ZAFT: Been snowing like crazy where I am… all day...
DarkFoxKit: I'm jealous, all we got was a thunderstorm, and a surprisingly warm day here.
ZAFT: Unless you want to be snowed in like many people were. Snow was piling up in front of porches and doors! DX
Andy: Maybe Danny's behind this… you know, cause he gets i-
DarkFoxKit: Shh! No spoilers! And how do you know about that?
Andy: First off, I have your memories, considering you made me, Kit, second, how is that a spoiler? I'm pretty sure anyone who's a fan of the Danny Phantom series would be reading this and know what kind of powers Danny will get.
ZAFT: First off, there may be readers who do not know Danny's power set. Second, it would spoil the surprise if they knew. Don't make me send Takuya after you with Bearbert~ :)
Andy: … You wouldn't!
DarkFoxKit: Oh? I think I hear Bearbert coming this way right now, he sounds pretty angry… oh, is that a chainsaw I hear?
Andy: WAAAAAAAAH! *Runs away in a panic*
Takuya: *Pokes head in* Um… why was Andy running away?
DarkFoxKit: No reason~
ZAFT: … 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 48: A Baby, An Egg, and a Ghost
It was Monday morning. With the weekend behind them, the family tried to have a chipper day. Maddie and Jack were still not quite used to the fact that Dorimon and Lopmon were alive, but they were accepting them. After all, both Dorimon and Lopmon did help save their lives before, and protected their children. Dorimon and Lopmon were glad they didn't have to hide under the table, waiting to be fed table scraps anymore. Maddie had to make extra breakfast for the two Digimon now, and she commented that she would need to do some groceries soon.
Danny requested to not eat any eggs right now, because he didn't want to eat eggs in front of an unhatched Digimon. He wasn't sure if Seraphimon was conscious in the egg, but he didn't want to chance it.
Takuya smiled at Danny's request, realizing his younger cousin was trying to set a good model for the yet-to-be-hatched Patamon already. He hadn't expected Danny to be acting a bit like a father already, but it was ironically fitting in a way.
Takuya then remembered that Andy had the same experience when Dorimon hatched. He wondered how Danny would react to the newly hatched Patamon.
"Jeez, bro, you're already acting like a mother hen to that egg," Andy chuckled.
Danny blushed. "Hey! I… just don't want to offend Seraphimon by eating eggs, considering he is one right now…"
"I don't think Seraphimon would care, but the gesture is sweet," Lopmon chuckled.
Takuya couldn't help but grin. "You're making a great father already, cuz~"
"H-hey! I just want to make sure the egg hatches safely, and in a good environment. I don't want it being taken and hatched by an evil ghost or something," Danny pouted.
"I'm sure that's the reason you refuse to let go of it," Dorimon snickered.
Danny went even redder. "I… Aw man! You will never let me live this down, will you guys?"
"I do have to wonder, why are you taking it upon yourself to take care of the egg?" Jazz asked. "Wouldn't it be better to take it back to the Digital World and let Sorcermon raise him or something?"
Danny looked down at the egg. "I'm not sure. I just feel like I should be the one to do it, you know? It's… kinda hard to explain, but I just… feel like I need to…"
Danny remembered how Tsukaimon seemed to have changed and helped his brother escape from Vlad, and how Tsukaimon seemed to have interest in going with him instead of staying with Vlad.
"Maybe that means you'll become Seraphimon's partner soon," Lopmon suggested. "It seems there's already a bond between you two before he became an egg."
Danny frowned, remembering Tsukaimon and how he had hung around him for a while. "Yeah… That may be the case…"
"Wait, so that means Danny will get a Digimon partner soon?" Jack asked, surprised.
"It's only a 'maybe' right now," Lopmon spoke up. "The Digimon has to approve to being a partner for it to work."
Jazz then held up her D-Arc. "If a Digimon accepts being a human's partner, then this device will appear to the human. It happened with me and Lopmon, as well as Andy and Dorimon."
"I remember seeing Andy using that device to make Dorumon stronger or made a scythe appear in his claws," Maddie commented.
"It's called a D-Arc, it has all sorts of functions, like calling another person with a similar device on it too. It also serves as a link between the human and Digimon," Andy explained. "Which is why the cards I swipe are able to cause certain affects to happen with Dorumon. Of course it uses my energy too, so it would drain me if I use it too much."
"Is Danny having that Digimon a good idea though?" Jack asked in concern. "I mean that Digimon did corrupt Vladdy after all. What if it does the same to you, Danny?"
"It won't. I purified Tsukaimon before he was reverted back into an egg," Andy reassured. "He'll be as innocent as any newborn would be when he hatches. Honestly, the same thing happened to Dorimon. He was pretty scary and messed up when I first met him, but after Agunimon purified him and he was reborn as an egg, he's become this big sweetheart of a fluffball."
"Not to mention he kissed your face when he first hatched." Danny teased his brother.
Andy frowned for a moment before he smirked at Danny. "Great, then that means you'll get your own kissing Digimon soon~"
Danny blushed. "Err… It wasn't that funny…"
Takuya, Andy, Dorimon, Lopmon, and Jazz snickered at that.
"So with these Digimon, you kids have been fighting ghosts and other Digimon all this time?" Maddie asked as she sat down. "I… can understand why you didn't tell us, but still, that was dangerous. You could've gotten hurt or worse."
Takuya flinched slightly as he remembered how he had gotten hurt before while Spirit Evolved a few times.
"But this is also a good thing now, Mads!" Jack spoke up, grinning. "Our kids are becoming ghost hunters, following in our footsteps. And now that we know, we can better help them prepare for the stronger ghosts, and the stronger, wilder Digimon!"
Maddie had to smile at that, as it was true in a way. "Yes, that we can, Jack. But we will have to work on making sure our inventions don't mistake any of our children's Digimon as enemies if we develop something to help them against other Digimon."
"Of course, we'll be sure to do that," Jack agreed.
"We should probably tell you that Tucker and Sam also have Digimon partners, and have been helping us," Danny admitted.
"Yeah, remember Terriermon?" Lopmon spoke up, looking at Jack. "He's actually Tucker's partner."
Jack blinked at that news. "Tucker and Sam too? I'm surprised, but also a bit impressed." He then chuckled. "The way Terriermon redid the Ghost Shield, I think he is a great match for Tucker as a partner."
"What kind of Digimon does Sam have?" Maddie asked curiously.
"She has Salamon… who is also a Celestial Digimon," Lopmon answered.
Jack blinked. He remembered Jazz telling him about that. "You mean, she has Ophanimon as her partner? You would think she would have something a bit more… gothic to fit her tastes, but… I guess I can't judge if Sam wanted her as a partner."
"Well, Sam bonded with Salamon more out of necessity," Danny admitted. "She was about to get deleted by a strong ghost. But Salamon seemed to like Sam, so I think it worked out."
"That must be driving her parents crazy," Maddie chuckled, she didn't like the Mansons very much.
"They don't know," Andy stated. "And considering how crazy her parents are, I doubt Sam would ever tell them."
Danny chuckled. "Yeah, but at least Sam has someone to vent to now if her parents ever bother her too much."
"We should talk about this more later," Jazz spoke up, looking at her watch. "We should go before we're late for school."
Danny sighed. "Yeah, we probably should. I don't want to miss any important classes."
Jazz looked at Danny and the egg he was holding for a moment. "Danny, would you like for me to drive you to school? I'd rather that egg didn't get crushed in the crowded school bus."
Danny nodded with a smile. "That would be great, Jazz."
"Takuya, Andy, you two are welcome to join us," Jazz offered.
Takuya sighed. "That would be fine. I don't want to deal with a crowded bus." Especially after this weekend… Just the thought of being squished with other students on the bus made him think of being captured and restrained by his uncle, and he shivered a bit.
"I think I'll make my own way to school," Andy spoke up.
"Are you sure? If you walk to school, you'll be late," Jazz pointed out.
"I have ways to get there on time, don't worry," Andy waved off.
Jazz smiled a bit. "Well, don't be too late then."
"I'll see you guys at school," Andy said as he stood up, having already finished his breakfast.
Danny looked up at Andy and was about to ask him something when Andy turned to him and grinned. "Be sure you keep that egg hidden at school Danny, don't want the bullies to grab a hold of it after all, you mother hen."
Danny blushed. "Andy! Stop calling me a mother hen!"
Heh, just too easy. Andy chuckled to himself as he picked up Dorimon.
While Jazz was driving Danny and Takuya to school, and the school bus driving the rest of the students to Casper High, filled with cramped students, Andy was riding on Dorugamon in the sky.
"Something's bothering you," Dorugamon stated.
"What makes you think that?" Andy asked.
"You have been looking uneasy around Danny lately." Dorugamon pointed out. "And you didn't want to tell him about this incident with Vlad that you only mentioned in passing."
Only Takuya and Dorugamon knew about Andy's almost experimentation since Dorugamon was with Andy when Andy told Takuya about it. Takuya looked ready to go to Vlad and burn his house down when he heard that. Andy didn't want to tell the rest of his family about it. Takuya was the only exception because he was almost experimented on by his own father.
"I didn't want them to have to worry about what didn't actually happen," Andy sighed. "And… well… I just need some space from Danny right now."
"Does it have to do with your nightmare you were having on the helicopter on the way home?" Dorugamon asked.
The boy hesitated for a moment. The nightmare wasn't something he liked talking about, but it was still too vivid in his mind. He should at least tell someone, and his partner was probably the best person to confide it with.
"Just promise you won't tell anyone about it, especially Danny," Andy requested.
Dorugamon nodded. "I won't. Not unless you want me to."
Andy took a deep breath and let it out. He then told Dorugamon about the nightmare, about how Vlad had another Danny in a container while he was being called Vlad's son. And how he saw Danny flying with a silhouette of a little child. Then the last parts that disturbed him most of all; Danny talking to another ghost, Andy assumed it was a ghost, about how his core worked, and then Danny suddenly turning into a more nightmarish version of himself, trying to drain Andy of his emotion and life force.
Dorugamon frowned. "So that's why you don't want to be around Danny, huh? You're worried about him, or more like you're wary of him."
"I guess it's both…" Andy sighed. "I'll admit… Danny's biology is a complete unknown for me. With Vlad being the only other halfa who's been half ghost for 20 or so years, it's hard to not imagine Danny turning out like him one day, or maybe worse. Vlad was pretty much an adult when it happened to him… but Danny is still a child, well a teenager, but I guess that's still considered to be a child right now. Who knows how this would affect him as he grows..."
Dorugamon frowned. "Andy… Danny is still your brother. Vlad had no one, and he was alone. But Danny is not alone. He won't turn out like that just because he is half ghost. It takes more to turn someone into a being like Vlad."
"I guess that's true. Vlad let his hate and bitterness fester for those 20 years," Andy realized.
"But…?" Dorugamon could tell Andy still wasn't quite convinced.
"I don't know. There's still a lot of variables. I've seen more than one future… there are different paths," Andy admitted. "Perhaps the nightmare I had was a vision. I don't normally remember my nightmares so vividly unless they were a vision… there could be other ways, other reasons why Danny could end up becoming… well… dark? Not to mention what the heck this is doing to his psyche. Mom and Dad may have accepted Digimon, but they still hate ghosts, what must he think whenever they call ghosts evil creatures?"
"Jeez, Andy, you sound like you never stop thinking about every little grain of sand that gets blown by the wind," Dorugamon sighed. "You need to relax, okay? Just because something could happen, doesn't mean it will happen."
Andy sighed before rubbing his head. "Yeah… you're right. Maybe I should stop thinking about how being half ghost affects Danny…"
"Good." Dorugamon smiled.
"... So how does being a Digimon affect Takuya?" Andy asked.
Dorugamon blinked. "Now you're getting on how Takuya is affected by his ability? You're a regular worry wart!"
"Okay, okay, maybe I do need to relax a little more," Andy sighed. "... Maybe I can use this time to observe Danny and Takuya…"
"Aaaaaargh…" Dorguamon groaned. He loved his partner, but Andy was starting to let his worries and fears get the better of him. "Andy! Stop worrying! They're just fine!"
"What the heck!?" A shocked feminine, familiar voice shouted.
Dorugamon stopped, both he and Andy froze in shock themselves. They saw a very familiar figure standing on a hoverboard, looking right at them, while they started back with wide eyes. Andy and Dorugamon had been so distracted with their conversation that they didn't see someone else had decided to fly to school today.
Dorugamon sweatdropped. Uh oh…
The Red Huntress, a.k.a. Valerie, was still staring at them. Although Andy couldn't see her face under that mask, he could tell she was staring at them with wide eyes right now. Cheesecake on a sundae… this is bad. Okay, where the hell am I getting these dessert curses!?
"What is that?!" The Red Huntress exclaimed, not seeing Andy on Dorugamon's back.
The Red Huntress had a bazooka come out of her suit and aimed it at Dorugamon. "It's not a ghost, but… it definitely looks dangerous."
Dorugamon gulped. "Oh… crap…" He was prepared to bolt if he was fired on, lest Andy get hurt in the impact.
Carefully and slowly, Andy took out a card and his D-Arc.
"Is this thing a real dragon…?" Valerie questioned. "Or maybe it's a robot someone made?"
I'm sorry about this Valerie, I'll make sure this won't keep you paralyzed for long. Andy mentally apologized as he carefully swiped the card on his D-Arc. Devidramon's Red Eyes activate.
Dorugamon's eyes flashed red for a second, which did paralyze Valerie's body, making her yelp in shock. Dorugamon quickly flew down, hoping to get away before she recovered. Unfortunately, Andy forgot to take into account that Valerie's suit and mask protected her from most of the attack even if it wasn't ghostly. She was able to move after two seconds, which she quickly chased after Dorugamon on her hoverboard, thinking he was a real threat.
Dorugamon looked back and gave a yelp. "Andy! She's following us!"
"Just keep going! Try to outfly her!" Andy instructed.
Dorugamon nodded before he decided to pull a few evasive maneuvers, including a dive that turned into a steep climb before weaving around a few large signs as well.
A bright pink beam flew past them. Valerie was still flying after them. Andy knew he had to do something before Valerie actually hurt them. Dorugamon flew over the traffic of the city, making it so Valerie couldn't shoot at them without the risk of shooting at the cars as well. Of course, this did have people see something big and purple flying over them. Though with how well known ghosts were these days, it was easy for the people to think that Dorugamon was just another ghost trying to cause havoc.
"Okay, I think I got it," Andy said as Dorugamon was flying over another building. "When I say when, turn to face her. I'm going to try to use the Icy Breath to freeze her hoverboard to keep it from moving long enough for us to get away."
Dorugamon nodded. "Just hurry. I don't want her to shoot at me and wind up hitting you as well."
Andy got out his Frigimon card. "Okay, turn!"
Dorugamon turned himself around to face Valerie. Valerie yelped as the dragon fox suddenly faced her.
Just as Andy was about to swipe the card, there was a sudden loud ring that was coming from below them. Andy and Valerie looked down, seeing they were just above Casper High, and the bell they heard ringing was the late bell.
Dorugamon frowned. "It looks like you're going to be late to class…"
"No time to worry about that now," Andy said before swiping the card. Frigimon's Icy Breath activate!
Dorugamon shot out the icy breath at Valerie's hoverboard, which surprised her since she had been distracted by the school bell.
"Hey!" Valerie shouted.
Dorugamon quickly flew away while Valerie was trying to get her hoverboard to move. Andy had been careful not to freeze up her engines, so she could remain airborne, she just couldn't move it much. When Andy was sure they were away from Valerie's sights, he had Dorugamon dive down quickly while he swiped the degeneration card. Dorugamon began to revert back to Dorimon as he was coming in for a landing.
As soon as they landed, Andy was holding Dorimon and he quickly began running into the school. His first period was Health Science, and the teacher was Coach Tetslaff herself. He had to book it, knowing every second he was late, the worse his punishment was going to be.
Valerie finally made it to the school and her suit went inside her shoes again before she booked it to class as well. She was not going to be late, or fail the class because of being late!
However, the two of them turned the opposite corner, and they were running too fast to stop. Andy's eyes widened when he saw Valerie running towards him. Both of them yelped as they tried to stop, but the janitor just mopped the floor, so they were sliding across the floor in their attempts to stop, and ended up slamming into each other. Andy dropped Dorimon in the process from slamming into Valerie face first. Both of them fell back on their butts.
"Ouch…" Valerie exclaimed as she rubbed her head. She then looked up and saw she had slammed into Andy. "Hey! Watch where you're going!"
Andy was rather annoyed with Valerie right now, not only did she attack Dorugamon, but she also made them late. "You watch where you're going!"
Suddenly, the Health Science door, where they bumped into each other, opened up, revealing Testlaff herself. She towered over the two students.
"Fenton, Grey, congratulations. You two stragglers are paired up for a week-long Health Sciences project. " Coach Testlaff said as she reached for something before showing it to the two teens. It was a flour sack with a diaper on it and a smiley face sticker on it. "I now pronounce you man, wife, and child." She tossed the flour sack to the two of them.
"Oh, come on! We're doing this project now?" Andy groaned. Isn't me taking care of Dorimon already enough?
"Yes, yes you are doing this project now." Testlaff replied. "So, because you two are the last two to the class, you are paired up because no one else is left."
Valerie just blinked, she hadn't been expecting this. Andy just let out a tired sigh. Dorimon blinked from his position on the floor, he didn't get why Andy's teacher just dumped a flour sack with a diaper onto Andy's and Valerie's arms like that, but he didn't like it.
Valerie looked at Andy. "You had better help me pass this class, or so help me, I will come after you if I don't!"
"Classy for a woman to threaten the man helping her," Andy retorted back.
Although Health class was over for the day, a lot of the students who had that class were walking around with their paired up partners holding the flour sack. Most of them looked more confused on what to do with the sack than anything.
"Jeez, you'd think these people never seen how a baby is taken care of before," Andy muttered as he and Valerie were in the hallway as well.
"Maybe because it was just dumped on us." Valerie grumbled.
Andy could see that Danny was paired up with Sam, which was rather fitting. But Danny was already being a mother hen with the egg, which Andy is sure was in Danny's backpack seeing how his backpack was looking pretty round. It made Andy wonder if Danny would be a natural with the flour sack. It was a rather funny thought. Andy looked around again, spotting Tucker, smiling at Niki and the flour sack they were holding. He then spotted Dash walking by with Star, Dash was holding onto the flour sack carefully while Star just looked annoyed. Then again, Star looked annoyed all the time. Looking around again, Andy then saw a sight he never expected; Takuya was holding the flour sack, glaring at Paulina, who was walking next to him. She seemed to be putting on make-up, leaving the other boy to do most of the work of carrying the sack around. Takuya looked quite annoyed right now.
Wow… how did Takuya end up paired with Paulina? I so have to ask him about that. But dang, I feel bad for my cousin having to put up with Paulina of all people for a week. Andy couldn't help but think.
"Kwan! Go long!" Calvin shouted, tossing his flour sack at Kwan, who caught it and ran down the hallway.
"Welp, they're gonna fail," Andy muttered.
Valerie had to nod in agreement about that. "Talk about dimwits."
"You know, Ms. Testlaff went really easy on us considering she could've punished us far harsher than just pairing us together," Andy stated. "All we have to do is make sure this 'baby' is kept quiet and happy, and we should pass just fine."
Valerie nodded, knowing Andy had a point. "Yeah, but that is easier said than done."
"It shouldn't be too hard. Babies usually just need food, attention, and someone to change their diapers once in a while," Andy said.
"Great, I'm glad you have it figured out then," Valerie said before she pushed the flour sack into Andy's arms before she took out a chart she had in her dress pocket.
"What is that?" Andy asked, feeling his annoyance building up again when he saw a circle with his name on it, and a tiny little piece with Valerie's name.
"This is our baby care chart." Valerie replied as she looked at Andy.
"Why is 90% of it in my name?" Andy questioned.
"Because, unlike you, I'm very busy! My grades are in the toilet, and I need to really pass this class!" Valerie replied.
Andy knew Valerie had been rarely seen around school lately, especially after the Walker incident, due to her ghost hunting career that she chose to do. It was another thing he blamed Vlad for, and perhaps this was another one of Vlad's experiments on another innocent teenager. Though he also wondered what else she had been doing since even when times were quiet and there were no ghosts or hostile Digimon around, Valerie still seemed to be missing a lot of classes.
"Look, I get that you want to pass, Valerie, but this is supposed to be a paired up assignment. Besides, is this how you're going to treat your future child one day? Neglect them or pawn them off to your husband or a caretaker while you're too busy with your job to pay them any attention?" Andy questioned.
Valerie looked at Andy. "Look, I don't care about that right now. I just want to get a passing grade so I can get to that future!"
Andy frowned, while he and Valerie were never really close, they did used to get along pretty well. He wondered why they were arguing like this, and why Valerie seemed particularly hostile towards him lately. He wondered if maybe her stress had been causing her to get more aggressive lately.
"At least try to do half of your work, Valerie. While you may not think so, I do have my busy days too, you know," Andy informed.
Valerie frowned. "I…" She then rubbed one of her arms. "Wow… I sure got caught up in my own selfishness there, huh?" I never thought about if and when Andy would have his own busy days...
"Are you alright? You've been pretty snappy lately," Andy asked, seeing how Valerie calmed down a bit. "I know we had a rough run in this morning, being late to Health class and all, but I have been wondering why you've been… well, angry lately."
"It's… It's nothing important. I have just been stressed lately." Valerie replied.
Suddenly, the flour sack began crying. This took both of them by surprise.
"What is that!?" Valerie yelped.
Andy looked at the flour sack, seeing a little metallic meter that showed the baby's mood, it was currently on 'cranky'. "... I guess they wanted to make it as realistic as possible."
"Aw, great… Now we have to deal with a flour sack that can cry. What's next? The thing needs to eat?" Valerie groaned.
"I don't see how I can feed it since it doesn't have a mouth or anything to insert food into." Andy frowned, tapping at the smiley face's 'mouth', but it was just a sticker.
"I was being sarcastic…" Valerie grumbled before she checked her watch. "Hey, would you be alright watching it this afternoon? I can… try to take care of it in the evening."
Andy blinked, but sighed. "I'll try my best, but no promises." After all, taking care of a human… um… flour sack imitating a human baby, is different from taking care of a baby Digimon.
Valerie nodded. "Okay. I'll take the flour sack baby when we get out of school."
Andy started to rock the 'baby' sack back and forth to try to calm it down. "Until then… wish me luck."
When school let out that day, everyone decided to meet up at the Nasty Burger. Andy had Dorimon in one arm, and the flour sack in the other. He met up with Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Niki outside of the Nasty Burger.
"Hey, bro… uh… why are you holding Dorimon in one arm and the flour sack in the other?" Danny asked.
"It's to keep Dorimon from eating the baby's mood meter," Andy grumbled. "He's had… several attempts today."
"It's annoying me with the crying!" Dorimon pouted.
"Well I'm gonna be more annoyed if I failed because a Digimon decided to eat the baby's mood meter," Andy hissed.
"Hey! I'm a metal muncher, and that meter is metal! Can you blame me?" Dorimon retorted.
"That's like saying that that important thing is made of ham, and asking if you could blame me for eating it because I eat ham," Andy remarked.
"Where's your partner?" Sam asked, she was holding her and Danny's flour sack herself.
"I don't know," Andy grumbled.
"And where is Takuya?" Danny muttered. "He was supposed to meet with us after school."
"Probably trying to ditch Paulina," Andy answered.
"You know, taking care of a baby isn't so bad," Tucker spoke up, who had a baby carrier around his body, and was carrying the flour sack in it. "You just need to know what you're doing."
"And I have no idea on what I am doing…" Danny groaned. "At least Andy has some experience…" With Dorimon when he hatched.
"I don't know, you seem pretty fatherly to the egg you have with you," Andy pointed out at the egg that was currently in Danny's arms.
"D-don't bring that up! It's not the same as caring for a flour sack!" Danny protested as he blushed while holding the egg closer to his chest.
"And taking care of a metal eating Digimon isn't the same as taking care of a flour sack," Andy pointed out, not that he could point right now. "And I have to take care of them both! Alone!"
Danny looked down, a bit ashamed. "Oh… Wow… I didn't think about it like that, bro. Sorry…"
Andy sighed. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, Danny, I was just letting off some steam."
"If you want, maybe we could help you?" Niki suggested. "It's a big responsibility taking care of a baby, let alone twins."
"Uh… excuse me?" Andy blinked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh? Weren't you treating that plush toy you have as a baby as well? I kinda just assumed you made them like twins or something," Niki said.
Dorimon had gone silent, pretending to be a plush toy again.
"You know, you're right, Niki, it would be a good idea to help Andy out since his 'wife' is currently busy," Tucker grinned.
Andy narrowed his eyes. "I'm not paying you, Tucker."
Tucker pouted. "Aw…"
Danny snickered as Sam did not try to hide her grin at the retort Andy had given to Tucker's idea.
"We shouldn't have to make him pay anyways," Niki said, crossing her arms. "Good friends do help each other when they need it, don't they?"
Tucker looked down. "Yeah… I guess you're right." He then looked at Andy. "Sorry about that, Andy."
Andy noticed that Niki was currently cuddling with Terriermon, who seemed to be enjoying himself right now. Salamon was peeking her head out from Sam's spider backpack, likely curious to watch what they were doing. Andy wished he could just put Dorimon back in his backpack and just worry about the flour sack, but he really didn't want to take the chance that Dorimon would pop out and try to bite the 'baby's' head off, literally.
"At least you're not that poor soul over there," Sam pointed at the Nasty Burger's mascot.
The person wearing the smiling robot costume was currently getting tormented by some nasty little kids.
Danny grimaced. "That does not sound like a fun job… I feel bad for whoever that is."
"Who raised those kids?" Salamon whispered in disapproval.
Andy frowned before he looked down at Dorimon. Dorimon blinked, seeing Andy looking at him. Andy nudged his head to the person in the costume and the kids tormenting them. Dorimon then nodded in understanding. Dorimon spat out little metal beads that were pretty much the size of marbles at the kids. The kids felt something hitting their arm, back, or neck. They looked around, wondering who was throwing little rocks at them, before they tripped over on the little metal beads and fell on their faces, getting them dirty from the dirt and grass.
Danny saw that and looked back at Andy. "Wow… that was… unexpected of you bro."
Andy shrugged. "Just because you're the big hero of the family doesn't mean I can't try to help someone in my own way."
Niki blinked at that, and Tucker just shrugged. "It's a little in-joke they have, twins, you know?"
Niki nodded, accepting the answer.
Just then, Takuya came over at last, grumbling to himself as he held the flour sack in his arms. "Can't believe her… I get stuck with the sack while she doesn't do any of the work…"
"Hey, Takuya, looks like you're in as good a mood as Andy," Sam greeted.
Takuya looked up. "Shut it, Sam. I'm not in the mood right now… just cause Paulina has cheerleading practice doesn't give her the excuse to act like such a bit-"
"So, how did you get stuck with Paulina?" Andy interrupted before Takuya could finish his word.
Takuya sighed. "Blame the teacher. Paulina protested the project, and I just asked a question about it. Paulina snapped at me, and I snapped at her, and thus… we got paired up as punishment."
"Ouch," Danny winced. "... Though I wouldn't have minded being paired up with P-"
Sam gave Danny a warning glare.
"I mean that's bad, very, very bad," Danny quickly reiterated.
Tucker snickered at Sam's glare. "It seems your 'wife' doesn't approve of that idea~"
"She would've made Danny do all the work, and then walk all over him. And knowing her, probably use his precious egg as a football for the jocks," Sam grumbled.
Danny quickly cradled with the egg. "Nobody's going to do that to you."
Everyone there snickered at Danny's comment, even Takuya and Andy.
"I don't know, I think Danny is more fatherly right now because of the fact he has the 'twins'." Takuya joked.
"Is that a real egg?" Niki questioned. "I mean it looks too big to be a chicken egg, and what's that symbol on it? I don't think I know any animal that laid an egg like that."
"It's a very cool toy that can hatch if you take very good care of it, into a new, awesome plushy, depending on how you take care of it," Tucker quickly covered. "It's very high tech, probably the only one of its kind."
Niki blinked. "Then how did-"
As if Andy's flour sack had a mind of its own, it decided to save Tucker by suddenly letting out a gassy noise. Andy looked down at it before smelling beans from the flour sack.
"... Okay, that was the flour sack, not me," Andy quickly said when he noticed the others were looking at him.
"If that was the flour sack… how realistic did they make these?" Takuya asked as he eyed his own flour sack warily.
"It's the little touches that brings the baby to life," Tucker complimented, being the tech guy who appreciated the school going the extra mile.
"So… what, is this diaper filled with beans or something now?" Andy questioned.
"Don't ask that, Andy." Takuya groaned. "Knowing your luck, it probably would be."
"Well great, I still have to change the flour sack," Andy groaned. "I didn't bring an extra diaper with me because I didn't know it'd be necessary."
"Here, why don't you allow me?" Tucker offered before taking Andy's flour sack.
"What? Did you bring extra diapers with you?" Andy asked.
"Of course I did. I'm not a neglectful parent!" Tucker retorted as he took out some extra diapers.
"Oh, Tucker has more than just extra diapers." Niki smiled. "Why don't you show him, Tucker?"
Tucker grinned before he flipped out the backpack he was wearing into a baby table. "Behold! One backpack/baby table-to-go-anywhere!"
"What the? How the heck? I don't even think our parents made anything like this," Andy asked, his eyes wide from shock.
Dorimon was staring in shock too, and he was used to weird technology.
"It's just a small thing I made up since I didn't want to use the restroom baby-tables." Tucker replied sheepishly. "You never know what could have been on those. And I, for one, don't want to go to the hospital because I got sick from one of those things."
"The online geek community is also very generous," Niki chuckled. "I'll have to check them out some time myself."
"What community calls themselves 'geek'? I thought that was an insult," Sam questioned.
"For us, it's more of a pride thing, since 'geek' usually means 'smart' or 'brainiac'," Tucker explained as he laid Andy's flour sack onto the table.
Danny blinked. "Tucker, I don't know whether to be impressed or just plain dumb-founded. This is… certainly a surprise."
"Maybe something you could use for when your… 'toy egg' hatches," Sam chuckled.
Danny gave Sam a mock glare, but there was no heat behind it.
Takuya was also impressed. "Tucker, you're a regular Einstein almost."
Terriermon gave a small pout, as if to say 'hey, I helped build that too!'
Takuya saw that and chuckled as he patted Terriermon as if to say 'Good job.' Terriermon gave a smile at that.
Suddenly, Danny's ghost sense went off, Takuya felt a flash of heat, and the Digimon looked more alert. Terriermon could only narrow his eyes since Niki was currently holding him.
Looking towards the Nasty Burger, the group could see a giant black snake ghost with bat-like wings, almost looking draconic. It was tied up by some kind of blue and white glowing string though. It let out a roar at them before it was suddenly pulled up. The people that saw this ghost started panicking and ran away.
Takuya tensed up. "Ugh… Great… And 'mommy's' not here to watch the baby while I go and… deal with an emergency…"
Okay… that was a new ghost… Danny frowned to himself.
"Tucker, we need to get out of here," Niki said worriedly.
"Uh, yeah, let's go. I'll uh… keep the baby with me, if that's alright with you, Andy," Tucker said before he began leading Niki away from what would soon be a battlefield.
Before Andy could reply, his head started spinning. Images started to flood his mind.
I could see Danny turning ghost, flying around the Nasty Burger trying to find that ghost. At the same time, Takuya Spirit Evolved into Agunimon. Though they didn't see the ghost anywhere. Instead, Danny and Agunimon got blasted by something. Valerie… Valerie in her red huntress suit was aiming her bazooka at both of them. Agunimon suddenly paled and began to shiver, he suddenly looked like he was in a whole different world. Danny was yelling at Valerie to stand down, but Valerie fired at Danny. She then fired at the frozen Agunimon, who gave a scream of pain. For a moment, I thought I saw something green and black floating not too far away, watching them.
Andy soon came out of the vision. He saw Danny handing Sam the egg, wanting her to keep it safe while he went to go deal with this ghost. Takuya was looking nervous, but he gripped onto his D-Tector.
"Wait! Both of you!" Andy suddenly shouted. "Don't go anywhere!"
Takuya looked back. "Andy? What's wrong?"
"If you transform now, you're going to get attacked by the Red Huntress," Andy warned. "I think you… you might not be ready to face someone like that right now."
Takuya actually looked a bit pale. "Oh…" Then he blinked. "Wait… How do you know that? Was it a… vision thing you had?"
"Are you saying Valerie is nearby?" Danny asked, frowning.
"Y-yeah, I think she is," Andy answered, hesitating a little. "And something else might be too… watching us right now."
"But who?" Danny asked as he looked around. "Is it some new ghost or an old one we fought before? Or is it a Digimon?"
Suddenly, the red huntress herself was flying through the Nasty Burger's skies. She was using some kind of binoculars to look around, likely for the ghost everyone saw earlier.
Takuya looked up, looking a bit pale. Danny frowned as he looked up as well. "I think we could leave it to Valerie… Can't we?"
"Let's wait and see what happens first," Salamon spoke up. "I do not see that ghost anywhere anymore, and it doesn't appear to be attacking anything or anyone."
"And if we do have to fight, I think Dorumon and Salamon might be able to handle it, it's just one animal ghost. It may not be one we've seen before, but we've faced with enough to be able to handle a few of those ourselves without a ghost boy or a Legendary Warrior helping us," Andy spoke up.
Takuya nodded. "That's true, I guess." He sighed, actually a bit relieved to not have to fight against Valerie or that ghost that had been seen earlier.
"But wait… Andy, how did you know that Valerie would be coming?" Sam asked, giving Danny back the egg since he wasn't going into action right now.
There wasn't much Andy could've said that sounded plausible. "Lucky guess…?"
Sam frowned, but didn't question it. "I guess that could make sense."
While Valerie flew around, trying to find the ghost, Danny whispered to his brother. "You had another vision, didn't you?"
Andy frowned. "... I guess… maybe?"
Danny sighed. "That would explain why you warned us then. I guess you didn't want Valerie to find out about us, huh?"
"Well that, and… Takuya's… got some psychological scars he needs to get worked out before he can face with another… human opponent," Andy sighed.
Danny frowned at that. "Yeah… No thanks to Dad… Not that he meant it of course, he didn't know at the time."
Valerie finally flew away when she couldn't find the ghost. The people stopped panicking when they realized there was no ghost attack.
"Looks like the ghost decided to leave," Sam noted.
"I don't know, it looked like the ghost was tied up to me," Andy remarked.
"Tied up and pulled," Dorimon added.
Danny frowned. "Almost like it was bait…"
"Bait for what?" Takuya asked.
Andy looked up at the roof of the Nasty Burger before frowning. "The next time you two see a ghost, don't transform right away. It's likely someone's trying to bait you two for something."
Takuya paled at hearing that. "G-good idea…"
Danny frowned at hearing his cousin's tone of voice. It wasn't like him to stammer in any way unless he was truly scared.
"Takuya, maybe you should go home and rest, you don't look so good," Sam said in concern.
"I agree, you shouldn't push yourself if you're not feeling at your best right now," Salamon concurred.
Takuya nodded shakily. "Y-Yeah… I… I think I will…" He felt he had to get away from the area, more because of being scared of being hunted down than out of concern about Danny being baited into fighting.
Takuya almost forgot he had the flour sack in his arms until it started crying. Takuya then groaned to himself as he walked away, just wanting to get home right now.
"Maybe I should follow him, make sure he gets back safely," Danny suggested worriedly.
Sam looked at Danny. "If someone is using a ghost to bait you, I think it would be best you went after Takuya, to throw the one trying to get you off." She then looked at Andy. "Do you think that's a good idea?"
Sam then noticed Andy wasn't there, he was instead talking to Tucker in the parking lot, likely to take back his flour sack.
"I'll… just go follow Takuya," Danny sighed before he walked away, still holding his egg. "Oh… will you be alright watching the flour sack kid?"
Sam sighed. "I might as well since you have that egg to watch."
Then Sam gave a smile at the flour sack she was holding. "You know… maybe I can personalize our child a little more~"
Danny blinked. "Um… Sam, it's just a flour sack…"
"Of course it is," Sam grinned sheepishly.
"... Right… anyways, I'll come check the flour sack after I make sure Takuya is okay," Danny said.
Sam nodded. "Okay. Just be careful with Valerie out there."
"Don't worry, I will, Sam," Danny assured before he hurried after Takuya.
Andy came walking over to Sam, holding his flour sack once more, and still holding Dorimon under his arm. He was about to say something to Sam before he saw Sam tickling her flour sack's sticker cheek. Her eyes were adorning the flour sack as if it was a real baby she was holding.
Dorimon blinked. "Why is Sam treating that flour sack like a human baby?"
"I think it's good to let her visualize the sack as a real baby, it brings out her inner maternal instincts." Salamon grinned.
Andy decided to just walk away and let Salamon handle Sam falling into her fantasy.
Dorimon looked up at Andy as they were walking. "Is something on your mind, Andy?"
"Just going to figure out a good way to take care of a flour sack pretending to be a real human baby," Andy sighed. "And also talk to Valerie."
Dorimon frowned. "It's about her ditching you, isn't it?"
Andy didn't answer, he just kept walking.
Takuya sighed as he walked into Fenton Works, glad to have made it home, and quiet down the flour sack he was holding. If he wanted to take care of a crier, he'd rather it was Tommy, no offense to the boy of course. But a stupid flour sack that wouldn't shut up was seriously tempting him to just burn it.
Of course, Paulina would then come after me about what happened to the sack, as would the teacher… Takuya thought grumpily.
Then Takuya felt a familiar chill and heat. He knew that ecto-signature by now. "You can stop being invisible, Danny."
The ghost boy sheepishly let go of his invisibility. He was currently in his human form, but he was able to turn himself invisible without going ghost. "I… uh… forgot you can sense ghosts."
Takuya then looked back. "What are you doing? Did you follow me or something?" He asked.
"Yeah… I uh… well, I was worried about you, cuz," Danny admitted. "You… really didn't seem like yourself back there."
"It's just… I need some time to get over what happened with Uncle Jack, that's all." Takuya sighed. "You should be more worried about your brother though."
Danny blinked. "Andy? Why?"
Takuya then remembered that Andy hadn't told Danny about his experience with Vlad, and he just let that slip.
"Ugh… Never mind…" Takuya sighed. Great… Way to go, Takuya… You almost let slip what happened with Vlad and Andy...
Danny sighed as he used his free hand to rub the back of his head. "I don't want to sound like Jazz or Andy, but… I don't think this problem is going to go away on its own. You should talk about it, give your mind some ease after releasing your fears about what happened."
Takuya didn't turn around. "Danny… I get that, but… It's just… I can't really say anything right now. I… I just need some time, that's all."
Danny frowned as Takuya started to walk away. "Fine, I'll give you one hour."
Takuya blinked and turned around to retort, but Danny wasn't there anymore. Why do I get the feeling that 'one hour' thing was a threat from Danny? Takuya thought with a bit of fear.
The older boy then sighed as he went into his room and laid in bed. He just needed the world to disappear for a moment. The crying sack of flour was in the living room. At this point he couldn't care less that he and Paulina would fail, at least it would teach Paulina a lesson for shoving all the work on him.
At least some good would come of failing this dumb project… Takuya thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
"Oh Takuuuuuyaaaaaa~" Someone sang in his ear.
Takuya jumped from his bed. "WAH!" He landed on the floor, rubbing his head. "Okay… I'm pretty sure I jumped 5 feet from that…"
Takuya heard someone laughing before Danny Phantom revealed himself floating in Takuya's room. "Wow, you really jumped from that. I've gotta try waking you up like that more often, cuz~"
Takuya growled. "What do you want, Danny?"
Danny wasn't currently holding Seraphimon's egg, which was pretty rare these days. "Your hour's up, Takuya. I came to get you so you can talk to Jazz. I already had her schedule talking to you today."
Takuya paled. "Danny, no! No, I won't go!"
"Oh? You don't want to go?" Danny asked, looking innocent. "Well… too bad~"
Takuya gaped. "Danny, no! Don't! Don't you dare…!"
Takuya blinked, and suddenly, he was standing in Jazz's room. Danny was leaning on the wall, still in his ghost form. Takuya could just hear his Spirits snickering when he realized Danny had just overshadowed him.
Of all the… Gah! Even my own Spirits are against me! Takuya thought in dismay.
"There you are, Takuya," Jazz said in a professional tone.
Jazz was sitting on her computer chair, with a notepad and a pen. Lopmon was sitting on her desk, cuddling with Seraphimon's egg.
"In case you were wondering, Danny didn't think his ghost form would be very healthy for the egg since it makes him naturally cold," Lopmon explained, seeing Takuya's questioning face. "So he left the egg to me for the time being."
Takuya groaned. "Ugh… I just wanted to get some sleep, not deal with this or that crying flour sack…"
"Takuya, you need to talk about your problem if you want to get over it. You can try to wait it out, but that'll only deeply root the fear, turning it into a phobia. You might not ever trust Dad again," Jazz warned. "If you don't want that to happen, I suggest you suck it up and lay down on my bed so we can begin this session."
Takuya just sat down on the bed instead of lying down and stuck out his tongue at Jazz.
Jazz pretended she didn't see that. "Okay, so, let's begin. Oh, and if you try to escape, Danny will be bringing you back."
Danny grinned as he waved at Takuya from the doorway.
Takuya glared at Danny, making sure to not hide the feral look in his eyes. He is so getting payback for this...
"Let's start at the beginning," Jazz stated. "When did this fear of Dad, your uncle, begin?"
Takuya sighed. "When I was 8. Uncle Jack thought I had a ghost disease and wanted to experiment on me at that age." I will not reveal my secret...
Andy stood in front of the door of the apartment room Valerie was living in. He was looking at a piece of paper to make sure the numbers were right, before he put the paper back into his pocket. Dorimon was currently back in Andy's backpack after he promised not to bite the 'baby' or anything on it. Andy also promised to give Dorimon some of those helicopter scraps Maddie kept as treats for Dorimon if he behaved.
"Is this the right place?" Dorimon asked.
"I think it is," Andy said. "Let's hope it is."
Andy knocked on the door since there didn't seem to be a doorbell, or at least a working one anyways.
The door opened to reveal Valerie, who looked like she was in a workout uniform. "Andy?"
"Uh… I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Andy said, seeing that Valerie was sweating. "But it's already evening, and I believe it's your turn. I even bought a few essentials, like extra diapers, some baby powder, a baby stroller…"
"What? A baby stroller?" Valerie blinked.
"... It… was… eaten by a dog?" Andy smiled sheepishly.
"... A metal eating dog…?" Valerie asked, skeptical at the claim.
"A ghost metal eating dog," Andy said.
Valerie was about to argue, but then realized that might actually be possible.
"Don't worry, I hit it with a newspaper," Andy remarked.
Valerie sighed. "Yeah… Okay. I guess I can take the sack. I did say I would."
"If you want, I could stick around for a little while to help you," Andy offered. "I know how important this grade is to you."
Valerie smiled at the offer. "That would be appreciated, yes."
"Great… but first… you might want to shower," Andy suggested.
Valerie nodded. "Yeah, I probably should." She agreed as she looked herself over. "I must look like a mess."
"Just sweaty," Andy chuckled. "Your hair still looks pretty good though."
Valerie looked a bit red in the cheeks for some odd reason. "Y-you think so?"
Andy realized what it sounded like when he said that. "Y-you know, since you were working out, I'm guessing, your hair still looks good. It's not all frizzy or wet from your sweat or anything."
Valerie's blush faded. "O-oh… Well… thanks I guess…" She was still blushing inwardly though.
"A-anyways… uh… can I come in now?" Andy asked, feeling awkward.
"Oh! Sorry. Sure, come on in." Valerie agreed as she moved aside so Andy could walk inside.
Valerie moved some stuff around when Andy came inside. "Don't mind the mess… or…"
Valerie noticed that she had her ecto guns on the wall, and the ecto samples in some glass containers on the table. "Uh… anything else in this room! In fact, let's go over here!"
Valerie all but pushed Andy into another room before shutting the door. Andy blinked at her.
"... Why don't you make yourself comfy while I go shower? There are some books you could read… the TV is a bit small and old, but it works, and we have satellite," Valerie quickly said, hoping to distract Andy from the ghostly stuff she had in the other room.
"Uh… sure, thanks," Andy answered slowly.
Dorimon was snickering in Andy's backpack once Valerie left. He had heard Andy's hair comment and Valerie's response. "You just made a girl's day~"
Andy rolled up a newspaper that Valerie had lying around that showed the mayor incident with Danny Phantom, then he lightly bopped his backpack.
"Ow!" Dorimon whimpered.
"What was that?" Valerie asked.
"Oh nothing," Andy said before he took the flour sack from Valerie. "You go ahead and freshen up. I'll keep an eye on Junior here."
Valerie smiled a bit. "You named the sack already?" She teased.
"Junior is just a generic name for a child. I didn't want to keep saying 'the flour sack'," Andy informed.
"Sure you didn't…" Valerie smiled before she headed into the shower to clean up.
"I'm not as fatherly as my brother!" Andy called out as Valerie closed the door to her bathroom.
Andy had seen the guns and the ecto stuff Valerie had been apparently collecting, though he acted like he didn't. He wondered if those ectoplasm samples were from Danny. He and Valerie did sometimes fight each other, even if Andy didn't always see it.
Dorimon wiggled his head out of Andy's backpack. "I smell ectoplasm."
"Valerie's been collecting samples," Andy explained. "Thought I don't know if it's because of her obsession with fighting the 'ghost who ruined her life' or if it's for Vlad…"
Dorimon frowned. "You need to stop thinking about that, Andy. It's not good for you to keep dwelling on it."
"How can I not? It's right there," Andy groaned. "Maybe I should look at Danny's blood sample and compare it with-"
"No, no going down that rabbit hole!" Dorimon spoke up. "You're going to drive yourself crazy with thoughts like that. You might end up like Vlad if you're not careful."
"What? Why would I become like Vlad?" Andy frowned.
"Like you said, Vlad lost his humanity due to his obsession. And you're getting obsessed over this," Dorimon pointed out.
Andy frowned more, he hadn't thought of it like that. Am I being obsessed? I'm just worried… does that make me obsessed?
"Just forget about it for now, Andy. Don't pay attention to those samples. You have a flour sack to care for, unless you want me to eat the meter…" Dorimon grinned mischievously.
Almost on cue, the flour sack started crying again. Andy groaned. "What are you crying about? Jeez, kids these days, you can never satisfy them."
Dorimon giggled at Andy's comment.
"And I guess being covered in ectoplasm made Uncle Jack think I was a ghost, so he almost tried to take me to the lab," Takuya finished. "But that was when Agunimon came in, and Uncle Jack went after him instead."
Jazz frowned a bit. She had the feeling Takuya was lying, but there had been no evidence to disprove it either.
"It seems you've had this fear since you were 8 years old already," Jazz noted. "Almost just as bad as Andy's fear of teddy bears because of… what I did with Bearbert to him."
Takuya groaned. "So now what, Dr. Jazz?"
"In my professional diagnosis, you need to talk to your uncle about this. Let him know how this made you feel, and get some kind of closure with him on it," Jazz answered.
Great… But I can't exactly say 'Hey, I'm the Digimon you tried to experiment on, who also happens to have the same fear that your nephew has had since he was 8', now can I? Takuya thought bitterly.
"But perhaps we can try something else to help," Jazz started. "Let's try-"
Suddenly, something small and metallic crashed through Jazz's window, making her yelp while making Takuya jump. Lopmon and Danny were immediately on alert. The metal things looked like grenades or smoke bombs. They were smoke bombs because they released gas immediately, covering the group. They were quickly feeling dazed.
Takuya reacted at once, knowing he had only this chance to evolve. 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 Agunimon, he was prepared to fight, but before he could, the gas suddenly hit his enhanced senses. Cursing his poor timing, Agunimon found he could only stay conscious for a few more seconds before his vision blurred before going black.
Danny tried to fire his ghost rays at the window, but he couldn't stay awake for long. The last thing he saw was a familiar shape floating towards them, and a familiar laugh as he closed his eyes.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Glad you liked the chapter. :3
Luna Lillyth: DarkFoxKit: Yup, story arcs are fun. Very happy to see you're enjoying it~
ZAFT: Trust me, the story arcs resulting from this will have a climatic ending down the road… ;)