Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

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

31. A Digital World

DarkFoxKit: Another update, oh, and take a look at the picture. ZAFT here drew that themselves~

ZAFT: Actually, I downloaded an image of a D-Arc and colored it in with Andy's D-Arc colors, then Tucker's, Jazz's, Danny's, and Sam's. I only added the DP symbol and the symbols of the Legendary Warriors… ^^'

Andy: Still pretty good. Though Fox did the same thing with the picture of My Brother's a Ghost.

DarkFoxKit: You really think I could draw that well? Please. *rolls eyes* Anyways, we should get this update underway.

ZAFT: Yeah, we should. ^^'

---

Chapter 31: A Digital World

Andy wanted to be anywhere else but in the living room of his own home right now. Mr. Lancer was speaking with his parents, and Takuya, about how irresponsible he had been lately.

"It disappoints me, because Andy was one of my best behaving students. But lately, he's been falling behind," Mr. Lancer stated. "And when I gave him a chance to make up for the test, I found him goofing off at the Internet Cafe playing on that internet game."

"But-" Andy started, only to be interrupted.

"I can't believe you were goofing off, Andy!" Takuya scolded. "It's bad enough the North Western Nine test was failed by the school, I mean I failed it too, but failing a literature test is not excusable. You should know better!"

"It was-" Andy tried again.

"That's enough out of you. You're in a lot of trouble, mister," Jack scolded.

Jazz had joined them shortly after Andy was pretty much dragged into the living room. She looked more worried than angry or disappointed though, and she had Lopmon around her arms.

Lopmon frowned, before whispering to Jazz. "I can understand why they are all disappointed, but why aren't they giving Andy a chance to explain himself?"

Jazz just shook her head, not able to answer at the moment since there were too many eyes.

"What do you suggest, Mr. Lancer?" Maddie asked, looking more troubled than she had this morning.

"Andy will pass the make-up test. I know he can. But I am proposing that he spend his time in my office after school studying until I administer the make-up exam." Mr. Lancer said. "Unless of course, you have any other options on how to make sure Andy passes the test."

Maddie and Jack frowned. Maddie realized that she didn't know of a better way, and it was the first time she really remembered being involved with any of her kids' school lives. She and Jack were always too busy with their next new ghost hunting invention to really think to ask how their kids did in school, or find out if they were doing well at all.

"I'm… afraid to say we don't, Mr. Lancer," Jack spoke up for Maddie, seeing her guilty expression.

Mr. Lancer nodded. "Very well, it seems Andy will be staying after school then and studying with me for the time being."

"And until you retake this test and pass it with flying colors, young man, we're forbidding all access to electronic devices except in the case of emergency or for school," Maddie stated firmly, hoping that would help get one of her boys to do better in school. At least Danny seems to be doing better.

Takuya looked at Andy, seeing how his cousin looked down at the floor. Now that he thought about it, it was very unlike Andy to be as irresponsible as Mr. Lancer claimed him to be. Is there something more to this though? I mean, Andy doesn't do something without a good reason...

"Starting tomorrow, you'll be staying with me after school," Mr. Lancer said to Andy.

"I…" Andy sighed tiredly. "I understand… Mr. Lancer."

After Mr. Lancer left, Maddie took a deep breath and let it out. "Andy, I'm sorry if we're being too hard on you. But you have to understand, we love you, and we don't want you to fail and be held back a grade."

Andy frowned. "I know, Mom."

Andy started trudging to the stairs to go to his room. If he didn't need a nap before, he certainly needed it now.

Maddie frowned, feeling guilty that she may have been too hard on one of her precious boys. Jack put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"You did what you had to do, Maddie. We are his parents, we need to show him there will be consequences," Jack reassured Maddie.

Maddie smiled at Jack. "You're sweet, Jack."

Beside Maddie and Jack, Takuya frowned to himself. He felt a bit bad about how he was acting towards Andy without knowing the full situation. Am I being a bit too hard on Andy myself? Am I becoming too much like my aunt and uncle?

While Maddie and Jack headed to the kitchen for some lunch, or more likely, for Jack to give Maddie some of his special 'pick-me-up' fudge, Takuya turned to Jazz.

Before Takuya could say anything, however, the older girl beat him to it. "I think you should go talk to him. I understand why you acted the way you did when Mr. Lancer brought Andy home, but… you should know Andy better than that by now. I suspected that he had a good reason for 'goofing' off the way he did."

Takuya chuckled a bit sheepishly. "I was that easy to read?"

"You are talking to someone who is studying in human psychology after all," Lopmon chuckled. "I may have given her a few tips."

Takuya raised an eyebrow. "You know about human psychology?"

Lopmon frowned a little. "Let's just say… I… learned a lot when… I first met with Koichi."

Takuya gave a slight wince, not wanting to bring up bad memories for Lopmon. "Okay. I'll go talk to Andy." He then made his way to the stairs and proceeded to head upstairs.

Jazz sighed a little herself. "I should've been there. I should've helped them look for that ghost… but I was worried about him doing irreversible damage to you…"

"Don't blame yourself, Jazz. We are still inexperienced when it comes to fighting with ghosts," Lopmon assured. "We will need to find a way to train against a real ghost, and be ready for them in the future."

At that, Jazz looked over at the kitchen, seeing the lab door was open. Despite her clumsiness releasing Technus before, Jazz knew she couldn't just give up. She headed towards the lab with Lopmon while her parents were distracted with food.

---

Takuya stood in front of the twins' room, the door was closed, meaning Andy likely didn't want anyone to come in right now.

Taking in a deep breath, Takuya let it out before raising a hand and knocking on the door. "Andy? Are you okay?"

At first, the older boy didn't hear an answer. Takuya frowned, and decided to knock again.

Takuya heard footsteps coming to the door. Andy slightly opened the door a little, enough for him to see Andy's face. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood for more scolding right now, Takuya."

Takuya sighed. "Yeah… About that… That was my fault. I didn't think about why you were probably 'goofing off'. You normally do things for a good reason, so…"

Andy stared at Takuya a little longer, making Takuya think Andy would just close the door in his face. However, Andy did eventually open the door up wider. "Fine. Come inside."

When Takuya entered the room, he made his way to Danny's bed and sat down. "So, care to explain why you were 'goofing off'? You normally don't do something without a good reason, and I just want to know why you did what you did."

Andy sat down on his bed, holding Dorimon, who was now awake. Dorimon frowned. "You mean you don't know?"

Takuya shook his head. "No, hence why I'm asking."

Andy yawned, clearly still sleepy. "I had a long night. Jazz accidentally released Technus into the world. Danny, Sam, Dorimon, and I went to go find him. Fought with him. Blew him up. He hid. Couldn't find him even after searching all night. Sleepy day at school. Tried to get Dash to keep me and Danny awake. I ended up falling asleep anyways. Failed the test. Went to the Internet Cafe to try to find Technus. Didn't find him. Mr. Lancer saw me there. And you know the rest."

Takuya sighed. "Yeah, you had a good reason for what happened." He then ran a hand through his hair. "Wow… I messed up big time, not even hearing the full story."

"That seems to be happening a lot with Andy lately." Dorimon frowned. "What are you going to do about that test?"

"I'm going to take a nap, then worry about that stupid test," Andy grumbled.

Takuya looked at Andy. "Yeah, I think a nap would do you some good. You look like you need it."

"Well, now that you know Technus is on the loose somewhere, maybe you could look around the city to try to find him? Danny and the others are searching for him in Doomed since there was a good chance Technus went into that game after seeing it last night," Andy requested.

"I don't see why not, but I am not doing it while evolved." Takuya said. "I'll take my Fenton Rod though, just in case."

Andy nodded. "You go do that."

"By the way… Andy, what made you fall asleep?" Dorimon asked curiously. "I just thought it was odd that Dash wasn't able to keep you awake."

Andy shook his head. "I don't know either. It… felt like something pulled me to sleep, and wouldn't let me go until it was done."

Takuya frowned, but didn't press the issue as he turned and left to go look for Technus in the city.

Andy rubbed his forehead. I wonder though… was that dream… a vision…? No… no, I am not a seer! I'm not a seer…

Andy laid his head down on the pillow, but… suddenly, sleep was hard to come by, which made Andy want to pull his head under his pillow and scream.

---

The rest of the night was uneventful. Danny and his friends weren't able to find Technus anywhere in Doomed, and it was getting late. The Internet Cafe was closing, so the three friends had to head on home. Tucker needed to feed Terriermon and himself soon anyways. Sam needed to get home just so her parents wouldn't have to complain about her being late again. Danny did a quick sweep around Amity Park in his ghost form though, in hopes of finding any hints or clues about Technus's whereabouts, he knew the ghost wouldn't just give up and go back to the Ghost Zone, or leave Amity Park until he's had his revenge on them for beating him last time. But it was quiet. Danny had no idea where Technus was, and he was starting to get a little antsy about it.

Not wanting to have to go through another sleepy day at school, however, Danny went home to turn in for the night. Jazz was busy, doing something in the lab. She was looking at the lab's control panel, testing out different things while Lopmon watched her. Keeping her safe in case Jazz accidentally released another ghost.

Takuya called in Dash to help him look for Technus. But even with Dash's Nature Senses, something Dash decided to call the ability to look through nature to locate someone, they were still unable to find the normally loud, obnoxious technological ghost. Eventually, it got late enough for the two of them to decide to call it a night and head back home.

The next day, Andy and Danny were much more awake. They were both able to get a good night sleep, though they were still anxious about Technus being out there. Jazz herself looked a bit tired though.

As for Takuya, he was a bit sleepy as well, but not too tired either. He had enough energy to get through another day at school at the very least.

---

Later, after Casper High finished for the day.

Takuya threw a basketball into the hoop in the gym. The gym was empty except for him, Andy, Dorimon, Sam, Tucker, Terriermon, Danny, Jazz, and Lopmon. The whole gang, minus Dash sadly, were here.

"Impressive," Sam complimented. "Maybe you and I should do a one-on-one."

Sam swirled a basketball on the tip of her finger before tossing it into a basket herself.

"What can I say? I play a lot of soccer back in Japan." Takuya chuckled. "I'm pretty athletic."

"So we're all going to search the city for Technus while Andy is studying for the test, right?" Jazz asked.

"That's the plan. Once I finish with the test though, I'll be joining you in the search," Andy answered, bouncing his own basketball against the wall.

Takuya looked back at Andy. "Well, hopefully Technus won't pull anything while you're studying, but I wouldn't count on it going so smoothly."

"Please, don't ever say that," Tucker grumbled. "That's tempting fate."

"I still find it rather strange that this Technus ghost hasn't shown himself. From what you've told me, he's pretty loud and likes to announce what he's doing," Terriermon remarked.

"I know. That's why it's so strange." Tucker said. "It's like he's disappeared."

"I mean, you did say he can hide himself in any technology, right?" Terriermon asked. "Were any of you wearing anything that he might've been able to hide in when you last saw him?"

The room grew silent at that. A basketball was left bouncing on the floor, forgotten. Danny, Sam, and Andy remembered that they had been wearing the Fenton Earphones when they were battling with Technus that night.

"Check your earphones!" Danny quickly said, digging into his pocket.

Tucker blinked. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"

Andy facepalmed himself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have forgotten about the earphones!?"

Sam pulled out her own Earphones. "How come we didn't think of that before?"

Andy was checking his earphones as well. "No signs of ecto activity inside these earphones."

"Mine are clean too," Sam spoke up.

The Fenton Gadgets had an interesting feature, they had a meter that let them know if it had been contaminated by a ghost.

Takuya frowned. I would have sensed the ghost energy from Technus if he was in the earphones… right?

Danny frowned when he looked at his own earphones. "... It… had ecto activity recently… Technus… was in my earphones… HE WAS IN MY EARPHONES THIS WHOLE TIME AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT!?"

Sam balked. "What?! Aw c'mon! For real?!" She smacked her face with her hand. "Ugh!"

"Alright, calm down! Calm down!" Jazz yelled. "Technus isn't still in those earphones, is he?"

"No, he's not!" Danny moaned.

"Okay. Well we know he was in there. So that means he likely left after hiding for a while. Do you know of any places he likely jumped into?" Jazz calmly questioned.

Andy paled. "The Internet Cafe's computers… we were on Doomed there yesterday."

Hearing that, Tucker paled. "Oh no… We have to get to the Internet Cafe! He could already be in the game! Or worse!"

"What good is that going to do us now? If he's already in the game, we can't go in after him!" Sam spoke up.

"Besides, if he is in Doomed, then the best way to get to him is to get on any computer and log into Doomed ourselves," Andy added.

Danny frowned as he thought back on if he saw anything strange when he was on the computer yesterday at the Internet Cafe since Technus was hiding in his earphones. "Wait… I remember… there was some static on the computer I was using, and this weird… eye, thing, symbol appeared for a few seconds before it disappeared. Could that have been when Technus went in?"

Takuya perked up at hearing that. "Can you describe this eye-symbol?" He was hoping it wasn't what he feared it was. Please don't be...

Danny, recalling how Takuya would likely be familiar with the symbol, described the symbol from memory the best he could. Hoping maybe Takuya might have an answer to that mysterious symbol and likely where Technus went if he wasn't in Doomed anyways.

Upon hearing about the symbol and what it looked like, Takuya's face literally went pale. His hands clenched into fists tightly as he began to fear for the safety of the Digital World.

"What's… wrong? You don't look so good…" Danny asked in concern.

Lopmon frowned, recognizing the symbol as well. "That symbol you described… it's the symbol of the Celestial Digimon."

Tucker looked at Lopmon. "Celestial Digimon?"

"They're Digimon who govern over the Digital World. Think of them… like the President you have in this world, only instead of one country, they rule over the entire Digital World," Terriermon spoke up. "Lopmon is…"

Terriermon hesitated, he hadn't spoken that much to Lopmon yet, and he wasn't sure if Lopmon would want them to know about his status.

Jazz looked down at Lopmon. She was the only other person Lopmon had confided this information to, and Takuya was the only other person who knew.

Tucker frowned, seeing the way Terriermon looked at Lopmon, but he didn't press the issue.

"I am… or maybe was, one of the Celestial Digimon," Lopmon admitted.

Those who didn't know about Lopmon's status, all stared at him in shock. Once again, a basketball was bouncing on the floor, forgotten.

"You were one of these Celestial Digimon?!" Sam asked in shock.

"Oh my gosh! We didn't even know we had such an important Digimon here!" Danny gulped.

"Please forgive us for any transgressions we did, oh powerful Celestial Digimon!" Tucker bowed his head.

"Tucker, stop that!" Andy groaned.

Smack! Takuya smacked his face with his hand. "Tucker, Lopmon is not a god…"

"Says you!" Tucker huffed.

"Hey," Dorimon spoke up. "Maybe Lopmon is a Celestial Digimon, but I don't think he wants us to treat him any differently than we do now."

"That's right. Lopmon wanted to keep this a secret, because he wanted to blend in," Jazz agreed. "And right now, he can't go into his Mega form, so he'll be vulnerable if ShadowSeraphimon decided to attack him."

Terriermon cringed at that.

Takuya gave a wince as well, but his was subtle. He remembered fighting ShadowSeraphimon before when Mercurymon stole Seraphismon's data. He also didn't like the idea of facing with the real ShadowSeraphimon again. I hope we don't encounter another Digimon like that there...

"Okay, everyone, let's calm down," Andy spoke up. "Takuya, Lopmon, since you two are most familiar with this symbol… the fact that Danny saw it on the computer, and the possible chance it might've happened because of Technus… what does that mean?"

Takuya frowned. "I don't like this, but it could mean that Technus went into Lopmon's world, the Digital World."

"The Digital World? Like Technus actually did go into Doomed?" Tucker asked.

"Not exactly," Terriermon spoke up.

"The Digital World is our world," Dorimon added. "That game, Doomed, likely was just a medium to create a doorway between here and the Digital World due to its similarities to our world."

Takuya looked back at the group. "If Technus is in the Digital World, then getting there is the only way we can stop him." Then he frowned some more. "But…" I can't exactly say I got there through a Trailmon...

"None of us have been to the Digital World before," Sam spoke up.

"Is it even possible for humans to even go there?" Tucker asked.

Jazz looked at Lopmon, she remembered that Lopmon told her how 5 human children went into the Digital World via Trailmon. "Maybe we could go there by Trailmon?"

"Trailmon?" Danny asked.

"It's a train Digimon that's mostly used for transportation," Lopmon explained. "There are many different types, but they usually serve the same purpose. Those Digimon that were defeated here and turned back into an egg, Agunimon has been taking them to a subway station, calling in a Trailmon to take the eggs back to the Digital World."

Danny blinked. "So that's how those Digimon were transported away. I was wondering about that."

"But how do you call a Trailmon? Would we have to look for Agunimon or something?" Sam asked.

"Um… I might be able to call a Trailmon on my D-Arc," Andy hesitantly volunteered.

Takuya looked at Andy, relief on his face. Nice save, Andy! I wasn't sure how we would get a Trailmon here without exposing my secret...

Andy took out his D-Arc and tried to call up a Trailmon, but when he tried to get in contact with the Digital World, he just got static. "... I'm not getting anything…" That's odd, that's never happened before.

Takuya saw that and immediately took out his D-Tector and messed with it himself, but he got the same signal issue. Crap… I can't get a signal either...

Jazz and Tucker decided to try with their own D-Arcs, but it was the same results.

"This is concerning. The fact you can't get a hold of the Digital World means either Technus's presence is causing some sort of interference, or something happened to Ophanimon, the last Celestial Digimon in the Digital World. Or… a combination of both," Lopmon said grimly.

Takuya looked back at Lopmon. "But then how will we get to the Digital World?! Lady Ophanimon may need help!"

That got Takuya some very curious, and very unwanted attention.

"Lady Ophanimon?" Sam asked.

"How did you know this Ophanimon is a lady?" Tucker asked.

"And… why do you say it like you know her?" Jazz added suspiciously.

Only Danny and Andy stayed quiet, already knowing Takuya's story.

"Um… From what Lopmon told me…" Takuya lied, turning a bit red from embarrassment. Crap! Way to nearly give yourself away, Takuya!

Lopmon groaned a little.

"Uh… anyways, that's not important right now," Andy spoke up, saving his cousin from his little slip up. "What is important is finding a way into the Digital World without a Trailmon."

Danny crossed his arms and started thinking. "The fact that Technus was able to go into the Digital World by phasing into the computer… do you think maybe… another ghost could phase into the computer and get the same results?"

"Doubtful, what happened with Technus was likely a freak accident," Terriermon stated. "Or Technus did something that caused a portal to open when he tried to go into the game."

Danny frowned at hearing that. "Then what can we do?"

"Wait, bro, you might be onto something there," Andy suddenly spoke up, getting an idea.

"You have an idea?" Jazz asked, perking up.

"Maybe," Andy said. "Technus was able to go into the Digital World by phasing into the computer, right? He seems to have power that manipulates data and technology, perhaps that's what caused the portal to the Digital World to open. And maybe we could do the same thing."

"How can we do that?" Sam asked as she scratched at her head.

"We could probably use our D-Arcs to open a portal," Andy answered, holding up his D-Arc. "It has similar properties to data and Digimon. Perhaps holding a D-Arc up to a computer may be what we need to open a portal to the Digital World."

Tucker blinked. "Well, I don't see why it wouldn't work. I suggest we try it at least. If it does work, that would be awesome!"

Before anyone could do anything else, however, Mr. Lancer's voice boomed in the basketball court.

"Andy Fenton! My classroom! Now!" Mr. Lancer said sternly from the entrance of the gymnasium.

Andy jumped and quickly hid his D-Arc back into his pocket. "You guys go on ahead. I'll join you later as soon as I can."

Danny nodded. "Okay, bro. We'll see you when you get out."

"Good luck with your test, man," Tucker said.

"And be sure to pass this time," Jazz added.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Andy promised before he walked over to Takuya, as he was passing his cousin, he whispered to him. "Take care of them for me."

Takuya nodded. "I will." He whispered back. He then gave Andy a pat on his shoulder to reassure him.

Andy held onto Dorimon, determined to finish this test and get into the Digital World as soon as he could as he walked over to Mr. Lancer.

---

Tucker led the rest of the group to the computer room. Thankfully, because school was out for the day, most of the nerds left as well. Which left the computer room empty.

Danny looked at Tucker. "So, what do we do? Wait for Andy or just go to the Digital World ourselves?"

"Andy did say to go on ahead," Sam answered.

"But one of us should stay here and wait for him. I rather Andy wasn't alone when he got to the Digital World," Jazz spoke up.

"I mean… he has Dorimon…" Sam pointed out.

Takuya frowned a bit here. On one hand, he had promised to look after the group while they were in the Digital World. On the other, Andy would be alone if he got there and no one was there to wait for him. What should I do? I could stay here, but then again, the group does need my help… Not to mention they don't know my secret and only Andy knows...

"Jazz and I can wait for him," Lopmon spoke up.

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked.

"I know the Digital World really well. I can guide Andy back to all of you if I have to," Lopmon answered.

Takuya gave a relieved look to Lopmon. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I mean, Lopmon is one of the Celestial Digimon."

"I'm never going to get over that, could you, Terriermon?" Tucker asked.

Terriermon was a bit silent, but he humored Tucker. "Uh… yeah, sure."

Tucker noticed his partner's attitude, but he didn't press the issue.

"Maybe I should stay too…" Danny said hesitantly.

"No, go on ahead, Danny. They may need you," Jazz said. "Andy will be fine, we can meet up with you later. But you need to find Technus and stop him. The longer he's in the Digital World, the more damage he can do to it."

Danny sighed, but nodded. "Okay, I'll go."

Tucker smiled as he held up his D-Arc to the computer he turned on. "Well then, Digital World, here we come!"

"Everyone but Jazz, stay close," Takuya quickly instructed.

Jazz backed away, still holding Lopmon, while everyone else quickly bunched up together. The D-Arc's screen in Tucker's hand began to glow a white light. The computer monitor started to glow as well.

The group was sucked into the monitor, growing smaller before they vanished into it.

"Whoa… you don't see that every day," Jazz muttered in surprise when she watched her friends, cousin, and brother being sucked into the computer.

As the group went through a digital vortex, Tucker wound up gaining a new outfit, one that was a yellow jacket that had a red scarf, and his pants were now khaki with black boots. He had on his red beret still, and his glasses were still the same. Terriermon was flying through the vortex beside him.

Sam gained a purple shirt that had a black vest over it, and her skirt became pants that were black with a green line running down the sides, and her combat boots remained the same black color they were in the real world.

Danny gained a black T-shirt that had white ends for the sleeves, and his pants became black with white bottoms while his shoes turned white.

As for Takuya, his change was vastly different. His skin became tan as his shirt and shoes vanished, leaving his pants and a vest on him. His hair became red, long, and spiky, his eyes turned green, and a flame-orange tail sprouted from the bottom of his spine. Flame symbols appeared on his person as well.

Soon, the group came to the end of the vortex, and it spewed them out into what appeared to be a forest. They almost all piled up on each other.

"Oof!"

"Ow! Get off my leg!"

"You're the one crushing me!"

"MY FOOT!"

"Ow..."

The group was now in a pile, each of them complaining about the landing.

"What a way to land…" Tucker grumbled, peeking out from under one of Terriermon's large ears.

It took a minute for the group to finally get off each other, poor Takuya was completely smooshed under all of them. He was flat on the ground. However, the group themselves were surprised when they saw him.

"Uh… did we crush someone when we came through the portal?" Sam asked in concern, looking at the creature on the ground.

"Hey… I have new clothes on! Sweet!" Tucker smiled, looking down at himself. "So do you two!"

Danny looked down at his own clothes, and frowned. "This… looks a bit… like…"

The creature on the ground groaned. "Ow…"

"Is… that a Digimon?" Sam asked, eyeing the poor creature.

"It is," Terriermon confirmed.

Tucker's D-Arc suddenly beeped, which caused him to take it out and look at it. A holographic version of the creature appeared. "Let's see… Flamemon is a Demon Man Digimon. It was transformed into a half-beast, half-man form when Agunimon lost its power. It is missing the "Combat Instinct" that Digimon naturally possess, and moreover, it has lost power. However, it is a being that has inherited the Human Spirit of Flame of AncientGreymon, so although it has lost power, ordinary Champion-class Digimon aren't a match for it. If anything, it has kindness inappropriate for a Digimon and is similar to a Champion Digimon, counterbalancing its mischievous part. It says it's… level is Hybrid… huh, that's a new one, and it has a neutral type."

Sam blinked. "Wait… Are you saying this Digimon is Agunimon's weaker form?"

"Wait, Agunimon came with us?" Tucker questioned, letting that sink in.

Danny's eyes widened, realizing that this Flamemon was likely Takuya. Uh-oh...

"I… wouldn't put it past him to come back. This is his home, after all. Maybe he snuck along with us." Danny quickly explained, covering for his cousin's new form.

"But… wait, where is Takuya?" Sam asked as she looked around.

Flamemon coughed a little, finally regaining enough consciousness to push himself up from the ground. He didn't realize the form he had taken yet, however.

"Ouch… That was a rough landing…" Flamemon groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head.

Flamemon then looked up at Tucker, Terriermon, Sam, and Danny. "Are you all okay?"

"Uh… yeah…" Tucker awkwardly answered back.

"We… definitely weren't expecting you though," Sam admitted.

Terriermon looked like he was trying not to laugh, while Danny looked like he was trying not to sweat.

Flamemon blinked. "What's with the staring?"

Terriermon lost it at that question and began laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny?" Flamemon frowned.

Danny cleared his throat. "You… uh… might want to look at yourself."

Flamemon blinked before he did just that, only for his eyes to widen in shock. Things were silent for a moment before he screamed. "WAAAAHHHH!"

The poor Hybrid-level Digimon was panting heavily now, trying to calm himself down from his panic attack. S-shit… why did I end up in this form again?! Could it have something to do with how we got here?

"Alright, calm down, calm down, we're not here to hurt you," Sam quickly said as if she was talking to a wild animal.

"What she means is that try to calm down, please, before you make all of us panic," Danny spoke up.

Flamemon nodded, taking in some deep breaths and letting them out. He felt a bit better with each breath he took in and let out, and soon, he was somewhat calmer. "Sorry about freaking out like that…"

"Are you Agunimon?" Tucker asked. "The D-Arc said you were a form of Agunimon when he lost power."

Flamemon blinked before he remembered the last time he had assumed this form; he had reverted back to his Human Spirit upon returning to the Digital World last time. Figuring that was the case, he nodded. "Yeah… You could say I am."

"So… why did you come with us? Or were you already here and we just happened to fall on top of you when we came here?" Sam questioned.

"And… have you seen another boy? He came with us, but he doesn't seem to be here right now," Tucker added.

Flamemon seemed to be a bit nervous. "Um… Well, the Digital World is my home so I had to come back. And no… I didn't see another boy…"

"That's… odd… where did Takuya go? We were all bunched up when we were sucked into that monitor," Sam questioned.

"I'm sure Takuya's fine," Danny spoke up. "Maybe something happened when we were going through that… vortex thing, and Takuya ended up somewhere else."

Sam blinked. "You mean we lost Takuya in that vortex? Now we have to go find him and Technus?! This place is huge! It would be weeks before we find either of them, let alone both!"

"We have… a tour guide," Danny gestured to Flamemon. "This is his home, after all, he should be able to help us find Technus and Takuya. Right, uh, Flamemon?"

Flamemon blinked, a bit confused, but he decided to play along. "Uh… yeah." He then blinked, noticing their outfits were different. "Do you guys have new clothes?" Flamemon had to admit, the new outfits seemed to fit them nicely, but Danny's looked a bit too much like Phantom's hazmat suit. Maybe it has to do with the fact Phantom is living inside Danny… Oh gosh, please don't tell me that coming here fused them or something!

"Yeah, it looks like coming here gave us new clothes for some reason. Not that I'm complaining, I look good~" Tucker smiled.

"Heh, I think it's the Digital World's way of welcoming you," Terriermon chuckled. "That or it's like having an avatar in a video game."

Tucker perked up. "So it's like we're in a video game?! Sweet!"

Flamemon paled a bit at hearing that. "No! It's not like that! You could actually get hurt here!"

"So this is the Digital World, huh?" Sam noted, looking around at the forest they were in. "It certainly feels like real life to me."

Sam squatted down and touched a few flowers, they definitely felt too real to be made of data to her. "This feels like real fauna."

"Well, it is real. You guys just became data." Flamemon replied with a shrug before getting to his feet. "Humans, when they cross the barrier between your world and this one, become data to fit in." At least, that's how I assume it works. I don't know exactly, and I have been here before.

"Wait, so I'm literally made of data right now?" Tucker asked, looking very intrigued. "But I feel like I'm still made of flesh and blood."

"Data, or rather, fractal code, takes physical form. It can easily replicate your own biology and nervous system, especially since higher evolved Digimon have much more complex systems than humans do," Terriermon explained.

Tucker looked at Terriermon. "Wow. You explained that perfectly without sounding too nerdy." The boy was grinning widely.

Terriermon gave a smile at that. "Well I do a lot of studying in the Digital World, they teach you this stuff in school after all."

"There's a school for Digimon?" Sam asked, surprised.

Flamemon remembered hearing about that from Zoe and JP when they had helped a group of Digimon students once. "Yeah, there is."

"Hmm…" Danny looked around for a moment, and Flamemon wondered what he was thinking, and whether or not he was still Danny or if he was a fusion between Danny and Phantom.

Unlike when Flamemon fused with his Spirits, Danny and Phantom both have their own minds, so he was worried how that would affect Danny.

Danny noticed Flamemon's concerned look, and Danny realized he was likely worried about the clothes he was wearing and what it could mean for him and his ghost half, since, according to Andy, Flamemon still thought Phantom is a separate entity.

"Uh… well, we're here now… maybe you could help us find a rogue ghost that got himself lost in this world?" Danny suggested, hoping to get Flamemon's attention off of him.

"Oh!" Flamemon perked up at hearing that. "You mean a ghost that is technology-based? I thought I sensed something like that when I was in the area."

"Oh? So you mean he's close?" Sam perked up.

"Uh, no. I mean…" Flamemon trailed off.

"You meant that you sensed a ghost coming into this world, right?" Danny helped out.

Flamemon nodded. "Yeah. That's what I meant. That's why I followed you guys, to get back here to help against that ghost when I sensed you were coming."

Danny wiped a small sweat bead from his eyebrows. Jeez, how does Andy do it? Having to help out while making sure nobody suspects you of knowing? No wonder he'd rather Takuya and I told each other our secrets.

Sam frowned. "So you can't sense the ghost in the area?"

Flamemon shook his head. "No, at least, not that I know of anyway."

"It might not be too hard to find him. Technus isn't one to keep himself hidden when he feels powerful, so sooner or later, we're likely going to find him," Tucker stated.

"Until then…" Danny looked at Flamemon. "Uh… mind telling us where we are exactly?"

Flamemon nodded. "I can. You're at the Forest Terminal. It's one of the stations for the Trailmon here. And nearby is the castle of Seraphimon, one of the Celestial Digimon. But…" Flamemon looked down. "He's… not around right now due to… circumstances…"

"Where do we start looking?" Sam asked.

"Maybe we can start with that castle?" Danny suggested. "It might be something that would draw Technus in. And if he's not there, maybe we could take a Trailmon and go look at one of the cities."

Flamemon nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I would expect this… uh, Technus, to head to Seraphimon's Castle at the very least. The Celestial Digimon are considered the most powerful, and if there is one thing that would draw a powerful ghost in, it's power."

"Then we'll start there." Tucker smiled. "Maybe we'll even find some clues to what happened to that Celestial Digimon."

Flamemon blinked before he smiled. I didn't even consider that. Maybe we could find some clues as to what made Seraphimon get corrupted as well! "Alright! Let's go look then!"

Danny smiled a bit, seeing that Flamemon was now eager, and no longer focused on him. And, if he remembered right, Seraphimon was the same ShadowSeraphimon who fused with Vlad. He would like to get some answers too.

Flamemon ran on ahead, waving for them to catch up.

---

Meanwhile, Andy was in the classroom with Mr. Lancer. While it had only been a few minutes, it felt like hours went by. The silence in the almost empty classroom, and the clock ticking on the wall really didn't help, and was grating on Andy's nerves. He could concentrate better if he wasn't thinking about how his friends and family were doing in an unknown world, searching for a dangerous ghost, who was pretty much in his element. Dorimon was lying on Andy's desk, though he looked like he was asleep, Andy could tell he was pretty tense as well.

Finally, not able to keep staring at the book and repeating the words he was reading, Andy stood up from his desk and walked over to Mr. Lancer, who looked like he had been writing on something.

"And where are you going, Andy?" Mr. Lancer asked.

Andy sighed before he stretched himself out. "Just stretching a bit… felt like I've been sitting too long."

Then Andy looked down at what Mr. Lancer was writing, he noticed that it was addressed to someone called Alice Lancer, and looking at a photo on Mr. Lancer's desk, the boy could see… Mr. Lancer in a dress and make-up, or he supposed that was supposed to be Alice. Does a woman really have that much chest hair though…? Maybe she's trans?

Andy decided it was in his best interest to not think about that and just speak up. "Alice Lancer… is that a relative of yours?"

"She is my sister. I haven't seen her in ages because I can't afford the plane fare." Mr. Lancer sighed as he looked at the photo again, before he looked at Andy. "You know, being a teacher is pretty difficult. You get paid barely enough to afford food on the table. You have ungrateful students to deal with. And you always have a lot of paperwork to do. But I became a teacher because I care about my students. I always felt that teaching children is perhaps one of the most important jobs in the world. Students are our future after all. People don't seem to realize how important a teacher's job really is, and many only see it as a way to get a paycheck until they can find a better job."

Andy frowned, but he nodded. There was a reason why he respected Mr. Lancer, even if he did get on his nerves sometimes. Mr. Lancer did show that he cared, especially during the Ember incident, when he went through such lengths to get the students back home to try to study for the big North Western Nine tests. There was, unfortunately, nothing Mr. Lancer could have done since Ember was using mind control, but it was the thought that counted.

"And I thank you for that, Mr. Lancer. I do appreciate everything you're trying to do to help us, really," Andy replied. "I didn't mean to be difficult or anything. It's just… I have a lot on my plate lately, and it's not just from the internet game I was playing."

"Oh? And what would it be then if the internet game was not the only thing that caused you to flunk the test?" Mr. Lancer asked.

Andy sighed, he couldn't really say anything that wouldn't sound like a ridiculous lie, even if he did tell the truth.

"Andy, if you really did have a lot to deal with, then it's okay to tell me that you have some issues. But don't try to hide it by playing video games all day." Mr. Lancer said gently.

The boy sighed again, though he wasn't talking to a school counselor, thank goodness since he wasn't sure if he was ready to trust another one after Spectra so soon, he did feel like he could let some things off his chest without blowing everybody's secrets.

"Say you had a close friend or relative… and something happened to them in a terrible accident… and they do actually recover from it, but… the accident did something that changed them. Something that… is still changing them, and you fear it could become worse as time goes on, but you're not sure, nor do you really understand it all that well. You don't want to worry them, and they don't want you to tell anyone because they're scared that people will hurt them if they find out," Andy stated. "What… do you do in that situation?"

Mr. Lancer frowned. "I can't really say, Andy. But if this relative or friend is really that scared, then I would talk to them about the situation they are in and how hiding it is not the right thing to do. At least, that is what I would do, but in your situation, it sounds like you're placing a burden on yourself. You can't hide it forever, and I think talking to those who you are scared to talk to about this will be the best way to resolve the issue."

"What?" Andy blinked. "No, it's not me I was talking about. I… ugh… never mind. I was just dealing with coping with a bad accident that happened a while back. And a lot of stuff happened since then, like the giant meat monster appearing, the dragon at the mall, school stuff flying all over the place, and all the weirdness that's been happening since then."

Mr. Lancer nodded. "Yes, that would place a lot of stress on anyone your age."

"And I guess playing the game helps me get away from it all…" Andy admitted.

Mr. Lancer nodded again. "That is the problem. You can't rely on a video game to cope with things all the time, as it becomes too much and then your grades slip."

"Yeah, I understand that. And I was trying to avoid it, but…" Andy sighed, he knew he had a good reason for why he stayed up all night, but he also knew he couldn't tell Mr. Lancer that, so instead… "I guess I overdid it the other night."

Andy then looked at Mr. Lancer. "You know I am good at literature. And… I know I'm ready. Let me take the test now, I can pass it this time."

Mr. Lancer looked at Andy. "If you feel you are ready, then we can do that."

Andy nodded before he walked back over to his desk and sat down, closing his book and putting it away in his backpack. He had his pencil out and waited. Mr. Lancer took out an exam paper from his desk and walked over to Andy before putting it down on his desk. Andy wasted no time to start the test. Dorimon opened his eyes, watching. He likely was never asleep to begin with, and was curious to see if Andy could pass the test this time.

Determination was on Andy's face as he focused on the test. Shaking off the thoughts of what could be happening to his friends and family in the Digital World, and if they found Technus yet. If he wanted to help them, he needed to buckle down and pass this with flying colors, and that was just what he intended to do.

After about half an hour, Andy finished the test. As soon as Andy was finished, he picked up the exam paper and walked over to Mr. Lancer. Dorimon silently wished Andy good luck.

Mr. Lancer took the test paper and began to grade it, taking out a red pen to do just that. He began to look over the answers, nodding in approval. Things looked good. He did mark a few answers wrong, but that was to be expected on a part of the test that usually used old English, only the nerdiest of nerds would be able to get those right. Mr. Lancer finally finished, and gave Andy his score on the test. A big fat 93% was marked in red.

Andy, while a little disappointed he didn't get a perfect score, was relieved to see he did actually pass with an A.

"A 93%. Not bad, Andy, not bad at all." Mr. Lancer said with pride. "You see? You can do better if you just apply yourself more."

Andy gave a small smile. "Thanks, Mr. Lancer. I appreciated the second chance you gave me for this test."

Mr. Lancer smiled back. "Well, I wouldn't be a very good teacher if I didn't give a student a second chance, now would I?" He then handed Andy his test. "This should be given to your parents, to show you did a good job."

The boy took the test and smiled again. "I will. Thanks again, Mr. Lancer! And… good luck with your sister."

Mr. Lancer smiled as he watched Andy pack up his stuff, picked up his 'stuffed animal, and left the classroom.

Mr. Lancer then looked at the photo of the 'woman' in the dress. "Why doesn't anyone realize that is me in a dress?"

---

Andy rushed into the computer room where Jazz was waiting. "Jazz? Lopmon? You two are still here?"

Jazz looked back and saw Andy. "Hey! Good to see you're here, Andy!"

"Yeah, we decided to leave someone behind so you and Dorimon wouldn't be completely alone," Lopmon informed.

"By the way, how did the test-" Jazz began to ask before Andy shoved the exam paper in her face.

"There, see? Not an idiot," Andy answered quickly, showing her the 93 mark.

Jazz grinned. "That's great, Andy! I knew you could pass!"

"Yeah, and while I'm glad I did pass, it's not that important right now," Andy said, putting the exam paper back in his backpack. "How long ago did the others leave? Did it actually work?"

Jazz nodded. "Yeah, your idea of using the D-Arc worked. The others all went to the Digital World about a half hour ago."

"Does time pass differently in the Digital World?" Andy asked, paling as he just realized that was possible.

Jazz frowned. "I don't know…" She looked to Lopmon for an explanation.

"It used to, but ever since the Legendary Warriors defeated Lucemon and restored balance to the Digital World, both of our worlds' time became in sync with each other. So don't worry, half an hour out here is half an hour in the Digital World," Lopmon reassured.

"Oh thank goodness, otherwise they would've been in the Digital World for half a year by now," Dorimon sighed in relief.

Jazz looked at Andy as she held up her D-Arc to the computer. "You'd better stick close to me, Andy, Dorimon. We're going to go into the Digital World now."

Andy nodded. "Ready when you are."

Dorimon climbed onto Andy's head as Andy held onto his sister's hand. Lopmon clutched onto Jazz's shoulder as Jazz held up her D-Arc to the computer. Just like with the group before them, the screen on the D-Arc and the monitor glowed before they were pulled inside.

Going through the Digital Vortex, the world scanned them. As they went through the vortex, Jazz gained a light blue jacket with a grey shirt under it, and dark grey pants while she also gained black shoes on her feet. Lopmon was at her side.

Andy's clothes changed to a dark blue T-shirt that had white on the sleeves and his pants turned a matching dark blue color with white bottoms and white sneakers. Dorimon had become Dorumon while they were going through the portal and was at Andy's side.

The four of them ended up landing out in a forest. Though due to the rough landing, Andy ended up sprawled on the ground on his stomach, while Jazz flipped on her backside. But thankfully since it was only the two of them and their Digimon, they didn't end up on top of each other. Dorumon and Lopmon were a little further away.

"Whoa, I digivolved," Dorumon noted, looking down at himself, then he looked at Andy and Jazz. "Hey, you two are wearing different clothes!"

Jazz groaned as she sat up, only to notice her outfit was different as well. "Wow…" She got up and looked herself over. "This is kinda cool."

"Huh…" Andy studied his outfit for a moment. "Mine kinda looks like my hazmat suit, but the colors are inverted."

"The Digital World scanned you when we came in here through the Digital Portal, since you didn't take a Trailmon to get here, the Digital World ended up creating new data around you that would accommodate you the best way possible," Lopmon explained. "I guess that would also explain why Dorimon digivolved when we got here."

Jazz smiled as she looked at her outfit again. "It's comfortable. I wonder if the same thing happened to the others."

"It probably did," Dorumon said. "Speaking of the others, I smell them already."

Dorumon sniffed the area. "They likely didn't go too far from here. I don't think they flew into the air or anything. So they must be travelling on foot."

Jazz looked at Dorumon. "That's good news for us. Can you lead us to their location?"

"I should be able to." Dorumon nodded.

"Then lead the way, buddy," Andy chuckled.

Dorumon smiled before he started following the scent of the others. While they were walking, Jazz and Andy looked around the forest curiously.

"So this is the Digital World?" Jazz asked in awe. "It looks like a real forest."

"The data here is given physical form, so it mimics the real world exactly save for the Digimon who live here." Lopmon explained. "This is also only part of the Digital World, so don't expect the entire world to be one big forest. This… I believe this is the Forest Terminal. So… my old friend Seraphimon's castle should be nearby."

Jazz looked back at Lopmon. "Isn't he that Digimon you told me about? The one you fought before you two got sent to the human world somehow?"

"Yeah… well, the one who fought with us isn't exactly the same Seraphimon. He's been… corrupted somehow." Lopmon frowned. "Seraphimon is actually a very good hearted Digimon, a bit rough around the edges, but he was pure, and he was a Celestial Digimon for a reason."

Jazz then had an idea. "Hey, if his castle is in the area, maybe we could go and check it out for any clues on what happened to make him become corrupted." She then paused. "Uh… And look for Technus too."

"I'm not sure what you'll find. I didn't get a chance to look before I confronted Seraphimon and we both ended up in the human world," Lopmon warned.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to look at least." Jazz pointed out. "And we have you, Dorumon, and Terriermon with us so if we run into trouble, you can digivolve and protect us."

"Let's just hope whatever we do find isn't too powerful for all of us combined," Dorumon whispered. "We did run into a few of those lately."

"Don't remind me," Andy grumbled.

---

"We should be getting close," Flamemon said as they were starting to walk up the stairs that would lead to Seraphimon's castle.

Danny sighed. "Good. I think I understand why there are Trailmon in the Digital World. Walking is a way to get tired easily." Probably doesn't help that I had gotten used to flying to get somewhere faster.

"You have no idea," Flamemon groaned, remembering all those times he and his friends had to painfully walk everywhere.

Tucker looked back at Flamemon. "Can you sense Technus in the area?"

Flamemon was about to retort when he suddenly froze as his fur stood on end, and he shivered a bit. "There's a presence… But I can't tell what it is…"

"Your D-Arc may pick up on Technus since he's kind of a glitch in the Digital World," Terriermon informed.

Tucker took out his D-Arc and began to mess with it. "Aw man… I wish this thing came with a manual…"

"I wonder if there's one that comes in black…" Sam muttered to herself.

Tucker pressed a few buttons before a holographic map came up, showing their location as a blue dot while there was a green dot not too far away. "Okay…? That's new. I think the blue dot is our location."

"Wow, I didn't know those came with a map," Danny whistled.

"Neither did I," Tucker sheepishly chuckled.

"A map? It kinda looks more like a compass with the way it's moving," Sam noted, seeing a red arrow on the map pointing north.

Tucker looked at the map compass thing again. "Yeah, it does kinda look like a compass."

"But what is it pointing to?" Danny asked.

Flamemon and Terriermon both yelled when a sudden electric blast went by them. The area around them began to glitch up, the fractal code showing for a bit before returning to its normal form.

"What was that?" Tucker asked in concern.

"A glitch." Terriermon frowned. "A glitch that can only be caused by a ghost. There's a reason why non-Digimon ghosts aren't welcomed here."

Looking back, Flamemon's fur bristled as he began to growl slightly. "And don't look now, but the source is behind us."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker, despite what Flamemon said, did actually look back and were shocked when they saw Technus, or whom they believed was Technus.

The form that looked like Technus had a glass dome on his head showing the brain inside, Technus's face, metal armor that was grey with a green circuit-like pattern on it, and the letter N in a circle on the chest. The lower body was just tentacles that had gripper claws for feet, the color matching that of the armor.

"Technus…?" Danny questioned unsurely.

"Indeed, it is I! But also no, I'm no longer known as Technus. For I have fused with a Datamon and become a being superior than any ghost or Digimon! For I am Techatamon!" The being who called itself Techatamon announced in a very Technus-like voice.

"He fused with a Digimon!?" Sam frowned.

"Vlad did that too," Danny pointed out.

"But Vlad is… well… special!" Sam tried to say without blowing Danny's secret.

Terriermon frowned as he glared at Techatamon, Tucker looked at his D-Arc. "Not much data is known on this Digimon, just that he's a Hybrid level like Flamemon and is a Virus type."

Flamemon growled lowly. Of all the times for me to be in this form… I wish I could digivolve like a real Digimon!

Techatamon grinned as he looked at the group. "Now I will take over this world of data!"

"No you won't!" Terriermon shouted as he jumped at Techatamon.

"Terriermon!" Tucker called out in worry.

"Bunny Blast!" Terriermon shot out green pellets of energy in rapid fire from his mouth at Techatamon's chest.

Flamemon clenched his fists before running at Techatamon himself. "Noble Heart!" Fire enveloped his body as he ran at Techatamon, aiming for his left arm.

Surprisingly, their attacks did some damage on Techatamon. Techatamon hissed as he fell back a few feet. Despite being half Digimon, he had more attributes as a ghost than he did as a Digimon, so he was likely more vulnerable to Digimon attacks like most ghosts were.

Danny noticed that. "Hey, I think we may have the advantage here. It seems their attacks damaged Techatamon."

"That's great, but what can we do? You can't exactly… you know… not with Flamemon here," Sam hissed.

Danny frowned. "We can still fight back. Didn't you bring the Fenton Rod and the Fenton Thermos?"

Sam took out a Fenton Rod. "Yeah, I brought the Fenton Rods, but I only brought two, one for me and one for Tucker. Mostly because well… you know…"

Danny sighed. "Just give me the Thermos then. I'll find a way, don't worry."

Sam nodded and handed Danny the Fenton Thermos. Sam hurried over to Tucker and threw him a Fenton Rod. "Here, better use this to defend yourself."

Tucker caught the Fenton Rod. "Thanks."

"You think this will be enough to stop me!? I'll show you all how powerful I have now become as Techatamon!" Techatamon shouted before he shot out a powerful ecto blast that was warped with blue and purple electricity.

As soon as Terriermon and Flamemon were hit, they both let out a scream as their data was getting scrambled from the attack.

For Flamemon, the attack was extra painful as he felt his Spirits trying to protect his human fractal code, but given his form, it was not enough. Flamemon felt disoriented after the attack was over, he could hardly tell which way was up anymore.

A shadow came over him. Flamemon squinted his eyes to see it was Sam. Tucker was in front of Terriermon, who was lying on the ground, twitching. They both held their Fenton Rods, and used that to bat away more of Techatamon's attacks.

Sam was angry at Techatamon. "You won't get away with harming any of the inhabitants of this place!"

"I haven't harmed anybody yet. But this being the Digital World is perfect for someone like me to rule over!" Techatamon grinned. "And you are in my way!"

Techatamon then charged up a ball of purple energy. The energy had metallic drones crawling on it. "Say goodbye!"

Sam's eyes widened as Techatamon threw the attack at her.

"Sam!" Danny screamed when he saw she was about to get hit with an attack that would likely kill her. Tucker would fare no better. Terriermon and Flamemon were still too out of it to help.

Danny tried to run and transform to get to Sam, but he wouldn't be fast enough. Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Danny couldn't hear anything other than his heartbeat as he watched the ball of nanotechnology energy getting closer to Sam.

"Sepharot Crystals!" A slew of glowing shards came out of nowhere and impacted against the glowing ball of nanotechnology, causing an explosion that pushed the ball away and detonated it safely away from the intended victims.

"Eh? What? Who did that!?" Techatamon snapped in irritation.

"I did. I don't appreciate a ghost fusing with one of the Digimon and using their power to kill innocent children," A voice of authority spoke up.

Despite his loopy state, Flamemon knew who that voice belonged to. "Lady… Ophanimon…"

Sure enough, the form of an angelic Digimon could be seen. She was clearly female, and wore aqua green armor that had silver and gold accents on it. Ten golden wings were shown extending from her back, and her helmet covered her eyes while exposing her lower face. Long hair drifted down her back, and her face had a frown on it. The angelic Digimon was not happy, and her hands were extended, showing she was the one who had launched the attack to cancel out Techatamon's attack.

"Who are you?" Techatamon demanded.

"I am Ophanimon, one of the Celestial Digimon that rules this world." The angel Digimon, Ophanimon, introduced, but she was not doing so to be kind and caring. No, her voice had a hard edge to it, one that was of a ruler who was pissed off. "And you, ghost, do not belong here."

"So what are you going to do about it? I am Techatamon! Ruler of all-"

"Eden's Javelin!" Ophanimon's javelin radiated pure light energy, and she threw it at Techatamon.

Techatamon let out a scream as it pierced through his gut. It didn't hit his core, but it did cause enough damage for his body to start glitching out, showing bits of data. Though Techatamon was nothing if not as stubborn as a cockroach. Despite the pain, Techatamon managed to throw one of his energy balls with the nano tech at Ophanimon. It hit Ophanimon in the chest as she hadn't seen it coming. Despite being a powerful Mega level Digimon, she was vulnerable to Techatamon's attack, and this caused her to scream out and glitch out as well.

"NO!" Flamemon shouted as he saw that. "OPHANIMON!" He staggered to his feet, pushing his body to its limit before he felt a surge of energy as fractal coding surrounded him. "Flamemon… Digivolve to…"

His skin began to peel away from the chest and face first, followed by his feet and arms. Then, red armor began to form on his body as his hair turned blonde in color. A black body suit appeared on his arms and legs before the red and gold armor clasped onto his limbs. His chest had the same thing happen, but there was a white chest guard that formed as well. His skin turned tan and facial armor appeared on his face before his eyes opened to reveal their normal blue color. The coding vanished, revealing the Warrior of Flame once more. "Agunimon!"

Now as Agunimon, and having recovered from the disorientation, he jumped to catch the falling angelic Digimon. As soon as Agunimon caught her, he could tell that her data was messed up badly.

Concern flooded Agunimon's features as he landed, kneeling down and setting Ophanimon down gently. "Are you okay…?" The tone of his voice was tentative at best.

"Is she okay?" Sam and Danny came over in concern as well, but they didn't get too close in case Agunimon didn't want them to huddle around Ophanimon.

Tucker picked up Terriermon. His D-Arc glowed around Terriermon, helping the little Digimon recover from Techatamon's attack.

Before Agunimon could answer, there was a sudden earthquake. To Agunimon's horror, parts of the land turned into fractal code, just like how it did when two of the royal knights were scanning data for Lucemon. Just as he feared, the fractal code all vanished somewhere.

"Mmm, tasty! This will help me recover and get stronger in no time at all!" Agunimon could hear Techatamon's voice announcing in the distance.

Looking back, Agunimon growled to himself. He knew what his duty was. He looked back at Sam, Tucker, and Danny. "Can you three keep Ophanimon safe? I need to go deal with a certain ghost-Digimon hybrid."

"You can't face him alone, he nearly messed you up last time," Tucker pointed out, holding Terriermon.

Here Agunimon looked down, a somber look crossing his face. "I know… But as a Legendary Warrior, it is my duty to protect the Digital World, and I will give my life to do that if I have to."

"But-" Sam began to argue when Danny spoke up.

"I understand. You go do what you have to do, Agunimon," Danny said, his eyes full of determination and understanding. Out of everyone, he knew what it felt like to have to defend his home even if the enemy was stronger than him.

Agunimon gave a smile to Danny. "Thank you." He then stood up. "I'm counting on you three." With that, he ran off to face Techatamon.

"Just so you know! You won't be without backup!" Danny called out to Agunimon before he turned to his friends.

"Will you guys be okay? I have to go help him. As a ghost, I have more resistance to Technus...well, Tecchatamon's attacks than Agunimon does," Danny said to his friends.

Tucker nodded. "Yeah, we will be. Just be careful."

Sam nodded as well. "Good luck Danny."

"I'll keep them safe, I promise," Terriermon assured.

Danny nodded to them before he stood up. "I'm going ghost!"

A ring of light sparked on Danny's torso before it split horizontally, changing him into his ghost form. His ghost form though looked a bit different. Danny wore what looked like his armor from Doomed, but it was inverted in color. He also had the visor of his avatar over his green eyes.

"Huh… this is new," Danny remarked, looking at his very cool black and light blue armor.

Tucker grinned. "You have armor here in the Digital World?! Cool!"

"Admire your armor later, hurry and go after Agunimon!" Sam spoke up.

"Right!" Danny looked up before he flew after Agunimon.

Sam looked down at Ophanimon, frowning in concern. "Do you think she's going to be alright?"

Tucker frowned. "I don't know, Sam. That attack hit her pretty hard…"

Terriermon studied Ophanimon for a moment. "Her data got scrambled pretty badly. I'm surprised she didn't explode into data by now."

Tucker paled at hearing that. "Um… That doesn't sound like a good thing…"

"It isn't. It's basically permanent death to us Digimon, no rebirth is going to fix that." Terriermon frowned.

"Isn't there something we can do?" Sam asked in concern.

"I don't know… maybe…" Terriermon hesitated. "If only she had her own human partner, they might be able to save her. But as of right now… I don't think there's anything we can do."

Tucker looked worried now. "So she might die for real?"

Sam then heard something was coming their way. "We need to get somewhere safe and hidden. There could be hostile Digimon around."

Tucker gave a look to Sam. "It's not like we can move Ophanimon on our own. She could become data if we try to move her!"

"We have to do something! If we get attacked, she'll die anyways!" Sam argued.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Ophanimon coughed, quickly getting the three's attention.

"Lady Ophanimon! You're awake!" Terriermon said in surprise.

"Are you okay, Ophanimon?" Tucker asked her.

"I… want to say… you have nothing to worry about, children… but… that would be… a lie…" Ophanimon said weakly before she turned her head to Sam. "I've… wanted to meet you… for a while, Sam Manson."

Sam felt her eyes widen in surprise. "You… wanted to meet me?!" She, a mere human, was being addressed by one of the most powerful Digimon in the Digital World, so it was expected she would be surprised.

"Yes… I apologize… when I tried to… look into the human world… I have accessed the… computer at your home, Sam… and I have been… watching you ever since… I felt… sympathy toward you… whenever your parents would… lecture you over miniscule things… or try to control your life… I also heard how you… wanted to help your friend, Danny… the half ghost hero of Amity Park… I was shocked when… I learned about the existence… of half ghosts… and to put a burden… on one so young like that…" Ophanimon coughed. "I could… not help but… admire your own inner… strength and courage… it rivals to that… of the Legendary Warriors."

Sam was in shock. "I… don't know what to say…"

Terriermon was not thrilled about this though. "Please, Lady Ophanimon, save your strength."

"Sounds like you had your own guardian angel, Sam, literally," Tucker lightly joked.

Sam's glare she threw at Tucker was, literally, legendary.

"Please… tell Agunimon… I'm sorry… I couldn't talk to him… because things have been… chaotic here for a while… it needs at least one of… the Celestial Digimon… to look after it… but…" Ophanimon coughed again. "I… can't… last much longer here…"

Sam looked panicked at hearing that, as did Tucker and Terriermon. "Ophanimon! Don't go!" Sam pleaded. "Agunimon is here, so things will be fine! He went to take on that Techatamon, so he will be back soon!"

Ophanimon started to smile as her body began to blur. "I'm… glad to… have been able… to meet with you… I'm sorry… I couldn't have… helped you… Sam…"

"No!" Sam, without thinking, hugged Ophanimon.

Ophanimon's body glowed suddenly, showing her fractal code. Sam looked up in shock, before something in her pocket was beeping loudly. Sam reached in and took out her cell phone. When Sam held up her cell phone, it changed its shape, looking like a D-Arc. The body was black, but the screen was outlined in purple with matching buttons and a matching strap as well. Sam's eyes widened in shock as the fractal code of Ophanimon moved into the new D-Arc's screen.

"What's happening?" Sam asked.

"The same thing happened to me when Gargomon's fractal code suddenly appeared," Tucker realized.

Terriermon was watching in awe and shock.

As soon as Ophanimon's fractal code was absorbed into the D-Arc, her body shrunk down suddenly. This alarmed the two children, before seeing the angel had turned into a tiny, cream colored puppy-like creature with a golden ring around its neck like a collar.

Sam gaped in shock. "W-what just happened…?"

"Terriermon?" Tucker asked.

Terriermon nodded before he looked at the little puppy creature. Tucker looked at his D-Arc. "Salamon is a Mammal Digimon. It is a Holy-species Digimon child characterized by its lop ears. Because it is still very young, it is unable to manifest its holy powers, and isn't even aware of its own mission. For that reason, it is naturally insecure, so it can become either good or evil. It's a Rookie level, and a Vaccine type."

"This is Ophanimon's Rookie form?" Sam asked, surprised. "But she looks so… different."

"Digimon often have a completely different biology and species compared to their digivolution line," Terriermon explained. "Sometimes we follow similar paths, other times, we change drastically. Lady Ophanimon's line is one of those cases that changes drastically. Oh, and congratulations, you're now partners with Lady Ophanimon, Sam."

Sam looked at the black and purple D-Arc in her hand. "I'm her partner? But…" Sam was speechless, as she had imagined she would have a more fitting partner, not an angel-type Digimon.

Then the sounds Sam heard earlier got louder and closer.

"We'll talk about this later, we need to get Ophanimon out of here and somewhere safe," Sam quickly said, picking up the now much smaller Digimon, who fit comfortably in Sam's arms.

"Come on, this way," Terriermon gestured.

Tucker and Sam followed Terriermon into some bushes, trying to get away before the sounds they heard could catch up to them.

However, as Tucker, Sam, and Terriermon were running further away, the sounds they heard turned out to be Andy, Dorumon, Jazz, and Lopmon. They just came up to the area, looking around in worry.

"Look at this… it looks like a fight broke out here," Jazz noted in worry.

"And it looks like something just took big chunks of the land," Andy pointed out at the missing parts of the land that Techatamon had consumed earlier.

Tucker perked up at hearing the voices. "Wait… Is that Jazz and Andy?"

Sam looked back and smiled. "It is!"

They came running out of the bushes. "Hey, guys!"

Andy, Jazz, and their Digimon partners turned to the voices of their friends.

"Hey! There you guys are! I was worried something happened to you," Andy said in relief as Tucker, Terriermon, and Sam came running up to them.

"Hey, dude, how did you do on your test?" Tucker asked, wanting to keep things light hearted.

"That's really not important right now," Andy deadpanned. "... But if you must know, I got an A. Not a perfect score, but it's still a solid A."

Sam smiled. "That's great!"

Jazz then looked around. "Where're Danny and Takuya? I thought they were with you."

"And… who's that Digimon you have in your arms?" Dorumon asked, looking at the unconscious Salamon in Sam's arms. "She… smells familiar."

Lopmon frowned as he was looking at Salamon.

Tucker looked back at unconscious Salamon. "That would be… Ophanimon's Rookie form."

Jazz's eyes went wide upon hearing that.

"Come on, let's get somewhere safe, we'll explain everything," Sam urged.

"Wait, Seraphimon's castle is just ahead, let's head over there while you explain what happened," Lopmon spoke up.

Jazz looked back at Lopmon. "Hold on. I want to know where Danny and Takuya are first."

"I don't know where Takuya is… but Danny went ghost to fight with Technus along with Agunimon, who we somehow landed on when we came to this world," Tucker explained.

"But Technus fused with a Digimon called Datamon here, and now he's a Digimon-ghost hybrid called Techatamon. He… he was the one who did this to Ophanimon." Sam frowned.

Jazz looked at Salamon's limp form again. "She was hurt that badly?"

"In all rights… Lady Ophanimon's data should've been scattered and deleted by now…" Terriermon said grimly. "Sam… somehow Lady Ophanimon had grown attached to Sam, and they formed a bond that created a D-Arc for Sam, saving Lady Ophanimon's life."

Jazz looked at Sam, who held up the black and purple D-Arc. "Wow… That's amazing."

"Yeah. It's similar to what happened with me and Gargomon… err… Terriermon." Tucker added.

Lopmon frowned as he looked at Salamon. "Seems you almost sacrificed yourself again for the sake of children. You are truly a soft soul, Ophanimon."

Lopmon then started to walk ahead. "Come on, we're wasting time, we need to get to Seraphimon's castle. Danny and Agunimon can handle that glitch called Techatamon, we have our own roles to attend to while we're here."

"Wait… if Techatamon could do that much damage to a Celestial Digimon… what would he be able to do to Agunimon and Danny?" Andy asked worriedly.

"Do not fret," Lopmon said, stopping before turning to Andy. "Ghosts are more resistant to other ghosts' attacks. Agunimon is… protected with his own Spirits. They will not fall as easily as we pure Digimon would."

"That's for Technus as a ghost… what about Techatamon?" Andy pointed out. "Who uses the powers of both ghost and Digimon?"

Lopmon paused here before shaking his head. "Do not worry. I'm sure Danny and Agunimon can come up with a plan to beat Techatamon."

"It'll be fine, Andy," Jazz tried to reassure her brother, though she was also trying to convince herself. "We… we just need to figure out what happened to Seraphimon. And if Danny and Agunimon really need our help, then we will help them."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. And Danny is fast in his ghost form. He could get to us quickly if things get bad."

Andy still looked worried, but he nodded. "Then let's get to the castle."

"Should I try flying us there?" Dorumon asked.

"Would you be able to carry everyone?" Andy asked.

"Uh… maybe not all of you…" Dorumon sweatdropped.

"Then let's go on foot, we're not too far away anyways," Lopmon said. "We just… have a few stairs to climb."

Sam looked up at all the stairs. "That's a few stairs? Talk about an understatement…"

Tucker looked dizzy just by looking at the stairs.

The group started climbing the stairs. Tucker was complaining, Sam was more concerned about Salamon, Jazz was telling Tucker to stop complaining. Andy was silent, but he wasn't exactly happy either.

Oh my gosh, so many stairs. I'd like to find the guy who invented the stairs, then push him down these stairs! And… oh my gosh, we're not even close to the top yet, WHY ARE THERE SO MANY STAIRS!? Hmph… Danny would have no reason to complain, he could just fly! Andy inwardly complained.

---

Danny sneezed as he was following Agunimon into the forest. "Why… do I suddenly feel angry towards stairs…?"

Deciding to shake it off for now, Danny continued to follow Agunimon, not letting the Legendary Warrior out of his sight.

Agunimon was angry and worried, angry at Technatamon for doing who-knows-what to Ophanimon, and worried if Ophanimon was even going to make it. It didn't help that Technatamon snacking on the fractal codes of the Digital World's land was bringing him flashbacks to two of the royal knights who almost destroyed the entire Digital World to bring back a corrupted Digimon.

I swear that Technatamon isn't going to get away with this… Agunimon thought as he gritted his teeth in anger.

Danny could feel the intense heat Agunimon was giving off, and he wasn't even on fire yet. Jeez… I can't even get near him without feeling like I would melt. I know Takuya's Digimon spirit thing is the element of fire, but I've never felt him this hot before. I wonder if it's because he's angry...

Agunimon didn't even sense Danny, his mind was more focused on Technatamon. He could see where there was missing fractal code, and that also left a trail for him to follow.

Agunimon and Danny noticed that some of the landscape was blinking with data again. There were trees suddenly blurring at random. Digimon started running away, terrified.

Taking no chances, Agunimon increased his speed as he ran. He could see Technatamon's footprints in the dirt, and he sensed the ghost-Digimon hybrid ahead of him.

Danny noticed that the visor on his eyes started blinking. Danny noticed that numbers started to come on. He recognized that the numbers were usually for scanning an opponent's level and power in the game, or to find certain objects. The visor was scanning a large being that was growing larger. The numbers were getting higher as the being got bigger. Danny's eyes widened. "No way…"

Below him, Agunimon sensed a powerful Digimon ahead of them. Looking ahead, the Legendary Warrior saw the form of Technatamon, but it looked bigger, and had the legs of an insect, but mechanical, along with the rear end of an insect as well, but also mechanical.

"Looks like I have digivolved into a much stronger form! I am now MegaTechatamon!" The being laughed.

Danny sighed, he was not calling him 'MegaTechatamon', it was too much of a mouthful. Okay, obviously we can't just go running in guns blazing, we need a calm, collected pla- "AGUNIMON!"

Danny shouted when Agunimon was already running recklessly towards the much more powerful Techatamon.

Agunimon didn't hear Danny's shout, as his mind was too focused on the drive and goal to defeat Techatamon. He ran in towards one of the new Digimon-ghost hybrid's legs, intending on melting it with a fire-based attack.

Agunimon, however, didn't get very close before he was suddenly blasted back by a powerful green and purple ray from Techatamon. Agunimon yelled in pain as he hit the ground. One of the mechanical spider legs pinned Agunimon down on his chest.

Danny, seeing that, flew down and fired off a green ecto-ray at Techatamon's leg, blasting it so the hybrid was forced to get off of Agunimon.

"Why must you always interfere, ghost child? I thought you wouldn't follow me into the Digital World. After all, this world is supposed to be a bane to ghosts!" Techatamon remarked. "In fact, I had to fuse with a Digimon just to survive out here!"

Danny didn't answer. Instead, he flew down and grabbed Agunimon's form before turning both of them invisible and getting the Legendary Warrior out of harm's way.

Agunimon hissed, seeing Phantom for the first time. "What are you doing here…? You're not supposed to be here."

"Hey, I'm trying to help you, you almost got yourself nuked by Technus," Danny stated.

Agunimon just looked away. "That still doesn't answer my question…"

"Why does it matter? I'm here now, so I might as well help you," Danny said.

"You can't!" Agunimon snapped. "If you want to 'help' me, stop using my cousin's body and putting him in danger!"

Danny frowned, he didn't expect Takuya to suddenly confront him about this. "But I'm-"

"I don't need your 'help'! Just leave my cousin out of this!" Agunimon growled out, his tone getting a bit harsher than Danny expected.

Before Danny could retort, Agunimon struggled out of Danny's hold and ran towards Techatamon again.

Danny frowned. "Takuya…"

Agunimon ran towards Techatamon, but he didn't get very far. Where he had been hit on his side seared with pain, making him stop and stagger towards a tree, his hand going to his right side.

Techatamon, however, noticed the weakened Legendary Warrior. "My, my, aren't you a nuisance? If you want to end this, then I will gladly end it for you!"

Techatamon then held up a hand, creating a similar ball of energy and nanotechnology like he did with Ophanimon, only this one was far stronger. Agunimon's eyes widened, he knew he would not survive if that hit him. Techatamon grinned before he dropped it to Agunimon, who couldn't even move.

"NO!" Agunimon heard someone shouting.

Then suddenly, a cold spirit entered his body. Agunimon let out a gasp. He could hear someone screaming in his head, the scream sounded like his cousin Danny.

Danny was experiencing whatever Tucker had experienced when he tried to overshadow Takuya. Danny could see it, the two spirits. They were trying to protect Takuya's soul from him by sending fire at him. Danny let out screams of pain, but his determination to save his cousin made him push through the wall of fire. His core let out a distressed signal to his body, making him shoot blue ecto rays at the flames, cooling them down enough for him to get to Takuya's spirit. Danny then pushed Takuya's spirit, making Agunimon just barely move out of the ball of energy's way. The ball of energy hit the ground instead, which caused the ground to turn into fractal code.

Danny, still in a bit of control of Agunimon's body, used his ghost powers to make him fly up and pushed him into the part of the land that wasn't about to be devoured by Techatamon. Techatamon hadn't noticed them, thinking they were gone, he consumed the land before moving on somewhere else.

Danny, weak and hurt, fell out of Agunimon's body and onto the ground. His armor was burnt and cracked, he had some ectoplasm leaking from his cheeks.

As for Agunimon himself, he was tired and disoriented from Phantom overshadowing him. But even in his disoriented state, Agunimon could clearly recall hearing Danny's screams of pain.

There was a flash of light, Agunimon saw a ring of light around Phantom's torso, changing him into Danny Fenton, his cousin, who looked pretty injured. His face wasn't bleeding anymore, but it had scars of burns.

That broke through the disorientation, allowing the Legendary Warrior to come to a startling conclusion. Did… Do Danny and Phantom need each other to survive…? Agunimon lay there panting, but he knew what he had seen. If that's the case, then… is that why Phantom was able to overshadow me? Because Danny is his host? Did Danny's body protect Phantom?

Agunimon then realized that his cousin was hurt and unconscious, because of him. Because of his recklessness, Danny and Phantom overshadowed him to try to save him from what could have been his death back there, and that put both of them in danger.

The Warrior of Flame felt guilt creep up on him, sending a pang through his chest. It was his fault, and now someone close to him was hurt. Danny...

Agunimon wanted to chase MegaTechatamon down to make him pay, but Danny needed help right now. Agunimon gently picked up his cousin. He would have to chase down Techatamon later, he needed to get his cousin some medical attention right away. Then another horrified thought hit Agunimon. How is this going to affect Andy?

Shaking his head, Agunimon shoved that thought from his mind. Danny's condition was more important. He had to focus on that. If Agunimon remembered right, there were holy Digimon in Seraphimon's castle who specialized in healing techniques. He could only hope those would be able to help a human with a ghost inside him as well.

Not taking any more time to waste, Agunimon began to make his way towards Seraphimon's castle, still keeping a firm grip on Danny.

---

Dorugamon was currently carrying Andy on his back. He digivolved out of necessity for his partner. Andy suddenly collapsed when they were climbing the stairs, and nobody knew what happened. Andy may not be the most athletic student in his class, but he had gotten pretty athletic since he and Dorimon became partners, so it made no sense for him to just drop like that all of a sudden. Tucker, the one who was the least athletic person in the group, wasn't even close to passing out from walking up the stairs.

Sam looked back at Andy's form. "Is Andy going to be okay?"

"He should be… physically, he is healthy," Lopmon remarked, looking at Andy. "Something else must've happened that made him pass out."

Jazz paled. "Did… did something happen to Danny?"

"The last time something happened to Danny, Andy… passed out too," Tucker remembered, thinking back on the Poindexter incident.

Jazz looked back at Andy again. "Do you think… Danny is okay? I mean, he has Agunimon with him, right? So, shouldn't they be okay?"

"I don't know," Lopmon sighed. "Considering what that ghost did to Ophanimon, it's… hard to say."

"Hey, let's not worry too much," Terriermon spoke up. "If we keep worrying, we won't be able to focus on what we need to do."

"One of us should still go check on them…" Sam said, getting uneasy.

"Like who? Only Dorugamon can fly, and with his partner out cold, he's only at half strength right now," Lopmon pointed out.

Sam sighed. "I guess you're right. We'll just have to hope for the best, I suppose."

Despite this, Sam couldn't help but still worry. Jazz and Tucker were worried too. The group remained silent for a while as they kept climbing up the stairs.

"So are we… actually walking up a giant tree?" Sam asked, hoping to change the subject and lessen the tension a bit.

Tucker looked ahead of them. "It would appear so. I don't know why, but I'm getting a fairy tale vibe from this."

"We're actually lucky," Lopmon spoke up. "There used to be hidden pathways and a fog to keep the way to Seraphimon's castle hidden. Only the Legendary Warriors would be shown the way there. But there doesn't seem to be anything keeping the castle hidden this time."

Sam frowned. "Then… does that mean Seraphimon is still in his castle? Or is it because he is missing that we are now being shown the way?"

"I don't know," Lopmon answered. "That's why we're going there to find out."

"Hey… I think I see it," Jazz spoke up, seeing what looked like a castle made of prism and crystal ahead.

"Good, the castle is still intact," Lopmon noted.

Jazz looked down at Lopmon. "Were you expecting it to be destroyed or something?"

"I didn't know what to expect. When Seraphimon began acting strange, and when I confronted him, I had no idea what had happened to his castle. For all I knew, it was in digital dust by now," The Celestial Digimon answered.

Sam looked back. "Well, we don't have to worry about that. It's intact, so our mission will be much easier." She had a smile on her face as she said that.

Tucker looked down at the forest below. "I hope Danny and Agunimon are okay though…"

Dorugamon looked back at Andy on his back. "They may not be…"

"Hey, we're almost there, let's just focus on that for now," Terriermon spoke up.

The group soon came up to the castle, seeing a huge gate in front of them.

"Well… now what?" Sam asked.

Tucker frowned at seeing the gate. It looked to be shut. "So much for just walking in. It seems someone is probably still here, given how the gate is shut."

"I could try flying over it," Dorugamon suggested.

"Are you sure?" Jazz asked. "Andy is on your back still, and what if the Digimon inside, if there is one in there, thinks you're hostile?"

"I know, but… we can't just stand out here and do nothing." Dorugamon frowned.

"Let me ride on you. The other Digimon should recognize me, even in my Rookie state," Lopmon suggested.

Jazz looked down at her partner. "That is a good idea." However, she was having doubts about the idea anyway. "Just… be careful when you do. If you get attacked though, get out of there, please."

"Don't worry, we should be fine," Lopmon assured before he jumped out of Jazz's arms and climbed onto Dorugamon's back. "Be sure to fly slowly, okay? We don't want to alarm the other Digimon that you're hostile or anything. And we don't want Andy falling off your back."

Dorugamon nodded. "I will, don't worry."

The fox dragon Champion level Digimon stretched out his wings and began flying slowly, going over the gate to get to the other side. On the other side, Dorugamon was surprised to see a lot of Digimon there. They looked to be busy with something, as if whoever lived in the castle was still there and just recently ordered their subjects to prepare a big event. However, when they looked up, they were surprised to see Dorugamon coming towards them.

"Who are you!?"

"An intruder?"

"What kind of Digimon is that?"

Lopmon could hear the exclamations from the gathered Digimon. "I don't think they were expecting us…"

"Who's that Digimon on that bigger Digimon?"

"A Lopmon, I think?"

"Wait, that's not just any Lopmon. I think that's Cherubimon!"

"Cherubimon? The one who kidnapped Seraphimon and took him to the human world?"

"What's he doing back here with that Digimon!?"

"To invade?"

"Uh… Lopmon… I don't think they got their story straight with you." Dorugamon frowned.

Lopmon sweat-dropped. "That… doesn't sound good… Maybe we should turn back…" He was having doubts about this plan now. "Maybe we should try to find Agunimon. If we have him around, maybe they will be more inclined to let us in…"

"We can't turn back now, we're already here, if I turn back now and they decide to attack, Andy will be vulnerable," Dorugamon whispered before he landed quietly, hoping to appear less hostile if he was on the ground.

The other Digimon started to approach them. One Digimon was in front of the crowd. Lopmon recognized this Digimon to be Sorcermon. Sorcermon was, if Lopmon remembered right, one of the most loyal Digimon to Seraphimon and Ophanimon. He was the one who sacrificed himself to get Seraphimon's egg and the Legendary Warriors away from Lopmon's corrupted Legendary Warriors. If any Digimon had any reason to doubt or hate Lopmon, it was Sorcermon, which Lopmon now realized, this was a terrible idea.

For Dorugamon, this was making him uneasy, although he was trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

"Cherubimon, why have you come back here? Did you think you could bring in another Digimon you corrupt to invade Seraphimon's castle again?" Sorcermon growled.

"No, please, you don't understand. I didn't come here to invade anyone," Lopmon quickly said.

"It's true, we only came here to do some investigation," Dorugamon agreed.

Sorcermon was not willing to listen though. "I won't forget what you did, Cherubimon. So your words alone won't mean anything."

"Then listen to logic; why would I come here as a Lopmon if I wanted to invade this castle?" Lopmon questioned.

"Perhaps you just wanted to let us lower our guard so we'd let you in where you could strike at the heart," Socermon answered back, holding out his staff. "Well this time we're not letting you do what you want, Cherubimon!"

"No wait, I have an injured ch-" Dorugamon began to say.

"Meteor Squall!" Sorcermon shouted as he aimed his staff at the two Digimon.

On the other side of the gate, the group heard an explosion.

"What's going on in there?" Tucker asked in worry.

"Lopmon! Andy!" Jazz shouted, banging against the gate. "You better be okay!"

Sam ran to the gate as well. "Don't do anything stupid!"

"Oh… Lopmon probably shouldn't have gone in there…" Terriermon realized.

"What? Why not?" Tucker asked.

"He was an enemy to the Digimon of this castle for a long time. Fear and hatred like that doesn't just go away so easily," Terriermon explained.

Jazz's face seemed to get pale. "Oh no…"

Sam looked at Terriermon. "What do we do then? Just sit out here, waiting for them to open the gate, which they most likely will not now that it is known Lopmon is back?!"

"They shouldn't be attacking if they saw an injured child with them though." Terriermon frowned.

"Well they are! We have to get in there!" Jazz yelled, really worried for her brother and partner now.

On the other side of the gate, Dorugamon had shielded Lopmon and Andy, who was still unconscious on his back, with his wings.

The other Digimon began to attack as well. Dorugamon didn't fight back, he just kept doing his best to try to protect his partner and the small Celestial Digimon. Lopmon was trying to get them to stop, but they wouldn't listen.

Andy stirred a little, likely sensing that his partner was in trouble. He struggled to open his eyes. Why… why is it… so hot? Ugh… have to… do something… Dorumon… needs help…

Andy pushed himself to try to move, however, ice crystals began to form around them. Andy weakly looked up.

"Crystal Barrage!" A voice shouted.

The ice crystals slammed into Dorugamon who was trying his hardest to protect him. Andy hissed as he tried to move off of Dorugamon. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew Dorugamon was in pain trying to protect him. Andy then slipped off of Dorugamon's back, hitting the ground, and quickly catching the other Digimon's attention.

Sorcermon was shocked when he saw the human boy, as were the other Digimon in the area. He halted his next attack, lowering his staff hesitantly. The boy had black hair and green eyes, and he looked quite exhausted if not hurt.

"A human…?" Sorcermon murmured.

"A human child?"

"What was the human child doing on that Digimon's back?"

"Were they attempting to use that child as a hostage?"

Andy groaned as he attempted to push himself up, still feeling hot, but he knew he had to help his partner. "Don't… attack my… partner… anymore."

Sorcermon kept his staff at the ready, but he held off on attacking. "What are you doing here, child?" His question was tentative, but he was also curious too. "The Digital World is not safe for those who do not know what to expect of it."

"Andy…" Dorugamon looked at his partner in worry. "Don't get up, you need to rest."

"No… If we're under attack… there's no time to rest," Andy said as he pushed himself up to his knees, then he pushed himself to get up on his feet.

Worried about his partner, Dorugamon put his head under Andy to keep him from falling back down. Andy then pulled out his D-Arc.

"If these Digimon want a fight… we'll give them one," Andy stated.

"That device…"

"Is that a D-Tector?"

"No, it looks similar, but it's different."

Sorcermon, having heard of the legends from Seraphimon and Ophanimon, gasped. "Is that… a D-Arc?"

Lopmon quickly ran in front of Andy and Dorugamon. "Please, wait. We don't need to fight them."

Lopmon then turned to the Digimon, looking specifically at Sorcermon. "I know we have our history, Sorcermon, and that you had to fight alone here for the longest time to protect Serraphimon from me and my forces. But you need to get your head out of the past. Things are happening right now, and I'm not the cause of it. We need your help, not your hostility. You could've really hurt this human child and his partner Digimon, all because of a past grudge you have against me."

Sorcermon looked down a bit. "I'm sorry…" His hands clenched his staff tightly. "I didn't know. I was just reacting…"

"I understand. Please, call off your forces. My partner and her friends are on the other side of that gate. We just want to investigate the castle to find out what really happened to Seraphimon," Lopmon explained.

"You… have a partner?" A Floramon asked in surprise.

Sorcermon frowned a bit. It seemed the legends of the D-Arc were indeed true. "If this boy has a Digimon partner, I would not put it past other Digimon to gain a partner from the human world as well." He mused. "I will admit, I am a bit surprised you have a partner as well, Cherubimon, but if that is the case, then I do not doubt your claims, because partners do not just form bonds for no reason."

Sorcermon then turned to a couple of Togemon. "Open the gate for them. They likely saw the fighting and are worried sick for their friend."

"Yes, Sorcermon," The two Togemon answered before they hurried to the gate.

"Thank you, Sorcermon," Lopmon said in a grateful tone.

"What happened…?" Andy asked, still feeling pretty weak. "Did I pass out…? It felt like something was burning me back there. Did nobody else feel that?"

Lopmon frowned. "You did pass out, and no, no one else felt a burning sensation."

"You just suddenly passed out. I digivolved to carry you," Dorugamon said in concern.

"That's… odd…" Andy frowned.

"If you'd allow it, we can have the medically trained Digimon look at you to see what's wrong," Sorcermon suggested. "It's the least we could do for the hostile welcome."

Lopmon gave a grateful smile. "That would be appreciated very much. We don't know why he passed out, and it is concerning to say the least."

"But…" Dorugamon frowned. "We suspect it might be because of his twin brother…"

"Twin…?" Sorcermon asked, sounding surprised.

"It's not unsimilar to how Digimon have a subspecies," Lopmon explained. "Like how I am with Terriermon, or you with Wizardmon. Only, human twins are… much rarer in this case, and they're usually born together. They share a spiritual bond, a close link with each other. I can't say I know all the details though, but it seems that if something happens to one brother, the other feels it."

Sorcermon frowned a bit. "I see. Where is this brother anyway?"

Here was where Lopmon hesitated. He didn't know the exact details himself.

Andy groaned, rubbing his forehead. "He's fine, don't worry."

"Huh? How do you know?" Dorugamon asked.

"I felt it when Danny… almost died that day in the accident. It felt like half of my soul was suddenly cut out. I didn't feel the pain he felt, I just… suddenly felt numb and scared," Andy explained. "While I felt pain… I don't feel that numb feeling, that sudden cut out. So I know he's still alive… he's probably just unconscious."

Sorcermon frowned again. "It seems your connection with your twin is both a good and bad thing. Good in that you can sense what your brother is going through, but bad because it affects you as well, though not as badly as your twin."

"It didn't used to be this strong…" Andy admitted.

"It wasn't?" Lopmon asked, surprised himself.

"No…" Andy frowned a little. "I mean… we would sometimes feel the other's pain, but… never to this extent."

Sorcermon put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmmm… I think this would warrant some investigating, but for now, we will hold off because you are in pain and need to be looked at by our medics."

"But I'm human… would your medics be able to help a human?" Andy asked.

"Don't worry. Some of them had experience with helping the humans who came here before. Humans aren't that much different than some of the more human-like Digimon," Sorcermon reassured.

Lopmon smiled with relief. "That's good to hear."

"You… the one called Dorugamon, right?" Sorcermon asked. "I apologize, we're not very familiar with your species."

Dorugamon nodded. "Yes, I'm Dorugamon."

"Follow the Floramon, she will take you to the medic," Sorcermon pointed with his snowflake wand to a Floramon who was waving her flowery hand at them.

Dorugamon nodded again. "Okay, thank you." He gave Andy a gentle nudge towards the Floramon. "C'mon, Andy, let's go."

Andy stumbled, having a bit of trouble walking. Dorugamon pushed Andy's body a bit to make him slide onto his back. Andy pouted a little, mumbling that he could walk while Dorugamon just rolled his eyes and carried him.

Lopmon and Sorcermon then looked back at the gates, which were now opening to let the others in. As soon as the gates were opened, Sam, Tucker, Terriermon, and Jazz came rushing in, Sam still holding onto Salamon.

Jazz hurried over to Lopmon. "I'm glad you're okay, we saw explosions back there and got worried."

"We had a bit of a mishap, but we're fine. A medic is going to help Andy out," Lopmon explained as Jazz quickly picked him up.

Sorcermon was surprised to see the once terrifying Cherubimon was being hugged like a stuffed animal by this human girl, and that Cherubimon was letting her.

Sam ran over to Lopmon as well. "It's good you weren't hurt, Lopmon. I don't think we could stand losing you the way we almost lost Ophanimon earlier."

"What? Ophanimon? What happened to Ophanimon?" Sorcermon questioned when Sam said what she said.

Sam frowned as she looked down at the still unconscious Salamon in her arms.

Sorcermon looked at the Salamon. "Oh no… Lady Ophanimon… Quick, we need to get her to the medics. You, human girl in black, follow me quickly."

Sam blinked, but nodded. "Sure, and just for the record, my name is Sam." She stood and followed Sorcermon as he began to make his way to the medics.

"Hey, wait up!" Tucker shouted with Terriermon on his shoulder.

"We should go too, Jazz, to make sure your brother's alright," Lopmon said to Jazz. "And… Andy said that Danny may be unconscious, but he's still alive. It would seem their… connection has become stronger than the average twin bond. And if I'm right, Agunimon should be taking Danny here soon."

Jazz looked at Lopmon with a small smile. "I hope you're right, Lopmon. Danny is strong, but against this Technus ghost or whatever he is calling himself here, he may have had some trouble. But if Agunimon is indeed the Legendary Warrior he is supposed to be, then his first priority would be to help Danny."

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Titanic X: ZAFT: Well, what do you expect from a metal muncher~? X3

GamingWithLisa: DarkFoxKit: Uh… hey, great, hope you get to this story soon, and I hope you enjoy We Are Phantom. :)

ZAFT: I know I have been enjoying it. :3

Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we thought it'd be refreshing if it was Andy who failed the test instead of Danny this time. And Dorimon is, more or less, a teenager mentally, though he does like to act childish.

ZAFT: Don't most teens act a bit childish? XD

DarkFoxKit: I think the difference here is that Dorimon can get away with it since he can literally become a baby at any time.

ZAFT: That's what makes it so amusing! XD