ZAFT: *Glomps* You're back!
DarkFoxKit: Oof! Oooooh… not so rough, my whole body is sore from laying on that hospital bed for 4 days straight.
ZAFT: Sorry… ^^'
Andy: We're glad you're back, we've missed you.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, but my… trial isn't quite over yet. I'll just be glad to put all of it behind me as soon as possible.
ZAFT: I have a hunch as to what is going on, but… I will just let the professionals handle it. ^^'
DarkFoxKit: I just hope it goes by quick and easy…
Andy: Don't worry, we're here to support you every step of the way.
ZAFT: As cheesy as Andy's comment sounds, it's true. :3
DarkFoxKit: Thanks. Now let's get the readers to the chapter.
Chapter 26: Two Boys and Two Dogs
Until school let out for the day, Danny knew he would have to keep Cujo content in his backpack. He couldn't try to find out what it was the ghost dog was looking for until then. But Valerie was keeping him on his toes. He would turn a corner, and Valerie would be there. Danny would quickly go in the other direction since he didn't want her picking up on Cujo's ecto signature.
Then Danny ran into Takuya. "Oof!"
Takuya dropped some of his books in the process.
"Ow!" Takuya stumbled back, rubbing at his nose. "That's gonna smart… Jeez Danny, where's the fire? You looked like you were ready to bolt or something."
"S-sorry, Takuya, was just having a bit of a stressful day," Danny apologized as he started helping pick Takuya's books up.
"What's got you stressed anyway?" Takuya asked. "Something ghost related?"
"Sort of." Danny frowned. "I'm mostly worried about Valerie, she's been… a bit obsessive with ghost hunting stuff lately."
Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Really? That's… odd. Why would she suddenly be interested in ghost hunting?"
Danny frowned as he rubbed the back of his head. "Um… you remember that Phantom kid, right?"
Takuya frowned. "I do…" I'm not liking the direction this is headed, whatever it is. Does it involve Phantom, who is inside Danny?
"Well, he tried to stop this big ghost dog from going into the Axion Labs, where Valerie's dad was working as the head of the security system. Sadly, Phantom didn't do so well in trying to control that dog, and the dog ended up destroying half of the labs. So Valerie's dad got fired and had to pay for the damages, so he and Valerie are now broke, living in an old, run-down apartment. Valerie blames ghosts for this," Danny surmised. "It also didn't help that Vlad sent her ghost weapons."
Takuya gaped at that last comment. "Hold on… Vlad sent a teenager ghost weapons?!" He then regained himself after his brain caught up with the rest of the information. "Okay, Valerie's dad lost his job because of ghosts destroying the lab where he worked, albeit not intentionally, and now Valerie is blaming all ghosts for what happened. Yeah, that's messed up."
"Yes, it is…" Danny frowned before he looked at Takuya. "I'm surprised you didn't know any of this… I thought Andy would've told you about it."
Takuya frowned. "Yeah… That's the odd thing. It's like he's avoiding me lately."
"Andy?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Would he have a reason to avoid you?"
"I don't know…" Takuya sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I just know he hasn't been hanging around me lately."
"Maybe he feels he shouldn't because you're catching up with your friends from Japan?" Danny asked.
Takuya frowned, he did recall that Andy stopped sitting with him at lunch as much since Koji and Koichi came to Casper High. Andy never gave any indication that he was uncomfortable though.
"Maybe…" Takuya hesitantly replied. "But Andy never mentioned he was feeling uncomfortable with me doing that…"
"I doubt he's uncomfortable with it, he just probably wants to give you some space," Danny shrugged. "You could try talking to him about it if you're worried though. Not talking could lead to… misunderstandings after all…"
Danny frowned a little, remembering how he had treated Andy before he finally let his brother in on his secret. A part of him wondered what would have happened if he hadn't told Andy he was part ghost, and how long they would have continued to be apart because of it. Danny then wondered about Takuya, and considered telling the older boy about his secret.
Takuya looked at Danny and noticed he looked like he was thinking about something. "Danny? Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
Danny blinked before shaking his head. "Just that there are a few things I need to handle before I… consider something."
Takuya wondered if Danny was thinking about telling him about his connection to Phantom. If Danny did decide to do that, what would Takuya do?
"O-okay…" Takuya said, unsure of what Danny was going to actually do. "I'll let you do that then…"
Danny walked past Takuya, and when he did, Takuya felt a small bit of heat, he could sense something supernatural coming from Danny's backpack.
Takuya looked back at Danny's retreating form, eyes focused on the backpack. What was that? It felt like a ghost but… here in school? And why was it coming from Danny's backpack?
To say Andy wasn't happy would be an understatement, he was frustrated beyond belief. He wanted to punch the next tree he saw, or have Dorimon melt it with acid bubbles. While chemistry class was going on, Andy had trouble concentrating.
"I can't believe her… she's going to try to destroy my brother over some stupid grudge, and something he couldn't control," Andy muttered under his breath.
"I mean you can't blame her, she did lose everything because of what happened at Axion Labs," Tucker whispered.
"She's throwing her own life in danger over a grudge, Tucker. If it wasn't for the fact that it was Danny she's gunning for, she would likely have gotten killed on her first day," Andy growled.
"Dude, calm down!" Tucker exclaimed. "It's not her fault she can hold a grudge. That's just how Valerie is."
"It is her fault that she's so damn stubborn," Andy hissed. "How could I just stand by and watch while Valerie tries to destroy Danny? And what if she goes up against a strong and merciless ghost like Skulker? He would skin her alive!"
To his credit, Tucker paled at that imagery in his head. "Uh… good point." He actually looked a bit sick to his stomach too.
Andy sighed, rubbing the temples of his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just… I've been feeling a bit stressed out these past few days. Valerie becoming a ghost huntress really didn't help."
Tucker put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Andy, I know it can be hard, but you have to remember, you can only do so much to stop Valerie. If Valerie is a ghost huntress, then the best you can do is at least try to help Danny avoid her. Valerie might have the equipment, but does she really know how to use it well? You grew up around that stuff. Danny has you as an edge over her."
"I guess," Andy sighed. "I just wish there was some way to talk her out of it."
Andy poured a vial into another, and this caused a puff of purple smoke to cover the two boys.
"Ugh… Okay, that is not cool…" Tucker groaned as he tried to wipe off his safety goggles.
"Nice work, Andy, you trying for a new look?" Valerie sarcastically said from the table next to his.
"Hey, I look good in purple," Andy huffed. "Better than red at least…"
Valerie looked tense when she heard Andy say that. "You don't know that!"
"Know what? If it was red, I'd look all bloody," Andy clarified.
Valerie turned away, trying to avoid eye contact with Andy. She definitely looked a bit nervous now.
Ugh, I need to get that ghost dog its toy so it can go home! I can't take anymore of this stress! Andy shouted in his mind before the lights in the room started to flicker.
"Uh… I think Doggymon is messing with the electricity…" Dorimon whispered.
That's it, somebody's turning into a Digi-Egg today! Andy inwardly growled.
Dorimon looked at Andy. "Should we go and stop Doggymon?"
Andy tried to move, but then the lights went completely out, causing the room to become pitch black. There were a lot of noises as people were tripping over the desks, there were glass shattering noises, some people yelled that someone stepped on their foot. Andy tried to move, but he ran into something. He saw something glowing green before it was gone.
It must be nice to have ghost powers and the ability to see in the dark. Andy grumbled to himself as someone stepped on his foot. "Ow!"
Dorimon looked at Andy. "Are you okay?"
"I'm on the ground in complete darkness, with someone stepping on my foot," Andy hissed. "Okay is not exactly on my-"
Then Andy stopped for a moment. "... Dorimon… can you see in the dark?"
Dorimon blinked. "I'm a Digimon. My senses are sharper than a human's, so, yes, to an extent I can see in the dark."
"Great, can you help me get out of this dark room then?" Andy requested.
"I will do my best." Dorimon replied.
Andy picked up Dorimon and put him on his head. "Tell me which way to go."
With everyone yelling and the teacher trying to calm the kids down, it was easy for Dorimon to tell Andy which direction to go without needing to be quiet. Nobody could see the 'talking stuffed animal'. By the time Andy got to the door, he opened it, only to see it was dark in the hallway too. He would have to rely on Dorimon again.
"Keep going down the hall here," Dorimon said to Andy as he ran down the hallway, hoping Dorimon would stop him if he was about to run into something.
There was nothing in the way at first, which was good for Dorimon and Andy.
"We're clear so far. This hallway seems empty right now." Dorimon noted.
Then they heard what sounded like snickering, and someone shouting in frustration.
"What's-"
"Pyro Tornado!"
All of a sudden, a cyclone of fire lit up the hallway, which was pretty scary to a random person trapped in this darkness. Andy yelped as he ran to the wall to avoid the fiery tornado.
"You can't catch me! You will never catch me!" A voice snickered in the darkness when the fire tornado dissipated.
As the flames dissipated, the familiar form of Agunimon could be seen in the fading light, and he did not look very amused at the situation. Of course, given how it was dark in the hallway, with the dimming flames, the Legendary Warrior looked almost… sinister in a way, even though he was a protector of the Digital World.
Gosh that's creepy! Andy shivered.
Andy was about to have Dorimon digivolve, but then they heard more cries coming from the other side of the hallway. "Now what?"
"That was Lopmon!" Dorimon said in alarm. "Something must be wrong."
"Lopmon is with Jazz…" Andy frowned in worry.
Since Agunimon was going after Doggymon, Andy decided to go check on Jazz and Lopmon, worried that something may have happened to his sister. He had no idea where Danny was.
"Head down that hallway to the left." Dorimon instructed. "It will lead us to where the cries came from."
Where is everyone? I haven't seen Dash, Koji, or Koichi in this darkness. Maybe they couldn't find a place to hide so they could evolve? I guess their evolution WOULD be pretty bright in this darkness. Takuya might've been in the bathroom when this blackout happened. Andy wondered.
Dorimon and Andy turned the corner of the dark hallway, and they both stopped in shock and fear. They could see red eyes glowing in the darkness, seeming to be staring at them menacingly.
"Get away!" Jazz's voice shouted in the darkness.
"Jazz!?" Andy called out.
"Andy? Get out of here!" Jazz yelled frantically.
Dorimon tensed up as his fur bristled. "That's a Digimon…"
Andy felt a sudden shiver of fear going through his body.
"Where's Lopmon!?" Andy called out.
"Don't think that your little Digimon would be a match for me," A sinister voice said in the darkness.
Dorimon jumped down from Andy's head, his body glowed as he digivolved into his Rookie form. During the evolution, Andy caught a glimpse of the Digimon, it looked like a black demon with torn up wings. There was no other way to describe it, the Digimon looked like a devil.
As soon as Dorimon became Dorumon, the red gem on his forehead glowed, giving some light for Andy. Andy's D-Arc beeped before showing a hologram of the devil Digimon.
"Devimon, a Champion level Digimon, a virus type. Devimon is an Evil Digimon. Its body is clad in jet-black cloth. Although it was originally a shining Angemon-species Digimon, it was lured to the Dark Side by DemiDevimon and fell to the Dark Area, becoming a fallen angel," Andy read. Why are there literal fallen angels in the Digital World?!
"Too… strong…" Andy looked up, hearing Lopmon's voice. "Can't… beat him…"
Since Dorumon's gem was glowing, Andy could see Jazz sitting against the lockers, holding onto an injured Lopmon in her arms.
"A DemiDevimon… showed up… and digivolved…" Lopmon informed weakly.
"I was ordered to capture Lopmon, however…" Devimon gave an evil grin as he began to reach out with one of his long arms. "I find it more fun to play with my victims~"
We have to get this thing out of here before he hurts someone! Andy frantically thought.
Looking at Andy, Dorumon could see the look on his partner's face. "Andy, if you're thinking what I assume you are thinking, we need to get Devimon out of here now."
Dorumon faced back at Devimon. "Metal Cannon!"
Devimon swiped Dorumon's metal balls away with his hand. "Pathetic."
Andy and Dorumon moved before Devimon could grab them with his hand. "Come on, Dorumon, you need to digivolve again!"
"Right!" Dorumon agreed.
However, as Andy's D-Arc started to glow, Devimon turned around and suddenly stretched out his hands. Andy's eyes widened before the hand grabbed his throat and threw him onto a wall. Dorumon's eyes widened as he couldn't digivolve like this.
"You want to know how I digivolve?" Devimon grinned as he looked at Andy. "Did you know Digimon could feed off of a human's emotions? I could sense so much anger, hatred, and negativity from that girl, the one you called Valerie. It was not only delicious, but it powered me up! And now I wish to feel more!"
Andy's eyes widened when he saw Devimon's hand that was wrapped around his neck started to glow black.
"Andy!" Jazz called out in worry.
Dorumon jumped and landed on Devimon's head, using his claws to scratch Devimon's eyes, forcing him to let go of Andy.
Before Dorumon could jump off of Devimon though, a clawed hand grabbed the Rookie-level Digimon and slammed him into the wall, earning a cry of pain from Dorumon.
"Death Hand." Devimon's hands glowed black.
At this, Andy managed to get back onto his feet, grabbed onto his Fenton Rod in his pocket, extend it and slam it into Devimon's side, getting him off of Dorumon before his hands shot out some kind of black energy that went through the school's roof, and causing one of the lights to fall and hit the ground.
Dorumon glared at Devimon, trying to not show any fear on his face as he stood back up.
"Andy, be careful!" Jazz called out, having seen one of the lights fall from the ceiling.
"You should get out of here and get to safety, Jazz. Lopmon is in no condition to fight," Andy warned.
Jazz frowned. She knew Andy was right, but she didn't want to leave her brother behind either. "Yes, but…"
"Go see if you can find some help, get Danny, or T- Agunimon, or any of the other Digimon that we know are on our side, and hurry!" Andy frantically said, not wanting to stand in one place for long.
Jazz nodded. "Okay. I will see if I can find someone! You better be careful!" She then stood up and ran off to find help, as well as get Lopmon to safety.
Devimon lashed out both of his hands. "Touch of Evil!"
Knowing what that could do, after having seen Devidramon used it on Agunimon before, Andy and Dorumon wasted no time dodging. Andy rolled across the floor while Dorumon ran to the otherside. When Devimon pulled back his arms, Andy came in close and tried to hit Devimon with the Fenton Rod, however, Devimon sent out some kind of dark energy. Whatever the energy was, it made Andy see something he didn't expect to see, and he froze up in fear. He wasn't seeing Devimon anymore, but his brother in his ghost form, smirking evilly at him, and his once green eyes were a crimson red.
This hesitation cost Andy, and Devimon lashed out his claws. "Deadly Nail!"
Dorumon, sensing something was wrong with Andy, ran towards his partner as fast as he could. He pushed Andy, but the nails did manage to scratch Andy's arm, causing it to bleed, and it did slash Dorumon's back as well. Both of them fell to the floor in pain.
Dorumon grunted as he got to his feet, glaring at Devimon as he moved to protect Andy.
Damn it! I can't believe I fell for that! Andy hissed as he dug into his pocket, his arm bleeding from the scratch. I don't know where everyone else is, but it's time to stop playing around.
Andy then held up the device and his card. 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. "Phantomon's Shadow Scythe activate!"
A dark scythe appeared in Dorumon's claws. Though Dorumon's back was hurt, he was still able to fight. Devimon reached out with his hands again, Dorumon used the Shadow Scythe to hit the arms, causing a bit of a cut on Devimon's hands. Dorumon ran up to Devimon with the scythe, using it to defend against Devimon's arms.
Andy then took out another card as Dorumon got close. He slid the card through his D-Arc like he did with the Shadow Scythe. "Digi-Modify! Frigimon's Icy Breath activate!"
Dorumon then took a deep breath and let out the Icy Breath attack, catching Devimon off-guard as he slowly froze up, the attack ending when Devimon was a solid ice statue.
Unfortunately, that didn't last long as Devimon's wings suddenly heated up, melting the ice. "Laser Wing!"
Devimon then lashed out his arm past Dorumon, who was taken by surprise and didn't react quickly enough before Devimon grabbed Andy. "You two are an annoyance. You shall go together."
Dorumon felt helpless to help Andy. Still, he had to try to save his partner, so he jumped onto Devimon's head again and began to scratch and bite at his face. But this time Devimon was ready, he grabbed Dorumon with his other hand. Then he threw them up, making them hit the ceiling before Devimon's hands glowed.
"Death Hand!"
Devimon fired the dark energy at both of them. Andy's eyes widened as the energy hit both of them. There wasn't actual pain on his body other than the cut on his arm, but he felt himself slipping away from reality. He felt his soul being torn apart from the attack.
"Bunney Pummel!"
The attack suddenly stopped, leaving Andy to gasp for air before he and Dorumon fell. Someone caught them. Dorumon was surprised to see it was Gargomon. Devimon had hit the wall when Gargomon punched him with his hand guns.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Gargomon snapped at the Devimon. "We're not supposed to attack the humans!"
Devimon looked back at Gargomon in anger. "You dare to interfere?! I believe the Master will be mad if this gets out to him!"
"The Master will get mad at you for trying to kill a human! We were only supposed to take Lopmon into custody!" Gargomon shouted.
"Forget the Master! I will become stronger than the Master and eat his data for thinking he could control me!" Devimon announced.
"You've lost it," Gargomon hissed.
Dorumon looked over at Gargomon. "Thanks for the save back there. We would have lost if not for you."
"Yeah…" Andy groaned, remembering Dorumon had mentioned this Gargomon earlier when he and Lopmon went out to find Doggymon.
"I'm glad that your soul wasn't ripped out of you, human," Gargomon said in relief when he noticed Andy spoke.
Devimon flew up, intending to attack all three of them. "You will all die!"
Suddenly the lights came back on, which caused all four of them to shut their eyes due to the sudden brightness. This allowed Gargomon to fire out his laser pellets, even though he was firing somewhat blindly. Devimon let out a cry at being shot rapidly by Gargomon's rapid fire.
Dorumon saw that and then ran back at Devimon and jumped up, biting down on one of the evil Digimon's wings with his sharp teeth. Seeing this, Andy held onto his Fenton Rod with his good arm and threw it as hard as he could. The rod went through Devimon's chest, causing Devimon to cry out in pain and agony as a ring of fractal code appeared around his body.
As soon as the ring of data appeared, Dorumon jumped off and landed in the ground next to Andy. "Nice shot."
"Yeah…" Andy then took out his D-Arc. "Time to purify this darkness."
Andy swiped the fractal code with his D-Arc's slider. "Fractal Code… digitized!"
The code went into the D-Arc, creating a card in the slider as Devimon had reverted back into an egg.
Just then, a sudden gasp was heard as Dorumon whirled around, seeing that same girl from before, the one whom was called Valerie. "Uh…" He nudged Andy. "Andy…?"
Andy put the card and the D-Arc into his pocket, before holding onto his hurt arm and turned around. Valerie was staring at him with wide eyes, well him, Dorumon, and Gargomon.
"What…?" Was all Valerie could say in her shock.
Suddenly, Danny Phantom flew into the roof and flew into Valerie's body, overshadowing her. Andy couldn't help the relief when he saw the green glowing eyes Valerie now had. 'Valerie' looked at Andy's arm and gasped.
"Andy? What happened to your arm?" 'Valerie' asked in shock.
"Digimon attack… nobody else was around to help us," Dorumon answered.
"Yeah, nobody else was. Where the hell were you!?" Andy snapped, having lost most of his patience for the day.
"Long story…" 'Valerie' admitted. "When the lights went out, Cujo suddenly became on high alert, he jumped out of my backpack and turned big. I think he was sensing danger. I couldn't see anything in my human form, so I transformed to follow Cujo, but… Valerie's suit probably had night vision, because she began to chase us through the school and outside. Cujo and I were just able to lose her. But I felt something… disturbing. I felt you fading all of a sudden. I got worried so I grabbed Cujo and hurried back into the school, just in time to see Valerie walk in on you while you were scanning that Digimon's fractal code."
"What are you going to do about Valerie seeing that?" Dorumon asked.
"I can make her forget, remember?" 'Valerie' reminded. "Like that time I did it for everyone else after the Bakemon and Phantomon attacked."
Dorumon nodded. "Then go for it. I don't want her to attack."
Andy sighed as he looked at his bleeding arm. "I should go see the nurse before this gets infected. I leave Valerie to you…"
"Wait… if you can make Valerie forget things, why not have her forget about ghosts?" Dorumon suggested.
"That won't work. I can only make her forget things she saw recently, and besides, if I did make her forget about the incident, she'll be wondering why she and her dad are living in a run-down apartment," 'Valerie' explained.
Dorumon sighed. "So much for that idea…"
"We'll...figure something out for Valerie," Andy sighed. "For now, we'll work on Cujo, then Doggymon… and my arm."
Dorumon suddenly looked back, only to see Gargomon was gone. "Hey, that Gargomon is gone!"
Andy sighed. "Must've slipped away while we were talking."
"Oh… don't worry about him, bro, if he's not causing trouble, then you just focus on getting to the nurse," 'Valerie' said before sighing. "I can't leave you for a second."
Andy couldn't help but chuckle. "No, I guess you can't."
Andy looked at the Devimon egg before he had his D-Arc take it inside so he could take it to a Trailmon later. I'll have to talk to Lopmon about that Gargomon and that Devimon. They were talking about how their Master wanted them to capture Lopmon.
Due to the chaos that Devimon caused in the school, Casper High let the students go home early. The staff needed to call some people to repair the lockers, walls, and lights that Devimon destroyed or ruined.
Jazz was walking home, holding onto Lopmon close to her chest.
As Jazz made her way home, she saw Takuya coming over, looking disgruntled about something if the way he was muttering under his breath was an indication.
"Hey, Takuya." Jazz said as she looked at her cousin. "Are you in a bad mood?"
Takuya almost jumped when he heard Jazz's voice before he regained himself. "Oh! I didn't see you there, Jazz." He then sighed. "You could say something got me in a bad mood, yes."
Jazz blinked as she looked at her cousin. She could see he had a few bruises on his arms, but she figured it was due to the lights going out and bumping into things in the dark; that was probably what got her cousin miffed, at least she thought it was. She decided to ask just to be sure. "What is it that got you in a bad mood?"
Takuya sighed. "Just... Let's just say I wasn't exactly able to do something I needed to do."
Jazz frowned here. "What was it you needed to do?"
"That's… something I would rather not talk about right now…" Takuya muttered.
Looking again at her cousin's bruises, Jazz had to wonder if Takuya had been involved in some kind of fight.
Before Jazz could ask, she heard someone calling her. "Jazz! Are you alright?"
Andy came up to Jazz, giving her and Lopmon a look of concern.
"I'm fine… when the lights came back on, I went back to see if you were okay, but… I didn't see anyone," Jazz answered. "I was worried, but… a friend of mine assured me you were fine. I'm sorry, I tried to find someone to help, but I could barely see where I was going in that pitch blackness! I was worried you might've gotten hurt or worse!"
"Jazz! Jazz, calm down, it's fine, everything's okay," Andy quickly reassured his emotional sister.
Confused, Takuya looked at Jazz and Andy. "Did something happen?"
Jazz looked at her cousin here. "Um…" She was unsure if she should tell Takuya what happened or not.
"I'll talk to Takuya about it," Andy volunteered. "You should get home and… treat any injuries you may have."
Andy then whispered to Jazz. "Danny will be watching over you while you go home. I told him what happened before school let out. I'm going to try to find Doggymon before he causes more trouble."
Jazz gave a nod to Andy. "Okay, just be careful. That Digimon could be anywhere." As soon as she said that, Jazz then turned and walked off towards the house, leaving Andy with Takuya.
Andy wished he could see Danny while he was invisible, but he could only trust that his brother was currently following her, he just hoped that Valerie didn't find him with her ghost seeking suit. He also hoped Danny was able to erase Valerie's memories of seeing him and Dorumon.
With Jazz walking out of earshot, Andy turned to face his older cousin.
"So, what happened?" Takuya asked as he looked at Andy. "What made Jazz freak out about you?"
"There was a Digimon attack at school, and no it wasn't Doggymon," Andy sighed.
Takuya blinked. "What Digimon was it? I thought the only ones in school were Dorimon, Lopmon, and Doggymon."
"A dark Digimon called Devimon. He attacked Jazz and hurt Lopmon. Dorumon and I managed to fight off Devimon. But there… was a chance I might have…" Andy stopped there before shaking his head. "We got lucky that a Gargomon was in the school too and helped us take down the Devimon. Though I don't know where the Gargomon is now."
Takuya was shocked. There were more Digimon in the real world now?! "Andy, while I'm grateful you defeated Devimon, why didn't you mention there are more Digimon in the real world?!"
"There's a very good reason why I didn't mention there were more Digimon in the real world," Andy said.
Takuya crossed his arms. "And what's that?"
"I literally just found out when I was almost crushed by Devimon," Andy replied, crossing his own arms.
Takuya sighed. "Okay. I… I'm sorry. I just had a rough time against Doggymon. He escaped… again…"
Takuya then noticed some bandages on Andy's arm, Andy was trying to keep it hidden by keeping his arm behind him.
"I figured as much. But the Doggymon may be the least of our problems." Andy frowned. "Gargomon and Devimon mentioned something about a Master who wanted them to capture Lopmon."
"Capture Lopmon?" Takuya asked. "And how did you get those bandages on your arm?"
"I had a cut…" Andy said softly. "It's not a big deal. And yeah, I can't say I know why they want Lopmon, but apparently they do."
Takuya frowned, but decided to not question Andy about the cut. "Well, whatever the reason, we may have to keep an eye on Lopmon, just in case those Digimon come after him again."
Andy nodded.
"Hey, Andy…" Takuya spoke up.
"Hmm?" Andy blinked.
"You… want to look for Doggymon together?" Takuya asked.
"Oh… uh… sure? Wouldn't you rather go with Koji, Koichi, or Dash though? They could keep up with you easier," Andy asked.
Takuya frowned. "Well… Yeah, but I thought it would be good for us to do something like that together."
Dorimon popped out of Andy's backpack. "I think it'll be more fun to do it together, like old times, eh?"
"Old times?" Andy chuckled. "Really?"
"I mean… you've been mostly doing stuff with Danny lately, you haven't really been going with Takuya a lot," Dorimon pointed out.
Andy raised an eyebrow. "Is that true?"
Dorimon nodded. "Yeah, it is."
Takuya gave a grin. "So, what do you say?"
Andy gave a small smile before he nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry if it seems like I've been avoiding you, Takuya, it wasn't my intention to do so. If it seems that way, please let me know, the last thing I want to do is treat you like how Danny, Tucker, and Sam treated me."
Takuya nodded. "Okay then! Dog hunting we go~!"
Danny was relieved to see Jazz got back home fine, he had been worried when Andy told him that she was attacked by Devimon earlier. He wanted to know who or what was sending these dangerous Digimon after Jazz's partner.
"I'm going to have to do some investigation," Danny sighed before he pulled Cujo out of his backpack. "After I figure out what to do with you. Well, at least school is out, so…"
Danny let Cujo go. Cujo floated beside Danny, smiling and wagging his tail.
"Okay Cujo, show me where your toy is," Danny said.
Cujo blinked.
"... I mean, fetch your toy!" Danny pointed.
Cujo barked happily and ran off in the sky to where his toy was.
Danny flew after Cujo. Cujo ran and ran until he reached the building of Axion Labs and stopped in front of the main building. Cujo barked happily, showing what he wanted was inside.
Well crud, I was actually hoping it wouldn't be in the Axion Labs, but… that was wishful thinking. Of course it would be here, why else would Cujo ransack the place before? Danny sighed. "Okay, let's just go intangible and-"
Danny stopped when he heard voices and footsteps walking towards them. At first, Danny was going to grab Cujo and go invisible, but he then sensed something. It was faint, so it was hard to tell if he wasn't looking for it, it was too faint for Danny's ghost sense to be visible, but he definitely sensed some ghost powers. He recognized that particular ghost power. Alarmed now, Danny grabbed Cujo and flew up, hoping to get out of radar while turning invisible.
"Stay quiet, boy," Danny whispered to Cujo.
Cujo must've understood or he sensed Danny's anxiety, because he stayed quiet.
Three people started walking down the hallway Danny and Cujo were just at. Damon, the Axion Labs' owner, and… Vlad Masters himself.
Danny was tense now. What the heck is Vlad doing here?! He didn't like what he was seeing one bit.
"I appreciate the second chance." Damon said as he walked beside his boss and Vlad.
"As long as nothing else happens, we'll see about reinstating your contract." The boss replied. "And it was on insistence from Mr. Masters here that we give you that second chance."
Vlad gave a grin. "Well, what kind of person would I be if I didn't help someone in need out?"
Danny raised an eyebrow at hearing this. Wow… Vlad helping out Valerie's dad? Who would have guessed?
"I can't thank you enough, Mr. Masters." Damon said gratefully.
"Oh, don't mention it." Vlad replied. "And please, just call me Vlad. I have to say, I am interested in what you have working here."
"Perhaps you would like the tour, Mr. Masters?" Damon's boss asked.
"That would be splendid." Vlad replied. "I would like that very much."
The three men soon turned the corner, leaving Danny and Cujo behind. Danny frowned.
Well, this just got a lot harder. I could've just easily phased into the lab while having Cujo lead me to where his toy is, but with Vlad here, he's bound to sense us if we get too close… Danny frowned.
Danny looked down at Cujo and sighed to himself. I guess I have to find another way to get that toy…
Danny flew out of the Axion Labs and sighed. "Okay, Cujo, we'll find a way to get your toy, but we need to be careful. That guy in the lab is a very powerful and dangerous ghost, we don't want him to find us in there. So we may need some help."
Cujo gave a small yip, sounding like he was in agreement with Danny. Danny chuckled at hearing that. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you agree with me."
"Danger ghost! Don't want pain! Get help!" Cujo barked.
"Heh… I guess that means you do actually agree with me," Danny sheepishly grinned, still finding it weird that he could, somewhat, understand Cujo. "Let's see… Tucker might be good to keep the security quiet, that way we don't trigger anything and risk getting Mr. Grey in more trouble… but there's still the matter of dealing with Vlad."
Danny sighed before he landed on the ground, then he pulled out his cell phone. He called up Tucker. "Tuck? Hey, yeah, uh… can you come meet me near the Axion Labs? And make sure you bring your PDA."
Danny frowned before he grumbled. "No, you don't need to bring Sam. … No! She is not my girlfriend!"
Danny sighed. "Just get down here, please. I really need your help." Then Danny sighed in relief. "Thanks, Tuck."
With that, Danny hung up as he looked at Cujo again. "Well, I got some help from Tucker. Now we just need to find a way past Vlad."
"Danger ghost! Bad!" Cujo barked.
"Yeah, I know." Danny sighed. "I just wish I knew what to do to get past Vlad…"
"You sure I can't just digivolve and fly through the city?" Dorumon asked as he and Andy were walking around the park.
"Yes, I'm sure," Andy sighed. "We got lucky last time, but if you digivolve into your Champion form here, people are going to see you. I'd rather they didn't call the government because they saw a large dragon fox creature flying around."
Dorumon frowned. "That is true… That doesn't sound like it would be a good thing."
"Besides, Doggymon can't fly anyways. Agunimon has the top covered since he can jump from building to building like a freaking ninja, we're covering the ground," Andy remarked. "Now where is Dash? He'd be perfect for tracking down Doggymon."
"Don't you remember? Dash got assigned to a group project," Dorumon reminded.
"Oh yeah… he's gonna be staying at school late today for that," Andy sighed.
Dorumon looked around, trying to see if he could spot Doggymon or even his shadow. "Hmmm… Now where would I hide if I was a Doggymon?"
As if on cue, someone gave a sudden shout not too far away. "HEY! Some weird kid wearing a dog costume just stole my Nasty Burger!"
Andy and Dorumon looked at the direction the scream came from before they hurried over. They saw Doggymon snickering as he was gobbling up the Nasty Burger he apparently stole.
Of course, Digimon had to eat too, so it was a matter of time before he had to eat. Andy realized.
Doggymon noticed the two and quickly started to move.
"Hurry, after him, Dorumon!" Andy said as he and his partner ran after Doggymon.
Andy grabbed onto his D-Arc as he and Dorumon ran after Doggymon and used it to page Takuya.
The symbol of Flame appeared on the screen. "What is it, Andy? Did you find Doggymon?"
"Yeah! Dorumon and I are in pursuit right now!" Andy answered.
"Where are you and Dorumon located?" Agunimon replied from over the D-Arc.
"We're near the park right now, and we're heading northwest!" Andy replied back.
"Okay, I will be there." Agunimon answered. "I should be able to see you from the rooftops when I get close to your location."
"Dorumon, try not to let Doggymon get away!" Andy called out.
"But how? None of my attacks are going to slow that rubber thing down!" Dorumon frowned.
"If only I could have time to modify your Metal Cannon…" Andy frowned. "Wait, I might have something that could help us!"
Snickering, Doggymon turned around and faced the duo of Andy and Dorumon. He took a deep breath and let out a loud howl that sounded shrill to their ears and sent waves of pain through Dorumon's hearing. Dorumon winced as he cried out in pain and put his claws to his ears, which were now throbbing.
"I've had just about enough of this thing," Andy grumbled as Doggymon snickered at them once the attack was over.
Andy pulled out a glowing purple grenade. He activated the grenade when he and Dorumon got closer and threw it. The grenade exploded, leaving a purple sticky substance, unfortunately Doggymon managed to dodge the grenade.
"Well that's just great… public services aren't going to be happy to have to clean that one up." Andy frowned.
Dorumon shook his head, feeling his hearing coming back to normal somewhat. "Ouch…" He rubbed an ear before turning to face Doggymon again. "That was painful…"
Doggymon bounced up on top of a streetlight laughing at them, and annoying the two. "You'll never catch me~ You're too slow!"
"How about from me?!" A familiar voice shouted as a red-armored Digimon's foot hit Doggymon's face. Agunimon had heard the loud howl and had rushed over as quickly as he could. "Didn't expect me, did ya?"
The Warrior of Flame landed on the ground, the force of his kick having knocked Doggymon off of his streetlight perch.
Doggymon, being the slippery rubbery Digimon that he was, stretched his body around Agunimon despite the Warrior of Flame's grip.
"Wha- hold still you little troublemaker!" Agunimon shouted.
Andy and Dorumon came up, and Andy had another glowing grenade. "I… apologize for this, Agunimon!"
Before Agunimon could ask, Andy tossed the grenade at both him and Doggymon. Agunimon yelped as the grenade exploded, covering him in harmless but sticky and gooey glowing substance.
Doggymon yipped as the grenade went off, covering him as well. The rubbery Digimon tried to get away, but found he was stuck, despite his ability to stretch. "W-What is this?! Let me out!"
"Takuya! Finish it! You're in blank range, turn that troublemaker into an egg and let's be done with him!" Andy shouted.
"I'll gladly do it myself if you prefer," Dorumon added, clearly annoyed with the Doggymon.
"Wait! No! No! No! Don't turn me back to a Digi-Egg! If you do, you won't find out the secrets the fallen one has!" Doggymon suddenly spoke up.
Agunimon growled as he heard that. "What secrets?!" He demanded as he grabbed Doggymon.
"How do we know you're not bluffing to try to get out of this?" Dorumon snapped. "You've caused a lot of trouble for us these past few days. You're in no position to negotiate!"
"Hold it, let's hear him out first, and then decide what to do with him," Andy spoke up.
"The fallen one opened the gate between our worlds, and came here. He's taking certain Digimon to try to find someone," Doggymon informed.
"Who is this fallen one?" Agunimon growled out. "Tell us."
"I don't know their name! I just know they are the cause of many unusual problems!" Doggymon replied back.
"This… fallen one, did they send you here to find this someone?" Dorumon asked.
"Yes," Doggymon said. "But it's a pain, I just wanted to cause a little bit of chaos in this sleepy town."
"Your chaos ended up getting a man fired, and putting him and his daughter in a rat infested apartment because they lost nearly all their money." Andy, calmly yet angrily, said.
Agunimon hadn't heard Andy that angry before, and he felt bad for his cousin. However, he returned his focus to the matter at hand, which was Doggymon. "So, you were sent here to find someone. Do you know who you were sent to find?"
"I was sent here to find Cherubimon," Doggymon answered. "But I haven't seen him anywhere. I figured I would just wait until he comes out of hiding, he's pretty hard to miss. Not that I would be able to fight him. I don't really understand the fallen one's logic."
Agunimon blinked, a bit surprised that Doggymon had no idea that Cherubimon was not in his Mega form. Still, he shoved that aside for the moment. "So why does the fallen one want to find one of the Celestial Angel Digimon?"
"I don't really know, they just insist that Cherubimon is corrupted again and needs to be either brought down or captured," Doggymon replied before he grinned. "But if you ask me, the real corrupted one is the fallen one, or what they preferred to be called; the Master."
"Gargomon said something about this Master too," Dorumon noted. "And so did that Devimon we defeated."
Agunimon frowned. "It seems this Master is planning something, and needs Cherubimon out of the way, or at least out of the picture for a while."
"Who knows. Angering the Master will result in getting hurt, a lot," Doggymon remarked.
"Were you ordered to cause trouble for people?" Andy asked.
"No… we were ordered to not be seen by people," Doggymon answered.
"Then why did you release a ghost dog from the Ghost Zone to cause people trouble? Something that went against the Master's orders?" Andy snapped.
"Why should I have to listen to the Master? It wasn't my choice to come here, and I wanted to see some chaos. That dumb ghost dog was the easiest ghost to bring out," Doggymon replied back.
Agunimon gritted his teeth at hearing that. "That ghost dog caused a lot of trouble, and it cost a person his job! How is that funny?!"
"Why do I care about some random human's job?" Doggymon questioned.
"Dorumon… take him out," Andy hissed. "He has nothing more useful to say."
Dorumon gave a smirk. "With pleasure…" He eyed Doggymon with that smirk.
Doggymon's eyes widened. "N-no wait! Please! There is one more thing I can tell you!"
Agunimon held up a hand. "Wait. Let's hear what he has to say before we do get rid of him."
Doggymon visibly relaxed at hearing that.
"So, the fallen one is unknown, but I do know that someone who works with him is currently at Axion Labs right now. I think they have some kind of plan for that place," Doggymon stated.
"What?" Agunimon was visibly confused. "Who works with the fallen one?"
"Heck if I know. I just know that he's a human," Doggymon replied.
At that, Andy suddenly paled. "Agunimon, I trust you'll be able to take care of Doggymon?"
Agunimon saw Andy's face pale and he too felt nervousness rushing through his body. "Yeah… I can. Just get down to the lab…"
"Wait! I can be useful! I can smell where that human is, you don't even know where or who to look for!" Doggymon quickly spoke up.
"As if we'd trust you. Give us one good reason why we'd bring you with us, I'm sure we can find this guy ourselve," Dorumon spoke up.
Agunimon nodded. "I trust these guys can find this human on their own." He then gave a glare to Doggymon. "But you I have no reason to trust…"
Doggymon suddenly pulled out his secret weapon; the puppy dog eyes. Despite his unusual appearance, somehow Doggymon was able to transform his entire face to look like such a sad, weak, abused puppy who was looking at someone to help their poor souls, and expecting to be kicked again.
Agunimon saw the puppy dog eyes, but he wasn't too moved by it. He kept his gaze firmly on Doggymon. However, he did feel a bit of regret coming through him and his hard gaze softened just a bit.
Dorumon blinked as he looked at Doggymon's puppy dog eyes, but didn't react much.
Andy on the other hand… despite all the trouble Doggymon caused to Valerie, he had a soft spot for animals, dogs especially. "... Agunimon, keep a sticky substance on one of your hands and keep a hold on him."
Agunimon looked at Andy in surprise, but he did as Andy asked. "Any reason why?" He made sure he was holding Doggymon by the scruff of his neck.
"Like he said, he could be useful in finding this guy," Andy answered, not looking directly at Agunimon. "We can't afford to waste a lot of time trying to track him down."
"Yeah right, you just couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes," Dorumon rolled his eyes.
"Hush Dorumon, you don't know that," Andy huffed.
Agunimon couldn't help but grin at that. "Sure he doesn't~"
Doggymon looked at the readers and gave a wink and a thumbs up.
The evening sun had set over the horizon. The night had covered Amity Park with a blanket of shadows. The city turned on its lights to make it easier to see. However, out in the Axion Labs, it was pretty dark in the area.
"Are you sure about this, man? You might get caught, even with the security system turned off," Tucker asked his friend, who was kneeling down beside him in some bushes.
Danny gave a nod. "Yeah, I am, Tuck." He then pointed at Cujo, who was sitting next to them, panting happily. "This little guy won't leave until he gets his toy."
"Maybe you could just keep him as a pet," Tucker suggested.
"That's even more hazardous to my health," Danny sighed. "Not only would I have to make sure my parents don't find him and try to tear him apart, I also have to keep him from going on a rampage looking for his toy, and I rather not have another Valerie situation, thank you very much."
Tucker held up his hands. "Okay, it was just a suggestion. I won't stop you from trying to get his toy."
"Sorry Tuck, I've just been stressed out," Danny said. "Let's just get this over with."
Danny looked at Cujo. "Okay boy, let's go over this again. Turn invisible."
Cujo smiled as he turned his body invisible.
"Stay silent," Danny ordered.
Cujo didn't let out a bark once, instead panting happily as he wagged his tail.
"Good boy," Danny smiled.
"Whoa… did you train him?" Tucker asked, surprised to see the ghost dog was doing what Danny ordered.
"A little bit, mostly just have him understand these basic commands since I don't want him getting us caught," Danny replied. "I just hope it's enough."
Danny then transformed into a ghost himself and floated up. "Keep the security system off until I come back out, Tuck."
Tucker nodded. "Okay, dude. I can do that no problem."
Danny smiled before he turned invisible himself.
"Okay, Cujo, fetch your toy," Danny ordered.
Since Danny could sense ghosts, even while invisible, he could tell when Cujo flew off, and Danny flew off towards Axion Labs after him.
Danny and Cujo flew towards the lab, making sure to stay invisible before coming for a landing near the wall Cujo had run to the last time they were at Axion Labs.
"Okay, boy… Let's get inside and find your toy." Danny said before he turned intangible. "Okay, turn intangible."
Cujo turned intangible at Danny's command before flying through the wall. Danny followed Cujo into the lab, flying through the wall himself.
I hope we can get to the toy before someone else comes along, like Valerie, or worse, Vlad. Danny thought with anxiety, wishing they could go faster, but if they moved too fast, they're more likely to be caught. Going faster would expend more ghost energy, which Vlad would easily sense. And since that fruitloop's ghost powers are so strong that I can still sense them even while he's in human form, I know he's still here.
Danny looked around nervously, but Cujo seemed happy to be looking for his toy. He seemed to be making a beeline for a certain area too.
As they were about to phase into another wall, however, an ecto blast shot Danny into another wall. Danny lost his invisibility and intangibility.
"Oof!" Danny groaned.
Cujo turned and saw the red-wearing human was there. He growled and returned to his visible form, growing into his larger size in response to Danny being attacked.
"I have you now, ghost!" Valerie said as she aimed her blasters at Danny. "Thought you could return to the scene of the crime to try and finish what you started?"
"Wait, please stop!" Danny spoke up. "I didn't come here to cause trouble, I only came to-"
"Likely story, ghost kid!" Valerie snapped, interrupting Danny.
"Hold on!" Danny exclaimed, trying to give himself some breathing room. "It's not what you think! I only came for something else!"
Valerie, having decided she heard enough, fired the bazooka at Danny. At the same time, Cujo jumped at Valerie, pouncing her off her hoverboard. Danny yelped as he went intangible by instinct, going through the wall behind him when he was hit by the ecto blast.
"Whoa!"
Danny lost his intangibility just before he landed on someone.
"...You may be a ghost… but you're not super light…" A familiar voice groaned from under Danny. "Please get off…"
Danny looked down, only to see his brother below him. "Andy?! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" He floated off of Andy, giving his twin some breathing room. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… you're really not that heavy as a ghost, b- uh… Phantom," Andy said, stretching his body out.
Danny blinked as he realized he was outside, and not only that, Dorumon and Agunimon were here as well. Danny was surprised Andy had somehow convinced the local hero Digimon, yes that is what Danny decided to label Agunimon as, to follow him all the way out here. Agunimon appeared to be holding onto that troublemaking Doggymon as well.
"How did you get the Legendary Warrior to agree to come all the way out here?" Danny asked as he looked at his twin. "I assumed that it would be more difficult."
"Not as difficult as you'd think. Dorumon and I were chasing after Doggymon when Agunimon showed up to help us out," Andy answered. "But that's not important right now. Phantom… is… Vlad in the Axion Labs?"
Danny sighed. "He is. I could sense his ghostly energy easily."
Agunimon looked like he was a bit pale at hearing that for some reason, making Danny raise an eyebrow at the Digimon's reaction to that news.
Suddenly they heard roaring and barking noises in the Axion Labs.
"What is going on in there?" Dorumon asked.
"Oh no… Valerie and Cujo!" Danny paled.
Danny turned himself intangible to fly back towards them, however, Andy acted quickly and grabbed onto his brother's hand before he went intangible, which turned Andy intangible as well, and Danny, in his haste, didn't seem to notice this, and flew back into the Axion Labs, taking his brother with him, and leaving Agunimon, Dorumon, and Doggymon outside, unable to follow.
Danny flew back in, returning to tangible form, coming to a hover inside the lab. He felt a weight drop off of his hand and looked down. "Huh?"
"Uh… so that's what it feels like to be intangible… neat," Andy's voice said.
Danny's eyes widened as he looked down at Andy, surprised to see his brother was holding onto his hands.
"Andy!? What are you doing!?" Danny hissed. "This is too dangerous for you!"
"I just reacted, okay?" Andy groaned.
Danny sighed. "I can't blame you, I guess, but that was still dangerous to do!"
Both brothers snapped out of their argument when they heard Valerie's voice screaming.
"Valerie!" Both boys shouted.
Danny looked at Andy. "Okay, there's no time to argue. Just follow me and stay out of sight if you can find a place to hide." Without waiting for Andy to respond, Danny then flew off in the direction Valerie's screams came from.
Danny saw Cujo was on top of Valerie in his large form, his mouth open, ready to bite her head off.
"N-no! No, stop, Cujo!" Danny frantically shouted, getting the large ghost dog's attention. "It's okay boy, just sit, no biting."
Cujo listened to Danny, sitting down, but keeping an eye on Valerie so she didn't try anything towards Danny. He wasn't about to let the red-wearing human hurt the ghost boy helping him.
Relieved to see Cujo wasn't going to eat Valerie's head, Danny gave a sigh of relief.
"Let me go!" Valerie demanded now that she wasn't in immediate danger. "Let me go so I can destroy you both!"
"Oh yeah, that's a total motivator to let you go," Danny sarcastically quipped. "You know, Cujo attacking you is all your fault, right? We were simply here to pick up something Cujo left behind, and we would leave. But you decided to attack me, and sent Cujo off into a rage."
Valerie growled. "I doubt that highly, ghost! You just returned to finish the job! All ghosts are evil!"
"Hey!" Another voice shouted.
Danny's eyes widened, surprised that Andy came running towards them instead of finding a place to hide. "What are you doing?"
"Andy!? What are you doing here!? Careful! These ghosts are vicious!" Valerie shouted, despite her having no reason to believe Andy knew who she was under that mask.
"I grabbed onto Phantom when he flew back in here," Andy answered simply. "Also, vicious? I think the ghost dog was vicious because you scared him and hurt a friend of his."
Valerie seemed surprised at Andy's response. "Can't you see these ghosts are attacking because they don't care about humans? They returned to finish their previous work!"
"Well…" Andy poked Danny's shoulder, making Danny raise an eyebrow at him. "He doesn't seem to be attacking me."
Valerie was surprised to see that was indeed the case. "W-wha…?" It was like her brain stopped working for a bit.
"Phantom, you go ahead and try to get Cujo to tell you where his toy is, I'll see if I can talk to Valerie," Andy instructed.
Danny nodded. "Sure, Andy." He then looked to Cujo. "Okay, boy. Fetch your toy!"
Cujo gave a bark before he turned intangible and flew through the wall. Phantom looked at Andy and Valerie for a moment before he went intangible to follow the dog, mostly to make sure he didn't make more of a mess.
Andy looked at Valerie, who was still shocked that Andy was just talking to a ghost of all things like it was his best friend. Andy, the son of two ghost hunters, being friends with a ghost. Valerie knew something had to be wrong here.
"What was that about?" Valerie demanded. "Why are you all chummy with a ghost?!"
"He might be a ghost, but he's intelligent like we are. He speaks the same language as we do, he has emotions like we do. What makes him different from us? That he can fly and go through walls?" Andy asked.
"You're the son of ghost hunters! You of all people should know that your parents have said ghosts are evil. That ghost could be manipulating you to get you to trust it so it can trick you and make me distracted!" Valerie shot back, her emotions clouding her mind now. "Like you are right now!"
Valerie looked ready to go after Danny and Cujo, but Andy quickly reached out and grabbed her arm. "Valerie! Don't make hasty decisions because you're angry. Listen to me… please. I know that you want revenge for how the ghosts got your dad fired and made you two live in poverty, but taking them out isn't going to bring you your money back."
Valerie frowned. "Like I would listen to you since you've obviously been brainwashed!"
Andy frowned. "At least think about what I said, Valerie. Really look at the ghost kid the next time you try to hunt him. Just like how there are no pure evil or pure good humans, the same could be the same for ghosts. Ghosts were once living people too, you know. I don't see how death makes them evil."
Valerie paused to think for a moment. Andy had a point, but those ghosts had ruined her life. Why would I care? Those things are just echoes of something that was once living! Still, to at least satisfy Andy, she gave a nod. "I will try, but don't expect me to stop hunting that thing down."
"I suppose that's the best I can ask from you then," Andy sighed. Just please don't actually kill my brother.
Valerie turned for a moment. "You better get out of here, Andy, before my dad catches you and you get in trouble."
That was all Valerie said before she summoned her hoverboard from her shoes, which made Andy stare in surprise and wonder that her entire hoverboard were tucked in her shoes, before she flew across the hallway to try to go after Danny and Cujo.
Andy heard his D-Arc ringing, which reminded him that he still had it with him, and that both Takuya and Dorimon must be worried sick about him by now. Andy took out his D-Arc and answered it.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Agunimon's voice had never sounded so angry before.
Andy gave a sheepish chuckle. "Uh… I wasn't?"
Agunimon sighed over the line. "I should have expected as much…"
"Are you okay?" Dorimon's voice asked over the D-Arc.
"I'm fine, don't worry. I'm more worried about Danny and Cujo right now. And if Vlad knows we're here or not." Andy frowned. "Can you sense Tsukaimon anywhere near here?"
"I can, but it's faint." Agunimon replied. "It's like his digital signature is muted or something."
"He must be in hiding then…" Andy muttered. "Alright, I'll see if I can find a way out of here and meet up with you-"
The lights suddenly flickered in the hallway, making Andy look up in concern. Axion Labs wasn't known for its poor lighting or electricity. Something was likely causing an interference. What is this, a horror movie now?
Off in the distance, a form appeared, standing there for a moment, covered in shadows as the lights flickered again. The form slowly began to approach Andy, making its way over to him. As it got closer, the lights flickering made it seem like this form was more of a specter, as the face was unable to be seen clearly in the flickering lights. A hand slowly reached up and out towards Andy as the figure got ever closer to his personal space.
Andy had faced with ghosts before, but there was something different about this one. It wasn't floating, nor did it have that ethereal look to it, or that ghostly aura, but the figure did feel powerful. The lights kept flickering, adding to the creep factor.
This is a horror movie, and I'm about to die. Andy paled as he backed away from the approaching figure. "T-Takuya… I think I'm in a horror movie!"
With that said, Andy started running away. He wasn't sure if this figure was some alien shadow monster, or Vlad, or Tsukaimon in his digivolved form, or even another Devimon. Either way, Andy was screwed if he ran into any of them, especially without Dorimon.
"Andy?! Where are you in the labs?!" Agunimon's voice wafted over Andy's D-Arc, the concern clear in his tone as he spoke. "Are you alright!?"
"I-I'm in a hallway somewhere! I-" Andy was cut off when something big suddenly jumped at him. "WAH!"
Whatever pounced him made him drop his D-Arc. Then a firm hand was planted on his mouth to keep him from screaming.
"Shhh! Do you want to alert the others we're here!?" A voice hissed.
Andy blinked open his eyes, surprised and confused.
The voice was deeper than Koichi's, but not by much, and the form was revealed to be none other than Lowemon, the Warrior of Darkness. "What are you doing here?"
Lowemon removed his hand from Andy's mouth to allow the boy to speak.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? How did you even get in here? And why were you being so creepy?" Andy hissed.
"This place needs better guards if a kid can take a uniform and sneak it." Lowemon replied, a smirk to his voice. However, that faded when he spoke again. "And as for why I am here, I sensed a strong Digimon presence here. As for why I was 'being creepy' as you put it, I don't want to be discovered by the Digimon here."
"Oh yeah, cause flickering the lights would totally keep you hidden from whatever Digimon is here," Andy grumbled sarcastically.
"That was not me." Lowemon pointed out.
The lights were still flickering. Then there was what sounded like explosion noises coming from behind the walls. Andy frowned, wondering if that meant Valerie found Cujo and Danny and decided to attack them anyways.
"We need to move," Andy said before remembering he dropped his D-Arc.
The boy turned for a moment before seeing his D-Arc on the floor and picked it up.
"Does the reason we have to move have to do with those explosions?" Lowemon asked as he stood up.
This is so not my night… Danny groaned as he was moving quickly.
Ecto blasts were being shot at him, Danny managed to dodge.
He and Cujo managed to reach an old kennel. He could tell the guard dogs used to be kept here before Damon became the head of the security system. There were cracks and cobwebs. Danny frowned, wondering why they didn't refurbish the room instead of just letting it rot away. Cujo was barking happily at one of the old mattresses.
Danny landed in front of the mattresses and dug his hand under it, feeling around for something. He heard a squeak. Danny smiled as he pulled out what appeared to be a pink teddy bear that squeaked when it was squeezed. "Is this what you've been looking for, boy?"
Cujo looked at the toy and barked happily. "Toy! Found toy!"
"Great, now please just go home, and stay there!" Danny said before he tossed the toy.
Cujo quickly went after the squeaky toy and grabbed it with his mouth. He looked back at Danny, wagging his tail gratefully, before he suddenly disappeared. He didn't go invisible, Cujo literally vanished into thin air. Danny suspected the dog likely moved on to the afterlife rather than just going back to the Ghost Zone now that he had his toy with him.
Danny smiled as he saw that, happy he had helped a ghost to move on. Heh… All he wanted was his toy.
However, Danny's happy moment was rudely interrupted when an ecto blast hit him in the chest. Danny yelped as he was flung back onto the ground from the sudden blast. He frowned when he saw Valerie floating above him on her hoverboard, pointing her bazooka at him.
"Come on, really? I just helped the ghost dog move on, he won't be a bother to you anymore! So enough with the shooting already!" Danny yelled.
"For all I know, you could have that ghost dog trained to come back at your command, ghost boy!" Valerie snapped back.
"No! That wasn't even my dog!" Danny quickly explained. "He was likely one of the guard dogs that was trained to protect this lab, until they were euthanized once the Axion Labs got better security. That one likely came back as a ghost because he wanted his favorite toy before he moved on!"
Valerie paused, not sure of what to make of that statement. Her mind was telling her that the ghost boy was trying to trick her, but her heart was telling her that was not the case. In truth, she was torn now.
Destroy him! He deserves it! He could be lying! Because of him and his stupid dog, you and your dad are now living in poverty! You're literally living with the rats! Valerie screamed at herself. He's just a ghost, he's not actually alive.
Valerie began to aim her bazooka at Danny. "Oh yeah? Not all humans are naive! Don't think you can trick me, ghost boy!"
Valerie shot her bazooka again at Danny. The ghost boy quickly dodged. Valerie kept firing as she chased after Danny, who was trying to find the best way out of the lab, and Valerie's gun ended up hitting one of the alarms. This triggered the alarm system to go off in the Axion Labs. Valerie gasped, realizing the mistake she just made.
"Oh no…" Valerie moaned. "That will bring my dad here for sure!"
Danny was more worried about the alarm alerting Vlad rather than Mr. Gray. I have to find Andy and get out of here, now!
Without saying another word, Danny turned intangible and quickly flew through the walls, trying to find his brother.
Andy and Lowemon heard the alarm going off, they knew they had to leave before something terrible happened. Andy was worried for Danny though, if Vlad found him, he would try to take Danny back to Wisconsin with him and then try to brainwash him.
"That's not good…" Lowemon muttered.
Suddenly, a large humanoid goat creature appeared before them. The goat creature had a pair of large, curled horns on its head, red looking eyes, a pair of black leathery wings. Its hands and legs were covered in thick, purple fur. The creature's feet were hooves. Lowemon shivered, feeling the power coming from this Digimon.
"I don't like this…" Lowemon said as he took a few steps back. "This guy feels very powerful…"
Andy backed away as well, without Dorimon, he felt completely powerless and vulnerable. There was also something familiar about this Digimon, even though Andy was sure he had never seen it before.
"What an annoying mess," The Digimon remarked. "And here I thought the alarm was actually important. A couple of kids running around the lab looking lost. Where is that useless gun bunny? This should be something he takes care of."
Lowemon growled as he got out his staff and spun it a few times. "He's not the only one here!"
"I know he's not, did you not hear me say a couple of kids, not kid?" The Digimon stated.
At hearing that, Lowemon was floored. This Digimon knew who he really was?! "You…"
"But if you want a fight, I'll gladly give it to you~" The Digimon smirked suddenly.
Lowemon tensed for a fight. "Andy, get back. This could get messy!"
Agunimon and Dorumon were stressing themselves out, trying to find a way into the labs. They lost Andy's signal a while back when he sounded like he was in trouble. Doggymon suddenly tensed and looked terrified.
"He's here! He's here!" Doggymon whimpered.
"Who's here?" Agunimon asked. Then, he felt it. A flash of heat came and he sensed it, a powerful Digimon. "What?!"
Suddenly, the labs' doors opened, and Lowemon came flying out of it. Andy was running out of the lab, trying to get away from something. Dorumon quickly ran over to Andy while Agunimon quickly caught Lowemon before he could go flying any further.
"Wow… talk about making an entrance." Agunimon joked as he helped Lowemon to his feet.
"Agunimon…? You're here too?" Lowemon asked, surprised. "Nevermind that now… there's a powerful Digimon coming our way!"
"Andy! Are you okay?" Dorumon asked his partner in concern.
Andy panted a little. "I didn't get hurt… but I'm pretty sure I won't be sleeping tonight."
Looking ahead, Agunimon saw the Digimon coming out and tensed. "Wow… you weren't kidding when you said he was powerful…"
Dorumon looked at the Digimon that was coming out. His eyes flashed for a moment as a hologram and a name came onto Andy's D-Arc.
"Mephistomon is an Evil Digimon. It has the appearance of a giant ram, and is a dark being born from the lingering thought-data of an Apocalymon that attempted to destroy all life. It's a Virus type Digimon, and an Ultimate level," Andy read.
Agunimon looked a bit freaked out now, as his face seemed to get a bit pale. Still, he put on a brave face to not show any fear. "So it's stronger, huh? We'll just have to fight smarter then."
"You are all children who aren't worth my time," Mephistomon stated. "The only reason I 'fought' was to get those two out of the labs. They didn't belong there. I will now return to my partner once the alarms are shut off. Do not wander where you do not belong, or I may not be so merciful next time."
"What? Hey! What does that mean!?" Agunimon shouted as Mephistomon floated back into the labs before the doors shut tight.
Lowemon frowned. "I don't think it's worth worrying about now. He's gone."
Agunimon sighed with a growl, running a hand through his wild blonde hair. "I know… But I still don't get what he meant."
"He said… he was going to return to his partner…" Andy spoke up as he held onto Dorumon for comfort. "Who else in that lab would have a Digimon partner?"
Agunimon frowned as he remembered. "Vlad…"
Doggymon was shivering as he came out from hiding behind some bushes, then let out a sigh of relief when he realized Mephistomon either hadn't spotted him or didn't care about him. Dorumon looked over at Doggymon.
"Wait… you know something about that Mephistomon, don't you?" Dorumon asked.
Agunimon looked at Doggymon. " Is there something you weren't telling us before?"
Doggymon was still shaking in fear. "Mephistomon… was the one who sent us to retrieve Cherubimon."
Agunimon growled at hearing that. "I see… So that's who your Master is…"
Lowemon looked a little confused at seeing Doggymon, but he looked at Agunimon. "You might need to explain some things to me."
Now the question is why… why is Vlad's partner after Lopmon? Andy questioned to himself as Agunimon started to explain the situation to Lowemon. And… is Danny okay?
Danny gasped when a familiar ghost suddenly appeared in front of him, stopping him from flying any further. "Plasmius… what do you want?"
"Oh, just to see what caused the alarms to go off." Plasmius said as he eyed Danny. "But I wasn't expecting to see you here, Daniel."
"I didn't expect to see you here either, Plasmius. Last I checked, you were all the way in Wisconsin," Danny hissed, trying to cover up his fear with annoyance.
"What? Can't I get out and look around?" Plasmius taunted. "I just wanted to see this lovely little lab. But why are you here, boy? Surely you're not here to cause problems for Axion Labs, are you? No, you're too much into your heroic ideals for that, or maybe I misjudged you?"
Danny growled. "No! I didn't come here to cause trouble! I came here to help a ghost dog move on after he caused such a mess here that it got a friend of mine's father fired!"
"Oh, you should know better than to reveal things like that, Daniel." Plasmius said. "For all they know, it was intentional."
"Well, don't mind me, I was just leaving," Danny huffed.
"Oh? Were you now?" Plasmius asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement.
"Well, yeah, I have no reason to be here anymore," Danny stated. "What are you going to do, keep me here?"
Plasmius chuckled. "Oh, no. I'm not that sadistic, Daniel."
"Great, now could you move out of my way so I can just go home?" Danny grumbled.
Plasmius, to Danny's surprise, did just that. "Of course, Daniel. Off you go now~"
The ghost boy looked at Plasmius with distrust, expecting him to pull something at the last second. "So… that's it? You're just letting me go?"
"Daniel, as much as you interest me, I'm not always here to come after you or your family," Vlad remarked. "I have my own life too. I only came to check what was causing the alarm system after all."
Danny looked at the older ghost for a moment. "Fine, whatever, but I'm keeping an eye on you, Plasmius."
"Ah, as will I, Daniel." Plasmius said before he turned intangible and flew through the wall, leaving Danny free to leave as he wished.
Danny frowned before he turned intangible and flew through the wall himself. Danny thought about looking for Andy, but he wanted to see if his brother left the lab already. When Danny got outside, he was relieved to see Andy was indeed outside, along with Dorumon. Danny did also see Agunimon, and another Digimon that he had never seen before.
This Digimon wore dark armor that appeared to be modeled after a lion-like motiff, and he had red eyes as well. He was also taller than Agunimon by at least 4 inches, maybe more, as well.
"Hey, Phantom! You're okay!" Andy called out, using Danny's alias since the other two Digimon were here.
Danny nodded as he landed in front of Andy. "Yeah, though I ran into Plasmius, he just sort of let me go."
Hearing that got Agunimon's attention, making him look over. "Huh?" His companion Digimon was also confused.
"You remember Plasmius, don't you?" Danny asked, looking at Agunimon. "I think you were there when he attacked us. He was that… vampire looking ghost?"
Agunimon did remember. "Yeah… But, he just let you go?"
"He said he was busy with other things right now," Danny explained before he looked at the other Digimon. "Um… hi there, I'm Phantom."
The new Digimon gave a nod back. "Lowemon, Warrior of Darkness." His voice was somewhat deep, but not too deep to be intimidating.
"We should probably go, it'll only be a matter of time before the cops surround the place with how long the alarm had been going off," Andy spoke up. "I'm pretty sure you guys wouldn't want the cops to see two armored people and a ghost kid hanging around here."
Agunimon and Lowemon gave a nod each.
"Okay." Agunimon said before he realized something. "Wait… What about Doggymon?"
Dorumon frowned as he quickly looked around. "He's gone."
Upon hearing that, Agunimon smacked his own face with his open hand at realizing he had lost the sneaky Digimon again.
"We'll worry about Doggymon later, let's just get out of here first," Andy quickly said, hearing sirens starting to approach the place.
Danny frowned before he flew over to the bushes where he was sure he left Tucker earlier, but Tucker wasn't there. Where did Tucker go?
However, as the sirens got closer, Danny realized he would have to look for Tucker later. Everyone quickly left the area.
As the cop cars began to arrive at the Axion Labs, Doggymon looked on from the shadows he was hiding in. He could see Valerie without her red huntress suit, and her father, who was wearing the night guard uniform, coming out of the labs. The human, Vlad, was with them as well, calmly answering the questions.
"It is done, Master…" Doggymon said as he began to run on all fours into the night, nobody seeing fractal code surrounding the Digimon's body.
Doggymon was replaced with a larger, darker dog Digimon. He had black armor on with three steel blades per paw that came out of the top of each paw. The Digimon also had a dog-like head on each shoulder, had a black helmet on its head and red eyes along with a set of sharp teeth. It's lower jaw was red flesh and lacked armor, as well as parts of its underbelly and the backs of its legs also lacking said armor. The claws at the end of each paw were silver, just like its blades, and the tail was also covered in the same black armor.
Howling into the night, the now Digivolved Cerberumon disappeared into the shadows.
Titanic X: ZAFT: That fake-out make-out was awesome in series canon, so why not~ :3
DarkFoxKit: It was more fun doing Andy's reaction to it, and the merciless teasing that soon followed after that.
ChloeTheKitsune: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, it was quite the funny chapter, with the teasing and the shock reactions.
ZAFT: I hope you find the next ones just as fun and awesome! :D
Luna Lillyth: ZAFT: I am glad you like Dorimon! :D
DarkFoxKit: Heh, probably because of his antics and his dynamic with Andy.