Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

DP Rebooted: Twins Danny and Andy have their lives torn upside down when Danny gets into an accident with the Fenton Ghost Portal. Takuya Kanbara just wanted to have a normal high school life until he found an odd figurine. The three boys have to navigate high school, ghosts, and Plasmius's plans while trying to master their unique powers.

67. A Much Needed Vacation

DarkFoxKit: Happy New Year everyone. We didn't update last week, and it wasn't because we forgot, we just felt like nobody was going to read it. We also figured we would give you guys a break from having to read the next chapter every week.

ZAFT: So, to make up for it, we have an update today~ XD Also, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well!

DarkFoxKit: Well, I suppose the last chapter felt like a proper 'ending' in a sense. Guess it was a good thing we skipped out on updating last week, feels more right to update the next chapter on a new year.

ZAFT: And now, onto the chapter!

---

Chapter 67: A Much Needed Vacation

To say Tommy felt a bit smothered was an understatement. Ever since he returned back home, his parents had been a bit… close to him. As in they wouldn't leave him on his own for more than 10 seconds, not even in his room. They would often have him sit with them in the living room to watch TV. They would even try to spoil him.

Tommy's big brother, Yuktaka, was also a bit more protective of Tommy. Though he was more… reasonable about it. He had started getting annoyed that their parents had been trying to spoil Tommy when it had been two and a half weeks since he came back from being missing. Tommy never really went into detail about where he was, just that he somehow ended up somewhere far away.

Tommy's parents had tried to get him a new hat since Michael had his old one, but Tommy refused to wear a new hat. He wanted to get his old hat back, it was a matter of pride, as well as sentimentality. That hat was given to him by his brother on his 11th birthday, a sign that Yutaka was more than just a 'big meanie', and that he cared about Tommy.

Although, after what Tommy had been through, he was starting to see why Yutaka had been a bit hard on him when he allowed their parents to spoil him before. Back then, Tommy enjoyed it. But now he felt smothered. It didn't help that his parents were still worried that he would just disappear on them again. Tommy couldn't blame them for that, but… he missed the Digital World, and he wanted to train with his new friends. He wanted to see Takuya again too, and to be able to properly use Kumamon now that he knew that Kumamon was the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior. But he hadn't had the chance to go back yet, not with his parents always keeping an eye on him.

Tommy hated the fact he was being sheltered too much. He wanted to go back to the Digital World, but whenever he tried to, his parents were peeking in on him. I know my parents have been worried about me, but this is too much!

There was a commercial playing on the TV. This one showed some kind of robot toy looking all cool. Tommy still liked toys, though he had other things on his mind. However, he wondered if he could get his parents to go shopping, maybe he could get a minute or two to himself to go back to the Digital World for a moment.

"Wow, that looks cool!" Tommy said, trying his best to sound impressed. "Mom, Dad, can you buy me one of those?"

Mr. Himi seemed pleased at Tommy's response. "Sure! Let's buy three of them!"

Tommy internally grimaced at his father's response. At this point… I really can't tell if they're being serious or if they're just teasing me.

"Um, thanks, but I only need one," Tommy said.

"Tomoki, don't be dense, they were teasing you," Yutaka grumbled. While he had been relieved to see Tomoki had come home relatively unharmed, he needed Tomoki to toughen up more than ever if such a thing happened again. He didn't want their parents to make Tomoki too dependent on them.

Jeez, you didn't have to sound so insulting about it… Tommy inwardly grumbled.

"Yutaka! Don't use that tone with your little brother, he's just a baby," Tommy's mother scolded.

I'm 11 years old… I know I'm short and have a bit of a baby face, but I'm not a baby. Tommy frowned.

"Yeah, you can plot your romantic conquest just as well from the upstairs phone." Tommy's father agreed.

Tommy was hoping he could find some way to get away from his parents, but given how they had him sandwiched between them, he wasn't going to get so lucky.

"Fine, whatever," Yutaka grumbled. "Look, Tomoki, I know you've been gone for a while, and you managed to find your way back home. But what if something like that happens again? Do you really want to be that reliant on our parents?"

"I'm not reliant on our parents," Tommy replied back.

While Tommy understood where Yutaka was coming from, especially since he felt the same way, the fact of the matter was that Yutaka was still the older brother, and in turn, that instinctively caused Tommy to get a bit heated around him. Not to mention, it bothered Tommy that Yutaka seemed to be misreading the situation and believed that Tommy was letting their parents do this.

Yutaka looked at his parents. "You guys aren't doing him any favors by being protective of him, especially when you give him whatever he asks for. You're making him depend on you again."

"Hey! I managed to make it back home, didn't I? I don't need you or anyone else to take care of me!" Tommy snapped, having gotten tired of Yutaka's attitude and assumptions.

Tommy's parents and Yutaka were shocked into silence by the sudden response, and how harsh it had sounded.

Tommy himself was surprised by his own response. But he decided to make the most of the situation. "I need some time alone. Don't come into my room until dinner."

With those words said, Tommy got off of the couch and ran upstairs to his room, moving past Yutaka. Tommy was glad he made it into his room before someone could stop him, and he closed the door behind him.

Tommy let out a sigh as he heard muffled voices from the other side of the door, his parents were likely scolding Yutaka for Tommy's outburst. But in truth, it wasn't just Yutaka, his parents certainly didn't help either. Tommy took out the D-Tector he had been keeping close to him since he came back home and looked into the screen.

"They… probably won't ever really understand… what I went through…" Tommy sighed to himself. "I don't need, or want, to be smothered, or have everything given to me. I just wanted my parents… and Yutaka to be happy, to not be worried about me… and that they'd be proud of how much I've changed."

But I haven't changed… or it doesn't feel like it, not with them… Tommy frowned to himself.

Tommy hadn't really been given the chance to show how much more independent he had become. His school wasn't the best place to show off, he wasn't any smarter with academics than he was before he was in the Digital World. In fact, he may have gotten worse because he was so rusty, having been away for months in the Digital World. Tommy didn't have any real friends at school either. He may have had some playmates at the playground, but they weren't really his friends. Nobody had a true connection to Tommy there. One thing Tommy could say was that he wasn't afraid of the bullies, but he wasn't exactly courageous enough to just walk up to a bully and tell them to stop picking on someone smaller than them.

Essentially, it felt like he was going back to his old way of life, like he had never been transported to the Digital World and got a Legendary Warrior's Spirit in the first place. It was… rather aggravating.

"It might be because I was alone for so long…" Tommy said to nobody in particular. "I never really got any training on how to be a proper Legendary Warrior. So… maybe I lack confidence to really change in my home. Besides… since a Legendary Warrior chose me, that means the Digital World may need me too… I can't stay here and be smothered forever."

Tommy looked back at his door before he locked it. He may have bided himself some time, but he wanted to make sure nobody walked in his room while he was in the Digital World.

"Sorry, Mom… Dad… and Yutaka, but I need to do this. Maybe… one of these days, you'll see I'm not that spoiled little kid anymore," Tommy whispered before he turned to his computer.

Tommy then held out his D-Tector to the screen. "Take me to Seraphimon's castle at the Forest Terminal."

The screen on the computer and his D-Tector glowed in sync and it began to suck Tommy in. Tommy smiled, it was the first time he was heading to the Digital World of his own free will.

---

"You've got to fight it, Danny!"

"Freakshow's not holding the crystal ball anymore, you are!"

"Silence!"

Danny felt his head was about to split open. He brought his gloved hand up to his forehead. "Quiet! All of you! I need to think!"

Danny didn't want to hesitate, he wanted to stop Freakshow and save his friends. But the power of the crystal ball wouldn't let him do what he wanted so easily. He was holding the staff, but he was confused. His mind was supposed to be loyal to Freakshow. But Freakshow didn't have the crystal ball. Who was he supposed to follow?

"I'm tired of this! You know what? You can fall!" DemiDevimon shouted as he slashed at Andy with his talons.

Andy let out a yell. "Danny!"

Danny gasped as he saw his brother falling off of the train and down into the ravine. Andy! NO!

Danny wanted to run after Andy, to jump off the train, to save his twin brother. But his body refused to move. The crystal ball didn't want him to move on his own.

"Give me my staff now, minion!" Freakshow demanded.

Instead of going after Andy, Danny's feet moved on their own. Danny was inwardly screaming at himself to drop the stupid staff and go after Andy before it was too late, but his body refused to listen. Instead, he handed Freakshow back the crystal ball.

"Excellent, my minion~" Freakshow purred as he patted Danny's head like he would a dog.

But Danny wasn't happy, he was internally trying to break the staff's control, but it wasn't working. It was like he was locked in place. No… No! I have to save Andy! I have to! Let me go! LET ME GO!

"Danny… why…?"

Despite Andy falling into a ravine, somehow Danny heard Andy's voice. He sounded defeated, broken, like the person he thought he could count on just let him down. If Danny could, his eyes would have tears falling right now.

Everything Danny's parents had told him about how ghosts were evil and uncaring to human lives came rushing back to him. Maybe that was why he couldn't break free from Feakshow's control, he didn't care enough about Andy to save him. He was just as bad as every other evil ghost he had come across…

"Danny…" A voice called in the distance. "Danny…! Danny!"

Danny was sure he was hearing Andy's voice, but it didn't sound much like Andy's. Or was it his mind that was distorting Andy's voice?

"Danny! Wake up!"

Danny felt something cold and wet splashing his face.

---

Danny sat up from his bed, he was wet, but he was awake. He saw Patamon sitting at the foot of his bed, holding a small bucket, that was likely where the water came from.

"You were having a nightmare," Patamon explained. "I decided it would be in your best interest to wake up from it."

"Ah… Thanks…" Danny muttered. "I just didn't expect to be so… wet…"

"I know you're not normally a heavy sleeper, but you wouldn't wake up no matter what I did. So I got the bucket of water," Patamon said. "Cherubimon used to do that to get me out of bed… and it's very effective."

"What?" Danny blinked.

"Ah, nothing," Patamon replied. "I'm guessing your body was exhausted from not being able to sleep or eat for the past few days. Freakshow likely didn't know you had human needs."

"Ugh… tell me about it…" Danny muttered as he felt a yawn escape him. "I still feel like I need more sleep, despite already having slept for some time…"

That was when Danny realized something. It was day time, and neither Andy nor Lopmon were in their room anymore.

"How long have I been asleep?" Danny asked.

"Well, right now it's 1:04 in the afternoon," Patamon answered. "Andy and Lopmon woke up an hour ago, and they decided to let you sleep while they went downstairs. I stayed here with you."

Danny groaned. "I didn't expect to sleep that long… Andy is okay, right?"

"Yeah… why wouldn't he be?" Patamon asked.

"I just… it's nothing…" Danny looked away in embarrassment.

"... Did this have to do with the nightmare you had?" Patamon questioned.

Danny blushed. "I don't need you to mother me, Patamon…"

"Hey, I happen to know that dreams can affect your psyche, and as my partner, that could affect my digivolution, soooo… I have every right to 'mother' you," Patamon pointed out.

Danny grumbled. "To answer your question… yeah, it did… My nightmare was about Andy… We were back on top of Freakshow's train, and… I wasn't able to fight off the crystal ball's spell to save him… I let him fall."

"Ah, I see…" Patamon frowned. "It appears you are definitely still shaken up from what happened with Freakshow. I wonder if Takuya's in the same boat…"

Danny flinched. "I would probably say yes… My memory from being Freakshow's minion may be a bit fuzzy, so I may not recall the events that clearly, but… what I can remember tends to be kinda… terrible when it comes to Agunimon and what he did…"

"Do you think Takuya remembers his time as Freakshow's minion at all?" Patamon asked.

Andy and Lopmon suddenly opened the door to their room and Andy shouted across the door. "For the last time, I don't know how many places Freakshow made you burn! And no, you didn't hurt, maim, or burn me!"

"I'm the one you hurt, maim, and burned!" Lopmon added.

"So please stop asking and go talk to Jazz!" Andy finished before shutting the door.

Andy and Lopmon panted for a moment before turning around.

"Oh… I see you're awake, bro. I didn't wake you with all the yelling, did I?" Andy asked.

"Um… No…" Danny admitted sheepishly. "Patamon woke me up with a bucket of ice water."

"Were you two yelling at Takuya?" Patamon asked.

"Yes, he's been asking us over and over what he did, and if he hurt us, and how many buildings he burned down," Lopmon grumbled. "He's been driving us up the wall."

Andy sighed as he walked over to Danny, and noticed how Danny was trying not to look at Andy directly. Andy tilted his head and sighed. "You're worried about what happened, aren't you?"

"He had a nightmare about not being able to save you," Patamon bluntly stated.

"Patamon!" Danny hissed.

"Welcome to having a Digimon partner, they love telling your secrets to everyone." Andy grinned.

Danny groaned. "Nothing will be kept safe, will it?"

"Nope~" Lopmon grinned.

"He needed to know, or you'll just worry him," Patamon pointed out.

"Clearly we need to have a talk," Andy sighed. "With not just you, but Takuya too. This likely has unspeakable effects on both of your psyche."

Danny grumbled. "I'm fine…"

"Clearly you're not if you have nightmares about failing to save Andy." Patamon retorted.

"You're such a mother hen!" Danny pouted.

"If this is how you are acting then, yes, I have to be." Patamon grumbled

Andy and Lopmon couldn't help but notice how different Patamon was acting now that he had finally accepted Danny as his partner. It was a rather strange sight to see him acting more casually, especially around Danny. But it was a good kind of strange.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you, Patamon!" Lopmon smiled. "You're getting along with your partner now~"

"Don't push it, Lopmon…" Patamon grumbled. "I'm only trying to make sure this child doesn't get into trouble."

"I'm a teenager…" Danny grumbled back.

"A teenager is still a child," Patamon argued back.

"Are we really having this argument?" Andy asked. "Come on, we have more important subjects to talk about. Danny, meet me in the living room in 5 minutes."

"What if I don't want to?" Danny asked.

Andy looked at Danny with an expression of 'do you really want to find out?'

"I'll be there…" Danny grumbled.

"Come on, Lopmon, let's go get Takuya and Jazz," Andy said.

"What about your parents?" Lopmon asked.

"They said they'll be working in the lab, so this is the perfect time for a small family therapy," Andy replied.

"Great… Talking about our feelings. This should be a joy to do…" Danny grumbled.

Andy put his hands on his hips as he looked at Danny. "You know, bro, maybe Patamon has a point. You are such a child."

Danny blinked at the response. "And you're too uptight."

"I have to be," Andy grumbled. "We almost lost you and Takuya last night."

"Seems Danny and Takuya aren't the only ones who need this family therapy," Patamon whispered to Lopmon.

Lopmon couldn't help but agree. "Andy has been a bit on a shorter temper since we got back…" He admitted in a whisper back. "I don't think all this stress is good for him."

---

Takuya found himself sitting on the couch in the living room. He had Danny sitting next to him with Patamon sitting on his lap. It was a rather adorable and strange sight to see. Andy was sitting next to Danny with Lopmon on his lap, which was less strange to see. And Jazz was sitting on an armchair, facing them.

"Too bad our parents couldn't be here. But they don't know the truth of what happened," Jazz commented. "So we'll have to try our best to work things out without them. Who wants to go first?"

Takuya kept his mouth shut, not wanting to go first.

Danny looked at Andy with a grin on his face; since Andy had been driven up the wall by Takuya's relentless questions, it seemed to Danny that Takuya should go first and he hoped Andy would be in agreement with that.

Andy noticed the look on Danny's face and realized what his twin wanted. Andy cleared his throat and spoke up. "Since Takuya is the oldest between us three, he should set an example for his younger nephews and go first."

Takuya blinked as he looked at Andy. "What?! Aw c'mon! Really, Andy?"

"Hey, you were the one asking relentless questions to Andy, cuz~" Danny grinned at Takuya. "So that means you go first~"

Takuya groaned. "Just my luck…"

"Well, good for you, Takuya." Jazz beamed.

"I did not agree to go first!" Takuya retorted.

"Takuya, we're all waiting," Jazz said with a sweet looking smile, but there was a bit of a threatening tone in her voice. Evidently Andy wasn't the only one who was becoming more short tempered lately.

"Alright, fine…" Takuya sighed. "It's… I can't believe Freakshow was able to make me one of his minions! It's been driving me crazy! I can't even remember clearly what I did while under his control! I just know I was told to set buildings robbed ablaze and… I…" He trailed off, not wanting to speak anymore. It was clear he was torn up about what had happened.

With the awkward part out of the way, the floodgates had opened. Andy, Lopmon, Danny, and Patamon seeing how torn up Takuya was about it, tried their best to comfort him.

"If it helps… nobody got hurt. The places you set on fire were already closed for the night, and the few guards that were around managed to get out in time," Jazz said softly.

"Freakshow likely wanted Takuya to burn the evidence away," Patamon theorized.

"But did he really need to? He had ghosts steal for him," Lopmon pointed out. "They even had footage from a security camera that survived the burning."

"It's also possible he was drunk on power since he managed to snag an unexpected… extra prize with Danny," Patamon said.

"True." Lopmon conceded.

"Even if I didn't hurt anyone… I don't know if I can ever show myself as Agunimon again…" Takuya sighed. "I mean… I use his Spirit, and… Now Agunimon is seen as a bad guy! He's a Legendary Warrior! I'm a Legendary Warrior! That power… It's supposed to be used to help, not hurt!"

"It wasn't your fault, Takuya, you were being mind controlled, you didn't do all that stuff by your own free will," Andy spoke up. "Mom and Dad know that too."

"Even if they do, it still doesn't help Agunimon's… my reputation with them…" Takuya groaned.

"I'm pretty sure my reputation has been shot permanently with Mom and Dad…" Danny sighed. "They already thought I was an evil ghost trying to manipulate everyone. So there's no doubt they're going to use everything they saw me do while under Freakshow's control against any argument about the ghost boy being a good ghost."

"But didn't we say earlier that Maddie and Jack knew that Freakshow was controlling the ghosts?" Lopmon frowned. "They have to take that into account, surely."

"I don't know if they will. And… Why is that crystal able to control ghosts anyways?" Danny frowned. "Or non-partner Digimon? You guys could've gotten hurt or worse! Andy, you could've died back there if I wasn't able to fight off the control when I did… you really should've just stayed home."

"And what, lose both you and Takuya to that mad man!?" Andy argued. "Freakshow would've taken both of you away, and we'd never see either of you again except on news where you're stealing and burning something! I couldn't let that happen, and you know it. You'd do the same if it was me, Danny, don't deny it!"

Danny flinched. The irony of it was, Andy was right. He would have done the same if Andy had been mind-controlled by Freakshow and his staff.

"The same goes for Tucker and Sam. We all knew what we were getting ourselves into," Andy continued. "Even Jazz was doing her part to try to save you guys, and salvage your reputation as much as we could with video footage of Freakshow's stolen treasures and his partner Digimon. It's not perfect, but it helped avoid a worst case scenario where nobody will ever believe either of you were good guys anymore."

"Even still… I… I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt or worse, bro…" Danny said softly. "I already feel bad I did all that stuff, but I feel even worse knowing you could've died…"

"That feeling of guilt will probably never go away," Jazz spoke up. "But that's not the problem. Feeling guilty proves you're not the unfeeling monster our parents always say your ghost half is. But the problem comes from letting that guilt eat you alive, and affecting your decisions and those around you negatively."

Danny grumbled. "Way to go all psychologist on us, Jazz." He muttered as he folded his arms in a pout.

"Isn't that the point?" Jazz raised her eyebrow.

"But Jazz is right. Letting your guilt eat you alive would be a terrible thing. Letting your emotions drive you isn't always a good thing," Patamon said.

"You mean like how you did?" Lopmon asked.

"That is not up for discussion right now," Patamon grumbled.

"Takuya, I also want you to keep what I just said to Danny in mind, because that applies to you too," Jazz informed.

"I know." Takuya said. "I can't let it get me down… If anything… I… I think I need to use this experience to get stronger so it doesn't happen again."

"How is getting stronger going to help? Wouldn't that just make it harder for us to defeat if you get mind controlled again?" Lopmon asked.

"I think Takuya meant getting stronger mentally too, so he wouldn't get mind controlled again," Andy translated.

"Koji had… the same problem. Someone was trying to mind control him with a slave collar before," Takuya explained. "He offered to help me train, but I had to get back home because ghosts were attacking our house at the time."

Andy frowned. "Maybe we all need training. We had a worst case scenario when Freakshow took control of both you and Danny. You two are our best fighters. Without both of you, there was a high chance we could've failed saving you and stopping Freakshow. I was lucky Freakshow didn't think too much of me, so it was easy to catch him off guard, but we can't always rely on that tactic of the enemy underestimating us."

"I think you don't give yourself enough credit, Andy. You've been hanging around Danny and Takuya for too long, you've forgotten how tenacious we humans are when pushed into a corner," Jazz said.

"Yeah, I mean you threw yourself onto Birdramon, and practically jumped off of her onto the train tracks, counting on Tucker and Guardromon to catch you, and then throw you back onto a moving train while being attacked by ghosts," Lopmon listed.

"WHAT!?" Jazz, Takuya, and Danny all shouted.

"You didn't have to be that specific, Lopmon," Andy hissed.

"Andy! Are you crazy?!" Danny exclaimed in shock. "That was way more reckless than you normally are!"

"Of all the stunts you could've pulled, that one is not going to be repeated!" Jazz added as she frowned at her youngest brother.

"Hey, Andy's plan worked, didn't it?" Lopmon remarked with a shrug.

"That doesn't mean he should be doing crazy stunts like that!" Takuya frowned. "If one thing went wrong, he wouldn't be here right now!"

"I was desperate, okay!? I can't fly, I don't have super powers, I can't shoot out elemental attacks, or fire out ghost rays from my hand! Freakshow was getting the upper hand, our Digimon partners were getting weak. What else could I have done that wouldn't have risked my life to save you!? There were so many times we could've lost, so many times I, Tucker, and Sam could've died out there! But we knew what we were getting into, and we weren't turning back because we could get hurt or die!" Andy shouted, making the room go quiet.

Andy, at some point, had stood up while he was shouting. Danny stood up and walked over to Andy, giving him a hug. Andy leaned his forehead onto Danny's cool chest.

"I didn't want to lose you… I would rather die than stay at home while Freakshow took both of you away…" Andy said softly.

Takuya looked down and clenched his fists. He understood what Andy was saying, but that didn't make it hurt any less. I… I have to get stronger… both mentally and by mastering my Beast Spirit… To protect Andy and Danny…

"Don't worry, bro…" Danny said gently. "That won't happen. You won't lose me or Takuya… I promise."

Lopmon and Patamon watched as the two brothers comforted each other. Lopmon looked at Patamon.

"Should I hug to comfort you too?" Lopmon asked.

"You don't need to get that sentimental on me," Patamon grumbled.

Lopmon pouted. "Awww… You're no fun…"

Jazz sweatdropped at Lopmon and Patamon's exchange.

Danny then pulled away from Andy. "Andy, this has been a trying time for all of us, but for you most of all. I think we could all use a break."

"I think we got lucky," Takuya said. "We don't remember most of what Freakshow made us do. We only have vague ideas, and the aftermath of what people told us."

"Tucker and Sam are likely feeling what Andy was feeling too," Jazz said. "I know I was definitely trying my best to do my part to help in any way I could. Floramon had to fight off a virus Freakshow and his Digimon sent to corrupt the data. If it weren't for her, your reputation likely would've been damaged much more."

"Maybe we should all go to the Digital World and start training," Andy said after rubbing his eyes. "I want to work with Lopmon to get stronger so we-"

"No,"Jazz suddenly said.

"No?" Andy frowned.

"That's right." Jazz replied. "You need a break from all of this. It's obvious this has affected you the most, considering you went up against a mad man with a staff capable of mind-controlling ghosts and Digimon, not to mention fighting against your own brother and cousin."

"The psychological trauma you have suffered would be made even worse if you just went on training with no time to cope or even process what has transpired." Jazz continued. "So, that means no going to the Digital World for training, or even training here at home for that matter. You need to get a break, and that is final, Andy."

"What!? B-but I wasn't the one most affected! Danny and Takuya were the ones who got mind controlled and had their reputations ruined by said madman! They're the ones who need the break more than I do! And besides, Tucker and Sam also went up against the madman with a staff capable of mind controlling ghosts and Digimon, so it's not just me!" Andy argued. "This could have serious psychological consequences on their psyche!"

Jazz folded her arms. "Really? Are we really having this argument, Andy?" She asked, unmoved by Andy's counter-argument. "Yes, this could have psychological consequences on them. But, like they said, they don't remember much about what happened."

"Exactly! Who knows what their minds would come up with to fill in the gaps!" Andy pointed out.

"Uh… you two do know we're right here, don't you?" Takuya deadpanned.

"Tell Jazz how delicate you and Danny's minds are right now," Andy said.

"Um… Hello? We don't remember much about it." Danny said sarcastically. "Our minds are not delicate. I think yours is the delicate mind right now, bro."

"Actually all of your minds are delicate right now," Jazz said. "Andy, you're becoming more short tempered and illogical. Listen to what you were just saying. You're completely blowing yourself off just so you don't have to take a break."

"I don't need to take a break, I need to train so I can have peace of mind in case something like the whole mind controlling thing happens again," Andy argued.

"Taking a break is not the end of the world." Jazz countered. "Training will be there when you get back from your break."

"What kind of break are you talking about?" Lopmon asked.

"A vacation. Since we don't have school today, I'm prescribing Andy and Danny to hang out and have fun like normal teenagers for a change. Only fight if there's a ghost attack," Jazz ordered. "Danny needs to have fun too, but he's also there to make sure Andy doesn't try to wiggle his way out of relaxing."

"I don't need my brother to babysit me!" Andy huffed.

"Let's see… You could sneak off, you could try to come back home, you could try to get to the Digital World… Yeah, I think I need to keep an eye on you, bro." Danny grinned cheekily.

Patamon had a smug grin on his face. "Don't think I won't be keeping an eye on Andy either. Though I also need to keep an eye on Lopmon."

"Hey! Why me?" Lopmon frowned.

"From what I've seen, you team up and encourage Andy to do these crazy things," Patamon pointed out. "I think you've become a bit of a thriller junkie now."

"It's not my fault! I had to do it with him to make sure he was safe, and to make sure the plan worked!" Lopmon huffed. "Maybe if Andy and I have the time to train and get stronger, that wouldn't be an issue."

"Yeah, Lopmon and I need to get stronger, it's not like Lopmon has the luxury of having a partner with superpowers," Andy grumbled.

Both Andy and Lopmon had their arms crossed.

Takuya was trying hard to not laugh. "I… think Jazz has a point, Andy. You're not acting your age very often anymore. Maybe a break would do you and Lopmon some good."

Danny grinned at Takuya. "Glad you're in agreement, cuz."

"Wait, what do you mean I'm not acting my age?" Andy asked. "I only threw one tantrum."

"He means you've been acting too mature, too responsible," Jazz said. "And that's coming from me. When was the last time you really let yourself just have fun?"

Andy had to take a moment to think about it. "There was that time when I pranked Takuya?"

"And when was that prank pulled?" Jazz asked, folding her arms.

"Can we not scrutinize every little thing that I have and haven't done?" Andy grumbled.

"Andy Fenton, you are going to spend the day with your brother today and tomorrow, or so help me, I will force you to sleep with Bearbert every night for the next week!" Jazz threatened.

Lopmon blinked while Andy went pale.

"Y-you're serious?" Andy frowned.

"Oh, definitely." Jazz said as she folded her arms. "I'll duct tape him to you if I have to."

"I think you better do what she says, bro…" Danny whispered.

Apparently the one person who could scare Andy in this family was Jazz, as long as she had Bearbert and Andy kept his childhood fear of Bearbert.

Andy groaned loudly before rubbing his face. "Just for the weekend, right?"

Jazz smiled. "That's right, little brother. Just for the weekend."

Takuya had his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. Jazz really knew how to make Andy follow her instructions when he was refusing to.

"I see you laughing," Andy hissed.

Lopmon jumped and smacked Takuya on the back with one of his ears before stepping away and looked around innocently.

"H-hey!" Takuya yelped before looking around, his eyes landing on Lopmon. "Did someone hit me?"

"Hmm? I didn't see anyone," Lopmon innocently replied.

Now it was Danny's turn as he tried not to laugh at the situation.

"Fine, I'll spend the weekend hanging out with Danny," Andy said.

"Ah," Jazz spoke up. "But you must promise you will hang out with him like a normal teenager, in Amity Park. No loopholing your way out like taking Danny into the Digital World or the Ghost Zone with you and calling that your hang out session."

Danny was grinning widely. "Yeah. bro. We have to stay here."

"I really hate that both of you know me as well as you do…" Andy grumbled. "Fine, I, Andy Fenton, promise to hang out with Danny like a normal teenager in Amity Park, and will only go into battle if the situation calls for it. Happy now?"

Jazz grinned. "Good to hear~"

Takuya sweatdropped at the exchange. Yeah, I don't want to get on Jazz's bad side… Or any of them really. Why is everyone in this family scary?

"I think a normal hangout session would be interesting," Patamon said. "It'll be good to get away from so many responsibilities once in a while. It'll also be interesting to see how you boys intend to hang out. I know an old friend of mine and I used to try to sneak away from meetings and duties in our previous lives."

Patamon grinned a little as he looked at Lopmon. Lopmon just blinked.

"You got away with it?" Lopmon asked.

"Honestly, it was my friend who always convinced me to just sneak away and relax because of how much of a stiff I was," Patamon said. "Of course we both end up in trouble with O- our other friend for it, but I think it was worth it."

"Ah, so even you would try to sneak away, huh?" Danny grinned.

Patamon chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Wow, this friend of yours must have guts of steel to be able to get you to break the rules and just hang back~" Lopmon grinned.

"He did." Patamon said with a hint of fondness in his voice.

"So… while Andy and Danny are hanging out here… what will I be doing?" Takuya asked. "I mean… I did say I need to get stronger…"

"Yeah," Jazz said, looking at Takuya. "I think you're actually better off than both of them. For one, you're older. And two, I think you need a different way to handle this. You have friends back in the Digital World who hold Legendary Warrior spirits of their own, right?"

Takuya nodded. "Yeah, I do." He confirmed. "Why?"

"I think one of the reasons why Freakshow was able to control you was because you haven't been given a chance to really train with Agunimon properly. And you still have your Beast Spirit to control. You also still don't know too much about what being a Legendary Warrior means," Jazz stated. "So… I think it would be best if you go back to the Digital World and meet up with them to have them help you with your Spirit. And it'll also be good for you to bond with them more. Besides, I know you also miss Tommy. Maybe he's finally able to come back to the Digital World."

Takuya looked down in thought. Jazz did have some valid points. "Yeah… I… I think you're right. I do need to learn more about Agunimon, and how to use my Beast Spirit." Actually, I could use this incident as my motivation to get stronger too…

Takuya then looked up at Jazz. "Okay. I'll go to the Digital World and train."

"What? Why does he get to go and train while I'm stuck here!?" Andy pointed out in annoyance.

"He's older, and needs a different outlet." Jazz replied. "So that's what I am prescribing Takuya. Besides, since Takuya is fused with Agunimon's Spirit, it's important for him to be able to train with Agunimon as soon as possible."

Andy grumbled. "Shouldn't it be important for me to train with Lopmon?"

"You're not fused to Lopmon, Andy. You can afford to just relax for a couple of days," Jazz pointed out. "Besides, you already promised. Or do I need to get Bearbert now?"

"That's not necessary," Andy quickly said.

Takuya grinned. "Then enjoy your vacation, Andy~ You look like you need it."

"Don't patronize me," Andy grumbled. "I have easy access to your room, don't forget that."

Takuya paled. "Forget I said anything!" He quickly said.

---

Danny and Andy were in their room. Danny just got off of the phone with Tucker and Sam. "Seems Tucker and Sam are still grounded from yesterday's incident."

"We got off easy," Andy sighed. "Mom and Dad decided not to ground us in the end when we explained the situation, well, without letting them know you and Takuya were Phantom and Agunimon. They just let us off with a warning."

"I guess they know they should punish you as parents, but they also realized that it wouldn't do any good since you'd do it again in a heartbeat," Patamon remarked.

"Too bad Sam's parents and Tucker's parents don't see it that way," Lopmon sighed.

"Well, they also don't know about Digimon." Danny pointed out. "But that's besides the point, I guess."

"Hmm… would you mind if I made another phone call?" Andy asked. "Since Tucker and Sam will be unavailable for the weekend, there's someone else we could invite to hang out with us."

"Who? It's not like we had a lot of friends besides Tucker and Sam," Danny questioned.

"Just give me a minute…" Andy said as he dialed her phone number on his cell phone.

---

Valerie had to lay low for a while since she came back from the Ghost Zone. Her dad has been keeping a close eye on her. She had to head straight home after school, so there weren't a lot of chances she was able to go on patrol as the Red Huntress to try to talk to the ghost boy and address the source of her dark hatred, nor did she have a lot of time to go into the Digital World. Living in a small apartment made it difficult to have a lot of privacy.

Salamon had been with Valerie the whole time. Salamon didn't seem to remember her time as BlackGatomon, but she knew it was bothering Valerie, so Salamon tried not to bring up the incident.

"I'm going to pick us up some food, sweetie," Damon said to Valerie. "Would you like anything specific?"

"Just get the usual order at the Nasty Burger, Dad," Valerie said.

"Okay. I'll be right back." Damon said as he prepared to leave to pick up their food.

With Damon gone, Salamon came out from under the table and stretched out. "It might've been easier to tell him you got a dog instead of a stuffed animal. I may be disciplined, but it's difficult for me to not move for long periods of time."

"I think… that may be a good idea next time." Valerie admitted. "You do kinda look like a dog now that I think about it."

"Oh well, maybe you can try that later," Salamon said. "Maybe we should use this time to check in on the Digital World. I don't want to be gone from my world for too long."

"Maybe… but-" Valerie began when her cellphone began to ring.

Valerie looked at her cell phone as she picked it up. "Huh… Andy's calling." She noted before answering it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Val, are you and Salamon doing okay?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, we are." Valerie replied as she sat down on the couch. "Dad's been keeping an eye on me ever since I got back though. Can't go out on patrol very often, and he wants me to come straight home from school."

"Hmm… would your dad be alright if you could hang out with a couple of friends?" Andy asked.

"I guess? But I don't have any friends, not since I lost my popular status," Valerie said. "I guess Star still likes to talk to me, but she can't be seen hanging out with me too much…"

"Oh, so I'm not considered one of your friends? I'm hurt," Andy replied in a bit of a teasing tone.

"O-oh! You meant hanging out with you?" Valerie asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, Danny and I are gonna take it easy this weekend, and I wondered if you'd like to come and hang out with us," Andy said.

"That…" Valerie trailed off, thinking about it. She had been not really doing anything worthwhile lately, and it would please her dad if she was just going out with some friends. "If I can get my dad to agree to it, I'd love to."

"Great. How long will it take for you to talk to your dad about it?" Andy asked.

"Dad went out to get some food, so it might take roughly half an hour depending on traffic," Valerie replied.

"Okay, then meet us at central park when you're able to talk to your dad," Andy said.

"Central park? Okay, I'll call you and let you know if my dad lets me go or not," Valerie said.

"Good. And is Salamon doing alright?" Andy asked.

"She's doing fine now. Thanks for asking." Valerie replied before she grinned. "Although she doesn't like pretending to be a stuffed animal."

"It's hard to stay still for so long!" Salamon whined in the background.

Andy chuckled a little. "Well, be sure to bring her along too, I'm sure this will be a good way for her to get some exercise in. And I'm pretty sure Lopmon and Patamon would like to see Salamon again."

"Patamon is there too?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah… it's a bit of a long story," Andy said. "But maybe we'll tell you about it later."

"Okay. I'll bring Salamon too." Valerie grinned. "This may be a good change of pace for me. Just heading home after school is kinda a bore."

"That is if your father would approve," Salamon pointed out.

Valerie sighed. "It's been… a couple of weeks since then, surely Dad will let me hang out with friends again. He left me at home 'alone' now, so that has to be a good start, right?"

"I guess. He seemed really worried about you when you were missing," Salamon sighed. "Imagine how he'd react if he knew you were hunting ghosts, and galavanting in the Digital World."

Valerie sighed as well. "We can talk more after my dad gets home and I get permission to head out. I do need to get out and about more."

Valerie looked out of the window. She couldn't lie to herself, she really missed being able to fly on her hoverboard through the sky. Once one got the feeling of flying, they could never go back to just being grounded all the time. Valerie wondered if this was how ghosts felt, and why most never seemed to want to just walk like a regular person.

Salamon looked over at Valerie. "... You know, you never told me…"

"Told you what?" Valerie asked.

"About why you hate ghosts so much," Salamon said cautiously, she knew Valerie's hatred for ghosts was what caused her to dark digivolve before, but she wanted to know why.

Valerie sighed. "A ghost kid and this ghost dog attacked the lab where my dad worked, and caused him to lose his job." She revealed. "The security system didn't do its job very well, and because my dad invested so much in that system, we pretty much went from well-off to dirt poor overnight. That's what got me into ghost hunting, to get rid of that ghost boy and what I assumed was his dog."

"So it wasn't ghosts attacking the town, or ghosts hurting someone you know, or just ghosts in general, it was a boy and his dog ruining your father's job that made you hate them?" Salamon stated.

When Salamon said it like that, Valerie couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed how much she fostered her hatred for all of ghost kind because of what one irresponsible ghost kid did with his dog, or rather, the ghost kid trying to stop an out of control ghost dog.

"Yeah… Kinda…" Valerie admitted. "But the day Dad and I were moving, that dog appeared again and destroyed what we could keep in the moving truck. That just made it worse for me." She then groaned. "I… Looking back, I'm now beginning to see the situation was more complex than a simple ghost just causing chaos for the fun of it, but… I still feel like I want to blast that ghost kid and that ghost mutt sometimes."

"I understand," Salamon said, surprising Valerie.

"You do?" Valerie blinked.

"I'm your partner, Valerie, I understand the emotions you're going through," Salamon explained. "But even if I wasn't, I get it. You had everything you could've asked for, until the ghost dog and the ghost boy came into the picture and ruined everything, making you lose everything. Now you struggle every day trying to make enough money to keep going to school as well as put food on the table. You can't help but want to blame the ghost boy since he was the face of what caused your misery to begin with. Even if you two came to an understanding, not being able to talk to him for a long time made it easy for you to forget any good terms you two were on."

"Yeah…" Valerie agreed. "That's… exactly how I feel. And it doesn't help that all the ghosts I've seen since then have done nothing but cause trouble. And the latest one kidnapped us, and kept us on his stupid island, where we had to hide for days until Andy and Lopmon found us."

"It came to a boiling point," Salamon said softly, though she didn't directly say it, Valerie knew she meant the BlackGatomon digivolution.

"Yeah, so it's not easy for me to just work past this hatred of ghosts." Valerie admitted. "I'm trying, but it feels like that hatred wants to stay."

"Defeating one's inner demon is never easy," Salamon said. "Holy Digimon know this all too well, as many of those types of Digimon have a demonic form should they let their dark desires consume them. I was worried that Patamon would…"

Salamon shook her head. "It sounds like Patamon is doing well right now though, so maybe my worries are for naught. Regardless, perhaps this outing is what we need to try to figure things out. It's always good to be able to talk to a friend when one is feeling down and unsure."

Valerie chuckled. "I think so. It certainly helps. I think talking with Andy and Danny is just what I need."

---

"Why central park?" Danny asked Andy after he hung up the phone. "And why Valerie?"

"What? You don't want to get to know Valerie?" Andy asked.

"Just because she's cool with you doesn't mean she's a friend, bro," Danny grumbled.

"Are you still sour that she tried to hunt you before?" Andy asked.

"Seems Danny being hunted by someone is a common thread," Patamon commented.

"Wow, way to remind me." Danny grumbled. "I get hunted by Valerie, Mom and Dad, and Skulker, and you bring it up."

"Well, Patamon did the same to you." Lopmon pointed out.

Danny groaned. "Is everyone going to be out to hunt my ghost half?"

"Nope, just those you know." Lopmon grinned cheekily.

"And maybe other ghost hunters," Patamon added.

"Why are you two enjoying this?" Danny asked.

"You're just fun to mess with. Now I see why Andy likes doing that~" Lopmon grinned. "Besides, you're half ghost, so you're bound to be on everybody's 'must capture or hunt' list."

"But nobody hunts Vlad?" Danny groaned.

"Vlad secludes himself in a castle in a farmland, we didn't even know he was half ghost until he straight up transformed in front of our very eyes," Andy pointed out.

"So… I should seclude myself in a castle on a farmland now?" Danny deadpanned.

"A bit too late for that, considering you're already too well known in Amity Park," Andy chuckled.

Danny grumbled. "I really sometimes wonder if being half ghost is worth the trouble."

"Not like you have a choice," Patamon remarked. "I certainly didn't…"

"Hmm?" Danny blinked.

"Ah… don't mind me, just thinking out loud," Patamon replied.

Lopmon frowned, wondering if Patamon meant being a Celestial Digimon or something else.

"Anyways…" Andy spoke up. "I decided on central park since that seems to be the easiest place for you to meet up with Valerie and talk to her."

"Aren't both of us meeting up with her?" Danny asked.

"Oh, sorry, I should clarify," Andy said. "I meant you as in Phantom."

Danny paled. "You… want me to… As Phantom?" He squeaked out. "B-But what if she blasts me or something?!"

"Are you going to get cold feet, Danny?" Lopmon joked.

Danny grumbled. "No, I'm just properly paranoid."

"Danny, how many times have you been blasted by someone?" Andy asked.

"Like every day." Danny grumbled. He was clearly not a happy camper.

"So why should this be any different?" Andy questioned.

"Do you want me to be blasted?" Danny asked.

"I want you to talk things out with Valerie, help her understand your side of the story more, and do to her what you've done with me," Andy said. "Help her see that you're not a bad ghost, and not all ghosts are evil."

Danny blinked. "Oh! You mean like when you first met my ghost half!" Danny then grinned a little. "I think our friendly ghost boy could try~"

"You sure gained confidence rather quickly," Patamon noted.

"I think it's good Danny is eager to try to get Valerie to understand he's not evil," Lopmon remarked with a smile. "Maybe Valerie will help us out more in this world instead of just in the Digital World, you know?"

"Sure, but how do you know she'll even listen to you?" Patamon asked, looking at Danny.

"Because I told her to," Andy said.

"What?" Patamon blinked. "A hardheaded girl like Valerie is willing to put aside her hatred for ghosts just because you told her to?"

"Hey, Andy saved her and Salamon's life, the least Valerie could do is listen to Andy," Lopmon huffed.

Danny groaned at that reminder. "I swear Andy, if you go into the Ghost Zone on your own again, I will come and drag you back here!"

"Okay, Mr. Protective Ghost Boy, I'll be sure to let you know if I get pulled into the Ghost Zone again," Andy rolled his eyes.

"Wait…" Danny frowned as something just occurred to him. "Isn't this loopholing Jazz's 'prescription'?"

"No, she never said I couldn't invite another friend." Andy grinned.

Lopmon grinned. "And she never said anything about helping said friend with a ghost issue~"

Patamon sweatdropped at Lopmon's so-called 'innocent' grin. If Andy wasn't such a good kid, I'd be worried about Lopmon's state of mind right now…

"Now let's get ready, bro, we have less than half an hour to mentally prepare ourselves for the conversation~" Andy smiled.

Danny sighed. What am I going to do with him?

---

Takuya stood in front of his computer screen in his room. He had been wondering if he should go back to the Digital World now. He didn't know if the others were waiting for him, and even if they were, he felt too embarrassed, and still pretty horrified, to tell them what happened.

How will the others react? I mean… I get Koji would probably understand, but what about the rest of them? Maybe this is a bad idea… Takuya thought to himself as he clenched his D-Tector in his hand. Maybe I'm not supposed to hold the Spirits if that happened to me.

However, the D-Tector remains with Takuya, which meant he was supposed to hold the Spirits of Flame. The boy groaned to himself. Geez… this is similar to what Tommy went through, and how he thought he wasn't a good guy. Now I kinda get how Tommy felt. Well, Jazz told me I have to do this, and I don't want to have her come in here and give me a lecture. So… here it goes…

Takuya held out his D-Tector to the computer. "Take me to Seraphimon's Castle at the Forest Terminal."

The screen of the computer glowed before Takuya was sucked into the monitor, the screen going dark soon after.

---

Takuya found himself standing in a familiar room. He was back in Seraphimon's Castle. The room itself appeared to be empty, but he could hear voices talking outside.

Takuya made his way to the door to open it, not sure who was outside yet. The voices sounded familiar, but the door made it hard to make out who was who. Aw man… I hope I don't act like a total dork here…

Takuya opened the door, and was surprised to see Koichi there.

"Takuya?" Koichi blinked when he turned to see who opened the door.

"H-hey…" Takuya said with a sheepish grin. "Been a while, huh?"

"Indeed," Koichi replied. "Did something happen to you?"

"Why do you ask that?" Takuya asked.

"There were videos posted on the internet that a 'mysterious armored monster was burning down buildings after ghosts were seen stealing from there'," Koichi answered. "And it was happening at a place called Amity Park."

Takuya's pale face and the way he clammed up said much to Koichi.

Koichi frowned at the reaction. "By your response, I'd say it relates to you."

"I… I… don't… know what you… mean…" Takuya tried to lie, but he knew it was futile; he was a horrible liar.

Koichi sighed. "Takuya, this isn't something you should be coy about. You need to explain what happened, because otherwise, people are going to come to their own conclusions, and I don't think you want that."

Takuya groaned before he put his head in his hands as he slumped down against the wall. "Some stupid crazy circus ringmaster managed to get me to be his minion via a mind-controlling staff, alright? I'm so embarrassed about it, and I feel like it's my fault when I know it clearly isn't!"

Koichi gave a look of interest and unease. "You were being mind controlled by someone?" Koichi frowned. "They didn't use any slave collar on you? And it was in the real world?"

"Yes, I was mind controlled, no it was not a slave collar, and yes, it was in the real world." Takuya replied, answering each question. "The source of the mind-control was a red crystal ball/orb thing."

"A red crystal ball? That's a new one…" Koichi frowned. "What happened to this ringmaster and that crystal ball of his?"

"How should I know?" Takuya groaned. "I just heard the crystal ball was shattered. It… also controlled an… ally of mine, and he was the reason the staff broke. As for the ringmaster, he was arrested by law enforcement."

"So you do know," Koichi pointed out.

Takuya sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

"I'm glad the crystal ball was shattered, that means it's no longer an issue for us to worry about. However, it would've been better if we could've seen what it was. Because if such a power existed that could control us in our Digimon form, then that means there could be more like that out there. Problem is, we don't know what to look out for until it's too late," Koichi mumbled. "If you were controlled, who stopped you? I don't think any of us were there when it happened."

"My cousin Andy and his friends stopped me." Takuya replied. "Well, more like me and my ally. If not for the three of them, and their Digimon partners… I would still be a minion."

"Andy and his friends? And with Digimon partners?" Koichi blinked. "How many?"

"Two of Andy's friends and their Digimon partners." Takuya clarified.

"So that's about 6 of them?" Koichi asked.

Takuya took a moment to think back on how many of them were there. "No, I think it was 7, Patamon was there too. It wasn't just me and my ally, the ringmaster had 3 other ghosts under his control fighting them too."

"Jeez… even with Digimon partners, I'm surprised your cousin and friends were able to stop you all," Koichi remarked. "Andy probably should've called us to help."

"He didn't want to risk you guys getting controlled too, since the staff was able to control me," Takuya pointed out.

"But he lets his Digimon fight?" Koichi raised an eyebrow.

"Partner Digimon seem to be immune to that," Takuya answered.

"What? They are?" Koichi blinked.

"Yeah. Somehow the link between the human and their Digimon partner acts as a defense against that." Takuya explained. "Andy explained this to me once I had been freed and was back at Fenton Works."

Koichi frowned a little as he thought about it. "It's like with the rules in the Digital World. Players can't control partner Digimon with slave collars. I guess Andy was banking on that."

"Yeah… my memory of the fight is really fuzzy though, so I don't know what Andy and the others did exactly, but there were a lot of close calls," Takuya said. "There was a Devimon who almost had us after the crystal ball was shattered. But Patamon managed to digivolve into Angemon and chased him off."

"Patamon digivolved?" Koichi blinked. "Did he… uh… turn back into Patamon afterwards?"

"Yeah… He did." Takuya replied. "That's… Why do you ask?"

Koichi furrowed his eyebrows. "So… he digivolved because of a partner, not because it was a natural digivolution… Normally, when a Digimon digivolve naturally, they don't go back to their previous level. Only partner Digimon do that."

"Patamon is… the partner of my other cousin Danny…" Takuya admitted. "And… Danny was kidnapped by that ringmaster…"

"This ringmaster sounds like he was either power hungry, or just plain insane." Koichi mused with some worry on his face.

"Or he's both, he definitely seemed like both to me," Takuya grumbled.

Koichi frowned. "You say he's been arrested, so maybe we don't have to worry about him any time soon. For now, let's focus on other things. Remember when we were told that there might be a Legendary Warrior's spirit at the Autumn Leaf Fair?"

"I do." Takuya replied. "What about it? You think it might be meant for one of us or something?"

"I went to check it out a few days ago," Koichi said. "However, I can't confirm if it is a Spirit or not. I met with a Datamon who said I'm free to try to win the game and check out the prize, but I swear that game is rigged. There's no way to beat it. So I didn't get to see what this special prize was. There was a quick glimpse of it, but it was too quick to tell what it was. If it is a Spirit, however, it might be in our best interest for all of us to try that game out and see who wins it."

"I guess that means Tommy is going to try it as well, because he also holds the Spirit of a Legendary Warrior." Takuya mused. Takuya then paused for a moment. He remembered how Tommy had defeated WaruMonzaemon in a video game. "Actually, I think we should bring Tommy with us. He beat WaruMonzaemon at video games, and with a high score I heard."

"That's the idea," Koichi said. "But none of us had seen or heard from Tommy since he left."

Koichi then looked at Takuya. "Come to think of it, you don't usually come here without a reason. So why are you here this time?"

Takuya sighed. "To get stronger, and to learn more about my Spirits as well as control my Beast Spirit. My cousin Jazz seems to think I was so easily mind controlled because I don't have enough of a connection with Agunimon's Spirit. And I can't say I'm inclined to disagree with her either."

Koichi gave a small nod. "I suppose she has a point. You and Tommy are the only ones who weren't with us when we traveled around the Digital World the first time, and learned how to connect with both our human and beast spirits. Koji mentioned that we should train you two, but we couldn't find a good time because you're always busy with the real world, and Tommy hasn't come back yet."

"Blame the ghosts…" Takuya grumbled. "They come through the portal whenever they want."

Koichi chuckled. "Well, since you're here now, maybe I can call the others and see if we can start training you. Why don't you get a snack or something while I do? It'll be best to not be hungry before we start training."

Takuya grinned a bit. "Sure. I could use something to eat since I didn't get much to eat earlier due to my anxiety."

---

Meanwhile, in the Forest Terminal, Tommy came out of a TV screen that was left out in the forest. Tommy looked around for a moment before blinking. "Wah? Why'd I end up out here?"

Tommy saw the castle in the distance. "I guess my D-Tector was a little off."

Seeing how Tommy was already here, he decided to walk to the castle. He didn't mind taking a bit of the scenic route. It gave him a chance to unwind from being smothered by his parents, and berated by his brother who misunderstood Tommy's intentions.

I hope the others haven't been waiting for me for too long. Tommy thought to himself. I haven't seen them since I found out that Kumamon was a Legendary Warrior.

However, Tommy had grown a bit too laxed since he went back home, because he didn't notice someone was coming up to him until…

Yellow vines suddenly came out of the bushes and wrapped around Tommy's arms and torso, lifting him up in the air. Tommy let out a surprised yelp as he struggled against the bindings. He couldn't get to his D-Tector while he was bound up.

"Got ya!"

Tommy blinked as he saw the source of these yellow vines. "A Veggiemon?"

"Yep! Wait'll we get back! Sir Michael will be so pleased with us!" Veggiemon grinned.

"Did you find him, Veggiemon?" Another familiar voice asked as Veggimon turned to the speaker.

"You bet I did, Kwan! We got him!" Veggiemon exclaimed happily.

"Kwan!?" Tommy spoke in shock.

The familiar african-asian jock ran over beside Veggiemon and looked up at Tommy. "Well, I'll be, you really are here! I haven't seen you in a while."

"What are you doing here?" Tommy frowned. "And can you please tell Veggiemon to let me go?"

"Sir Michael was looking for you here, and no, I can't." Kwan admitted. "Sir Michael wants you brought back to him. And I rather you didn't do that thing where you turn into a Digimon and completely freeze us."

Tommy felt his heart sink when he heard Sir Michael's name. He hadn't seen Sir Michael since Takuya had taken him in. While Tommy had been wanting to confront Sir Michael, he was hoping to train with his Spirit first, he didn't feel ready to take on Sir Michael alone.

"How did Sir Michael even know I'd be here?" Tommy hissed as he was trying to move his arms, but Veggiemon had a tight grip on him.

"Look, just… don't struggle, okay? All of this can be over once we get back," Kwan said.

"Like heck am I going back!" Tommy snapped. "I can't believe you're still doing what he wants you to do!"

"He has brought us to greater power since you left." Kwan replied. "Sir Michael will become the strongest here and no player or Digimon will stop him."

"Listen to yourself, he's got you wrapped around his finger!" Tommy hissed.

Tommy was trying to find a way out, but the Veggiemon had him bound up tightly, and he kept Tommy in the air so Tommy couldn't try to use the terrain to his advantage.

"Come on, Veggiemon," Kwan said, ignoring Tommy. "Let's get Sir Michael's prized Digimon back to him."

Tommy began to struggle against Veggiemon's hold, trying to think of something. I wish I could use Kumamon's ice right now! Or just Kumamon's ability to become liquid to get out of these vines!

Tommy heard the D-Tector in his pocket beeping. Tommy blinked for a moment as he recalled WaruMonzemon having trouble breaking his D-Tector before because the Spirit froze his arm. Could… could Kumamon still use some of his power even when I'm not using him?

Tommy closed his eyes and tried his best to have his mind heard. Spirit, please help me. Use your ice to freeze this Veggiemon's vines!

As if in response to Tommy's pleas, the D-Tector's screen glowed, just as the symbol for Ice appeared on it. A cold feeling began to seep out of the D-Tector as Tommy began to hear the crackling of ice forming.

Veggiemon felt the chill of ice on his vines and began to shiver. "Is it just me, or is it getting cold?"

Kwan looked back at Veggiemon before noticing the vines around Tommy were starting to turn to ice. "Veggiemon! Your vines are getting iced!"

"W-wah!?" Veggiemon yelled.

With the ice now turning Veggiemon's vines brittle, Tommy pushed with all of his might to break out of the binds. The vines cracked and broke, releasing Tommy, who landed on the ground.

"Ow! My vines!" Veggiemon shouted as he pulled his vines back.

"Your vines can regrow! But we have to stop him!" Kwan quickly said.

Tommy didn't waste time running. While he could spirit evolve and take them out, he didn't want to solve this with violence, that would make Kwan see him as no better than just another wild Digimon for him to handle. Besides that, Sir Michael may be nearby, a battle would likely draw him to them.

Kwan didn't look too happy with the turn of events. "Darn it… We have to go after him!" Kwan grumbled. "I was hoping this would be easier, but apparently not."

Veggiemon was still trying to thaw his vines, but he hopped after Tommy. "You're not getting away! Compost Bomber!"

Veggiemon created compost pink poop and began throwing them at Tommy in hopes of slowing him down. Tommy yelped as he didn't want to get hit by poop, even if it was made by magic or data rather than actual fecal matter.

"That's it, Veggiemon!" Kwan cheered. "Don't let him escape us!"

Tommy dived behind a tree, using the trunk as a shield from the poop. The poop smashed into the tree, leaving a rather sickening squishy sound.

That's disgusting! Tommy frowned.

Tommy continued to run as Veggiemon began to hop after him. Kwan ran after them as well.

I don't want to fight Kwan or Veggiemon, but at this rate, I may not have a choice. Tommy frowned.

"We won't let you get away!" Veggiemon exclaimed as Kwan followed him.

"Try to catch him again!" Kwan instructed.

Veggiemon whipped out his vines to try to grab onto Tommy again. Tommy rolled on the ground to avoid the vines grabbing him.

I need to slow them down. Tommy frowned.

Tommy dived into some bushes and crawled into another bush while Kwan and Veggiemon were distracted with the bush they saw him dive into.

"C'mon, Veggiemon! Whack that bush! I'm sure we can force him out of hiding!" Kwan instructed.

Veggiemon began to do just that, hoping to drive Tommy out of hiding, not aware he was just whacking an empty bush.

Tommy grinned as he kept crawling, hoping to sneak away.

"Where is he? You should've gotten him by now." Kwan frowned.

Veggiemon completely destroyed the bush with his vines, but there was a lack of Tommy. "He must've snuck away."

"What? How could we let a little kid sneak away? Sir Michael's going to be sour about this…" Kwan frowned. "How am I supposed to prove that I can be a tough jock like the rest of my classmates if I can't even catch one little kid?"

"That little kid is a Digimon, remember?" Veggiemon pointed out. "He's… not a normal Digimon either."

"Yeah… I guess… he did freeze your vines earlier," Kwan noted. "But still, my reputation is going down the drain."

"In the Digital World or in your world?" Veggiemon asked.

"Well, Sir Michael seems to be losing patience with me… but ever since some nerd found out about my love for fluffy clouds, the rumors have been spreading in school, and everyone is just not taking me very seriously anymore." Kwan frowned.

Veggiemon gave a grimace, feeling sorry for Kwan. "Ooof… That sounds like a bad time…"

"Trust me, it is." Kwan sighed. "My popularity at school has gone down a lot. The only reason I'm still even on the A-List is due to being a football player. But if someone else gets to the A-List… I have a feeling I'll be the first to get kicked out of it…"

"Is that why you've been trying so hard to get Kumamon before the others?" Veggiemon asked. "To prove you're not as weak or soft hearted as the rumors say you are?"

"Yeah, at the very least, I wanted to climb up the popularity rank again by proving myself in Ruler of the Digital World," Kwan answered.

"That might not be easy to do," Veggiemon said. "I thought nerds were seen as not very popular, right? Doesn't being good at a video game make you a nerd?"

"This is different, because we are physically here rather than just sitting on a chair in front of a screen," Kwan answered. "So being good here is considered cool."

Tommy had been nearby while he heard them talking. So… is that why Kwan joined with Sir Michael in the first place? He thought it could help his reputation at school? I suppose Sir Michael does have ways to manipulate someone into joining him. After all, I did for a while.

Tommy looked out from the bush he was in. The castle isn't too far from here… but if I try to make a break for it now, I'll just be caught. I suppose using my Digimon form may help me this time.

Tommy took out his D-Tector from his pocket, though he hesitated. Before, he had little qualms using Kumamon's form unless he was near another Legendary Warrior. However, now that he knew Kumamon's true identity, he had been hesitant on using that form all willy nilly. Kumamon was a Legendary Warrior, was it really alright to use it just to run away from someone?

However, Veggiemon's whacking of the bushes told Tommy he had to make his choice quickly. The whacking was getting closer to his location. Since Tommy knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the Veggiemon and his athletic partner as a human, he needed to become Kumamon if he wanted to avoid capture.

Maybe this is okay. After all, I'm sure Kumamon wouldn't want to be used as a slave by Sir Michael again. Tommy convinced himself.

Tommy quickly summoned the ring of data on his hand, and swiped it across the D-Tector. Just like before, Tommy's body was surrounded by a cocoon of data, quickly drawing Veggiemon and Kwan's attention to where he was.

"There he is!" Kwan pointed out.

However, as soon as the fractal code disappeared, a white blur jumped out of the bush. The familiar white bear Digimon looked back at Kwan and Veggiemon. Despite being a small, cute looking Digimon, Veggiemon shivered. While Veggiemon hadn't told his partner, he knew that Kumamon wouldn't be easy to catch due to the fact that he was a Legendary Warrior. He had been hoping to catch the boy before he activated the Spirit.

"Kwan, you and Veggiemon should go back," Kumamon said. "I'm not going back with you. I have my own duties here."

"Sorry, Kumamon, but Sir Michael is expecting us to return with you." Kwan said. He hated having to hunt down Kumamon, but it seemed like Kumamon would have to be taken down by force.

"What do you hope to gain from Sir Michael if you go through with it?" Kumamon asked. "A high status of power? A stronger Digimon for yourself? A better reputation in your world? And what if I do fight back? What will you do if I turn your Digimon into an egg?"

Kwan found himself hesitating. Sir Michael had promised him a high rank in the guild, and he hoped to have Veggiemon evolve at some point, but… if Kumamon fought back… then he would lose Veggiemon. He had seen Kumamon battle for Sir Michael before, he knew what the bear was capable of. Veggiemon wasn't a very weak Digimon, but he was certainly not the strongest. When Kumamon was in his human form, he wasn't at full power when he froze Veggimon's vines. But now… Kumamon could easily freeze Veggiemon in a block of ice, and maybe even turn him into an egg. Kumamon had done that to many Digimon before on Sir Michael's behalf, what would stop him from doing that to Veggiemon?

"Even if you weren't worried about me turning your partner into an egg, you might want to choose your battle more wisely," Kumamon warned before he pointed at the castle that was off in the distance. "There are Legendary Warriors in that castle. If they see a player causing trouble here, they will come and punish you."

Kwan had heard rumors of the strength of these Legendary Warriors, but he didn't want to actually draw the attention of one, especially if they heard the fight occurring. Crud… He's right… I'm nowhere near strong enough to fight one of those Digimon one on one!

"Kwan… we may have to pull back." Veggiemon warned. "Kumamon has a point. This is not favorable to us, or to Sir Michael either."

Kwan frowned, but he knew when a retreat was best to be pulled off. "Okay, but only because we don't want to get the attention of these Legendary Warriors."

"Make sure you tell Sir Michael that too, so he can stop snooping around here," Kumamon warned.

"I can't promise Sir Michael won't try to come here to find you. After all, he's been looking for you since you ran off," Kwan replied. "He wants his best Digimon back. And he's been hearing rumors about you being seen around here again."

"If that's the case, then tell him to come if he wants, but I'm not going to submit to him so easily again," Kumamon challenged. "Now get out of here."

Kwan frowned, but nodded. "C'mon, Veggiemon. We're leaving for now."

Kwan noticed Veggiemon was missing. "Veggiemon?"

"Yah!" Veggimon had been trying to sneak up on Kumamon while he had been talking to Kwan, and lashed out his vines at Kumamon.

There were several things Kumamon could've done, he had seen Veggiemon trying to be sneaky from the corner of his eye, but he remained still as the vines wrapped around his body again.

"I got you now!" Veggiemon shouted proudly.

Kumamon looked down at Veggiemon, though he wasn't struggling like he was when he was human. "Really? You really want to try this now?"

"We aren't leaving without the prize!" Veggiemon retorted with a grin, showing all of his sharp and pointy teeth.

"V-Veggiemon! You should let him go!" Kwan quickly warned. "You're going to get hurt! He's not human right now!"

"You should listen to your partner," Kumamon warned.

Veggimon hesitated. He knew what Kumamon was capable of, and with the threat of the Legendary Warriors in the area, it was wise to retreat. But at the same time, he wanted to help Kwan out, and capturing Kumamon for Sir Michael seemed like the best way to go about it. But a glance at Kwan's face made Veggiemon make up his mind for the latter. He would help Kwan get on Sir Michael's good side again.

"This may be our best chance, Kwan! Maybe Kumamon is bluffing so I'd let him go!" Veggiemon called back. "I can hold onto him, and then we can take him back to Sir Michael!"

Kumamon let out a sigh. While he felt a little bad about Kwan's situation, the jock needed different priorities. Popularity meant nothing to Kumamon, and he was still alive and well. And while Kwan may not be used to it, and he felt like his entire world would crash if he lost his spot on his school's popularity rank, Kumamon felt like it was a lot more petty than him becoming Sir Michael's slave.

Making his decision, Kumamon melted his body into liquid, easily slipping out of Veggiemon's hold. Veggiemon gasped when this happened, he hadn't been expecting Kumamon to do that, or rather he forgot Kumamon could do that. After Kumamon's body landed on the ground, he reformed his body, then took out his blaster gun from his back and aimed it at Veggiemon.

Veggiemon gasped and paled, seeing that Kumamon was aiming at him. Kumamon had ended many Digimon with that blaster. It wasn't just the blaster, Kumamon's own body could become a deadly weapon and pierce into a Digimon's Digi-Core if he wanted to.

"Run," Kumamon hissed.

At that one command, Veggiemon squealed as he quickly hopped away from Kumamon as fast as he could. Kwan gasped as well and ran after Veggiemon. Something about the malice in Kumamon's eyes just terrified him despite being a cute little bear.

As soon as Kwan and Veggiemon were gone, Kumamon let out a sigh as he dropped his evolution, turning back into Tommy. Tommy didn't like doing it, but he figured trying to put out killing intent was the best way to get both Kwan and Veggiemon to leave without actually resorting to violence. Tommy, despite being 11 years old, had learned how to use killing intent when Sir Michael had him defeat so many other Digimon. Sometimes without even needing to fight, all Tommy had to do was have the intention to kill, and the other players or Digimon would surrender out of fear. It had been a while since Tommy willingly used that technique to get someone to back down.

Now free of Kwan and Veggiemon after him, Tommy decided to make his way to the castle, if only to avoid running into more players who may be after him. He just hoped the others wouldn't judge him too harshly for misusing his Legendary Warrior's spirit.

---

In the castle's main dining room, Takuya was chowing down on a nice big ham sandwich that had been brought to him so he could actually get something in his stomach; his previous guilt and anxiety had ruined his appetite beforehand so he hadn't been able to eat much.

"Apparently you needed this." Koichi noted with a sweatdrop on his head.

"Well, yeah. Guilt and anxiety can ruin an appetite, so I didn't have much to eat before I came here." Takuya replied once he had swallowed what was in his mouth.

"I can understand that feeling," Koichi chuckled. "I didn't have the best of times using my Digimon forms when we first came to the Digital World either."

"You didn't? Do you just mean your Beast Spirit?" Takuya asked.

"I wish…" Koichi sighed.

"W-what? Really?" Takuya blinked.

Koichi paused for a moment. They were currently waiting for Koji and the others to come, so Koichi was just chatting with Takuya while he was eating his sandwich to pass the time. But maybe this was also a good time to get something off of his chest since his brother didn't want him to bring it up again, and Zoe and JP were usually busy with their own things.

"I didn't come to the Digital World like the others did the first time," Koichi revealed. "The first time it happened… Koji, JP, Zoe, and I all got a mysterious email from an unknown source. They gave us instructions to take a certain train under the Shibuya train station. Koji was more athletic than I was. He spent most of his time training kendo, while I usually did chores around the house to help our sick mother out. So he ran ahead of me. He didn't realize he left me behind when he got to an elevator, and the door closed by the time I got there. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to catch up to Koji before the train left, since we were already cutting it very close. So I tried running down the stairs as quickly as I could, but…"

Koichi paused for a second before sighing. "I tripped… and fell down the stairs. I didn't remember much of what happened after that, I just… woke up in the Digital World somehow."

Takuya paused in his eating, about to take another bite of his ham sandwich, but he slowly lowered the sandwich at Koichi's words. "W-what happened then?" He asked, his mind completely off food now.

"I was in a dark place, both literally and figuratively," Koichi answered. "I couldn't really tell you exactly where I was, I don't even know myself. But I remembered calling out to Koji, and another voice answered back to me. It sounded… sinister, and filled with malice. Their voice sounded deep and powerful. I was terrified out of my wits. I don't know how long I was in that dark place with that voice, but… the voice seemed to have dug into my memories, because they began showing me images of my family."

"What did you get shown?" Takuya asked, interested in the conversation as well as a bit in shock.

"I was shown images of my father and mother, as well as Koji." Koichi replied. "The images were of Mom and Dad, seeming to favor Koji over me. I didn't want to believe it, but it seemed true. The images even had Mom and Dad saying how Koji was better than me due to being more active while I was just the twin who stayed isolated."

Koichi gave a sigh. "I'm ashamed to admit that even though I love Koji, and I know my parents love me too, it really… hurt to see those images confirming my worst fears. The images got worse the more I believed them to be true. I began seeing Koji acting nice to me, but when my back was turned, he showed his 'true self'. How he didn't care about me, he was only being nice because his parents wanted him to. He mentioned how he wished he had been an only child so he didn't have to take care of me, even though I was the older twin. His talents got even more exaggerated in the vision, making him seem like the perfect human being. It didn't help that Koji went to the elevator without me earlier, and the image showed him happy that he managed to ditch me. My mind got… messed up, until I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like everyone had abandoned me, including my friends, and only wanted to be my friend because of Koji. My memories became warped, I could barely even remember my own name, or that I was even human anymore."

Takuya felt his jaw drop. "W-wow… That's seriously messed up!" He exclaimed. "I can't even imagine feeling like that myself…"

"Yeah… it was messed up." Koichi agreed. "But it happened. The dark voice then told me I could get revenge on Koji, and these two figurines appeared in front of me, giving off a dark aura and feel. The next thing I knew… I was… the corrupted Legendary Warrior of Darkness, Duskmon."

Takuya held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa, hold on. Spirits can become corrupted?"

Koichi nodded. "Apparently yes, if given enough time and energy."

Takuya frowned. "So the Spirits you hold were corrupted from the original form? And you were given those?"

"Yes." Koichi confirmed. "My power as Duskmon was great, far greater than any Digimon, even that of a Legendary Warrior."

Takuya shivered. "Wow… Suddenly I'm glad I wasn't here at the time…"

"Yeah, I think I gave everyone nightmares about Duskmon when we first clashed," Koichi chuckled sheepishly. "I only stopped because… despite wanting revenge on Koji, I found I couldn't hurt him, at least not severely anyways. I guess even with my mind completely warped, I still had that bond with him. A bond that couldn't be broken easily. At one point, the dark voice gave me my corrupted Beast Spirit. I was… truly out of control then. Koji had to do something drastic to save me. I'll spare you the details, since I get the feeling he wouldn't appreciate me telling you about it without his permission. When I was finally out of the brainwashing, I was able to use my normal Spirits. They weren't as powerful as Duskmon, but they were still considered to be the strongest of the Legendary Warriors when it came to raw power."

"That's cool, I'm glad Koji was able to snap you out of it," Takuya said. "But what was that dark voice? And… did you ever figure out how you got to the Digital World in the first place?"

"The dark voice was…" Koichi hesitated. "I think it might be best if I waited to tell you that, especially since you… uh… nevermind. As for how I got to the Digital World, I was actually a spirit. I wasn't physically in the Digital World. I was solid enough to still interact with the world around me, and the people around me. But because I didn't actually have a physical body… I didn't have a fractal code. I began to notice this when JP, Zoe, and Koji got hurt, their fractal code was showing on their body, but I didn't have one. And I recovered much quicker than they did. That was when I found out something about me was different from the others."

"So you were something like a ghost." Takuya realized. A shiver ran down his spine. "Wow… suddenly I'm very glad I wasn't here. Imagine if I had told my aunt and uncle about you being a spirit. Uncle Jack would be shouting "Ghost!" whenever he saw you."

Koichi gave a sheepish chuckle. "That would be annoying, I'm sure. Though I don't think I was a ghost, at least not in the sense of the same ones you've been dealing with. I guess I was more of a mental projection created by my soul as my body was lying in a hospital bed."

"So, how did you find out you were a spirit?" Takuya asked.

Koichi sighed. "One of our enemies had also figured it out, and mentioned it to me when we were fighting." He admitted. "I will admit, at first I thought it was to throw me off my game in the battle, but deep down, I had the feeling it explained why I was so different from the others I was with."

Takuya felt a bit bad for Koichi now. "Yikes… Talk about a soul-shattering revelation…"

Koichi looked at Takuya with a deadpan look. "Are you going to be using ghost jokes on me now?"

"Um… maybe?" Takuya grinned. "Blame my family for being ghost hunters…"

Koichi rolled his eyes. "Well, if it helps, I'm not a spirit now. I'm physically here, just like you are."

"Well, that's good at least." Takuya replied. "So you were once a dark Legendary Warrior? No wonder Koji doesn't like talking about it; he literally had to fight his own brother."

"Yeah, it's not something we talk about much. But I felt like I needed to tell you about it," Koichi answered.

"Why's that?" Takuya asked curiously, after all, while he was friends with Koichi, he wouldn't consider them as close friends yet.

"Because of what you went through," Koichi explained. "Losing control of your Beast Spirit is one thing, but the fact you were mind controlled by someone and forced to do evil things… I know that can make your guilt eat away at you, and you start to question if you really deserve the Spirit you have. It reminded me of myself. Even though all of that happened 4 years ago, it still felt like it happened yesterday to me, and I can't really openly share it because Koji doesn't want to talk about it. If anyone can understand your plight, Takuya, it's me. Just know that you're not alone in dealing with your guilt of having done bad things with your Spirits."

Takuya smiled. "Hey, thanks for sharing that with me." He said. "And, actually, Jazz has said talking about things makes it easier to deal with them. So I'm glad you were able to share this with me, because I think it helped you too."

"Yeah, it did. It feels like a burden was lifted when I was able to talk about it instead of keeping it in," Koichi agreed. "I can't change the past, but I can control the future."

"I think Koji needs to talk about this as well." Takuya noted. "Maybe then he wouldn't be such a grump. Holding in all that guilt from fighting you can't be good for him."

Koichi rolled his eyes. "Good luck with that. Koji can be quite the stubborn one."

"From what I've seen of him, I don't doubt it," Takuya chuckled. "But he seems to be a reasonable and logical person."

"Yeah, he is," Koichi agreed.

Koichi heard his D-Tector beeping, which caught him by surprise.

"What is it?" Takuya asked as Koichi pulled out his D-Tector.

"I set an alarm for when someone else with a Spirit walked into the castle, so we would know when Koji and the others arrived," Koichi explained. "But they shouldn't have arrived yet, unless they warped themselves here."

"Then we should go see who it is." Takuya said. "Maybe they got here early."

"Are you finished eating?" Koichi asked.

"Yeah, I am," Takuya replied. "That sandwich was quite big."

"Big sandwich for big appetites," Koichi laughed. "Veemon would eat all of the fridges if we didn't have food that big. That little guy can eat."

Takuya laughed as well. "He's a perfect match for my uncle then! Those two are like peas in a pod!"

"At least Wormmon is also keeping him in check, they're a pretty solid duo, those two," Koichi said.

"Where are they now?" Takuya asked as he stood up and followed Koichi out of the dining hall.

"Last I checked, they went out to collect wood and ingredients for the kitchen," Koichi answered. "Though they might've stopped to chat with their partners since they seem to do that a lot."

"Yeah, that can happen." Takuya admitted sheepishly. "Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack like to check in with them often."

"Your aunt and uncle sound quite intelligent." Koichi noted.

"They built a portal to another dimension in their basement. They kinda have to be." Takuya admitted.

"Ah, right. The source of the ghosts you deal with." Koichi chuckled.

"I love my family, but sometimes I do wonder what drove my aunt and uncle to build that portal in their basement instead of a proper lab." Takuya grumbled.

"Passion, obsession, and ambition can often lead to people doing things that aren't the most logical. Or, let me put it this way, sometimes people often wonder if they can do something, but they rarely ever wonder if they should do it," Koichi said.

Takuya chuckled. "Wow, since when did this conversation turn philosophical? Jazz will be having a field day if she knew about it."

"I'll bet she would," Koichi chuckled. "Now come on, we don't want to keep our guest waiting."

"Okay. I kinda want to see who it is anyway." Takuya grinned.

The two of them made it to the main entrance of the castle, hoping to see someone they knew there.

Takuya's eyes went wide when he saw a familiar young face walking into the castle.

"Hey… I think that's Tommy!" Takuya exclaimed. "But… How did he get here so fast?"

"He can tell us when we greet him." Koichi said. "C'mon!"

The two boys ran to where Tommy was entering the castle.

"Tommy!" Takuya called out.

Tommy looked up and his eyes lit up when he saw Takuya and Koichi. "Takuya!"

The boys ran up to each other.

"It's been a while since I saw you guys!" Tommy smiled.

"Yeah it has!" Takuya agreed with a smile as well. "What have you been up to? It's been quite different without you around here."

"Well, it's a good thing you showed when you did, Tommy." Koichi smiled.

"Yeah?" Tommy asked.

"I just called for Koji, JP, and Zoe to come over so we can start training Takuya. You being here means we can also train you as well, and Takuya will have a training buddy," Koichi chuckled.

"Really?" Tommy blinked, surprised. "So you're here to train with your Spirit too, Takuya? I thought you'd have done that already."

"I… I have my Beast Spirit to train with. It's one thing to have it, but it's quite another to be able to control it, and… well… my control with it… kinda sucks right now…" Takuya admitted sheepishly. "I can't use it that well if I can't control it."

Tommy frowned, but gave a nod. He remembered they mentioned Beast Spirits before, but he hadn't seen one in action yet, or what makes it so different from the apparently Human Spirit they had. He could deduce the Beast Spirits were more beast-like, that much was obvious, but he wanted to know more.

"We're going to teach you both what it means to be a Legendary Warrior before we dive into Beast Spirit control," Koichi spoke up.

"That'll be helpful, I came here to learn more about the whole Legendary Warrior thing," Tommy said. Maybe it'll help me be able to use Kumamon more efficiently.

Takuya sighed, but nodded. "I guess that will help too. And it may help me in the future." At least I hope it does.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: Thanks! Andy can be quite the strategist indeed! XD

DarkFoxKit: Or he's just plain crazy and desperate.

pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: What about Andy's crazy stunts? All the things he was willing to do just for a chance to save his brother and cousin? Though it is nice to see someone acknowledging Danny and Patamon reconciling with each other. We did build it up quite a bit after all.

ZAFT: Takuya will indeed train for his Spirit, but it won't be so easy. XD

DarkFoxKit: Huh? Well, I'm not really thinking too much about Devimon right now. And second, I think your statement about Danielle was incomplete, because you didn't mention what kind of Digi-Egg she would have or anything. And why she would have it. And this isn't 02, nor are ghosts like Dark Spires, they don't prevent digivolution in that way. It's just harder for Digimon to digivolve with all that ectoplasm hindering their data, unless their data is able to adapt, fuse, and cope with the ectoplasm.

ZAFT: It also causes a Digimon pain if they try to evolve, but it can be worked through, just not so easily.