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?

45. An Invitation

ZAFT: First update of the new year! :D

DarkFoxKit: Yup, let's hope 2021 will be a better year.

Andy: It could be… or it could be worse.

DarkFoxKit: I just love your enthusiasm.

Takuya: When did Andy become such a sourpuss?

ZAFT: I have no clue… ^^'

DarkFoxKit: It likely happened during the, uh… free story Juliette and I had been doing.

Andy: I'm starting to be unable to tell which iteration of Andy I'm supposed to be, they're starting to all blend together.

ZAFT: That… could be an issue… ^^'

Takuya: *Stares* Timelines can… be confusing… *Swirly eyes*

ZAFT: Um… On to the chapter then… ^^'

---

(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(Shows three forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley)

Three worlds, connected side by side

(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)

Connections, with many secrets to hide

(Andy Fenton is shown with a small purple fox-like creature, Dorimon, in his arms as Takuya Kanbara appears behind him, a form in shadow behind Takuya himself)

Is one always chosen by fate?

(Danny is shown transforming into his ghost form, Danny Phantom, flying towards a vampiric looking ghost, Vlad Plasmius)

Or can one make their own destiny?

(Andy is shown looking on as his cell-phone transforms into a Digivice, the D-Arc)

Digital Phantom!

(Andy holds up his D-Arc as a heart symbol appears on the screen)

The power is deep inside!

(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire just as Dorimon glows and becomes Dorumon, firing off a metal ball into the distance)

Digital Phantom!

(The metal ball blasts past Vlad Plasmius as he fires off a ghost ray at Andy, who blocks it with his Fenton Rod)

Destiny is unbound!

(The Fenton Rod is smacked away by Vlad, going spinning before Sam, with a small puppy-like creature next to her, reaches up and catches it, a shadowed form with wings appearing behind her, transparent in appearance)

Digital Phantom!

(Sam throws the Fenton Rod to Tucker, who spins it before throwing it at Plasmius, a big bunny-like being with gun-hands appearing behind Tucker, transparent in appearance)

Fight on, without regret

(Shows Takuya looking up from his D-Tector as he makes eye contact with his Human Spirit of Agunimon, who give a smile back and reaches out a hand as Takuya takes it)

Two sides never rest

(Danny is shown reaching for a glowing Digi-Egg, with a shadowed form above it just as an evil version of the shadowed form appears beside Vlad, both transparent in appearance)

Digital Phantom!

(Jazz is shown with the form of Lopmon beside her, a larger, shadowed form behind them both)

Never regret or look back

(Takuya is shown looking up as a ball of fractal code covers his hand, surrounding him before it dissipates to reveal his Fusion form of Aldamon)

Fight on, with victory

(Aldamon fires off a slew of fiery bullets from his cannons, each of those bullets hitting Plasmius before the ghost teleports away, revealing a shadowed form behind him)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(Andy, Dorimon, Danny, Tucker, Terriermon, Sam, Salamon, Jazz, Lopmon, and Takuya all appear with Vlad above them, sneering evilly as all ten look on defiantly)

Digital Phantom!

---

Chapter 45: An Invitation

It was Saturday morning. It was a day of rest and relaxation for most kids, others may go out and have fun. Takuya, however, was lying in bed, wide awake. There was something wrong when Takuya was awake on Saturday morning and not Saturday afternoon. Takuya had a bit of trouble sleeping last night. A lot of things were going through his head now that he had some time to rest after his latest adventure in the Digital World.

Takuya was looking up at the ceiling, wondering what he should do. I know Andy and the others are getting involved more… But I don't really want to tell them my secret. Sure, it would help but… can I really trust them with that sort of information? Deep down, he knew they could be trusted, but it was a bit of a habit to keep it secret, so it was hard to bring himself to tell someone else.

But his mind was also on Tommy and Calumon. And Tommy being Calumon… Why didn't he tell me? Is it because he is worried about me being concerned about it? Or is it something else? Takuya wondered. I'm still not 100% sure that Tommy IS Calumon though, but it would explain a lot of things.

A sigh escaped Takuya. Maybe I should tell them. I mean… they have been involved more lately… It only makes sense, right?

Takuya sighed again. He decided perhaps this wasn't something he should try to decide on his own. It might help if he talked to someone who was in the know and got their opinion on the matter. He thought about asking Andy, but then he decided maybe not. Other than Dorumon, Andy didn't really have a lot of secrets to keep from people. Danny was a better candidate since he knew what it was like to have to hide himself from others.

Yeah, I think Danny would be able to give some insight on what to do… Takuya thought with a nod. He got up from his bed and stretched. May as well get up then. I wonder what Danny and the others are up to anyway.

Takuya went to the twins' bedroom, but when he opened the door, he didn't see either of the twins, or even Dorimon. That was unusual, they usually didn't like having to get up on Saturday mornings themselves unless there was an emergency a.k.a. ghost or Digimon attack.

Frowning, Takuya wondered where they could be. "Maybe they're in the lab?" He wondered out loud. That could be possible...

Takuya went downstairs, he saw Jack and Maddie were on the couch in the living room. Maddie was, surprisingly, not working on anything today. She was looking through a scrapbook of pictures, seeming to be lost in her memories, and she wasn't wearing her hazmat hood either. Jack was playing with action figures. Takuya was surprised at how well crafted Jack made those action figures, he made a Jack figure that looked just like the real thing, and a cool looking ghost figure as well. Takuya wondered why Jack didn't go into the toy business.

Takuya walked to the kitchen, seeing Jazz reading a book, as usual. Lopmon was bringing Jazz over some breakfast though, using his ears to hold up the tray of food. Takuya watched this for a moment, it was surreal to see Cherubimon, the Cherubimon, bringing breakfast to his cousin like that, and seems to be enjoying it.

Takuya couldn't help but smile though. It was a touching moment, even if it was a bit odd. He then cleared his throat. "Hey Jazz? Have you seen, Andy, Danny, and Dorimon?"

Lopmon hopped onto the chair to put the tray of food down in front of Jazz.

"Yeah, they went into the lab with Tucker and Sam earlier. They said since our parents aren't occupying the lab right now, they're going to do some training," Jazz answered. "I'd join them, but Lopmon insisted that I relax today."

"You barely ate dinner last night, and now you're doing more research already. Someone has to take care of your health." Lopmon rolled his eyes.

Takuya had to chuckle at that. "He has a point."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe I've been a little bit stressed lately. What with Walker turning my brother into a public enemy in Amity Park, and what happened in the Digital World, it's been a bit difficult for me to relax," Jazz sighed. "Not to mention the school projects I need to turn in."

Takuya shook his head. "Maybe you should back off on taking on so many projects next time. Then you won't be so stressed out."

"Yeah…" Jazz sighed before she picked up some toast on her plate. "Hey, if you're going to the lab, just make sure you don't set some of the chemicals on fire."

Takuya blinked. "Huh?" His body slightly tensed.

Jazz looked at him for a moment. "Some of the chemicals Mom and Dad have in the lab are highly flammable, I just mean be careful not to get them too close to a heating gadget. It wouldn't be the first time someone blew up the lab though, it's fortified for a reason."

Takuya sighed a bit. "Yeah, I'll be careful." Whew… That was close… For a moment I thought she figured it out...

Takuya began going into the lab. Jazz quietly watched him go.

"I think there's something more than just the school projects that's on your mind right now, Jazz," Lopmon spoke up when Takuya was out of earshot. "You suspect something, don't you?"

"How could I not?" Jazz asked. "Takuya gets called to the Digital World, then these Legendary Warriors are there. We went to the Digital World, but never saw Takuya anywhere. Suddenly, he showed up along with my brothers and Dorimon last night. I'm starting to think there's something Takuya isn't telling me."

Jazz then looked at Lopmon. "You once told me that the Legendary Warriors were human children, right?"

Lopmon nodded. "Yes, I did." He then frowned. "Why?"

"... Nothing yet… but let's just say I'm starting to think Takuya might be…" Jazz looked back at the lab.

---

When Takuya came down into the lab, he yelped as he narrowly dodged an iron ball that hit the lab's wall.

"Hey, careful Takuya! We're in the middle of training!" Andy called out.

Takuya looked over. "You could have told me earlier, you know!"

"We didn't think you'd want to wake up until afternoon!" Danny called, who was currently in his ghost form, and was flying through some rings the lab provided.

"I couldn't sleep anymore." Takuya admitted as he came down to join the group.

"Andy and I are having a sparring match while Tucker is monitoring Danny's ghost powers," Sam explained.

Takuya could see Dorumon was battling with Salamon. Andy stood behind Dorumon while Sam stood behind Salamon.

Tucker had a speed detector in his hand and held it up as Danny flew by so fast that he was almost a black and white blur.

"112 miles per hour, not bad!" Tucker complimented.

Takuya whistled. "Wow! That's fast!" He commented. I wonder how fast I can fly in my Beast and Fusion forms...

"You know, Takuya, if you want, you could train with us. Even if you don't have a Digimon partner, you could still train your human body," Terriermon suggested with a wink.

Takuya smiled. "Heh… It might not be a bad idea to do that." He admitted.

"You hear that, Tucker? You can train with Takuya!" Terriermon smirked.

"What? No way! He may not be super buff like the jocks, but he's ripped enough to tell me I'm going to get my butt kicked!" Tucker quickly denied.

Takuya blinked. "Huh? I'm not that ripped, am I?"

"You do have a bit of muscle on you, cuz," Danny's voice chuckled from behind Takuya, making the boy jump.

"Invisibility is still good I see," Tucker chuckled.

"Danny! Don't do that!" Takuya exclaimed, trying to find his cousin, but to no avail.

Danny reappeared suddenly, making Takuya jump back again. "Hey, you think this is scary? You should try going through your nightmare castle with the jumpscare clowns screaming in your face!"

Takuya pouted. "Hey! I can't help it if I'm scared of clowns!"

"You're scared of clowns?" Terriermon asked, surprised. "You'd really hate Piedmon then."

"Who's that?" Takuya asked.

"This guy," Tucker showed a hologram of Piedmon. "Apparently he was the leader of the Dark Masters in the old Digital World. But that's about all I got on him, that and he's a Mega Level."

Takuya definitely cringed at the sight, actually inching behind Danny's ghostly form. "Yeah… He's one I am staying away from…"

Danny rolled his eyes as he turned intangible and backed up, going through Takuya's body and was now behind him.

"Intangibility is still good too," Tucker chuckled.

Takuya shivered as Danny went through his body. "That's creepy…"

"Try having him going inside your body," Tucker shivered.

"Hey, I don't do it often," Danny pouted. "Well… not unless it was necessary."

Takuya laughed. "Well, you are half ghost, so creepy is kinda your thing." He ruffled Danny's white hair playfully.

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon shot out an iron ball at Salamon.

"Puppy Howling!" Salamon stopped the iron ball in its tracks with her sound wave attack of puppy barking.

"Sledge Crash!" Salamon ran at Dorumon.

"Beast Attack!" Dorumon ran at Salamon.

The two Digimon collided with each other, and both of them were trying to push the other back. Salamon was smaller than Dorumon, but she was still trying to push him back with her head while Dorumon was pushing her with both of his claws.

Andy and Sam came running at each other with wooden staffs acting as their Fenton Rods. They slammed both of their practice weapons against each other. Sam was trying to trip Andy up, though Andy noticed she was doing, and moved around her, locking one of her arms behind her, forcing her to let go of her weapon.

Takuya looked around, trying to find something to use for training himself.

"Hey, Takuya, could you help me set up the targets for Danny?" Tucker requested.

Takuya looked back at Tucker and nodded. "Sure!" He agreed.

Tucker and Terriermon were setting something up for Danny, Tucker had Takuya take the pop ups for Danny. Danny was to have a test of reaction and judgement, if he fired at a friendly pop-up, he lost a point. This was to help prevent friendly fire during a combat scenario. Takuya could see Andy was teaching Sam how to battle if she were forced to fight on her own, or how to fight with her partner like he had been doing. It was rather neat to see Andy teaching someone else how to better defend themselves since they were the weakest of their group currently.

Takuya turned back to helping Tucker with the targets. "So, what's the plan with these targets?"

"To help see how well Danny can dodge enemy fire, as well as test his agility, and his judgement during battle. It's also to help avoid friendly fire," Tucker answered. "You ready, Danny?"

"Yup!" Danny called from the ceiling.

"Alright, Terriermon, let them rip!" Tucker called out.

Terriermon was at a control panel, and he was working fast on the buttons with his little claws. Hoops appeared from the ceiling, and tons of laser guns and missiles appeared from the walls, all aiming at Danny. This concerned Takuya a little bit.

"Um… Are you sure you can handle all of this?" Takuya asked his cousin in concern. "That's a lot of weapons…"

"Don't worry, these won't hurt him. At most, they'll sting him a bit," Tucker reassured the older boy.

Takuya nodded, still unsure, but he decided to trust Tucker's judgement.

Danny's legs turned into a ghostly tail as he flew through the hoops, the missiles and lasers being launched at him. Danny managed to dodge the missiles and lasers, while going through the hoops. A part of him couldn't help but want to show off a bit, especially since Takuya, one of the Legendary Warriors, was watching him. Danny grabbed onto the bottom edge of a hoop and flipped around three times before going to the next one while still dodging the missiles and lasers.

Takuya had to admit, he was impressed, because Danny was dodging those missiles and lasers like it was child's play. I knew he was nimble as a ghost, but this is really showing what he can do!

Then Danny flew closer to where he was. Takuya realized this was his cue for the pop-up targets.

Takuya pushed a button that was off to his left a bit, sending the corresponding target up to Danny's field of view. Danny shot ghost rays at the targets. The ones Takuya chose so far were just lesser ghosts, which Danny destroyed. Then it was time to mix it up a bit. Takuya pushed a button for one of the friendly pop-ups, this one was Jazz. Takuya waited for a bit, but no ghost ray was fired at the Jazz pop-up. Takuya then began to push the buttons faster, knowing that this would likely throw Danny off a bit. The next friendly pop-up was Andy this time. Again, no ghost ray was fired on it. To try to trip Danny up, Takuya had another friendly pop-up, this time it was of Takuya himself.

The pop-up was destroyed. Takuya lifted up his head over the destroyed pop-up. "Hey!"

"Whoops, sorry cuz!" Danny quickly apologized, sweatdropping. "Didn't expect the next pop-up to be a friendly!"

Takuya grumbled under his breath as he pushed another button to have a ghost pop-up come up into view.

When Danny was done with the pop-ups, Terriermon set up three huge walls made of steel. Danny looked at the walls before smirking. The ghost boy turned his body intangible before he easily flew through the walls like they were nothing. When Danny finished, he took on a relaxing position in the air as he returned to being solid, giving Takuya, Tucker, and Terriermon the thumbs up. However, he didn't see Andy was right behind him. Andy didn't see Danny coming up on him as he was focused on Sam, Salamon, and Dorumon.

"Okay, Sam, now this is how you-" Andy began to say when suddenly something big and cold crashed into him. "Oof!"

Both Danny and Andy were sprawled on the floor. Danny was on top of Andy though, since he was the one who flew into him. Dorumon, Salamon, and Sam looked at them in surprise and concern, though Sam was trying to hold back laughter.

Takuya looked back. "Andy! Danny! Are you two okay?!" He called back.

"Other than the 150 pound ghost boy on top of my back, I'm just peachy, thanks!" Andy grumbled.

Danny smiled sheepishly. "Hehe… Sorry, bro…"

"That's a nice lesson Andy; always watch your back," Sam chuckled.

"I think Danny needs more practice. After all, you did just crash into an ally," Tucker noted. "Better be glad you didn't hit your heads, or you'd probably have given Andy a concussion."

Danny grumbled as he got off of his twin brother. "I wasn't going to give him a concussion…"

"I don't know about that, you do have a pretty hard head," Terriermon chuckled.

"Considering how often you crash into a road or a building, I'd say yeah, you might have given Andy a concussion," Tucker chuckled as well.

Annoyed, Danny put his hand on the floor before sending out an ecto energy towards Tucker and Terriermon. Both of them blinked before they suddenly phased through the floor.

Andy blinked at that. "I didn't know you could do that."

Takuya gulped and backed away, trying to stay away from Danny. Okay… That scares me...

"Yeah, I just discovered it myself. I can stretch out my ghost powers to make other things invisible or intangible," Danny remarked.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" Sam grinned.

"I… uh… better go let Tucker and Terriermon out of the boiler room," Andy chuckled nervously before he moved out of the lab rather quickly.

"Hey, Andy, wait for me!" Dorumon ran after his partner.

"Um… I will go help Andy…" Takuya said nervously before turning and following Andy and Dorumon.

"... Wow, it's quiet in here," Sam said.

Danny gave a sigh. "I think I scared them."

Sam put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "They'll come around, Danny. I will admit, it was kind of scary to see that, so it makes sense they are scared, but they will see you didn't mean any harm to Tucker and Terriermon soon enough."

"They know Danny didn't mean any harm. I just think they were surprised by what he did," Salamon stated.

---

After Andy, Dorumon, and Takuya came back with Tucker and Terriermon, they decided to go into the next phase of their training.

"So you're going to try to learn how to duplicate yourself?" Andy asked after Danny told them his plan. "Isn't that a little advanced for you, bro?"

Danny frowned. "Well, Vlad can become like four Vlads at once. If I can't get that down, I won't stand a chance against him."

"Why duplicate yourself when you could just dye Andy's hair white, and have him put on the same hazmat suit as you, maybe use a flashlight or something to make him glow, and poof, there's two of you!" Terriermon grinned.

Dorumon slapped Terriermon upside the head. "Andy isn't a ghost, you bonehead. He can't fly or shoot ghost lasers out of his hands."

"Hey, it was just a joke!" Terriermon pouted. "A twin joke! Come on, I would totally make jokes like that all the time with Lopmon!"

"Getting back to focus…" Salamon sighed. "I do have to agree with Andy, it might be a technique that's too advanced for you right now, Danny. Without a proper mentor, it would be difficult for you to try to make duplicates of yourself. From what I understand, in order to duplicate itself, a ghost needs to be complex, and be able to know how to manipulate their own ectoplasm to create a copy of themselves."

Takuya frowned. "But the only other person who could teach Danny is not exactly… well, all there, if you know what I mean. And the price for getting taught by him is too high."

"Besides, I won't know how well I can pull it off until I try," Danny said. "I saw him use it before, I got a bit of a feel on how he did it. Now I just have to try to use it myself."

"Good luck, man," Tucker said.

"If you were an anime protagonist, this would either go really well, or really poorly," Andy sighed as he crossed his arms.

Danny chuckled sheepishly. "Who knows? It may work."

"Maybe we should step back, just in case," Dorumon suggested.

With that, everyone took a few steps away from the ghost boy as he started trying to focus on his powers. Danny gritted his teeth as he struggled to try to duplicate himself. Danny's body shivered as he struggled to manipulate his ectoplasm to split from his body. His cheeks began to turn green from the exertion. Danny's body then began to glow green before he seemed to split himself in half, or rather, gained an extra head.

Takuya balked as he backed up. "Okay… That is definitely a ghost power I do not want to mess with!"

"Hot fudge on a giant ice cream sundae!" Andy shouted in shock. "What the chocolate fudge am I looking at!?"

Takuya looked at Andy like he had sprouted two heads. "Uh… Andy? What did you just say?" Okay, I don't know which is weirder: Danny trying to duplicate himself or Andy's swearing...

"Wow…" Tucker said in awe before he smiled and pointed at Danny. "You can eat a Nasty Burger and fries at the same time with that!"

"And now I'm jealous," Terriermon muttered. "I wish I had two mouths to feed."

"Yeah, but I can only split myself this far." Danny head one replied.

"Vlad Plasmius can become four different Vlads at once." Danny head two added.

"Well… it's something, right?" Sam encouraged, though still trying to get over the fact her friend now had two heads.

"Um… what is it like having two heads?" Dorumon asked. "Do you think alike, or are you individuals? Does it hurt? Can you tell what the other is thinking like a twin?"

"And now suddenly I'm extremely uncomfortable," Andy groaned.

"You're telling me…" Takuya muttered under his breath.

"I still feel like I'm thinking like myself," Danny head one stated.

"And yet like I have another who's thinking like me as well," Danny head two added.

"It's a bit weird, yet not at the same time," Danny head one continued.

"It doesn't hurt by the way," Danny head two answered.

"Oh gosh, is this how we sounded to people when we used to finish each other's sentences?" Andy groaned. "I am very sorry to anyone who had to endure that creepiness."

Takuya felt very unnerved by this. "Um… would you mind trying to revert back to having only one head? I'm getting creeped out, which is saying something because you're a ghost."

"I don't know, I find it kind of cute," Salamon giggled.

Terriermon looked at Salamon like she was nuts. "Salamon, he has two heads! You think that is cute?!"

"I've seen weirder," Salamon shrugged. "A lot of Digimon have more than one head if I must remind you."

Terriermon groaned. "Yes, I know that about Digimon, Salamon, but that is because it is natural to them." He then pointed at the two-headed ghost boy. "That is not natural!"

"I might be rubbing off on her too, I showed her a lot of weird things," Sam chuckled sheepishly.

"I… haven't figured out how to pull myself back together yet…" The two Danny heads said at the same time.

"Stop doing that!" Andy demanded.

"It's a little hard to," Danny head two sighed.

"We both think the same way," Danny head one remarked.

"Huh… I wonder how that would look if Andy was the second head instead," Dorumon wondered curiously.

"Don't you dare imagine that!" Andy snapped.

Takuya groaned. "I might need brain bleach if I imagined that…"

"Look, this is what this weekend's training is about!" Danny head one spoke up.

"Non-stop drills," Danny head two said.

"No homework," Danny head one stated.

"No family," Danny head two added.

"No interruptions!" Both heads said at the same time.

"First off, we already did our homework," Andy spoke up. "Second, we probably can't really control the family situation, especially since, you know, half your team who's training with you are family. Third… STOP DOING THAT! Gosh, and I thought we were twins!"

Takuya chuckled nervously. "And I am friends with twins too, so seeing your heads talking at the same time is a bit creepy…"

"I don't know, I kinda like it. Man, if I still had my ghost powers, I'd try to give myself another head too." Tucker grinned.

"Don't," Terriermon groaned. "One two-headed ghost boy weirdo is enough for me."

Both the Danny heads pouted. "Hey! I'm not weird…" Danny head one pouted.

"Uh… am I?" Danny head two asked.

"Do I need to give you a mirror?" Dorumon deadpanned.

"HEY DANNY! ANDY!" Maddie's voice called from above the stairs of the lab, sounding excited about something.

"Craaaaaaap! Change back! Change back!" Andy yelled urgently before fumbling with his D-Arc to get the degeneration card for Dorumon.

"Quick, put everything away in the lab!" Tucker said to Terriermon quickly.

Terriermon ran to the control panel to have all the weapons and training stuff be put back into the walls of the lab.

The stuff was put away in a matter of seconds while Danny transformed back to his human form which looked normal save for one detail…

Danny had only one eye.

Andy dropped his D-Arc in shock at seeing cyclops Danny.

Takuya reacted quickly and slammed his one-eyed cousin in the back, which somehow, gave Danny his two eyes back.

Since Maddie was already pretty much down the stairs, Tucker and Sam picked up their Digimon partners before standing in front of Dorumon to keep him hidden while Andy picked up his D-Arc.

Maddie came into the lab fully. "Pack your bags boys, we're going to a mother-son science symposium in Florida! Doesn't that sound fun?"

Maddie was practically vibrating with excitement. Andy blinked, remembering this exact scenario in his vision before. Wait, this is happening right now?

Danny gained a pout on his face. "Aw man… Do we have to go?"

"Danny, this will be an excellent time for us to do some bonding," Maddie said. "Not to mention this is also a good time for you and your brother to bond as well. You two had been growing apart ever since the accident, and this is just what the doctor had ordered! You, me, and Andy will be going on this trip for the weekend. It's definitely going to be fun, and you might even get to use a telescope that lets you see the stars, maybe even the planets in our solar system when we get there!"

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"It is a Science Symposium, they're bound to have all sorts of technology there," Maddie stated.

"Maybe I should go…" Tucker remarked.

Danny was interested in being able to see the planets with the telescope, though he wasn't too happy about having to cancel his plans this weekend. He looked over at Andy, who wasn't looking at him exactly, and was sheepishly looking down at his D-Arc when he saw Danny's eyes looking at him.

Danny smiled. "Hey, this should be fun, bro. I mean, we do need some time to bond, I can see."

"Uh…" Andy started to say.

"Great!" Maddie pretty much exploded excitedly. "I'll go pack the bags! You boys get ready to leave in a few hours!"

"So that was the invitation…?" Andy muttered to himself.

"You sound like you expected that," Takuya noted.

Andy waved it off. "It's nothing…"

---

It was Saturday afternoon now. Most would just be waking up to enjoy their weekend. In Fenton Works, things were pretty busy already. Danny and Andy had their things packed. Andy was holding onto Dorimon, who was in his In-Training form again. Tucker and Sam had to go home, so it was just Jazz, Lopmon, and Takuya with them now.

"At least you two and Dorimon are going somewhere." Jazz said. "Takuya and I are stuck at home with Dad for 'special alone time'."

Andy's eyes widened at that as he recalled one of his visions showing his dad looking excited about something on the table in his lab while Jazz looked horrified. Could that be when it happened? Did Takuya Spirit Evolve at one point, and Dad captured him? Should I warn Takuya? I mean… am I really a seer? Or maybe… maybe something else is giving me these visions?

"I guess it's not so bad. Mom is right about one thing; Andy and I do need to spend some quality time together," Danny admitted. "And I mean more than just on the battlefield."

"We spend time together off the battlefield," Andy pointed out, still trying to figure out if he should tell Takuya about the vision or not. Maybe it was just a ghost I was seeing. I doubt Takuya would get that careless around Dad.

Danny looked at Andy. "Yeah, but lately we haven't spent it together as siblings, bro. I mean, like really relaxing."

"Yeah, Danny's heads spoke more like twins than you two do," Takuya commented.

"Heads?" Jazz blinked. "What do you mean by Danny's heads?"

Lopmon and Dorimon looked at each other that said 'uh-oh'.

"Danny was trying to duplicate himself." Takuya explained. "It was creepy seeing him with twin heads."

"Danny! Don't you know how dangerous it is to try something like that right now? You're still new to your powers, you can't just go trying to use advanced techniques like that. You need to start out slow," Jazz lectured as Andy and Takuya backed away.

Danny gave Takuya a glare that told him he was in for it when they got back. Takuya gulped, wondering why he always somehow managed to gain the irate of one or both of the Fenton twins.

"So… what is this place you're going to?" Takuya asked Andy while Jazz was lecturing Danny.

Andy held up the invitation paper Maddie let him hold on to. "Some science camp in Florida it looks like. They're sending a private jet for us to ride on. Apparently it's an all paid trip too, paid by the Dalv company. Though… I'm not really sure why they're doing this. Did they owe Mom a favor or something?"

Takuya frowned as he looked at the paper. "I don't know. But… that seems odd. I've never heard of a company called Dalv before."

"I'm not even sure if we should go. I mean this is likely a scam for all I know, but Mom seemed pretty excited about this. I wonder why though… is she worried about something?" Andy wondered.

"I'm not sure. I did see her looking through a scrapbook earlier though," Takuya mentioned.

"Ah, she must be thinking about how we've been growing apart… uh, as mother and children I mean. We are at that age after all, where we usually prefer to push our parents away, so it's natural she would want to spend quality time with us," Andy noted.

"Andy… stop reading Jazz's psychology books," Takuya grumbled.

Andy blinked. "Why? What's wrong? What'd I say?"

"Never mind…" Takuya sighed.

Dorimon was giggling. "Maybe Andy would make a pretty good psychologist himself one day."

Takuya chuckled. "Maybe he would."

Takuya looked over where Jack and Maddie were, seeing Jack was putting some kind of belt on Maddie's waist. "This is the Specter Deflection, honey. Guaranteed to repel and weaken any ghosts that comes in contact with you."

"Oh great, now Danny can't even touch Mom without getting 'repelled', that's not going to help rebuild their relationship." Andy rolled his eyes. "Maybe I can find a way to get her to take it off or something…"

Takuya frowned. "Or have Dorimon eat it."

"Yuck! No! Don't you feel all that ecto energy buzzing inside that belt? That would be nasty, and it's also poisonous for me," Dorimon stuck out his tongue in disgust.

Takuys sighed. "Never mind then…"

"Oh, and Jack, please try not to trash the house while I'm gone," Maddie said.

Jack grumbled. "Suck the house into a parallel dimension one time, and you can't let it go, can you?"

Takuay blinked, before he looked at Andy. "Did… did that actually happen?"

"... You don't want to know," Andy replied.

Takuya blinked again. "I… guess I will take your word for it…"

"Come on, Danny, Andy, it's time go," Maddie said as she walked to the front door.

"Wish us luck," Danny sighed. "And thanks, Jazz, I'll take what you said into consideration."

Andy hesitated for a moment before he looked at Takuya. "Hey… um… Takuya… just… try to be careful when you Spirit Evolve while you're home with Dad, alright?"

Takuya blinked. "Andy, you know I am careful. Don't worry." He assured his younger cousin.

"Yeah… right. Okay, maybe I'm just worried about nothing then," Andy sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow, or Monday."

"I'll be sure to take good care of him," Dorimon promised.

"You do that, Dorimon." Takuya chuckled. "I'll see you two when you get back."

---

Takuya was about to watch some TV after his aunt and twin cousins left, but then he remembered he was going to talk to Danny about what to do regarding his secret. Of course, since Danny left, Takuya realized, he only had Jazz and Lopmon to talk to if he had to. He groaned to himself. Ugh… Great… way to remember at the worst possible moment, Takuya...

Takuya knew Lopmon knew who he was, but Lopmon was rarely alone, and even then, he wasn't sure if Lopmon understood his situation as well as Danny did. He sighed and grumbled. Maybe I should call one of my other friends and see how they would deal with it?

Before Takuya could take out his D-Tector to call one of them, Jazz and Lopmon walked over to him.

"Hey, Takuya?" Jazz spoke up.

Takuya looked up at Jazz. "Huh? Oh. Hey, Jazz. What's up?"

"I was planning on going to the library later… would you like to go with me?" Jazz asked. "I was thinking it would be a good place for us to bond a little ourselves. You're usually always hanging out with my brothers."

Takuya looked at Jazz for a moment before he shrugged. "I don't see why not. It might be good to get out for a bit anyway." He then stood up to follow her.

"Oh not yet, but I mean when I do go," Jazz corrected. "I'll be leaving in a few hours. The library is more quiet around the evening."

Takuya chuckled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah… right. Okay. I can wait then."

Lopmon was looking at Jazz and Takuya quietly, but he didn't say anything.

Though something did make Takuya wonder about Andy's concern about being careful around Jack. Although Andy wouldn't admit it, he did have images in his head that seemed to have accurately predicted the future before. It made him wonder what Andy saw exactly involving Jack.

Takuya gave a shake of his head. It wasn't likely it was something that involved him. Andy probably saw Uncle Jack catching a ghost in his head or something.

The boy decided he should just relax and not worry about anything to do with Digimon, or ghosts, or secrets. He was going to pretend he was just a normal 15 year old boy, and turned on the TV.

---

Maddie was talking to Danny and Andy while they were sitting together on the private jet that was flying through the sky. Maddie noticed that Andy had been playing on his handheld game with his plushy on his lap, while Danny was thinking about something.

"Come on, you two, this weekend is supposed to be about us. Put away the game, and stop thinking about whatever it is you're thinking about," Maddie spoke up.

Andy looked up from the game he was playing. "You're kidding, right? What else are we going to do while we're waiting to get to our destination?"

Danny sighed. "Andy's got a point. What else can we do?"

"We can talk," Maddie stated. "Maybe catch each other up on what we've been doing. Share what new interests we may have. You know, like how we used to when you two were little?"

"Do you want the truth or one of those little white lies that won't hurt your feelings?" Danny asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"Ah, you must be experiencing that time in a parent's life where their teenage child tries to push them away, and you want to be a part of their lives, you're worried that we'll start to exclude you as we get older. And you also miss those good old days when we used to talk to you about everything, but we also feel like we need more space. It's quite the conundrum really…" Andy noticed that Maddie and Danny were staring at him. "What?"

"You… Never mind…" Danny muttered. "You've been reading Jazz's books again, it sounds like…"

"It's a good read," Andy remarked. It also helps me try to understand what could be going on in your mind.

"Well, you're not wrong, Andy," Maddie sighed. "I do feel like that. It's probably why I got overexcited about this trip. But it's also good to just get away from it all too, and just enjoy that warm, sunny, Florida coastline."

"I suppose, even though it's almost October," Andy chuckled.

Danny sighed. "I guess…"

Just then, the PA came on in the cabin. "This is your captain speaking. If you look out your window on your left, you will see the cold, bleak, Colorado Rockies."

"What? The Rockies? That's nowhere near Florida, what gives?" Danny asked, confused.

Andy looked out the window. Dorimmon frowned a little, getting concerned. "Uh… he's not lying. I see a lot of mountains out there, but no coastline."

"And if you look out the window on your right side, you will see me, bailing out before the plane careens out of control and crashes." The captain added cheerfully, as if enjoying the idea.

Maddie and Danny all but squished Andy against the window as they looked out to see the pilot grinning as he waved at them mockingly while falling out of the plane. And the plane started to take a nosedive.

Danny and Maddie quickly began running to the cockpit of the plane. Andy had to unstick himself from the window first. "Why that no good fuzzy pickle, cheesecake- I need to stop doing that!"

Andy grabbed Dorimon on the seat and ran to the cockpit as well. Maddie was on the pilot seat, trying to bring the plane up.

"The controls are jammed! How are we going to get off this?" Maddie frowned.

Andy was about to call something out when suddenly visions came to his head.

I saw a pair of parachutes. Mom had to hook onto me since there were only two parachutes. Danny took the other one. We jumped out of the plane while the parachutes went off.

I saw Danny turning into a ghost, and me taking off the Specter Deflector from Mom's waist. Danny grabs Mom and flies her out of the plane to safety while I rode on Dorugamon.

I saw myself digivolving Dorimon into Dorugamon, then I had Mom get on his back so we could get to safety. Mom freaks out, but I managed to convince her to get on since we were about to crash.

Andy shook his head, coming back to reality. His eyes darted to the two parachutes that he saw in his vision. This was the first time he saw diverging futures, meaning he had three different paths to take.

Danny bent down from the chair Maddie was in and transformed into a ghost. Andy quickly ran over to Danny. "Wait, Danny!"

"What?" Danny asked.

Andy pointed at the Specter Deflector Maddie was wearing. "You can't touch her. But we can still get off safely."

Danny blinked before changing back to his human form. "How?"

Andy pointed at the two parachutes with Maddie and Danny's names on them. "We're one short though."

Maddie looked back at her boys. "Parachutes! We can use those!" She then frowned when she saw there were only two parachutes. "Andy, you will have to ride with me."

Andy had a tight grip on Dorimon, making sure he didn't drop his Digimon partner as Maddie put on her parachute and began to hook Andy up to her. Danny put on his own parachute, not that he needed it, but for the sake of Maddie not knowing her own son was a ghost, he would need to use it. Andy wasn't sure Maddie was mentally ready to know one of her children was half dead, heck, he definitely wasn't.

Once Maddie was sure Andy was securely hooked to her, and Danny had his parachute on, she had the plane's door open up. Then Maddie and Danny jumped down from the plane and into the open sky. Andy's grip tightened around Dorimon.

As soon as they were out of the plane, Maddie and Danny pulled their parachute cords and opened the fabric chutes. They drifted by the pilot. "Folks, I would like to inform you at this time that you were the victims of a cruel hoax. Thank you for flying Air Evil Plot!" The captain then turned into a ghostly mailman and flew back into the plane, which then flew off into the distance.

Andy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He then whispered to Dorimon. "Dorimon, remind me to slaughter that ghost later."

"Duly noted," Dorimon whispered back, feeling just as vengeful as Andy was about this.

Danny frowned before folding his arms in a huff. "So much for a fun bonding time…" He muttered.

"Hey, don't look so glum! Look at the view!" Maddie said, trying to look at the bright side.

Probably would be better if I was riding on Dorugamon. Andy pouted.

They soon landed in the woods. The parachute landing on top of Maddie, Andy, and Dorimon.

"Oh, just give me a minute to unhook us, Andy," Maddie said as she started fiddling with the hooks.

Danny walked over to them, likely easily phasing out of his parachute, and pulled the parachute off of them just as Maddie unhooked Andy from her.

"Wow… That's not how I expected this trip to go." Danny said. "Are you okay, Andy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But that…" Andy frowned. "I can't believe we fell for that. Really, a ghost pranking us on a plane? And then dropping us off in the middle of nowhere!"

"You're telling me, bro…" Danny grumbled.

"Not to worry, boys, this will be an excellent camping trip. I can teach you how to forage for food as well, since… most of our things were on that plane," Maddie chuckled as she pulled out a machete from her boot. "First, let's find us a good spot to set up camp."

Andy wanted to groan. I hate camping...

Danny sighed. "I guess we should start searching then…"

Maddie was using the machete to slice through the plants, she took the lead as the twins followed her.

"It's not so bad out here," Dorimon quietly commented. "I mean Sam did say we should try to get closer to nature, right?"

"True, but not like this, Dorimon." Danny said back quietly. "It's one thing to say it and enjoy it in a normal situation, but it's another to literally be dumped into nature."

"I don't like nature, and nature don't like me," Andy grumbled.

"I thought you liked animals," Dorimon questioned.

"I like animals, not nature," Andy corrected. "Well, I like nature, I just don't like being in nature."

"Aren't you in nature all the time when walking outside?" Dorimon asked as he looked up at Andy with his big eyes.

"... I don't like being lost in the woods, happy now?" Andy reiterated with a grumble. "Besides, if Mom keeps slicing through the plant life, some plant ghost might get angry and attack us."

"Don't jinx it, bro!" Danny hissed quietly.

"I'm not jinxing it, it's bound to happen, bro, and I don't need to be a seer to know that. It's just our life… well, half your life," Andy remarked nonchalantly.

Danny blinked. "Did you just admit to being a seer?"

"What part of that sentence was me admitting to being a seer?" Andy raised an eyebrow. "I was talking hypothetically."

Danny sighed. "Never mind…"

"But…" Andy looked down.

Danny blinked. "What is it?"

"I can't deny that I… have been seeing… visions of the future lately," Andy admitted.

Danny blinked in surprise. "What? Then… That means you are some kind of psychic!"

"I doubt it. I mean I've never had visions of the future before until recently. I think maybe it's something else that's showing me the future. Could be our weird link, or it could have something to do with Dorimon. Sam said his eyes would glow whenever I would see into the future after all," Andy stated.

Danny frowned in thought. "That's interesting."

"Hey! Boys! You're going to want to see this!" Maddie called out to them suddenly.

The twins ran over, only to stare at the large house in front of them once they were able to see beyond the brush.

"Wow… Who's house is that?" Danny asked. "It's huge!"

"I don't know, but it's definitely ritzy. Maybe we can ask whoever lives there to help us out." Maddie smiled. "But what are the odds that we'd find this cottage out in the middle of nowhere?"

Just then, the honking of a vehicle hit the hearing of the two humans, half ghost, and Digimon. They all turned to the honk, and were surprised to see a golf cart stopping in front of them. The driver, however, was what surprised them the most.

"Hello, Maddie and Danny Fenton." The driver said with a smile before he saw the younger twin beside Danny. "And Andy Fenton too? What a real surprise..."

"Vlad Masters?!" All three said at once.

"My, I didn't expect you three out here of all places!" Vlad said before he picked up two gift baskets, one was pink with Maddie's name on it, and the other was blue with Danny's name on it. There wasn't one for Andy though. "Personalized gift baskets?"

"You say you didn't expect us, yet had gift baskets for… two of the three people here?" Andy frowned.

"Oh, did I forget one? I'm so sorry I did." Vlad said, although he didn't really mean it.

Maddie seemed a bit too happy to care that much though, and she went over to Vlad, happy to see her old friend, as well as the fact he could help them get back home. She also appreciated the gift baskets, even if Vlad was one short.

"Oh? Who's this cutie?" Maddie asked, seeing Vlad's 'stuffed animal' on the seat.

"Oh, it's just a souvenir from one of my many business trips." Vlad replied smoothly with a grin.

"Aww, it looks like a cute combination between a bat and a hamster," Maddie cooed as she picked up Tsukaimon.

Danny frowned at Vlad. "You're up to something…"

Dorimon growled a little at the Tsukaimon. Andy put a hand over Dorimon's head to try to calm him down.

"Oh, you think?" Vlad grinned at Danny before he whispered something into his watch.

"What was that?" Maddie asked, having heard him mumbling since she was right beside him.

"Oh! I just flapjacks! Yes, I have pancakes." Vlad replied, covering up what he had said with a clever lie.

Then Vlad moved the golf cart, which caused mud to splash against Danny. Andy was a few inches away from Danny, and was thankfully spared from the mud splats.

Danny frowned as he pouted a bit, but it was more of a glare than a pout.

When Vlad drove off with Maddie, Andy shivered at the green eyes Danny had showing from his glare before he turned himself intangible to get rid of the mud.

"That guy… I'm starting to think Vlad planned this…" Danny grumbled.

"No! Vlad couldn't have possibly planned sending us that private jet, free of charge, have a ghost pilot it all the way out here, and have us dropped off near his fancy cottage, it's just so inconceivable!" Andy sarcastically said.

"Bro, there's no need to be sarcastic." Danny sighed.

"I get sarcastic when I'm stressed," Andy said, looking a little pale. "We're here… in the middle of nowhere… trapped with a powerful ghost and Digimon hybrid, who could destroy us at any moment… Takuya is far away. Jazz is far away. We're alone out here!"

"Andy! Calm down!" Dorimon spoke up. "Your heart rate's getting too high."

Danny frowned. "Dorimon's right! Just calm down! I'm sure we can handle whatever Vlad throws at us."

Andy remembered all too well how their last battle went. It wasn't a battle, it was a slaughter. They didn't stand a chance against Vlad, or ShadowSeraphimon. And they had Takuya with them back then.

"Andy, remember, Dorumon can reach Champion now. You have more cards to use, and I know more of what Vlad can do." Danny continued. "You don't need to panic so much."

Andy sighed. "Maybe I should just call Takuya to get someone to pick us up. If we stay here, Vlad is going to cut us open and use our organs for spare parts."

"What? I know Vlad is crazy, but he's not that crazy, bro." Danny frowned.

"Oh… I meant he'll do that to me. It's pretty clear he didn't want me here," Andy said.

"Bro, whatever Vlad has planned, because of you being here, we can throw it off." Danny assured his twin.

"We'll be okay. If Vlad wanted to hurt us, he would've done it already," Dorimon said, also hoping to assure his partner.

Andy squeezed the bridge of his nose before letting out a sigh to calm down. "Right… I just have to calm down and think. We… should probably go make sure he doesn't make out with Mom first."

Danny gave a disgusted look. "If he does that, I am looking into brain bleach."

---

Jazz was holding Lopmon as she went over to Takuya. "Hey, so you ready to go to the library now? I set up a nice private room for us to just chat and read."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah, I'm set." He replied. His hand was in his pocket, holding his D-Tector just in case.

"Hey Jazz, Takuya!" Jack called, holding some kind of baton in his hand. "This is the Jack-O-Ninetails, how about I show you two a quick tutorial on how to use it?"

Jazz frowned. "How about a quick 'no'? Takuya and I are about to head out to the library to catch up and read some books."

"Maybe you can show us later," Takuya offered.

"I guess…" Jack frowned a little. "But keep an eye on your cousin. Teenage boys today are like wild animals."

Takuya rolled his eyes, but agreed to the request. "Okay, I will keep an eye on Jazz."

When Jazz got to the front door, Lopmon's ears suddenly came up. "Jazz, there's a ghost on the other side of this door."

Takuya looked back, just he got a flash of heat from his Spirits. "Oh no…"

Jazz frowned, she didn't open the door, but as she was backing away, there was a giant, glowing green rabbit that had red eyes and sharp fangs that phased through the door in order to get to her.

Lopmon and Takuya were about to jump at the mutated rabbit ghost, but Jack quickly sprang into action.

"Back off! She's a minor!" Jack exclaimed as he aimed the Jack-O-Ninetales at the rabbit ghost, snagging it in the contraption before it was squeezed and the ghostly rabbit exploded into green ectoplasmic goop and fur bits.

The ectoplasmic goop and fur was all over Jack and Takuya, who had been foolishly standing too close to Jack when this happened.

Takuya looked himself over. "Oh great… Now I'm covered in ecto-goop…" He groaned as he tried to get the stuff out of his hair. "What else could go wrong today…?"

"Don't ever say that!" Jazz snapped at her goop covered cousin.

"Well, that wasn't what I expected, but at least the ghost is gone… sort of," Jack noted. "I'm going to need to get this cleaned up later. But where there's one ghost, there's bound to be more. I'm going to have to put this under ghost lockdown! Jazz, Takuya, you two will need to help me."

"What? What about the Ghost Shield?" Jazz asked.

Jack frowned. "I used the Ghost Shield's power to make your mom that Specter Deflector, so we don't have a Ghost Shield right now…"

Takuya smacked his face with his open hand. And things just got worse...

"I'll go get some weapons to defend ourselves with in the lab," Jazz sighed. I hope Mom, and my brothers are doing better than we are right now.

---

The sun was starting to go down by this point. Danny, Andy, Dorimon, Maddie, Vlad, and Tsukaimon were in the large and fancy cabin. One could say it was more of a big house than a cabin. They were currently in, what Andy could only guess is the living room, or possibly the trophy room since there were a lot of animal pelts and heads mounted on the walls. There were bookcases, which was what Maddie was looking at. Andy kept Dorimon close to his chest, feeling like a nervous wreck.

Danny was sitting in one of the chairs, looking around at the room before his gaze drifted to the floor, where he saw a stuffed bear skin looking up at him, mouth wide open. Danny gave a small yelp before he realized it was only stuffed.

"Sam would have a heart attack if she ever saw this place…" Andy hissed.

"Or get Salamon to try to destroy it," Dorimon added quietly.

Danny looked back at Vlad, who was looking at himself in a mirror, wearing a white top that had his name on its left side in red threading. What caught Danny's attention, however, was the fact that Vlad's name was spelled backwards in the mirror, spelling out 'Dalv'. And that was when the older twin realized it was Vlad who had sent that invitation in the first place. It had all been a trap.

Andy looked over at Maddie, she was holding Tsukaimon with one hand, and checking a book with the other. She seemed to have grown rather fond of Tsukaimon, likely because of his cuteness, not knowing he was alive, and evil. Vlad didn't seem to mind that Maddie was holding him.

Vlad then turned to face the Fenton family members currently in his large cabin. "So, what brings you three to these parts?" Vlad asked with a grin of sorts.

"You'll never believe it," Maddie started, looking over at Vlad. "We were on our way to the Symposium when our pilot suddenly forced us out of the plane right over your house."

If Andy didn't know his mother, he would've sworn she knew exactly what happened, or that it had been a set up. Mom! I know you're a smart woman, so why can't you figure this out? How can you be a genius yet also be this dense!?

"Yeah, it's almost like it's some sort of villainous plot." Danny added. "What an incredibly well-planned coincidence." He gave Vlad a glare as he said that last comment.

"Danny, please, don't poke the wasp nest," Andy hissed a warning at his brother.

Vlad just walked over to the boys. "That would be an oxymoron, my dear boy. Oh, and speaking of morons, how's your old man?"

Danny just flashed his green eyes at Vlad, angered that the older halfa was taunting their dad.

"Oooh, the scaaaary eyes," Vlad mocked before he shot out literal lasers from his own eyes at Danny, who jumped, barely dodging it. The lasers pierced through the chair Danny was sitting on.

Andy quickly backed away from his brother. "I'm not getting involved with this. I'm human, my limbs would be cut off from a laser shot like that."

Danny looked back at Andy. "Sorry, bro…"

Dorimon was growling as he glared at Vlad, but it was so low only Andy could hear it, and feel it.

Vlad ignored Andy and Dorimon entirely as he walked over to Maddie. Maddie had heard Danny yelping earlier, and was turning to see what was going on before Vlad got close to her, smiling.

"Maddie…" Vlad began to say. "I'm so glad you're here. It gives me the chance to apologize for Jack's behavior and our college reunion."

Maddie turned back to the book before a little ghost pop up came up. Tsukaimon was rolling his eyes. He knew Vlad had a thing for Maddie, but he didn't like having to be held like this.

Andy was helping Danny up with his free hand when Danny decided to poke the wasp nest some more. "Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Dad possessed by some filthy, putrid, lonely, single ghost?"

Andy immediately let go of Danny's hand and ran several feet away from his brother. It was a good thing he did, because not long after Danny made that comment, Vlad, with his hands behind his back, pointed a finger at Danny. That finger shot out an ecto laser at Danny. The ecto laser hit Danny in the chest, and made him hit a wall that caused a small hole.

Maddie perked up when she heard something hit the wall, but Vlad was there to distract her. He snapped the book shut and took it from Maddie. "Yes, well, if he hadn't been so weak, that wouldn't have happened, hm?"

"Now Vlad, Jack may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he means well, and he isn't weak," Maddie defended, though she was in too good of a mood to let it bother her too well, and she also knew Vlad didn't like Jack very much.

Andy looked at Danny, who was trying to climb out of the wall. "I told you. I wonder if Takuya's hot headedness rubbed off on you…"

Danny groaned. "Maybe… I don't think that was very smart to poke the wasp nest on my part…"

"Noooo? Really?" Andy sarcastically grumbled.

"Enough with the sarcasm and help me out," Danny groaned.

"You're the one with ghost powers, just phase yourself out of there, Mom isn't looking." Andy rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah…" Danny felt foolish for not thinking of that from the beginning. He turned intangible and pulled himself from the wall before returning to a tangible form. "Thankfully Mom didn't see that…"

"Or maybe she should… maybe then she would know what Vlad is doing," Andy grumbled.

"Mom may be a genius, but she certainly is dense in other areas…" Danny sighed. "No offense to her of course."

"By the way, Vlad," Maddie spoke up, getting the boys' attention. "Where did you get this plushy? It feels so lifelike, and the fur is very high quality. I've been meaning to try to find Danny something like this since Andy and Jazz have their own special plushies."

Upon hearing that, Danny blushed hard, he didn't realize just how much Maddie had been paying attention to them lately.

Vlad smiled. "Oh, I would love to tell you, but the creator of that plushy is very reclusive and only makes a few at a time. I could put in an offer for you, if you so desire, but it will take time to get one made. Besides, I would like for Daniel to have a special plushy as well~"

"Wow… so he's planning to get you your own partner so he could truly train you to be his evil apprentice," Andy noted. "Hey, bro, if you get brainwashed, let me know what it's like to train under a billionaire villain, alright?"

Danny rolled his eyes at that. "I wouldn't accept a Digimon partner from Vlad even if he paid me."

"What if he blackmailed you?" Dorimon asked.

"What?" Danny frowned.

"Well… it's not pretty, but look at the situation we're in. Andy and Maddie, two people who are precious to you, are in Vlad's house… Vlad can easily do whatever he wants to us here," Dorimon whispered.

Danny frowned at hearing that. "That's true… And he is able to merge with Tsukaimon too…" Danny shivered at that memory.

"I already told you; we're at Vlad's mercy right now." Andy frowned.

"So what should we do?" Danny asked. "I sure as heck do not want to be his evil heir, but I don't want him to hurt you guys either."

"Let's see what happens first. I don't think Vlad would want to hurt Mom… me and Dorimon on the other hand… I guess as long as we don't prove to be a threat to him or his plans, he'll leave us alone. I think it's you he'll likely keep an eye on," Andy stated.

Danny sighed. "I guess we don't have much of a choice right now."

Maddie walked over to Danny, the boys quickly stopped talking and looked up to her, though they were also trying to hide the hole in the wall. "Hey, Danny, why don't you hold on to this and tell me what you think?"

Before Danny could even protest, Maddie dropped Tsukaimon in his arms.

Danny blinked. "W-wait! I can't…" But Maddie had turned away before Danny could get the rest of his protest out.

Maddie was talking to Vlad about something, but neither of the twins were listening. Danny was looking at Tsukaimon. The same one who merged with Vlad and almost destroyed them all at the reunion. Tsukaimon was looking at both Danny and Andy. Dorimon was blinking at Tsukaimon. Although they had that close call with ShadowSeraphimon, this was the first time Dorimon and Tsukaimon looked at each other face to face.

Tsukaimon grinned a sinister grin. "Well, it has been a while, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough if you ask me." Andy frowned.

"Weren't you the one who kicked us out of that Axion Labs too?" Dorimon questioned.

"Ah, you saw me then too? You really are smarter than I thought~" Tsukaimon taunted.

Danny frowned. "Why are you working with Vlad of all people? Weren't you once a Celestial Digimon?"

Tsukaimon seemed genuinely shocked at Danny's comment. "How do you know about that?"

"We… learned a lot of things since we last saw each other," Danny answered. "I know you were once a Celestial Digimon in the Digital World. Yet you're here, working with Vlad of all people."

Tsukaimon sneered here. "Well, maybe I was at one point, but that changed. I saw how weak the Digital World was becoming, being separated from the human world. If Digimon and humans can work together to protect the Digital World, what does that say about their teamwork now? Digimon and humans could rule together."

"That's not the only thing, is it?" Andy remarked. "You teamed up with someone who is also half ghost. If you were looking for Digimon and humans to cooperate, why team up with someone who is also a ghost?"

"Ghosts are powerful beings. Many of them were once human before they had passed on in this world," Tsukaimon stated. "If a human could harness the power of a ghost, as well as work with Digimon, we could create the perfect being with elements from all three worlds."

Danny frowned. "But that would…" He shook his head. "Look, I may not know much about the Digital World, but I believe that world, the Ghost Zone, and the human world are all meant to be separate for a reason."

"Whatever that reason is, that is now ancient history. There shall come a time where the worlds will finally unite and merge into one. Just as humans, ghosts, and Digimon must learn to co-exist and live as one. Who would be better a leader in this new era than a being who is the perfect balance between human, ghost, and Digimon?" Tsukaimon grinned. "Our bio-merge is not perfect yet. We still need to stabilize each other, otherwise we cannot hold our form for long. What you saw before, when we were ShadowSeraphimon, was an incomplete fusion. He was pure Digimon fused with a human, Much like how the Legendary Warriors are. We haven't yet figured out how to safely transfer Vlad's ghost powers into the Digimon's body. But we will keep working on it until it is perfected."

Danny frowned, taking in this information. He, Andy and Dorimon had just learned something important, something that could be an edge if they ever fought Vlad and Tsukaimon again.

"Why are you telling us this?" Dorimon asked, sounding suspicious.

"Hmm… I'm not really sure why. Perhaps I just felt compelled to tell another half ghost about this, just in case I may need a new partner at some point," Tsukaimon remarked, looking at Danny.

Danny felt chills run down his spine at the idea of having such an evil Digimon as his partner. "Why would you need a new partner? You have Vlad."

"And yet our partnership is unstable. His D-Arc is starting to show signs of cracks, indicating how fragile our link is," Tsukaimon noted. "We don't really care for each other, we're just using each other as a means to an end. Besides… human children always seem to work better with Digimon than adults do."

Danny frowned again. But if I am going to get a Digimon partner, I don't want Tsukaimon. He's so… evil and… almost heartless...

"Is this what you really want though? The Seraphimon I've heard of wasn't like this, he didn't care for power or merging the three worlds." Dorimon frowned.

"That was before my eyes were opened, and my mind was expanded to bigger and better things," Tsukaimon said.

"... By what? Or… whom?" Dorimon glared his golden eyes into Tsukaimon's golden eyes.

The four were quiet as they looked at Tsukaimon, and Tsukaimon looked back. So it caught them by surprise when they heard Vlad's proposal to Maddie.

"-dump Jack and stay here with me. You and your sons both can, what do you say?" Vlad proposed.

Maddie looked surprised before she turned angry. "Are you nuts?!" She exclaimed. Maddie then turned to Andy and Danny. "Boys, c'mon! We're leaving!" She then stormed off, but not before grabbing Andy and Danny by the arms and pulling them along with her.

Danny and Andy yelped in surprise as Maddie was dragging them. Danny still had Tsukaimon in his arms when Maddie pulled them out of the cabin. Danny, however, had forgotten about Tsukaimon, because this gave him the chance to rub this into Vlad's face as they were walking out of the cabin.

"Bye, Vlad, and as a lonely, single male in your 40s, might I suggest internet dating, or even a cat?" Danny taunted as he waved at the older halfa.

Vlad was shouting something back at them, not seeming to care Danny was carrying away his Digimon partner with him. "Mark my words, Maddie, nobody says 'no' to Vlad Masters. You will rue the day you spurred my affections, and I. Will. Not. Get. A. CAT!"

"Danny… why are you still carrying that… 'plush' with you?" Andy hissed, seeing Tsukaimon still in Danny's arms.

Danny looked down and almost yelped, only stopping himself when he realized Maddie was just ahead of them. "Ah… shit… I forgot I was carrying him…"

"Danny! Did you just use a swear word?" Maddie stopped and frowned at her oldest son.

"This is just not your day, bro," Andy sighed.

"Uh… Sorry, Mom. I didn't realize I was carrying Vlad's plushy with me." Danny replied.

"... Keep it, that man doesn't deserve that plushy anyways," Maddie growled as they walked further into the woods.

"But I don't want to keep it." Danny frowned before he looked at Tsukaimon. "Go fly back to Vlad."

Tsukaimon blinked. "Why?" He then grinned that creepy grin again. "I like being here with you~"

"Must be attracted to halfas, especially children halfas," Andy joked, though that was probably the wrong thing to say since Danny was paling. "I-it was a joke, Danny!"

Danny seemed to calm down somewhat. "Even if it was… It wasn't funny, bro!"

"Who's to say that isn't the truth?~" Tsukaimon grinned.

Danny dropped Tsukaimon on the ground before he walked away with Maddie. Andy blinked, looking at Tsukaimon and at Danny before hurrying after his family. Tsukiamon wasn't one to give up so easily, however, he flew up and followed after them. Maybe I'll come back later, Vlad. This child seems interesting.

Tsukaimon followed Danny before flitting down and landing on Danny's head. "You can't get rid of me that easily~" He whispered to Danny.

Danny tensed upon feeling something on his head, and hearing Tsukaimon's whisper made him pale again. "Oh no… Bro… Is that small Digimon on my head…?"

Andy and Dorimon stared up at the Tsukaimon that was on Danny's head. "... You have… a very cute hat…?"

"Get off!" Danny snapped, brushing his hair with his hands, making Tsukaimon fly up a bit until Danny finally stopped, then landed back on his head.

"Ugh… Great… Now I have a creepy Digimon on my head…" Danny grumbled, having felt Tsukaimon land on his head again.

"Boys, what's the hold up?" Maddie called.

"Get rid of him later, let's wait until we set up camp for the night," Andy suggested.

Danny nodded. "Good idea. I don't want to worry about him coming back right now anyway…"

Tsukaimon just stuck out his tongue in victory, being a bit of a cheeky Digimon.

Dorimon raised an eyebrow, not sure what to make of Tsukaimon.

---

Meanwhile, back at Fenton Works in Amity Park… Jack had been facing a lot of animal ghosts that had been trying to invade the house lately. Jazz and Takuya had been helping with their Fenton Rods, and Fenton Bazookas, but more ghosts kept coming. Lopmon hated that he wasn't allowed to fight back because Jack was here, but he needed to protect his partner.

"You know, I probably shouldn't have gutted the Ghost Shield to make that Specter Deflector…" Jack muttered as he was looking for more ghosts.

"You think?" Takuya grumbled.

"To be fair, we've never been invaded by ghosts like this before. Sure there was that one time ghosts invaded the town, but never our house. It was like a ghost repellent on its own," Jack noted. "I just didn't think the one time we couldn't use the Ghost Shield, that's when they decided to strike."

Takuya looked down at his Fenton Rod, not sure if what he was planning was going to be worth the risk, but if it drove off the ghosts, maybe it would. He gripped his D-Tector in his pocket. If I hide and Spirit Evolve, maybe it will scare off those ghost animals. If what I recall is correct, ghosts are wary of Digimon and if one is around, then they are more likely to leave.

Takuya looked at Lopmon. Right, the Digimon needs to be strong for it to work. Lopmon, while strong, isn't strong enough to be considered a threat on his own at the level he is in now.

Deciding to take the chance, Takuya looked to his uncle and cousin. "I will go see if there are any ghosts upstairs."

"Wait, it might not be a good idea to split up," Jack said. "Besides, you kids aren't used to fighting with ghosts."

"We'll be fine, Dad," Jazz spoke up. "We've been able to take care of some of the ghosts already. Why don't you go upstairs and see if there are anymore? Takuya and I will stay here and watch each other's backs."

Takuya frowned as he heard Jazz say that. Great… With Jazz around, I can't Spirit Evolve. I need to find a way to ditch her so I can.

"Good idea, Jazzypants! You two stay together, but scream if you can't handle the ghost on your own!" Jack said before he began running up the stairs.

"I don't understand, why were there so many ghosts invading this house?" Lopmon frowned. "These are animal ghosts, they don't have much reasoning, they're just attacking as if they were told to by a trainer."

Takuya frowned. "Yeah, I hate to say it, but I think someone is targeting the house, or more like… Uncle Jack…"

"Why?" Jazz asked. "Maybe I should call the others for help?"

"No. We can handle this." Takuya said. "It's just a thought. We have no proof someone is targeting him."

"Besides… we can handle these ghosts, it's not the first time we dealt with animal ghosts after all," Lopmon stated. "It's just harder for us because we're in an enclosed space, and your dad is here, so it's harder for me to fight back or even digivolve."

And I can't Spirit Evolve because of that fact as well… Takuya thought to himself.

Suddenly, two mutated bird ghosts flew into the house. They had four talons instead of just two. Their bodies were bright green, and their eyes were pupiless red.

Takuya tensed up. "Aw great… More ghosts, and they're birds!"

The birds dived at Jazz and Takuya. Takuya slammed one of them in the face with the Fenton Rod. The other bird tackled Jazz back, filling her black long sleeve shirt with green goo, and tears. She gasped as the bird was about to sink its sharp claws into her when Lopmon jumped at it.

"Tiny Twister!" Lopmon twirled around, creating a small tornado, which sucked the bird ghost into it, allowing his ears to slap it constantly until it was pushed out of the twister and slammed into a wall.

Takuya took his Fenton Rod and threw it at the bird ghost that was currently slammed into the wall, penetrating it and causing the bird ghost to explode into ecto goop.

The other bird that wasn't destroyed grabbed onto Takuya's arms, trying to dig its claws into him. Takuya let out a yelp before Jazz stood up and bashed her Fenton Rod into the bird's face, making it explode into more ecto goo all over Takuya.

Takuya gave a look at Jazz. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but PLEASE don't cover me in ecto-goop next time!"

"Sorry, it's not like I planned for that to happen," Jazz grumbled. "Maybe we should put on some hazmat suits of our own."

Takuya frowned before he realized that would be perfect for him to slip away to Spirit Evolve. "Hey, yeah! Why don't you go and get us some hazmat suits? I can wait here for you."

"But we shouldn't split up from each other. Besides, you don't have ghost powers, or a Digimon partner to protect yourself with," Jazz pointed out.

Lopmon looked at Takuya for a moment, seeming hesitant about something.

"Uh… I can wait here with Lopmon. He can protect me for now." Takuya said quickly. "And I can handle myself. You'll be with your dad upstairs, right?"

Jazz blinked for a moment, before she sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll be back soon, Takuya. Lopmon… keep an eye on him."

"Okay," Lopmon said before Jazz began running upstairs.

Lopmon looked back at Takuya. "You can't… keep hiding your secret forever, Takuya… not from someone as smart and observant as Jazz."

Takuya sighed. "I know, but until I am ready, I will do what I can to do so. And well, I don't see much of a choice to do so. But, if my uncle is in danger, I will do what I can to protect him."

"Are you sure? Spirit Evolving may not always be the best solution," Lopmon warned.

Takuya frowned. "Given how many ghosts are coming, I don't see any other options. And who knows? It might work out."

Lopmon sighed. "Alright, I can't stop you if you've made up your mind, Takuya."

Takuya nodded. "I'll be fine, don't worry." He held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now as his Human Spirit, Agunimon was ready in case any new ghosts came in. I hope this works… Those animal ghosts respond to instinct, and with me being a powerful Digimon, they may just run the next time some get in here.

---

Meanwhile, back in the wilderness of the Rockies, Maddie and the boys set up camp. They had a campfire going to light up the darkness of the night. Maddie finished building a wooden tent for them to sleep in.

Maddie then took out three small pills and dropped them onto the ground before squeezing a water dropper three times. The drops hit the pills, only for the 'pills' to expand into three sleeping bags.

"How did she do that?" Dorimon asked, surprised.

"Fenton Sleeping Bags," Andy shrugged. "... I only wonder how you get them back into their pilled states…"

Dorimon blinked. "That… is a good question. And for that matter, how come she didn't patent that idea?"

"There's a lot of ideas our parents have that they never sell to the public," Danny grumbled, "I have no idea why. Probably because everyone thinks they're just crackpot ghost hunters."

Dorimon shrugged as Tsukaimon giggled from on top of Danny's head.

"They certainly are~" Tsukaimon grinned.

"Would you get off?!" Danny snapped, but not too loudly.

Tsukaimon just stuck out his tongue at Danny.

Maddie then came over to them before sitting down beside Danny. "Aww, that plushy looks good on your head, Danny."

"It certainly does, doesn't it?" Andy laughed.

Danny just grumbled. "Whatever…"

Maddie then pulled out a dry jerky from her pocket. "Fenton Jerky?"

"Pass," Danny said, still annoyed.

"I'll take it," Andy spoke up before Maddie handed him the jerky.

While Maddie sighed, Andy fed the jerky to Dorimon, who was likely hungrier than Andy was.

"Danny, Andy, I know this weekend isn't turning out how I planned, but we're spending it together, and that just means the world me." Maddie smiled before she put a gentle hand on Danny's.

Danny gave a slight yelp of pain as the Specter Deflector went off on his hand. "Ah… Okay, I get it!" Danny exclaimed as he yanked his hand away from Maddie's.

Before Maddie could question it, Andy quickly got up and plopped on down between Maddie and her half ghost son. "Hey, yeah, it's been wild, but it's not so bad. At least with it being the autumn season, there aren't any mosquitoes to worry about out here."

Danny sighed with relief mentally at Andy taking the seat between him and their mom. "I… I'm sorry. I just… I'll be sleeping over there."

Maddie watched as Danny dragged his sleeping bag away from the wooden tent Maddie made and frowned.

"Don't take it too personally, Mom. Danny's going through some tough times right now. It probably didn't help that your Specter Deflector was hurting him," Andy stated.

"What? Why would it hurt him?" Maddie questioned.

"Ever since the portal accident, his body accumulated a lot of ectoplasm. Don't worry, I think that's what saved him," Andy quickly said. "But it might be why your inventions keep going off around him, including the Specter Deflector."

Maddie frowned. Now that I think about it… that does explain why a lot of inventions worked when around Danny...

"But isn't the ectoplasm hurting him? It is deadly to humans after all," Maddie pointed out.

"Well… he seems to be fine. I just think that right now his body just has a high amount of ectoplasm due to the accident. And I think his body needs it because it's what kept him alive after the accident. But it's probably what's been causing your inventions to go off around him. Maybe… perhaps you should try to make inventions that ignore Danny's… unique… ecto signature…?" Andy suggested hesitantly, hoping he wasn't giving too much away with what he was saying.

Maddie looked down in thought, actually considering Andy's words. "That… may not be a bad idea. If what you say is true, then that would explain a lot."

"Yeah. Maybe after we get a good night sleep, we can try to start the bonding experience over again, but you'll have to take off or deactivate that belt if you want to touch or hug Danny," Andy suggested.

Maddie nodded. "Yeah, that may be a good idea." She agreed. "I never thought Danny would be hurt by an invention before, but now that I know, we can work around this and make sure he doesn't get targeted by them in the future."

Andy nodded and gave a smile. "Thanks, Mom."

"I'm going to turn in for the night as well. You should too soon," Maddie said as she began to put out the fire.

"I will," Andy promised before Maddie brought her sleeping bag into her tent.

"Goodnight Danny, goodnight Andy," Maddie said.

"Mm-hmm, goodnight," Danny said back.

"Goodnight, Mom," Andy said with a little more feeling.

With Maddie now sleeping in her make-shift tent, Andy walked over to Danny. Danny grabbed onto Tsukaimon so he could get him off of his head.

"Okay, you've had your little fun with me. Now go back to Vlad and stop bothering me," Danny hissed.

Tsukaimon just grinned. "Why? You are interesting to me. And besides, I like bothering you~"

"You know, I just can't figure you out. One moment, you were trying to kill us all, the next, you're interested in my brother," Andy sighed.

"Do you know how boring it is living with Vlad?" Tsukaimon sighed. "Every day he goes to work at his businesses and doesn't come back home until late at night. He doesn't take me with him often, of course not, it would look bad for one of the top billionaires in the world to take a stuffed animal with him. His big house gets boring after a while, and even though I am looking to make the perfect being that has ghost, human, and Digimon elements in it, I don't like being around a lot of ghosts. Vlad has a lot of ghosts working for him. We don't speak to each other much, we only really talk when we need something from the other."

Tsukaimon then looked at Dorimon and Andy. "Though I notice you two seem to be pretty close. I heard from one of Vlad's spies that your sister has… oh who was it… Cherubimon with her?~"

Danny froze. "You…" His eyes then flashed green in anger. "You leave my sister alone, as well as Cherubimon!"

Tsukaimon crossed his arms. "When I heard that Gargomon left, I was angry. He was supposed to retrieve Cherubimon after all. I could've gone after him for his betrayal. But as I watched him bond with that boy, that boy who you're friends with, I decided to leave him be. He's a lost cause, and I didn't want to attract attention to myself."

"Gargomon…? Wait…" Andy frowned. "You're… you were Gargomon's boss? The one who gave him those scars?"

"I was~" Tsukaimon said with a grin. "Although, I hadn't expected Gargomon to not only attract the attention of the humans, but also the Legendary Warriors. I may be a strong Digimon, but even I am not stupid enough to take on a Legendary Warrior alone, even when I am bio-merged with Vlad."

"You didn't seem to have a problem doing that when Takuya was with us before," Dorimon pointed out.

"Only because Vlad wanted to put on a show of power. How could I say no? But I will admit, it was amusing to see him freeze up like that with fear~" Tsukaimon teased.

"You're sick, you know that? You're just as bad as the fruit loop," Danny growled. "I don't care how strained your relationship with Vlad is, you two belong with each other."

"Oh, do I?" Tsukaimon asked in a mysterious tone with an equally mysterious smirk. "You can't tell for sure, can you?~"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny huffed.

Tsukaimon just stuck out his tongue in response.

"Damn it, can't you stop being like a crazy little child and be straight with us?" Danny snapped.

"Maybe I just like to have some excitement in my life after living with Vlad for so long," Tsukaimon shrugged. "You're just fun to mess with."

Danny sighed. "Whatever… Just go back to Vlad…"

"Fine, seems I'm not welcomed here," Tsukiamon pouted before he flew up and away from the brothers.

Andy looked at Danny. "Are you going to be okay, bro? You've been pretty stressed."

"I don't know. This whole trip was a bust. I was hoping to bond with you more since you've been… to put it bluntly… uneasy around me lately," Danny sighed.

"Oh… I thought I was hiding that pretty well… but I guess not." Andy frowned. "I'm sorry, Danny, I didn't mean to make you feel like I've been uneasy around you. It's just… sometimes when you're in your ghost form… it… gets kind of hard to be near you without feeling this sense of unease, creepiness, and wrongness. It's like… I guess the best synopsis I could come up with is that it's like being a prey near a predator."

"Like… a zebra being near a cheetah?" Danny blinked.

"... More like a mouse being near a lion…" Andy admitted. "As a ghost… you could easily do anything to me, you know? There isn't much I could do on my own against you. I'm not saying you would of course, but it's just that kind of feeling I get sometimes with you."

Danny frowned. "Andy… I had no idea you were feeling like that."

"Well I didn't want you to know I was feeling that. I mean we're twins, I shouldn't have to feel like that around you." Andy frowned.

Dorimon silently watched the two brothers talking. He was glad that Andy decided to finally tell Danny about what he had been feeling.

"If anything though, it's motivated me to try my hardest to understand you more, you and Takuya," Andy informed. "Because there's not a lot of people who could or would understand what you are or what you're going through. I know that there's going to be times where this could weigh you down emotionally, you more so than Takuya. And I want to be there for you. But… I'm not half ghost, there's only so much I could even hope to understand what you're going through. And… I feel so useless…"

Danny sighed. "Andy, you're not useless." He then looked back up at his brother. "I just… don't feel like going to Vlad whenever I might need help on an issue with being half ghost, and you… I would trust your judgement more than his. Hell, I would trust even Takuya's judgement on something regarding this, and he can become a Digimon!"

Andy chuckled a little before sighing. "You say that now, but there can and will come a time when something your ghost side does that none of us are sure of if it's normal or not. I may be able to see the future sometimes, but even I wouldn't need to to know that would be the case. You could get a virus that only affects ghosts, you could get some kind of ghost version of puberty that none of us know how to handle, you could start getting some kind of ghost-like metabolism and none of us would know what you would eat or if we could even provide you with something like that. Sooner or later… you may have to go back to Vlad for something like that."

Danny huffed. "Yeah. but he will probably be like 'Renounce your father' or something if he wants to help me."

"Couldn't we find some of the ghosts we managed to befriend to help out with the ghost stuff?" Dorimon asked.

"Hey yeah, that would work, wouldn't it?" Danny smiled.

"Not sure about that. The problem isn't that you're a ghost, Danny, the problem is that you're half ghost and half human. Meaning your needs could be something completely different from a full ghost and a full human," Andy pointed out.

"Well, anything's better than going to Vlad for help." Danny retorted. "Even if it comes from full ghosts."

"Well, you see my worries now? Your unique status doesn't come with an instruction guide," Andy sighed.

Danny sighed as well. "If it did, I wouldn't have been having such a hard month after that accident… Hey, bro? Do you think… things would've been different if… you were in that accident too?"

Andy furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. "I would've likely died. You were lucky enough to have survived, no, it was a miracle you did. And you… technically didn't survive either, considering you're half dead."

"I don't know what I did in that accident…" Danny admitted. "Sometimes I feel like I'm this… thing… that isn't human or ghost. I sometimes feel like I shouldn't even be alive, or if I even am alive. Sometimes I wonder if I am really a ghost just possessing a lifeless corpse like a meat puppet, or if I am some kind of freak of nature." He then sighed. "At least Takuya knows what he is. I bet he doesn't even feel like this."

"We don't know what people think until they tell us," Andy remarked. "And I'm sorry, Danny. I didn't want you to feel like you don't know what you are. But I know one thing is for sure, whether you're human, ghost, something in-between, you're still you. You're still Danny. That much hasn't changed at least."

Danny gave a look of amusement. "You do know how cheesy that sounds, right bro?"

"You're the one who needed the cheesiness," Andy rolled his eyes. "I may not be half ghost and have the ability to fly, but maybe we can go flying together in a place like this. I know you would love to be this close to the stars without all the light pollution."

Danny chuckled. "Maybe we could sometime."

"I'll even race you~" Dorimon smiled.

"Hey, maybe even Takuya could join us!" Danny exclaimed. "I mean, he has the ability to fly in his evolutions too, right?"

"Yeah, just make sure he stays far away from the forest," Andy chuckled.

Danny laughed as well. "You have to make fire puns like he does, don't you?"

"Hey! I said nothing about fire, just that he should stay away from the forest," Andy retorted.

"The fact you said that indicates you were talking about his fire attacks~" Danny teased.

"Oh hush," Andy playfully pushed Danny.

Dorimon began to bounce between the two brothers, giggling as he kissed Danny's face, making the boy fall back. Then he jumped onto Andy's face.

Andy pulled Dorimon off of his head. "We're lucky you're not an alien that lays eggs in people, or we'd be long gone by now."

Dorimon blinked. "What kind of alien does that?"

Danny sighed. "You don't want to know, Dorimon. It's all just science fiction stuff."

"We should get some sleep anyways," Andy said. "Don't want to cause nightmares by telling stories like that."

Danny yawned at that point. "Good idea. I'm bushed after that whole thing with the plane and then Vlad and Tsukaimon…"

"And both seem to want you," Andy chuckled.

"Goodnight, bro." Danny retorted as he got into his sleeping bag.

Andy laughed as he got into his sleeping bag as well. "Goodnight, most wanted, in more ways than one~"

Danny just pulled his head into his sleeping bag in response.

As the twins and Dorimon, who was snuggling into Andy's chest in the sleeping bag, were sleeping, Tsukaimon quietly came out from the tree he had been hiding in. The little corrupted Digimon silently flew over to Andy and Dorimon.

Hmph, look at that little Digimon, sleeping oh so snuggly in his partner's chest. I have to sleep on my own bed, away from Vlad. Tsukaimon thought jealously before he looked over at Danny. You should've been honored that I was interested in you. But it looks like you're as stubborn as Vlad is.

Tsukaimon quietly walked closer to the half ghost boy, who was facing away from Tsukaimon. Perhaps you'll look at things my way if I drown you in my Purple Haze attack.

Tsukaimon began to take a deep breath. Danny turned over in his sleep, facing Tsukaimon now. Tsukaimon wanted to unleash his attack, he really did, but something had stopped him. He was not sure why, but something was preventing him from unleashing his Purple Haze attack. Tsukaimon held his breath for a while longer before he let it out, with no Purple Haze attack coming out. No, there was no way he could attack the ghost boy. Something just wouldn't let him. Or is it because I can't bring myself to?

That's ridiculous. Perhaps the ghost boy holds some kind of power over me that I didn't know about. Tsukaimon frowned.

Tsukaimon flew up into a tree and sat down on its branch, looking down at the two boys. Why should I even care about them? They would never understand the grand plan I have anyways. The Legendary Warriors wouldn't, they're all children with childish beliefs. Only Vlad is willing to help me out… granted it's for his own goals too, but as long as he's willing to cooperate, I don't need his affections or attention like some puppy.

And yet, something deep inside Tsukaimon was telling him otherwise. He felt jealous of Dorimon and Andy's bond, despite thinking he didn't want such things. Tsukaimon closed his eyes for a moment, remembering how much he had loved Bokomon as a parent, and how much the Legendary Warriors also cared for him when he was Patamon.

No, those childish days are over. I must keep my mind on my goal. The goal I had failed to do 4 years ago… Tsukaimon frowned. Wait… 4 years ago? I was only a Patamon back then…

Tsukaimon shook his head. Ah, I'm getting my head all mixed up with this ghost boy. Perhaps it's time I returned to Vlad.

Deciding it was time to leave the boy, Tsukaimon flew up into the air and away from the campsite. But as he was flying, he saw a big ghost bear with four claws flying towards the campsite. Tsukaimon stopped flying and watched the bear, seeing it heading towards the twins, specifically, Danny. I shouldn't care, let the ghost boy handle his own problem.

Tsukaimon started to fly again, but then he heard screaming. He stopped and looked back again. … Damn it, troublemaker!

Tsukaimon didn't know why, but he began flying back to the camp as quickly as his Rookie form could go.

Upon reaching the campsite, Tsukaimon saw the ghostly bear was after Danny. Danny had transformed into his ghost form to fight back. But there were ghost animals all over the place. The human woman, Maddie, didn't stir however, which made Tsukaimon wonder how the digital hell the woman was able to sleep through it all.

"Danny! Look out!" Andy yelled as a large eagle ghost grabbed onto Danny's arms. "Dorumon!"

Dorumon, who had digivolved from Dorimon, jumped at the eagle and clawed at its back to make it let go of Danny.

The ghostly eagle released Danny with a caw of pain from the Rookie-level Digimon before trying to fling off Dorumon.

Dorumon let go of the eagle, falling on top of a one-eyed moose ghost. The moose reared up, trying to get Dorumon off of it.

"This is crazy!" Dorumon yelped.

"I didn't bring the Fenton Rod with me! It was in our stuff we left behind on the plane!" Andy growled as he looked around at the ghost animals completely weaponless.

Dorumon landed beside Andy as he jumped off the ghostly moose. "And I can't protect you all the time either. We need to wake your mom."

"How is she still asleep!?" Danny yelled as he just blasted a six armed ghost raccoon with his ghost ray.

"She probably put on the Fenton Earplugs," Andy said as he began to dig out the cards for his D-Arc.

"Why? Dad isn't here!" Danny frowned as he punched another bird ghost, making it go splat against a tree.

"Probably out of habit! You can ask her later!" Andy yelled as he grabbed one card to swipe.

Then suddenly, several bat ghosts covered Andy and Dorumon, making Andy drop his cards and D-Arc.

"BRO!" Danny cried as he tried to get to Andy, only for a ghostly lion with three heads to get in his way. "Darn it! Get out of my way, you big pussy cat!"

Tsukaimon frowned as he watched the two boys and Dorumon getting overwhelmed by the ghost animals. Although he knew he should just ignore them, he ended up flying out. "Dark Twister!"

Tsukaimon shot out a small typhoon of dark energy at the ghostly lion, which threw it back several feet.

Danny looked back in shock. "Tsukaimon?! What are you doing here?!"

Tsukaimon huffed. "Saving your sorry butt, despite not wanting to. I don't know why I am, I just know I had to do something or you would be mince meat by now."

"Why do you care?" Danny asked.

"Instead of asking me stupid questions, why don't you go help your brother?" Tsukaimon pointed at the two who were being lifted up by the bats into the air.

Danny saw that and took off after his brother and Dorumon. He fired off several ghost rays at the glowing green bats, which all screeched as they were hit and let go of Andy and Dorumon. Seeing this, Danny flew down and caught both Dorumon and Andy, but just barely.

"Danny?" Andy groaned, looking to have a headache.

"Those bats kept screeching…" Dorumon groaned.

"Are you two okay?" Danny asked his brother and Digimon.

"Yeah… just a little disorientated," Andy answered as Danny put them down.

The big hairy, four armed bear stood in front of them, growling.

"What is the meaning of this?" Tsukaimon demanded.

The bear looked at Tsukaimon and seemed to be speaking something, but it was a language the brothers didn't know. Dorumon frowned, likely understanding it just fine. Tsukaimon frowned as well.

"Vlad sent you?" Tsukaimon realized.

Danny looked at Tsukaimon. "You didn't know about this?"

"How could I? I was with you the whole time!" Tsukaimon snapped, clearly irritated by the situation.

Danny sighed. "Yeah… my bad. I just thought, you know, being Vlad's partner and all, he would have told you of his plans with this."

"Like I said… we don't talk to each other unless we have a reason to…" Tsukaimon said lowly.

"Some partner." Dorumon frowned. "Can you really call him a partner then? Maybe that's why your bio-merging is incomplete, you aren't in sync with each other."

Tsukaimon frowned at that. "I am well aware our bio-merge is unstable. But you may have a point…" He looked down in thought. Is it possible that is the reason?

Suddenly, several glowing green butterfly ghosts flew over them. They were spreading out some kind of spore.

"What's that?" Andy frowned.

The spore was all over Danny, Andy, Dorumon, and Tsukaimon. Danny frowned as he suddenly felt drowsy. Tsukaimon caught some of the spore with his hands. "... Ghost Spore. It puts ghosts to sleep."

Danny looked surprised before he wound up falling to the ground, conked out from the spore.

"Danny!" Andy yelled in concern. "Wait, why aren't I feeling drowsy?"

"Are you a ghost or half ghost?" Tsukaimon asked.

"No," Andy answered.

"Then that's why. Ghost Spore only affects ghosts. Humans and Digimon aren't affected," Tsukaimon answered.

Andy quickly wrapped one of Danny's arms around his shoulder as Danny subconsciously turned back to human. "Dorumon, cover for us, I have to get Danny out of here and wake up Mom."

Dorumon nodded before Tsukaimon spoke up as well. "I don't know why I feel I must help you, but in this case, I will not protest the feeling."

Dorumon looked at Tsukaimon for a moment. "Well, thanks then, for helping out."

Tsukaimon huffed once. "Just don't consider us allies. This is only temporary until I can figure out what it is that is making me act like this around your partner's brother."

The ghost animals started to lunge at Andy and Danny. "Dash Metal!"

Dorumon shot out metal balls at the ghosts before tackling the big bear in the stomach.

Tsukaimon faced the ghostly moose and let out an attack of his own. "Friendly Fire!" He shot out a small fireball at the ghostly moose, setting its lone eye ablaze, which sent the ghostly moose prancing around in pain as it bellowed out in agony.

Andy was limping towards the tent Maddie was sleeping in while having Danny as pretty much a dead weight. "Jeez, you'd think as a half ghost, you'd be lighter."

Andy almost made it to the tent, when suddenly a large black and green falcon ghost with four wings grabbed onto both Danny and Andy with its big talons and was carrying them away.

"Dorumon!" Andy shouted. "Wake up Mom!"

Dorumon looked up at Andy and nodded as he ran to the tent. Hearing Andy's cries, Tsukaimon looked back and flew at the falcon. The falcon was fast, and Tsukaimon could only go so fast in his Rookie level. Dorumon wasn't sure how to wake up Maddie without causing her to think he was some kind of wild animal and attack him, but he had to wake her up to save his partner and his brother.

Dorumon grabbed onto Maddie's sleeping bag and dragged her out of the tent. This did cause Maddie to stir from the movement.

Maddie groaned at the movement, being dragged across the ground waking her up from her sleep. "W-what's going on?" She sat up a bit and looked around. "And why am I being dragged across the ground?"

Maddie took off her Fenton Earplugs just before Dorumon popped up in front of her. "Hurry! Your sons are being taken away by ghosts!"

Maddie yelped at the sight of the talking fox-dragon… thing in front of her, but her shock and confusion both faded quickly as she heard Andy's cries. She looked up and saw the ghostly falcon flying away with Andy and Danny.

"BOYS!" Maddie shouted as she got out of her sleeping bag and ran after the falcon. "YOU DROP THEM NOW, FILTHY GHOST!"

But the falcon was too far, Maddie soon lost sight of it. "No! Danny! Andy! My boys…"

Maddie fell to her knees, she had only wanted to bond with her babies, not have them get kidnapped by a ghost.

"Hey… hey, don't cry. I know where they're going," Dorumon spoke up, hoping Maddie would listen.

Maddie was brought out of her grief as she remembered that fox-like dragon thing that she had woken up to. She looked back, unsure of what to make of this new creature. Her instincts were telling her it was a ghost, but just by looking at it, it had no ghostly glow, and it had an intelligence that was like a human's in the eyes. "You… you do?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes. They can't hide Andy from me, he is my…" Dorumon hesitated. "Just follow me, okay? I'll lead you to your sons."

Maddie wasn't sure if she should trust this talking animal, but she had no other way to find her sons, and the animal wasn't a ghost, so perhaps she could trust him. Maddie noticed Andy's D-Arc and cards he likely dropped. Maddie picked them up, not sure why Andy took this little gadget and some cards with him, but she placed them in her hazmat suit's pockets. Dorumon began running ahead, and Maddie pulled up her hood before following after him. Please lead me to my sons, whatever you are.

Dorumon ran through the bush, looking back every now and then to make sure Maddie was still right behind him. He wasn't running at full speed either, which made it easier for her to follow him.

---

Tsukaimon had followed the annoyingly fast falcon ghost into Vlad's cabin. The ghost dropped Andy onto the chair Danny was sitting in earlier, and Danny was put on the floor since he was still asleep. Vlad, who was in his ghost form, floated down on them, grinning.

"Hmm, I didn't tell my ghost pets to bring the non-ghost boy," Vlad remarked, looking at Andy. "I guess they couldn't tell who was who. Not too intelligent, these ghosts, they're a bit too feral."

"Vlad…" Tsukaimon spoke up, landing beside the older halfa. "What do you plan on doing with them now?"

Vlad looked back at Tsukaimon. "Ah… I see you returned to me, Tsukaimon."

"Of course I have. We are partners after all," Tsukaimon reminded.

Vlad waved him off. "Sure. Anyways, I plan to take good care of Daniel of course. It won't be long until he sees things my way. He'll know I'm the perfect caretaker for him, being the only other half ghost in existence. As for the other brother…"

Andy frowned, he felt completely vulnerable without Dorumon, or any of his ghost weapons to defend himself with.

"Perhaps he would make a good sporting game for my pets~" Vlad smirked.

"You… you can't be serious, Vlad! They'd kill me! I can't fight back!" Andy shouted.

Tsukaimon felt his fur bristle. "As much as I hate to admit it, that is quite low, even for you!" He all but hissed out. Something inside him was screaming to attack, but he refrained from it. "The human brother is not likely to survive, and if you do that, then the half-ghost boy will find out who did his brother in." Because I will tell him!

"Oh? Why Tsukaimon, I wasn't aware you cared about them. After all, you treated your own subordinantes with violence when they failed you," Vlad pointed out. "Perhaps I should give you the same lesson if you even think about betraying me."

"I would never dream of it. I was merely pointing out the flaws in your plan." Tsukaimon replied, lying through his teeth, but it was convincing enough to fool Vlad for the time being.

"I won't kill the boy," Vlad promised. "After all, I wouldn't want to see Maddie be in pain to know one of her precious sons was killed. Though Jack's face, I wouldn't mind seeing. But it is a game. I need to prove a point, to Daniel, why he should be proud of what he is. We halfas are the superior beings to the humans. A mere human, like his brother, can do nothing without his weapons or Digimon helping him."

Tsukaimon had to admit, it was a rather good point, even if the way Vlad was going about it was a bit… brutal. Then Tsukaimon reminded himself. I've done worse things to get my own points across, this is nothing.

"I can see the logic in your plan, Vlad. I am sorry for doubting you." Tsukaimon said, feeling a bit silly, but also a bit disturbed. Why did I become this being's partner again? Ah, right, to bring my grand plan to fruition, but is it worth this… suffering, he is putting on a mere child? Why do I care though? Why do I suddenly care about the safety of these children?

Vlad then smirked as he looked at Andy. "You know, it really is too bad you aren't half ghost like your brother. It would've been nice to have twin halfas to train."

"Danny would never train under you, Vlad, he would rather die for real this time than become your apprentice!" Andy growled, trying to look and sound braver than he felt.

"Well, who else could he learn all the tricks of the trade?" Vlad questioned with a sneer. "Why, for instance, how else will Daniel learn to handle the hunger that comes with more power? Yes, having to consume other ghosts… Only the more powerful ghosts can get away with that little trait~"

"What?" Andy frowned.

"Hmm, well I suppose Daniel won't have to worry about that one for a while. After all, that kind of hunger only affects really powerful ghosts," Vlad remarked. "They can't replenish their own ectoplasm supply fast enough on their own due to how complex and powerful they are, so they must feed. But Daniel here isn't quite up to that level… yet."

Andy felt a shiver go down his spine when he heard that.

Vlad decided to continue. "But not to worry, Daniel can sustain his ghost half by consuming emotions."

"What!?" Andy shouted. "Danny doesn't eat emotions!"

"Who said he ate emotions? He only takes the energy of a human's emotions and converts it into energy for his own use." Vlad replied with a grin.

"In other words, he eats emotions," Andy deadpanned. "Which he doesn't! I think I would notice if Danny was siphoning emotions and 'converts them into energy for his own use'."

"It happens without the living knowing about it." Vlad said in a matter-of-fact tone. "It cannot be detected by the living either. With some ghosts, like Spectra, I believe you had a run in with her at some point? They're more malicious and extreme about it. Ghosts normally only take what they need, and nothing more. The living wouldn't notice it. Daniel likely doesn't realize he's doing it as it is a subconscious act."

"You're lying," Andy hissed.

"Am I? Can you say for sure that I am? After all, you don't know or understand what your brother has become, boy," Vlad pointed out. "Nobody can truly understand him, except for me."

Andy normally would've retorted back, but Vlad had a point. After all, Andy had been trying hard to understand Danny, but all he did was shiver around his brother like he was some kind of predator.

Tsukaimon watched this all with interest. Interesting. What are you trying to do now, Vlad?

"You can't help him, Andrew. You may be his twin brother, but you couldn't be anymore different to him. You are only human after all," Vlad said before his animal ghosts started appearing around Andy. "And humans are just prey to ghosts."

Tsukaimon felt the urge to protect Andy come forward, but he remained where he was, as he knew Vlad would not harm the boy.

Andy stood up from the chair he was on, and looked down at Danny. Danny was still asleep, unaware of what was going on. Vlad grinned at Andy. Andy felt himself shaking. He could feel them, all the hungry ghosts behind him, waiting for Vlad to give the order. Andy would never abandon Danny to this man, Andy would never run away when his brother needed him, Andy would do his best to try to help and understand Danny.

Andy fled, leaving Danny to the mercy of Vlad and his ghosts.

Vlad looked to his ghostly animals. "Go after him! But do not harm him. Just… give him the scare of his life!"

The ghost animals ran after the fleeing child.

Tsukaimon frowned. "Vlad… you trapped that child psychologically, then forced him to run away. Don't you think that might have been a bit much?"

"True, it may have been, but what can I say? Toying with humans is so much fun, isn't it? They are such simple creatures, aren't they?" Vlad replied.

"Humans aren't to be underestimated, Vlad," Tsukaimon stated. "It was humans who saved the Digital World after all."

"Yes, you have told me that, but they were human children, children who have such childish dreams and beliefs. And children are also scared of the supernatural and anything else that goes bump in the night." Vlad pointed out.

"That didn't stop them from saving the Digital World," Tsukaimon retorted.

Vlad picked up the unconscious Danny. "Whatever. Those kids had the power to turn into Digimon. That boy is useless on his own. But this boy has potential, and I will bring it out."

Tsukaimon frowned. "You can try, but he won't follow your lead. He will just escape."

"Which is why you will be keeping an eye on him, Tsukaimon," Vlad stated. "If he escapes, well… perhaps it's time I took your disciplinary measures to heart."

Tsukaimon shivered at hearing that. "I will take that to heart, Vlad." He said, but he was not making any promises. If you try, I may just end up leaving you and becoming Danny's partner instead, even if he doesn't want me.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: I'm glad you liked the ending. :3

Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: I've always loved Tommy in Digimon Frontier, kinda wish he got a little more spotlight, but I did appreciate what we did get.

ZAFT: Well, Tommy will be showing up more in here, either as Calumon, or himself. :3 And the whole thing with Tommy beating Dreammon was planned for a while. XD