DarkFoxKit: Here it is, a new chapter. Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving. Fill yourselves up with food, and spend time with family.
ZAFT: And don't forget to enjoy your time off from work either~
DarkFoxKit: And please, most of all… enjoy the story~ Andy and Takuya aren't here today, they're with their family, so we'll keep this short and simple.
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows six forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton, 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 Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)
Let our stories come together
(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, a shadowed form with blue eyes behind the ghost boy)
Growing stronger
(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)
Our pasts intertwine
(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)
Showing our future
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)
As we evolve
(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost)
Let's go… EVOLUTION
(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost)
As our worlds collide
(Jazz is shown beside Andy, her hand on his shoulder as Andy looked shell-shocked by something)
We stand as one
(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)
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; Andy, Tucke, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz.)
CHOU… SHINKA!
(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)
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, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, 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 11: To Help a Ghost
Poindexter, still in Andy's body, was participating in a football practice with the jocks. Andy, who was watching from in his mind, was very surprised that it had come to this. Coach Teslaff usually wouldn't allow students to just bring someone who wasn't on the team for practice, but she wasn't watching them right now. Likely, she was called away by the school staff like every other adult after the 'ghost attack' earlier.
Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Takuya were standing on the side, watching to see how this would unfold. Danny wasn't very comfortable having his brother out on the football field with all those big muscled jocks, especially with how small and thin Andy was compared to them. But he had Poindexter inside him, who was capable of using his ghost powers through Andy, so… maybe Andy is more like Danny is right now, and might stand a chance in football.
"I don't like this…" Takuya muttered, feeling like this was a bad idea.
"Hey, calm down, cuz." Danny said to Takuya. "Andy has a ghostly advantage, so he may be okay. I doubt Poindexter would let Andy get seriously hurt."
"Yeah, just sit back and watch the fun." Tucker said with a smile.
"This should be good," Sam chuckled.
All the teams were currently huddling to explain their game plan. Poindexter was with Dash's team. Although Kwan had invited Poindexter to join them in practice, Dash was still hoping to humiliate Andy in some way. A few free sodas wasn't going to just buy Dash's forgiveness for that dragon prank after all.
"Okay, Fenton #2," Dash stated. "After the snap, I'll hand the ball off to you. See if you can reach the touchdown path."
Poindexter gave a salute to Dash, giving a bit of a goofy laugh before he got into position. Poindexter himself didn't know too much about football, but Andy showed him the rules through his memories so Poindexter wouldn't make a complete idiot of himself and Andy.
"Leave him wide open for punishment." Dash grinned at his other teammates, wanting to see this.
Everyone else got into position as well.
Takuya frowned. "Things… may not go so well for Poindexter and Andy."
Danny chuckled. "You never know, Takuya."
As Dash was handed the football, he gave a wink to Kwan and Calvin, who grinned and moved back, away from Poindexter/Andy. Dash then handed Poindexter the ball and backed away, just as the other team ran at him.
Takuya grimaced. "This will hurt both Andy and Poindexter…"
"Well, it was nice knowing him," Sam said, also starting to feel worried about what was about to happen.
"Think I could have his new computer?" Tucker asked.
"Guys, relax, ghosts are more durable than you think," Danny chuckled.
The other team all gathered around and tried to tackle the one boy with the football together, and they ended up piling onto each other, making it near impossible to move. Poindexter, however, wasn't going to let Andy's body get hurt from this, especially since he wasn't wearing any protective padding, so he turned his body intangible just before the pile on, and easily moved out. Poindexter made sure to return to being solid before anyone noticed his intantibility act.
"Not the best move on their part, now their entire team is stuck. Were they trying to kill me?" Andy questioned as Poindexter easily made his way to the touchdown area.
Well, it's a good thing I have ghost powers then! Poindexter said with a mental grin. I wasn't going to let you get hurt, not after all you are doing for me.
"Well thanks for that. At least we showed the other jocks we've got game," Andy chuckled. "I just hope they don't expect me to actually participate in football after this."
Poindexter smiled as he threw down the football at the touchdown place and began to dance around. I've gotta say, this has been really fun!
"See? I told you guys," Danny chuckled, wishing he had a camera to snap a picture of 'Andy' dancing like a goofball.
Takuya blinked. "Huh… Wow… I guess Poindexter isn't that bad a ghost after all… He actually kept Andy safe that time."
Sam rolled her eyes. "And you're the one who was worrying too much."
"Can you blame me? I mean no offense to you Danny, or Andy, but neither of you two are sports people…" Takuya grumbled.
Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm going to congratulate Poindexter."
Danny ran over to Poindexter, wanting to give him a job well done, for not just scoring a touchdown, but for keeping Andy safe as well.
The other kids who had been watching were pretty shocked at how well 'Andy' just did, avoiding that entire pile on and scoring like it was no big deal.
Jack and Maddie came running over to Tucker, Sam, and Takuya, still looking around.
"There's a ghost here, I can feel it in my boots!" Jack announced while Maddie was looking at the Fenton Finder.
Maddie pointed the Fenton Finder around, and it locked onto Andy for some reason, at least briefly before the signal was lost. "Hmmm… there was a signal here, but it's faded from the Fenton Finder. It looks like we'll be staking out the school for quite a while."
Takuya blinked, looking at the Fenton Finder. "The Fenton Finder is quiet this time."
"After we tweaked it to ignore the small ecto signature Danny was giving off due to his portal accident, we also decided to silence the voice. We didn't appreciate it giving us a snarky response, nor did we need it, we just needed it to track down ghosts," Maddie explained.
Wow… I didn't think they would take Andy's words into account. That's a good thing then, since Danny won't be picked up as a ghost anymore. Takuya realized.
"You two are seriously going to stay at this school all day?" Sam asked. "Won't Jazz be mortified by this?"
"Jazz hasn't quite come to terms with what we do, but it's important, especially if there really is a ghost here, endangering you kids," Jack stated. "At least we know our boys are safe."
Maddie smiled when she saw Danny talking with Andy, and both of them looked pretty happy. "Aww, they're bonding over sports. I'm glad to see Danny's not ignoring Andy anymore, I was getting worried they would continue to start growing apart because of the accident."
Takuya frowned a little. Oh boy… Aunt Maddie and Uncle Jack being here at the school all day is definitely not going to look good for my cousins… or me…
"Well, we better get back on the hunt for that ghost," Jack said. "You kids stay safe!"
Maddie and Jack soon left the field, leaving the kids alone.
"Wow… That was close…" Takuya sighed.
"At least Poindexter escaped being found." Sam pointed out.
"And they actually tweaked the Fenton Finder to ignore Danny, which is a big plus." Tucker smiled.
"PARTY AT FENTON'S HOUSE!" Dash called out to everyone.
"Uh, why party at our house?" Danny asked.
"It's the way of the popularity," Kwan chuckled.
"Hot dog!" Poindexter smiled. "Where do we live?"
"It's your house," Kwan said before laughing. "Are they hilarious or what?"
"Free soda, a touchdown, and the opportunity to trash a classmate's living room. How easily the leather jacket and pom-pom set is swayed," Sam couldn't help but grumble.
"That's true, before we couldn't even figure out how to get on any of the popular kids' good side unless they approached us," Tucker remarked. "Who knew a little bit of kindness could sway them, huh?"
"Yeah. I guess we're all learning a little bit today." Takuya said with a small smile.
Sam looked down at her 'save the frog' pin that she had been wearing for a while. She hadn't given up on her campaign, she just hadn't had the best opportunity to bring it up again after the crossdress incident. "Although, now that I think about it… maybe the residual popularity effect could work to our advantage."
"What are you planning?" Takuya asked.
Sam grinned. "Just watch~"
Sam took off her pin and ran over onto the football field. "Oh Kwan! You simply must wear one of these Save the Frogs badges, it's all the rage!"
Kwan looked at the badge hesitantly. "I don't know…"
Poindexter saw the badge and thought it was cool. "Hey! Boss badge!" He said as he took it and pinned it on his shirt. "What do you think? How does it look on me?"
"Nice, it's a nice contrast to your black shirt," Sam complimented.
"Hey, yeah it is," Danny realized.
The other popular kids quickly gathered around, seeing how cool 'Andy' had been today, he may not be wrong about this badge either. Even Dash was starting to think the same, 'Andy' had been quite friendly today, and he just proved he got game. Not to mention that prank he did twice before, that really got him good, not that he would admit it to anyone. 'Andy' was showing such confidence in what he liked, it made the others think that it was totally cool.
"Hey, I want one too! It'll go well with my own black shirt!" Dash said.
"Me too!" Paulina said as she took one. "It will go great with my old army lime green baby T!"
"I want one too!" Kwan said to Sam, finding that 'Andy' made something so mundane look cool.
Sam grinned, seeing how well this worked out for her. "Hang on, folks, I have plenty more in my locker! Andy, Danny, would you two be so kind as to help me get them?"
"Sure thing!" Poindexter smiled.
Danny smiled as well. "Of course we'll help."
The popular kids were pretty excited as Sam, Danny, Andy, Tucker, and Takuya began running back into the school heading towards the lockers.
"Wow, I can't believe how well that all worked out," Takuya admitted.
"You see? My brother's plan is working even better than we thought!" Danny smiled.
"This has been the best day of my life! … Well, afterlife!" Poindexter giddily said.
Tucker smiled as well. "I can't believe Andy's plan worked! This must be our day!" He said with a big grin.
"And it's working out for me too~" Sam said with a smile of her own. "Who knew using Andy's plan to get my campaign underway would work out so well?"
"I just wanna thank you guys for letting me experience this. You guys have been my first and only friends since the day I was born, not including my parents," Poindexter spoke up, smiling. "I'm… really happy that I got to have fun today."
"Think nothing of it." Danny said with a smile. "We were happy to help you."
Takuya gave Poindexter a small punch on the shoulder playfully. "You're not that bad, for a nerdy ghost." He said with a smile of his own. "And thanks for keeping Andy safe from that pile up."
"And it was nice to get to know you too." Tucker smiled. "Maybe if you're still around later, I can show you how this world's technology has advanced."
"Sure, that sounds like a righteous idea!" Poindexter grinned.
As they were about to pass locker 724, it suddenly glowed green brightly, and swung itself open. The group stopped in shock from this, and a misty green hand came out from the mirror. Before anyone could react, the hand shoved itself into Andy's chest. Poindexter and Andy both let out a yell as the hand seemed to be trying to pull something out.
"NO!" Danny yelled as he saw this. He ran to try to help Andy and Poindexter, but the hand just kept moving around in Andy's chest, trying to remove what it was seeking. Danny punched at the misty hand, but his hands didn't do much, given how he wasn't using his ghost powers due to Takuya being in the area.
Sam ran to the locker, trying to shove it closed, but some force was keeping it open. "Darn it! Takuya! Help me with this locker! Tucker, help Danny!"
Tucker was already in motion to help Danny with Andy and the hand. "On it!" He said.
Takuya ran to help Sam with the locker door, pushing on it as hard as he could. "Damn it! Of all the things to go wrong…"
No matter what the 4 did, it wasn't stopping the ghostly force from completing what it set out to do. Finally, the misty hand found what it wanted, and began to drag Poindexter's ghost out of Andy's body. Poindexter was screaming as he tried to reach out to Andy as the hand was pulling him towards the mirror. Andy grabbed onto Poindexter's hand, trying to keep him from getting dragged back to his hell.
But the hand was too strong, and was still dragging Poindexter back. Sam, Tucker, and Takuya were trying to close the locker, but to no avail. Danny grabbed onto Andy's waist in hopes of helping him pull Poindexter away from the mirror.
"D-don't let it take me back!" Poindexter cried.
"We've got you!" Andy said back, him and Danny pulling back as much as they could, though Danny was making it a little hard for Andy to breathe with how much of a death grip he had on his waist.
"We need to destroy that mirror!" Danny exclaimed. "It's what's drawing Poindexter back in!"
"Takuya! Could you reach in and destroy that mirror!?" Andy desperately called out.
Takuya didn't hesitate to reach in his hand, clenched into a fist. I hope this works! He then swung his fist at the mirror as hard as he could.
Unfortunately for Takuya, he ended up hitting a ghostly barrier, which really hurt his fist, and it sent out a shockwave to push him, Tucker, and Sam away.
"No!" Danny exclaimed as he saw Sam, Tucker, and Takuya thrown away from the locker. Of all times… We can't do anything!
By now, Poindexter's feet and legs were being pulled through the mirror. "NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK!"
"We still have you! I won't let go!" Andy promised, still having a tight grip on Poindexter's hands.
No matter how hard Andy and Danny pulled against the ghostly force, Poindexter was still being pulled through the mirror, soon his waist was pulled through, then his chest. Poindexter gave a desperate look at Andy as his head was being pulled in. Andy and Danny refused to let go.
Once Poindexter was fully pulled in, surprisingly Andy was going through the mirror as well despite being human. Soon, Andy was pulled through, and so was Danny. All 3 of them had been pulled through the mirror.
Takuya saw this as he looked up. "Oh no… no, no, no!" He exclaimed loudly as he got to his feet and ran to the locker. "NO!" He shouted as he reached the door, which slammed itself shut. "ANDY! DANNY! POINDEXTER!"
"Takuya! Takuya! Calm down!" Tucker yelled.
"We'll get them out! Just calm down!" Sam shouted.
Takuya knew Sam and Tucker were right, but this was his family. He had to get them back. But he couldn't do that if he was in a rage and filled with worry. Taking a deep breath, Takuya let it out and calmed himself down. "Okay… Okay… Sorry, guys…" He said softly.
"Let's see if there's a way we can contact them through the mirror," Sam said. "Mirrors are said to be a portal to another world, so that's probably what happened to them."
"That's all good and well, but… What are we going to do about them?" Tucker asked, pointing at the Fentons, who were down the hallway.
Takuya looked back and paled. "Shit… Talk about the worst timing…"
Sam frowned when she saw the Fenton parents down the hall as well. "Well… that's going to ruin our plans."
"Kids! Did you see anything? There was a high spike in ecto energy here just a minute ago!" Maddie exclaimed.
"We saw nothing!" Tucker nervously said.
Poindexter fell through his locker, opening his eyes to see he was back in his gray world. One of the jocks looked at him and grinned maliciously.
"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to return here, Poindexter~"
Poindexter looked at the jock nervously. "Ah… H-hello…" He whimpered. Why did I have to return here?! I was having such a good time outside of this place!
"You're just in time for your 4 o'clock beating!" The jock grinned before two other boys suddenly fell through the locker and crashed into the jock.
"OOF!"
"OUCH!"
One of them was the familiar halfa, Danny Phantom, who was currently in a daze. The other was a little less familiar. This boy looked similar to Danny Phantom, with the same white hair and hair style, and body physique, but he was also different. He had purple eyes instead of green. His shirt was white, the triangle on his chest was red, and his pants were dark blue. His shoes were the same blue and white, but the colors were reversed.
"Hey! Who is this dweeb?" The jock asked as he pointed at Andy. "I've never seen this one before!"
"D-Danny? Andy…?" Poindexter blinked, confused.
Danny blinked before he pushed himself up on his feet. "Poindexter! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine…" Poindexter said, looking shocked at seeing the twins in his personal hell with him.
Danny looked around. "Where… are we? It's like we're in Grandpa Fenton's yearbook."
"This… is my lair, it took me back," Poindexter explained. "Um… is your brother okay?"
Andy started pushing himself up to his feet, taken back by the strange grayscale version of their school.
Danny looked over at Andy and was shocked. "What the? Hey! Who are you?"
Andy turned to Danny, looking surprised. "Huh?"
"W-where's my brother?" Danny asked, looking around in concern and worry now.
Andy was staring at Danny for a moment, looking surprised and confused. "You… have a brother, Phantom? And what are you doing here? Where's Danny?"
Phantom looked at Andy. "Of course I have… wait…" Phantom trailed off, looking himself over. For a moment, his face looked a bit pale when he got a good look at how he looked. S-shit! Wh-wha… How did this happen?!
"Hey! Who is the second dweeb?" The jock asked again, but to Poindexter this time. "You'd better know, nerd!"
"I… I don't…" Poindexter began.
"Hey! You don't have the right to be so mean to him!" Phantom snapped at the jock.
"Get away from me, you halfa freak!" The jock yelled before running away.
"Poindexter? Is this your lair?" Andy asked, not knowing how he looked right now to everyone else.
"Y-yes, it is," Poindexter admitted. "Um… I guess when you and Danny got pulled in here, it forced out ghostly properties in you."
"What?" Andy blinked. "Me and Danny? Where is Danny?"
"O-oh, uh, I meant you and Phantom!" Poindexter quickly corrected. "Phantom was… um… watching us, and he tried to help pull me out. He must've made Danny let go so he wouldn't get caught up in the pulling."
"Okay…" Andy furrowed his eyebrows. "And what did you mean 'forced out ghostly properties' in us? I don't have any ghostly properties."
Phantom stared at Andy as he spoke. No way… is that… really Andy!?
"Um… well…" Poindexter began, not sure how to explain to Andy his new appearance. "You say you live with ghost hunters, right? Maybe their line of work gave you some ectoplasm over the years, even if it's only a little?"
"Is that… possible?" Andy raised an eyebrow. "Ectoplasm is deadly to humans… although if our bodies grew up around it, maybe it can handle some ectoplasm. It might explain how Danny survived the accident, maybe… that's still quite a stretch though…"
"Oh gosh, it is you, Andy!" Phantom recognized, and horrified at Andy's appearance, he looked like a ghost, like him.
Andy looked at Phantom. "Of course it's me, who else would I be?"
"Um… well… you're… looking different…" Phantom said sheepishly. "Um… it's… hard to explain…"
Poindexter sighed before opening his locker and gesturing at the mirror that brought them here to begin with. Andy frowned as he looked at his reflection and…
"WHAT THE HECK!? WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!?" Andy screamed, pulling down his hair to see it was as white as Phantom's. "Am I a ghost!? Did I die!?"
"N-no! No!" Poindexter quickly spoke up. "You're not dead! You're still very much alive! Your body is just currently using a ghostly form to protect itself in this environment. I'm sure once you get back to your world, you'll go back to normal, easy peasy!"
"J-just calm down, Andy! We'll find a way out of here, I'm sure." Phantom said in a calming voice.
Andy could still feel his heart beating in his chest as he was freaking out, so that proved he was still alive, he just looked ghostly. He took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself. Although Andy wasn't sure if he breathed in any air or not, there was something strange about the air here that he couldn't quite describe.
"Okay… I'm okay…" Andy said, calming down. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to freak out there."
"It's… It's fine. Just… Please remember we're in a ghost's lair right now, okay?" Phantom said. "It's bound to do some funky stuff to humans who may come in here."
"I've never been in a ghost lair before, or the Ghost Zone," Andy replied. "This is all really new to me. How do we get out of here?"
"The front door would just lead you out into an endless abyss," Poindexter warned. "So I wouldn't recommend it."
"What about the mirror?" Andy asked.
"I suppose it might be possible to go through it," Poindexter said. "But even if we did, my lair would still try to pull me back like it did before."
"What if we went through the mirror and then break it?" Phantom suggested.
"Are you really suggesting that can be done?!" Poindexter asked, a bit surprised and astonished at Phantom's suggestion.
"I mean… it's a mirror? It shouldn't be hard to break, right?" Phantom awkwardly replied.
"Let's try it!" Poindexter smiled.
Poindexter opened the locker's door. Phantom, being the strongest of the group, decided to try it out first. He reached in and put his hands on the mirror. To Phantom's delight, his hands were going through the mirror.
"Hey! I think it's working!" Phantom said with a smile of his own. "This may work out, guys!"
"Hold on," Andy spoke up. "You and I may be able to get out, because this isn't our lair, but can Poindexter?"
"Let me see…" Poindexter said as Phantom moved to the side to let Poindexter reach for the mirror.
Unfortunately, Poindexter's hands only met with solid glass from the mirror.
Phantom frowned when he saw this. "Darn… So much for our plan…"
"How did you get out before?" Andy asked.
"The doorway was weakening," Poindexter answered. "I think someone from the outside managed to establish a link to the present day Casper High from here, because my object, my mirror, still existed in that locker. But I guess the seal was renewed once I got brought back here."
There were some students coming out into the hallway. They looked skeptical at Phantom and Andy, but once they turned their attention at Poindexter, their demeanor changed to malicious.
"Aww, is the little nerd so scared to be on his own he has to be next to two halfa freaks?"
"Hey Poindexter, what's black and gray and will hurt all over soon?"
There were more insults and malicious laughter aimed at Poindexter. Poindexter shut his ears and shouted. "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!"
Poindexter ran down the hallway to try to escape his tormentors. The weird thing was when he did, the students disappeared into a black mist and reappeared closer to Poindexter as he ran.
"Poindexter really does live in his own personal hell…" Andy frowned as he watched this.
Phantom furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Huh… Yeah, but… did you see what happened to those 'students'? They just became mist and followed Poindexter."
"That's what I mean. They're not real people, they're… entities this lair created to continue tormenting Poindexter," Andy analyzed. "Meaning you can't just beat them up and call it a day to stop Poindexter's suffering…"
"Then… What can we do?" Phantom asked. "It's not like we can get the lair to stop tormenting Poindexter, can we?"
"We don't know too much about ghost lairs," Andy sighed. "But from what we do know… lairs are supposed to be a ghost's home, right? Like a place for them to see as a paradise. If the lair is… sentient enough to create these entities from Poindexter's subconsciousness, then maybe… It all depends on the ghost themselves. Poindexter died due to all the trauma he got from the bullying, whether it was through suicide or he was killed by being bullied too much. That's why this lair exists, and why it's tormenting him. We had the right idea before, by helping him move on, he would likely have a more peaceful afterlife. But instead of keeping him away from his lair, we need him to conquer his lair, conquer his inner demons."
"That sounds like something…" Phantom trailed off, not sure how to say it sounded like something that was up Jazz's alley without giving away who he was. "Ah… that is definitely going to be a bit of a challenge then…"
"Maybe not," Andy said. "We already gave him the tools to fight back… now we just have to push him in the right direction…"
Andy walked forward for a moment. "Phantom, even though I look like a ghost… I don't actually have any ghost powers… Can you fly me after Poindexter?"
Phantom blinked before he smiled. "Sure!"
Phantom flew over to Andy and grabbed him around his waist. "Just hold on tight. We may move fast."
Andy wasn't quite used to flying with Phantom, but he remembered the few times Phantom had to grab him to move him out of the way of a ghost attack. It was pretty cool to fly, but also pretty scary. Andy held onto Phantom's arms with his own hands, feeling nervous.
Poindexter was curled up in a corner, trying to hide from the bullies.
"H-hey! Poindexter!" Phantom called as he flew over to Poindexter's corner. "Poindexter!"
When Phantom and Andy reached Poindexter, the other kids laughing at Poindexter disappeared into mist.
"At least we seem to be warding them off," Andy noted as Phantom put Andy down.
Poindexter sighed. "S-sorry… I… this has been my afterlife since I died… and it was also my life every day when I had to go to school… I begged my parents to let me be homeschooled, but they wouldn't listen…"
Andy approached Poindexter and smiled gently. "Hey… Sidney, listen… you said you never had any friends at school before, right? Look at what you were able to accomplish when you were back at school again."
Poindexter looked confused. "So? I was just trying to be nice and helpful." He pointed out.
"Yeah, but that seemed to win over the popular kids." Phantom pointed out himself.
"Not only that, you got them to like one of the Fenton kids enough to have them become popular. That's not an easy thing to pull off," Andy chuckled. "I don't know what those kids back in the 50s' problem was with you, but I don't think it was you. A little bit of kindness can go a long way, and… right now, I think the person who needs the most kindness is you from yourself. Nobody has been tormenting you since you passed, the only one who has been tormenting you these past decades has been you."
Poindexter looked down. "It's… always been me? I have only been tormenting myself?"
Phantom nodded. "That's right. I doubt those 'bullies' are even real. They're probably created by the lair to keep you here, in your own personal nightmare."
"We saw it ourselves, when you ran, the people turned into mist," Andy explained. "None of these people are the same ones who bullied you in life, they're only a representation of your own mind. You probably felt like you deserved to be punished in life, and you created this to punish yourself. But you don't need to anymore. You got to live through the real school again, and even got the jocks and cheerleaders in the present time to like you."
Poindexter looked unsure, but he did understand what Andy was saying. "So… you're saying… I can change my lair so I don't suffer anymore?"
"Well, while I am human, and Phantom is a new ghost, both of us can't say we know too much about how ghost lairs work," Andy sheepishly admitted. "But if we're going on the logic of lairs working with what their ghosts want and subconsciously desire, then yes, you can. Everything that happens here is because of your own desire to punish yourself. But you can change that, this is your lair after all. You just need to have a reason to fight back, to want to live a better afterlife."
Poindexter looked down in thought. He really did want a better afterlife, but he had been bullied so hard it still hurt him even in his afterlife. Or did it? "I… I really don't want to be stuck in this nightmare of an afterlife, but I don't know if it can be changed so easily. I… I just can't stand it! I want to be free of this suffering!" Poindexter exclaimed at last.
"Then do it," Phantom said. "Be free from this suffering. You have friends now, friends who care about you and have been helping you when Andy explained everything to them."
"And we even got pulled into the lair with you just to help you when we could've let you go," Andy added.
"Ehehe… yeah… If that doesn't say we care about you, then what does?" Phantom said with a sheepish chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Poindexter felt himself feeling touched by their kindness. "You guys…"
The mist around Poindexter turned white, and the mist created a representation of Tucker, Sam, and Takuya. All three of them smiled at Poindexter.
"Hey man, want to see the latest technology?" 'Tucker' asked.
"I can show you a safer way to dissect frogs," 'Sam' offered.
"And don't worry about the bullies. If they bother you, then they have to go through me." 'Takuya' said with a smile.
Poindexter was surprised at the mist changing like that. "W-wha…?"
Phantom grinned. "Well… I think this is a better representation, don't you?"
"And maybe it won't happen right away, but if you continue to keep up a healthy mindset with your new friends, you'll be able to turn this hellish place into a paradise," Andy said. At least I hope that's the case, not that I'll say my doubts out loud.
"I… I will! I can't and won't forget my new friends! They helped me enjoy my afterlife on the outside!" Poindexter said, feeling like there was hope for him now.
Then two more white mists flowed over to Poindexter, creating a Danny and an Andy. Both of them smiled at Poindexter.
Andy and Phantom felt awkward at seeing copies of themselves there, even if they didn't currently look like them. But it was nice to see Poindexter saw them as friends.
"I'll never forget the opportunity and kindness you showed me." Poindexter smiled. "I think I'll be okay now."
"Are you sure you'll be fine staying here?" Phantom asked.
"Yeah… As long as you guys don't forget me, I won't forget you, or your kindness." Poindexter said with a small smile.
"I hope you have a much happier afterlife then, Sidney." Andy smiled. "We better get back to the mirror, Phantom."
Phantom nodded. "Yeah, we should. I have no doubt the others will be worried sick about you." And me as well…
Andy and Phantom waved to Poindexter before Phantom picked up Andy and flew him back to the locker.
"You know, Phantom, I can't help but notice something about my appearance here," Andy remarked.
"What is it?" Phantom asked.
"Why do I look so much like you?" Andy asked.
Phantom hesitated. "Ah… I don't really know. It could be just because of how this lair works." Oh wow… way to go, Andy. You really put me on the spot there…
"It's just funny because I never really noticed how much our hair and body physique looks so much alike until my hair changed color," Andy remarked. "You could almost be my twin, like Danny."
Phantom tried not to sweat. Andy had no idea how close to home he was. "Y-yeah, heh, funny how that works, huh?" Please don't connect the dots!
Thankfully, Andy didn't bring up 'Halfa' and tried to think about what it meant, because Phantom was sure if Andy did, he would've made the connection pretty quickly.
"There's the locker," Andy pointed out.
Phantom slowed to a hover before setting Andy down on the floor. "Okay, let's see if we can get out of here."
Phantom floated to the open locker and put his hands on the mirror. He found he could easily get through it still and looked to Andy. "Make sure you hold onto me when I push through the mirror."
"Okay," Andy replied. I wonder if I look like Phantom because I got pulled through the mirror with him. Maybe some of his ghostly traits got onto me to keep me safe. That seems like the logical explanation.
Andy held onto Phantom's gloved hand, which was still pretty cold, but not as unbearably cold as before. Phantom pulled himself and Andy through the mirror, going back into their world.
The two were pulled into the mirror, leaving the grayscale lair behind.
Mr. Lancer happened to be walking by the locker with the box of frogs he got back from Sam. Phantom and Andy ended up falling on top of Mr. Lancer. Mr. Lancer couldn't see the boys on his back, though he felt really cold from Phantom's touch. This caused the teacher to drop the box of frogs, causing the frogs to run amok through the school. Andy quickly got up and pulled Phantom off of Mr. Lancer. Luckily, Mr. Lancer was too distracted with the escaped frogs to scold whoever landed on him and ran after the amphibians.
"Wow… Talk about lucky." Phantom muttered as he watched Mr. Lancer chasing after the frogs. "That would've been a story to tell, a dead kid and a living kid falling out of an old locker."
"Yeah… speaking of which, you better go before someone sees you," Andy said. "Especially Mom and Dad."
Phantom nodded. "Right. You… take care of yourself, Andy." He said before turning intangible and flying off through the walls.
"Andy! You're okay!"
Andy was suddenly bombarded by hugs from a goth girl, a techno geek, and a soccer player.
"Whoa guys! I can't hug all of you at once!" Andy yelped as he fell to the floor with the others.
"Sorry…" Takuya said as he released Andy first. "You just had me so worried with seeing you and Danny getting sucked into that mirror."
"Dude! That was so freaky, seeing you two get pulled in there." Tucker exclaimed as he got off of Andy next.
"I didn't think you would get out so easily, or in one piece." Sam admitted as she released Andy last.
"Wait… Where's Danny?!" Takuya asked in worry, seeing they had only hugged Andy. "Is he still in that mirror?!"
"I-I'm here!" Danny called, coming out of the bathroom. "Sorry, I… uh… really had to go."
"H-huh?" Takuya blinked, not sure how Danny had avoided their big group hug. "H-how did you…?"
"Apparently Phantom took Danny away somewhere before he grabbed onto me just before we were pulled into the mirror," Andy said.
This confused Takuya even more because he knew he saw Danny getting pulled in with Andy, there couldn't have been a time Phantom got Danny away and got pulled in instead.
"Wait… do I look normal now?" Andy asked, looking at his hair for some reason, seeing it was black again. "Oh good, I do. Then again, I guess you guys would've freaked out if I didn't."
"Uh… what exactly happened in that mirror?" Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow.
Andy took a deep breath and began telling the others what happened after Poindexter, Andy, and apparently Phantom, got dragged into the mirror.
After Andy's story was finished, Takuya whistled. "Wow, I didn't think you would become inverted in color like that." He noted.
"Aw man! Going into a ghost's lair like that?! You are crazy!" Tucker exclaimed. Then he corrected himself. "Err… in a good way of course! Not crazy like your parents or anything!"
"It's not like I wanted to go into a ghost's lair. But I couldn't just let Sidney go like that, he was begging for help," Andy said.
"You're calling him by his first name now?" Sam blinked, surprised.
"Yeah… he's a friend now, I didn't just want to keep calling him Poindexter," Andy replied.
"Only you would befriend a couple of ghost teenagers, Andy." Takuya chuckled.
Andy rolled his eyes. "You can thank Phantom for that, he was the one who wanted to talk to me. I probably wouldn't have ever seeked him out if he didn't."
Danny was trying hard not to blush, though he could see Tucker and Sam giving him teasing smirks.
"Yeah, Phantom is quite the friendly ghost, isn't he?" Tucker said in a teasing tone to Danny. "Almost like Casper, the Friendly Ghost~"
"Only a lot cooler~" Sam added, which turned Danny's face into a tomato.
"Are you okay, Danny? You're not coming down with a fever, are you?" Takuya asked in concern.
"H-huh? No! No, I'm not! I'm just fine!" Danny exclaimed, trying to make his blush vanish. Aw, c'mon! Why do Sam and Tucker have to tease me about it right now?!
"Although I will say Phantom does tend to show up at the weirdest of times," Andy noted. "Times I didn't think was possible for him to show up, or that quickly. Or sometimes Danny would suddenly be where Phantom was. It's kind of weird, almost like you two are in some kind of magic disappearing act."
Danny looked very nervous. "Ah… Nope, just plain coincidence!" He said, trying to pass it off as nothing more than that. Please don't tell me Andy figured it out!
"Y-yeah, Phantom's just really good at being at places with ghosts," Tucker added, also sounding nervous.
"Danny just tends to get reckless like you do, Andy," Sam said. "That's why he would suddenly be there."
Andy raised an eyebrow, feeling like they were hiding something from him, but he wasn't sure why. He just thought it was funny how Phantom and Danny seem to disappear and reappear all over the place.
"Well, with that whole thing solved with Poindexter, what do you plan to do now?" Takuya asked.
"I might have to demote our popularity after Sam's Save the Frogs campaign goes through," Andy said, grinning mischievously.
"Why?" Tucker asked.
"Considering how often we have to confront or help ghosts, it would be easier if we weren't that high on the popularity scale. Could you imagine how hard it would've been for us to help Sidney if we had all those eyes watching us?" Andy pointed out. "And I really don't want those kids at our house."
The rest of the group grimaced.
"Yeah… That's probably a good idea, demoting ourselves from popularity." Danny admitted.
"And I sure don't want to deal with it either." Sam grumbled, having her own reasons why.
Takuya gripped his device to transform into Agunimon, which was in his pocket. "Y-yeah… it will make things harder if we remain on the popularity chain…"
Tucker grumbled. "I guess… Although maybe not all of us think it is a bad thing…"
"Come on, Tuck, you get to use the fog machine again~" Andy smiled.
"... I guess that is pretty cool to use," Tucker had to admit.
Andy looked back at his locker and smiled at the mirror, he was going to take care of it. Maybe one day Sidney could come out and they could meet again.
"I'm going to see if I can get this locker fixed up, I'll probably be keeping it for the rest of the school year," Andy chuckled.
"You just want to check up on Sidney too, don't you?" Takuya asked with a grin.
"Well can you blame me?" Andy sheepishly chuckled.
"I think it's a good idea too, bro, at least your locker is still pretty close to mine," Danny chuckled as well.
"But…" Sam grinned. "Once my campaign goes through… what's this next prank you had in mind?"
Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: Yes, it was cute to have Phantom wag his tail like a puppy.
Pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: Glad you liked the changes to the episode. :3 As for the combining ghosts and Digimon, it isn't easy, but it can be done. Humans being overshadowed by Digimon is interesting/becoming Digimon human hybrids , but not in our plans for the story sadly… ^^'
DarkFoxKit: We're trying to keep within the realm of possibility, while adding our own twists into the lore. Digimon wouldn't be able to just overshadow people, unless they were a ghost themselves. But yes, combing the two franchises definitely isn't easy, it's always difficult to think of how the Digimon would work with Danny Phantom without overshadowing (hah!) one or the other.
Son Sandy: ZAFT: Glad you like it that much, and no, DarkFoxKit and I are not offended. XD
DarkFoxKit: But please explain why this Digital Phantom is better than the last one. It'd be helpful if we knew what about the last one that made it not as good to you.
CT7567Rules: DarkFoxKit: We try to keep things different from the old story, because then it'd just be copy and paste. As for Digimon partners… well, who knows? Just keep reading.
ZAFT: You will know what happens if you read each chapter~ :3