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.

14. Exploring a Castle

DarkFoxKit: Apologies for updating this a day late. We kinda forgot about doing the ANs yesterday. I've been playing Violet and watching Danganronpa. I wanted to catch up to a friend of mine who likely already beat the game, so we could do high level Tera Raids together.

ZAFT: I'm still trying to get far myself, so you're not the only one who forgot. ^^' But I don't think the readers want to wait anymore, so let's just get on to the chapter.

DarkFoxKit: Okay. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, because that's finally when we start getting into Vlad~

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(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 14: Exploring a Castle

Andy had been thinking about it since it happened a week ago. When Tucker was going through ghost puberty due to Desiree's magic. When he, Agunimon, and Danny fought with Desiree, he saw Danny getting smashed into the park's bench, breaking it. Even if the bench was old and easy to break, the impact still should've left broken bones on Danny, or at the very least, crippled him a little bit. But Danny was able to stand up and move around like it was nothing. Danny looked like he had been hiding something when he tried to explain that phenomena.

Andy was walking to the park, still thinking to himself. Even if he went with the excuse that the ectoplasm in Danny's system may have given him better endurance, it was still odd that he wouldn't be injured at all from being smashed into the benches like that. There would have to be a lot more than just a little bit of ectoplasm in Danny's system for that to be feasible. Andy was starting to worry if the ectoplasm was starting to spread in Danny's bloodstream. If Danny was starting to become a ghost, like Tucker was, but much slower. The implication scared Andy the most, however, because if that was true, then that means Danny was slowly dying.

But then came Phantom, who was almost just as puzzling to him as Danny was. While Andy hadn't noticed it before, after the incident with Sidney, seeing his own reflection when he looked ghostly, he couldn't deny it. He looked just like Phantom. And now that he thought about it, Phantom really looked similar to him and Danny. Then Tucker called Phantom 'Danny Phantom'. It was bothering Andy, he wasn't sure if he could just chalk it up to coincidence. It was too perfect to just be a coincidence.

But Andy wasn't sure how he was going to bring it up to Phantom himself. If Phantom hadn't told him before, he likely wouldn't now. If anything, Phantom would just laugh it off and say it was a coincidence, after all, 'Danny' was kind of a common name. However, Andy wasn't sure if that was the case.

Phantom frowned as he watched Andy walking in the park, not even paying attention. Andy appeared to be deep in thought about something, and Phantom knew that was a bad thing. Andy normally only got this way when something was troubling him.

Finally, Phantom decided to speak. "Hey… Andy? What're you thinking about?"

Andy looked back at Phantom, blinking. "Huh…? Oh, I'm already at the park?"

"Wow, you really are out of it if you didn't notice that," Phantom said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Are you okay? I know you just recovered from your cold not that long ago, but I didn't think you'd be in a daze. You almost seem like a zombie."

"I… guess I was just thinking about…" Andy hesitated.

"About what?" Phantom curiously asked.

"... Is your name actually 'Danny'?" Andy asked suddenly.

Phantom looked down, his face turning green with a slight blush. "Yeah… from when I was… alive…" He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck now. "But I prefer Phantom because you already have a brother named Danny and, well… if you called me by his name, wouldn't that be confusing?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Andy agreed, but he was still suspicious. "And speaking of my brother, he's been on my mind too."

"O-oh?" Phantom asked, feeling nervous. "Maybe you should talk to him then since it might be… uh, personal between you two?"

"If I did, he wouldn't tell me anything…" Andy sighed. "I would talk to Jazz, but she wouldn't believe me. Takuya would only freak out. Mom and Dad… I'd rather not… Tucker and Sam would be like Danny and clam up. You're probably the best person to talk to about this actually…"

"Oh… So… uh… what is on your mind?" Phantom asked as his legs formed into a tail and wiggled around slightly.

Andy looked curiously at Phantom's tail, but shook his head, not wanting to get distracted now. "When we fought with Desiree, she smashed Danny into the park's bench with enough force to shatter it. But Danny got up like it was no big deal. No matter how you look at it, it just isn't natural. Danny is a human, like I am. Sure he might have some ectoplasm in his system, but it shouldn't be enough to show any ghostly traits, or give any ghostly endurance. I just couldn't figure it out for the life of me… until I started thinking… what if… what if the ectoplasm in his system is spreading? Slowly making him more like a ghost, like Tucker?"

Phantom looked decidedly uncomfortable with the way things had taken a dark turn. "Um… I… can't exactly say, but… I don't think he is. I mean… Aw geez… I suck at this kind of stuff…" Phantom groaned. "Look, Andy… if Danny was turning more ghost-like, it would be more noticeable. He… he hasn't shown any other ghostly traits other than the… endurance and his… uh… mist thing, right?"

"I… guess… unless he's hiding more from me…" Andy frowned.

Phantom tried not to wince at how close to the truth Andy was.

Oh crap… What can I say that will both comfort Andy and direct him away from the truth? Phantom wondered to himself.

"I'm also… wondering about a possible crazy idea, but it's kind of too ridiculous to be true, and maybe too much of an 'anime plot' to be real," Andy admitted, chuckling.

"Huh? And what would that be?" Phantom asked, hoping maybe it could be something he could latch onto to throw Andy off.

"That you and Danny are linked somehow," Andy answered.

Abort that plan! ABORT! Phantom mentally screamed.

"Uh… no offense, Andy, but… that is a bit too anime-like in plot." Phantom said with mental sweat running down his head. "Me and Danny linked… Hah! Danny doesn't like being around me, and I try to stay away from humans in general, save for you, your cousin, and… a select few I knew from when I was… alive…"

Andy sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that, I hope I didn't offend you…"

"It's fine, but… I am curious," Phantom said, relieved to see Andy was letting that subject go. "What made you think Danny and I were linked?"

"I just… noticed how much you two looked alike, something I didn't notice until I saw my hair being as white as yours at Sidney's lair. And how you and he share the same first name. And the fact Danny got some ectoplasm in his system, I couldn't help but wonder if you were a ghost formed around his body when the portal shocked him. But I realize that's silly since you confirmed you were a being who was alive before, so… uh, yeah, forget I said that, that was pretty stupid…"

"Heh… well, it's obvious you worry about your brother, so I can't blame you for thinking such crazy thoughts." Phantom admitted.

"Yeah, maybe I'm just overthinking it, and nothing's going on with Danny," Andy said, feeling a little better after talking to someone else about this. "I guess I should be happy Danny didn't get hurt in that battle, even if it wasn't normal."

Phantom chuckled, though he was relieved Andy decided to just accept Danny was Danny, and not Phantom, Phantom was also glad he could help cheer Andy up a bit. It was also nice to know his brother worried for him, it really showed Phantom how much Andy cared.

"Oh…" Phantom began, deciding to start step 2 of his long term plan of carefully revealing his identity to Andy. "So what if Danny and I were linked? How would you have felt then?"

Phantom waited a little anxiously for Andy's answer. Andy took a moment to think about it, before he smiled.

"Well, I'll admit, it would be pretty weird, and maybe difficult to adjust at first," Andy admitted. "But I think I wouldn't mind that."

"R-really?" Phantom asked.

"You are kind of similar to my brother. Both of you are knuckleheads and stubborn, but you both have good hearts, and you mean well. You want to help people when you can, and you like pranks like we do, and don't go too far with them like Tucker was when he had ghost powers," Andy explained. "You could be our triplet. So yeah, I think it'd be nice if you were linked with Danny."

Phantom blushed green so much he looked like a Christmas light. "I… didn't know you thought so highly of me…" He squeaked out. Aw man, bro! You're making me want to melt… And I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing! … Okay, it's most likely a good thing, but still!

Andy noticed Phantom's face was bright green. "Are you okay? I can't tell if you're sick or… something else with how green your face is. Okay, I know I was being cheesy there, but it was just how I felt."

"And that's good! Just… Can you not sound so cheesy next time? If I blush any harder, I swear I will turn into a Christmas light!" Phantom admitted.

Andy started laughing. "So you're blushing? Oh gosh, I never knew ghosts could blush! I guess you just showed me they can! Very brightly too!"

Now Phantom was sure he was a Christmas light. "You really want me to become a Christmas tree at this rate, don't you?"

Andy only laughed harder.

After a minute or two, Andy finally calmed down, his stomach feeling sore from all the laughing. Phantom was just pouting now.

"Oh… sorry, I had been so wrapped up with worry and stress that laughing really felt good," Andy admitted. "You know, I'm really glad you're my friend, Phantom. Whenever I'm worried about something, you help me work through my thoughts."

"O-oh… I… Thank you?" Phantom squeaked out. "I just… I can't sit back when someone needs help, so… Well… you're my friend too, Andy, and I want to help you when I can." Even if it's at my own expense, like with my blushing episode just now…

Before Andy could reply, they heard the large clock at City Hall ring out throughout the city. Andy frowned as he looked down at his cell phone. "Oh, it's almost 10. I should get home. Mom and Dad are starting to get on to me and Danny for coming home late for curfew. I guess I spent too much time talking to you, although I'm not sure why Danny's late too…"

"Maybe he was just hanging out with his friends and lost track of time." Phantom said with a shrug. "He seems to be that kind of kid."

"Not usually…" Andy said. "But I better call him before he's late."

Andy speed dialed Danny's phone before Phantom could say anything. Andy frowned when the phone didn't ring, and he looked at his phone to see 'we're sorry, the phone number you're trying to reach doesn't exist'.

"What…? That's… weird…" Andy frowned. "The phone says the phone number doesn't exist. What's up with that? … Wait… is Danny in trouble? Is he okay? Did he get kidnapped!?"

Phantom saw Andy was looking panicked. "Hey! Hey, calm down! I'm sure Danny is fine! It's… probably a glitch in the phone or something. It doesn't mean Danny is kidnapped or in trouble."

Andy frowned, Phantom seemed pretty confident that Danny was okay, and from his experience, Phantom's instincts hadn't led them wrong yet.

"But how can I let him know to head home?" Andy asked.

"I'm sure he's on his way now," Phantom replied. "Don't worry, I'll go look for him if he isn't back at your house in about an hour."

Andy nodded. "Okay, thanks. Then I'll-"

Suddenly, Phantom's mouth released a blue mist.

"Oh, so you have that kind of ghost sense too," Andy noted. "Wait, does that mean there's a ghost nearby?"

"It does." Phantom confirmed. "But… Why would there be a ghost out this late?"

Andy wondered if Phantom was serious when he asked that question. "Um… was that… a rhetorical question? I mean they're ghosts, you're a ghost, night time is like your best time to go out and haunt."

"I guess. But I mean I've never sensed any ghosts out at this time of night, normally." Phantom admitted.

They heard what sounded like squawking, and screeching, and someone yelling. Suddenly, Agunimon fell from the sky, hitting the ground. Andy and Phantom looked down at the armored man in surprise.

"Hi…" Agunimon rasped with a weak grin.

"Agunimon? What-" Andy began to ask when three bright green ghostly vultures, with flame-like wings, flew above them.

"Looks like vat being vasn't alone," One of the vultures remarked.

"Ghost vultures? Great…" Phantom groaned.

Agunimon grunted as he got to his feet. "I sensed them earlier and tried to drive them off. It didn't go so well." He hissed.

"Well, then I guess I better help you," Phantom chuckled.

The vultures looked down at them.

"Isn't vat a ghost kid? Maybe we can ask him for directions," One of the vultures pointed out.

Phantom blinked. Wait… what? Why would they want my help? "Um… what?"

"Ve vere just looking for someone vhen this annoying being decided to attack us," The vulture in the middle grumbled. "Our kind don't get along with his kind, so perhaps it vas to be expected. But our boss won't be happy vith us if we vere held up any longer."

"Um…Sure…? Who are you looking for?" Phantom asked, hopeful that maybe these ghosts could be reasoned with.

Andy was blinking as he was looking at them. "What the heck…?"

"Ve are on a search and destroy mission. Can you help us find and peck to death, this guy here?" The middle vulture asked as he held out a small piece of paper, showing the picture of a younger looking Jack Fenton.

Phantom at once looked like he was growing pale in the face. What?! Dad?! Oh man! These ghosts want to kill Dad! Phantom felt something in his chest telling him to act, to defeat these vultures, to protect his father. He looked up, his eyes flashing green.

"No way! I won't help you!" Phantom hissed before he fired off a ghost ray from his hand at the three vultures.

The 3 vultures quickly flew up, avoiding the ghost ray.

"Nice try, kid, get him boys!" The vulture on the left growled.

Andy yelped as he ran through the park when the vultures started attacking. He had no idea what set Phantom off, or what that conversation, if he could call it a conversation, was about, but it apparently angered Phantom.

The vultures were fast, they flew at Phantom and Agunimon like green rockets. Thankfully, however, due to Andy's training, they were both able to dodge the birds.

"Nice try, but I am-err… was a whizz at dodgeball!" Phantom chuckled. "Or technically you could call it dodgebeak in this case, but whatever."

Agunimon couldn't help but grin at Phantom's quip.

The 3 birds tried to surround the two of them, and flew in to try to pierce them with their beaks. Phantom flew up and Agunimon jumped, both avoiding the incoming beaks. The vultures ended up crashing into each other.

Andy, seeing this, ran at the stunned vultures, smacking the group of them with his Fenton Rod at Phantom. Phantom grinned, seeing this, he grabbed onto one of the vulture's tails and spun him around, causing him to hit the other two away from them. Then Phantom threw the vulture into the air.

"Now get out of here! And if I catch you guys around this town again, I may not be so merciful!" Phantom called out as the 3 vultures began flying away, realizing they were outmatched. "And don't go messing any windows on your way out of town!"

A small piece of paper came falling down towards Phantom as the 3 vultures were flying away.

Phantom reached up and caught the paper before floating down next to Andy and Agunimon. "That's odd… why would those three want to waste… um… your father?" He said to Andy, showing him the image of the younger Jack Fenton.

"They wanted to what!?" Andy blinked, shocked by this news.

"You… didn't hear what they said?" Phantom blinked back, surprised by Andy's reaction.

"Hear what they said? I just heard a bunch of cawing noises from them," Andy answered, looking at the torn looking picture. "I wasn't sure how you were having a conversation with them."

"Maybe it's because he's a ghost like them." Agunimon guessed before he frowned and a low growl escaped him. "I know I could understand them. That's why I tried to drive them off the first time. I heard what they wanted to do to Uncle Jack."

"Seriously?" Phantom frowned. "How were we able to understand them? I know you're not a ghost."

"Maybe I am a ghost, but a different kind of ghost?" Agunimon frowned. "There hasn't been an explanation to what I am, but ghosts seem to know and don't like what I am."

Andy frowned himself, crossing his arms. These two were able to understand animal ghosts it would seem, which was a little unnerving. He wondered if it was because ghosts technically had no language barrier between them, or if it was something else. He couldn't come up with an explanation for Agunimon, but he guessed the magical armor allowed him to understand ghosts for some reason.

Before Andy could say anything, there was a bell ringing from City Hall's clock, indicating it was 10 o'clock. Andy and Phantom both flinched at the noise.

"Oh-no… speaking of Dad…" Andy sighed. "Agunimon, we better get back home before we're skinned alive."

Agunimon flinched a bit at the idea of that. "Yeah… good idea…" He said before looking at Phantom. "Um… we'll see you later, okay? Andy and I have to go, like now!"

"Y-yeah, sure, good luck," Phantom said before Andy ran over to his moped and started taking off with it, while Agunimon ran down the streets. Crap, I'm gonna be in trouble too!

As soon as Andy and Agunimon were out of sight, Phantom flew into the air quickly, hurrying to Fenton Works, making sure to stay invisible so Andy and Agunimon wouldn't see him. He hoped to get there before Andy and Agunimon showed up so he could change back.

Phantom flew behind Fenton Works, transforming back into his human form.

Now as Danny, he hurried from behind the house, just in time to see Andy arriving, and Takuya, who had reverted back to his own human form as well, panting beside him.

"Danny?" Andy blinked. "Did you just get here too?"

"Um… yeah? I was just coming home." Danny said. "I spent quite a while with Sam and Tucker, just you know… hanging out."

"And you came home this late?" Andy deadpanned.

"I lost track of time," Danny sheepishly said.

"Guys, can we talk about this later!" Takuya spoke up. "Maybe we can sneak in before Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie notice we're late."

The boys quickly agreed and Danny slowly opened the door, peeking inside.

However, as soon as Danny opened the door, he winced. "Um… A little late on that, Takuya…" He said. "Because they're waiting for us…"

Sure enough, Jack and Maddie were standing in front of the door inside the house.

"You're late, again, boys." Jack said sternly, making all three boys wince. It was never nice to hear Jack being so stern.

Andy suddenly grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him away before bird poop could hit his head. Danny blinked, looking at the bird poop, and looked up to see the 3 vultures flying away. He glared, seeing how they tried to get revenge on him by pooping on his head. Luckily for him, he had Andy there to pull him out of the way.

"Whoa, that's one big bird's dropping," Jack noted.

"Yeah… Glad I didn't get hit with that…" Takuya muttered, looking a bit grossed out.

"You three get in here before any more droppings come down." Maddie said as the three boys walked inside the house. "And we need to have a talk."

Those dreaded words were never nice to hear coming from a mother, even if she wasn't Takuya's mother, she was still in charge of him while he was living in Amity Park.

So, Takuya, Danny, and Andy were all sitting on the living room's couch. Jazz was there as well, sitting on an armchair. Maddie and Jack had enough of the boys' 'misbehaviors'.

"Danny, Andy, and to a lesser extent, Takuya, this is becoming a problem," Maddie started as she and Jack stood in front of them.

Though Jack was also messing with some kind of large contraption in the living room.

"You are constantly late." Maddie began listing off the issues so far.

"You're shirking from your chores." Jack added, peeking around the device before going back to his work on it.

"Your grades are starting to slip, although not much, but I still want to address it before it gets too far." Maddie added. "Not to mention both of you tend to leave the house around 7 or 8, and don't come back until after curfew. Just what are you two doing out that late? It's not as frequent with Takuya, but he does sometimes go out around that time too."

"Mom, come on, what's hard to figure out about that? We just hang out with our friends and lost track of time, that's all," Danny said.

"On a school night? Every day?" Maddie frowned, raising an eyebrow. "You both should know better than to do that! Have you even been doing your homework lately?"

"Yes, we do, during study hall at school," Andy answered. "Why bring it home when we could just do it at school?"

Takuya tried to hold back a snicker at Andy's comment.

"That's not funny, mister," Jack grumbled. "Especially when none of you are home, I get stuck with your chores."

"I wasn't trying to be funny…" Andy frowned. "That was a legit answer."

"Listen you two, if you continue going out and missing curfew during school nights, I'm afraid we'll have to ground you both until you get your priorities straight. I'm willing to forgo punishing Takuya since he doesn't do it as much, but I will have to punish you too, Takuya, if you keep doing it," Maddie warned.

"Yes, Aunt Maddie…" Takuya sighed. Aw man… all these ghosts coming out is a real pain in the… butt…

"We're under a lot of pressure. You two have no idea what it's like being a kid today!" Danny sighed, putting his arm on the couch's arm, only for his arm to become transparent and he almost fell through the couch's arm. He quickly sat up, putting his arm behind his back.

"Come on, Danny, that's the oldest excuse in the book," Maddie grumbled, not noticing Danny's arm turning intangible while she was lecturing him. "There's nothing you 3 are going through that your father and I didn't go through when we were your age."

Andy almost laughed at that. Considering how Maddie and Jack made it known they had never seen a real ghost before, that was quite the bold statement.

"Yeah… well, I beg to differ…" Danny grumbled.

Jazz closed her book in a professional manner. "The reason Andy, Danny, and Takuya think you can't relate to them is because you never take the time to tell them about your childhoods." She began in a lecturing manner.

Takuya groaned as he heard Jazz's lecture beginning. Why oh why does Jazz have to act like a professional adult?! He thought as he covered his ears.

"Jazz…" Danny groaned.

But Jazz wasn't deterred by Danny's warning. "Have you ever told the three about how you met? About your first date? Where you went to college?" Jazz droned on and on.

"Jazz!" Danny groaned louder.

Andy raised an eyebrow, wondering why Jazz was coming to their rescue in her own way. Or maybe she was hoping this would bring out their parents' 'normality'.

Jazz's lectures, however, did get Maddie and Jack thinking. Maybe they never did take the time to tell the twins and Takuya about their childhood, though they had their reasons. However, what Jazz said about 'college' made Jack perk up as he was just reminded of what came in the mail today.

"You know what, Jazzypants, you're right! This is a great opportunity!" Jack grinned.

"It is…?" Jazz blinked.

"What is?" Maddie asked, wondering where her husband was going with this.

"This is!" Jack said as he held up an invitation to what was a college reunion. "You can come with your mother and I to our college reunion!" He said as he put an arm around Maddie and pulled her to his side.

"Your… college reunion?" Danny blinked, surprised.

"In Wisconsin!? That's pretty far from here!" Jazz pointed out.

"Indeed. Maddie and I were thinking about not going this year because we didn't want to leave you kids alone for a week or so," Jack admitted. "But this is a great idea! We can just take you kids with us! My old pal Vlad is throwing a huge shindig there. We can take the RV so the whole family can go. You kids get to learn more about our college days."

Jack then grinned at Jazz. "And while we drive, I can blather about ghosts! I'll wear you down and make you into a believer yet, Jazzypants~"

Jazz blinked before she began to grow pale in the face. "Oh no… What did I just do…?"

"Nice going, Jazz…" Takuya grumbled.

"Yeah, now we have to spend several days in the RV, cramped while Dad blathers about ghosts…" Danny added.

"This isn't my fault! You 3 were the ones who came home late!" Jazz pointed back.

"Let's not play the blame game, kids," Maddie spoke up. "It's either this or we ground you."

"We'll take the college reunion," Andy quickly said before he looked at Danny and Takuya. "Both of you be quiet, now."

Both Danny and Takuya went quiet, knowing Andy would up the training if they tried to protest.

---

Later that night, Danny and Andy were in their room. They were to start packing for their trip to Wisconsin tomorrow morning. Maddie would call the school to let them know they'll be absent for a whole week to go on a family trip with them.

Danny was grumbling as he was stuffing some extra clothes and games into his suitcase. "I can't believe Jazz got us dragged along on this whole college reunion trip… Why did she have to open her big mouth?" He huffed.

"I don't know what you're complaining about," Andy said as he was in a much less grouchy mood than his brother, looking at some handheld games to bring, and maybe a book or two. "The only thing that would bother me is the extra homework we'll have to deal with when we get back."

"Yeah, I guess." Danny sighed before frowning. "Wait, why aren't you more annoyed by this?"

"Why would I be?" Andy replied. "Jazz just saved us from getting grounded. We wouldn't be able to leave the house for anything other than school for a while."

Danny blinked. "Huh… I didn't think about it like that." He admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we do owe Jazz one then… even if it wasn't intentional."

"And getting to see Wisconsin may not be such a bad thing," Andy added. "We'll get to see a little more of the world, and maybe even get to try out some of their famous cheeses. We get to take a break from school for a while, and from ghosts in general. I'm sure Phantom, Tucker, and Sam can take care of Amity Park while we're at this college reunion."

Danny smiled nervously. "Um… yeah. I don't doubt it." He said. Crap… if only Andy knew I was Phantom… maybe I should tell him now? He did say he wouldn't mind if Phantom and I were connected after all, right? But… is now the best time to tell him? … I'll tell him at the reunion. That seems like a good place to tell him.

"So let's just relax and think of this as a vacation," Andy chuckled. "I'm sure Takuya would appreciate it too once he realizes that instead of seeing it as something Jazz put us up with."

"Yeah, I guess I can treat it like a vacation." Danny said with a small smile. "I never realized how much of a break would be needed from ghosts."

"By the way… why were you always visiting Tucker and Sam so late at night? I would think Sam's parents would keep you from visiting her, especially at that late hour, and Tucker's folks are responsible people, they wouldn't have let you stay that late unless you were sleeping over," Andy asked.

Danny felt his mind racing to come up with a cover story. "Um… Well, you see…" C'mon, Fenton! What can you tell Andy that will be believable?!

Andy wondered what Danny was hiding. It was clear Danny had been hiding something since the accident, and Andy's question just now made Danny nervous and hesitant to answer. Likely whatever Danny was doing in the middle of the night had something to do with that secret he was hiding. Andy figured that would be the case, but he had to be sure, which was why he asked. Danny's reaction confirmed it. Andy wondered if it could possibly have something to do with the slight ghostly traits Danny had been sort of exhibiting lately.

"Nevermind," Andy spoke up. "It's not that important. Let's just get our stuff ready and head to bed. We got a long trip ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know." Danny sighed. "And it had better be truly ghost free. I don't think I could stand ghosts being at the reunion, or ruining it for that matter. Mom and Dad seem very excited about this whole thing, and a ghost attack would ruin it."

"Actually I think a ghost attack would make their day," Andy chuckled. "Considering how much they want to see and catch a real ghost."

"We'd better not jinx it then…" Danny grumbled.

---

The next day, the Fentons, and Takuya, got their stuff into the Fenton Assault Vehicle, or the 'RV'. It was less of an RV and more of a big tank. Takuya wondered why the government hadn't confiscated this vehicle yet. When they got in, it was pretty cramped, having 6 people stuffed inside.

Jack began driving the Fenton RV down the road, heading into the highway with the kids in the back. Andy was playing a game on a handheld. Takuya was still pretty sour about going to Wisconsin, and Jazz wasn't any happier either.

"Ugh… how does this happen?" Jazz groaned. "You boys goof up, and I have to spend 4 days cramped into the Fenton RV?"

"It's the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle!" Jack said with pride. "Every button in this baby is a ghost's worst nightmare."

"Every button?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Every single one, Takuya!" Jack beamed.

Danny sighed. "Great… I think I need some air…" He grumbled as he reached out to push a window button down.

"Don't press any buttons!" Jazz quickly warned.

It was a little too late, Danny already pushed a button. This caused the Assault Vehicle to pull out several guns at once from its arsenal. One gun shot out a purple beam, destroying half a poor tree, another gun shot out a mist at a poor flying goose, freezing it solid. Another gun was shooting out another purple ray, which hit a driver driving a convertible, but it didn't really hurt the driver, just surprised him. And finally, a hose moved down, facing the back of the RV, shooting out some kind of green goop. This ended up hitting Takuya and Jazz's faces, since they were sticking their heads out of the open window in the back.

"Of all the… this had better not give me extra limbs…" Takuya grumbled.

Jazz glared at Danny. "I warned you, and yet you did it anyway…" She grumbled.

"S-sorry, I thought they would just lower the window…" Danny apologized sheepishly.

"Our parents just said every button is a 'ghost's worst nightmare', which means every button is a weapon!" Jazz huffed. "Honestly, they oughta be arrested for putting children into this death trap…"

"I don't understand why this vehicle hasn't been taken by the government yet…" Takuya grumbled as he began to fish around for a rag to wipe off the green gunk that was on his face.

"Relax, kids, we still have a few kinks to work out, but the weapons are harmless to humans," Maddie reassured them.

Danny was lucky none of the weapons hit him, he didn't know what would happen if his half ghost body got hit by one of those things, even in human form.

Andy was the only one who wasn't paying attention, he was in the zone with his game.

"Andy? What are you playing, bro?" Danny asked as he looked at Andy.

"And why aren't you more concerned about this?" Takuya grumbled, trying to wipe himself with his own jacket.

"Hmm? Well Mom just said the weapons are harmless to humans, so you'll be fine," Andy replied. "And I'm playing a game where your choices dictate what happens to the characters and the story. It's pretty stressful, but also really fun in a thrilling way. You never know what choice will lead to where until you see it play out."

Danny sighed. "Of course you would be engrossed in a game like that." He realized. "You've always been drawn to those kinds of games."

"Here's a choice you might be invested in," Andy said, as he looked up at Danny. "I have to choose to tell my character's brother about the truth of his body being experimented on to become a bioweapon for the government, or if I should keep it a secret from him. Or just kill him. What do you think?"

Danny blinked before he furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Why does that sound like me and my ghost powers in a way?

"Um… well… I would say… don't keep it a secret." Danny said. "Um… because… you wouldn't want to upset him, right?" Aw man… I am such a hypocrite!

"I mean telling him would upset him, since his brother had been experimented on," Andy said before grinning. "But that's not a bad idea, bro. This will lead to the brother living on and being on your side until the end~"

"... Have you played this game before?" Danny asked.

"Maybe once or twice," Andy nonchalantly shrugged.

"Then why ask me?" Danny deadpanned. "You most likely already chose that path before…"

"I just wanted to know what your answer would've been," Andy replied before going back to his game.

Danny realized why Andy asked him. Andy rarely did things for no reason after all. He suspects something… he knows I'm hiding something from him.

Danny felt really bad now. He was acting like such a hypocrite, saying one thing and doing another. Great… Now I feel bad for keeping my ghost powers a secret. Well, this will make my decision to tell Andy at the reunion much easier for me.

Takuya, however, wondered about what Andy said too. While Andy didn't intend to, he did make Takuya wonder if he should tell Danny about his ability to turn into Agunimon. Keeping secrets from one of the twins was pretty difficult to do, especially with how much they hung around each other whenever a ghost decided to attack.

Should I tell him? I mean… it would probably be best, but I don't know how he will react. Takuya thought as he looked at his device as he took it out of his pocket. Andy seems to be alright with it, but then again, he was friends with Phantom before I showed him, so he was used to something like that. Danny may not be, he made it clear he didn't want to be near Phantom… I don't want Danny to be afraid of me as well.

Takuya decided he would wait until Danny was comfortable to be around Phantom before telling him. That seemed like a good way to go about it.

Waiting may be best. Until Danny is comfortable around Phantom, I will just have to keep it to myself and Andy. Takuya thought with a slight nod to himself. He slipped his device back into his pocket before resuming trying to wipe off the green goop. And now back to the effort of removing this crap… whatever it is…

---

After 3 days and nights of driving, the family stopped at a truck stop to rest for the night. To save money, the family had been sleeping in the Assault Vehicle together rather than renting a motel's room. They were all laying on the RV's floor, with a pillow and blankets for everyone. Andy was squished between Danny and Jazz, he was thankful Jazz didn't bring Bearbert with her. Although Jack, who was on the far right of the RV, was hugging a teddy bear. Takuya was squished between Jazz and Maddie. Maddie had already fallen asleep, having been used to roughing it like this.

"Get some rest, everybody!" Jack smiled at his family. "I want everyone to be bright eyed and bushy tailed when we meet Vlad Masters tomorrow."

"Wait, hold on. Did you say 'Masters'? As in Vlad Masters? Who was named Affluence Magazine's 'Billionaire of the Year'?" Jazz asked in confusion.

"That's the same guy~" Jack grinned. "Back in college, Vlad was my best friend. We weren't exactly… popular guys. Believe it or not, researching the supernatural got you made fun of. But even so, we were roommates, lab partners, we did pretty much everything together, kind of like with Danny and Andy. We were like brothers, him and I."

"So what happened?" Andy asked. "You don't really talk about Vlad that much better. Did something happen between the two of you?"

"Something did, yeah…" Jack frowned. "Well, first of all, we got to meet with your mother, Maddie, who was just as interested in studying ghosts as we were. Vlad and I sometimes got into arguments of who would help your mother out with the project more. Even back then, your mother was quite the looker, and a passionate woman. I couldn't help but fall for her."

Takuya blushed as he heard this story. "I… wow…" He muttered, not sure what else to say.

Danny grinned. "So you could say you got the girl?" He asked jokingly.

"I mean how else would you explain us?" Andy asked, gesturing to himself and Jazz.

"Please don't go there, bro…" Danny groaned.

Jack laughed. "Well, I am glad I got to win over Maddie's heart, but it was at the cost of Vlad. You see, what happened was we were building a smaller, prototype version of the Fenton Ghost Portal back then. The sucker was a model compared to the finished project we have in our lab. But we were excited young college students, we were excited to finally put our prototype portal to the test. Although Vlad was a little more realistic then the two of us were, he looked at the portal and told us it wouldn't work."

Jack sighed. "But as an excited college student, I wasn't taking that for an answer. I just grabbed the switch, wanting to turn it on. Maddie warned me the calculations weren't right, but I was already pushing the button. I wanted to see the culmination of our hard work pay off."

"So what happened?" Takuya curiously asked.

"Vlad was too close to the portal when it activated. He got blasted full in the face with ecto energy. It gave him a disease known as Ecto-Acne." Jack sighed. "He was in the hospital for years after that, and cut off all communications with your mother and I. It devastated him, and probably killed most of his social life. But despite that… I like to think after all these years he's finally forgiven me."

"What… makes you so sure?" Danny hesitantly asked, worried that Vlad may not have forgiven him, people, and especially ghosts, could hold grudges for years.

"Well why else would Vlad send the invite to go to his house for the college reunion?" Jack smiled. "Maybe he wants to talk and put the past behind us."

"Maybe…" Takuya said cautiously, but he wasn't sure if that was the case. Something about this seemed off to him, but he wasn't going to push the issue if his uncle seemed very happy to be reconnecting with an old friend.

Andy also chose not to say anything. He didn't know Vlad, so he didn't know what the man was like. He decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt and hope this party Vlad was throwing was for good intentions. But he would also keep an eye on the man, to make sure he didn't try to pull something on his parents, specifically his dad.

---

The next morning, the Fenton RV pulled up at a large and impressive looking castle.

"Is this the right place?" Maddie asked, surprised. "I didn't know Vlad rented out an entire castle for this party."

"I think he lives here, Mads," Jack said as he turned off the engine.

"Well, he is a billionaire." Jazz pointed out in her matter-of-fact tone. "Of course he can afford a castle to live in."

"Right, it's easy to forget that dorky college guy who was our friend is now a billionaire man," Maddie admitted sheepishly. "Do you think he'll remember us, Jack?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Jack smiled. "He wanted us to come in early before the other guests arrived after all. Come on, kids, it's about time you met Vladdie!"

Andy, Danny, Jazz, and Takuya got out of the RV, following their parents towards the castle's front door. Andy was pretty nervous, he didn't know how to act in front of a rich person. He hoped he wouldn't come off as naive or stupid.

A man could be seen in the shadows before he walked out, revealing a nicely dressed man who had silver hair pulled back in a ponytail, blue eyes, and he wore a black suit with a light gray shirt as well as a red bow tie. He also had a silver goatee, and he looked like he was about the age of Jack and Maddie. The man was giving them a friendly looking smile as the family approached him.

"Jack…" The man greeted, sounding restrained, before he smiled more. "And Maddie, you've never looked lovelier, even after all these years. I see you brought children with you."

"Yes, Vlad. These are our kids; our daughter Jasmine, our nephew Takuya, and the twins, Danny and Andy." Maddie said with a smile as she gestured to each of the kids in turn. "We wanted to bring them along to meet some of our college friends."

"How thoughtful of you," Vlad stated before he gestured to the inside of his castle. "Please, come in, come in, make yourselves at home."

The family walked into the castle, surprised to see a bunch of green and gold coloring all over the place, and a lot of football merchandise.

"Oh wow! Look at all this stuff!" Takuya whistled.

Jazz looked decidedly unimpressed. "What's with the green and gold? You're a billionaire! Can't you afford an interior designer?"

"Jazz, come on, do you not know the meaning of the word 'fan'?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, I mean look at this place. Football helmets, jerseys, cheeseheads, he's a Packer's fanatic!" Danny agreed.

"I remembered when Vlad and I used to watch football all the time at college! We even went to an actual game once!" Jack grinned, going down memory lane as he looked around, happy to see Vlad never outgrew his love for football.

"Yes, well… I have something even better than just these jerseys and helmets." Vlad said with a coy smile like he was trying to one-up Jack. "While I would like to say I own the team, that is not possible because the city of Green Bay won't sell the team to me. So, I have to settle for a signed football, given to me by one of the legendary players."

"Wow, that is so cool!" Danny smiled.

"Indeed," Vlad said as he picked up the signed football he had on a pedestal, carefully holding it. "Ray Nitchkey autographed this ball. It's one of my most prized possessions. While it is unfortunate I couldn't own the team, this will have to be good enough for now."

Vlad then looked at Maddie and grinned before he put the football back on its pedestal. "One of two things my wealth had been unable to acquire, at least for now~"

Maddie gave Vlad a nervous grin at that comment, and the look he was giving her.

Takuya blinked. "Um… Is he hitting on Aunt Maddie?" He whispered to Andy and Danny.

"Oh, that's gross…" Danny winced.

"As long as he's got working toilets, actual beds for us, and Mom says no, I really couldn't care less," Jazz grumbled, having had enough of being stuck inside the RV for a good while.

"Hey, Vladdie!" Jack spoke up, smiling. "What do you say we toss the old pigskin around and see if you still have any of your old moves?"

Vlad frowned. "I don't have any old moves, all those years at the hospital robbed me of that!"

Vlad noticed everyone looking at him from that little outburst. Vlad quickly regained his composure. "Yes, well, it did give me some time to think, and plot a chart for my future. I was able to make some decisions that helped me become very wealthy, very quickly. And it never would've happened without you, Jack~"

Jack blinked before he smiled. "Well, I was glad I could have helped you in some way!" He then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I do feel bad about what happened though."

"And maybe we should go…" Maddie added, feeling uneasy, she could tell Vlad still harbored some ill feelings toward Jack about the accident years ago.

Vlad was not about to let them leave right away though. "Oh, perish the thought! I insist you stay! That's the whole reason I am throwing the reunion here at my castle!" Vlad insisted. "And, it is rumored this castle is haunted by the previous owner, the Dairy King. I thought you might like to see if you would like to hunt down his ghost, for old times sake~"

Jack was immediately sold. "I'll get the bags! We're staying here tonight, everyone!"

Nobody was surprised that Jack was excited to stay due to the possibility of the Dairy King's ghost haunting the castle's walls. But Maddie, who was just as passionate about Jack to find and catch a real ghost, was still uneasy about staying here. Vlad seemed different, in more ways than one, and she wasn't sure she liked it. But maybe she was being too harsh on her old friend, she should give him the benefit of the doubt.

Unseen by anyone, Vlad had a sinister grin cross his face once he was sure he had the Fenton family staying in his grasp for the night.

"I can't wait to explore this castle," Danny said as he looked around. "This place is huge!"

"We might get lost in here," Andy chuckled.

"No duh. With how big this place is, we may find a dungeon of some kind." Takuya said jokingly.

"Well, leave me out of it." Jazz grumbled.

"Why? What are you going to be doing? Staying in your guest room and read all day?" Danny asked. "You're such a boring stuck up sister."

"I would rather be boring than run around like a little kid in this place, looking for ghosts or getting lost." Jazz retorted.

"No worries about getting lost, children," Vlad chuckled. "Since I tend to get new employees working at my castle, I put up signs, and even maps all over the place, to ensure you will know where you are at all times. And if you have trouble reading, I even put phones in all the rooms so you can call one of my servants for help to get you back to where you need to be."

"Wow, that should be handy if we get lost." Danny whistled.

"Yeah, great." Jazz grumbled, just wanting to read one of her psychology books and work on one of her many theses.

Andy gave a curious look at Jazz.

"Now come along," Vlad spoke up. "I'll show you all to the rooms you'll be staying in for the night."

"Oh, Vlad, if I may make a request," Maddie spoke up, catching Vlad's attention.

"Oh? And what would that be, Maddie?" Vlad asked as he turned to look at her, a coy smile on his face.

Maddie didn't fail to notice the coy smile on Vlad's face. "I would like to stay in the same room as Jack."

Vlad frowned a little, but he nodded. "Of course, I have plenty of rooms that will suit your needs."

Maddie smiled, relieved she would not be staying in a big room alone. "Thank you, Vlad."

"Anything for an old friend~" Vlad smiled.

"That's so like you, Vlad!" Jack smiled, not noticing Vlad's annoyed look at him.

---

Takuya and Jazz were the only ones who got a room to themselves. Danny and Andy wanted to stay in the same room together like their parents. Danny wanted to keep an eye on Andy in case there really was a ghost in the castle, and Andy just liked staying in a room with Danny as he grew up with sleeping in the same room as Danny.

Everyone unpacked their stuff, getting a new change of clothes since their old ones were starting to stink from sitting in the RV for so long.

"Imagine if our room was this big, bro." Danny smiled before he laid in the bed. "And our beds were this comfy!"

Andy laughed at Danny's reaction. "I know. They say money can't buy happiness, but this makes me pretty happy. I'd love for a bed this comfy. And a room this big, I could get my own TV set, a high tech computer, replace all of my lost manga and animal collection, and get even more!"

Danny laughed at Andy's plans. "Oh, that would be a sweet set-up! I could get more model rockets, get a big gaming set-up, and even get a star map on the ceiling! Oh, and maybe even get one of those observatory telescopes, I would be able to see more galaxies with that baby!"

"Yeah," Andy chuckled as he laid on his own bed. "Too bad we're not rich though. But it's fun to pretend."

"Yeah, pretending makes it more fun." Danny agreed with a laugh of his own.

"Although I wonder if that means we'd have to go to one of those fancy prep schools?" Andy wondered. "Filled with other stuck-up, elitist kids."

Danny grimaced. "Ugh… No thank you. I would rather not go to a prep school."

"Well, let's be glad we're not leaving Casper High any time soon," Andy chuckled.

"Yeah, I'd miss Tucker and Sam too much to enjoy going to another school," Danny agreed.

"Well, the day is still young. How about we explore? We'll likely only get to come here once," Andy suggested. "Who knows what we might find in a castle this big."

Danny grinned. "Let's grab Takuya then and explore away~"

If Danny could, he would turn into a ghost and explore the place that way. But exploring with his brother and cousin was a lot more fun than exploring alone as a ghost. "Maybe we can talk about what we'd do if we were actually this rich."

Andy laughed as he nodded before he and Danny got off of their very comfortable beds, and headed out of their room. They went down the hall to reach Takuya's door.

"You get Takuya. I'll go ask if Jazz wants to join us," Andy said.

"Sure." Danny grinned before he went down the rest of the way to Takuya's room while Andy went to Jazz's door.

Danny reached Takuya's door and knocked on it. "Hey, Takuya? You there?"

The door opened, revealing the older boy. "Yeah, why?" Takuya asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go explore this castle with me and Andy." Danny said with a grin. "I mean, c'mon! We're only coming here once, and given how you rarely come to America, why pass up the chance to explore a real castle like this?"

Takuya grinned at Danny's words. "Count me in! I've been to some of the old castles in Japan, but nothing like this! Of course I want in!"

Danny grinned even more. "Then c'mon! Andy is going to ask Jazz if she wants to join us."

Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Would she want to?"

Andy knocked on Jazz's door until Jazz opened it.

"Hey, Jazz," Andy greeted. "I was wondering if you'd like to join us in exploring this castle."

"Why would I want to?" Jazz asked. "This room I'm in has a lot of books, it's practically its own library. I'm going to spend as much time as I can get to read through the most interesting ones I can find."

"Wouldn't it be more fun to explore with your brothers and cousin rather than reading a bunch of books you can get later?" Andy asked.

"Nope. I would rather stay here and read than get lost on some dumb exploration with three boys who will just get inro trouble." Jazz said in her matter-of-fact voice.

Andy raised an eyebrow. He knew Jazz was grumpy, and had been grumpy since the ride to Wisconsin, but he thought she'd be a little more excited to see more of the world rather than grumpy about missing a few days of school. He could never understand his sister sometimes.

"Alright, if that's what you want," Andy relented. "Have fun reading then."

Jazz just closed the door before she went to sit back down and picked up a book to begin working on her newest thesis, the psychology of little brothers who never knew to leave her alone.

Andy grumbled before he called out through the door. "And while I'm at it, I'll study the psychology of big sisters who do nothing but grumble, sit, and rot all day in her room!"

Andy turned and walked over to Danny and Takuya.

"I'm guessing it was a no go, bro?" Danny said, seeing Andy's annoyed face, and also hearing him yell at Jazz's door.

"No go? It's more of a 'I hate life' no go…" Andy grumbled.

"Wow. Jazz must really not like being away from school." Takuya noted. "I wonder if she is going to work on a 'new thesis' again."

"She needs to work on her own psychology before working on others," Andy huffed. "She's not even realizing she's missing a huge opportunity here, or she doesn't care just because she's away from school. I swear, if Jazz was a ghost, her Obsession would be school, books, and psychology."

Danny shivered. "A ghost with a psychology Obsession? That's kinda scary…"

"Don't worry about it. It's her loss she is missing out on." Takuya said with a grin. "Let's see what we can find out about this place."

"Yes, and if we find something amazing, I'm gonna take a picture of it and rub it in her stuffy face," Andy remarked, grinning mischievously.

Danny sweatdropped, seeing Andy was in mischief mode, that was never a good sign. Jazz must've really bummed Andy out with her rejection.

"Yeah… then let's get going, so we can find something amazing." Danny said as he grabbed Andy's arm and began to pull him away from Jazz's room carefully. Takuya followed the twins as they began to head down the hall.

As the group walked through the hallways of the castle, Danny and Takuya couldn't help but get a weird sense of wrongness. Takuya felt a teeny bit chilly and warm, but nothing to the extent of activating his ghost sense, it was an odd sensation. Danny felt something similar. He felt his chest being cold, but not enough to send out the cold mist that usually came out of his mouth when a ghost was nearby. Even Andy felt a sense of creepiness as they walked.

"Is it just me or does this castle make a good haunted house even during the day?" Andy asked. "It just feels so… empty. Where are these employees Vlad said he hired?"

"I have no idea." Takuya said with a frown. "It's odd. I'm getting a sense of wrongness about this whole thing, and the empty castle only makes it worse."

"Do you sense any ghosts? … Uh, Danny?" Andy asked, before remembering last second Danny wouldn't (or shouldn't) know about Takuya being Agunimon.

"No…" Danny said. "But I get this… feeling of my ghost sense wanting to come out, like it's sitting in my chest and is ready to emerge at any second."

Takuya gave a subtle nod to Andy, trying to convey he felt something similar.

"Hmm… maybe Vlad was telling the truth about this castle being haunted by the Dairy King's ghost, but it's probably dormant right now, and that's why you're having trouble sensing him," Andy guessed before smiling. "But that does make it a good haunted castle. Not only is it uncanny with how empty it looks, and feels, you also get a sense that you're not quite alone. And there is a literal ghost somewhere in this big place."

"Who knew we would be coming to a haunted castle?" Takuya said before grinning. "Not many people can say they went to a haunted castle here in the United States!"

"Who knew you would find a thing for creepy places?" Danny teased Andy. Which is funny since I'm the ghost kid here, and yet these two seem to feel right at home.

"I guess it comes with hanging out with a ghost kid every night at a park that most people stay away from at night," Andy shrugged. "I wonder if Phantom would've liked it here."

Danny looked at Andy with a nervous smile. "Maybe… who knows? It may be that Phantom likes hanging out at Amity Park more. But a new place to explore would've probably piqued his interest, who knows?"

"I mean Phantom did seem to have a problem with leaving Amity Park, so yeah, he wouldn't want to move here or anything. But it'd be nice to see how he would react to this place. It seems to be a natural place for ghosts," Andy remarked before frowning. "Then again, so is Amity Park. Phantom might just find this place cramped compared to all of Amity Park."

Danny chuckled, it was weird, but also kind of flattering to hear Andy theorizing how his ghost half would feel about this place. At least Andy wasn't suspecting Danny of being Phantom.

"I wonder if we will see the Dairy King's ghost." Takuya wondered as he looked around the hallway. "I mean… this was his place at one point, so… who knows?"

"What would we do if we did see the Dairy King's ghost? We could catch him, but we don't have a portal nearby, and isn't this technically his home to begin with?" Andy questioned.

"We don't have to catch him." Danny said, trying to reassure Andy. "It would just be cool to see if we could encounter his ghost."

"Just hope Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie don't find him first," Takuya cringed. "Not even mercy can save his soul then."

"Let's not think about that. I'm sure the Dairy King's ghost would be smart enough to stay away from a couple of ghost hunters," Andy reassured.

Danny began thinking. He had promised himself he would tell Andy about him being Phantom, and half ghost when they got here. They were here now, but Takuya was with them. Danny had been so excited about the castle and the big room he and Andy were given that he forgot to tell Andy about his ghost half. It was only when Andy mentioned Phantom did it cross Danny's mind again. He could tell both Andy and Takuya, Takuya had shown to support Phantom multiple times, as himself and Agunimon after all.

"So Takuya," Andy began, changing the subject. "Danny and I were talking about what we'd do if we were rich like Vlad is. What would you do if you had all this money?"

Takuya looked down in thought. "I would probably get my own soccer field and ball to play with. And a gaming set-up so I could play Doomed with you guys."

"I heard Doomed is getting a new game mode soon, and a pretty big prize if you can beat it," Andy remarked. "It sounds like it would be quite the challenge if every player is going to try to go for it."

"I can't wait to try and get that prize myself." Danny grinned. "Err… I mean by working with you, Tucker, and Sam of course! There's no way I could get that prize playing by myself."

Andy chuckled. "Working together does increase our odds, but it doesn't guarantee we'll get it. But I guess we'll see once the game mode comes out."

Danny decided he'll wait a little longer. He didn't want to ruin the current dynamic they had together. He was worried if he told them now, things would change between them. Maybe he could try to ease them into the idea of him and Phantom being one in the same rather than just dropping the ball on them. Yeah, that seems reasonable enough. I'll just ease them into it before I tell them.

With that thought in mind, Danny decided to just enjoy his little exploration with his brother and Takuya, not worrying about his ghost half while they were here.

---

Later that night, after having a fun day of exploring the castle, the boys were quite tired, in a good way. They enjoyed each other's company, talking about random things while exploring the castle, even though it was still creepy and felt off, they didn't mind it much since they were used to creepy and ghostly things.

They followed the signs and the inside maps to get back to their rooms to turn in for the night. They had a pretty big party tomorrow.

However, Jack woke up in the middle of the night. Vlad had given him a lot of tea to try out earlier that day, which Jack didn't care for, but he wanted to be nice to Vlad and try out his set of tea. However, this caused Jack to have to use the bathroom a little frequently. And even now, Jack had to get up and go to the bathroom.

Jack was careful not to wake up his wife as he got out of bed, he was groggy, but still considerate to his wife. Jeez, you'd think with all this money Vlad has, he could afford to give every room their own bathroom…

Not that Jack would say that to Vlad, but it would definitely make his trips to the bathroom a lot easier if there was a bathroom in the room he and Maddie were staying in.

Still, Jack knew he had to answer nature's call and left the room, trying to find the bathroom. He was half asleep, so he didn't notice anything unusual, but if he had, he would've seen the ghost vultures emerging from the ceiling behind him.

While Jack was groggily heading to the bathroom, unknowingly being followed by the 3 vultures, Danny was woken up by his ghost sense. His ghost sense always left his mouth freezing cold, it was difficult to stay asleep with that.

Uh oh… Danny thought as he looked back at where Andy was sleeping. This isn't good… If I try to turn to my ghost form here, it will wake Andy.

Danny had to get out of bed and out the door so he wouldn't wake up Andy. Danny carefully moved out of the bed, and began to move. He opened the door to leave the room, however, Andy wasn't asleep. Andy had some trouble sleeping because something kept disturbing his mind. He couldn't make out the image, but it was white, red, black, and blue whatever it was.

Andy heard the sound of a door opening, which prompted him to open his eyes, and he saw Danny walking out of it. Danny? Where's he going in the middle of the night?

Andy wondered if Danny was heading to the bathroom. It may not be safe to walk in this castle alone at night. Andy opened up a drawer next to bed, grabbing a flashlight he brought with him just in case they would need it. He got out of bed and walked to the door, opening it. To Andy's surprise, however, there was no sign of Danny. Danny couldn't have left the room for more than a minute, so he should still be somewhere in the hallway even if he had been running.

"The heck…? Where'd Danny go?" Andy frowned as he turned on the flashlight in this dark hallway. Did he go into one of the other rooms?

However, there was no sign of Danny in the hallway, even in the light of the flashlight's beam.

In his own room, Takuya jolted awake when he felt the flashes of heat and chills run down his spine. "Ah… Oh no… Not now…" He groaned as he sat up and grabbed his transformation device from his nightstand. "Why did I feel that now?! I thought it was more subtle before…"

Takuya got up from his bed and ran to his door before he opened it and headed out into the hall.

However, when Takuya opened the door, he suddenly had a bright light in his face. This caused Takuya to jump, thinking it was the ghost he sensed trying to blind him.

"Takuya?"

Takuya blinked. "A-Andy? Is that you?"

Andy moved the flashlight's beam of light under his face. "No, it's a spooky gho-o-o-o-ost."

"Very funny…" Takuya grumbled. "What are you doing up this late?"

"I had some trouble sleeping," Andy answered. "I don't know if it was a weird dream or not, but it kept me from going back to sleep. But I heard my room's door opening, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Danny walking out. I tried to go after him since I didn't feel it was safe for him to walk around here alone, but when I came out of my room, he was gone."

"That's odd." Takuya noted with a frown. "Danny doesn't just disappear." He frowned a little more. "I did sense a ghost earlier though, and it woke me up."

"Maybe the ghost took him?" Andy guessed.

"Why?" Takuya frowned.

"I don't know, just kinda thought that might explain why Danny's missing," Andy answered.

"Then we should go look for him, he could be in trouble," Takuya said.

"Yeah. You lead the way, you're the one with the ghost sense here," Andy instructed, keeping calm.

"Okay, but I may have to become Agunimon if this ghost attacks." Takuya warned. He began to head down the hallway, Andy following him and illuminating the way with the flashlight.

Meanwhile, after becoming Phantom, Phantom flew to his dad. He knew Jack only woke up at this time of night, away from home, when he had to use the bathroom. He also saw the 3 familiar vultures flying towards him. Phantom had no idea what those vultures were doing here, but he had to get his dad to safety, and to a bathroom.

Phantom turned intangible and flew into the floor. He stuck his hands up and grabbed Jack's legs before turning the older Fenton intangible and bringing him down to the bathroom.

"Hey! Vat gives?" One of the vultures asked in confusion when Jack suddenly sank into the floor.

Phantom was glad there was a bathroom here, and he carefully set his half asleep father down, who didn't even notice he was just dragged under the floor by a ghost. Jack opened his eyes and was glad to see he was in a bathroom. Phantom smiled before he flew up through the ceiling, giving his dad some privacy, and to deal with his would-be killers.

Phantom grinned as he emerged from the floor and turned tangible. "Hey, guys! Remember me?" He asked as he smacked a fist into his hand.

The vultures looked at Phantom, then they yelped before all 3 of them turned intangible and scattered throughout the castle in a hurry.

Phantom, realizing this was a trope he would see on TV several times, knew something was up. The vultures, even though he, Agunimon, and Andy had beaten them up before, would not have reacted the way they did to just him.

"Okay… that was way too easy," Phantom remarked before he turned around to see if there was something, or someone behind him.

There was indeed someone behind him. It was another humanoid ghost.

This ghost had blue skin with pointed ears, and black hair that was shaped like horns. He had red eyes, and fangs, along with a black goatee. His outfit was white with black gloves, boots, and a belt while he wore a white cape with a red interior and a high color.

"Bright boy." The ghost taunted as he floated there, his arms folded across his chest.

Phantom looked at the ghost, it almost looked like a vampire. Normally Phantom would just fight off this ghost and move on, however, he knew this was not his territory, he didn't have Andy, Takuya, Tucker, or Sam as backup if something went wrong. And, more importantly, Phantom could sense this ghost wasn't like the others he had fought before. He was much stronger, not only that, he looked like he would be a big boss of this castle.

"Who are you?" Phantom asked, being cautious.

"I am Plasmius." The new ghost introduced. "I was wondering what led a young ghost like yourself to my happy haunted hallowed halls."

Andy had done some research on ghosts, and was more than happy to share what he had learned with Phantom, even from Phantom himself. Phantom hadn't been that interested in learning about ghosts, but Andy made it sound interesting. From what he learned, ghosts were territorial, and seemed to have an advantage if they fought while in their territory. This Plasmius ghost likely owned this castle as his territory, even though Vlad said it belonged to the Dairy King. Phantom knew he had to be careful, if he had to fight this ghost, he knew he wouldn't survive.

"I was invited by a human called Vlad Masters who lives in this castle," Phantom answered.

Plasmius narrowed his eyebrows. "That's a lie. Vlad Masters didn't invite any ghost into this castle."

"It's not a lie," Phantom replied. "Vlad didn't know he invited me, because I didn't look like this when he did. I only want to make sure Jack is safe, I didn't come here to intrude on your territory."

"Oh? Are you saying you overshadowed one of the Fentons to hide from them?" Plasmius asked, raising an eyebrow. "All to make sure the big oaf was safe? That's quite a tall order from a ghost, protecting a ghost hunter."

"I have my reasons," Phantom replied. "We don't have to fight. I'll leave your territory in peace if that's what you want."

"I would rather you did leave, but you probably won't, especially if you aim to protect the big idiot," Plasmius replied. "You're Danny Phantom, right?"

Phantom blinked, surprised that this ghost knew his name, well, his ghost name. "You… know who I am?"

"Of course! You're the ghost boy who uses his powers for good, protecting your little town. How quaint." Plasmius sneered.

"What's wrong with that?" Phantom frowned.

Plasmius was suddenly in Phantom's face, which caused Phantom to back away. "Well, aren't you going to try to shove me into your ridiculous thermos?"

Phantom frowned, realizing this ghost didn't intend to let him go without a fight. "I don't want to fight you! Why do you want to hurt Jack?"

"The big fool is too dangerous for ghosts like you and me! He is too dangerous to be around anyone!" Plasmius hissed. "And no, you wouldn't want to fight me, not with how weak you are."

Phantom knew reasoning with Plasmius was out of the question, he was deadset on ending his dad's life. Phantom still had his Thermos with him. He didn't have to defeat Plasmius, just wear him out enough to be caught in the suction of the Fenton Thermos. That was his best plan right now, and hope he would survive. Takuya, if you can sense us, please get here soon!

Plasmius fired a pinkish red ghost ray at Phantom. Phantom dodged, only through Andy's training, but it was pretty difficult to dodge. The older ghost was just toying with him, but he grinned.

"I'm impressed you're capable of dodging my blasts, I expected you to get hit on the first blast," Plasmius complimented. "But don't think you'll get anywhere by just dodging, boy."

Phantom responded by firing his own ghost rays at Plasmius. Plasmius grinned and created a pinkish red shield in front of him, easily taking Phantom's ghost rays.

"An ectoplasmic energy blast? And here I thought you would have more going for you." Plasmius taunted. "That is so year one."

Phantom tried to fire his ghost rays around the shield, but Plasmius seemed to be able to move the shield without even touching it to block the ghost rays. Phantom furrowed his eyebrows and put his hands together to create a large ecto ball in his hands that should be able to shatter that shield. Plasmius actually looked mildly impressed at that as Phantom fired the ecto ball.

"Oh? It seems maybe I was wrong about you. You seem to know how to increase the power of your ecto-blasts." Plasmius sneered. "But that alone won't be enough."

Plasmius shot out his own ecto ball at Phantom's, without really needing to charge it up. The two balls ended up canceling each other out. Phantom flew back a bit, but Plasmius was already in front of him, grinning.

"Tell me, child, can you do this yet?" Plasmius questioned before he suddenly created 3 copies of himself surrounding Phantom.

Phantom yelped as he looked at the other Plasmius. "No, I can't! How are you doing that?"

"Years of practice!" The four Plasmius said as one, sending shivers down Phantom's spine. "Which you, unfortunately, have no time for!"

The four Plasmius held out their hands at the ghost boy, intending to shoot their ghost ray at him. Phantom gulped, knowing it was time to truly put his dodging skills to the test.

Meanwhile, Takuya and Andy were running down the hall. The closer they got, the stronger the ghost felt to Takuya. Takuya feared his Agunimon form wouldn't be enough, but the only reason why he kept going was because he sensed Phantom was there too, and Phantom was in big trouble.

"We have to hurry! I think this ghost I'm sensing is taking on Phantom… and Phantom is on the losing end…" Takuya said seriously. "I don't know why Phantom is here, but he needs our help!"

Andy frowned. "How strong is this ghost if Phantom is having trouble with them?"

"I don't know, but I just know this ghost is strong." Takuya admitted.

"Then we may not stand a chance against it," Andy said.

"We have to at least try! Phantom could get wiped out!" Takuya quickly said.

"Calm down before you blow a gasket," Andy spoke up. "I didn't say we should give up and leave Phantom to his fate. But trying to take on this ghost head on will only get us all killed. We need to get Phantom and get the heck out of there before the ghost tries to kill us. That's our best option."

Takuya frowned, but took a deep breath and let it out, calming himself down. "You're right. Escape will be our best bet. But we need to distract the ghost so we can get Phantom out of danger."

"I think we both know who's going to be the distraction for this ghost," Andy said, looking at Takuya. " You better gear up."

Takuya grinned. "I was hoping you would say that." He said before he held up his device. Takuya held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his Human Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed a ring of fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" His clothes ripped away as his body became digital, and the process began. Coding surrounded him as the power of the Spirit flowed into his body. Red armor formed and latched onto his body as his hair changed to blonde and became long and wild. His height increased, as did his strength and agility. His eyes snapped open, now a brilliant blue instead of brown, and his canine teeth were sharper than a human's as well. He landed, crying out his name. "Agunimon!"

Now in his more powerful form, Agunimon could sense the power of the ghost fighting Phantom more clearly, and shivers ran down his spine, making him shudder. "Ah… Geez… That power I sense is… intense…"

"Stay focused. The important thing here is to survive while I get Phantom out," Andy said. "I'll fire the Fenton Pistol to let you know it's time for you to leave, okay?"

Agunimon nodded. "Right. That sounds good."

The two of them reached where Phantom was obviously fighting the unknown ghost. Agunimon reached out and put a hand on the door handle and opened it, steeling himself for the fight to come. Here we go…

Agunimon heard what sounded like Danny, or maybe Phantom, screaming in pain. Agunimon didn't hesitate anymore and burst through the door, catching the mysterious ghost's attention.

"What in the devil's name?" Plasmius growled.

Phantom was on the floor, injured and in pain. He had done his best to dodge all those ghost rays, but they were too fast, and too intense for him to dodge forever, and he was eventually caught by one of the ghost rays, and the rest soon followed. He weakly looked up, seeing Agunimon.

"H-hey… what took you so long?" Phantom weakly chuckled.

"Sorry, I had to find where you were." Agunimon replied, not taking his eyes off of the mysterious ghost before him. "But leave this guy to me now. We will get you out of here."

"Be careful… this guy is… no joke…" Phantom warned.

"What do we have here? So you're Agunimon, the digital being in this world," Plasmius remarked, still grinning in a cocky way.

Agunimon blinked. "Huh? Digital?" He asked, surprised. Wait… is that what I am? Is that why all those ghosts I fought before kept asking what I was doing here?

Andy saw this, and he hoped Agunimon would keep this ghost talking so he could get to Phantom unnoticed. Agunimon's eyes looked at Andy for a second, and Andy gestured to him to 'go with it'.

Agunimon looked at Plasmius. "So you know what I am?"

"Of course I know what you are! But you don't seem to, I'm quite surprised," Plasmius remarked. "You really don't know what you are?"

While this conversation was going on, Andy was quietly moving over to Phantom.

"A-Andy…?" Phantom rasped out as he saw Andy approaching him. "What are… you doing here…?"

"Shhh, I'm getting you out of here," Andy whispered as he took Phantom's arm and brought it around his shoulder. "Brrr… you're going to turn me into an Andicicle at this rate."

"I can't help it… I'm cold by nature…" Phantom weakly chuckled. "Being a ghost and all…"

To keep this ghost's attention off of Andy, Agunimon decided to press forward with the conversation, since this seemed to be the perfect way to find out what he was in this form. "Not really. I just know ghosts don't like me, and that I can fight them. I assumed I was a ghost at first, but after some… attempts to try and access ghostly powers, I learned that was not the case. But if you know what I am, I would like to know."

"How interesting. Perhaps you ended up in this world by accident," Plasmius remarked. "You're a digital being, a digital monster, a Digimon most would call you. You're not a ghost, nor do you come from the Ghost Zone. You are a different being altogether. You have your own set of skills separate from ghosts, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. You can fight ghosts, but you're also weak to ghosts. The two cannibalize each other in a way. And also, the two are natural enemies to one another, that's why ghosts don't like you."

Upon hearing those last words, Agunimon felt a chill run down his spine. If what this ghost was saying was correct, then that meant he was an enemy of this ghost as well. "Shit…" Agunimon whispered to himself as he fell into a fighting stance. Well, at least I know what I can become now, even if it's not a good thing when it comes to a ghost of this power…

Deciding to try something, Agunimon spoke again. "Look, I don't want to fight. Even if we are natural enemies, I'm sure you don't want to fight me either."

"I couldn't care less about you, but if you try to get in my way, you'll pay for it," Plasmius said darkly. "It was the lesson I was teaching this ghost child-"

Plasmius noticed a lack of Danny Phantom on the floor. "What…"

Unfortunately, Andy and Phantom hadn't been able to go very far when Plasmius spotted them trying to leave. "Where did you come from!?"

"Oh butter biscuits…" Andy cursed.

Seeing Andy and Phantom were in trouble, Agunimon was quick to react. "Hey! Eyes on me, Dracula-wannabe!" He snapped as he flared fire from his right silver wrist brace. "Pyro Darts!"

Plasmius hissed at the flames that tried to burn him, he held up his cape to take most of the damage.

Phantom knew he had to do something, he poured out as much energy as he could from the cold spot in his chest and grabbed onto Andy to fly them out of there. Taking his chance to slow down Plasmius, Andy took out his Fenton Pistol and shot it at Plasmius.

Plasmius growled as his arm had some holes from the ecto bullets. "Alright, you want to play? Then let's play, boys, are you ready!?"

Plasmius created 3 duplicates of himself. The duplicates went after Agunimon, Phantom, and Andy.

Agunimon saw this and knew he had to do something to distract the duplicates going after Andy and Phantom. Thinking fast, he slammed his fists together, creating a spark from his silver wrist armor before fire ignited around his hands. He then launched himself from the ground at the two duplicates going for Andy and Phantom. "Pyro Punch!"

Agunimon's fiery punch was strong enough to take out one of the duplicates, but the other survived the Pyro Punch, and blasted Agunimon in the face with his ghost ray. Agunimon yelped as he was blasted back into a wall.

Plasmius himself and one of his duplicates grinned as he faced Phantom and Andy. Phantom, wanting to keep Andy safe, subconsciously created an ecto barrier around Andy just before Plasmius and the duplicate gave Phantom quite a beating.

"Phantom! Agunimon!" Andy yelled out in worry for his friends.

Phantom fell through the wall, dropping Andy while Plasmius flew through the wall after Phantom. The ecto shield around Andy dissipated, and the boy ran over to Agunimon.

"Agunimon! Get up! We have to save Phantom!" Andy shouted.

"No need to shout… I can hear you just fine, even without my hearing being enhanced…" Agunimon hissed as he rubbed his head before getting to his feet. "But you're right. Let's go!" He said as he began to run for the door, Andy right behind him.

Before they ran out of the room, Plasmius smirked as he looked down at the now unconscious ghost boy. He had every intention of finishing this intruder off for interfering with his plans, and showing up uninvited. He didn't care if he was technically invited, Plasmius didn't invite any ghost that was overshadowing someone. However, shortly after Phantom lost consciousness, a ring of light suddenly appeared on his torso.

This caught Plasmius by surprise as he recognized that ring of light. The ring split horizontally, changing Phantom back into Danny, in his PJs and all.

"The ghost boy… is Jack's son?" Plasmius asked, shocked before a smirk crossed his face. A black ring of energy appeared around Plasmius's torso before splitting horizontally as well, revealing a very familiar man in the ghost's place.

"Well, what do you know?" Vlad Masters mused with a smirk on his face, the very same one Plasmius had worn earlier.

Agunimon and Andy burst through the door, both ready for war. However, they stopped short when they didn't see two ghosts, but Vlad Masters, and an unconscious Danny lying on the floor. Their war cry turned into a confused 'huh?'

Vlad turned around, seeing Andy and Agunimon behind him. "Oh? What do we have here?"

Andy and Agunimon had no idea what was happening.

"Uh… we… um… didn't you… see two ghosts out here just now…?" Andy asked, caught off guard by this.

"Ghosts? My dear boy, it sounds like you were having a nightmare," Vlad remarked. "I found your brother sleepwalking and he passed out right here in front of me. You must've been doing the same."

"What?" Andy furrowed his eyebrows, he was sure what just happened had been no dream.

"It is no problem, dear boy. I can get you all back in bed no time~" Vlad grinned.

"Uh…" Agunimon started, trying to come up with an explanation about himself.

However, two invisible Plasmius flew up from behind them, grabbing their shoulders. Neither Andy nor Agunimon had time to react before they were shocked by the ghost's ecto ray that was enough to knock both of them unconscious harmlessly. With Agunimon, he ended up reverting back to Takuya.

"Oh, now there's an interesting twist as well. Jack's nephew was that Digimon, no wonder he was ignorant to what he was," Vlad noted before he grinned sinisterly. "Things just got a whole lot more complicated."

---

Takuya groaned as he thrashed around in his bed, feeling something wrapping around him. Finally, Takuya yelped as he fell off of his bed, tangled up in his sheets, the impact with the floor jolting him awake. "Ow!" He exclaimed as he fell on his face.

The boy pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbing at his face and noting he was tangled up in sheets. "Huh? What? How did I get here? And…" Takuya trailed off as he remembered Andy and Phantom as well as that vampire-like ghost. "Shit! Andy and Phantom!"

Takuya began to untangle himself from the sheets, only to realize he was back in his human form. "Crap…" Takuya muttered to himself, realizing this was not a good scenario for him. What if someone saw me revert back to human form?!

"Is everything alright?" A familiar voice asked Takuya.

Takuya froze when he saw Vlad walk out of the shadows, and was looking at him in what appeared to be concern.

"Uh… Yeah… I just… had a bad dream…" Takuya muttered, trying to cover up his little fall from the bed earlier. "I… sorry about the racket…" Oh man… What now? As far as I know, Vlad didn't see me revert… right?

"It certainly did sound like you were having quite the nightmare," Vlad noted. "Would you like to talk about it? I was walking down the hallway when I heard you screaming out."

"Ah… no, no, it's… It's fine. I just… was worn out from the trip. No offense to my uncle Jack, but his snoring doesn't make for a very peaceful rest." Takuya said sheepishly. "I guess I was dreaming about chainsaws coming down on me, his snoring can get that loud in a cramped RV…"

"Oh my, that is scary. Jack doesn't inspire confidence when driving," Vlad replied. "Very well, I'll leave you to get some rest then. I'd rather you weren't too tired for the reunion party tomorrow."

"Yeah… thanks…" Takuya said before he got fully untangled from the sheets and climbed back into his bed. Once in bed, Takuya turned away from Vlad and tried to act like he was asleep. Takuya stuck his hand into a pocket on his pajamas and felt that odd device he used to become Agunimon. Good… I still have it… He thought in relief.

Vlad soon left Takuya's room, leaving the boy alone. Vlad just smirked to himself before he walked to the twins' room. They should be waking up by now.

In the shared room, Danny was moving around in his bed, feeling like he was under attack. "Ngh… No,.. No! Get away!" Danny cried as he sat up in bed before opening his eyes and seeing he was back in his and Andy's shared room at Vlad's castle. He looked around, confused. "Wait… what happened?" He wondered.

"I don't know, but you pack a very mean punch, bro…" A voice said from below Danny's bed.

Danny looked over his bed, surprised to see Andy on the floor, rubbing his slightly swollen cheek.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Andy!" Danny exclaimed as his cheeks flushed red. "I didn't mean to hit you so hard! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, you didn't hit me that hard… you just… seem to have a lot more strength than you used to. I really wanna know what secret workout you've been doing. You could totally give Dash a mean right hook if you wanted to," Andy noted as he stood up.

"Ah… It's… not that important." Danny said, trying to cover up for his ghostly strength. Geez… I need to watch my own strength as a human… especially around Andy…

"Are you two alright?" Vlad's voice asked as he walked out of the shadows.

"You… Mr. Masters, could you tell us what the heck happened?" Andy asked, clearly remembering the events before getting knocked out.

"I was about to ask you the very same question," Vlad replied. "I heard you two screaming out as I was walking by. Did you both have a nightmare?"

"Um… Kinda…" Danny replied. "But… I think it's over now… The long car trip probably made it worse. Sorry for the scare."

"Yeah… a nightmare…" Andy agreed, frowning. Maybe… How else could I explain Phantom and that vampire ghost being there one minute, then Danny and Vlad the next? But I don't know, other than that confusing part, everything else felt pretty real to me…

"Oh what's a little scare between friends, eh, son?" Vlad smiled. "Sleep tight, little badger. I hope both you and your brother manage to get plenty of rest for tomorrow."

He seems… quite friendly to Danny for some reason. Andy noted, but didn't say anything as he watched the man walk out of their room. Maybe I'm just paranoid from the… maybe nightmare.

Danny fell back onto his bed and wanted to let sleep claim him, but something was keeping him from actually falling asleep, and it wasn't just his experience with that ghost. Why did Vlad call me 'little badger'? That's… kinda creepy…

Deciding it wasn't really anything other than a nickname, Danny decided to try and let sleep claim him. I can probably figure it out later…

Vlad closed the door, grinning to himself. Yes, sleep tight~

Andy laid down beside Danny again despite getting punched earlier by Danny's sleep fighting. It wouldn't be the first time the twins accidentally hit each other in their sleep when they slept in the same bed, but it was the first time Danny's punch really hurt. Andy himself had toughened up a bit from all that dodge training, but maybe he needed to do more than just dodge training when he got back home. To be a little safer, Andy chose to sleep near the edge of the bed, and facing away from Danny.

Danny felt Andy moving away from him and blushed a bit. He felt bad for hitting Andy with his ghostly strength, and he felt he had to apologize in the morning.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: Yes, the heartwarming endings are so cute. X3

pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Takuya's Spirit was keeping him safe from the sickness, at least that's our excuse. XD And yup, Vlad is gonna be fun. He knows some things that our characters don't~

ZAFT: As fo Andy's fear of teddy bears, well… it wouldn't be Andy if he wasn't. XD

DarkFoxKit: Although his fear isn't as pronounced here as in the previous iterations. I originally gave him that fear as a funny little gag, but I felt that gag had run its course by now.

CT7567Rules: ZAFT: Oh, that is so true in terms of wishes. And ghosts do know of Digimon, they just didn't tell Agunimon/Takuya to give a disadvantage to him.

DarkFoxKit: And the ghosts don't have a reason to tell him. They hate Digimon, but why should they tell that to someone who is a Digimon they don't know much about? Not to mention nobody had directly asked the ghosts what a Digimon was either.