ZAFT: Another update, another week. :3
Takuya: *Peeks out nervously* Is Andy around?
DarkFoxKit: Uh… why do you want to know?
Takuya: I don't want to be jumped by him or Danny. I… may have pranked Andy with a teddy bear again… Not Bearbert though!
DarkFoxKit: Why would you prank him with a teddy bear, Takuya? You know Andy can be… creative with revenge if motivated enough.
ZAFT: I need to keep Takuya on a leash… literally…
Takuya: I was bored, okay?! Ack! *Hides*
DarkFoxKit: … Okay, well then, remind me to get a picture when Andy decides to get him back.
ZAFT: Let's get onto the chapter while I try to find a leash...
Chapter 33: Fate of the Digital World
With Technus captured and secured, things were able to settle down. The ecto rain was gone, though the castle was still half in ruins due to the battle.
"I apologize, Lady Ophanimon, we weren't able to keep the castle safe…" Sorcermon apologized to Salamon, bowing his head to the much smaller Digimon.
"Do not beat yourself up about it," Salamon stated in her young, immature voice, yet the intent behind it was still full of authority. "It could not be helped. I was not conscious to help you all in our time of need, and for that, I should be the one apologizing to all of you."
Flamemon looked at Salamon. "Don't worry about it. You didn't know what Techatamon, or Technus, was capable of when you first took him on. So it wasn't your fault."
"I was still too careless and let his deadly attack get to me," Salamon sighed.
"It doesn't matter now, Technus is defeated, the Datamon will be reborn, the Digital World is safe from that glitch," Lopmon said, hoping to try to comfort the other Celestial Digimon.
"What about that ghost?" A Kyuubimon asked, looking at Danny, who was currently still in his Phantom form.
"He is a friend and ally, you don't need to worry about him," Salamon assured.
"Besides, we have another problem presented to us now," Lopmon spoke up. "Ophanimon, or rather… Salamon, am I right to assume you can't digivolve to your Mega form anymore now?"
Salamon gave a sad nod. "That would be correct." She admitted. "My data was damaged badly, so it may be awhile before I can reach my Mega Form again."
"That's a problem then. At least one Celestial Digimon needs to handle the Digital World and maintain its order during these trying times, otherwise it might fall into chaos again, and create another Lucemon scenario," Lopmon informed. "But as you are now, you are in no condition to take your seat as Ophanimon. I myself can't become Cherubimon anymore either. And Seraphimon is… not with us right now."
Danny frowned at that. "That is a problem. Who can we leave to protect the Digital World if none of the Celestial Digimon can reach their most powerful forms?"
"Perhaps the Legendary Warriors might be able to watch over the Digital World for the time being," Salamon suggested. "They are a symbol of hope in the Digital World, and with all the Celestial Digimon recovering right now, they need them now more than ever."
"But… it's a lot to ask for," Andy spoke up. "Especially since they're… not exactly adults yet…"
"Not adults?" Sam spoke up, sounding confused. "How would you know these Legendary Warriors aren't adults?"
"Never mind that now," Flamemon spoke up. "We have more pressing issues, like who will keep an eye on the Digital World."
Sam looked confused still, but let it go.
"Regardless of what age the Legendary Warriors are, we don't even know who they are, or where they are right now," Tucker noted.
"Besides, if they are human, living in our world right now, they may not have the time to really look after the Digital World," Jazz added.
Flamemon gave a cringe at that, not that it was noticed. That is a good point. We might be Legendary Warriors, but we still have human lives to live.
"So what do you suggest we do?" Terriermon asked. "No Celestial Digimon, and no Legendary Warriors…"
"Maybe… you can use those second in command?" Dorumon suggested. "Like how Sorcermon seems to be here when Salamon was out of commission?"
Danny blinked. "Actually, that may be a good idea. It seems like that would be the best way to go about it. I mean, they are second in command for a reason, right?"
"I wouldn't say we're second in command exactly," Sorcermon remarked. "We're more like assistance. I was Lord Seraphimon's assistant. Kyuubimon was Lady Ophanimon's assistant."
Kyuubimon nodded. "I was brought here when Lady Ophanimon decided to investigate Lord Seraphimon's disappearance."
"Oh… then who was Lopmon's assistant?" Jazz asked.
Sorcermon looked at the Terriermon on Tucker's shoulder. Terriermon looked away, Lopmon didn't look at Terriermon. There was still an obvious air of unease between the two rabbit Digimon.
Sam smacked her face with her hand. "Oh brother… Terriermon was Cherubimon's assistant, and now he is Tucker's partner… Who do we leave in charge in his place now?"
"It… may be a bit difficult, and unorthodox, but we can use a temporary replacement Digimon as Cherubimon's assistant," Kyuubimon suggested.
"Yeah, but who?" Jazz asked as she looked down at Lopmon.
Lopmon sighed, and scratched his ear a little, finding what he was about to say next to be difficult. "Do you remember those other 5 Legendary Warriors who attacked Seraphimon here before?"
Flamemon frowned. "You are talking about Duskmon, who is now gone, Mercurymon, Ranamon, Grumblemon, and Arbormon, right? Arbormon's Spirits found a host already, and Duskmon is no more, remember? So that leaves Mercurymon, Ranamon, and Grumblemon, the Warriors of Steel, Water, and Earth."
"That's a lot of warriors," Andy noted.
"Yes, I know of their fate, Flamemon," Lopmon sighed. "But, do you remember on that day, when you and your friends were at Primary Village? When you were fighting against the two Royal Knights, you had help on that day from those eggs of the Legendary Warriors, didn't you?"
Flamemon's green eyes went wide as he remembered that. "I do. You mean they are reborn? The last three Warriors have been reborn?"
"They've all been reborn, they're just no longer the Legendary Warriors," Lopmon explained.
Flamemon frowned. "How? What about the Spirits of those Warriors?"
"The other Spirits? I would assume they're currently with the human Legendary Warriors right now, are they not?" Lopmon raised an eyebrow.
Flamemon frowned again. "Err… only Arbormon's Spirits found a host."
"Well, regardless, two of them did actually retain the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors, and that would be Grumblemon and Mercurymon," Lopmon explained. "One of them can be my replacement for the time being. I would suggest Mercurymon though… he is the more intelligent out of the two of them."
Flamemon gave a wince, remembering Grumblemon's antics. "Yeah… That would be a good choice." Especially since Mercurymon gave me and my friends a run for our money when we last fought him… In a way, his tactics reminded me of Andy's.
"Very well, we will go find Mercurymon and inform him of the situation," Sorcermon stated.
"This is the best hope we've got until the Celestial Digimon recover or one of them is able to take their seat again," Kyuubimon remarked.
Flamemon sighed. "Well, at least this time he should be on our side again…"
"He better be," Lopmon said before Flamemon gulped, seeing fire coming off of the little Rookie. "Because if he's not, he will regret the day he was born again as a Legendary Warrior!"
"Jeez, cool off a bit, I thought Flamemon was supposed to be the hotheaded one," Andy sweatdropped.
Flamemon looked on with a sweat-drop as well. "Jeez… Just stay calm, Lopmon…"
Jazz couldn't help but chuckle, but she was also somber. She knew Lopmon was reacting that way because he was worried about Mercurymon possibly still retaining his malice from when Lopmon was corrupted.
"Well…" Danny coughed. "Now that we have that issue sorted out, we should get back to the real world. We have a ghost to drop off at the Ghost Zone after all." He shook the Fenton Thermos as he said that.
"We also have a lot to rebuild as well," Kyuubimon noted. "We thank you, young warriors, for helping us fend off against that ghostly threat."
"Yes, we must take measures to make sure something like that doesn't happen again," Sorcermon agreed.
"But how did he get into this world in the first place?" Dorumon asked.
"I would like to know that too," Salamon added.
Flamemon sighed here. He had to tell them. "Someone is messing with the barriers between our world and the human world. Ghosts have been appearing in the town of Amity Park, and that is where the portal to the Digital World opened." He then looked up. "At least, as far as I can tell anyway."
"So do you think that when Technus tried to go into that computer game, he ended up opening a portal to the Digital World instead by accident?" Andy asked.
"That was our theory…" Danny sighed.
"And it seems that is what happened, based on what happened today." Flamemon added.
"So I guess that means we better safeguard our technology from now on," Tucker said, before kissing his D-Arc. "I won't let any mean ghost take over you, no I won't."
"Cut that out! You're embarrassing the rest of us!" Sam hissed.
Terriermon laughed at Tucker's antics. "He does that to most of his technology in his room!"
Tucker blushed at Terriermon's exclamation. "Terriermon! That's supposed to be private!"
"I'm not surprised," Andy chuckled.
Danny rolled his eyes. "We'll try to do something about the person messing with the barriers between the worlds, but until then, we really should get going. It's getting late."
"Yeah," Andy agreed. "Mom and Dad will be calling for us soon if we don't get home, and will think ghosts kidnapped us or something."
"Wait, we can't leave without Takuya, where is he?" Jazz asked.
"Oh! Uh… I'll go find him!" Flamemon volunteered, before anyone could say anything, he quickly ran off.
"Uh… should we follow him?" Tucker asked.
Danny and Andy shook their heads.
"Just let him go, I'm sure he'll bring Takuya out before long," Danny assured.
Dorumon was chuckling, stuffing his mouth with some rocks to keep from saying anything. It made Andy wonder if Dorumon could eat rocks too since he could eat metal, though Dorumon didn't seem all too keen to actually chew the rocks in his mouth.
While Flamemon was running, he recalled something. That voice… I know I heard it before. And then I Unified Spirit Evolved. It was… familiar… But how was I able to become EmperorGreymon when I don't have the Spirits of Ice and Wind, let alone the Spirits of Earth and Wood? Dash has the Spirits of Wood, and he wasn't with us so… how did that happen?
Flamemon recalled hearing the words, "Shining Digivolution" just before he felt those Spirits flooding into his being. And he remembered how Calumon told him about his ability to be able to digivolve Digimon into their highest level. He hadn't seen Calumon since he had Unified Spirit Evolved.
Did Calumon use his Shining Digivolution on me? Flamemon wondered as he came to a stop. That could be the only reason why I became EmperorGreymon. Nothing else makes sense as the reason.
Then Flamemon remembered what Calumon said, that if he used his Shining Digivolution while he was tired after helping Danny, he would cease to be for a time. But if Calumon was to suddenly cease to be, then what would happen to his fractal code?
Flamemon shook his head. He couldn't worry about that now. He had to return to his human form and return to the others. Focusing on the link between his two Spirits, Flamemon broke it and fractal code surrounded him, returning him to his human form.
Now as Takuya, he made his way back to the others. I can worry about the exact circumstances surrounding becoming EmperorGreymon later. I need to get home...
Takuya made his way back to the others. "Hey guys! I guess you were able to defeat that big ghost Digimon, right?"
"Yeah, we were," Tucker called back.
"Where were you!?" Sam shouted. "We were worried about you! And why didn't you come out and try to help us if you were here?"
Before Takuya could answer, the Gomamon who helped Takuya earlier spoke up. "Hey, what do you mean he wasn't helping you? He was that big-"
Takuya slapped Gomamon upside the head lightly. "Hey, don't go saying things that aren't true. I was hiding from sight and helping what Digimon I could when they came by my hiding spot." He then leaned in towards Gomamon and whispered. "They don't exactly know I am Agunimon. Don't reveal, please."
Gomamon blinked, surprised to hear about that. "Why not?"
"I have my reasons," Takuya whispered before giving Sam a nervous laugh.
Sam sweatdropped. "You're being weird."
Takuya sweatdropped himself. "I guess I am…"
"Hey, let's not worry about it. Takuya's here, so that means we can go back home now," Andy spoke up happily.
"So uh… does anyone know how we're going to get back?" Dorumon asked.
Which was a good question, everyone went silent from that.
"... Nobody knows, huh?" Dorumon groaned.
Takuya blinked. "Can't we take a Trailmon home?"
"With how we got here? That would be dangerous," Lopmon spoke up. "Right now, you are all digital beings. If you were to try to go back on a Trailmon now, there's a chance you could damage your bodies. If you want to go back safely, I would suggest going back the way we came."
Takuya sighed. "So much for that idea…"
Danny looked around. "But how do we get home? It's not like we can use an old TV here, is there? Where would we find something like that in the Digital World?"
"Oh, well there are many things like monitors or TV sets lying around the Digital World," Sorcermon spoke up. "You're free to use them if you think they'll help you get back home."
"I told you technology was awesome!" Tucker grinned.
Danny blinked. "You're kidding me… We can do that?!"
Takuya blinked as well. This was the first time he had heard of that. Huh… And my friends and I came here via Trailmon? Well… It's… interesting to hear of a new way to get to the Digital World...
"Sam, would it be alright if I go back with you?" Salamon asked her new partner. "You and I are now partners, it would be best if we stuck together for now."
Sam blinked as she looked at Salamon. "Are you sure? My parents may not accept you if you pretend to be a puppy."
"What if I pretend to be a stuffed puppy?" Salamon asked.
That got Sam thinking. If her parents saw her holding a cute stuffed animal, they would definitely approve, especially since Salamon wasn't all black and gloomy, according to her parents.
Sam then gave a nod. "That would work. My parents wouldn't say no to you if you were a 'stuffed puppy'."
Salamon gave a smile at the response.
"Alright, so we have one more Digimon on our team!" Tucker announced happily. "Hey, we should come up with a team name!"
"Oooh, I like that idea!" Jazz immediately agreed. "What should we call ourselves?"
"Can you two think about that after we get back home?" Andy groaned. "I'm tired, and I'm pretty sure we missed dinner."
"No! I want my dinner! … I wonder if computers taste any good," Dorumon muttered.
"You're not eating my computer, Dorumon!" Andy snapped.
Takuya nodded. "Andy needs that computer." His stomach then growled. "Ugh… I could use something to eat myself…" It doesn't help my evolutions take so much energy...
Danny was trying not to laugh, before his own treacherous stomach started growling.
"I didn't know ghosts could get hungry," Kyuubimon said in interest.
"I get the feeling this ghost boy is a… special case," Sorcermon stated.
"Uh… are there any monitors or TVs around here we could use to get back to our world?" Danny asked, trying not to appear too embarrassed, but his cheeks were definitely flushing green, if Andy didn't know it was ectoplasm, he would think Danny looked sick.
Sorcermon looked back and smiled. "There is one over there." He pointed at what was a hidden monitor behind some brush. "It looks like it's intact too."
"Great, let's try it out and hope it works!" Jazz smiled.
The group went over to the monitor. "Okay, so D-Arc up…" Tucker held up his D-Arc to the monitor.
Just for good measure, Jazz, Andy, and Sam held up their D-Arcs to the monitor as well. The monitor flashed brightly before it sucked in all the people and Digimon beside them into it.
"Huh, so that's how that works…" Gomamon muttered.
As the team went through the vortex, Jazz went back to her normal black shirt with blue pants, Lopmon beside her. Sam went back to her black tank top with the purple circle and green and black skirt with black tights and matching combat boots, Salamon beside her. Tucker went back to his usual yellow shirt and khaki pants, Terriermon beside him. Andy went back to his regular black shirt with dark blue triangle and dark red pants, Dorimon beside him. Danny went back to his usual white T-shirt with red circle and blue pants with red and white sneakers. And Takuya went back to his usual outfit of a black shirt with the red kanji for fire on it, dark green pants and gloves, red and white sneakers, and his goggles around his neck.
They all came crashing out into what appeared to be someone's bedroom.
"You're on my back!"
"Well you're on my butt!"
"Someone please get their shoe off my head!"
"I can't see anything! Who has their shirt on my eyes!?"
"Stop pulling my foot!"
"You're pulling on my tail!"
"Those are my ears, you idiot! That hurt!"
"All of you get off me! I'm completely smooshed!"
"What's going on in here?" The bedroom's door suddenly opened.
"Oh my… what…?"
The people in the pile stopped moving and turned their heads over to see two african american people, a man and a woman. The man had green eyes, a black moustache and wore glasses, along with a white polo shirt, a red tie, and a light blue vest while the woman had dark blue, almost violet, eyes and wore a purple dress that had white sleeve ends, a white color and matching belt area. She also wore white earrings as well. These were Tucker's parents, Maurice and Angela Foley.
"Uh… hi Mom, hi Dad… I uh… invited some friends over," Tucker awkwardly greeted from the middle of the pile.
"What kind of game were you playing that involved all of you piling onto each other like that?" Maurice questioned.
"And where did you get those adorable stuffed toys?" Angela asked, looking at the Digimon, who were all still and quiet.
Sam looked a bit nervous. "Uh, we bought them. They were… the last ones in the toy store at the mall."
"And we were playing… Twister?" Danny said, although it came out like a question instead of a statement.
"Where's that mat you use for the game then? And… who's the needle flicker?" Maurice questioned.
"We were playing a different kind of Twister that involved all of us, and… these stuffed animals," Andy added.
Takuya gave a bit of a grin. The twins really came up with good ideas together, and this was one of them.
"Well… you should untangle yourselves, it's already dinner time, and I'm sure your parents want you all to be home for that," Angela stated.
"Yes… we will do that," Jazz grumbled, she was nearly at the bottom of the pile. "Thank you for the consideration, Mr. and Mrs. Foley."
The group were still trying to untangle themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Foley left to get dinner set.
"Are we going to end up like this every time we go through the Digital Portal?" Sam groaned.
"Let's hope not, my body can only take so much abuse," Tucker whined.
"Okay, just… everybody hold still, I think I have an easier solution to this," Danny grumbled, getting tired of all this struggling.
Everyone's bodies were suddenly intangible. It was a strange feeling, going intangible for Takuya, it was like he felt something cold going through his body. Then everyone easily rolled off of each other after that. Takuya wondered how Danny, or rather, Phantom, was able to control the intangibility enough for them to not just fall through the floor.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that Danny is Phantom's host? Takuya wondered as he stood up as well, still feeling funny from being intangible.
Takuya was the last one in the pile, Danny released his intangibility on everyone. Takuya then realized with annoyance that he had been at the bottom of the pile again.
"Why is it that I end up at the bottom of the pile?" Takuya groaned.
"Maybe because you're the strongest one?" Andy shrugged.
Takuya was not sure if that was a jab at his Spirit Evolving ability or if it was the truth. "I… guess that could be it…"
"I'm just glad to be out of that pile. As an In-Training, I'm more squishy than most of you," Dorimon shook his fur.
"Someone nearly pulled my ear off," Lopmon grumbled.
"That was me…" Terriermon mumbled. "I didn't mean to…"
"The important thing is we're all here and safe," Salamon spoke up. "Hmm… so this is the human world, huh?"
"Well, this is Tucker's room actually," Sam spoke up before she picked up Salamon. "If you want to see what the human world is like, I'll have to take you out of here first. I should head home anyways before my parents call the SWAT team or something. And no, I'm not overexaggerating that."
Takuya sweatdropped at Sam's comment. "I don't doubt it…"
Danny then spoke up. "Sam's right. We need to get home. I'm sure all of us are hungry and tired."
As if on cue, Takuya's stomach let out a loud rumble.
"Sounds like someone is the most hungry one of all of us," Andy chuckled.
"Does someone need food or did you eat a lion on our way back?" Jazz laughed.
I swear my Spirits are probably laughing at me right now! Takuya thought as he went red in the cheeks. "No… I'm just… really hungry…"
"I'm pretty hungry too. Let's go, I wanna eat! … Well, this place looks like it has some nice food though," Dorimon remarked, looking around at Tucker's tech stuff hungrily.
Tucker yelped. "No! You're not eating my babies!" He then looked at Andy. "Get Dorimon out of here before he eats my stuff!"
Andy groaned. That's the problem with having a metal eater… you have to guard your metal stuff at all times.
Takuya reached down and picked up Dorimon. "I'm sure we can find you a metal tray or some scrap metal to munch. Tucker needs this stuff."
"Aww, I was just going to have a little nibble," Dorimon pouted.
"Dorimon, with your mouth being the size of your body, that'd be one big nibble," Andy sighed.
"And try explaining why Tucker's computer has a large bite mark out of it. That would be hard to explain to his parents." Takuya pointed out.
Dorimon grumbled.
"Where have you four been!?" Maddie snapped at Jazz, Takuya, Danny, and Andy when they walked into the house. "It's already past dinner time!"
"Yeah, we actually got groceries this time, but none of you were here to eat!" Jack pouted.
"The one time you two aren't super involved with your work, it had to be tonight?" Jazz groaned.
Takuya sighed. "We were at Tucker's house and lost track of time."
Maddie frowned before she looked at Andy. "And why were you at Tucker's house? You weren't given permission to go anywhere. You were supposed to study after school with Mr. Lancer for your make-up test, then come straight home."
"I'm sorry Mom, something came up and I had to be there. But if it makes you feel any better…" Andy dug out his exam paper, which was thankfully still intact, and showed her the grade he got. "I took the make-up test and passed it."
Jack smiled at seeing that. "Well, it looks like Andy did well after all, Mads! He got a solid A!"
Maddie did calm down a bit at seeing that, and let out a sigh. "I'm happy that you passed the make up test, Andy, but you really should've come home and showed us before galvantalling to Tucker's house."
"Don't blame this all on Andy, I did sort of pressure him to come with us," Danny admitted, hoping for their parents to ease up on his brother.
Maddie frowned before she sighed. "Well, I can't say I blame you, Danny. But next time, at least let Andy show us his test before you two go off to Tucker's house."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, we didn't think about that," Danny sighed.
"It was a case of 'he passed, so he can show you at any time, so let's go have fun now' way of thinking. Very common in teenagers their age," Jazz stated, hoping to help in her own way.
"Well, at least you're all home now. I already have dinner ready, so if you're hungry, you could-" Maddie didn't get a chance to finish when all of the kids rushed into the kitchen and began eating the food on the table like ravenous wolves. "... Looks like they're starting to inherit your appetite, Jack, even Takuya."
Jack gave a booming chuckle. "Well, he does have the Fenton genes, even if they come from your side of the family."
Maddie smiled at that. "That is true… I should make more dinner, the kids are eating it all up rather quickly."
"Great, the more food the better~" Jack grinned.
Though while the kids were indeed hungry, the main reason why the food was running out so fast was because Jazz and Andy were feeding their Digimon as well, Danny and Takuya both needed to eat more than the average human due to their powers and how it eats up their calories faster.
Maddie went back into the kitchen to prepare more food, Jack following her as he smiled. Maddie couldn't help but smile as well. It was nice for them to step away from work and just make dinner, and have their kids enjoy it. Maybe I'm not such a bad mother after all.
A few days had passed since their adventure in the Digital World and stopping Technus from completely destroying it. Takuya had been checking back on Sorcermon each day to make sure nothing was going awry with his D-Tector. So far, the Digimon were still rebuilding Seraphimon's castle. Koji and Koichi were checking in as well when they heard about the incident. Takuya called JP, Zoe, and Tommy to tell them about what had happened, though Tommy sounded a little weird. Like he had a cold or something. Takuya hoped the little guy was alright, he couldn't help but see Tommy as another little brother sometimes.
However, he knew he couldn't dwell on it for long, so he let the thought fade from his mind as he wondered if he would be allowed to get a break or something from all the ghost and Digimon attacks. Takuya sighed to himself. At best, we may get a week free from ghosts, at worst, maybe two days. I need a vacation...
Andy and Dorimon put the feather they got from Seraphimon's castle into a small glass container and put it in a drawer in their room. They figured the feather would be safe there, and whatever mystery data that was on it, until they could get something or someone to analyze it for more clues.
Takuya sighed, figuring it a good time to just relax for once. He was already feeling the urge to just forget everything and let his mind wander. He laid in bed for a moment, before there was a knock on his door.
Letting out another sigh, Takuya looked at the door. "Come in."
Andy came in with Dorimon on his head like a hat. "Hey, so Danny and I saw a flyer that a carnival is going to be in town at the pier tonight. Do you want to join us? It'll be fun, and a good way to unwind from everything."
Takuya grinned. "You had me at 'good way to unwind'." He sat up and got up from the bed, making sure he had his D-Tector on his person. It was a habit that he could not break, even if it was just to go out and have some fun. He then joined Andy. "I could use a break anyway."
"From what? Your thoughts?" Dorimon asked. "Or your bedroom?"
"From what went on a few days ago." Takuya replied as he stretched. "I still feel sore from that battle." He winced as his side where he had been stabbed as Aldamon twinged slightly. Not to mention my side hurts still, not that Andy needs to know what happened...
"That reminds me…" Andy suddenly said, making Takuya freeze and wondering if Andy somehow heard his thoughts. "You still haven't told me how you became those two Digimon… Aldamon and EmperorGreymon."
Takuya sighed here. "Aldamon is my Fusion form. It combines both my Human and Beast Spirit forms to become a more powerful Digimon. In that form, I am on par with a Mega level Digimon. But as EmperorGreymon, my last form, well… that one is hard to explain, since that form is usually accessed when the Spirits of Flame, Wind, Ice, Wood, and Earth are together." He then frowned himself. "And yet I was able to become my last form somehow, without those Spirits."
"How interesting…" Andy noted.
"I think that Calumon had something to do with it," Dorimon spoke up. "I sensed his power before he suddenly disappeared in that battle."
Takuya sighed. "I remember that he mentioned something like that to me. But… I don't want to think about what happened to him right now, as it just confuses me for some reason. I'm sure the little guy is okay, though."
"Yeah, I'm sure we'll see him again soon," Andy agreed.
"Did you see him in a vision?" Takuya asked.
Andy winced. "I told you that I'm not a seer! I just meant I have faith we'll see him again."
Takuya chuckled. "I'm just messing with you, cuz~" He grabbed Andy in a hug, making sure to avoid knocking Dorimon off Andy's head.
Andy was surprised by the sudden hug, then Takuya let go and started running. "Come on, I'll beat you to the pier."
"H-hey! Wait! You got a head start!" Andy called out and started running after Takuya.
Danny was already waiting outside for his cousin and brother to get a move on. He saw Takuya running out, laughing, and Andy not too far behind with Dorimon giggling on his head.
Danny chuckled at seeing the way the two were chasing each other. "Hey! Wait for me, bro, Takuya!" He exclaimed as he chased after them as well.
"Hey, bro, isn't Jazz coming with us?" Andy asked as Danny caught up to them.
"She said she'll catch up to us later," Danny answered back. "Tucker and Sam will meet us along the way."
"Are you sure you're okay, Lopmon? You've been pretty quiet since we got back from the Digital World," Jazz asked the little rabbit Digimon.
Lopmon was looking out the window. "A lot of things have been happening lately. I'm sure… a lot of Digimon are blaming me for it. Not that I could blame them, considering the things I did in the past… When we first arrived at Seraphimon's castle, I could see it in their eyes. Nobody trusted me, they were all accusing me of causing Seraphimon's disappearance, and causing the barrier between our worlds to weaken."
Jazz frowned. "Well, it wasn't your fault. From what you told me, Lucemon corrupted your data and made you do those things."
"Yeah, but Lucemon wouldn't have corrupted my data in the first place had I not allowed him to do so," Lopmon sighed, looking at his reflection in the window, all he could see was the evil Cherubimon that he was back then.
Jazz sighed. "What happened in the past you can't change. But what you can change is how you feel about it. If you don't want to be associated with that time you were evil, then focus on doing good and letting your actions in doing such deeds speak for you."
"I don't know if I ever could make up for what I did back then," Lopmon sighed.
"Well, you've already gained back the trust of those Digimon who attacked you, didn't you?" Jazz pointed out. "Yeah they were distrusting of you at first, but when they realized their mistake, you were able to take charge after that. With Salamon unconscious, and Seraphimon missing, you had to. Everyone was able to fight back against Technus because you were able to unite them all to fight back and defend their home. What you did in the past was bad, yes, but you can't let that define you now. You're you now, and you've learned your lesson. All you can do now is keep moving forward."
Lopmon gave a smile. "You're right Jazz. I can't let it hold me back. I won't forget what I did, but I will use that to make sure I don't do it again."
Lopmon turned around to face Jazz. "Thank you, Jazz… you have no idea how much I needed to hear that."
Jazz smiled. "It was my pleasure." She then had a thought. "This could be a good experience for me too. I could help Digimon if they have trouble and need to talk it out."
"Didn't you say you were aspiring to be a psychologist?" Lopmon asked.
Jazz nodded. "I did, and I still am aspiring to become one." She then smiled again. "It would be interesting if I could get Digimon patients. I mean, your thought processes are probably similar to a human's, but there have to be some differences as well."
Lopmon couldn't help but laugh. "You truly are a Fenton, Jazz. Always so curious and interested to learn about new things and new species. I like that. Oh, and… didn't you say there was a carnival you wanted to go to tonight?"
Jazz's eyes widened. "Oh! That's right! There is, isn't there? Yes, I do want to go." She then looked at Lopmon. "Do you want to come with?"
"If they're anything like the Digital World's carnival, I would like to join, yes. They appear to be quite fun. I haven't been able to go to one since I became a Celestial Digimon. Just don't lose me in a pile of other stuffed toys," Lopmon replied.
Jazz laughed. "I won't, not if you ride on my head or if I carry you in a backpack."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Lopmon smiled.
Danny was not feeling too happy right now. They were supposed to be at the carnival right now, having a good time with their friends, and unwind from their big battle against Technus. So why aren't we at the carnival right now? Because there is a sudden surplus of ghosts, that's why!
Danny, who was currently Phantom, was duking it out with some kind of squid ghost. He narrowly dodged some ink squirts from it. "Hey! Easy on the ghost ink, I just had this suit cleaned!"
"You never took it off!" Andy's voice called out.
"Exactly! I had to shower with it on to clean it!" Danny yelled back at his brother before he sucked the ghost squid into the Fenton Thermos.
Once the squid ghost was in the Thermos, Danny's cell-phone rang and he took it out of his hazmat suit pocket. It was Sam. "Wolf thing, large wolf-ghost, down at the Nasty Burger!"
"Ugh! Andy! Can't you and Dorumon handle the wolf ghost at the Nasty Burger?" Danny called out.
"A little busy right now!" Andy called back, fighting against a big grizzly bear ghost with his Fenton Rod and Dorumon was biting at its arms.
"For the love of- Agunimon! Can't you-" Danny turned to Agunimon.
A cry came from the Digimon as he slammed into a nearby building, leaving an imprint of his body in the wall. The reason? He was fighting a gorilla ghost. "Ugh… If I could I'd so do, but there's a large gorilla ghost that's keeping me busy right now!" Agunimon snapped. He didn't mean to snap, but he was tired of all the ghosts coming out tonight, and he had been looking forward to having a break from all the fighting recently. Whoever is letting the ghosts out is really getting on my nerves!
Danny wanted to help them, but he had to go save Sam. He quickly flew to the Nasty Burger, arriving just in time to see the white and green ghost wolf was about to eat Sam's face off. Danny got on the wolf's back, holding up the Fenton Thermos.
"Down boy, don't eat that! It's a vegetarian!" Danny wittily said before sucking the wolf up with the Fenton Thermos head first.
Once that was done, Danny sighed. "Ugh… what a night. There's a ghost wherever I turn." He sighed. Then his phone rang again. Danny took it out. It was Tucker. "Danny, ghost snake at the park! It's knocked out Terriermon already!"
"I apologize, these ghosts are too strong for me currently, I can't even reach Champion level yet…" Salamon frowned in Sam's arms.
"Don't blame yourself for this, these ghosts are pretty strong," Sam reassured Salamon.
Danny sighed. "I'm going to go save Tucker now."
Danny flew off to the park, and saw a big white and green cobra snake about to eat Tucker, who was on his knees holding an injured Terriermon. Danny quickly tackled the ghost snake away. "Where are all these ghosts coming from!?"
Meanwhile, back at Fenton Works, Jazz was just going to leave for the carnival with Lopmon, but Jack decided to call her down. Jazz sighed, wishing she had left earlier with her brothers and cousin when she had the chance, but she went down to the lab to see what all the fuss was about.
"Hey, Jazzypants! Come on down here!" Jack called out. "I've installed the Fenton Genetic Lock on the Ghost Portal!"
"The… what now?" Jazz asked as she came closer to a control panel that Jack and Maddie had installed recently.
"It's a genetic scanner so that no one else other than the Fenton family can unlock the Ghost Portal." Jack said, beaming with pride at the new invention. "Let me show you how it works!"
Maddie just gave Jazz a smile that said 'play along'. Jazz rolled her eyes but watched as Jack took off his glove, then put his thumb on a red dot that turned green as soon as it scanned his thumb print.
The Ghost Portal opened its doors suddenly, letting out a ghost. Jazz blinked, before she looked back at her parents. Jack did it again, and again, and again. The Ghost Portal's doors kept opening up each time Jack put his thumb on the genetic lock thing, and every time the doors opened, a ghost would come out and immediately fly out of the house. Jazz's jaw dropped as she looked at her parents, neither of them were even looking at the Ghost Portal.
How can they not notice what is going on behind them?! Jazz thought in amazement. I thought for sure Dad would notice the ghosts coming through the portal! Maybe even mom!
Lopmon was frowning himself, then started sweating as Jack just kept going, oblivious to the ghosts he was unleashing into the world. Why isn't he even looking at the portal while he's doing this to see if it was actually opening up when he's putting his thumb print on the genetic lock!?
Jazz could only wonder if Danny, Sam, Tucker, Takuya, and Andy were doing okay with this amount of ghosts coming out of the woodwork. Andy, Sam, and Tucker all had Digimon partners, so they were most likely safe, and Danny had his ghost powers, but it was Takuya she was worried about. Is Takuya okay? Oh, I hope he is at least sticking by Andy or Danny during this...
"So from now on, the only way to open up the Ghost Portal is if someone in the family does this!" Jack smiled, putting his thumb on the red dot again.
"Dad, maybe you should stop. You don't want to wear it out or something, do you?" Jazz quickly intervened, hoping to stop Jack from overflowing Amity Park with ghosts.
A motorcycle noise went right by them, but it was so fast that nobody saw what made that noise, or rather, Jazz and Lopmon didn't. Jack and Maddie didn't seem to have heard or noticed it.
Jack paused, considering Jazz's words. Then, he smiled. "Yeah, that is a good point, Jazz. If it gets worn out, then anyone could use it to unlock the Ghost Portal if they get it working."
"Let's go upstairs for a break, Jack, I can make you some fudge," Maddie offered, which made Jack grin happily.
"Your fudge is always the best, Maddie." Jack grinned as he and Maddie headed upstairs.
"Well, Lopmon… good thing that carnival will be here all weekend, because something tells me we won't be going to it tonight," Jazz sighed. "I better get the Fenton Thermos ready."
"Make sure you bring the Fenton Rod and wrist ray while you're at it," Lopmon sighed as well. "Maybe have Tucker or Terriermon put a lock on that genetic lock so your dad can't use it all willy nilly."
Jazz laughed. "Yeah, that may be a good idea. I bet Danny and the others are all tired from fighting the ghosts being let loose."
With that said, Jazz ran out of the house with Lopmon to go join her brothers, cousin, and friends on their ghost hunting, they would need all the help they could get tonight. However, Jazz didn't notice a certain ghost was hiding, and watching her. The ghost gave a grin as he watched Jazz run out of the house.
"There's more over here!" Dorumon called out.
"I got them!" Andy spoke up, throwing some grenades that exploded with a sticky substance that kept the ghosts in place.
Danny came in, sucking in the ghosts with the Fenton Thermos. "I really need to get you guys Fenton Thermoses…"
Dorumon groaned. "That would be a good treat…"
Hearing that, Agunimon smacked his own face with his hand. "Not to eat, you metal muncher…"
Agunimon heard something trying to sneak up on him, it was a large ghost moose, which he backhanded in the face, making it go down quickly, and Danny sucked it into the Fenton Thermos.
"What happened to all the extra Fenton Thermoses?" Andy asked.
"M- err…" Danny looked at Agunimon for a moment. "The Fentons only made three. Tucker and Sam have Fenton Thermoses, but there wasn't enough for all of us."
Agunimon raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in Phantom's speech, but he didn't question it.
Dorumon pouted. "Aww…"
"Dorumon, please do not eat the Fenton Thermos," Andy suddenly said.
Danny blinked before he looked down and yelped when he saw Dorumon was already teething on the thermos.
"If you're hungry, you should munch on the chocolate bars I brought with me for a snack," Andy sighed. "I thought we'd be eating at the carnival by now, but well, things don't usually go as planned."
Dorumon saw the chocolate and began to bounce on his feet. "I want one!"
Danny chuckled. "You'd better give him a bar, bro, or he will munch on the thermos."
"Yeah, yeah," Andy sighed, tossing a few bars at Dorumon. I was saving those…
Dorumon happily munched on the chocolate.
"I've been meaning to ask, why haven't you digivolved Dorumon?" Danny asked. "With all these ghosts running around, it might be better to have Dorugamon take them out quicker, or fly to look for more."
"We used up a lot of energy when battling against Techatamon," Andy answered. "Not only that, digivolution takes a lot out of Dorumon. If this is going to be a long battle, it would be best to keep him at the Rookie state and only digivolve him when it's necessary."
Danny sighed. "Right. I forgot about how much energy it can take for that."
"How are Sam and Tucker holding up? Last I heard, Terriermon was wounded, and Salamon is still weakened from when Technus nearly killed her," Agunimon asked.
"So far, they're holding up pretty well," Danny answered. "They have Fenton Thermoses, so they can catch the ghosts pretty easily when they need to. Tucker helped heal Terriermon with his D-Arc, and Salamon's doing a pretty good job. The snake and the wolf just took them by surprise earlier."
Agunimon nodded as he took in this information. He was mostly worried about Salamon, but the others he had concerns about too. "Good. I don't think I could handle seeing Salamon get hurt again…" He looked down as he said that last sentence.
The two brothers looked at each other for a moment.
"Don't worry," Dorumon spoke up, having some chocolate stain on his mouth. "Lady Ophanimon may have been weakened, but she can still handle herself. And she has Sam with her, Sam is a really tough girl, that's for sure. I feel sorry for any ghosts who try to mess with her."
Agunimon had to chuckle at that. "Yeah, she can be, can't she?"
Suddenly, there were more growls. The boys looked around to see more ghost animals coming towards them.
"Break's over, time to get back to work," Andy sighed before extending his Fenton Rod again.
Agunimon groaned. "Who is letting all these ghosts out?!"
"I don't know, but whoever they are, I'm about ready to kick their butts," Danny growled.
The group split off to take care of the ghosts.
Agunimon managed to take down several with his Pyro Darts, it was just a good thing these animal ghosts weren't too intelligent or powerful. They were just like normal animals, only bigger, more aggressive, and had ghost powers, but otherwise they were easy to deal with. Agunimon figured that was another reason why Andy kept Dorumon in his Rookie state, no need to waste energy on small pickings.
Then suddenly, a ghost jaguar jumped and pounced on Agunimon while he was distracted. It tried to bite at his face.
"Blazing Ice!" An ice ball slammed into the ghost jaguar, causing it to roll on the ground and off of Agunimon.
Looking back as he got to his feet, Agunimon saw Jazz and Lopmon coming their way. "Thanks! That could have been messy for me."
"Don't mention it," Jazz chuckled sheepishly. "Lopmon and I had been looking for our friends when Dad started letting all those ghosts out."
Agunimon's eyes widened a bit at hearing that. "What?!"
Jazz gave a sheepish grin. "Uh… so… my dad may have installed this new fingerprint recognition thing with the portal, making it so anyone of the family could open the portal with a fingerprint scan… and he may have gotten carried away with showing it off… and apparently there were ghosts lined up at the portal to go out whenever Dad opened the portal with the scanner."
At hearing that, Agunimon felt anger rush through him, but he didn't show it. Instead, his fists clenched slightly, but that was it. "So that's what's behind the ghosts coming out…"
"We're lucky that most of what came out are just feral ghosts," Lopmon remarked. "If there had been any intelligent ghosts like with Technus or Ember, we would be in big trouble right now."
Agunimon growled. "If that Technus shows up, he is getting a serious beat-down from me for what he did to the Digital World and Lady Ophanimon!"
A large giraffe ghost and a ghost elephant began to stomp around the city.
"We'll have to talk later, we've got some clean up to do," Jazz remarked before she grinned. "Hey! I am getting better at the witty banter stuff! I should write that down."
Agunimon sighed at hearing that. "Later. Let's just focus on these ghosts first." But he had a smile on his face nonetheless. Heh… Jazz is certainly a Fenton if she makes witty banter.
Jazz took out a Fenton Rod and extended it. "Okay, let's see if all that practicing has paid off! Go for it, Lopmon!"
Lopmon jumped from Jazz's head, using his ears to glide forward. "Tiny Twister!"
Agunimon watched as Lopmon's 'tiny' twister just engulfed the entire ghost elephant, making it very dizzy, then Jazz twirled her Fenton Rod before smashing the rod into its leg. The elephant let out a cry of pain before Jazz grabbed onto its trunk. Lopmon fired a Blazing Ice at the elephant's left eye, which caused the elephant to throw its trunk, and Jazz. Jazz did some fancy acrobatics in the air, and as she was coming down, she stabbed the rod into the elephant's other eye. Agunimon flinched from watching.
"Take that, you ghost fiend! Your trunking days are over!" Jazz announced dramatically as she landed on her feet and did a very silly pose.
Agunimon wasn't sure of what to make of that witty remark as he stared, a sweat-drop running down the side of his head. Okay… That remark was a bit… weird. And… she can be a bit scary too… Just like the rest of the family...
"Come on, we still have the giraffe to deal with, this is no time to be standing there gawking, Agunimon," Lopmon spoke up, clapping his hands a bit.
Agunimon snapped out of his staring. "Oh. Sorry. Okay. Let's go take care of that thing."
"That's good, Dorumon, we took down another one," Andy said when Dorumon just knocked out a giant ghost spider.
"This thing is gross though, too many webs," Dorumon grumbled, shaking off the strings that got stuck to his fur.
Andy rubbed his head for a moment, feeling a little dizzy. For a second, he saw Danny's Fenton Thermos getting smashed by a falling street light, which caused all the ghosts he captured in that thermos to get set free.
"You okay?" Dorumon asked.
Andy frowned. "Yeah… we might need to go find Danny though…"
Suddenly, Andy jumped away from a ghost squirrel's claws. While it was a squirrel, it was actually pretty huge, about the size of a tree.
"Jeez, did someone let out an entire zoo of ghosts or something? How are the townspeople not screaming out in panic right now?" Andy groaned.
"I'm not sure, but it's kind of similar to when a Digimon comes into this world. They create fog, a Digital Field. It keeps them hidden from other humans," Dorumon remarked. "It might be similar here, perhaps the ghosts are keeping themselves hidden from normal people. The only reason why we can see them is because of our bond. Danny is… well, a ghost himself, and Agunimon is a Digimon."
Andy frowned as he thought back to some points when there was a ghost attack, yet people acted like they didn't see them, which always struck Andy as odd. "I see… that would explain a few things then."
Dorumon looked back at the ghost squirrel. "We need to take that thing out before it attacks again."
"Right, here goes," Andy jumped at it with his Fenton Rod.
"Puppy Howling!" Salamon blasted a few lizard ghosts away with her loud howling.
Sam sucked up the lizard ghosts into the Fenton Thermos she was holding. "You're doing pretty well, Salamon. I think that was 13 ghosts we just captured in one night. You should take a break though, I don't want you overexerting yourself."
Salamon nodded. "That would be best. I'm still feeling the effects of the attack that Technus ghost used on me."
Sam nodded before she dug into her purple spider backpack, taking out a couple of water bottles. She unscrewed the top lid of one water bottle before she bent down to Salamon. Salamon opened her mouth to let Sam pour the water into her mouth, allowing Salamon to drink up the water.
After a little bit, Sam stopped pouring the water in Salamon's mouth before she began drinking her own water.
"That's a lot of ghosts we caught." Salamon noted, remembering the number of ghosts caught that Sam had mentioned.
"Yeah… hopefully there won't be anymore tonight," Sam sighed as she finished drinking her water bottle. "Danny already has enough problems to deal with as it is. We were hoping to just have some fun at the carnival tonight."
"You're worried about him, aren't you?" Salamon remarked. "I can tell that Danny means a lot to you."
Sam went red in the cheeks at hearing that. "It's not like I'm in love with him! I'm worried about him as a friend!"
The puppy Digimon gave Sam a small grin. "Now Sam, I never said you were in love with him, just that he means a lot to you."
Sam blinked. "Oh… Never mind…"
Salamon gave a solemn sigh. "If it means anything, however, I feel worried myself. He's far too young to have such a responsibility thrust on him like that, especially since he's become something not many had seen. There's no telling what could or would happen to him in the future. I've had big responsibilities thrust on young children before… I was hoping something like that would never happen again though…"
Sam frowned. "You know, it sounds like you've seen some things like that. How did you see similar responsibilities thrust upon young children?"
"Hmm…" Salamon hesitated. "Well…"
Suddenly, a ghost panther rose up from the ground and began to snarl at them. Strangely enough, even though they were on a busy street, nobody paid the ghost any mind. Only Sam and Salamon reacted to it.
"I suppose that'll have to be a story for another time. We still have work to do here," Salamon stated.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, we still do." She agreed. She stood up and held up the Fenton Thermos. "Well, let's take this ghost out and move on. I need some sleep."
"Terrier Tornado!" A green twister swept up all 5 hyena ghosts, trapping them.
Tucker held out the Fenton Thermos, making sure to suck in all of the hyena ghosts within the twister, until he was sure he got every last one of them. Terriermon stopped spinning and landed on the ground.
"Nice work, Terriermon!" Tucker exclaimed with a grin. "That brings our total to 14 ghosts caught."
"Jeez, that's gotta be some kind of record," Terriermon groaned. "How could there be so many ghosts? Even with that Fenton Portal at Fenton Works, the ghosts shouldn't be this frequent. It's almost borderline an invasion."
Tucker frowned. "Yeah, good point. We haven't had this many ghosts since that Spectra ghost had all those Soulmon here."
"Oh yeah, you told me about that," Terriermon realized. "Those Soulmon are pretty nasty, though they aren't the same as the ghosts here. They are still made out of digital data after all."
Tucker nodded. "That's true." He looked down at the Fenton Thermos. "I hope that's it for the ghosts. I think Danny and the others might be getting tired by now. I know we are."
"Hey…" A feminine voice suddenly spoke up.
Tucker blinked, looking at the person who spoke. It was Niki, a girl from a few of his classes. She was holding some books.
"Uh… Hi…" Tucker replied. "What are you doing out here, Niki?"
"I was just on my way home from the library," Niki answered. "I saw you talking to… uh… is that your dog… um… rabbit?"
Niki looked at Terriermon. Terriermon sweatdropped, but she had already seen him move, so trying to pretend he was a stuffed animal now would be pointless.
"Um… Yeah… He's my… 'pet rabbit'." Tucker replied.
"Really? Huh… I've never seen this kind of species of rabbit before," Niki remarked, looking at Terriermon. "He's got a horn on his head. He's standing on two feet with no problem. Why do his ears have those three ridges at the end?"
Tucker quickly picked up Terriermon. "D-did I say he was my pet rabbit? I meant he was my… uh… pet robot rabbit! Y-yeah, they're all the rage these days!"
Niki blinked. "Really? It looks so life-like." She then smiled. "And kinda cute too."
"Uh… yeah, he is pretty cute, isn't he?" Tucker agreed, seeing that Niki liked Terriermon's cuteness. "Um… would you like some company while you walk home?"
Niki smiled. "Sure. It would be nice."
At that, Tucker smiled, he never had a girl, other than Sam, let him walk them home before. He never thought about using Terriermon as a chick magnet, he should've known that girls loved cute things, and Terriermon definitely fit that bill. Besides, he could use a break after all the crap he went through.
Danny yelped as he dodged what would have been a nasty pierce through the stomach from this giant ghost bull's horns. The bull was angry and charging around recklessly.
"Jeez, you need to calm down. Why are you charging at me anyways? I'm not wearing any red!" Danny huffed. "Now Vlad on the other hand… I think the inside of his cape was red."
Of course, the ghost bull didn't answer, it just charged at him again. This time, Danny went intangible, making the bull go right through him. He then grabbed onto the ghost bull's tail, stopping it in its tracks. "You need to calm down. I may not have red on me, but maybe green will work!"
Danny shot a ghost ray at the bull's horns, which snapped them off. The bull let out a cry at seeing its horns cut clean off and landed in front of it.
"Huh, guess you do have some intelligence," Danny noted, seeing the bully lost all will to fight as it cried over its horns.
Danny then took the Fenton Thermos out and sucked in the ghost bull. He sighed with relief before his ghost sense went off. "Okay, that makes about 19 ghosts…"
"Oh great…" Danny muttered under his breath. "One more to go it seems… might as well make it an even 20 then."
Danny looked around for the ghost he sensed, and heard what sounded like a motorcycle engine. He quickly turned to the motorcycle, seeing someone riding on it. Danny blinked for a moment, wondering if this motorcycle rider was actually a ghost, but he could definitely see the white aura glowing off of the man. Not only that, but the motorcycle was riding on telephone poles like it was nothing. Definitely not human.
"Huh…" Danny frowned to himself. "It's not an animal ghost this time… Okay, this one may be a bit tricky…"
He then took flight, flying as fast as he could to catch up to the man. Danny's legs turned into a ghostly tail to help him go faster. Thankfully, despite how fast the motorcycle was going, Danny was able to catch up to the ghostly man. Wonder who this guy is… since he's sentient, unlike those animal ghosts, maybe I can reason with him.
"Um, sir, I believe you're speeding," Danny spoke up to the man, catching his attention.
The man looked back with a bit of a scowl. "What do you want punk?"
"You're a ghost, aren't you?" Danny asked. "What are you doing here?"
"That's my business, which is not for you to poke your nose into!" The man snapped back. "Shadow, attack!"
"Whoa, I just want to talk! No need to get vio-" Danny couldn't even finish his sentence before a black shadowy ghost suddenly came up from the man's shadow and decked him in the face.
Danny went tumbling before landing on the ground. "Ugh…"
The shadow ghost then swooped in and sliced at a lamp post, causing the lamp to fall down. Danny saw that and moved to the side, unfortunately his strap on the Fenton Thermos was loose, which left it in the way for the lamp post to fall on, only for something to come in and shove him out of the way before the lamp post could smash the Fenton Thermos. Danny blinked as he rolled on the ground, before turning his head to see Dorumon.
"Whew, that was a close one. Are you okay?" Dorumon asked.
Danny nodded. "Yeah, thanks Dorumon." He got to his feet, brushing off his hazmat suit. "I would have had to round up all those ghosts again if not for you."
"Yeah…" Andy's voice spoke up, before Danny looked up, seeing his brother walking over to them. "You're lucky that we got here when we did."
Danny chuckled. "I guess you could say that, bro~"
Then they heard the motorcycle engine. Looking up, the brothers, and Dorumon, could see the ghost man on the motorcycle literally riding on the air as he disappeared into the horizon.
"Shouldn't we go after him?" Dorumon asked.
Danny sighed. "I'm not sure. He didn't seem malicious, but still…"
"We'll leave him be for now. If he starts to cause trouble, then we'll have to fight him," Andy remarked. "Besides, after fighting ghosts all night, we're all pretty exhausted."
Danny nodded. "Yeah, you have a point bro." Danny then felt a yawn escape him. "I'm sure everyone else is wiped out too."
"I guess that means we'll have to go to that carnival tomorrow," Dorumon grumbled.
"Yeah, but no worries, it's the weekend after all, and the carnival will be here all weekend," Andy chuckled. "Oh, Danny, we left some unconscious ghosts for you at the park. You might want to get those sucked up in the thermos."
Danny sighed. "Okay, bro. I'll get those ghosts and meet you back at the house."
"I'll go see if Takuya is finished up with his ghosts as well… you'll have to suck those up too," Andy chuckled.
"Great… I'm the ghost maid now…" Danny pouted. "Really need to get you and Takuya your own thermoses… and make sure Dorumon doesn't eat them!"
"Hey, I was kidding about eating those thermoses before. They're too contaminated with ghosts for me to want to eat anyways," Dorumon rolled his eyes.
Danny chuckled. "Well, I will get those ghosts sucked up and meet you at home, bro."
"Yeah. Have fun being the ghost maid~" Andy snickered.
Danny pouted at that. "Very funny, bro…"
Tucker had actually walked Niki home without chasing her off somehow, it was a miracle if the boy ever saw one. "Hey, so… before you go into your house, I just wanted to ask… well… I was kinda hoping we could hit a movie or something this weekend, if you're not… well, too busy or anything."
"Sure." Niki replied with a small smile.
"Alright, but I'll have you know that I'm persistent-" Tucker began, having expected the usual rejection that his mind didn't catch her answer until now. "Wait, did you just say yes?"
"Of course." Niki replied.
"Really? Then would you like to beam me your-" Tucker began to ask, only for Terriermon to hit his side with his ear, and shook his head at Tucker.
Tucker, realizing he could potentially scare away Niki with his obsession of technology, cleared his throat and played it cool. "What I meant to say is, would you like to give me your phone number? Just to keep in touch."
Niki was surprised at the sudden turn around, but decided to reply. "Sure." She smiled again. "I would like that."
Tucker gave a big, goofy smile at that. It was almost like he was dreaming. Niki wrote something down on a small notepad before she tore the paper out and handed it to Tucker. "Here you go."
Tucker took the paper. "Thank you."
Niki smiled again before she unlocked the door to her house, walked inside, giving Tucker another smile. "You know, I always heard you were a techno geek, but you don't seem so bad. It might not be so bad to get to know you a little better."
Tucker was surprised to hear that, and nearly exploded, but he managed to hold himself until Niki shut the door to her house. As soon as Niki was out of sight, Tucker began to jump and dance on the sidewalk.
"Hehe, someone's happy~" Terriermon giggled.
"Hey, I just got a girl's phone number! Why wouldn't I be happy?" Tucker asked, before what Niki said earlier sunk into his mind. "Wait, who's been calling me a techno geek?"
It had been a long night. By the time all the ghosts were captured, it was almost midnight. Sam collapsed onto her bed in her room. While she was a night owl, Sam didn't like having to spend most of that night having to hunt down and fight with ghosts. Though she liked helping people, there were limits to how many ghosts she wanted to fight on a daily basis.
"Are you okay, Sam?" Salamon asked in concern.
Sam sighed. "I can handle fighting ghosts and stuff, but even I have a limit for that. I was hoping to take a break, but this was not how I wanted to spend my night off, which wasn't a night off after all."
"It was unfortunate how things turned out tonight," Salamon sighed. "You all deserved to have fun and relax."
Salamon hopped up onto Sam's bed herself. "If it had been up to me, I would have taken out all those ghosts myself so you children could have the break you all deserve."
Sam looked at Salamon. "That reminds me, you said you had some experience thrusting big responsibilities onto young children. What was that about?"
Salamon gave a sigh as she sat down. "It's a rather long story… I can't go into details because some of the information has been… requested to keep as a secret. What I can tell you, however, is that when I was Ophanimon before… I had, regrettably, involved 5 children in a dangerous matter in the Digital World about 4 human years ago."
Sam blinked. "You did? What happened to them?"
"They're alive and well last I heard, so do not worry about them," Salamon answered. "But because of what happened, they've taken responsibility to become…"
Sam raised an eyebrow. "Become what?" She wanted to know more, but it was clear Salamon didn't want to talk about it. She then shook her head. "You know what? Never mind. If it bothers you that much, you don't have to tell me."
"They've become essentially 'superheroes' to the Digital World, like Danny has become to this town," Salamon stated. "While kids like to imagine themselves as superheroes, protecting the innocent, and their hometown with superpowers, imagining it and actually doing it are two very different things. I won't lie when I say I can't help but worry for Danny's mental health as well as his physical health down the road. The same goes for those 6 kids that got involved."
"6? I thought you said 5," Sam asked.
"I got 5 of them involved, there was one more, but he was involved… differently…" Salamon sighed.
Sam nodded. "I see. Well, I don't want to have you feel bothered by telling me this, so I think that's enough."
The little puppy sighed. "One day though, I will have to tell you everything. And confront my regrets."
Sam gave her partner a bit of a smile. "We will get to that when the time comes."
"Thank you, Sam. I appreciate your support." Salamon gave a small smile.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Well, why not go all out that time? XD FoxKit had the idea for EmperorGreymon coming in, so thank her for the epic scene with that. :3
DarkFoxKit: Considering how rare it is for Takuya to be able to become EmperorGreymon, we thought that was a good time to show it and what Calumon can do with Shining Digivolution.
Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Andy agrees with you there.
ZAFT: But don't worry, things will come to an end with the secrets soon enough. :3