ZAFT: This is it… The last chapter,..

DarkFoxKit: Don't look so glum. We've got the reboot to look forward to. Yeah, it's a shame that we never got to have Dorumon digivolve to his Ultimate and Mega form, and all of that. But still, I think things will work better in the reboot. We already have a lot planned for it. While in this one we just kinda made things up as we went and that started to become messy the further we went.

ZAFT: True, and I can't wait to see how the reboot goes now. XD

Takuya: This had better be more enjoyable for me and Andy at least. ^^'

Andy: Takuya… remember who you're talking to…

Takuya: A guy can dream, can't he?

DarkFoxKit: To all those who read this story, thank you for reading, and reviewing. We do apologize that the story ended kind of abruptly, but we felt it was for the best. If you're still interested in Digital Phantom, please be on the lookout for the reboot. It's definitely different from this story, I can tell you that much, so don't worry about it being an almost exact copy of this story.

ZAFT: And it will be much more fun for you to read, because it will go in different directions in many ways. XD

DarkFoxKit: But until then, please enjoy the last chapter of this version of Digital Phantom, and let us know what you thought about it, and what elements you'd like to see again in the reboot. Thank you, and have a nice day you wonderful people.


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

Digital Phantom!

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

Falling into destiny

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

Reaching across new boundaries

(Andy Fenton appears with Dorimon on his head, a white-haired, purple-eyed form behind him in a transparent state. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)

Let our stories come together

(Danny is shown transforming into his ghost form, Danny Phantom, flying towards Vlad Plasmius, who has a shadowed form behind him)

Growing stronger

(Andy is shown looking his D-Arc glows with a light coming from it that envelopes the screen)

Our pasts intertwine

(The Legendary Warriors' symbols are shown circling around the symbols of Danny Phantom and Andy Phantom)

Showing our future

(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Aldamon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Aldamon and deflect the beams)

As we evolve

(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a large shadowed form behind him and Terriermon)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(Sam is shown with Gatomon next to her, a shadowed form with angelic wings appearing behind them both.)

As our worlds collide

(Jazz is shown with Lopmon, his Mega form of Cherubimon appearing behind them both, transparent in nature)

We stand as one

(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with a shadowed form behind them both with a white cape and blue eyes looking back at them.)

Growing strong

(A shadowed form is shown with blue eyes and a glowing white blade erupting from what looks like a giant weapon in the form's hands)

As we move along

(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Patamon, Andy and Dorumon, Tucker and Terriermon, Sam and Gatomon, Takuya, Jazz and Lopmon.)

CHOU… SHINKA!

(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal the Digimon partners and Takuya all evolved, with Danny and Andy in their ghost forms)

Let's go… EVOLUTION!

(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself.)

Nothing will stand in our way!

(Andy, Dorimon, Danny, Patamon, Tucker, Terriermon, Sam, Gatomon, Jazz, Lopmon, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code.)

Digital Phantom!


Chapter 22: Bonding Through Time

"What happened after that?" Takuya asked as the time window suddenly went black after future Andy had fainted from the news future Danny just gave him.

"I'm afraid that's all I can show you, Takuya," Clockwork answered, looking a little troubled. "The future isn't set in stone… whatever will happen 12 years from now isn't guaranteed to lead to that situation. Unless one key factor in your timeline does happen. If it doesn't happen in that exact way, this future will never come to be for you."

Takuya frowned. "I see." He said. While he was not sure of what to make of this, he was sure Clockwork had shown him this for a reason. "And you can't tell me what this key factor is?" Takuya asked, although he had a feeling what it would be.

"I'm afraid not," Clockwork answered.

"Why did you show me this?"Takuya questioned.

"I wanted to give you a choice… a chance to maybe change the future. The future isn't a bad one by any means, in fact, it's been a utopia for all three worlds," Clockwork stated. "However, it is at the expense of your cousin Andy. You saw how he reacted to Danny. Even if Andy turned out to be Danny's co-king, it would still take years for them to bond again, for Andy to really trust Danny. That could hurt them more in the long run, especially if they're trying to avoid each other. The brothers… shouldn't grow apart and become distrustful of each other."

Takuya frowned, looking down. "That's a good point." He admitted. "And I've seen that first-hand. Hell, I was also distrustful of Danny at one point. It hurts them more than they tend to show."

Takuya then looked up at the time ghost. "What would I have to do to change the future so Andy isn't suffering alone, or at all?"

"Changing the future is a risky move, Takuya. Just one little tip could change everything, and it may not be for the better. Are you willing to take that risk?" Clockwork warned.

Takuya looked down, remembering his own time-travel incident 4, almost 5, years ago. He knew he could change it, and it would probably be worse, but that was the risk with time-travel. He sighed. "While I should say no, this is Andy we're talking about. I don't want to see him suffering like that, away from Danny." He admitted. "I… I am willing to take that risk, if it means Andy and Danny stay together."

"Then I will tell you how to tip the scale enough to possibly cause the key point in your future to change," Clockwork said. "Tell Andy about what you saw."

Takuya blinked. "Wait… that's it? It's that simple?" He asked, skeptical. "It can't be as simple as that… err… can it?"

"One little change is all it would take to change the future," Clockwork answered. "It may not seem like much now, but it will lead to a chain of events that would cause something different to happen that would change the future. It may or may not happen, it will mostly depend on what Andy will do once you tell him. You'll just be opening the door to another possibility."

Takuya sighed. "I guess you're right." He muttered. "Alright. I'll tell Andy what I saw." Takuya looked back up. "By the way, is Andy still with Dan?"

"Yes, he is." Clockwork grinned. "You should wake Dorumon and go check on him."

Takuya grunted. "Great… Now I have to probably deal with a grumpy ghost that ruined an entire timeline as well as my cousin trying to reform him."

Dorumon shyly walked out from under a table he was hiding in. "Hey… uh… I totally didn't wake up and follow you here and saw that whole future thing myself. Nope, just woke up, and decided to lay under the table."

Takuya looked back at Dorumon with surprise before he groaned. "Judging by the way you said that, you did get curious." He muttered as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "You do realize you sounded just like Danny when he lied one time, right?"

"It's called being sarcastic," Dorumon grumbled. "I thought it was pretty obvious that I did sneak in here after you."

Takuya grumbled. "Whatever… Let's just go see if Andy's alright."

Dorumon followed Takuya down the spiraling stairs. "But… was that true? Would Danny and Andy really become the king of ghosts in the future?"

"As far as I know, yeah." Takuya admitted. "But like Clockwork said, things are not set in stone, so it may not happen, but it could as well. I guess it all depends on what choices we make." He noted.

"I guess so…" Dorumon replied, looking a little doubtful.

Takuya looked back at Dorumon. "Is something wrong?" He asked the Rookie-level Digimon.

"It's just… if Andy becomes the ghost king along with his brother, doesn't he… I don't know… deserve a better partner?" Dorumon asked. "I was pretty much a nobody in the Digital World. Just another average Digimon, nothing special… maybe he should've had one of the Celestial Digimon like Danny does…"

Takuya blinked in surprise. "Dorumon…" He murmured before he sighed. "Andy would never forgive himself if he found out you didn't want to be his partner." Takuya then gave a small smile. "And just ask Bokomon and Neemon. Beforehand, they were just average Digimon as well. But traveling with us Legendary Warriors, they became something far more. And don't worry. I'm sure you will become someone important too. Andy and you are partners, so don't doubt yourself. You can be quite strong when you want to be."

"I guess…" Dorumon sighed.

Takuya wondered if maybe Andy's personality has been rubbing off on Dorumon, since Andy would've likely said the same thing regarding the whole ghost king thing.

"Just don't worry about it for now." Takuya said as he rubbed the top of Dorumon's head gently. "We'll just see where things take us for now." He reassured Dorumon.

Takuya then looked up, seeing they had reached the bottom of the staircase, right to where Dan was still in that barrier, and Andy was still right in front of him.

"I guess I just never stopped killing after I literally killed my own humanity," Dan sighed, sounding more regretful than proud. "If humans were just going to die anyways, I might as well end the pain of living for them faster. And let their loved ones join them."

"I suppose that is a logical way to look at it. A very twisted way of logic," Andy remarked before yawning, he hadn't slept or ate anything since they got here.

Dan gave a smirk. "You still have human needs I see." He noted. "Is a little thing called sleep creeping up on you?"

"Sleep can wait," Andy replied, ignoring the bags that were under his eyes. "This is more important. And since you just asked your question, I believe it's my turn again~"

Dan groaned. "Not again… I swear, it's like you're picking apart my core with your questions!" He whined.

"Since this all happened in a timeline that no longer exists… would you kill everyone again if you could?" Andy questioned. "And if so, why? Technically speaking… Mom, Dad, Jazz, Tucker, Sam, and Mr. Lancer aren't dead, they're very much alive."

Dan looked thoughtful as he glanced down at the floor of the lair. "If I could, I would, because it is too painful to be reminded of what I lost in my original timeline." He replied. "But… at the same time… I feel like it would do nothing to help me be free of the pain of when I lost everything. So… I can't really give a good answer..."

"If there was a way to turn you back to Danny and Vlad, would you take it?" Andy asked.

Before Dan could answer, Takuya and Dorumon decided to interrupt.

"Andy, are you still trying to get to the cause of Dan's anger and pain?" Takuya asked with a joking tone. "If you are, you would make one heck of a psychologist yourself."

"I'm just trying to-" Andy yawned. "Help… Um… do you have a glass of water? My throat's feeling kinda dry."

Takuya looked sheepishly at Andy. "I… kinda just got here, so… no, sorry, I don't…" He admitted.

"Then what's that in your hand?" Dorumon asked.

Takuya blinked as he looked down at his right hand, seeing he was holding a glass of nice, cold water.

Takuya looked at the glass of water warily. "On second thought… I do have one." He said as he handed the water to Andy. "I must have forgotten I got some for myself, but you can have it if you really need it." Oh man… that is creepy...

Andy gave a grateful smile to Takuya before he took the glass of water and downed it pretty quickly. "Thanks, I needed that."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Human needs. I'm so glad I got rid of those."

"Uh huh…" Takuya rolled his own eyes. "Sure you are." He noted as he stood beside Andy. "I wonder how you really feel about that."

Dan glared at Takuya. "Don't you start talking to me like you know me."

Dorumon nuzzled his head into Andy's other hand. "Are you okay, Andy? Shouldn't you take this time to sleep and eat something?"

"I'll be fine, Dorumon," Andy reassured, petting his partner. "Is it morning or something? It's uh… hard to tell here."

Takuya took out his D-Tector to check the time. "It's…" He blinked as he saw the time. "It appears to be. My D-Tector says it's 5 in the morning, but then again, in the Ghost Zone, the time could be way off."

"I don't think there's time here since we're outside of time, aren't we?" Dorumon asked.

"Whatever the case may be, apparently my body still has a sense of time," Andy grumbled as he put the now empty glass down on a table nearby. "I'm sorry, I guess I have been keeping the two of you here with me all night."

Takuya waved it off. "It's fine. It was kinda interesting to spend the night in the Ghost Zone, even if it was a bit unnerving." He then grinned a bit. "After all, it gave us more experience with ghosts in a way."

"Though, maybe we should head back home soon. I think Danny and the others are back in our timeline now," Dorumon said quietly. "They're probably waiting for us."

"I can't leave yet… Not until I…" Andy looked at Dan, he wasn't sure if he could really help Dan, but something kept him from wanting to just leave Dan with the way things were now.

Dan grinned a wicked grin. "What? Are you too afraid to leave me alone?" He mocked.

"Do you want to be left alone?" Andy countered.

Dan hesitated at that retort, his face showing his conflicted feelings clearly.

Seeing Dan with such a conflicted look on his face surprised Takuya, as he hadn't expected to see the powerful ghost with such emotions before.

Dan finally sighed. "I don't know…" He admitted at last. "I want to say yes, leave me alone, but… I don't want to be alone either. It's like I would be lying if I said I valued being alone or something!"

"Then don't push people away," Andy said. "So what's the answer to my question? If you could be Danny again, without Vlad, would you take it?"

Dan hesitated before he sighed. "I… I would… I would take it. If I had to deal with being my goody-two-shoes past self, I would, because I wouldn't be alone again."

Andy leaned in on the barrier, looking a little drowsy but also relieved. He put his forehead against the barrier, and then his hands on it. "Despite what you've told me, what you've become, why and how you became like this… you'll always be Danny to me…"

Dan balked at hearing Andy's words. He hadn't expected anyone to say that to him. He felt funny… like his core was… happy, and it unnerved him, but it also relieved him for some reason, and he didn't know why.

Takuya walked over to Andy before he put a hand on Andy's shoulder. "Andy… you need rest. Let's just go. I think you've done enough for Dan for one day. Literally." He said to his tired cousin.

Andy didn't protest as Takuya began to help move him away from Dan, though Andy did keep looking at Dan sleepily as Takuya led him away.

Dorumon looked at Dan. "He means it, you know. It wasn't the first time Danny changed into something and someone more... drastic. It did take him a while, but he accepted him as still being Danny…"

Dan looked down. "Andy isn't one to lie about something like that." He admitted before looking back up at Dorumon. "Listen, don't tell him I said this, but tell that goody-two-shoes brother of… this timeline's version of me to hold onto what he cares about the most and never let go. You never know when you will lose it."

Dorumon nodded, surprised at how nice Dan was being, well as nice as he could be. Andy must've really softened him up considering he was a genocidal maniac just yesterday. "If it's any consolation, I do hope things turn out better for you."

Dan smirked. "Heh… that's the tricky thing with time. It can go one way one day, and then change the next. I never thought I would be a genocidal maniac yesterday, only to spill my life's story to another version of my brother today."

Dorumon smiled a little. "Perhaps that's just the way twins are, even after all that time for you…"

Dorumon then walked towards Takuya and Andy. Dan looked down for a moment, before Clockwork appeared in front of him. "Oh great, what do you want, gramps?"

Clockwork was currently in his old ghost form. "I merely wanted to offer you something that you may want, or rather, need."

Dan blinked before frowning. "And what would I need? I'm a full ghost, you know. I don't need anything."

"A second chance at life," Clockwork answered. "You may exist outside of time, however, that doesn't mean my own time powers can't affect you, as you know, being in your 14 year old body right now. I can't bring you back to a timeline that no longer exists, however, I can restore the humanity you lost."

Dan blinked. "You mean return me to my halfa form? Heh… I'd like to see you try, since I am a fused ghost. I'm not sure it is possible to do that."

"It wasn't before," Clockwork admitted before he suddenly turned into a child. "But, after Andy was finished with you, it is now."

"What?" Dan frowned. "What do you mean?"

Clockwork pointed his time-staff at Dan. "You didn't want to change, you didn't want to be who you were before. Your being and your core clinged onto Vlad's essence and core tightly, it would've been impossible to split you up without destroying you. However, after Andy got you to open up, and remind you what it was like to be Danny, to be human… and the answer you gave to him about wanting to be Danny again… that opened up the door. Your being and your core are no longer clinging tightly with Vlad's, your being right now is unstable, it wants to split up, but it can't. If you split up now, without your humanity, you will die, as in, you will cease to be."

Dan looked fearful, but he also felt this was a new chance for him, a chance to become less lonely. He looked at Clockwork. "Then give it to me. I don't want to cease to be. Or be lonely again. If I have to become like my old self, I would rather do that than be a full ghost and cease to exist." He then chuckled a bit. "I will miss not having human needs, but if I have to put up with them, then so be it."

"Heh, looks like Andy did a pretty good job," Avala spoke up as she appeared beside Clockwork. "Never thought I'd see the day. I thought for sure he'd go on a rampage and destroy you and your lair."

"Sometimes taking chances and risks will help pave the way for a better future," Clockwork stated. "Now, Dan, you must hold still when I start the process. If you move even a little bit, you could end up mutated into an unknown being, or just cease to exist entirely."

Dan nodded. "I can do that." He agreed before he snorted. "It's not like I have a choice, since I don't want to cease to exist."

"To think you wouldn't have to worry about ceasing to exist if Andy hadn't talked you into wanting to be Danny again," Avala chuckled.

Before Dan could respond to that, Clockwork's time staff shot out a blue beam of energy that went through the barrier Dan was in. Dan's body was hit by the time energy and he let out a gasp. It was frigid, and it felt like it was going through his core and his entire being. It was painful! Dan felt like someone was trying to rip him in half. It was not a pleasant feeling at all. The core inside Dan began to be pulled apart. As the core was being split, one part of the core began to turn a light blue color, while the other part of the core turned red and crackled with electricity. Two screams came out of Dan instead of just one, one scream sounded like a teenage boy, while the other sounded like an older man.

Dan felt like his very being was ripped in half, and it was unnerving, but he had agreed to this, so he had to accept the pain that came with what he chose. That didn't mean he had to like it however, and he hated this level of pain. He could feel his core finally split in half, and two ghosts were shown instead of one now. One was Danny Phantom, and the other was Vlad Plasmius. Dan couldn't even tell what he was thinking anymore, because he wasn't Dan anymore. Dan stopped being the moment Danny Phantom and Vlad Plasmius showed up. His brain muddled, and confused to what or who he was between the two, Dan, or rather, Danny and Vlad finally got split up entirely and both of them hit the opposite walls of the barrier.

Clockwork knew his work wasn't finished yet. "Avala, disable the barrier."

Avala did just that, cutting off the digital and spectral energy currents; being Clockwork's assistant, she knew how to disable such barriers due to her travels through the timelines. "There we go~ Two ghosts, ready for you~"

Clockwork nodded as he became a young adult. He looked at Plasmius and Phantom, and gave a sigh. "I can only choose to save one of them. Both of them are too far gone, and it would take an immense amount of power to bring one of them back to humanity. I must apologize to you, Plasmius."

Clockwork focused all his energy into his time staff, his body glowing a bright blue. The time staff then shot another beam of energy at Phantom. Phantom let out a yelp as he felt that frigid feeling again. This time, instead of being ripped in half, he felt like something was being shoved onto him. He wasn't sure if he liked it, since it felt both hot and cold, and heavy.

Then, deep in Phantom's mind, he was standing in the middle of his room. But his room was empty, save for a single bed. He stood there, staring, and then saw a very human looking Danny walking towards him.

"You…? I… I killed you…" Phantom said in shock, looking at the human Danny.

Human Danny gave a shake of his head. "You might have killed my body, but I'm still a part of you as you are a part of me." He replied with a grin. "You just tried too hard to lock away any remnants of me. But too bad for you it didn't work out so well, no did it?" He added with a wink.

Phantom stared in shock before he shook his head and chuckled. "And it's all thanks to that brother of ours."

Human Danny was now standing in front of Phantom. "I know it'll be hard, especially once the guilt starts to kick in… but… are you ready for a second chance?"

Human Danny held out his hand to Phantom.

"... You do realize we can't be Danny anymore, right?" Phantom asked the human Danny. "Our timeline ceased to exist. There can't be two Dannys running around. We'll have to be someone else."

Human Danny nodded. "I know. But whomever we become, it will be our second chance, and we can make new memories, and maybe not be so alone again." He smiled. "So, are you ready?"

Phantom did hesitate a little, but then he nodded and smiled. He reached out and grabbed onto human Danny's… his human hand.

When Phantom opened his eyes again, he was back in Clockwork's tower. He groaned, feeling quite sore, as he pushed himself up to his feet. He looked down at himself, seeing the same white shirt with the red oval, the blue baggy pants, the red and white sneakers, and the raven black hair that was not constantly flaming, or white. It was extremely nostalgic, so much so that Phantom was sure he was dreaming right now, and he feared when he woke up he would be back inside the Thermos as Dan again.

Phantom, now in his human form again, was shocked, but also relieved. He felt… complete, and in a way that was far different than when he had fused with Plasmius. It felt like a hole had been filled in his heart, no, his very being. "It's funny…" He noted to himself as he flexed his squishy, pink fingers. "I never thought I would feel this… complete again."

Phantom was a little mixed. He had been a full ghost for so long, that it was weird being human again. And he would likely need to deal with his human needs again soon. But he wanted this to be a happy thing, because he wasn't insane, or felt like he was. When he was fused with Plasmius, he always felt like he couldn't make his own decisions without arguing with himself, sometimes he gave himself a massive headache. The only thing he could agree on was to destroy everyone, lashing out to the world for taking away his loved ones, their loved ones.

Phantom's head went up as he remembered Plasmius. "How's Plasmius?"

Clockwork looked pretty tired, likely using up a lot of his energy to split Phantom and Plasmius up, and giving Phantom back his humanity. Avala pointed at Plasmius.

Phantom's eyes went wide when he saw Plasmius melting, turning into ecto goop. "Plasmius!"

Phantom hurried over to the melting ghost. "What's happening?"

"Without his other half, his ghost form is destabilizing," Avala answered grimly. "You and Plamius wouldn't have lasted long without your other halves. You only stabilized when you fused with each other. Now… without you or his human half, Plasmius's form is unable to hold itself and is melting now."

"No… Clockwork, can't you do something to save him?" Phantom begged. "It's not fair that you saved me but not him! Both of us were responsible for our actions as Dan, not just him!"

"Clockwork doesn't have enough energy to bring both of your humanity back," Avala explained since Clockwork was too tired to speak. "He had to choose between the two of you. And… let's be honest, you are the better choice."

"But it's not fair!" Phantom exclaimed, feeling anger and worry, emotions he had never thought he would experience ever again. Tears ran down his face as he said that. "I don't…" He looked down, feeling sadness now; it felt like his throat was getting tight with grief. It felt odd, but also a reminder he was now a living being again which made him happy as well.

"Daniel…" Plasmius spoke up weakly as he was melting.

"I'm here, Vlad," Phantom said. He had actually became rather close to Vlad when Vlad took him in after the explosion took his friends and family. It had been the first time he had seen how human Vlad was.

"It is rather unfortunate that it had to end this way…" Plasmius sighed as his waist was melting, and his chest was slowly starting to melt.

"You can't melt on me, Vlad!" Phantom quickly said. "You can't leave me too… you're the only one I have left of the original timeline…"

"It's too late for me, and you know it, little badger…" Plasmius chuckled weakly.

Phantom shook his head sadly.

"But don't be sad… Daniel… this is a great opportunity for you… you have a second chance… don't let it go to waste. And you're not alone… not anymore…" Plasmius said as he was slowly melting from the neck up now. "Live out your life, Daniel… don't let grief stop you from being happy this time… I know you'll make new happy memories."

Phantom knew he had to say something quick. "Th-thank you, for watching over me, Vlad. And I'm sorry for what happened that caused us to become Dan in the first place. If I could've given you a second chance, I would."

Plasmius gave a weak grin. "I know you would, Daniel. Just live your life now. You have a chance… to do real good again… like you used to… I… am proud… of you… my boy…"

Those were the last words Plasmius said before his head melted, he was now nothing more than a puddle of ectoplasm. Phantom could see his reflection in the puddle, and tears fell from his now blue eyes. "Goodbye, Vlad… rest in peace…"

Avala landed beside the boy, then gave him a comforting hug. The crying teen, who was getting used to having emotions again, tightened the hug as he buried his face into Avala's shoulder.

Avala sighed as she hugged him even tighter. "It's okay… He… he was… able to pass on…" Damn, I'm not good at emotional comfort… Avala thought in dismay.

Clockwork managed to recover enough to float over to Phantom. He put a comforting hand on Phantom. Phantom turned to Clockwork, and buried himself into Clockwork's hug. "I am sorry it had to turn out like this, Danny… but he was right about one thing; you're not alone… not anymore."

"But… but he was all I had left…" Phantom rasped out between sobs, trying to avoid having the salty tears enter his mouth. "I… I feel alone, even though I know I'm not…"

"It will take some time to come to grips with your emotions again," Clockwork said. "We can discuss what we'll do from here once you calm down. But until then, don't be afraid to let it all out."

Phantom didn't hesitate to let his emotions run wild. He sobbed, cried, wailed, anything at losing Plasmius… no, Vlad. He felt relieved he was human, he felt angry he couldn't save Vlad from his timeline, he felt regret at what he had done, everything rushed through him, giving him a high he had never expected to experience in his… life now. It was so odd, and yet liberating at the same time. Finally, after the rush of emotions ended, Phantom felt exhausted, but glad to get all of it out.

Then Phantom did something he hadn't done in thousands of years; he fell asleep. Letting out all those emotions really tired out his 14 year old half human body.


"Are you okay, Danny?" Patamon asked his partner in concern.

Danny had been pacing back and forth in the living room since he got back to his timeline after removing the Time Medallion around his neck. He wasn't sure which Andy he was most worried for; the Andy in the future, or his current Andy still being at Clockwork's tower. He had been very, very tempted to go ghost, grab Patamon, and book it into the Ghost Zone to find Clockwork's tower. The only problem was that Danny had no idea where Clockwork's tower was, and the last thing he needed was getting lost in the Infinite Realms that was the Ghost Zone.

"What do you think, Patamon!?" Danny exclaimed, albeit in a worried tone more than anything. "I'm not sure who I am worried about more; Future Andy or my brother. I have no idea where Clockwork's tower is, so I can't go check up on him, and not only that, Takuya is with him, so I am worried about him as well!" Danny gripped at the sides of his head, holding clumps of hair he was so tempted to rip out.

Patamon sighed before he flew up to Danny's face. "Will you calm down? Working yourself up the wall isn't going to help anyone! Have you even checked in on Tucker and Sam to see if they made it back okay?"

Danny paused. "Oh… Crap, I knew I was forgetting something!" Danny muttered under his breath.

Danny sighed as he took out his D-Arc. "I guess I should check up on them. Thanks for reminding me, Patamon."

Before Danny could call either Tucker or Sam, a familiar voice shouted. "Danny! There you are!"

Danny yelped and nearly dropped his D-Arc. Jazz came storming over to him, carrying his backpack. Lopmon was on Jazz's head.

"Uh, hi Jazz." Danny said with a smile. "What's going on?"

"Guess what I found in your backpack, Danny," Jazz stated in her scolding tone.

Jazz pulled out the C.A.T. test answer folder from Danny's backpack. "I didn't want to rummage through your backpack, little brother, but Mr. Lancer told me he heard you talking about having the test answers. I needed to know for sure if you actually did take them. And I see that you did…"

Danny paled. "Jazz, it wasn't on purpose! When I fought that ghost, Box Lunch, well… things happened and when the Nasty Burger exploded, I went to a low level of intangibility and was pushed through Mr. Lancer's suitcase! The test answers were on my back, and I…" He sighed. "I will admit… I was tempted to look, but… I didn't. I chose not to do that, and I was going to give the answers back."

"Is that true?" Lopmon asked.

"Yes, I can vouch for him. Danny really was going to give the test answers back, but complications arose when we were attacked by a… very strong ghost," Patamon confirmed. "We just managed to get back after that."

Jazz looked at Danny and Patamon, wanting to be sure neither of them were lying. Though there was a sincerity in both of their eyes that would be impossible for them to have if they were lying.

Jazz let out a sigh. "Alright, I believe you. But you need to turn those test answer in to Mr. Lancer before the C.A.T. tomorrow."

"It's tomorrow!?" Danny yelled.

Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why? It's Friday. Didn't you know that?"

"Oh… Oh geez… I've been gone for a while, I kinda knew that, but for it to be Friday already?!" Danny panicked. "Time travel is so mind-blowing and terrifying!"

"... You what!?" Jazz yelled.

"And here we go…" Lopmon sighed.

"What do you mean you time travelled!? What've you been doing!? Are you okay? Did you mess anything up? Did someone disappear!?" Jazz freaked out.

"Jazz, calm down!" Danny explained. "We… I didn't go into the past. It's more of… Sam, Tucker and I went to the future. Andy, Dorumon, and Takuya are stuck in this time ghost's lair, and I just got back from the future. It's… kind of a long story..." He sighed, rubbing his face with a hand.

"... Where are Andy and Takuya now?" Jazz asked.

"I'm assuming Dorumon's with Andy," Lopmon muttered.

"They appear to not have returned yet," Patamon replied.

Danny groaned. "And I have no idea where this time ghost's lair is, so I can't go and find them." He sighed. "I guess I'll just have to trust them to come back on their own."

"What!? Why!? How do we know they're safe at this time ghost's lair!? Remember one of the number one rules of Ghost Zone exploration!? NEVER go into another ghost's lair!" Jazz screamed.

"Jazz! Jazz!" Lopmon shouted, covering Jazz's eyes with his ears to get her to stop. "Listen carefully. Stop freaking out. Danny and the others were at the time ghost's lair, and they came back safely, right? Let's give Andy, Takuya, and Dorumon at least until morning before we go into panic mode and try to launch a search party into the Ghost Zone."

After Lopmon removed his ears from her eyes, Jazz took a deep breath and let it out. "You're right… I need to remain calm and logical." She said.

Danny grinned. "And you were acting like a spazz earlier. I kinda forgot how amusing that can be."

Jazz gave Danny a glare. "Says the one who time-travelled." She retorted.

"You time-travelled first!" Danny pointed out.

Patamon and Lopmon couldn't help but grin at the banter between the siblings. At the very least, their banter with each other was helping them stay calm from the Andy, Dorumon, and Takuya are missing situation.

There was a doorbell ring on the front door that ended their sibling banter.

Danny perked up. "Huh… I wonder who could be ringing the doorbell right now." He wondered aloud. "Should we go see who it is?"

"We probably should." Patamon replied.

"I'll go see who it is," Jazz said before she walked over to the front door and opened the door.

Tucker and Sam stood at the door, looking a little tired. Gatomon and Terriermon were next to their partners, not looking as tired.

"Jazz… is Danny… here?" Tucker asked.

Jazz nodded as she took in the sight of the two humans and the two Digimon as well. "Yeah, Danny's here." She replied. "Wow… you two look tired, but Gatomon and Terriermon don't look as bad as you do."

"Of course not, we're Digimon, we're in much better shape than these two," Terriermon chuckled.

"We ran all the way here. Though I could've just digivolved and flown us here," Gatomon remarked.

"Well, that takes time and we couldn't waste any time…" Sam panted.

"It would've been much faster if I just flew us here," Gatomon sighed.

"She's got a point," Terriermon agreed.

"Whatever! Is Danny here or not?" Sam demanded, losing her patience.

"Hey, I was just about to call you two!" Danny smiled when he walked over to the door.

"Danny!" Tucker and Sam both tackled and hugged Danny in relief.

Danny yelped as he staggered back with Sam and Tucker hugging him. "I-It's great to see you too, guys… Now… Can you please let me breathe? I might be half-ghost, but I still need air…" He gasped out.

Patamon was giggling at the sight of his partner being piled up on.

"Sorry, we were just so worried about you," Sam explained as she and Tucker finally let go of the poor halfa.

"We figured we should wait for you here, but we also wanted to know if you came back yet," Tucker informed.

Danny smiled. "Well, I'm back, and I'm fine." He reassured his two friends. "But did you really have to pile on me like that? I swear, I felt like I came back from the Digital World and we ended up in a pile when you hugged me like that."

"Hey, practice for when we do have to go back to the Digital World." Tucker grinned.

"So how did it go with future Andy?" Sam curiously asked.

"He agreed to meet with the Ghost King, but only if I went back to our timeline." Danny replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I only hope he went through with it. He… was pretty stubborn and refusing at first."

Jazz blinked. "You three met a future version of Andy?" She asked.

"Wait… You went to the future?!" Terriermon gaped. "Aw man! I missed out on all the cool tech!"

"You need to tell us about this!" Lopmon spoke up. "Like all of it!"

Danny, Tucker, and Sam looked at Jazz and their Digimon partners looking at them, hungry for information.

"... Uh… alright, let's get comfortable in the living room, and we'll tell you what we know," Danny suggested.

Tucker was grinning. "But let me warn you, it is kind of a mind-blowing experience."

Sam groaned. "No puns for a while, Tucker."

Tucker pouted.


I yawned boredly at the assembly. Our parents were showing the school staff how to use their ghost hunting equipment to fight back against ghosts if they invaded the school, which they had, a lot. The entire school was in the auditorium, watching the principal trying to use the Fenton Thermos. It was amusing, but it did get boring really fast.

Danny was sitting beside me on one side, while Takuya was sitting on the other side of me. Tucker sat next to Takuya while Sam sat next to Danny. Jazz sat behind us. Our Digimon partners were currently sleeping in our backpacks. I felt quite jealous of them right now.

Hold on… didn't something like this happen before…? I asked myself, getting a strange sense of deja-vu.

"I swear… this is perhaps the worst assembly yet…" Danny muttered. "Mom and Dad really have gone a bit overboard with the anti-ghost weapons for this."

Takuya grumbled. "No need to remind me. I was about to sleep in Mr. Lancer's class when this thing was called. I wanted to get some extra z's."

"It's not a bad idea, having the school staff being able to defend the students from bad ghosts," Sam said. "But I do worry that they might end up attacking you two as well."

"Some of the teachers should know that Danny and Andy Phantom are good ghosts, unlike Mom and Dad," Jazz pointed out.

"Really, Jazz?" Tucker deadpanned. "Most of the teachers here agree with your parents, if not all of them. We'd be lucky if someone believed the Phantom twins were good."

"Hey!" Danny pouted. "I'm sure a few teachers agree Danny and Andy Phantom are good!"

"Mr. Lancer seems to think we're good," I shrugged.

Then Mom pulled out a device that looked familiar, somehow, even though I was sure I had never seen it before.

"And this is the Fenton Mortifier!" Mom stated. "This would-"

I narrowed my eyes, finding the name familiar, but before Mom could explain what it did, Technus interrupted the assembly as the giant TV behind our parents and the principal showed his big ugly face.

Danny gasped. "Oh no… Not now!" He hissed. "Why did Technus show up now?!"

Technus began going on a long spiel about how he would use the school's technology to 'take over the world'. I was beginning to get a very uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I knew this was all going to turn very bad soon.

Danny and I were in our ghost forms, fighting with Technus's electronic computers that were floating around, and trying to trap people with wires. I saw Dorumon, Angemon, Gatomon, Gargomon, Turuiemon, Dolphmon, Agunimon, and Arbormon were all working together to destroy a lot of Technus's electronics, while also trying to huddle the other students and the school staff to a safe corner since Technus kept the doors shut.

But something was wrong. I knew something was wrong. I had seen all this before, but this time I'm seeing it with more clarity. I saw this in a dream. A brief flash of Mom aiming with her Mortifier at something, and Danny caught off guard, was shot by it, and Danny screaming, unleashing some kind of devastating power, went through my mind.

No… is that happening now? I looked back at Mom, and saw she was already taking aim with the Fenton Mortifier.

"Danny! Get down!" I shouted at my brother, hoping the warning would get him away from the Mortifier.

Danny looked over, surprised at the warning, only to see the new weapon being aimed at him. "Oh fu-" He cut himself off before he flew away from the Mortifier.

I thought that meant Danny was safe now, but then he suddenly stopped. I was about to ask why Danny stopped, when I noticed one of the students, not someone I recognized though, was shivering in fear behind Danny. Danny stopped because he didn't want to risk the Fenton Mortifier hitting the student. So Danny let Mom hit him with the Mortifier.

"No!" I shouted.

Just like in my vision before, Danny was completely still, likely lost in his head due to the Mortifier. I knew what was coming next. "EVERYBODY! GET DOWN NOW! HURRY!"

Everyone stared at my words, but only the Digimon and our partners knew to heed my warning. Agunimon looked back, only to have a look of horror cross his face at what he was seeing.

I managed to dive down just before Danny started screaming. I whimpered as my head started hurting from the powerful vocal attack, and curled up in on myself. I wished I could make it stop, but there wasn't anything I could do. I saw something green flashing on Danny as he was unleashing the vocal attack. I looked up, seeing some kind of small portal appearing on his chest. I didn't understand what was going on, but the portal was getting bigger the longer Danny was screaming.


Andy opened his eyes, covered in sweat. He saw he was lying in bed, and he was currently cuddling with something soft and furry, and most importantly, not a teddy bear. It took Andy a few seconds to realize he was cuddling with Dorumon.

Dorumon looked up at Andy. "It's about time you woke up, sleepy head~" Dorumon said in a cheeky tone.

Andy blinked, realizing he wasn't back home in his room, but in a completely different room he wasn't familiar with. It took Andy a moment to remember he was in a ghost's lair.

"Are you okay? You looked like you had a pretty bad dream," Dorumon asked.

"Oh…" Andy frowned, remembering his nightmare. It was the same one as before, but it had a little more clarity… and not everything happened the same way… but the end result was the same. Why am I seeing that future again?

"I'll be fine…" Andy answered. "It was… that same dream again, the one where Mom hit Danny with something called the Fenton Mortifier."

Dorumon frowned. "This… Mortifier… If you're seeing it again, then it either sounds like it might happen, or you are just stressed. Although it sounds more like the former instead of the latter."

Andy sighed. "Speaking of stress… did anything happen while I was asleep?"

"Well…" Dorumon looked down sheepishly. "We did hear a lot of screaming from where Dan was. You were out like a light, so you didn't hear it. When Clockwork came back, he was looking quite tired himself, but Avala looked a bit… smug."

"Wah? What happened to Dan?" Andy frowned, getting worried now. "Clockwork didn't kill him, did he?"

"Well… he's a ghost, so…" Dorumon hesitated.

"You know what I mean," Andy grumbled. "Erased from existence, obliteration, absorption into the lair. Either way, they all mean the same thing."

Dorumon gave a cheeky grin. "I never said Clockwork got rid of him, did I?" He teased. "But you might have a 'brother' of sorts now~"

"What the hell does that mean?" Andy furrowed his eyebrows.

Takuya came walking in. "Oh, hey, glad to see you're awake now, sleepyhead."

"Takuya, what happened to Dan? Dorumon just gave me a cheeky grin when he told me I might have a 'brother' of sorts," Andy demanded as he looked at his cousin.

Takuya blinked before he grinned. "Oh, you might want to ask Dan himself when he wakes up. He's sleeping right next to you in another bed."

Andy deadpanned. "You're just screwing with me now, aren't you?"

Takuya looked at Andy. "No, I'm not. Avala told me what happened, and even showed me Dan himself. He is indeed in the bed next to yours."

"Why would Avala take Dan out of the barrier? Why would she put him on a bed next to me while I was asleep? And on top of that, Dan doesn't sleep!" Andy pointed out.

"Um… yeah… About that…" Takuya trailed off. "Clockwork… kinda… restored Dan's humanity… somehow…"

Andy furrowed his eyebrows before he turned around from his position, looking at the bed beside him. There was indeed someone sleeping there, but it wasn't Dan, or it didn't look like Dan.

"Danny?" Andy blinked.

The boy who looked like Danny finally groaned as he woke up. Blue eyes opened as the boy woke up. He finally yawned. "Wow… I haven't slept in centuries. That felt… oddly good." The boy muttered before he sat up and stretched. "Human needs can be so annoying sometimes…"

The boy turned, and saw green eyes staring back at him in shock. "... Dan…?"

"Well, I see you are awake as well." The boy who was supposed to be Dan looked at Andy. "I hope you are happy; because of you, I was given my humanity back." He grumbled, but there was no anger in it. "Not that I am complaining. It will just be a pain to deal with human needs again for a while."

Andy was still staring, like he wasn't even sure if he was still dreaming or not. Andy then lifted up his hand to his cheek and pinched himself. "... Well… I'm not dreaming. You're really Dan?"

"Who did you think I was? My goody-two-shoes past self?" Dan snarked back, proving it was indeed him. "Sorry, but I'm not really him."

Dorumon sighed. "And there's that snark from Dan…"

"Did you shapeshift?" Andy asked, looking quite confused now.

"Yes. Of course I didn't! I am half human again!" Dan exclaimed, exasperated. "Geez, and you're supposed to be the more observant of you and your brother in this timeline?"

"How are you half human again?" Andy questioned.

"Just ask one ghost of time…" Dan grumbled. "He restored my humanity."

"If you're… all Danny now, what happened to the Vlad half?" Andy asked.

Dan looked down, feeling that odd tightness in his chest again as that wetness he had not felt for centuries built up in his eyes. "He's… gone…" Dan croaked, which sounded odd to him; that hadn't happened since a few days before he gave up his human side.

Andy frowned, realizing what that meant. Likely when Clockwork managed to split Dan up into Danny and Vlad again, he was able to give Danny back his human half, but not Vlad. Without his human half, and without using Danny's half to keep him stable, Vlad's ghost likely couldn't sustain itself for long.

"I… see… I'm sorry about what happened to Vlad," Andy said softly.

"It… it was inevitable… but… it doesn't make it any less painful…" Dan said softly.

Dorumon nudged Dan's hand, trying to make him feel better. Andy had the strong urge to hug Dan, because he looked so much like Danny right now that his brotherly instincts wanted to comfort him. But Andy had to remind himself this was Dan, not Danny. Dan was pretty dangerous and deranged last time Andy saw him, he wasn't sure if Dan wanted him to hug him. Heck, Dan was in a freaking barrier bubble when Andy last saw him.

"How do you deal with these… emotions?" Dan asked. "This is one of the reasons why I wanted to get rid of my humanity in the first place."

Andy sighed, feeling awkward about having to explain this to Danny of all people. When he didn't look like Danny all that much, it was easier to see him as the poor, messed up person that he was. Now it felt like he was talking to his brother, and that made it far more awkward.

"Well… it's not bad to have feelings like that. People feel pain, so they can help each other when the other is feeling pain. We feel pain, we can understand it, and know what another person in pain is going through. People aren't meant to suffer alone," Andy explained. "When in time of grieving, people gather together to support each other. But if you isolate yourself, your emotions would eventually eat away at you. Which is likely what happened to you."

Dan shivered. "I don't want to experience that again. It… I hate to admit it… scares me. I could go back to that if I am alone again…"

Dan's hands shivered, and Andy slowly took Dan's hand into his own. "Then don't be alone. It looks like… my talk with you helped you gain back your humanity. One day of talking to me gave you back what you lost thousands of years ago, something you couldn't get back on your own."

Dan gave a grunt. "And all it took was meeting you, a goody-two-shoes who doesn't know when to keep his nose out of anyone's business." He then gave a smirk. "But don't lose that, because if it helped me, it may help others."

Dorumon grinned at Dan. "Oh, Andy is indeed quite the nosy one~"

"Hey! I'm not that nosy," Andy huffed. "And I would've left you alone if it weren't for the fact you were half my brother."

Dan looked down at himself ro a moment. "It's… strange to see myself as human again. It felt like I woke up from a very long and vivid nightmare as a full, destructive ghost. It's like nothing about me has changed… well… physically anyways…"

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Are you… happy about being half human again? About being Danny again?"

Dan gave a shrug. "To be completely honest, and this won't be a recurring thing by the way, I'm kinda mixed. On one hand, I am glad to be half human again, but on the other, I have to deal with emotions and human needs which can be annoying." He replied, making sure to add his snarkiness to the response.

Takuya groaned. "It looks like that snarkiness won't be going away any time soon…"

"So what would you do now?" Andy asked Dan.

Dan frowned. "That's… a good question…"

Dan couldn't go back to his timeline, since it didn't exist anymore. Dan also couldn't exactly live here as Danny, because there was already a Danny.

"Well… I certainly can't live as Danny anymore." Dan grumbled. "I would need to choose a new name or something."

"But what would you choose?" Takuya asked.

"How about Bob?" Dorumon joked to Dan.

"That's dumb," Dan grumbled.

"You could stay here for the time being," Clockwork spoke up as he suddenly appeared over the boys, making them flinch at the sudden appearance of the time ghost.

"Geez! Does every ghost like to appear suddenly over someone's shoulder?" Takuya grumbled, trying to calm his racing heart.

"And now I have to deal with this thing called the heart too? It feels… odd to feel it racing like this…" Dan muttered, feeling quite uncomfortable with the organ racing in his chest.

"I hate ghost lairs…" Dorumon grumbled.

Clockwork gave a chuckle at everyone's reaction.

"You totally did that on purpose!" Andy grumbled.

"Maybe I did," Clockwork chuckled as he turned into a teenager himself. "Even I have my mischievous side. So, Dan, or whatever name you decide to go with, my offer still stands. You can stay here with me until you figure out what you want to do with your second chance of life."

Dan sighed. "I just may take you up on that offer, gramps." He smirked. "But don't expect me to make it easy on you, since I am a teenager again~"

Clockwork grinned at the challenge. "Oh, I think I can more than handle a rowdy teenager."

Andy gave a sigh, he felt… relieved, and happy that he was able to help another version of his brother, at least a little. He knew that Dan was going to have a lot of inner demons to deal with, and the guilt once that starts to settle in. Andy didn't really know Clockwork, but as far as he could tell, the time ghost didn't seem to mean them any harm, even if he did push Danny, Tucker, and Sam through the time window.

"So what was all that about? With you chasing my brother and my friends into the time window?" Andy asked, able to concentrate better now that the whole Dan incident was resolved.

"It was necessary for a reason." Takuya explained to Andy. "Clockwork let me see what was going down in the future. Apparently, all three worlds are at peace and happy in the future, but…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Something happened that caused a rift between you and Danny. It… wasn't pretty. Something, some kind of weapon, was used on Danny and it caused your parents to suffer a trial. It ended with some kind of elixir being given to all of you. This… tore you guys apart. Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack… were punished for ten years, like… a literal way; they were unable to hear Danny, see Danny, even communicate with Danny. The only reason…"

"Hold up," Andy interrupted. "Could you explain it to me slowly? You're kinda going pretty fast."

"I'll help fill in the details," Clockwork said.

After a couple of hours later, Andy was surprised at hearing what happened in his future. "And all of this will start 2 years from now?"

Takuya nodded. "Yeah. According to Clockwork anyway. But that remains to be seen." He rubbed the back of his head. "I… was given the chance to tell you about this… because it didn't seem fair you… had to suffer separation from Danny…"

Dan grumbled. "Goody-two-shoes… I've been separated from my Andy for a few thousand years, and you don't see me complaining about it."

"Yeah, cause you're totally the picture of perfect mental health," Dorumon sarcastically remarked.

"And now the digital being is being sarcastic? What joy!" Dan snarked back.

Andy ignored them. "Why are you telling me this? Isn't it better to not know so much about the future? I mean there's no evil, dystopian world that I have to stop. It sounds like it's a pretty good future."

"At the cost of you and Danny being separated." Takuya clarified. "You… were kinda… mad at Danny, because he didn't refuse the elixir that altered his memories of your parents. You didn't want to lose your memories in that future, so that is why you fled and were being hunted down by the ghosts so they could make you take that thing."

"How funny how my goody-two-shoes self ended up being such a weakling, giving in to the pressures of others," Dan mocked.

"But you said they reunited at the end, right?" Andy asked. "So is it really that bad?"

"... Do you want to go through ten years of separation from Danny?" Takuya asked, surprised by Andy's nonchalant answer.

Andy frowned as he crossed his arms. "Well… no, I don't, but-"

"Then shouldn't you do something about it?" Takuya pointed out.

"What do you want me to do? How could I change that future? And even if I did change it, what if that made me put the future towards the road of destruction?" Andy questioned back.

"Andy… Danny was suffering because you weren't there with him…" Takuya said softly. "He… he was so… alone…"

Dan winced a little, knowing all too well what it was like to suffer alone. "Well here's a simple solution; just don't leave him for 10 years. Problem solved."

Takuya looked at Dan. "It's not that simple. This separation was caused by… something that broke what are known as Taboos. I… don't know much about the details, but it was some kind of weapon made by Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack. It pissed off the ghosts enough to warrant a trial, and… well, you were told what happened."

Andy furrowed his eyebrows. A weapon Mom and Dad made? Danny's been shot by several of those already, what made this one any different?

Andy thought back on the nightmare he just had, the one with the Fenton Mortifier. Could that be it? Is the Mortifier the one that would break the Taboo? 2 years from now, is the Mortifier going to be the invention Mom and Dad makes that would hit Danny, and cause that break in this Taboo?

"Well… if what you say is true, then there might be a way to stop it," Andy said.

"Just know this, Andy," Clockwork spoke up. "Sometimes time cannot be easily changed."

Takuya looked at Clockwork before glancing back at Andy. "Andy, are you sure you want to stop it? What I told you… it may not change things, but… I had to at least try. Now what you do with this knowledge will be up to you."

Andy sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. But hey, I have 2 years to decide and prepare for it."

"Great… so uh… can we go home now?" Dorumon asked. "I'm getting hungry, and I don't really wanna eat ghost food."

Takuya chuckled. "Heh… that's just like you, Dorumon. Always thinking about food."

"Hey!" Dorumon pouted.

Dan snickered. "Then go back to your timeline and protect your goody-two-shoes brother. He will need it."

Andy looked at Dan. "Will you be alright? I… don't know if I can return here once I leave."

Dan shrugged. "I've survived for years on my own, and I'm given a new chance at life. I think I can handle being with some old tick-tock ghost."

Dorumon snickered at Dan's remark about Clockwork.

"You'll find your way back here when you need to again, the same goes for your brother," Clockwork informed. "Both of your brothers."

Andy found it odd that he technically had two twin brothers now. Does that make me a triplet or what?

Clockwork held out his timestaff, summoning the time window in front of them. The time window showed Fenton Works in their present day. "Just hop through and you'll be taken home."

Dorumon grinned as he ran towards the time window and jumped through eagerly.

Takuya was next. He looked back at Andy. "I'll see you back at the house." He said before jumping through himself.

"Andy, before you go…" Clockwork spoke up as he turned into an old ghost. "Give this to your brother."

Clockwork handed Andy some kind of blue donut sized ring. "Uh… what is this?"

"It's… a little surprise for him." Clockwork replied. "Given how Danny's aware of his new fangs and all, I think it might be useful to him~"

Andy looked at the blue ring, holding it with both of his hands. "Okay, well thanks then, Clockwork. And… uh… thanks for… letting me help Dan, and… giving me a chance to change my future."

"It was my pleasure." Clockwork replied with a smile.

Before Andy jumped through the time window, something occurred to him. "Oh… Clockwork… could you explain to me why I'm able to see into the future?"

Clockwork gave a mysterious smile. "All will be revealed in due time, Andy. I will tell you when you are ready." He then pointed at the time window. "Time for you to go home now, Andy."

"Great, even a time ghost love time puns… at least you're not as bad as the Box Ghost with his box puns," Andy sighed as he pocketed the ring. "Guess I'll see you later then."

"Please do." Clockwork grinned.

"And good luck with your second life, Dan!" Andy called.

Dan smirked back. "You keep sticking your nose into people's business, goody-two-shoes brother of mine!"

Andy couldn't tell if that was a compliment or not, but he decided to take it as such. Andy jumped through the time window.

The next thing Andy knew, he was standing in the middle of his and Danny's room, and stumbled a bit. Dorumon was there too. Andy guessed Takuya was likely in his own room downstairs.

Dorumon grinned. "I'm glad to be back home! Sleeping in a ghost lair was fun and all, but it was unnerving too."

"Tell me about it, that was the only other thing keeping me up when I was talking to Dan," Andy admitted. "Do you think that Danny and the others know we're-"

Before Andy could finish, the door suddenly opened, showing Danny and Patamon. Danny gave a big smile when he saw Andy.

"Andy! You're back, bro!" He exclaimed as he jumped onto Andy and hugged him. Patamon did something similar to Dorumon.

Andy and Dorumon both yelped as they fell on Andy's bed after being pounced on by their brothers.

"Are you okay? Did you two get hurt? What happened?" Danny asked as he kept hugging Andy.

"We're fine! And what happened to you guys? Are you all okay?" Andy asked back.

Danny nodded. "I'm fine, so are Sam and Tucker. Patamon, Terriermon, and Gatomon are all okay too. And… let's just say a trip to the future can really be mind blowing."

"Okay, looks like we've got a lot of stories to share," Andy said.

"I'm just glad we're all okay, and back together." Dorumon smiled as he hugged Patamon.

"Same here!" Patamon agreed as he climbed onto Dorumon's head and plopped down there.

Danny chuckled. "Oh boy… who will be explaining their story first?" He grinned.

"First… is everyone else still here?" Andy asked.

Danny nodded. "They are. Why?" He asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"We should probably go see them first so they know we're okay, and then we tell each other what happened," Andy suggested.

Danny nodded. "Yeah, we can do that." He agreed. "Sam and Tucker, as well as Gatomon and Terriermon, have been worried sick about you, Dorumon, and Takuya."

Dorumon gave a cheeky grin. "I wonder if anyone will have their brains broken again. That's kinda funny."


"So you're telling me you've fought with, then trapped, then had a long talk with a future version of myself that no longer exists, and essentially helped give him a second chance, and now there's another 'me' somewhere in the Ghost Zone?" Danny reviewed what Andy just told him.

"Kinda, yeah? He's you, but he's not you, his personality's been pretty warped. We've been calling him 'Dan', but I don't know, he may change his name later. Just think of him as the twin you never had… wait… the triplet we never had," Andy said, feeling a little confused on how to use certain terms regarding Dan.

Danny blinked before he ran a hand through his black hair. "Wow… that's… kinda disturbing. And… 'Dan' came about in another timeline, one where I did end up cheating on the C.A.T? Yikes… talk about reaping what you sow…" He shivered.

Patamon frowned as he looked at Danny. "I told you cheating was a bad idea." He scolded.

"Yeah, I heard you. Good thing I'm not though." Danny shuddered again.

"I mean I knew cheating was bad, but to have lost your friends and family and turn into a psychotic, genocidal maniac due to grief is a bit… much, don't you think?" Sam frowned.

"Sometimes even the smallest of evil acts can turn into something catastrophic," Gatomon warned. "I won't say it happens all the time, but considering Danny is this super powerful ghost being, there's a lot that could happen if he… you know, slips towards the dark side. The same could be said for Andy too, and… well, most of us."

"I know that all too well," Lopmon sighed. "Even if you do it for the best of intentions, one evil act is sometimes all it takes. Chains of events could lead to something far bigger than it really should've."

Takuya groaned. "Don't remind me about that, Lopmon." He sighed.

"By the way, did you and Andy really trap Dan in a digital and ecto-energy barrier?" Patamon asked Takuya.

Takuya grinned. "Yeah… I guess we did. I didn't think it would work, but it did. And I learned how to use my Plasma Sphere at will too."

Patamon felt excited over this new information. "What was it like to fuse your digital energy with Andy's ecto energy? Was it hard to fuse the two together? What did-"

"Hey, hey, save the fanboying for later, little brother~" Dorumon laughed. "I can tell you all about it myself since I was there too. But we need to get this conversation out of the way first."

Patamon blushed. "Oh… Ok… Sorry… I got kinda excited there. Wait, you're younger than me, Dorumon!"

"Technically, yeah… but you're still my little brother." Dorumon grinned. "I grew up as soon as I came out of my egg again. You took your time becoming a Champion level after you hatched with Danny."

Takuya laughed. "Okay, no need to argue about who is the 'older brother'. So, getting back on topic, yeah, we trapped Dan and then helped him and then Clockwork restored his humanity. So Dan's half alive again." Takuya summed up.

"We left him with Clockwork after that," Andy added.

"I still can't believe you managed to talk to someone who pretty much destroyed everyone on Earth in his own timeline to be Danny again, even if he is a much more… warped version of our brother, that's still quite the accomplishment," Jazz complimented. "Maybe I need to learn from you now~"

Andy blushed, and grumbled. "I just happen to like reading psychology books in my spare time, okay?"

"Yeah, you totally don't read those books because you wanna make sure you and Danny don't suddenly start thinking more like ghosts and start losing your humanity or go insane after a while…" Dorumon mumbled.

"That has nothing to do with anything!" Andy groaned.

"I still can't believe that you, Sam, and Tucker went into the future yourselves!" Terriermon whined. "I wanted to see all that cool tech!"

"Well, it was pretty much a peaceful place." Tucker grinned. "And I wanted to take something back, but, you know how time travel can be if you mess with something from either the past or the future."

"Besides, it's only, what, in 12 years? That shouldn't be too long for a Digimon, right?" Gatomon grinned.

"That's a lifetime for us non-Celestials!" Terriermon whined.

"But I do have to agree with Tucker," Sam spoke up. "All three worlds coexisting together, and the people of the Earth are aware of both worlds, somehow. We think this 'ghost king' might've had something to do with it. I'm really hoping that future stays the same at least."

Danny, Takuya, Andy, and Dorumon all frowned at this.

"Well…" Danny began. "From what I learned… Future Andy wasn't exactly… happy with my future self."

"Couldn't Future Andy make up with your future self then?" Sam asked. "I mean, no offense to you two, but even if there were some family issues going on with you two, the world itself is pretty much a building utopia from what I saw."

Takuya frowned, but kept quiet.

"I… It's not that simple, Sam. But… I do think that Andy and I would make up if that happened." Danny said, trying to remain optimistic about that.

Takuya nodded, he did see that there was some hope of the brothers making up, but Clockwork also told him that their bond would never be the same. While it was vague, it did seem to imply that the twins could've been so much more together had they not separated themselves for 10 years. But at the same time, Sam also had a point, the future itself was a utopia, or at least building to one, and if they changed what happened, there was no guarantee the world would become that utopia they saw.

"But what caused us to have that family issue in the first place?" Andy asked. "You said something about a trial, and our parents? And an elixir that would make us forget them, while also signing a restraining order that literally makes it where we can't see or even hear about them?"

"I mean you could always just… take it and not run away for 10 years?" Tucker shrugged.

"Well, that did cause some issues between our future selves, well… for me and Andy anyway. Apparently this elixir messes with memories, I don't know much else, and yeah, the restraining order is, very literally, making it so someone can't be seen, heard or even talked about." Danny shivered. "I know ghosts are somewhat literal beings, but that is just… freaky…"

Tucker paled. "I… don't think I want to know about those restraining orders then."

"The solution may sound simple, but the problem is we're not simple beings," Andy sighed. "Apparently, this will happen in 2 years from our present time. And… if it does happen like the way it did in that future, then imagining myself in that particular situation… yeah, I can see why I'd run away. I love Mom and Dad, even if they do hunt our ghost halves, I know they're doing it because they're… like me in a way. They're scared, they don't really understand ghosts, they think ghosts are evil, malicious beings. Of course they're going to want to stop them. Fear tends to breed hatred, and cause hasty actions. I mean, look at what Takuya did after the Freakshow incident… sorry, Takuya."

Takuya flinched. "Yeah… that was not one of my better moments…" He admitted. "No harm done there, Andy. I just… I don't want to be reminded of that too often."

"Anyways, the point is, I can't stand the thought of forgetting Mom and Dad even exist, or what I would be like if I didn't remember the people who raised me, who raised us. That alone is scarier than facing Pariah Dark," Andy said in a serious tone.

"You have a point… I don't want to imagine not knowing who the people who raised me were…" Jazz frowned. "That could mess up anybody mentally, especially children…"

"Not to mention it…" Takuya trailed off for a moment. "I don't know, it sounds like it could be… violating… in a way too. That's the best way I can describe it. I mean, forgetting who you love, not being able to see, hear, or even talk about them? That's… kinda messed up." He shivered.

"And I can understand why I would take it… even though I wouldn't want to." Danny frowned. "If our parents' sentences could've been far, far worse, then if us taking the elixir and signing the restraining order was the best way to ensure they'll be fine and alive, even if we would have to wait 10 years before we can remember them and even see them, then… I'd say it would be lesser of the two evils, don't you think?"

"There's no… right or wrong answer here," Patamon sighed. "Whether to take it to make sure your parents will turn out alright even if it would take a long time for you to see or even remember them, or to not take it, and run away for 10 years to preserve your memory of them and still be able to see and hear them but get persecuted… Neither is an easy choice. One of them may lead to an easier life, but still, it's not a choice I'd want to give to a child… or anyone for that matter."

Danny sighed. "Well… on the bright side, at least we have some advanced warning about what could happen, which gives us a chance to change that future." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Although… we don't know what could happen if we do change that future."

"I can see why they say knowing your future never really brings happiness…" Sam sighed.

"There's a sort of freedom to knowing your future, I'm guessing," Jazz remarked. "But at the cost of responsibilities that would weigh you down more than chains."

Andy tried not to wince at how on the money Jazz was on that statement. He was gifted, or cursed, to see into the future, and most of the time he didn't know if he should allow that future to happen, or if he should change it, and what the consequences would be if he did or didn't change the future.

Dorumon noticed Andy's slight wince and nudged him to reassure Andy he was right there with him.

Takuya sighed. "Well… I think that's everything with what we told each other, unless some of us missed some stuff in our retellings."

"I think we pretty much said everything we needed to say." Tucker frowned. "The question now is… what would we do with this information? We may have to deal with this Dan, or other Danny, sooner or later, especially since he's not exactly… stable, from what you told us."

"And then there's the future thing we have to worry about. Sure it may not be for 2 more years, but then again, just knowing could make it happen sooner than it was intended to," Lopmon warned. "Takuya, I assume you remember Shamamon, right? He's the Digimon who predicted your future of losing control to BurningGreymon, and how Tommy had to snap you out of it."

Takuya winced. "Yeah… That was… a strange experience to say the least. And boy, do I wi- err… feel like I should have headed that warning." He corrected himself to not say 'wish' because of Desiree and her wish-granting powers. The last thing they needed was potentially another time travelling adventure because Desiree decided to grant his wish.

"There's a Digimon that can see into the future?" Tucker asked.

"At this point, are you really that surprised?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but Shamamon's… future telling skills aren't as… well, potent as Andy's?" Lopmon replied, trying his best to describe the differences between Shamamon's abilities and Andy's future visions. "He has to do some ritual things to even see the most likely future, he can't just look into the future whenever, or get visions whenever, and see different branches of the future, like Andy apparently can."

Andy sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I still don't know how I can even see into the future in the first place… It's not like our parents dabbled in magic or whatever."

"Anyways, the point is!" Lopmon spoke up, realizing he was starting to get off topic. "That Shamamon originally predicted the future to happen later, like maybe a day or two later, but it happened pretty much right away after he told you."

"How do you know this?" Jazz asked.

"As the… corrupted Cherubimon, I was able to look into other Digimon's, and… I guess digital beings in general, minds. To see if I could tempt or corrupt them. I was looking into Shamamon's mind while the Legendary Warriors were in that particular town," Lopmon admitted. "It's a long story, kinda complicated. The point is, I saw when the future was supposed to happen."

"That may have played a part in the future vision happening right away." Takuya mused. He then shivered. "That is perhaps one of the few times I lost control of my Beast Spirit. It… really freaked me out."

Danny shivered as well. "And I can see why, since you did the same when Johnny 13 was dating Jazz."

"Ugh, don't remind me of that sleezeball," Jazz groaned. "Getting slowly possessed by his girlfriend was not a pleasant experience."

"But Lopmon does have a point," Gatomon spoke up, getting everyone back on track. "The future could happen sooner or maybe even later than intended just because we know about it. I guess time could be fickle that way."

Danny groaned. "Great, now we have to worry about the future either coming true sooner or later… Talk about a big responsibility."

Andy pat Danny on the back. "Now you feel my pain."

"Still… let's just say it's still in 2 years as intended," Terriermon said. "Worrying about it coming too soon or later than it should won't really help us. Do you think we'll be able to… I don't know, change the future for the better?"

"I mean one solution is to try to convince Maddie and Jack to not hunt ghosts anymore? Or create the device that would get them into the trial in the first place," Dorumon suggested.

"It won't be that easy." Takuya sighed. "You know how Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack are. They won't change their minds so easily."

"Well, they became fine with Digimon, and the idea that you're a Digimon," Jazz stated. "Maybe that will be the key to help us help them see that not all ghosts are as bad as they think they are."

"Let's hope so. If someone does have to get in trouble for this future to happen, I'd rather it not be our parents." Danny frowned.

"But that's something to discuss later, when we're not all emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausted," Andy said. "I think we should worry about something that's a little more… closer."

Takuya yawned. "That sounds like a good idea." He said as he stretched. He then looked at Andy, confused. "Wait, what would we worry about?"

Danny groaned. "Oh. Right, the C.A.T. answers…" He sighed. "I forgot about those."

"And we have the C.A.T. tomorrow," Sam groaned as well.

Danny sighed as he plopped down on the couch face first.


Mr. Lancer gave an exhausted sigh as he finished drinking his coffee. He just finished the preparations for the freshmen C. tomorrow. It had not been easy, especially since he had been stressed out at the fact the answer files were still missing.

Then someone rang his doorbell. It was 8 o'clock at night, he wondered who would be visiting at this time.

Mr. Lancer walked over to his front door and opened it. "Hello?"

Mr. Lancer was immediately greeted by a familiar ghost boy who suddenly appeared in front of him. Mr. Lancer yelped and fell back in shock.

"Oops! Sorry about scaring you, Mr- uh, citizen," Phantom quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to go invisible right when you answered the door."

"W-what are you doing here?" Mr. Lancer stammered out as he got to his feet shakily. "Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets, you gave me a fright!"

"You read Harry Potter?" Phantom blinked before shaking his head. "Uh… that's not important… I, uh… I came here to return this to you."

Phantom held out the C.A.T. answer sheet. "I didn't notice that it was on me until later. It must've gotten caught on my back during one of my ghost fights. I didn't know what to do with it at first, until I kept hearing about this C.A.T test the students of Casper High were stressing out about. And since you're the… uh… one of the teachers in that school, at least I think you are, I thought I should return it to you."

Mr. Lancer was dumbfounded to say the least. He had been told ghosts were evil and were not capable of complex thoughts, but clearly, there was a misunderstanding if what he was seeing was right. He took the answers gratefully. "Thank you, Mr. Phantom. I was worried that one of my students may have taken the answers, but it appears it was not their fault after all."

"Try to have a little more faith in your students," Phantom said. "Who knows, maybe some of them will surprise you. Anyways, hope you have a good night, M- citizen."

With that said, Phantom turned around and flew off into the sky. Mr. Lancer smiled a little before he went back into his house, though his little meeting with Phantom did put his mind into perspective about ghosts and what the Fentons always said about them. Mr. Lancer checked the answer files, seeing the seal wasn't broken, nor had anything been touched or missing.

Danny flew behind a nearby car, where Patamon was waiting.

"How did it go?" Patamon asked.

Danny smiled. "It went rather well, I think. Mr. Lancer seemed quite happy to get the answers back. And… I don't know, but I think I might have started to change his mind about ghosts. Don't ask how I know, I just am getting that feeling."

Patamon gave a smile. "Seems you're starting to be able to feel the emotions of the living then. That or maybe you might have some future sight ability yourself."

Danny gave a roll of his eyes. "Haha, sure I am, at least about the future sight thing." Danny then blinked. "Wait, I can feel the emotions of the living? That's a new power."

Patamon then flew up into the air, and Danny quickly followed his partner.

"Ghosts can usually sense the emotions of the living. Not all ghosts, but the more complex ones," Patamon answered. "Though some simple ghosts do get attracted to certain emotions. I… won't say why though, I think it's better if I don't until it becomes… relevant."

Danny blinked, but decided to not pry into the subject. "Okay, I guess I can understand that." He conceded before he looked ahead of himself with a smile. "Won't Andy be excited to learn I have a new ghost power showing up." Danny then frowned. "Wait, does that mean I'm becoming more ghost-like or is it just a side-effect of being half ghost?"

"What do you think? Do you think you're becoming more ghost-like?" Patamon asked.

"No." Danny replied quickly. "But I do feel a bit… odd about being able to sense the emotions of the living."

"Don't worry about it right now, just think of it as… slight ghost puberty," Patamon replied. "Speaking of which, it was brilliant to return the test answers to Mr. Lancer as Danny Phantom rather than Fenton. I know you did it to avoid getting punished by returning it as Danny Fenton, but your story wasn't exactly a lie either, you didn't really take it on purpose. And Phantom was the one who took it in the first place. Though your original idea to go as Andy left something to be desired. No wonder Andy was grumbling at you."

Danny chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, now that I think back on it, that would have gotten Andy in trouble, so I don't blame him for being mad at me. Going as Phantom to return the answers was my second plan, but it turned out to be better than my first idea." He then smiled.

"And who knows, maybe that'll help your parents see that not all ghosts are mindless beasts. Mr. Lancer will likely support you now," Patamon chuckled.

"Yeah, that's true." Danny agreed with another chuckle. He then grinned. "You know, now that I returned the answers, I feel a lot better, like a weight is removed from my core or something."

"That's good." Patamon smiled. "You know you did the right thing. And try not to worry about failing the C.A.T, you only fail if you choose to cheat. A piece of paper can't, and won't, determine your future."

Danny laughed. "That's never been truer than now! And I mean, look at my dad; he didn't do so well on his C.A.T., and yet he is a ghost hunter and invented a working Ghost Portal!"

The two of them continued chatting all the way home that night.


Sesshoru: DarkFoxKit: Not really? Yeah, in normal terms, Andy would be a Duke, not a Prince. But the idea here is both brothers are meant to be co-Princes. They both rule in equal terms. We don't know how rules are in the Ghost Zone, so we're free to go with whatever we want with it. But it doesn't matter now, this story is done. We'll be focusing on the reboot.

DP-Marvel94: ZAFT: Breaking Dan down was so much fun~! It was a blast to write that out. XD And yeah, the future Danny and Andy bonding was fun too! I certainly enjoyed that as much as DarkFoxKit did.

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Echo can't truly hate Danny, even if he held a lot of resentment towards him. I like to think Dan is mostly Danny with traits of Vlad, since everyone sees Dan as Danny rather than half Vlad. Plus, after so many decades, centuries even, had passed for Dan, of course he wouldn't be as interested in being the monster he once was before. Admittedly we had more ideas for Dan in the future, but… well, that's kinda scrapped now. ^^'

I think my favorite part of the story was Future Andy trying to save his parents from the endless and unfair penance. I loved that about Mortified, and wanted to write out how Andy himself would react to it, so this really had me all giddy. And yes, Danny being the reassuring one made it quite ironic, but also fitting. I'm also glad you enjoyed the final reunion. I was tempted to make a full series regarding the future that never happened.