'm not upset." Andy frowned.
Jazz rolled her eyes before she raised her voice. "Mom! Dad! I need to talk to you two about Danny and Andy!"
"What?!" Danny looked worried now. "No! That's not necessary!"
But it was too late, as Jack and Maddie came into the kitchen.
"Is there something wrong with Danny and Andy?" Maddie asked, worried for her boys.
"Is there a ghost involved?" Jack demanded as he held a new weapon in his hands.
Maddie came in closer to Danny and Andy. "Is there something you want to talk about you two?"
"That involves ghosts?" Jack questioned.
"No? Yes? Maybe? I don't know!" Andy yelled.
Danny, thankfully, still had his own head on straight, and got an idea. "What Andy means is that Jazz thinks she saw a ghost today. Tell them, Jazz~"
"What?!" Maddie exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?!"
Jazz blinked, surprised that Danny had pulled off that redirection to her so smoothly. Wow… Danny pulled that one off smoothly.
Jack smiled. "It would have been a good time to try out the portable Fenton Ghost Peeler. It peels ghosts apart atom by atom!" He pressed the button and was encased in armor, but it was too heavy and Jack fell onto the table, smashing it to bits, and caused Andy's bowl of mashed potatoes to fall on top of Jack's armored head.
"My potatoes!" Andy cried.
Danny stood up, smirk still in place. "Well, enjoy your chat~" He didn't even notice Andy's reaction to the dropped potatoes.
Andy frowned at the armor Jack was wearing, and he had half a mind to have Dorimon eat it.
Dorimon, who was on Andy's head and now very much awake, was looking at the armor, as it looked tasty. Maybe just one bite…?
"Welp, dinner's ruined," Andy grumbled.
Maddie was checking up on her husband as Andy began to walk away. Jazz then took Andy's arm, making him stop.
"Hey, wait… Andy, you know how to get through to Danny, don't you?" Jazz asked. "Can you get him to talk? Or at least talk to someone?"
Andy looked at Jazz. "I… I don't know. Danny… has his own way of handling things, I guess. If he doesn't want to talk, then he doesn't want to talk…"
Dorimon frowned, that didn't sound like something Andy would say. What is wrong with Andy? Why is he acting so… unsure…? The little In-Training Digimon was worried for his partner. I have half a mind to use my iron beads on him if it will snap him out of it...
"What do you mean? Just last month you had been so determined to figure out what's been going on with Danny, now it's like you don't care anymore, or…" Jazz frowned. "Are you okay? You've been acting weird lately."
"Am I okay?" Andy repeated in a questioning tone. "What do you think? You're obviously way smarter than me."
Jazz blinked in surprise. Is Andy saying I am better than him? That's not like him at all… "Andy… You're smart too. I mean, sure it's not booksmart, but you are smart in your own unique way."
Dorimon had to agree with Jazz, even if he didn't say it out loud. She's right, Andy… You have been able to manipulate my Metal Cannon in ways never imagined before. You know more about Digimon than expected for someone who just gained a partner Digimon. You're smarter than you think...
"Isn't that all anybody cares about? As long as you're booksmart, you have a bright future ahead of you," Andy replied.
Jazz frowned, she didn't know Andy thought that way, but he did have a point. School always pushed kids to learn more through text books than anything else, those who weren't smart with books often ended up seen as failures in life.
Dorimon decided he would talk to Andy once they were back in his and Danny's room. Maybe I can get through to him...
Jazz let go of her younger brother, letting him walk upstairs to his room.
At the same time, Takuya finally got home. He was a bit of a mess. He, Dash, Koji, and Koichi, after their initial introductions, teamed up to search the school for the Soulmon, but they hadn't found a single data of those Soulmon anywhere. Eventually, it had gotten late, and the four of them had to head on home.
"Sorry I'm late," Takuya said as he dropped his backpack to the floor. He then noticed the table was in pieces and his uncle was in some kind of armor. "Okay…? What happened here?" Is that a new invention?
Takuya knelt and prodded his uncle. "Uncle Jack? Is that you in there?"
"Yes, it is," Maddie sighed. "I guess we still have a few bugs to work on out the Fenton Peeler."
"Not to worry! We'll eventually get it right!" Jack said proudly despite still lying face down with a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy on his head.
Takuya sighed as he stood up. "He's fine it seems." He then looked at Jazz, seeing she had a concerned look on her face. "Jazz? Is something wrong?"
"I think something's wrong with my brothers…" Jazz frowned. "I mean… today I saw actual ghosts and these unusual creatures, and one of them didn't even bat an eye! And the other… he just sounds so… doubtful with everything lately."
Takuya recalled what he had seen with Andy and Danny lately. "Yeah… I noticed it too." He looked down, worry on his own face. But why? Why is Danny acting so angry and Andy so doubtful? It's not like them...
Later, that evening, Takuya was alone in his room. He was trying to figure out what was wrong with his cousins. Jazz was worried sick about them, and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with them either. Takuya sighed, he wished Andy wasn't having this problem. Andy would've come up with at least ten different theories as to what happened to Danny and… himself…? By now.
Maybe I should try to figure it out by going over what I know. Takuya mused to himself. Because I know Andy tried to fight a Soulmon on his own, but it didn't go over so well, well, from what Danny mentioned anyway. It can't be just that though… can it?
Takuya remembered Andy telling him at one point that if something seems off, he should try to trace back to where it all started and go from there. Takuya, as far as he could remember, knew Andy was just fine earlier this morning.
Okay, so Andy was fine this morning, and had no issues. Then the fight with the Soulmon and a blob ghost happened, and the student counselor's office was trashed in the fight. Andy made some mistakes as he fought the Soulmon, but that is to be expected. However… I don't think that alone made Andy miserable. He would feel bad yes, but not to the point of doubting himself… Takuya mused as he looked down at the floor in thought. Then he had a thought. Wait… The last person who saw Andy before he started becoming doubtful was… Koichi! Maybe he can give some light on this!
Takuya pulled out his D-Tector and began to press the buttons on it before he got through to Koichi's. The symbol of Darkness appeared on the screen. "Koichi?"
"Yes, Takuya?" Koichi's voice asked.
"Hey, listen. I have an issue with my cousins, and you were the last one to see Andy, correct?" Takuya began. "Because he is not himself anymore."
"Uh… last one to see Andy? No, I don't think so," Koichi said, sounding confused.
"Sorry. I worded that wrong." Takuya said as he sighed. "I meant, when you met Andy, did he seem like he was doubting himself? Because that is what is going on right now. Andy has apparently been saying stuff that has my cousin Jazz worried, and me as well."
"Oh… well, he did seem like something was bothering him, but he didn't seem all that doubtful. In fact, he was the one who encouraged me not to worry about being an introvert," Koichi answered.
"He did? That sounds like something Andy would do." Takuya chuckled. Then he went serious. "But then that doesn't explain why he is acting so doubtful now…"
"Last I saw, he went into Penelope Spectra's office," Koichi informed. "I'm not sure what could've happened after that."
Takuya perked up at that. "Andy went to Ms. Spectra's office huh? I heard she is supposed to be helping kids at Casper High, but… Something about her rubs me the wrong way, like she is not what she claims to be."
"Maybe… but let's be careful not to jump to conclusions. If there is something going on with Ms. Spectra, we would need evidence first," Koichi replied.
"Yeah, I understand. I am just saying that is what I am feeling." Takuya clarified. "But anyway, thanks for the information."
"Of course, Takuya," Koichi said.
With that, Koichi hung up. Takuya looked up at the ceiling, thinking to himself. Something smelly is going on here, and I will get to the bottom of it.
Andy was sitting on his bed. Danny left a few minutes ago to go out flying to try to clear his head. Andy wanted to talk to Danny, but with how angry Danny was, Andy wasn't sure if he should talk to him right now.
"Andy, what's going on with you?" Dorimon asked. "The Andy I know isn't so… well, like this."
"What do you mean? Isn't this how I always am?" Andy frowned.
"No. You have been acting like you can't do anything lately," Dorimon replied.
"Oh…" Andy acted like this was his first time hearing that.
"Tell me what's wrong, Andy, we are supposed to be partners, right?" Dorimon asked. "Don't tell me you doubt that too."
The boy shook his head. "Of course not."
"Then what's going on with you? I knew you were bothered by something lately, but this is going beyond that," The In-Training pointed out.
Andy frowned, and seemed to be hesitated on saying what was on his mind. "... Do you ever feel like we're just in the way whenever a battle starts?"
Dorimon blinked. "No… Why? I thought we would do whatever we could to help out."
"That's all we've been doing… just doing whatever we could to help out, but have we been really helping?" Andy questioned.
"What do you mean?" Dorimon frowned.
"Look at our track record. All of our successful battles were because we had help, from Takuya, and from Dash, people who have the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors. We barely did anything other than become objects of worry for both of them. Look at how our battle with ShadowSeraphimon turned out, heck, look at how our battle with Soulmon this morning turned out! You were out of commission for most of the day, and I couldn't do anything!" Andy explained in frustration.
Dorimon frowned. "So? You made a mistake, and that is part of being in a battle. Digimon make mistakes all the time, and so do humans. But we don't let it get us down. We just get stronger by learning from the mistakes we make. So, you should too."
"That's what everyone's been saying. But the mistakes I made were obvious and amateurish. It almost cost both of us, if Danny hadn't been there, you might've been Soulmon food! Why haven't you been able to digivolve past the Rookie stage yet? It's as Tsukaimon said, I'm just holding you back," Andy said glumly.
Dorimon blinked in surprise. "Andy… I don't think you have been holding me back. It just takes time for Digimon to digivolve to a higher state. I need you to help me fight. I need you."
Andy shook his head.
"Listen Andy… I'll admit, I am also scared of digivolving," Dorimon spoke up. "After I heard about what happened to Takuya that time when Tucker took you over… and when we first met… I can't help but worry I might lose control again and become a monster. So maybe the reason why neither of us have gotten any 'stronger' is because we're both holding ourselves back."
Andy sighed. "I'm not really sure how much help I've really been or if Takuya has just been indulging me."
Dorimon frowned here. "Andy, if he was just indulging you, you would know. He is your cousin, right? Come on, you've got a good brain in there, use it. Why would you think you've only been in the way? Sure there had been a few bad experiences, and setbacks lately, but that shouldn't be enough to make you believe you're not good enough."
Andy looked at Dorimon for a moment and gave a soft smile. "Perhaps we should sleep on it. I have a lot to think about…"
Dorimon nodded, hoping he got through to Andy. Please Andy… Don't keep acting like this… I don't like it...
The next morning, at Casper High
Jazz was determined to get to the bottom of her brothers' behaviors. She decided to go to their friends. Jazz managed to corner Tucker and Sam before she began asking them questions.
"Have you noticed how gloomy and negative Danny's been lately? Or how worried and doubtful Andy's been?" Jazz questioned the two.
"Um… Jazz, we're Danny's and Andy's friends. We're supposed to keep their secrets from you." Tucker pointed out, even though that fact was obvious to Jazz.
Jazz pulled out a 20 dollar bill and waved it in front of Tucker.
"Although…" Tucker began as he took the 20 dollar bill; Jazz knew that was one of his secret likes, so she had planned to use it to get the information she wanted. Too bad Sam figured it out though.
Sam took the 20 dollar bill away from Tucker and handed it back to Jazz, Sam gave a glare at Tucker before she spoke to the older sister. "Listen, I understand that you're worried, but we all have our own secrets, Jazz. They keep some secrets to themselves, but it's not like they're doing anything criminal."
At the same time, Andy had been looking over his text books near a wall. Dorimon was in his backpack again. Danny came over by the water fountain and leaned down to drink some water. Andy noticed something bright green suddenly sticking out of the wall from the corner of his eyes. When Andy looked, his eyes went wide when he saw a green hand sticking out, grabbed onto one of the straps on Danny's backpack, and put it to the Fire Alarm, making sure it was stuck to it, before the hand went back into the wall.
Andy opened his mouth to warn Danny when Danny finished drinking his water, but Andy hesitated. Unfortunately, the hesitation cost him, because Danny made to move, and the strap of his backpack pulled the Fire Alarm. This caused the alarm to go off, and the sprinklers on the ceiling activated, soaking everybody. Andy squeaked when he saw his text books were getting drenched.
"NO! MY TEXT BOOKS!" Andy yelled.
Dorimon sighed as he heard Andy's voice despite being in the backpack before a thought crossed his mind. Is this backpack even waterproof?
There was a sudden panic due to the Fire Alarm, the students were all trampling the brothers out the door, trying to get out of the raining building.
Takuya was dragged outside as well, and he was completely drenched by a fire hose that one of the firemen used on him, likely thinking the students that were panicking were literally on fire. The Warrior of Flame was not too thrilled about that. Someone must hate me up there...
Takuya tried to wring out his shirt, but it was so drenched it did little in the long run.
"The Swan Princess! Who pulled that fire alarm!?" Mr. Lancer shouted.
Andy was rubbing his very soaked hair, not noticing Dorimon popping out of his wet backpack and was shaking his very wet fur. A Dalmation dog started barking at Dorimon, and Dorimon gave a sudden roar back, making the dog whimper. Andy quickly straightened up when he heard Dorimon roaring and shoved him back into the backpack before anyone could see him.
Dorimon muttered under his breath while in the backpack. Andy wasn't sure if it was about stupid Dogmon or something else.
"I believe I saw Danny here pulling the fire alarm," Penelope spoke up to Mr. Lancer.
Mr. Lancer glared at the older twin. "You're getting a month's detention, Mr. Fenton."
"A month's detention?!" Danny exclaimed, shocked at what he was told. "But I didn't do anything!"
Sam's face was covered by her wet hair, the only thing showing was her nose. Tucker was grumbling as he was wringing his beret. Jazz didn't look too happy about being wet.
"It's… it's true, Mr. Lancer. Danny's backpack was just caught on the fire alarm," Andy spoke up on his brother's behalf, though he stuttered a little bit, not sure if that was the right thing to say.
Mr. Lancer gave Andy a look. "Is that so? Because no one else here is saying that. Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
Andy shrunk back.
"Hey, don't worry, Mr. Lancer, it was an accident, right?" Penelope spoke up with a smile. "But we're going to take that accident and make it an acci-don't, and learn from it so it never happens again~"
"But-" Danny began, but Mr. Lancer cut him off.
"No buts." Mr. Lancer scolded. "You could learn a little bit about school spirit from Ms. Spectra here."
Penelope gave Danny a smug look as Mr. Lancer continued to speak.
"When I was in school I got the same advice, and look how I turned out." Mr. Lancer finished as he gave a spry jump into the air for a moment.
Danny suddenly wished he was anywhere else.
Andy blinked when Mr. Lancer said Penelope's last name. Ms. Spectra, huh? Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out she was a ghost in disguise?
Dorimon, inside Andy's backpack, heard the woman's last name thanks to his keen Digimon hearing and frowned to himself. Spectra… Isn't that a ghostly sounding name? Huh...
Later, when everyone dried off, and headed back into Casper High, Danny had to go into Penelope's office again.
Andy had study hall this period, so he decided to use this time to get his textbooks replaced since they were destroyed in the deluge of water. However, while he was on his way to the Principal's Office, he saw Dash, Calvin, and another jock carrying some boxes down the hallway. Although Andy knew it might get him into trouble, he was curious enough to see where they were going. He didn't really feel up to talking to Principal Ishiyama right now anyways.
Dash perked up, almost as if sensing something, but brushed it off. He, Calvin, and the other jock made their way to Penelope Spectra's office, boxes in hand.
Andy stayed a few feet away from them so they wouldn't see him. But when Dash, Calvin, and the other jock walked into the office, he heard something he didn't expect.
"Ms. Spectra, where do you want us to put the-" Dash suddenly stopped as the three of them gasped in shock at something. "What the…?"
"Hey, guys, check it out! It's the Casper High Spirit Baby!" Calvin mocked as he and the other jock began to laugh. Dash on the other hand, while Andy couldn't see it, had rage on his face. But he didn't lash out at Calvin, even if it would be deserved.
Andy furrowed his eyebrows when he heard Calvin making fun of someone, and he peeked through the door. The boy's eyes went wide in shock when he saw his brother, wearing what appeared to be a diaper, a red sash that said 'SPIRIT' over his shirt, and a tall black hat.
"What… the… heck!?" Andy shouted, catching everyone's attention.
Angry now, Andy walked into the office before he glared at Penelope. "Why do you have Danny wearing this!?"
"It's to help him get over his fear of being called a baby. He cares about what others think too much." Penelope replied in a caring tone. "So why not face it head on?"
"By making sure others will mock him!?" Andy snapped. "That will only make it worse! Lady, are you sure you know what you're doing!?"
"Of course I do." Penelope replied, giving Andy a look. "And are you sure you should be worrying about your brother right now when you have your own issues to be worrying about?"
Andy narrowed his eyes.
Dash, seeing that Andy was angry, put down the box he was carrying and turned to Calvin and the other jock. "Okay, that's enough you guys, put everything down and let's go."
Calvin gave Dash a grin. "Okay, but you have to admit that was pretty funny."
Dash gave a fake laugh. "Ha ha. Sure. Let's go." He turned and walked off without even acknowledging Calvin's confused look.
Andy grabbed Danny's arm suddenly. "Come on, bro, let's get you out of that ridiculous outfit."
Danny nodded. "Okay, bro." I am so glad Andy came by. The last thing I need is to be mocked some more...
"Now, hold on a moment," Penelope spoke up, putting her hands on Danny and Andy's shoulders.
Dorimon slowly looked up from the backpack and gave Penelope a warning glare. You like that hand of yours? I suggest you get it off of the boy's shoulder if you want to keep it...
Penelope frowned at the little Digimon before she let go of the twins' shoulder. But she was able to absorb what she needed before she did.
Andy didn't bother to acknowledge Penelope anymore, after she let them go, he and Danny left her office.
Dorimon pulled back into Andy's backpack, making sure he was hidden from sight again. The next time I see her, I will bite if she touches Andy or Danny again...
After school let out for the day, Danny decided to take Andy and Takuya with him to the Elmer's Pharmacy. It was a good place for the teens to hang out, next to the mall and the Nasty Burger. Danny also realized Takuya had never been to Elmer's Pharmacy before, so it was a good time to show him around. They met up with Tucker and Sam at the ice cream parlor.
While Sam had a tofu ice cream and Tucker had strawberry, Takuya had gotten a chocolate ice cream cone and was licking at it, watching his twin cousins with worry. Andy appeared to be deep in thought about something as he was licking his vanilla ice cream. Andy hadn't noticed that he ended up feeding Dorimon a metal bowl meant for ice cream instead of ice cream, though Dorimon didn't seem to mind since he liked the metal bowl. Tucker and Sam made sure to keep Dorimon hidden under the table with them.
"So Ms. Spectra actually made you wear a baby outfit?" Tucker asked after hearing the story from Danny.
"Yeah, she did." Danny sighed. "And it was embarrassing to boot!"
"At least she didn't make you walk around the school in it, right?" Sam asked.
"She was about to." Danny frowned. "If Andy hadn't come along when he did."
Tucker gave Andy a look. "Nice save, dude."
Andy didn't acknowledge Tucker, he was still deep in thought.
"Uh… dude? Andy? You okay?" Tucker asked.
Andy blinked. "Huh? Did you say something?"
"Um… Never mind." Tucker sighed. "You seem a bit out of it, man."
"Is something wrong?" Sam asked.
"Hmm… maybe," Andy muttered softly.
Danny sighed. "This week is going wrong. I've been making a lot more mistakes, the ghost keeps getting away, and now I keep feeling depressed and angry all the time. Why? I mean that shrink is supposed to be helping me, but ever since I've been talking to her, I've been feeling worse."
Andy looked over at Danny, his eyes wide and parts of his ice cream melted onto the table.
Takuya looked over at Andy. "Andy? Is something wrong?"
Andy looked down at his ice cream. It was like he had been trying to figure out a puzzle, and Danny had just given him the last piece to click it together. But… it couldn't possibly… it's too easy, too obvious… no self respecting ghost would be that obvious, right? But what if I am right? It would be dangerous to leave it unchecked… but if I'm wrong… I'll just look like a paranoid idiot who's wasting everybody's time. Surely there must be a way to find out for sure.
Dorimon peered out from Andy's backpack, a slight frown on his small face. Andy… why are you still acting like this? I thought you would be better by now… I mean you stood up for Danny a while ago, where did that determined spirit go?
Andy tried to figure out the best way to tell the others of what he thought without making them feel like he was a paranoid idiot. "Um… I think…"
Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off, and Takuya felt hot and cold. Dorimon frowned, he was more annoyed than on alarm with the fact that there was a ghost and Digimon here.
Takuya looked around, wondering where the ghost and Digimon were. Then, he saw a Soulmon hovering near the back of the store. Damn it… He stood up. "Um… I have to use the bathroom."
Takuya ran off before anyone could say anything. Andy gaped for a moment.
Danny was about to get up before Jazz suddenly approached them.
"Hey… are you still mad, Danny?" Jazz asked in concerned.
Danny gritted his teeth, he didn't expect Jazz to suddenly show up, and he didn't have time to come up with a good excuse. He looked over at Tucker, Sam, and Andy. Thinking quickly, he suddenly yelled at them. "Oh yeah!? Well if you three are going to take Jazz's side, then you can hang with her too!"
Danny then pulled Jazz onto his seat while he got up. "Take my seat, you've already taken my friends."
Danny was a little overdramatic there, but he didn't have time to put on a good act, he had to hurry. Danny ran to the backdoor. Andy was now bewildered.
"Wait, Danny!" Jazz called out, now even more concerned for him and she started running after him.
"Come on!" Sam hissed before she and Tucker ran off in the other direction, leaving Andy and Dorimon there.
"What the crap just happened?" Andy frowned.
"There's a ghost nearby, and a Digimon too." Dorimon replied as he peered out of Andy's backpack more. "We need to go help!"
Andy stood up. "R-right… go help… them."
Andy was still unsure, but if his theory was right, then he had no reason to be unsure of himself. Penelope was just trying to implant doubt into him. But it was still hard to fight against the doubt because of how little confidence he felt at the moment. Still, Andy felt guilty about letting his cousin and brother go to fight on their own. He had to do something. Andy ran to where Danny and Jazz ran off to.
Andy stopped when he nearly ran right into Jazz, who was staring out the door.
"Jazz? What are you doing?" Andy asked.
"Andy?!" Jazz gasped. "Wh-what are you doing here? Did you come to help me get to Danny?"
Andy frowned a little, Jazz looked freaked out, more than usual. Andy opened the door a little more, seeing Danny in his ghost form and flew off into the sky. Andy's eyes widened before he slowly closed the door and looked at Jazz.
"... So… what did you see just now?" Andy cautiously asked.
"I saw Danny run off." Jazz replied. "And then…" Jazz trailed off here, unsure of how to describe what she had just seen to Andy. I don't want to freak him out...
Before Andy could say anything, they heard screaming. The blob ghost was roaring at Paulina and an employee. Not only that, but Andy saw several Soulmon, more than just 4, flying around. Then some of them flew out. One of them flew at them, and picked up Jazz. Jazz yelped as she was carried out into the alleyway.
"Jazz!" Andy yelled frantically.
"Put me down!" Jazz struggled.
"Blazing Ice!" Frosty air suddenly coated the Soulmon that was carrying Jazz, and caused it to drop her. Jazz yelped before she landed on the ground, which thankfully wasn't far.
Looking up as she rubbed her behind, Jazz saw that same rabbit creature from the other day. "W-wha… What?"
The Soulmon hissed as he floated closer to Jazz. The rabbit creature quickly jumped in front of Jazz, glaring at the Soulmon.
"I can't really explain it, but I feel the need to protect you, human," The rabbit stated.
Jazz blinked, unsure if she was losing it or if this was real. However, it seemed the little creature was willing to help her, so she decided to give it a chance of possibly being real. "O-okay… Just… be careful…"
Two more Soulmon started floating towards them. The rabbit creature jumped and began to spin around rapidly. "Tiny Twister!"
Jazz watched as the small creature's attack landed on one of the ghostly things hovering towards her, knocking the ghost thing back into a wall.
The other two grabbed onto Lopmon with their claws.
"Dark Claw."
Lopmon began to cry out in pain.
"Metal Cannon!"
Two iron balls slammed into the two Soulmon, forcing them to let go of Lopmon.
Jazz looked back, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Behind her was Andy, and at his side was a fox-like dragon… thing! But what surprised her the most was the creature at Andy's side looked like it was ready to protect Andy.
Andy ran over to Jazz in concern. "Are you okay, Jazz?"
Jazz nodded. "Yeah… But Andy… what is that thing beside you? And where is your plushy?"
Dorumon quickly stood in front of Andy and Jazz, standing beside Lopmon. The three Soulmon hissed angrily.
"Jazz…" Andy frowned. "... Dorumon isn't a plushy, he's my partner and friend. He's a Digimon."
"D-Digi-what?" Jazz was surprised at this. "Andy, what is going on here?"
"I think it should be pretty obvious; we're under attack!" Andy snapped back. "This is not the time to explain right now!"
Jazz looked back and saw Andy was right, for the Soulmon were aiming to come and get at the three of them. "Uh oh…"
"Finishing Trance."
The three Soulmon created a large dragon-like skull and were intending to drop it on them.
"Move!" Andy yelled, grabbing Jazz's arm and pulled her away.
Dorumon and Lopmon jumped away as well just before the large skull crushed the area they were standing in seconds ago.
Jazz looked at Andy before looking at the fox-like dragon, known as Dorumon. Looking back at the ghost things behind her, she frowned to herself. Those things look strong… But whatever is going on here, it definitely involves Andy.
Andy remembered seeing that Lopmon's ice attack seemed to have an effect on the Soulmon, so he took out his Frigimon card. Andy took out his D-Arc. The card spun before Andy caught it in two fingers, looking up from the shadows. He then held the device over his head, the card slot facing down towards his head. He stuck the card's edge into the slot and dragged it through, the card being pulled towards the right side of his body and the device towards the left side of his body. "Digi-Modify!" Andy called out. He pulled the device and card apart from each other. "Frigimon's Icy Breath activate!"
Dorumon shot out the Icy Breath at two of the Soulmon, freezing them quickly in ice, but the third one managed to escape.
"Look out!" Lopmon warned.
Soulmon reached out its claws. "Dark Claw."
Soulmon grabbed onto Dorumon's neck. "Energy Drain."
Dorumon cried out as he felt the energy from his body being drained. His body glowed with a sick purple color, almost making him look darker than usual.
"No! Leave him alone!" Andy shouted in desperation.
"Blazing-" Lopmon began to take a deep breath before another Soulmon grabbed him from behind.
"Where are these things coming from?" Jazz frowned.
There was sudden fire coming from the building.
The fire burst out several windows, sending glass towards the Soulmon holding Lopmon. Soulmon hissed, distracted by the glass. Lopmon then smacked the Soulmon with his ears.
"You can't let yourself give up just because things get hard!" Lopmon called. "I only survived as long as I did by not giving up! Even if I lost my status, my form, my friends… I refuse to give up!"
Andy looked at Lopmon, hearing his determined words. He remembered how Dorumon had refused to give up when he kept tackling Vlad and Tsukaimon, even if Dorumon was clearly outclassed in every way. He remembered Vlad's question. "Why do you keep trying so hard?"
Why do we…? Andy asked himself as he gripped onto his D-Arc tightly. Because… we want to see a better tomorrow. We want to survive, and live. By giving up, we're essentially allowing ourselves to die.
Dorumon looked at Andy. "Andy… we have to fight back… Lopmon is correct. He won't quit just because things look hard."
Andy looked around for a moment before he grabbed onto an empty food tray on the ground and threw it as hard as he could at the Soulmon that was gripping onto Dorumon. The tray didn't hit the Soulmon, but it hit its hat. The tray bounced off of the hat, which caused the hat to slide off of the Soulmon. The Soulmon, now hatless, gasped.
Andy then took out another card and slid it across his D-Arc. "Digi-modify! Devidramon's Red-Eyes activate!"
Dorumon's eyes glowed red, staring right into the Soulmon's eyes. Soulmon was instantly paralyzed, its entire body going stiff.
Dorumon was dropped to the ground and landed on his feet before stumbling over to Andy's side. He gave Andy a smile. "Heh… Not bad…"
Andy hugged Dorumon. "I'm glad you're okay."
"It's not over yet!" Lopmon shouted, finally able to get out of the Soulmon's grip.
The Soulmon, now angry, seeing its friend frozen in paralysis, and the other two frozen in ice, started to charge at Andy, Dorumon, and Jazz. The three of them looked up in shock. Then suddenly, it stopped. The Soulmon frowned, before he turned around, grabbed onto the paralyzed Soulmon. The other two frozen Soulmon broke out of their ice and flew away with the Soulmon. Two more Soulmon came out from the building, following the other 4 Soulmon into the sky.
"Okay… That was weird…" Jazz noted. "Those two things that fled from the store were burned as well…" She then remembered the rabbit creature. "Ah…"
The rabbit creature jumped down and walked over to them. "... You may call me Lopmon."
Dorumon looked at Lopmon. "Nice to meet you, Lopmon."
Jazz gave a slight nod. "Ah… Hi. I'm… Jazz." She was unsure of what to make of all this though.
Andy looked at his D-Arc as a holographic image of Lopmon appeared. "Let's see… Lopmon… Rookie level, Data type. Lopmon is an Animal Digimon. It is an extremely precious Rookie Digimon that is a twin to Terriermon. Lopmon has three horns growing from its head and has the personality of a lonely crybaby."
"Okay, that last part is a lie, I'm not a lonely crybaby," Lopmon huffed.
"Well, if the way you handled those Soulmon was any indication, you are braver than that." Dorumon chuckled.
Jazz then looked at Andy. "Okay, Andy. I want an explanation as to what is going on here!"
Before Andy could say anything, they heard something coming out of the building. They looked up, seeing Danny Phantom flying away into the sky. Jazz paled, as if she just remembered something. She rubbed the temples of her head, it was almost too much.
Lopmon noticed Jazz's actions. "Are you okay?"
Jazz looked back at Lopmon. "Um… Yeah. Just have a bit of a headache…"
"Come on, Jazz, let's get you home, I'm sure this is all a bit overwhelming. I can explain everything on the way," Andy promised, sounding more like his usual self.
Jazz nodded at Andy, feeling a bit better knowing that he was sounding more like his normal self again. "Okay, Andy. Let's go."
"But wait… Dorumon," Andy looked back at his Digimon partner.
Dorumon nodded before fractal code surrounded him, surprising Jazz, and he degenerated back into Dorimon, Andy's 'plushy'.
Jazz blinked. "So that plushy is Dorumon?" It would make sense if that is the case, why I thought it was alive, because it is alive!
"Yeah… but his name is Dorimon now while in this form," Andy chuckled.
"What?" Jazz frowned.
"Come on… I'll explain while we walk," Andy sighed.
Lopmon looked at them for a moment, before he ran over to Jazz, and climbed up to her head suddenly. "If that Digimon can pretend to be a toy, then so can I."
Jazz looked up at Lopmon. "I don't know… Our parents can get a bit… excited when it comes to unnatural creatures…"
"Do they get excited if they think the 'unnatural creature' is a stuffed animal?" Lopmon questioned. "Or a hat?"
Jazz blinked. "Um… no. I guess it's okay, as long as you don't move or anything like that."
Lopmon smiled at Jazz's response.
It was late evening by the time Jazz and Andy got home. Danny and Takuya were already in Fenton Works. Andy had finished explaining about Digimon, how they worked, and what they are to Jazz, with some helpful input from Lopmon and Dorimon.
Jazz knew it was hard to wrap her head around, but having seen the 'Digimon' in action, she found herself accepting it, which was hard to believe for her. Lopmon was also a friendly little Digimon from what she saw, and quite strong too for a 'Rookie-level' as Andy had explained to her. Lopmon definitely had a story behind him.
"So what's your story?" Andy asked Jazz suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Jazz questioned.
"I've told you about Digimon and my partner Dorimon," Andy pointed out. "But you haven't told me what you saw when you saw that ghost boy flying away earlier."
Jazz frowned. She wasn't sure how Andy would take it, or if he even knew at all what Danny's secret was. "I…"
Andy looked into her eyes, as if searching for something. He then gave a small chuckle. "... Those are the eyes of someone who has seen things… You've seen… who that ghost boy was, didn't you?"
"Um… Maybe?" Jazz replied.
"It's alright, Jazz… I already know," Andy admitted. "You don't fight ghosts and Digimon on a daily basis without finding things like this out."
Jazz felt oddly relieved at hearing that. "Good. I wasn't sure how you would take it if I told you." She had a small smile on her face.
"Of course, that does lead to a lot of concerning questions… the fact that our brother is a ghost… well, half ghost, is something that is… unknown territory for all of us," Andy stated.
Jazz gave a nod to Andy. "It seems to be. I mean, what could a half-ghost be capable of? How will it affect them mentally? That is stuff we don't know yet."
"I know, that's why I can't help but worry for Danny," Andy sighed. "But I guess I got a little too caught up with my own problems lately. Danny's been… pretty upset lately, and I've been… too much of a coward to say much."
"Andy… You're not a coward." Jazz said with a frown. "You never were. It's probably been because you don't want to make Danny even more upset."
"I don't, of course… but… I also felt scared… of Danny," Andy admitted. "I didn't know what he was capable of, and I was worried if he got too angry, he… might become violent… and he might do something he would regret later on. There had been stories about ghosts that could eat a person's emotions or souls..." And if Tucker could turn malicious, and Vlad… who's to say Danny wouldn't either?
Jazz frowned. "Andy, Danny would never do that to you. You're his brother! Even as a half ghost, Danny still cares about you, and would do his best to help you."
"I know he wouldn't! … At least, not intentionally…" Andy hesitantly added, before shaking his head. "I wanted to get stronger with Dorimon in hopes of helping people, but… I guess I also wanted to get stronger in case I would… ever have to defend myself…" From Danny, or maybe even Takuya...
Jazz wasn't liking the way the conversation was going. "Okay, Andy… But I think we need to focus on helping Danny. He seems like he is under intense stress lately." Maybe it will get Andy's mind out of this deep rut he is in.
"I think we all are," Andy sighed before he walked up to the front door of Fenton Works and opened it.
Lopmon quickly jumped down from Jazz's head. "I sense that the Warrior of Flame is in this house. Perhaps I should go hide somewhere."
"What? Why?" Jazz asked. "Warrior of Flame?"
Andy blinked as he looked at Lopmon. "Do you have some kind of relationship with… um… this Warrior of Flame?"
Lopmon frowned. "You could say that…" The way he trailed off indicated he didn't want to talk about it at the moment.
Then they heard Jack and Maddie coming into the living room. Jazz quickly picked Lopmon up, and Lopmon had to go still and quiet to act like a plushy.
"I'm telling you, Maddie, this thing will work on any ghost like a charm!" Jack assured as he held up the Fenton Peeler. "I'll even give a demonstration!"
"Not the couch, honey, this is the 10th one we had to replace this month," Maddie spoke up.
Jazz blinked as she saw her parents. "We should go into the kitchen before they start testing that thing."
"Hey kids!" Maddie smiled when she saw them. "Had a good day at school? Ooh, that is an adorable rabbit plushy, Jazz, where did you get it?"
Jazz's mind raced for an answer before she had one. "The mall. It was a free give-away item."
Jack laughed boisterously. "Better watch out, Andeedee, or else your sister will have the cutest plushy."
Andy blushed, it wasn't often Jack called him by his nickname, but when he did, he felt embarrassed since 'Andeedee' sounded like a girl's name. "Yeah, well, her rabbit's cute, but it's got nothing on my little… fox toy."
Jazz looked at Andy with a smile. "It doesn't matter who has the better plushy. All that matters is you like yours and I like mine."
Andy nodded. "Um… Mom, Dad, we're going to head into the kitchen for some dinner."
"There's some frozen turkey dinner in the fridge, just heat it up for 3 minutes in the microwave," Maddie said as her two kids started walking into the kitchen.
Lopmon felt tense in Jazz's arms as they went into the kitchen. Andy and Jazz stopped when they saw Danny sitting at the table, picking at his food. He had the turkey dinner on his plate, but he wasn't eating it. Takuya sat beside him, also looking just as dejected about something, and picking at his mashed potatoes.
Jazz stared at Danny for a moment, making Danny perk up as he picked up on her stare. "What?"
"Nothing." Jazz said with a smile.
Andy elbowed Jazz to the side and whispered. "Nothing? You're staring at him like he's some kind of new species of animal you've never seen before."
Jazz sighed and looked down at Lopmon before looking back at Andy. "You're right." She then had an idea. Jazz placed Lopmon on her head like a hat. "Here. This way Lopmon looks like a stuffed animal hat."
Dorimon was giggling while Lopmon just kept looking nervously at Takuya, who hadn't looked at them yet.
Takuya perked up when he heard Dorimon's giggles, and saw Jazz, Andy and Dorimon there, along with a rabbit creature that he felt he had seen before. The rabbit creature was on Jazz's head, and it made him wonder if that was a new Digimon.
Jazz approached Danny. "Hey, Danny… you know that I think you're great, right?"
Danny looked at Jazz, feeling skeptical. "That's not what I've heard."
"Then you've heard wrong. You know that… even though I can be bossy, overbearing, and maybe even a jerk sometimes… I love you, and I care about you," Jazz explained. "I would never say or think anything that would insult you, Danny. And I want to be there for you as your support. And even though you don't think I would understand, you can talk to me about anything."
Andy put Dorimon down on the table while Jazz was saying this to Danny, and walked over to the fridge to take out some of the turkey dinner. Heh, cheesy Jazz, very cheesy, but I get the feeling it's something Danny needed to hear.
Danny looked down, unsure for a moment. "Um…" He really looked like he was going to go through with telling Jazz too, though Danny was also curious about the rabbit plushy on Jazz's head.
Before Danny could even ask about it, or talk to her about whatever was going on, there was a sudden explosion and tremor that came from the living room. This alarmed all of them, and Takuya was ready to evolve if he had to. They all ran to see what happened in the living room.
"Jack, what did I tell you?" Maddie sighed. "That's the 11th couch this month. We really need a better target for you to test our inventions."
"Sorry, Mads." Jack apologized, actually looking sheepish here. Then it faded as he became excited. "I'm just hoping that if we can find that ghost at Jazz's school, we can have it peeled like an onion!"
"Peeling is fine, but why does it destroy our furniture? Maybe we need to tweak it a little more so it only affects ghosts and ghostly things instead of our furniture," Maddie sighed. "It would be too dangerous to take it into battle if it would cause harm to other people and their properties."
Jack gave it some thought. "You know, Mads, you're right. We do need a better target if we're to properly test our inventions and make sure it only hurts the ghosts and ghost objects."
"Besides, if we test the Peeler more thoroughly, we could also get some remains of a ghost to study as well, because it would not completely eliminate the ghost too." Maddie pointed out.
The kids went back into the kitchen after seeing that it was just Maddie and Jack testing out the Peeler. Andy started the microwave for the turkey dinner.
"I don't feel like talking about it right now," Danny sighed to Jazz, having lost his confidence to tell her after watching their parents talk about peeling a ghost apart. "Besides… I'm not sure if I can take you seriously with that rabbit on your head."
Jazz blushed a bit at remembering Lopmon was on her head, but she had to admit Danny had a point. "Yeah, it probably would be hard to do…" She still gave Danny a smile.
Jazz then walked over to Danny before giving him a kiss on his head. And for a moment, Danny gave a smile, before he realized what she just did. "Oh, gross!"
"Aww, I thought it was sweet," Andy chuckled.
Jazz then walked over to Andy, and gave him a kiss on his head as well. "Now you won't be left out."
Andy stared at Jazz before his face started blushing, he hadn't expected Jazz to kiss his head after she made her speech to Danny. Takuya was chuckling when he watched his cousins getting flustered by their older sister.
"I think that's sweet." Takuya joked with a grin. However, his gaze drifted to the rabbit on Jazz's head at that point and he frowned a bit. But is that rabbit on her head a Digimon? Or is it a plushy?
When Andy's turkey dinner was done, he used some papers to hold on to it so he wouldn't burn his hands, and carried it over to the table. Danny sat down beside him to continue his dinner, looking much better than before.
Andy looked over at Danny, seeming to consider something before he nodded to himself. "Hey, bro? Meet me in our room after dinner, alright? There's something I need to talk to you about."
Danny looked at Andy in confusion, but nodded in agreement. "Okay." I wonder what Andy wants to talk to me about.
Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Lopmon is adorable, perhaps one of my favorite Digimon-line as well.
ZAFT: He looks like a plushy~
GirlFish: ZAFT: You will see soon enough. No spoilers~ ;3
DarkFoxKit: I don't know about Kwan yet, but Dash here is much smarter than canon Dash will ever be. I always thought Zoe's Beast Form was a bit… odd. I mean… it looks like a woman with feathers and wings, how is that considered a beast?
ZAFT: I have no idea… ^^' As for Lillthmon and Ophanimon, you will have to see what we have planned down the road. :)
Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Things are going to be a little hectic. We ended up juggling more characters than we needed. ^^'
ZAFT: But expect them to make appearances from time to time. :)
It1023: DarkFoxKit: Well… I'm going to assume you read this chapter before seeing this reply, so… no, no Lopmon didn't get Danny as a partner. Lopmon's line also doesn't use ice very much, it's only the Rookie form that uses ice.
ZAFT: Danny's partner is going to be a surprise, so just keep reading to find out. :)