ZAFT: Updating on a Monday. Haven't done that for a while. :3
DarkFoxKit: See, we're getting better at keeping a consistent schedule, right?
Andy: I didn't think you had a schedule.
Takuya: Don't go there, Andy. They have real life that takes priority sometimes.
ZAFT: Andy can be a downer sometimes, huh?
Andy: That's my job.
DarkFoxKit: Well, don't worry, I'm sure Andy will come around, eventually.
Andy: Yo, did anyone cook pizza in the oven? It's being burned.
DarkFoxKit: AH! NOT MY PIZZA! *Rushes into the kitchen*
ZAFT: Uh… okay… 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 47: Psychological Scars
Andy gasped when more ghost animals started appearing around them. Vlad likely realized Andy had escaped, and was now using the ghost animals to hunt him down. Andy had no weapons to use, other than maybe tossing a book or two at the ghosts.
Then to Andy's surprise, Tsukaimon jumped in front of him. "You aren't the only ones with an army."
A group of DemiDevimon flew into the room.
Tsukaimon looked back at Andy. "I may not like you, but I will not let my partner mess with a human like he was planning to."
The DemiDevimon began attacking the ghost animals. Tsukaimon led Andy through the chaos of it all.
"This is unlike you. You seem to have a similar goal in mind; turning a human into a being that is ghost, human, and Digimon. Why should what Vlad is trying to do to me bother you?" Andy questioned as they were running.
"It's been a feeling that has been bugging me, and I can't seem to ignore it, even if I wanted to." Tsukaimon replied before he glared at Andy. "Now no more questions on it! I do not wish to talk about it!"
A duplicate of Vlad Plasmius flew into the hallway. Tsukaimon quickly turned into a room. "Quick, hide in here!"
Andy hurried into the room before they closed the door. Andy knew that if that duplicate flew in here, he would be spotted easily, so Andy crawled under a desk that was in the room to try to stay hidden.
Tsukaimon began to act like he was looking for Andy, deliberately avoiding the desk, just in case the duplicate came in.
It was a good thing Andy hid, because the duplicate did come into the room not long after he hid himself.
"Tsukaimon? Have you seen Andrew?" The duplicate questioned.
Tsukaimon looked back and shook his head. "No, Vlad. I haven't. I was looking in this room in case he came in here, but there has been no sign of him here." The way he said it came off as though he was truly telling the truth.
"I see… hmmm… where could he have gone?" The duplicate wondered before he flew out of the room.
Tsukaimon watched the door for a while longer before he relaxed slightly and flew over to the desk where Andy was hiding. "He is gone for now. If he comes back, I will be able to sense him."
Andy crawled out from under the desk. "Thanks… for uh… helping me."
"We are not allies. I am merely preventing a human, you, from being experimented on." Tsukaimon replied. "It is true I want a perfect fusion of human, Digimon, and ghost in one being, but even I have standards that I want to have followed. Turning a human into a half ghost the way he was planning to would have dire consequences for the victim."
Tsukaimon then quickly opened the door and looked around. "Come on, we should get a move on."
Andy followed Tsukaimon out of the room. "If it means anything… I think you should leave Vlad. I don't think you and him could ever truly make this perfect being with how unstable your relationship is."
Tsukaimon remained silent for a bit before finally speaking. "Yes… I have been giving that some thought. Although Vlad can give me what I need to make my plans come to fruition in many ways, it would appear that the bond we have will only hinder those plans down the road."
"Why did you stick with Vlad for as long as you did though? Was it really because he was the only person who could get you to your goal?" Andy questioned.
"That… is my own reasoning." Tsukaimon said bitterly. "But… now that I think back on it, maybe it was not the best decision. He never seemed to care about me, just what he could get from me. Likewise, I did the same for him, but it was never a truly equal partnership, because what I gave never matched what I needed from him. Perhaps I also felt sorry for him. He was lonely, and sad. He needed someone in his life."
Tsukaimon then let out a sigh before he gave a bitter chuckle. "It's kind of funny… considering I'm just a corrupted version of Seraphimon, you'd think I would've left him long ago, or that I wouldn't care for his neglect. Yet I find myself staying more out of pity than for my own goals. I stopped chasing after Cherubimon despite him being important to my goal. I didn't go after Terriermon for abandoning me. I didn't fight back with the Legendary Warriors, I only wanted to scare them away. If they had fought back… I likely wouldn't be here right now."
Andy hesitated for a moment. "... It sounds to me that… maybe you're not as corrupted as you think…"
Tsukaimon chuckled a bit at that, the laughter sounding like it was not bitter or even mean or evil. It sounded genuine almost. "Maybe I am not, maybe I am, who knows?"
"Do you… remember what happened to you before you got the idea to go to the human world?" Andy asked. "Dorumon and I found a feather in your room in your castle… I think it might've been your feather when you were Seraphimon."
Tsukaimon looked down here, his face filled with confusion and thoughtfulness. "To be honest, not much. Just that I went to investigate the crater where Lucemon was defeated and then… things got blurry after that for a bit before I found myself back in my castle, with Cherubimon and Ophanimon around me, looking concerned."
Andy frowned, Tsukaimon didn't even know what happened to himself. But, from what Tsukaimon had been telling him, there was hope for him to become that Celestial Digimon that he once was before. He hadn't fully lost himself like Cherubimon had.
"It's odd, you think I would remember more than that, but I can't." Tsukaimon muttered to himself.
"Hey… maybe after this, we could…" Andy started to suggest before something grabbed his arms and pulled him back.
Tsukaimon cursed, realizing he had been too distracted to have sensed how close Vlad was to them.
However, before Vlad could escape with Andy, a familiar form ran at Vlad and slammed into the older half ghost, causing Vlad to release Andy. The form had black hair and wore a white shirt with blue jeans. It was none other than Danny, and he was mad. "You leave my brother alone, fruit loop!"
Andy fell to the floor, groaning. His poor shoulders had been taking a lot of abuse today. Danny hurried over to his brother, and was carefully helping him up on his feet. "Are you okay?"
Andy gave Danny a slight smile. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?"
"Tell me that later. What happened? I felt your fear over our… um… bond… thing." Danny replied, not sure how to describe their link.
Andy turned away, not sure if he should tell Danny what Vlad was planning to do with him.
Danny frowned when he saw that. However, he didn't want to upset Andy, so he just decided to let Andy tell him on his own time. "Andy, if you don't want to tell me now, it's fine. Just know I will be there to listen when you do."
"Daniel!" Vlad spoke up, catching the twins' attention. "So nice of you to join us. I was just about to have a lovely chat with your brother."
Danny quickly got in front of Andy protectively.
"Come now, Daniel, you don't really believe you could protect Andrew from me? Especially with your powers shorted out for another 15 minutes," Vlad chuckled.
"I just need to last long enough!" Danny hissed back. "You won't hurt my brother! I could sense his fear! Whatever you were doing to him, I won't let you do it again!"
"He should be grateful for what I was going to do to him, Daniel," Vlad remarked. "I could have him join us in our ranks. Make him half ghost too. Think about it, Daniel; you wouldn't have to be the only half ghost teen, struggling to control your powers anymore. Your brother would be able to understand what you're going through again. You two could bond again. I can see the friction between you two, it's only natural after all. But if Andrew becomes half ghost, that needn't be an issue anymore."
Danny looked back at Andy, noticing how pale his brother looked at that idea. Glancing back at Vlad, Danny hissed. "No! Not a chance! He doesn't need to go through the trauma I went through!"
Vlad let out a sigh. "Then you leave me no choice, Daniel. I'll have to knock you both out."
"Danny, where's Mom?" Andy asked his brother.
Danny paused before he smacked his head. "Aw crap… I was so worried about you, I think I lost sight of her. She was right behind me and then I think she got slowed down by some ghost animals."
"... Way to go. With your ghost powers shorted out, and me weaponless, and Digimonless, what chance do we have, hmm?" Andy groaned.
Danny blinked. "Wait… Where is Dorimon? Wasn't he with you?"
"He was with Mom… whom you left behind," Andy grumbled.
Danny sweatdropped. "Uh… sorry, bro…"
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Vlad grinned as he began to approach the two powerless twins.
Tsukaimon was watching. His heart was torn in two. He realized he had a choice here. Vlad may not have been the best partner, but he knew the man was lonely, and needed someone. But these children were in real danger. They had been unfortunate enough to become the new obsession of Vlad's unstable ghost half. Tsukaimon shouldn't care, but he did. He couldn't… wouldn't allow this to go on. His ultimate goal… what good would it be if he only hurt innocent people to get his way?
Tsukaimon shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them up again before he flew over to Vlad. "Vlad! Wait! I have a suggestion."
Vlad stopped and looked at his partner. "Oh? And what would that be, Tsukaimon?"
"Remember how powerful our bio-merged form was when we used it the first time? Perhaps we could demonstrate it again to these boys. Show them what they're potentially missing out on," Tsukaimon tempted.
Vlad was tempted. "Hmmmm… Yes, I think you're right. It would show them what they could do."
"Then let's do it. It's also a good time for us to… practice our form," Tsukaimon stated.
"What are you doing?" Andy frowned.
Danny was confused as well. He knew Tsukaimon was Vlad's partner, but what was he planning? This was… unusual for him. Vlad only grinned though, he liked the idea of using that Digimon form again.
"Very well, I will take you up on your offer, Tsukaimon," Vlad said before black rings appeared on his torso, turning him human again.
Andy looked at Tsukaimon, seeing the Digimon didn't look conflicted anymore, but determined.
Tsukaimon had a look in his golden eyes that was unknown at the time, but it was there nonetheless.
Vlad held up his cracked D-Arc. Tsukaimon turned into fractal code before surrounding Vlad in it.
Danny and Andy backed away, remembering ShadowSeraphimon all too well. And when the fractal code dispersed, ShadowSeraphimon was indeed back.
"Ah, now that's more like it!" ShadowSeraphimon exclaimed. "All of this power, and you two boys are missing out on it! This is only the beginning of the potential you could reach, both of you!"
"Danny! Andy!" Maddie's voice called out suddenly.
The boys turned for a moment, seeing their mother there, along with Dorimon in her arms. Maddie hurried over to them, looking at ShadowSeraphimon in horror. She remembered this Digimon all too well.
Dorimon was growling in Maddie's arms, his fur standing on end, making him look like a prickly pin cushion with legs and a tail.
Maddie stood there, fear filling her body. "Boys, stay back… This could be dangerous…"
"No, Mom! This Digimon is too strong!" Andy warned.
"Wait, why are you telling her about Digimon?" Danny asked, confused.
Dorimon jumped down from Maddie's arms and quickly digivolved into Dorumon. "She knows about us, Danny, at least about Digimon. Circumstances demanded it."
Danny blinked. "And… how did she take it?"
"Well enough. But we don't have time to dwell on that right now," Andy hissed.
ShadowSeraphimon took a step forward before suddenly stopping. It was like he was frozen in midstep.
"What? What is the meaning of this?" Vlad's voice shouted in confusion. "Why am I not moving!?"
ShadowSeraphimon began to tremble and shake, it was as if he was struggling to move yet not move at the same time. ShadowSeraphimon slowly held out his arms.
"Strike me down… hurry…." Tsukaimon's voice grunted.
Danny blinked as Dorumon's eyes widened in realization. "You…" Dorumon trailed off. He then looked at Andy. "Andy… we need to attack now. It's our only chance."
"Tsukaimon, what are you doing!?" Vlad's voice shouted.
"I… resigned as your partner… you are… too unstable…" Tsukaimon's voice said. "I'm sorry… you won't die here… but I will…"
Danny's eyes widened in shock. Tsukaimon was planning this?!
Dorumon looked at Andy again. "Andy, we need to strike down ShadowSeraphimon now, while he's still frozen!"
Maddie was confused as to what was going on, but she could see Andy was hesitating. Whoever ShadowSeraphimon was, Andy seemed to not want to hurt him.
"Please… you have… to hurry… I can't… keep holding him!" Tsukaimon's voice called out. "This will… maybe… purify me… I will… be able to… go back as… Seraphimon again… the Digital World… needs me… I guess… my goal just… wasn't meant to be."
Dorumon nudged Andy. "Andy, Digimon can be reborn. Seraphimon will be back, but in order for that to happen, we need to do this now."
Andy knew that if he struck ShadowSeraphimon down, it would knock Vlad out and give them time to escape. Tsukaimon was choosing to give up his dream to become the Digimon he was supposed to be, the Digimon everyone wanted him to be again. It was supposed to be right, yet it didn't feel right. Still, it wasn't really up to Andy in the end.
"Thank you, Tsukaimon," Andy said softly, before he pulled out a card from his pocket. Andy then held up the device and his card. The card spun before Andy caught it in two fingers, looking up from the shadows. He then held the device over his head, the card slot facing down towards his head. He stuck the card's edge into the slot and dragged it through, the card being pulled towards the right side of his body and the device towards the left side of his body. "Digi-Modify!" Andy called out. He pulled the device and card apart from each other. "Phantomon's Shadow Scythe, activate!"
The scythe appeared on Dorumon's hands, which shocked Maddie. She didn't know that the device and a card could do that.
Andy… just what are Digimon capable of? Maddie wondered as she observed this. This will be interesting for sure...
"Stop this, now!" Vlad's voice shouted desperately.
"Go!" Andy called out.
Dorumon jumped at ShadowSeraphimon before bringing down the Shadow Scythe. The scythe went through ShadowSeraphimon's body. Vlad let out a scream as it had hit him too due to the scythe's ability to hit souls as well.
Fractal code appeared around ShadowSeraphimon in a ring, his image going dark. Maddie stared at this in amazement, realizing she was about to see something she had never seen before.
The D-Arc Vlad had shattered completely. Dorumon's gem started glowing as the fractal code split in two suddenly. One of the fractal code cocoons was black, which was unusual.
Maddie watched this. Is this… the data that makes up a Digimon? But why are there two shades of it?
"What's that black one?" Danny asked, shocked.
"I don't know, I've never seen a differently colored fractal code before," Andy said, just as surprised.
"Hurry, purify it!" Dorumon called out.
"R-right," Andy held out his D-Arc.
Maddie watched in awe as Andy began to scan the fractal code with his D-Arc. "Fractal code, digitized!"
The code was scanned into the D-Arc, becoming lighter at the same time. The code then glowed before reverting back to its normal purplish, bluish color. Funnily enough, there was no card this time, not that Andy cared at the moment. The two fractal codes moved away from Vlad. Vlad was left unconscious on the floor, which shocked Maddie more than the fractal codes themselves.
The two fractal codes intertwined with each other before creating an egg, which landed on the ground in front of the twins. The egg itself was light blue with a golden symbol on it.
Danny blinked. "W-wait… Did… Dorumon, a Rookie-level Digimon, just beat a Mega-level Digimon?!" He was floored by this.
"No…" Andy sighed. "ShadowSeraphimon let us beat him. His bio-merge with Vlad was extremely unstable, any decent attack would've caused this to happen."
Maddie blinked. "Wait… what are you talking about? Bio-merge? Vlad is involved? I'm confused…"
Andy and Dorumon turned to Maddie while Danny carefully picked up the egg.
"You remember that 'stuffed animal' Vlad had with him?" Andy asked.
Maddie's eyes lit up in realization. "That was… a Digimon too?"
Dorumon nodded. "Yes, and he was called Tsukaimon. He was the corrupted version of Seraphimon, one of the three Celestial Digimon we told you about. And he… was Vlad's partner."
"Wait, you still need to tell me what the heck happened, and why Mom knows about Digimon," Danny spoke up, holding onto the egg.
Andy groaned. "How about we find a way to get back home, and then I tell both of you what's going on? Would that make it easier?"
Maddie nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." She agreed.
"I remember seeing a helicopter on the roof," Danny spoke up. "Mom, you said you've learned how to fly a helicopter before, right? Maybe you could use it to take us back home?"
Maddie smiled at that. "I may be a bit rusty, but I think it's doable. And I need a chance to focus on something else besides the stress we went through tonight anyway."
"Same here…" Andy sighed. "Then again… I don't think I want to be alone with my thoughts right now."
Dorumon frowned. "What did happen to you?"
"Later, okay?" Andy sighed.
Maddie looked at Danny. "Are you… taking that egg with you, Danny?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah, I am. I… wouldn't feel right just leaving it here." He then looked down at the egg. "And… I think it may be best if I hatched it. This way, we can get Seraphimon to come back…"
"Come on, let's get to the copter, then we'll talk," Andy sighed tiredly.
It had been a few hours, no ghost animals had attacked again. Jazz hoped that meant they wouldn't have to fight anymore, though she remained wary just in case the ghost animals decided to do a surprise attack. But since there hasn't been any action lately, Jazz decided to try to find Takuya. She had been worried about him since she hadn't seen him since the Agunimon incident. She hadn't seen Takuya anywhere in the house.
Jazz was concerned something had happened to her cousin. Her mind began to think of some possibilities as to what could have happened to him. Did those ghosts take him? No, it couldn't be that, and yet… why else would the ghosts stop attacking suddenly? It makes sense. But then… why have I not seen him since Agunimon fled? And why does it feel like I am around Takuya when Agunimon is in the area? I know Lopmon said the Legendary Warriors were human children, but could Takuya really be one of them? The odds of that are quite small… right?
Jazz frowned, remembering how Takuya seemed to know about Digimon despite not having a Digimon partner himself. He was never around whenever Agunimon was. And he had been called to the Digital World before, and yet, when Jazz went with her brothers to find him, there had been no signs of Takuya anywhere. Andy had told her to go home after a while, and that he'll bring Takuya back, which he did, despite not having any idea where Takuya could have been.
"Lopmon… did Agunimon go back to the Digital World?" Jazz asked her partner.
"I would assume so, yes." Lopmon replied. "It's the only place he could go if he needed to get away from someone trying to hurt him."
"In that case…" Jazz began thinking.
"What?" Lopmon asked. "You know you really shouldn't go right now. Agunimon can take care of himself. But you need to stay here to make sure your father is safe. And you'll worry your mother and brothers when they get back."
Jazz frowned. "I know but… I want to make sure Agunimon is alright. He… looked pretty freaked out."
Lopmon frowned a little. "Well, I'm not letting you go to the Digital World alone. But we can't leave your dad here unprotected. Perhaps… I'll go get Terriermon, he might be able to fix up the Ghost Shield."
Jazz blinked. "But Dad said he gutted the shield to make the Specter Deflector. I would assume that means the power source too."
"I'm sure Terriermon will be able to find something to use as a power source, he's quite a technological genius. Why do you think he and Tucker are partners in the first place?" Lopmon chuckled. "Well, aside from the fact Terriermon saved Tucker's life."
Jazz sighed. "Okay, that would work I suppose. If it can get us to go to the Digital World and have Dad be protected, go for it."
It had been a long time since Maddie had to pilot a helicopter, but she was glad to see she remembered enough to get the copter into the air. A part of her felt bad for leaving her old college friend unconscious back in his cabin, but she was unsure and confused on what Vlad was doing. All she knew was that he almost hurt her babies, or attempted to. Andy was telling Maddie about Vlad having a Digimon partner, and went mad with power, though he hadn't told her anything about him being half ghost. Andy did that for Danny's sake.
"So… Vlad's Digimon was Tsukaimon, Vlad wanted to try and gain power? Or was it that Tsukaimon was only using Vlad to gain power himself?" Maddie asked, wanting to be clear on the issue.
"They were both using each other for power," Andy answered. "I'm not sure what Vlad's ultimate goal was… other than maybe having you marry him. But Tsukaimon wanted to create a new powerful being, one who is human, ghost, and Digimon."
"That… goal of Tsukaimon's sounds disturbing…" Maddie noted with a frown. "How could a Digimon, human, and ghost become one? None of them would survive it. From what you have told me, ghosts are weak to Digimon and vice versa, while the ectoplasm of the ghost would kill the human."
"I don't know. He must've had some reason for this, or maybe he was influenced by something else," Andy sighed tiredly. "But Tsukaimon isn't a problem anymore. Once a Digimon is returned to its egg, they start out on a clean slate. It's very… rare for a Digimon to retain memories of their past life."
"That sounds a bit harsh, but I guess it makes sense." Maddie said.
"Yeah. Even if a Digimon doesn't technically 'die', they might as well have since they no longer remember you or anyone they had cherished before," Dorumon added.
Maddie frowned. "That's sad, but I guess because you Digimon are data, it makes sense as well, since you basically get rebooted then in a sense."
"Yeah." Dorumon nodded.
"It's quite fascinating," Maddie remarked with intrigue. "To think data could evolve so far to become alive… and intelligent. Is it artificial intelligence that became self aware?"
"Don't think of it like that, Mom. Just think of Digimon as a separate civilization. They're not human, but they have humanity," Andy requested. "If you keep seeing them as just artificial intelligence, you risk seeing them as less than people, and… well, I'd rather not run into that problem later on."
Maddie nodded. "I think that is understandable. And if they do have a history like you have told me, then yes, I can see why you would say that. It may take some time to accept that, but I think I can see Digimon as a separate species that has its own civilization."
Andy smiled at that. "I'm glad to hear that Mom… I guess all that's left is Dad."
"I'm sure he'll take this pretty well," Maddie chuckled.
Andy then looked over at Danny, who had been cradling with the egg. "How are you doing back there, bro?"
Danny looked up. "Huh? Oh. I'm doing okay." He looked down at the egg again. "It's just… hard to believe we have the egg of Seraphimon here with us…"
"What are you going to do once that egg hatches?" Maddie asked. "You said that this Seraphimon is one of the Celestial Digimon… so, wouldn't that mean he should return to the Digital World? Would he even remember how to be Celestial Digimon?"
"T- I was told that this had happened to the Celestial Digimon before. Because they're the Celestial Digimon, they'll always have that knowledge and instinct in their minds once they hatch. So they can become Celestial Digimon once they… I guess, grow up again," Andy explained.
Maddie nodded as she took in this information. "So it's like the data from their previous lives is not really erased, just… reset in a way. Like a default setting is restored."
"That's one way to sum it up," Dorumon remarked as he began munching on something.
Andy noticed Dorumon was munching on a metal part of the helicopter. "Hey! Get that out of your mouth!"
Dorumon looked back. "What? It's not like it's vital to the helicopter, is it?"
"If you keep eating the helicopter's hull, we're going to be flying in just chairs and the propeller," Andy groaned.
Dorumon stopped munching on the outer hull. "Sorry…"
Andy sighed. "We haven't eaten anything since we got here. We should probably stop at a restaurant or something soon…"
"I'll see if I can find a place, right now we're still in the wilderness," Maddie chuckled.
Danny was gently rubbing Seraphimon's egg. While he didn't like Tsukaimon, he couldn't deny that the little guy did help them out in the end, even if he didn't know why. And Tsukaimon would no longer be Tsukaimon once he hatched anyways. Danny felt his desire to protect as he looked at the egg. He wasn't sure why, but he guessed it was because this egg had no way to defend itself from danger. There was an innocent life inside it. Danny didn't know it at the time, but it was also because of his obsession to protect.
When you hatch again, I hope I can help you become that strong, kind Celestial Digimon you once were… Danny thought as he looked at the egg again.
"You should rest now, Andy. You've been attacked by ghosts all night, and you have been very patient with me explaining about Digimon and their history," Maddie suggested, seeing how exhausted Andy looked right now. I still can't believe Vlad tried to hurt him… I knew he was bitter about Jack and me, but I didn't think he'd… become as power hungry as he did, and even go so far to attack one of my children.
"Yeah, okay, Mom," Andy said as he leaned back on the seat.
Dorumon could sense Andy was still bothered by something, or rather, by a lot of things. He didn't know what Vlad did, but it seemed to have shaken Andy up a bit. Andy was putting on a brave face for Maddie and Danny, but Dorumon knew when something was bothering him. Danny likely would've noticed, but he seemed preoccupied by the egg. Dorumon nuzzled his furry nose to Andy in hopes of comforting him a little. Andy petted Dorumon for that.
I'm worried though… if Vlad was capable of experimenting on me… what would he do now that his own Digimon partner left him? Andy frowned to himself.
Dorumon nudged Andy again before curling up beside his partner, becoming a furry mess of a balled up dragon-like fox Digimon.
Andy was glad for his Digimon partner. He needed the distraction right now.
"Okay, that should do it," Terriermon said as he closed the fuse box linked to the Ghost Shield.
"You really think that old PDA Tucker doesn't use anymore will work as a power source? The Ghost Shield needs to be running all night," Jazz asked.
"Oh yeah, you have no idea how powerful Tucker's PDA is. It's almost unnatural," Terriermon chuckled before he pushed the 'ON' button.
The shield activated, much to Jazz's relief.
"Jazz!" Jack yelled as he came tumbling down in the lab. "The Ghost Shield is suddenly working again! How-"
Jack saw Terriermon, and Lopmon together. "Uh… am I seeing double? … And different colors?"
"No, Dad," Jazz chuckled. "This is Terriermon. He's a different Digimon, and a friend. He's pretty good with technology. We called him over in hopes of getting the Ghost Shield to work, at least for the night."
"Oh? Did he come from the Digital World?" Jack asked, surprised Jazz knew different Digimon.
"Indeed I did, Mr. Fenton," Terriermon answered. "Actually, maybe I'll just call you Jack, that sounds better. I'm surprised you know about me."
"It's a long story," Lopmon sighed. "But he knows about Digimon now."
Terriermon blinked. "Oh? Does he know about one of his sons being half-"
"No! He doesn't! Ix-nay on the alfa-hay!" Jazz hissed, doing a motion with her hand like she was cutting her throat.
Jack blinked, but didn't question the sudden reaction. "Well, thanks for getting the ghost shield working, Terriermon. Maybe you could help me out with some of my inventions some time."
"That would be a fun challenge, Jack!" Terriermon smiled. "I'll welcome it!"
Jazz sighed as she picked up Lopmon. "Maybe now we'll have a peaceful night…"
Jack smiled a bit. "With the Ghost Shield up and running now, I think we will."
"I should get back home before Tu-, before I'm missed," Terriermon stated.
"You do that," Lopmon chuckled. "Thanks again."
"You should get some sleep, Dad. You've been fighting with ghosts all night," Jazz suggested. "We have a lot of clean up to do later."
Jack nodded. "That's a good idea." He then turned and began to make his way up the stairs to his room. I hope I'm not disturbed by what I nearly did to Agunimon… Jack thought. He was sure he would be having nightmares that night. "Goodnight, Jazzypants."
"Goodnight, Dad," Jazz called back before Jack went into his room.
"I better go now. Goodnight Lopmon, Jazz," Terriermon waved as he began walking out.
"Goodnight, Terriermon," Lopmon waved back.
Jazz sighed when she and Lopmon were left alone. "Right… now time to go find Agunimon."
"Are you sure you want to do this, Jazz? We're both pretty exhausted, I'm not sure if I can even digivolve right now," Lopmon asked in concern.
Jazz sighed. "Yes, I'm sure. I feel like I have to know if he's alright. I mean, he was close to the verge of tears when he fled."
"Yeah…" Lopmon sighed. It's sometimes easy to forget that under that rough armor, that confidence, and the fact he saved the Digital World and this one, he's only a child… a child… no wonder Salamon feels guilty about involving the children.
Jazz walked over to the computer in the lab before taking out her D-Arc. She held it up to the computer's monitor.
Jazz was sucked into the computer with Lopmon beside her. As they went through the vortex, Jazz gained a light blue jacket with a grey shirt under it, and dark grey pants while she also gained black shoes on her feet. Lopmon was at her side.
When Jazz and Lopmon came out on the other side, she was relieved that it wasn't such a harsh landing, likely because it was just her and Lopmon this time. Jazz looked around to see where the Digi-Port dropped her and Lopmon off at.
Jazz immediately began to shiver as she held Lopmon close to her chest to try to keep warm. They were in the middle of a huge snowy mountain. Jazz did not dress properly for this environment.
"Why did we get dropped off in the middle of a snowy mountain!?" Jazz yelled.
"I believe the fact you wanted to find Agunimon led us here, and this is his location." Lopmon noted.
"What? Why would that affect our destination?" Jazz questioned.
"The Digital World is not just made up of data and ectoplasm combining together. It also functions in a way on the dreams of children, and their desires. You wanted to find Agunimon, and the Digital World picked up on that, dropping us off here." Lopmon replied. "I do not know how that works exactly myself, just that it happens sometimes."
Jazz blinked. "... But I'm not a child."
"Really? That's what you're focused on?" Lopmon deadpanned.
Jazz frowned. "I mean… I think of myself as older than that…"
"Nevermind, let's just go find Agunimon. He can't be too far. I doubt he would want to lay in the snow, being the Warrior of Fire," Lopmon said. "There must be shelter of some kind nearby."
Jazz nodded, shoving the thoughts she had aside. "Okay." She frowned. "I hope he's okay…"
I found myself standing in Vlad's lab. I blinked before seeing my brother Danny unconscious in one of Vlad's containers, in his ghost form. Something was different though… Danny's ghost form had a white D insignia on his chest, which was something Danny definitely didn't have before.
I could also see other containers, but they were all shadowed so I could not see the forms inside clearly. All I could see were the general shapes of the forms, and they looked oddly similar to Danny's form in general shape.
"What is going on here?" I questioned.
A tiny glowing thing flew around me like a very green sparkly fly. I blinked as I watched it fly away somewhere.
"Welcome home, my son~" I cringed when I heard Vlad's voice.
I turned to the shadows, seeing the man walk out with a predatory grin.
"I'm not your son!" I snapped, backing away from him.
"Oh, but you are, my boy." Vlad said as he walked over to Andy. "It has been quite the journey to get this far, hasn't it?"
"What are you talking about?" I frowned as I found myself trapped by another container. "H-hey!"
"You're my prime experiment, Andrew~" Vlad grinned. "Soon, they will be complete, and you will be my perfect son."
"They!? Who's they?" I demanded.
Vlad gave a creepy grin. "Why, my experiments of course! Why settle for one when I could have more?"
"You… you're experimenting on others!? Do you not have a conscience anymore!?" I shouted.
Vlad pushed a button, and green liquid began to fill the tank I was in. "What are you doing!?"
"I need to make sure you are rested, my son. You still need time to adjust." Vlad said. "Your body is not yet used to your powers."
"Power!? I don't have powers!" I screamed as I banged against the glass as the green liquid submerged my head.
I shut my eyes for a moment before I opened them again, and I suddenly found myself in the Ghost Zone rather than Vlad's lab. I looked down at myself. I appeared to be gray for some reason, and I was somehow floating.
"What's… going on…?" I questioned, confused.
I heard what sounded like a little girl's laughter. I could see a silhouette of a young person flying through the Ghost Zone with Danny. Danny looked a little older than I remembered, but he was still the same Danny I knew. He looked happy flying with whoever this was.
"Danny!" I called out.
Danny didn't seem to hear me, he kept flying.
"Danny! Wait up!" I called, trying to get to him. I couldn't move, so I tried moving my arms around like I was swimming. "Where is Dorugamon when I need him?"
I looked ahead, wondering where Danny was going with that silhouette.
I suddenly found myself standing somewhere inside a fancy looking building. The floor was made of marble, there were big portraits of important looking people… or maybe ghosts. I think I was still in the Ghost Zone. I could see people floating around, some didn't even have legs, they had those ghostly tails instead. Nobody seemed to be acknowledging me. I walked through the crowd, feeling like a ghost among the ghosts.
I stopped when I saw Danny again. He appeared to be talking to someone, but their form was blurry to me for some reason. I just see a mesh of purple and blue of whatever figure Danny was talking to.
"Are you sure I should even be here?" Danny asked in a hushed tone to the figure.
I stood there, staring. It was obvious Danny, or anyone for that matter, couldn't see me for whatever reason.
"Of course, Danny, you're with me after all, No need to worry about whether or not you belong here," The figure stated in a calm, masculine voice, so they were likely male.
"Okay…" Danny said nervously. "I just… am nervous about this… what is happening to me…"
"You don't need to worry, Danny. Your core is just maturing. You'll get control back over your powers soon enough once your core settles in," The figure chuckled. "I guess you could see it as 'ghost puberty' in a way, though this won't be the first time your core will start to grow."
Danny frowned. "It's just… I feel scared. I don't want to deal with this, my core acting the way it is. I mean… do I have to do some of the things my core is telling me to do? Like the 'eating' part?"
"Yes, I'm afraid you do. If you don't, you'll only be hurting yourself. Believe it or not, even ghosts need to sustain themselves. And with how powerful you have gotten, it's only natural your core would grow as well, and that means you need to keep it nourished, or you could fade away," The figure explained. "Are you worried about losing your humanity by doing that, Danny?"
Danny nodded. "I am. I don't want to lose it, and I… also don't want to scare anyone, namely my family and friends…"
"Your friends will understand. They've stood by you for this long despite all the 'non-human' things you've done, and they'll stay by you again. You'll only lose your humanity if you allow yourself to fall, like Vlad did. This doesn't make you less human. It just means you have a little more needs than most people do," The figure stated. "Now I brought you here to learn more about yourself, Danny, at least the ghost half. So relax, and smile, ghosts like seeing children smile~"
Danny nodded, a bit unsure, but he did feel a bit better now, knowing he was not completely alone with this, and at least it wasn't Vlad he was learning all this from. Danny gave a smile, and it was the first time I saw his teeth. He had fangs. They were small, but he definitely had fangs. I backed away, suddenly feeling afraid.
Danny suddenly looked at me. I froze. Danny wasn't looking past me, he was looking straight at my eyes. Danny blinked for a moment.
"Did you see something that fascinated you?" The figure asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, I'm looking at someone alright," Danny stated before giving another smile that showed off more of his fangs. "But I think it's afraid of me."
"What are you?" I found myself asking without meaning to.
The area around me suddenly turned dark. I gasped as I looked around. All the ghosts were suddenly looking at me as if I had just personally offended each and every one of them. They suddenly grew bigger, and mutated into horrifying creatures that resembled animals.
Some of them began to creep towards me, and hovering above them all was Danny, but he had the same sort of arrogant look that Vlad tended to have when around pure humans like me. Danny sneered, revealing his fangs in a cruel manner. They looked a bit longer and sharper, like a vampire's almost. I felt fear flood my body, and I was unable to move due to the sheer terror I was feeling.
I was suddenly pinned down by some of the animals, and others slashed me. I didn't feel any pain, but I was losing so much blood that I was lying in a puddle of it. I gasped, trying to struggle. Danny suddenly flew up in front of me, frowning.
"I knew it… you never accepted me, you can't even understand me… you're just as bad… no, worse than Mom and Dad. I never should've trusted you with my secret… now all you see is the ghost that I had become," Danny said, his words cutting deeper than any of these creature's claws did.
"No! That's not true, Danny! I do accept you! And I'm trying to understand you!" I cried out in desperation.
"If that was true… then why are you scared of me? Why do you look at me as though I was some kind of alien?" Danny questioned, looking directly into my eyes.
"But… but I'm not…" I tried to argue.
"Oh, then why do you show fear around me? Why do you feel the need to drift away from me? Are you really that scared of me?" Danny asked as he showed his fangs again. "You can't hide your fear, Andy. I can taste your fear."
I flinched when he said he tasted my fear, which added more to my fear.
Danny then licked his lips. "And your fear is delicious~" He taunted. "I just may feast on your fear~"
Danny reached out suddenly and grabbed me, the other ghosts were suddenly gone. I gasped, feeling Danny's cold gloved hands squeezing me. The purple and blue mash floated near Danny.
"Allow yourself to let your instincts take over, and eat, Danny~" The voice said, no longer sounding calm or wise, but bloodthirsty as well.
"Stop it! Please!" I begged. "This isn't you, Danny!"
I struggled more, trying to get out of this thing who looked like my brother's hands.
"Why? I want to taste more of your fear, bro~" Danny purred. "It is making me stronger. Who knows how strong I could become?"
Was this our future? I couldn't tell, but if Danny becomes this… I don't know what I would do. I kept struggling. I heard someone calling out my name. They sounded distant. I felt myself weakening, like something heavy was put on top of me. Something grabbed my arms, stopping me from flailing around. I cried out.
"ANDY!" A familiar voice called to me. "Wake up!"
The voice sounded like my mom.
"Andy! Bro! Wake up! You're having a nightmare!" I heard Danny's voice, suddenly sounding concerned.
I started to open my eyes, afraid of what I would see.
Andy opened his eyes, and saw Dorumon was on top of him. Looking up, he could see Danny had grabbed onto his arms with his hands. Maddie was looking at him in worry.
"Andy? Are you okay? You were having a bad nightmare." Dorumon noted as he blinked at Andy. His golden eyes were filled with worry.
"Oh…" Andy blinked as he remembered where he was. "Y-yeah… yeah, I… guess I was…"
"You were failing around, you had us worried, bro," Danny said softly as he let go of Andy's hands. "It must've been really bad."
Dorumon got off of Andy's body, settling back into the seat beside his partner, again curling up like a cat. His head was right near Andy's hand, or rather, under Andy's hand as he inched his head into Andy's palm.
"I swear, if you weren't a fox dragon, I'd say you were a cat," Andy softly teased his partner.
"Do you want to talk about your nightmare, Andy?" Maddie asked in concern, still piloting the helicopter.
Andy sighed, rubbing his forehead, feeling some sweat on it. "Mostly just… nightmares about ghosts and Vlad…"
Maddie frowned, but decided not to press the issue at the moment. "Okay. But if you ever want to talk about it, I'm open to listen."
"Thanks, Mom…" Andy said softly. But I'm not sure if I could ever come to you about this dream. Was it really just a nightmare, or was it a vision…? I've had visions of the future before when I fell asleep… would Danny actually… hate me? Would he become an emotion eating monster like Spectra was? How deep does his ghost half run inside him? Could it be changing him without him realizing it? Is his core really getting stronger? Can he actually eat emotions? What would happen if-
Danny stopped Andy's train of thought that was going down the rabbit hole by putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Bro… You're overthinking again…" Danny said.
Andy frowned a little, remembering the nightmare Danny too vividly to be comfortable around Danny right now. But if Danny could taste his emotions, then Danny would likely notice what he was feeling. "S-sorry… I'll try to… sleep better. You… uh… keep that egg warm."
Danny frowned as well, but he nodded. "Okay… Just… don't flail around again. You had me worried…"
"Heh… no promises…" Andy chuckled softly. I hate not knowing what to do.
Dorumon looked up at his partner in concern.
Takuya was laying on the cave floor. Guilmon left the fire running to keep them warm, and was sleeping just fine. But Takuya had trouble sleeping. In fact, he had only slept for a short time before jolting awake after having nightmares of his uncle beginning to reach for him while he was strapped to the lab table in his Spirit Evolved form. This had occurred at least three times so far, so he had resigned himself to staying awake for now. I'm certainly not getting any sleep after that incident...
Takuya didn't even want to think about what would have happened had Jazz not come in and seen what was going on. Jazz saved me… And I was supposed to be the one protecting her and Lopmon… Instead, they had to save me… Just like Andy and the others had to when we all faced down Dreammon…
The boy's thoughts were not in a good place, as he was beginning to doubt himself and his abilities as a Legendary Warrior. How can I be called a Legendary Warrior if others have to keep saving me? Am I… just not cut out to be a Legendary Warrior after all…?
Takuya shut his eyes for a moment before he heard what sounded like footsteps coming into the cave. And then followed by voices, familiar voices.
"Finally! I was about to freeze out there! Oh jeez, I think my legs are numb…"
Takuya sat up, surprised to hear the voices. Huh… Is… that Jazz?
"You'll be fine," Lopmon's voice sighed.
"Easy for you to say! You have fur!" Jazz's voice complained. "He better be in here!"
Takuya panicked for a moment. Oh crap! What's Jazz doing here with Lopmon?! I need to hide or something! He was definitely not in a good position to even Spirit Evolve to get away, what with Jazz and Lopmon just outside. They may see the coding cocoon if I do...
There wasn't anywhere to hide, it was a small cave with a campfire. Guilmon was still snoozing away.
"I see some light up ahead. I think someone else is here," Lopmon's voice noted.
Takuya could see their shadows coming.
What do I do? I can't get away, and I can't risk Spirit Evolving! Takuya thought in a panic.
There wasn't anything Takuya could do but just wait and try to wrack his brain for an excuse to what he was doing here.
Jazz finally came into view, shivering, and covered in snow, and hugging Lopmon tightly to her chest. When Takuya saw that, his concern for Jazz overrode his anxiety.
"J-Jazz?" Takuya asked in shock when he saw her shaking and shivering. "What are you doing here?!"
Jazz looked slightly surprised to see Takuya, but she was more relieved than anything. Jazz then immediately ran over to the campfire and sat down. She put Lopmon down before rubbing her hands and putting them a little closer to the flames to warm up. "Fire! Oooh nice, warm fire! Never thought I would be so grateful to be near fire!"
Takuya gave a slight flinch at that, but Jazz didn't notice. "Jazz… what are you doing here? Did… did you defeat the ghosts?"
"Yeah, and Terriermon gave the Ghost Shield a temporary power source for the night," Lopmon reassured.
Takuya nodded at that news. "That's good…" He then paused. "Wait… Terriermon did? H-how… does…" Takuya was flabbergasted because that could only be possible if his uncle Jack knew about Digimon or at least Jazz had snuck Terriermon into the house.
"Long… long story…" Jazz grumbled. "But basically, Dad knows about Digimon now. After Agunimon… left, I had to explain to Dad, while we were defending our house from ghosts, mind you, about what Digimon are and their history to get him to realize why it was a horrible thing to put Agunimon on the table like he did."
Takuya went as quiet as a clam here, not even saying a word. He just clammed up before he finally worked up the courage to speak. "W-what… what was his reaction to that…?" His voice was unusually quiet.
Jazz looked at Takuya, silently observing him. "He was horrified. I wouldn't be surprised if he had nightmares tonight, or lost sleep over it. Dad can seem too enthusiastic sometimes, but when he realizes he made a mistake like that, he does get bothered by it, especially a big one."
Takuya nodded again, feeling a bit relieved by what Jazz was telling him. His posture, which had been tense, relaxed a bit. "Good to hear. I… don't want to know how it must have felt for Agunimon…" I know it, because that was me on that table...
"I'm sure it was horrifying for him, since he looked really shaken up…" Jazz frowned. "Lopmon and I came to… find him. Because we were looking for you… you suddenly went missing when Agunimon showed up. We thought maybe he might know where you went. But looks like I don't have to worry about that now."
"He… may not be showing up for a while after what he went through…" Takuya admitted. "I… saw him run past the cave, but I lost sight of him after that."
"I would ask why you're here, but I don't really want to," Jazz said. "I just want to know when you want to go home."
Lopmon was looking at the sleeping Guilmon curiously.
Takuya sighed. "I think it would be best to get home. I'm sure I worried everyone with just… coming here." He racked his brain for a lie on how he had come here. "I… when a ghost animal came to attack me, Agunimon showed up and basically told me to get to the Digital World for my safety. I couldn't argue with him, so… here I am."
"Then he just… left you?" Jazz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh…" Takuya frowned, trying to think.
"I guess Agunimon was too shaken up by the experience, and he figured you were safe here, right?" Jazz excused for him.
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was. I mean, he wouldn't have left me if he didn't think I was safe."
"So… did he leave this Guilmon with you then?" Lopmon questioned.
Takuya looked back. "Oh, no, Guilmon came in after I found the cave."
"Guilmon? Huh, so that's that cute dinosaur's name?" Jazz grinned. "Did you two get along?"
Takuya nodded. "He gave me some fish to eat too."
"Aww, sounds like he helped take care of you while you were here," Jazz chuckled.
Takuya nodded. "Yeah, he did…" He smiled a bit at the memory of that. "He said he wanted to be a doctor one day."
"A Guilmon wanting to be a doctor, huh? That's unusual," Lopmon noted. "Their kind normally likes fighting as opposed to healing."
"He said he was close to someone in his past incarnation and… well, he wants to be a doctor at Seraphimon's castle, because he thinks the Digimon he is looking for is there." Takuya summarized.
"Oh? How interesting… it's rare for a Digimon to retain any memory of their past incarnation, unless they're a Celestial Digimon like me," Lopmon noted.
"Well, I guess it can happen." Takuya chuckled. "I think we should get going. I… don't want to worry anyone about where I have been…"
"You… think you'll be okay with coming home?" Jazz hesitantly questioned, studying Takuya.
"Yeah… I've been gone for a while, and I'm sure Uncle Jack might be worried about me." Takuya sighed. But his form tensed up a bit as he said that.
"Don't worry… Dad is asleep right now anyways, but he is wondering where you are," Jazz said quietly.
"You should wake the Guilmon and let him know you're leaving," Lopmon suggested.
Takuya nodded and reached over, shaking Guilmon gently. "Hey… Guilmon? Wake up…"
"Hmm?" Guilmon sleepily blinked open his yellow eyes.
"Hey." Takuya greeted him. "I just wanted to let you know I am heading back to the real world." He then looked down. "Thanks for… staying with me for a while."
Guilmon yawned sleepily. "Kay… hope things work out better for you then… nighty night."
Guilmon fell back asleep, not even noticing the extra company.
Takuya stood up. "Okay, Jazz. Let's go back home."
Jazz smiled slightly before she picked up Lopmon. "Great… um… could you stay close to me? I get cold easily."
Takuya blinked. "Uh… Okay." He walked closer to Jazz, wondering why she made that request. It wasn't like he had his fire abilities in his human form...
Jazz grabbed onto his arm and stuck close to him. "I could use as much body heat as possible… and uh… I'm sure you could do, considering you're wearing short sleeves."
Takuya blinked as he was held close to Jazz. "Jazz… It's okay. You have long sleeves. You're the warmer one."
Lopmon rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's go find a broken TV buried in the middle of the snow."
"Uh… Jazz… you did memorize where you came out of, right?" Takuya asked when they walked out into the endless snow.
"Uh… no?" Jazz frowned.
Takuya groaned. "Great… Of all the times to not recall where you entered the Digital World from, it had to be when we are in the snowy mountains…"
Jazz chuckled. "Good thing I have a photographic memory."
"Huh?!" Takuya looked at Jazz. "But you said you didn't memorize where you entered the Digital World!" He then paused. "Wait… did you just mess with me?"
"Yup, considering you had me worried, call it a minor payback," Jazz responded. "Gives me all night for a more proper payback though~"
Takuya gulped at hearing that. Does every Fenton child have an evil streak?!
Lopmon was just grinning.
"Come on, let's go before I freeze my butt off again," Jazz said.
Takuya sighed. "Then lead the way, Jazz." I need to get some payback myself at some point...
To say it had been a long night would have been an understatement. When Maddie landed in a small town to eat at a restaurant, Dorimon almost ate the chairs due to how hungry he was. Their silverware kept 'mysteriously disappearing'. Maddie had to pay extra for an undercooked meal. It wasn't the best experience, but at least they got to eat.
The sun started rising in the sky by the time Maddie landed the helicopter in front of Fenton Works in Amity Park.
"So what should we tell Dad, Jazz, and Takuya about this?" Danny asked, holding onto Seraphimon's egg.
Maddie looked back at the egg. "If you are willing to, but I would probably wait to see how your father reacts to the revelation of Digimon first." She said to Danny.
"Would it be funny if Jazz or Takuya told Jack about Digimon already?" Dorimon chuckled.
Maddie chuckled as well. "We will see when we get back to the house."
Danny yawned. "I might have to take a nap before we do anything today… Mom, make sure Dad doesn't try to make breakfast out of this egg."
"Or think it's a ghost egg and experiment on it," Andy added.
Dorimon frowned. "If your dad tried either of those things, Lopmon would go nuts."
"Then maybe we'll ask him to guard the egg," Danny chuckled.
"Good idea, because I'll need to pass out too soon." Maddie yawned as she turned off the helicopter. "I'll have to call someone to take this helicopter away before it becomes a problem for traffic."
"Aww, we can't keep it?" Dorimon whined.
"We don't have a landing pad for it," Maddie explained. "Without one, it will just be in everyone's way."
"I don't think he meant like that…" Danny muttered. "He's a metal muncher…"
"Maybe I'll save some scraps for you," Maddie chuckled.
Dorimon smiled at that.
Andy picked up Dorimon before their half of the Fenton family came out of the helicopter and walked towards the Fenton Works house.
Meanwhile, Jazz and Takuya just finished cleaning up the house of ectoplasm and broken furniture.
"They're home!" Jack spoke up. "Do you think we should tell Maddie about Digimon?"
Jazz nodded. "I think we should. After last night, well… We don't want the same 'thing' happening twice, now do we?"
Takuya shivered at the idea of Maddie being the one holding the scalpel, while Jack was more of a big teddy bear, Maddie would be a little more cruel and cold.
Jazz took note of her cousin's reaction as she watched his reaction to what she had said.
"Alright, let's get the trash taken care of. Ghost invasion or not, I'm not giving Maddie another excuse to not trust the house to me when she goes on a trip," Jack stated.
Takuya nodded as he picked up some of the trash. "Yeah… Good idea."
"Go to the back door, they're coming into the front," Jack instructed.
Takuya went out the back door and dropped the trash bag into the trash can when he got to it. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before running back into the house.
Jack was sitting on the couch, looking at his knitting doily, or maybe it was a handkerchief, Takuya wasn't sure. He didn't even know Jack knitted. Jazz was sitting on an armchair, sighing tiredly with Lopmon on her lap.
The front door soon opened. Takuya was surprised to see a tired looking Maddie, Danny, and Andy. Their hairs were pretty messy too, like they hadn't showered or bathed all day, or even slept.
Takuya's eyes went wide when he saw the egg in Danny's arms. There was only one Digi-Egg that looked like that, and an involuntary gasp, however soft, escaped him. Oh no… Don't tell me… That's Seraphimon's Digi-Egg! How… How in the world did Danny find that?! Wasn't Sera- Tsukaimon with Vlad?
"Uh… you guys look… tired," Jack noted, then looked at Dorimon in Andy's arms, now that he knew Dorimon wasn't a mere plushy, he could see the 'stuffed animal' looked quite tired too.
"Don't remind me…" Danny muttered before he yawned.
"Did you have a rough vacation?" Jazz asked in concern.
"Heh, we're looking tired? You guys look like you just survived a tornado or two," Andy pointed out.
"We do? I didn't notice." Jazz chuckled sheepishly.
Maddie looked at Lopmon on Jazz's lap. Knowing Lopmon was no plushy, she could see how tired he looked.
"Okay…" Andy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I think… we should probably talk about something important before we hit the hay."
Maddie, Danny, and Andy walked over to the rest of the family in the living room. Maddie and Danny all but collapsed on the couch. Andy sat down on the floor since there was no more room on the couch, he put Dorimon on his lap.
Lopmon was staring at the egg Danny was cradling. He wanted to ask about it, but he didn't want to blow his cover in front of Maddie yet.
"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Jack asked as he looked at Andy, Maddie, and Danny.
"Is there anything you guys want to say to us first? Like why you all look like nuclear bomb survivors?" Danny asked.
"How about why you three look like wilderness survivors?" Takuya retorted. … Argh, didn't have the same bite as nuclear bomb survivors...
Maddie sighed. "Well, the trip didn't turn out as planned…" She began. "Jack… you may not like what I… have to say about Vlad."
Jack blinked. "What about Vladdy?"
Takuya was lying in bed in his room. After everyone pretty much dropped the Digi-Bomb, the Fentons all agreed to turn in for the day since none of them got any proper sleep. Jazz wasn't kidding when she said Jack had nightmares that night. But what Takuya was thinking about was everyone's reaction when they told each other what happened. Takuya thought he had one hell of a day, but he couldn't even begin to describe how worried he felt when Andy told them he was alone, on the run from wild, mutated ghost animals, at night, in the wilderness until Dorumon and Maddie found him.
I know I shouldn't compare my situation to Andy, but… that sounds like something out of a real horror film that would be rated X! What I went through may be rated R at worst, PG-13 at best, if it was a horror film. Takuya thought to himself. But his mind was still on what had gone on after that. His aunt Maddie of all people had taken to the idea of Digimon rather well, much to his surprise.
Jack's reaction was a bit… depressing actually. When he told everyone how he came close to experimenting on Agunimon, Maddie wasn't too happy about it, but she understood why he did before they knew what Digimon were. Danny and Andy were more horrified though, especially because they knew Takuya was Agunimon. Takuya almost wanted to laugh at their concerns, especially since what he went through seemed like nothing compared to what they went through. Andy hadn't told anyone else about what Vlad tried to do to him. When he and Takuya were alone, Andy told him because he felt Takuya had the right to know he wasn't alone in almost getting experimented on. But he didn't want to tell anyone else because he didn't want them to worry, or see Vlad in a worse light than they did now.
Takuya sighed as he closed his eyes. I guess I can't blame Andy for not wanting anyone to worry… But I feel bad for Andy… and if I ever see Vlad again… He gritted his teeth as he felt his Spirits pulse in time with his emotions; he knew they were feeling his anger, and in agreement with the idea.
Even though Andy didn't tell them what Vlad tried to do to him, they could tell something had him shaken up about Vlad. Maddie told Jack about Vlad trying to marry her, and about how he used Tsukaimon to become the ShadowSeraphimon that almost killed them before. At first, Jack looked to be in shock. But then a second later, he grinned and said that Vlad was likely corrupted by the corrupted Digimon, so it wasn't his fault. The family decided to let Jack have that since he already felt bad enough for what he almost did to Agunimon.
I hope Uncle Jack will stop being so naive… It sounds like Vlad meant business… Takuya thought to himself. Not that I can blame him for not wanting to believe his old friend could be so cruel… I wouldn't want to believe Koji or Tommy being that cruel, that's for sure.
Then there was the fact that Tsukaimon had… changed. When Takuya first saw Tsukaimon, he didn't seem to care about hurting them. He seemed as cruel and cold as Vlad. But Tsukaimon began to care about the twins for some reason. Tsukaimon helped them, he helped Andy escape from Vlad's insane goal of turning Andy into a half ghost. And Tsukaimon… sacrificed himself to give them time to get away from Vlad, turning him back into a Digi-Egg. Apparently Vlad's neglect for caring for his partner bit him right in the ass.
Takuya sighed, finally feeling the events of the day catching up to him. I guess I need sleep too… He turned over on the bed, hoping that he would be able to get some decent sleep without any nightmares tonight.
Titanic X: ZAFT: We wanted to show what would happen with Agunimon and Jack, so… ^^'
Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: It's mostly because of Vlad's obsession with Maddie and Danny, he had Maddie as an assistant AI hologram, and made clones of Danny. Someone like that is definitely a madman.
ZAFT: I am glad you liked the Digimon bombshell being dropped. XD That was one of my favorite parts to include here. :3