DarkFoxKit: Aww, only one review this time? I thought people were excited for Vlad, but I guess nobody noticed or was busy last week?
ZAFT: Well, Christmas is around the corner, so most likely busy. ^^'
DarkFoxKit: People need to stop doing last minute Christmas shopping and get all the stuff they need like a month in advance. But aside from that, I hope everyone's doing well. Please enjoy the next chapter.
(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 15: Crashing the College Reunion
The next day, most of the Fenton family, and Takuya, spent the day getting ready for the college reunion. Jack was talking about how he and Maddie had come so far in their ghost research enough to build a working Ghost Portal in their basement. Vlad acted cool to the whole thing, saying how he gave up on ghost research after the accident in college, but he congratulated them on their accomplishment. Jazz was the only one who didn't bother getting ready for the reunion. She was in a grumpy enough mood as it was, she wasn't going to play along and even bother to attend this reunion that had nothing to do with her.
Before they knew it, it was evening, and people were starting to show up for the reunion party. Danny was wearing a black tuxedo with a light blue tie. Andy wore a white tuxedo with a red tie.
Takuya was wearing a dark blue tuxedo with a yellow tie, but he felt a bit uncomfortable in it, as evidenced by his itching. "How can the wealthy stand wearing these things? No wonder it's called a 'Monkey Suit', I'm itching like crazy in this thing!" He grumbled.
"What I don't get is why we have to wear these things, yet Mom and Dad get to keep their hazmat suits on," Andy grumbled as well. "Sure Dad's wearing a tie too, but he still has his big orange jumpsuit on."
"Come on, guys, it's not so bad," Danny chuckled, though he was trying his best not to itch himself. "We should get going."
"Wait, where's Jazz?" Andy asked.
Andy ended up finding Jazz at the screening room, where a movie about the packers playing football was playing. It looked to be an old movie since the colors were mostly white, and different shades of brown. Andy saw Jazz sitting in the seats. She wasn't even dressed up, she was wearing her old attire.
"Jazz? Aren't you coming to the reunion?" Andy asked when he approached his sister.
"Really? I don't want to watch a bunch of old fossils pogo to New Wave music. No offense to Mom and Dad, but I don't want to be embarrassed by them around other adults. I'm lucky Genius Magazine didn't outright toss Mom's interview when it drifted to ghosts."
"Genius Magazine seemed more interested in me and Danny even though we weren't women," Andy chuckled. "Besides, 'old fossils'? Really Jazz? Aren't you supposed to be mentally an adult? Ever since we got here, you've been acting… well, your age, which is odd for you."
Jazz blinked before she realized Andy was right. Her face went red at this realization. "Don't you mention a word of this to Mom and Dad!" She hissed, trying to cover up for her teenage attitude.
Andy gave a grin. "Maybe I'd be inclined to if a certain sister stops trying to be stubborn and actually go to the reunion~"
Jazz narrowed her eyes.
"Hey, if you're going to get angry over not going to school, you might as well turn this into a learning experience. These adults have experienced life outside of school and college after all, you might learn a thing or two from those 'old fossils' as you called them," Andy oh-so-innocently suggested.
Jazz narrowed her eyes again before she looked down in thought. Finally, she sighed and stood up. "You know what? You're right. It would be interesting to speak with other, more normal adults. You don't say a word about my 'immature' behavior, and I will join you at the reunion."
Andy grinned. "You got yourself a deal~"
Jazz blinked then frowned, realizing her brother just played her. "Hey, wait-"
"Have fun at the reunion~" Andy said before he walked out of the screening room, before poking his head back in. "Oh and you might want to change into something a little more formal."
With that said, Andy left, leaving Jazz to realize what just happened.
"Oh… I am going to get back at you for this, Andy… I see you cuddling with Bearbert in your future." Jazz swore before she walked off to get changed into something more formal. But I may as well get changed and join the others at the reunion. It may be an interesting way to compare my theses with other minds.
Jazz ended up wearing a formal teal uniform. She didn't have to wear a dress, thankfully, it was not her style. After she got that on, she joined the rest of her family as they headed into the ballroom where the party of the reunion was taking place.
"How did you get Jazz to come here?" Danny asked Andy.
"You just gotta know the right words," Andy shrugged. "I just couldn't help but notice Jazz was being a bit bratty, so I pointed out the opportunity she was missing out with her stubbornness."
Takuya grinned. "Sounds like you have a way with words~" He said with a grin.
Danny chuckled. "I'd be watching your back for the foreseeable future, bro. You never know what Jazz may do for payback~"
"It was worth it," Andy said. "I just wanted her to see what was outside of her room and books."
There was some music going, there were other adults already there, trying out some food. Most of the food was finger food, however, not really meant to be eaten all at once. The adults were talking to each other, some were wearing cheese hats.
"But it looks like we're the only kids here," Takuya pointed out, feeling awkward.
"Tell me about it…" Danny muttered, feeling the same as Takuya. "Maybe we should've tried to get Mom and Dad to leave us at home alone for once… Then we wouldn't be the only kids here…"
"Don't be silly, Danny!" Jack grinned, having heard Danny's comment. "The fact you're the only kids here means you have a great opportunity! Look over there! That's Harriet, an old acquaintance of mine."
There was an asian looking woman with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail. Like with Jazz, she wore a green formal uniform. She wore some make up like purple eyeliner and lipstick. She was trying out one of the finger foods when Jack called for her.
"Hey, Harri!" Jack called happily.
Harriet almost choked on her finger food. "Ugh… I know that voice anywhere…" She said, not that she didn't enjoy the idea of seeing Jack again. He was just… a bit too eccentric for her tastes.
Harriet approached the family, giving a polite smile. "Jack, Maddie, how nice it is to see you again. I see you've brought kids. Are they yours?"
"Of course they are, well except this one," Maddie answered, putting a hand on Takuya's head. "He's my nephew, and he's staying with us for the school year."
Takuya was blushing from being signaled out.
Jack grinned as he had an arm around Jazz. "Jazz, Danny, Andy, meet Harriet Chin, she's a big shot working for the hot shot Milwaukee Journal these days. But back in my college days, she was just Harri, Harri Chin!"
Harriet frowned, she had hoped Jack wouldn't bring up that awful nickname, but of course the big oaf couldn't forget something as funny as that.
"I'm really sorry, Harriet, Jack can be a bit excited," Maddie apologized.
"I can't forget that." Harriet agreed. "But sweetie, you married him. Although Jack is lovable, so I can't really hate him for giving me that horrible nickname. I just wish it hadn't caught on in college."
Suddenly the music changed into something a lot more upbeat. Jack got really excited at hearing that music. "Hey! They're playing our kind of music! Come on, Maddie! Let's pogo!"
Without warning, Jack took Maddie's arm and started bouncing over to the dance floor.
"Whoa, Dad sure can bounce," Andy said, impressed.
"And now I'm officially mortified," Danny muttered.
"Make that two of us." Takuya agreed.
"Welcome to the club." Harriet sighed.
Jazz grinned as she looked at Harriet. "So was what my pogo dancing dad said true? Are you really a journalist for the Milwaukee Journal?"
Harriet grinned at Jazz's question. "It sure is. I've been there for several years now." She said with pride. "Why do you ask? Are you interested in journalism?"
"I'm studying psychology, but I don't mind branching out a little more," Jazz answered. "What kind of things did you do?"
"Well, you wouldn't believe what I had to do to get a good review on this purple back gorilla," Harriet began.
While Jazz was enjoying her time with Harriet, Danny, Andy, and Takuya walked over to the punch bowl table.
"I knew Jazz would enjoy herself here," Andy chuckled.
"I'll say. This is the first time I've seen her this happy since we got here." Takuya said with a grin of his own.
"Who knows? Maybe talking with Harriet or others here may get Jazz to not give you payback, bro" Danny chuckled.
"Well what would she do anyways? Pour glue and glitter all over me?" Andy asked.
"Did you forget she's the owner of Bearbert?" Danny asked.
Andy paled at hearing that. "... I'm boarding up our doors when we get back home."
Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Do I want to know what happened with Andy and Jazz's teddy-bear?" He asked.
Danny sighed. "No, no you don't…" He admitted at last.
"Let me put it this way, teddy bears are capable of holding chainsaws," Andy gulped.
"Wait… Really?" Takuya asked, blinking in confusion. "I… don't think I do want to know what happened to Andy and Bearbert…"
As the party went on, Andy and Takuya were taking the opportunity to train a little on the dance floor. They bounced around, avoiding the other adults as they were bouncing around. Andy twirled around, barely avoiding some of the adults, while Takuya was smacked around a little before he managed to get away from the crowd of bouncing adults.
Danny was watching them from the table. He was planning to go in once one of them came over to take a break. Andy had a good idea to be practical while they were here, but they wanted to keep at least one person on watch in case something went wrong.
"Well, son, you're looking quite rested. And I see your brother and cousin are out having some fun on the dance floor." Vlad said as he put a hand on Danny's shoulder.
Danny smiled as he nodded. "Yeah, I was going to join them soon. But please, call me Danny, 'son' is what my parents call me."
"Yes, yes, of course." Vlad said, correcting himself. "Well, before your brother or cousin comes back, I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor."
"Oh, sure, Mr. Masters, what do you need?" Danny asked, feeling good to help someone out.
"There is a present I forgot to get for your father. It's upstairs, through the second door on the right." Vlad said, not wanting to ruin the 'surprise'.
"Okay, sure!" Danny said as he stood up before walking over to the dance floor. "Hey, Andy, Takuya! I'm going to pick up something, you two alright with that?"
"Huh? Where are you going?" Andy asked as he came out of the crowd of adults.
"Just to grab a present for our dad that Mr. Masters forgot to get from upstairs." Danny replied.
Andy was about to reply with 'sure', when he suddenly saw an image of a black cube, an image of Skulker grinning menacingly, and that blurry white, blue, red, and black figure. The blurry figure started to look familiar, however, like that vampire ghost he saw fighting Phantom in his 'maybe nightmare' last night.
Andy blinked, surprised and confused by those images he suddenly saw flashed before his eyes.
"Hey, Andy? Are you okay, bro?" Danny asked, blinking. He hadn't expected Andy to zone out like that.
Andy rubbed his head a little. "Maybe I didn't get a very good sleep last night… Um… Danny, would it be alright if I went with you? I just got a… bad feeling, I guess you can say. I'd rather not leave you alone."
Danny blinked before he grinned. "It's fine, bro. I'm just going to get a present, nothing more. What could possibly happen?"
"Don't ever ask that," Andy warned before he looked back at Takuya, who was still trying to get around the crowd of adults. "Hey, Takuya, we're going to pick something up. We'll leave Mom, Dad, and Jazz to you, okay?"
Takuya looked up at his twin cousins. "Huh? Oh… sure… whatever. Just get back here quickly, okay?" He said, not really processing things due to having to focus on the dodging he was doing.
"Alright, let's go," Andy said to Danny.
Vlad was surprised that Andy decided to follow Danny, he hadn't anticipated the other twin to go with Danny, but no matter, that was only a minor setback. As far as he could tell, the brother didn't share Danny's ability to become a half ghost. Nor did the boy have the ability to become a Digimon like his cousin. As long as the Digimon boy stayed here, his plan would still go smoothly.
As Danny and Andy left to get the present, Vlad looked back at Maddie and Jack, his eyes only eying the woman who he felt was meant to be his. "Maddie… That lab accident cost me my youthful chance at you, but that's all about to change…" He said with a sinister grin crossing his face.
Danny and Andy reached the room Vlad told Danny to go to. But when they walked up to the door, the door automatically opened, and when they walked inside, it looked like they walked into some kind of lab.
"Uh… I didn't know Vlad had a lab," Andy commented.
"He used to work on ghost research with our parents, didn't he?" Danny shrugged.
"He said he gave up on ghost research," Andy pointed out. "I don't like this, something feels off…"
Danny frowned. "Really? Why do you say that? If it's a lab, maybe it's for one of his staff? Maybe they are working on something he wants to keep from the public."
"It just doesn't feel right… I don't know, I get this sense of spookiness, like the kind I usually only get at home, or in the central park at night when I go visit Phantom. But I expect that spookiness, not this one, not here," Andy explained. "How do you not notice it? It's pretty strong."
Danny frowned. It wasn't so much that he didn't notice it, it was… he was comfortable in it, like he felt right at home. Which he hadn't felt since he got to this place, until now, while in this lab.
"Not only that, I don't see a present here, do you?" Andy asked, looking around before spotting a picture that had a younger looking Vlad, and their mother on there, and someone else whose face appeared to be ripped out of the photo.
"Now that you mention it…" Danny noted with a small frown before he saw what Andy was looking at. "Hold on… What's going on with that picture?" He asked as he walked up next to Andy. "Why is there a person's face missing?"
Andy picked up the picture and squinted his eyes before he remembered that torn picture of a younger looking Jack the vultures dropped a few days ago. "Wait a minute…"
Andy kept the torn picture with him in case he saw those vultures again, he was going to ask them who sent them to kill their dad. He took the torn picture out from his pocket and held it over the torn area. It was a perfect match.
"Where did you…" Danny began to ask, wondering about the picture fragment before he realized it was a match, and his question to Andy was replaced with horror. "Oh no… You've got to be kidding me!"
"Danny… I think… we've just been set up in a trap," Andy warned.
As soon as Andy said that, the familiar blue mist came out of Danny's mouth. Shortly after, both Danny and Andy's arms were grabbed by green tentacles, and were lifted up into the air. They were being held by two green, ghost octopuses.
"Oh, c'mon! Really?!" Danny growled as he glared at the two ecto-pi.
"Figures everything will go wrong…" Andy frowned.
Danny glared at the Ectopus that had his brother and kicked it in the face, using his ghostly strength. The Ectopus yelped as it released Andy. Andy, not wasting time to be in shock of his brother's strength, took out the Fenton Rod he kept in his pocket even while wearing a tuxedo. He extended the rod and slammed it onto the Ectopus holding Danny, knocking it out.
Danny landed on his feet, rubbing at his arms. "Thanks, bro…" He said gratefully.
"Thanks for releasing me too," Andy said as he looked at the two Ecto-pi. "What were these ghosts doing down here? Aren't they a little far from the Ghost Portal?"
"I don't know, but I think you're right about this being a trap." Danny said, now on high alert.
"And they're not alone, pups!" A familiar voice called out before Andy was suddenly on the floor, trapped in a glowing green net.
"Andy!" Danny called out in alarm before looking to see who just trapped Andy in the net. "Skulker?"
"In the ectoplasm." Skulker grinned. "Funny, I was aiming at you though, not your brother. Well, it works out to my favor anyway~"
Andy frowned as Danny moved to dodge Skulker's ecto blasts, and then he jumped before using his ghostly strength to kick Skulker into some kind of container that released some kind of gas when Skulker crashed into it.
"How did you get here without the Ghost Portal? What are you even doing here?" Danny demanded.
"All excellent questions." Skulker sneered as he got to one knee. There was some kind of black cube in Skulker's right hand. "Catch!" He said as he threw the cube at Danny's feet.
Andy's eyes went wide, he recognized that black cube, from the images in his head earlier. He also remembered seeing Skulker. If those images were accurate, that meant they would be seeing that powerful vampire ghost soon too.
"Don't touch it!" Andy shouted in alarm at Danny.
However, the warning came too late. The black box was already in front of Danny, and it expanded itself over him, covering his entire body except his head.
"H-hey! What is this?!" Danny demanded, trying to phase out of the box, but to no avail. Oh crap! I can't use any of my ghost powers!
"And that's not all it does~" Skulker sneered before he pressed a button on his right arm.
The box began to shock Danny, causing him to scream in pain.
"Danny!" Andy called out in concern, a part of him tempted to try to break out of the net, but something told him to wait.
Thankfully, Danny wasn't shocked for very long, but it did put him in a daze. Danny felt his core weakened from that electrocution, so he couldn't go ghost even if he wanted to right now. Skulker grinned as he grabbed onto Danny's head, holding him still, as he let out a large glowing blade in front of Danny's neck.
Danny looked down at the glowing green blade once he regained his senses. "Ah… The glowing green blade is new…" He said nervously.
Skulker couldn't help but relish in the acknowledgement. "You like it? I've had some upgrades. But now, down to business~"
Andy gasped, and was about to try something when someone suddenly called out to stop Skulker.
"Enough! I didn't hire you to kill the boy, Skulker!"
It was Vlad, the man looked rather irritated at Skulker for attempting to behead Danny, but then he smirked. "Your work here is done."
Skulker blinked before retracting the blade and looked sheepish. "Yes, well I…" His arm beeped, making him look at it. He grumbled when he saw what it said. "Have to go and check out a book on a gorilla… again! I regret taking this device from that stupid human…"
Skulker's wings came out and he blasted off, turning intangible so he could phase through the roof of the castle.
Danny looked at Skulker's vanishing form before looking at Vlad in confusion. "What's going on? The ecto-pi? Skulker? I don't understand."
Andy, however, did. The moment Vlad walked in and told Skulker he hired him, Andy knew. The vampire ghost from yesterday, that wasn't a dream. The reason why Vlad showed up so suddenly where the vampire ghost was. And why Andy saw images of that ghost in his head earlier.
Vlad rolled his eyes at Danny's comment as he walked closer to the boy, completely ignoring Andy in the net. "Of course you don't understand, you're what, 14? Too young to drive, and not even in college yet? I sent those ghosts, and others, to test your father's skills. Imagine my surprise when I find you. Or should I say that Phantom kid? The second Halfa his foolishness had created?"
Danny blinked. "Second?"
Vlad, not caring at all that there was a third party watching, grinned as he summoned the black rings of light around his torso, splitting the rings horizontally, changing him. Danny's eyes widened in horror for two reasons when he saw Vlad changing into Plasmius right before him, and Andy. The first being the obvious, this was that overpowered ghost Danny stood no chance against he encountered last night. The second, Andy had seen this human man turn himself into a ghost. With someone as smart as Andy, there was no way he wouldn't figure out Danny was Phantom.
"No… No way… You are…that ghost Phantom was fighting last night?" Danny trailed off, not wanting to say it was him that Vlad had fought.
"How did you know about that?" Andy asked, he never told Danny about the fight Phantom had with this ghost last night, since he hadn't been sure if it was a dream or not, at least until now.
"Gah! Nevermind that now!" Danny yelled, realizing his panic was making it harder for him to think clearly.
"You're having a little spat with your brother? Hilarious. I on the other hand…" Vlad smirked as he put his gloved hand on the box Danny was stuck in. "Have this! A Spectral Energy Neutralizer, designed by Skulker, paid for by me. And as long as you're contained within that box, you're as powerless as your brother over there."
Andy raised an eyebrow at that. Making Danny sweat more, Vlad was just telling Andy at this point.
Danny was so ready to let loose on Vlad now. "Let me out of here!" He cried, trying to phase out of the box again.
"Why? So you can go back to bumbling through your adolescence, struggling to learn how to control your new talents?" Vlad asked before he turned to Danny and grinned. "Something that I've had for 20 years. I have experience, my child."
Vlad made his point by showing off some of his powers by making his hands glow with ecto fire. Then he created a pinkish red barrier in front of him. "As well as the money and power I gained from using my talents."
Vlad split himself into three as all three of them spoke in sync. "I could train you, and teach you everything I know."
The other two duplicates went back into Vlad, and Vlad turned himself invisible. "And all you have to do is…"
Vlad returned to being visible. "Renounce your idiot father."
"So I'm just chopped liver, huh?" Andy grumbled. You'd think the way he's talking, that he's talking to Phantom instead of Danny. Maybe he thinks Phantom is Danny?
Andy looked at his brother.
Danny looked back at Andy, not sure what else to do. He was trapped in this box, and Andy was in a net. They were powerless and helpless. Still, Danny did something true to his nature.
"Sorry, it's not going to happen. That just shows you're one messed up fruit loop." Danny said with a bit of a grin. "I think I have enough help with figuring out my… talents, as you say."
"Yes, well once your father is out of the way, we'll see how you feel." Vlad smirked before he gave a villainous laugh before he wrapped himself with his cape, and disappeared in a green swirl.
Andy took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay… where do I even begin!?"
"Tell me about it!" Danny exclaimed. "Vlad of all people?! He has ghost powers?!" This is bad… This is really, really bad!
"Vlad having ghost powers is what shocked you?" Andy asked. "I think there's something more important about that, that you don't want to tell me."
Danny paled. He knows! He knows! He totally knows! I should've just told him earlier when I had the chance! But nope, I had to be a freaking coward! "Um… l-look, bro, I-"
"Not that I blame you, it's really disturbing, and really gross," Andy continued. "I guess it kinda goes in line to what Mom and Dad said about malicious ghosts though. Possessing the corpse of someone to disguise themselves. Or maybe Vlad is willingly letting this ghost possess him to gain money and power."
Danny blinked. "H-huh?" Wait… what did Andy say?
"I guess Vlad, for some reason, thinks you're doing the same for Phantom. Not really sure why Phantom was here in the first place, but I guess it's a logical conclusion since he lets a ghost possess him, giving him ghostly powers, and you must've got knocked out when Phantom was flying away from that ghost. He likely came after Phantom and saw you lying there, so he thought you were Phantom while you were knocked out," Andy explained, his mind connecting the dots in all the wrong ways.
I can set him straight and tell him now, or I could just roll with what Andy gave me. Danny thought to himself, seeing that his brother came to the wrong conclusion, giving him an out.
"Err… yeah! That's gotta be it!" Danny agreed. "But the whole corpse thing? That is a disgusting idea there, bro." Danny looked a bit sick at the thought.
"But you can't count out the possibility," Andy pointed out. "But seeing how Vlad seems to be living like a human, he probably just lets the ghost possess him. Now, how about we get out of here?"
Danny blinked, Andy was stuck in a net, and he was stuck in this box.
"Ugh… great…" Danny grumbled, not having thought of that. "We can't just start yelling for help. These walls are stone and are probably at least a foot thick!"
"Relax, bro, I've got this," Andy said before he pushed the net up with his rod, breaking it fairly easily. "Well, that wasn't too hard. I guess Skulker and Vlad thought I couldn't escape the net, shame on them for thinking I was helpless like that."
"Great! Now can you get me out of here?" Danny asked, glad to see Andy was freed. "We need to hurry! Dad and the others at the party could be in danger!"
Andy walked over to Danny, frowning as he looked at the box.
"What's wrong?" Danny frowned.
"Just trying to figure out how to get the box off of you," Andy replied. "It's made of solid metal, I can't just break you out of it."
"Isn't there some kind of button or something?!" Danny asked worriedly.
Meanwhile, back at the party, Takuya was grumbling as he was sitting at the punch bowl table, alone, bored out of his mind.
"Great… where are Andy and Danny? They said something about getting something and then they didn't come back." Takuya grumbled. "What else could go wrong…? At least Jazz is enjoying herself now…"
Takuya looked around the room, seeing a man bouncing in a corner with a lampshade on his head. He grimaced at seeing that. Yeah… I'm glad I'm too young to have what he probably had…
Jazz was still talking to Harriet, writing down everything she was saying into her notepad. Jazz wondered why she was mad about coming to this college reunion in the first place at this point.
Jack took a break from pogo dancing, and was trying out the food. The food, in Jack's most humble opinion, was very tasteless. He didn't understand why wealthy people liked eating this stuff.
As nice as it was to enjoy the reunion, Jack couldn't help but feel a bit bored. He had been hoping to have something exciting happen, like an attack by the Dairy King's ghost or something.
Jack, unfortunately, didn't need Desiree to grant him that wish. No sooner had Jack thought of that than Vlad phased up from the floor while invisible behind Jack, and flew into the man's body. Jack dropped the platter he was eating when he felt a strong, evil presence that was filled with bloodlust trying to take him over.
At the same time, Takuya suddenly got chills and heat running down his spine at the same time and he gasped. "Oh no… Not now…" He muttered as he looked around for any sign of the ghost he was sensing.
However, Takuya didn't see the ghost he was sensing. But he did notice his uncle was suddenly acting a bit… aggressive? That made Takuya frown. He knew his uncle was a big man, yes, but he wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it. Then he got the chills and heat down his spine again as he saw his uncle beginning to approach Harriet and Jazz, a sinister grin on his face, one that looked very out of character for the lovable oaf.
"Oh… crap…" Takuya hissed as he realized something had overshadowed his uncle Jack; that was the only explanation for the chills and heat running down his spine he was experiencing.
"Dad?" Jazz asked when she saw Jack approaching them.
"What do you want?" Harriet asked, annoyed that she was interrupted by Jack.
"Just feeling a little bored… so what do you say we liven up this shindig?" 'Jack' grinned as he suddenly picked up Harriet and threw her at the punch bowl table.
Takuya saw what his uncle was doing and knew something was very wrong now. He had to do something! He ran to the door so he could leave the ballroom and do his thing.
While Takuya was doing that, Harriet sat up, feeling like something was possibly broken. She spat out the spoon from the punch bowl that was on her head from her mouth.
Maddie ran up behind Jack, enraged. "Jack! What's the matter with you?!"
"Dad! I can't believe you just did that!" Jazz screamed, she knew her dad could be very eccentric, but he was never violent to another human being.
"Why Jazz, Maddie, what's wrong? Are you scared of seeing me for who I really am? A monster?" 'Jack' asked, moving closer to both the daughter and the wife. "That when you chose me, Maddie, you chose wrong?"
'Jack' looked like he was about to do something to Jazz or Maddie, but then the real Jack began to fight back against the evil presence inside his body when he saw his family was in danger. "No… get out! Get out of me!"
"I don't know what's come over you," Harriet hissed as she staggered to her feet, holding her left shoulder. She was sure it was dislocated. "But when I get back to my job, I swear, when I write about this…"
Jack, not able to hold back for much longer, quickly looked at his wife and daughter. "Ghost… overpowering me… Maddie… Jazz… run…"
Then Jack was lifted up into the air as his body was glowing an unnatural bright green. "RUUUUUN!"
Jazz's eyes were wide in horror. She never believed in ghosts, but what she was witnessing right now couldn't be called normal at all.
Outside the ballroom, Takuya could sense the ghost's power was getting worse. He couldn't waste anymore time. 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 as Agunimon, the boy knew what he had to do. Time to show that ghost who is a real monster… Agunimon thought as he mentally prepared himself for the fight.
The other people began to run away in a panic, Harriet though was excited to see this as her journalist spirit was on fire. "He's a ghost? This is the story of the century!"
"Mom! What's happening to Dad!?" Jazz yelled as Maddie grabbed both her and Harriet's arms to start running.
"Don't worry, Jazz, I'll save your father from that ghost!" Maddie quickly said. "We gotta get to the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle!"
Then Maddie remembered Harriet would have no idea what that was. "I mean the RV!"
Agunimon ran into the ballroom, seeing now was his best chance to try to get the ghost out of Jack. The only problem was, while he could fight, he had no way to get a ghost out of a person's body. He would need Phantom for that.
Great… I'm at a disadvantage. I can't force a ghost out of a human! Unless… maybe I can weaken the ghost by forcing it to use more power than it can put out. Agunimon realized. Then Uncle Jack could possibly break free and force the ghost out himself. Or I could just end up hurting Uncle Jack since it's his body I'm hitting.
It wasn't a foolproof plan, but it was the best one he had at the moment. Agunimon mentally apologized to his uncle for what he was about to do. Please… forgive me, Uncle Jack…
"Hey! You get out of Jack right now!" Agunimon shouted at the floating Jack.
'Jack' looked at Agunimon. "Ah, look who we have here, the Digimon boy who doesn't know anything about himself! What do you think you can do to get me out?"
"Plenty!" Agunimon hissed, showing his sharp canine teeth. He wasn't about to risk using his attacks, but if he had to, he was only going to use his Pyro Darts since that was his weakest attack, and the one that would cause the least amount of bodily harm to Jack.
Agunimon got into a fighting stance as he watched the floating Jack carefully. I need to be careful since this ghost is likely the same one who trounced me last time.
"Then bring it on, boy!" 'Jack' challenged.
Meanwhile, back in the lab, Andy was still looking for the button. "They must've hidden the button."
Andy began to tap the box with his Fenton Rod to try to find the hidden button.
"Great… I thought this would be a fun experience for once, but no… the whole thing was a trap by that fruitloop!" Danny grumbled.
"I guess he held a grudge against our dad when the proto portal gave Vlad that ecto acne disease," Andy sighed as he kept looking for the button. "He probably met with that ghost and made a deal with it. My guess is that the ghost went into his body and healed the ecto acne, then he allowed Vlad to use his powers to do whatever he wanted, and in return, he let Vlad use his body whenever he wanted. A 'deal with the devil' type of scenario."
"Yeah… probably…" Danny agreed, not really liking having to go along with Andy's theory, but it was the only way to keep his brother from finding out his secret. "Any luck on finding that button, bro? I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic."
"Not yet… but Danny… I want to ask you," Andy began. "Did you… start gaining more ghost traits from that accident?"
Danny looked away from Andy, feeling himself sweating. "No, why do you say that? I can only sense ghosts, not fly or anything like that."
"You're able to take hits most normal people couldn't, and walk it off. You're able to kick and punch ghosts with enough force to actually hurt them or send them flying. Your body temperature is way below the normal human temperature. And both Vlad and Skulker mistook you for Phantom more than once," Andy explained. "You can't tell me that isn't a little weird."
"... Maybe the ectoplasm from my accident boosted my physical abilities a bit… And it makes me feel colder than normal because I have it in my system." Danny finally said, trying to come up with a cover for his greater physical abilities.
Andy frowned as he stopped looking for the button and looked up at Danny. "... I'm just… worried… What if you… do become a ghost?"
"Is… um… that a problem?" Danny asked, frowning.
"As long as you're still you, I guess not… but… it's the implications that bother me," Andy answered. "You becoming a ghost means you're… well… no longer alive."
Danny paled before he regained his senses and shook his head. "Andy! It's not like I'm dying! I've had this ectoplasm in my body for what… four or five months? I'm fine! It's not killing me, I just have a few extra… well… I just have better endurance, better strength, and a ghost sense! It's not like I am going to gain ghostly rays and other ghostly traits. I am sure my only side-effects were the more physical ones."
Andy looked at Danny.
"Besides, you've been friends with a ghost for a while now too, right? You know I won't go evil or something if I did become a ghost, right?" Danny asked. "And I'm still alive, bro, don't worry. You can check my heart when you get me out of here if you need proof."
Andy gave Danny a small smile. "Yeah. Sorry, I guess I'm letting my own worries get the better of me again. Let's get you out."
Andy pushed something with his Rod, and the box suddenly shrunk down back to its tiny size. Andy grinned before he kicked the box away. "There we go!"
Danny grinned. "Nice work, bro! Now let's see about trying to save our Dad!"
"Hey boys, looks like you didn't need my help getting you out of that jam," A new voice spoke up, Danny's ghost sense went off.
"Huh?" Andy looked up, seeing what looked exactly like the Dairy King from the portrait Vlad showed them before, only his skin was green, and his eyes were red. "Whoa, aren't you the Dairy King?"
"That's me, don't cha know?" The Dairy King grinned. "I heard of two boys in trouble and wanted to help, but apparently you figured it out." He said, a proud tone in his voice, almost like a grandfather in a way.
There was something different about the Dairy King compared to the other ghosts. Andy noted that the Dairy King felt friendly to be around, like Phantom. The boy just knew the Dairy King was a good ghost.
"Thanks, really." Andy smiled.
"But why?" Danny asked.
"Well not all ghosts are evil, right?" The Dairy King chuckled. "The ones who aren't tend to want to be left alone, don't cha know? It's why you don't usually see us around in this world."
"So, you're one of these ghosts that just want to live your afterlife in peace?" Danny asked, surprised. He had been sure there were so few good, benevolent ghosts, but to hear there were more than that made him feel very happy. "That's so cool!"
"Of course," Dairy King chuckled.
"Hey, could you help us with that ghost?" Andy asked.
"You mean Plasmius? I don't fight, don't cha know? I'm more of a cheese guy," The Dairy King replied.
"I don't mean fight him, I mean do you know anything about him that we could use against him? You've been living here for a while, right? Surely you know something," Andy clarified.
"Hmmm…" The Dairy King thought for a moment. "I do know he really loves that girl called Maddie Fenton, he even made a holographic image of her."
Danny looked decidedly creeped out at that information. "Wow… this guy is seriously messed up in the head if he is after Mom that badly…"
"But that is useful information…" Andy muttered.
"It is?" Danny blinked.
"If it ever comes up, I'll let you know," Andy replied before he smiled at the Dairy King. "Thank you."
"Of course, good luck! And be sure to try the gouda, it's dairy fresh!" The Dairy King said before he turned intangible and flew up into the ceiling.
Danny looked at Andy. "C'mon, bro! Let's get out of here and save Dad!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Andy and Danny ran out of the lab and hurried back to the ballroom.
In the main ballroom, Agunimon was trying his best to fight 'Jack', but he was stuck playing defense since he didn't want to hurt the possessed man. 'Jack' was more than happy to fly around and throw stuff at Agunimon, who was forced to dodge whatever was thrown at him, or at the very least block it from hitting his face. Damn it! I can't keep this up! I'm stuck playing defense while this ghost is using my uncle's body as a meat puppet!
'Jack' laughed maniacally as he flew around the room, scaring any few remaining party-goers who were hiding or could not escape in time.
"What's the matter, boy? Too afraid to hurt this big oaf of a man!?" 'Jack' taunted.
Meanwhile, Maddie, Jazz, and Harriet were running out to the parking lot. Maddie quickly got Jazz and Harriet inside while Maddie jumped into the driver's seat. Jazz was sitting in the back, still trying to wrap her mind around what just happened, and Harriet, never letting an opportunity go, held out a recorder device.
"So, Maddie, when did you first realize your husband was a monster bent on destroying his smarter, more successful, and better dressed peers?" Harriet asked.
Maddie gave an annoyed look at Harriet. "First of all, Jack is a very smart man. He may not work on the same level as everyone else, but that's just what makes him Jack. Second, we both are very successful people, we managed to finish a genuinely working Ghost Portal back home, and we make more than enough money to get by. And third, 'better dressed'? Come on, Harriet, the jumpsuits are incredibly stylish these days."
With that said, Maddie started up the RV and pushed the pedal to the floor, speeding into the castle and down the hall. Stunned party-goers watched this from the stairs and upper floors of the foyer. Maddie sped down the hall, towards the ballroom.
Jazz yelped as she held onto her seat for dear life. Dad driving was one thing, but her Mom could be just as crazy, especially when it came to ghosts, not to mention they were driving indoors! Everything Jazz knew was crumbling down before her. And she was worried about her dad on top of that. She also didn't know where her younger brothers were, or her cousin.
"MOM! This is CRAZY!" Jazz shouted, trying to stay in her seat. Oh man, oh man, oh man! This is so going in my memoir when we get back home! If we make it back home!
Meanwhile, Andy and Danny finally made it to the ballroom. They saw people trying to run away, or jumping through the window. There was a bit of fire going around, and a flying Jack Fenton laughing like a maniac.
"If you live to tell the tale, remember that big fat Jack Fenton did this to you!" 'Jack' shouted at the party goers.
Agunimon jumped on 'Jack' in an attempt to pin him down, but 'Jack' just went intangible, phasing through the Digimon's attempt at stopping him.
"Damn it!" Agunimon hissed as he landed on the floor, looking back at his uncle's body. I can't just use physical force, but my attacks could hurt him… And of all times to not have my Fenton Rod with me! Or Phantom's help! I could really use that right now…
Andy frowned. "Looks like that Plasmius ghost is overshadowing our dad. Gah! If only Phantom was here! We'd need him to get that ghost out of Dad's body! Or maybe we should've packed the Fenton Ghost Catcher!"
Danny frowned as well, knowing what he had to do. "Andy, I'll be right back. I think I left my Fenton Thermos in that lab. I must've dropped it when that box trapped me."
"You think the Fenton Thermos can get that ghost out of Dad?" Andy asked.
"It's worth a shot. It was able to suck Technus out of that computer," Danny pointed out.
"Okay, you go get your Fenton Thermos, I'll help Agunimon hold him off," Andy quickly said as he took out his Fenton Rod. "And hurry!"
Danny smirked. "I will." He said before turning and running down the hall, only to duck into another room. Looking around to make sure no one was in the room with him, Danny saw he was alone.
Smirking again, Danny held up his arms. "I'm Goin' Ghost!" He called as his white rings appeared around his torso and split horizontally. The rings moved up and down, splitting to reveal the familiar form of Danny Phantom.
Now Phantom, he turned intangible and flew through the walls to the ballroom.
Meanwhile, Andy jumped at 'Jack', who was about to punch Agunimon, and swung his Fenton Rod, hitting 'Jack's' side. This was enough to cause 'Jack' to hit the wall.
"Andy! Be careful! That's your dad you're hitting!" Agunimon yelled.
"Relax, his body has a ghost aura protecting him. Your attacks can still hurt him, but he can take it," Andy explained. "After all, the same thing happened to me when Tucker took over my body."
Agunimon blinked before he looked at 'Jack' again. He was still uncertain about using his attacks on 'Jack', but Agunimon knew he trusted Andy's word because Andy would not say something like that without a solid reason behind it.
Agunimon decided to take a chance and held up his left silver wrist brace before fire flared from its openings. "I hope you're right, Andy. Pyro Darts!" He threw fiery darts at 'Jack', who was seemingly recovered from being hit into the wall.
'Jack' let out a hiss as he created a pinkish red barrier to take the Pyro Darts. "How did you escape from that net?"
"You mean that flimsy net Skulker used on me? Did you think a human couldn't possibly get out of it or something? Wow, you really lost touch with what it means to be human then, huh?" Andy replied with some sass.
Agunimon couldn't help but grin at Andy's sassy comment. Yes, the situation was serious, but Andy being sassy always seemed to make the situation a bit lighter.
"Don't think you can talk that way to me!" 'Jack' snapped. "You're about to see what a real monster your father is!"
"Guess again, Cheesehead!" Another voice shouted.
Andy and Agunimon saw a black and white blur go through Jack's body, tackling out another ghost, and both of them went through the floor. Jack blinked, a little dazed, but he was fully conscious. The ghost likely kept him aware to make him watch hurt people using his own hands.
Agunimon stared before he realized that had been Phantom. "No way… Phantom…" He whispered.
Jack became furious as he got to his feet. "Nobody uses Jack Fenton as a human meat puppet!" He shouted, enraged that a ghost would do something like that to him.
"Dad! Are you alright?" Andy asked in concern.
"I'm fine, son, but thanks," Jack said before he looked at Agunimon. "Um… hey, so uh… fought any good meat monsters lately?"
Agunimon blinked before coughing a bit. "Uh… no… Not… recently… But, I did fight a few ghosts…" He said awkwardly. Way to make conversation, Uncle Jack…
"I'll explain about him later, Dad, we need to get to-" Andy began to say before the Fenton RV suddenly came rolling in. "Uh… the Fenton RV?"
Maddie rolled down the window as she looked at the boys. "Jack? The scanners indicate you're back to normal and the ghost went somewhere else!"
"Yeah! That ghost got pushed out by another ghost, I think! We need to go after them before they cause any more trouble!" Jack quickly said.
Agunimon looked a bit uncomfortable with both his aunt and uncle in the same room as him, but he pushed it aside for the moment. He was more worried about Phantom and that vampire-like ghost.
"There is a dracula-wanna-be ghost that was behind U-Ah… Jack's possession." Agunimon said, trying to keep from saying 'Uncle' out of habit.
"Um… Agunimon, how about you run there? The rest of us will get in the assault vehicle," Andy suggested.
Agunimon, grateful to Andy's interruption, nodded. "Yeah, sure." He said, thankful to get out of there. Relying on his 'ghost sense', Agunimon ran from the ballroom to where Phantom was fighting that dracula wanna-be ghost.
Andy went into the RV with Jack, who took over the driver's seat.
"I'm glad you're okay, Jack, I was really worried about you," Maddie said as Jack began to move the RV.
"Yeah… but don't worry, I'm fine now," Jack reassured.
"Jazz?" Andy asked as he sat down beside her. "Are you okay?"
Jazz looked at Andy. "Do I look like I'm doing okay?! Dad was possessed by a ghost, Mom was driving indoors, and I had no idea where you, Danny, or Takuya were! I still have no idea where Danny and Takuya are!" She exclaimed at last, her left eye twitching a bit.
Andy raised up his hands to try to calm Jazz down. "Ooookay… I think you need to take a minute to breathe, Jazz. Freaking out isn't going to help you."
Jazz sighed, trying to do just that. "Sorry, Andy… I guess this is the first time I've seen anything ghostly happening, so my mind is trying to wrap itself around the fact it is happening at all."
"Just try to stay calm. Mom and Dad know a lot about handling ghosts, and Dad is fine now," Andy reassured her. "I'm sure wherever Danny and Takuya are, they're okay." At least I hope they are. Danny hasn't come back yet with the Fenton Thermos.
Jazz sighed. "Okay, Andy. I'll trust you on that," She said at last.
"Hang on, everyone! We're going after those ghosts!" Jack exclaimed as he buckled up and grabbed the steering wheel.
Andy paled. I suddenly regret everything.
Phantom was trying to push Vlad back. Vlad, however, was still far more experienced than Phantom was at being a halfa. He kicked Phantom away and frowned.
"Daniel, stop. Think about the things I could show you, the doors I could open for you. You Danny Phantom, and I, Vlad Plasmius. If we put our powers together, we could do so much more than anyone could ever hope to even dream of doing!" Vlad stated, hoping to get Phantom to back down and join him.
"Forget it, fruit-loop! I would never join you! Besides, your price to join you is too high! I will never renounce my dad! Your money can't buy my Mom, it can't buy the Packers, and it can't buy me!" Phantom exclaimed as he fired off an ecto-ray at Plasmius with both hands.
Plasmius responded by holding out his hand, easily canceling out the ghost ray. However, instead of dissipating the ghost ray, he shot it back at Phantom. Phantom, on instinct, remembered Andy's training. If he couldn't dodge, he needed to use a shield to protect himself. So Phantom created an ector barrier to shield him from the ghost ray, protecting himself.
"I know who you are." Phantom warned. "I will tell my father, everyone!" However, Phantom had shivers run down his spine as he realized he had just said that. Oh crap… I can't believe I just said that! What hope would I have of convincing everyone Vlad Masters is a ghost?! I'm just a 14-year-old!
However, Plasmius only smirked. "Even if you could convince someone that Vlad Masters is a ghost, I can do the same as well, Daniel. So if you expose me, you expose yourself."
A loud honking was suddenly heard as a familiar tank-like RV came barreling through the wall, destroying it. Luckily Phantom was used to playing 'dodge everything' by now, and flew up to avoid getting hit by the vehicle. Vlad, however, also flew up and was on the roof of the RV. He grinned as he turned himself intangible to reach down and grabbed onto Maddie.
Maddie yelped as she was pulled out of the vehicle, and flew up to the ceiling by this dracula-wanna-be ghost. "Let me go!"
"Never again, woman," Vlad hissed.
As Plasmius was holding Maddie, Agunimon finally reached the room and saw what was going on. "NO!" He shouted as he ran at Plasmius, not wanting to let the ghost get away with her. Agunimon could feel his heart, or whatever was in his chest, racing with fear for his aunt's safety. "You leave her alone!"
Plasmius shot a pinkish red ghost ray at Agunimon's chest, sending him flying away a few feet. "Don't bother us, child."
"Maddie!" Jack yelled as he ran out of the RV to try to catch her and the ghost trying to kidnap her.
"That's right, you big idiot, come after me~" Plasmius grinned as he flew back while dangling Maddie in front of Jack.
"Dad! Wait!" Andy shouted as he fell out of the RV. "Oof!"
Agunimon got to one knee, having recovered from the ecto-ray hitting him in the chest. He had never been so glad his armor could take the blow before. "Stay back!" He called to Jack, getting a feeling he didn't like forming in his stomach.
However, Jack didn't hear Agunimon's warning, and was suddenly trapped in an ecto-barrier. "Hey!"
Plasmius sneered. "You really didn't think I would have more than one plan to get rid of you, you big fool of an oaf?"
Plasmius snapped his fingers and the ecto-barrier around Jack started to shrink in. "Careful, if it gets too small in there, you might just get crushed."
"Stop it! Don't hurt him!" Maddie shouted up at Plasmius.
"You'll thank me later when this is all over~" Plasmius grinned, showing off his fangs.
Phantom gasped as he saw this, and he flew towards Jack to try to save him, however he was quickly blasted by two other Plasmius.
"Don't think I forgot about you, son," One of the Plasmius said.
"You're not allowed to interfere anymore," The other Plasmius remarked.
"Darn it…" Phantom hissed. He felt his mind racing to try to come up with some sort of plan to save his dad and mom. C'mon, Fenton, think! What can you, Andy, and Takuya do? There are three of him, so three of us should even it out, but… Plasmius is far more experienced than any of us, and Andy is only human…
Phantom looked over at Andy, who was rubbing his head as he stood up. But Andy is more than just a human, isn't he?
Andy frowned as he looked at the situation. He looked back at the RV, Harriet was watching in awe and horror. She was excited to see something thrilling, but not at the expense of others. She also didn't know anything about the RV. Jazz on the other hand…
"Jazz, I'm going to need you to operate the RV," Andy quickly said.
"What?" Jazz blinked.
"You're the only one who knows how to drive this thing with Mom and Dad preoccupied," Andy pointed out. "That ghost is really strong. So you need to use this vehicle to fight back."
"What about Mom?" Jazz asked.
"Don't worry, we have two other beings backing us up to help," Andy said. "You worry about getting the assault vehicle in position to hit that ghost."
Andy ran over to Agunimon before Jazz hurried to the driver's seat. Her parents had taught her how to drive using this clunky thing, so she should remember how to drive it.
"Okay… time to see if I can use this thing without pressing the wrong buttons…" Jazz muttered nervously. The RV's front driver side looked like an airplane cockpit with a steering wheel, so with so many buttons, Jazz had always had a bit of a rough time with what button did what.
Thankfully Jazz was able to get the RV moving. It had been a little while since she last drove it, but she was able to get it moving.
"Agunimon!" Andy spoke up. "Don't worry about the ghost, focus on getting Dad out of that ecto-barrier before it crushes him."
Agunimon nodded. "Right." He said before turning and running to the slowly shrinking ecto-barrier. He wasn't about to let something happen to his uncle.
The duplicates flew down to try to stop him. Andy ran over to Phantom.
"Phantom!" Andy called out.
"Hey, uh, so I can explain…" Phantom nervously said.
"Explain later," Andy said. "Right now I need your help. Since you're the only one among us who can match the ghosts, you'll have to focus on the duplicates. They don't seem to be as strong as the real one, their purpose is to just slow you down. Keep them off of Agunimon. While Plasmius is able to make more of himself, we have more people and teamwork on our side."
Phantom nodded. "I can do that, no problem," He assured Andy before Phantom flew at the two duplicates going after Agunimon. "Hey! Fang-face! You look like you could use some nourishment! Ever think of hitting the blood bank for a sip?"
At hearing Phantom's quip, the two duplicates of Plasmius turned to face him, making Phantom grin nervously. The duplicates shot their ghost rays at Phantom. Phantom moved around to dodge before firing his own ghost rays at the two. The duplicates had to dodge rather than stopping the attack themselves. Andy was right, they weren't as strong as the original. Phantom knew he could handle this. While Phantom was fighting the duplicates, Agunimon was able to keep going.
As soon as Agunimon reached the ecto-barrier, he had fire cover his left fist and punched at the ecto-barrier as hard as he could, hoping to make it crack or something, anything to destroy it.
The ecto-barrier shivered a bit, and Agunimon used his Pyro Punch again on it; he didn't stop until he saw a crack in the barrier as it grew smaller. Jack was looking at Agunimon, surprised that this armored fire man was trying so hard to help him. Agunimon punched the barrier again, and finally, he managed to shatter it.
Agunimon felt relief flood his body as he saw the barrier was destroyed. "Finally!" He sighed, glad he had done what he had to do. Then his right hand twinged with pain as he winced. Ow… Maybe I shouldn't have punched it so hard on that last blow…
"You… saved me… um, thank you," Jack thanked a little awkwardly, he couldn't tell if this fire man was a ghost or not, but he clearly wasn't human.
"It's fine. I wasn't about to let you get hurt or worse." Agunimon replied, trying to wave it off as best as he could; he also felt awkward about this, but he was clearly doing a better job of hiding it.
"But we have more pressing things to worry about right now." Agunimon added as he looked back at Plasmius and his duplicates.
Plasmius was starting to fly away with Maddie, however, the Fenton RV drove in front of him, and had a huge gun aiming at him. Jazz switched the steering wheel into battle mode, allowing her to take control of the weapons this assault vehicle had.
"Come on, come on…" Jazz pushed a button, and the words 'Energy Beam' appeared on screen.
The RV fired a green ecto blast at Vlad, who just swiped the beam away with one of his hands, holding Maddie in the other.
Jazz tried another weapon, and the screen had the word 'Lightning' appear on it next. The lightning was shot at Plasmius, who just turned intangible while laughing.
However, Jazz wasn't done yet. She tried the next weapon. The words 'Ectoplasmic Goo' appeared on the screen and the gun fired a stream of green goop at Plasmius.
Plasmius gasped, realizing he couldn't go intangible with this goop, and he didn't have time to dodge it. The goop managed to hit him. This made him drop Maddie.
Andy ran over to Jack, and pushed him in the direction Maddie was falling to. Jack was a big man, and Andy was a scrawny boy, but he was able to push Jack enough to get him to wobble forward. Jack looked up, seeing his wife falling, and held out his hands to catch her.
"Maddie! Are you alright?" Jack asked in concern.
"Yes… Thank you, Jack." Maddie said in relief. "I'm glad you're okay too!"
Vlad's duplicates disappeared when he was hit by the goop. Giving Phantom the chance to move to Vlad. Vlad was groaning, trying to get rid of the goop that was on him. Phantom reached out and grabbed him.
"How's it going, V-Man?" Phantom teased.
"Well, I have to give you credit, Daniel. I definitely didn't expect you and your family to be able to get through my plan and my back-up plan," Vlad remarked. "But it's not over yet."
Phantom frowned, but he remembered something Andy said before, about how knowing about Vlad having ghost powers could come in handy for them. Perhaps now was that time. He looked back at his family, and remembered Andy telling him he would be happy to know if Phantom and Danny were connected somehow.
Phantom looked back at Plasmius again. "Look, I know my family will accept me, ghost powers and all. But what would my dad, or even my mom, think of you having ghost powers?" He asked seriously. "I swear, I will turn back to human form, right here and now, exposing us both, unless you agree to a truce!"
"Using your enemy's weaknesses against him, I am teaching you something aren't I?" Vlad grinned a little proudly.
"Actually, no… I learned that from my brother, the one you've been ignoring, and also the one who put us all together to ruin your little back-up plan," Phantom stated.
"What?" Vlad frowned. "You're joking, right? He's only 14 years old, like you! I'm sure you only got lucky."
"No, I didn't. Andy is smarter than you think." Phantom explained with a chuckle. "And that cost you because you underestimated him. You left him alone in the lab, allowing him to free me. You ignored him while you were focusing on my parents, me, and Agunimon. And that cost you."
Vlad frowned more. "I see… Well, regardless of how you won, I suppose I have no choice but to agree with you on your truce, for now. Eventually you will join me, you and your mother."
Vlad turned himself intangible and flew up. "Don't think this is over! I may be defeated now, but this is not the last time you'll see me. So until next time~"
Vlad then teleported himself into a green swirl, disappearing.
Seeing Plasmius disappear, everyone in the room seemed to lose whatever tension was in their bodies. Jack and Maddie were glad they were back together and safe, while Jazz actually felt a grin crossing her face at fighting a ghost for the first time, successfully in her books.
Agunimon felt Plasmius's presence leave before he finally spoke. "I can't sense that dracula-wanna-be anymore. I think he's gone."
"Jack! That was amazing! Our first real battle with a real ghost!" Maddie smiled.
"Yeah! What do you know? We were able to do our job! I hope Vlad's happy that we were able to chase away a dangerous ghost that was in his castle!" Jack smiled as well.
While they were talking, Phantom had turned invisible and flew out of the room to transform back into his human form. Once he was human, he ran into the room.
"Is everyone alright?" Danny asked.
"Did you see what I did? That was amazing!" Jazz yelled, looking to be running on adrenaline. "I actually helped stop that ghost and made it let go of Mom!"
Jack beamed with pride at hearing Jazz saying that. "My Jazzypants! You fought your first ghost!" He exclaimed, almost in tears. "They grow up so fast!"
Jazz then frowned, realizing what this likely meant for her later. "I mean… it wasn't because I wanted to… you and Mom were in trouble, you know?"
Agunimon, despite trying to hide it, was unable to stop the grin at Jazz's predicament that crossed his face. He then remembered he was still in his Agunimon form. Shit!
"And you…" Maddie and Jack looked at Agunimon.
"Uh… yes?" Agunimon nervously said.
"I'm not sure what you are, what you're doing here, or why you helped us, but… thanks," Jack said to Agunimon.
"If it wasn't for you, Jack probably wouldn't be here right now," Maddie added.
Agunimon gave a nervous smile. "Well… I… was glad to help. But I can assure you I am definitely not a ghost. Otherwise I would've had an easier time against that dracula ghost."
"And he has to go now anyways," Andy spoke up. "Don't you?"
Agunimon realized what Andy was doing for him and nodded. "Yeah… I… gotta go. I… wasn't exactly… invited here…" He said, trying to cover up his reason for being there. "See ya!" He turned and ran off with one last wave to Jack and Maddie.
"What a strange man," Maddie said.
"Yeah, but at least he's a good strange man, like me!" Jack grinned. "Danny, Andy, Jazz, are you kids all alright? That ghost didn't hurt you, did he?"
"I'm fine, and I think Jazz had some fun with it," Andy chuckled.
"No, I did not!" Jazz pouted, but she was clearly trying to hide the grin crossing her face.
Danny grinned at Jazz. "I think your face says otherwise~" He teased.
Takuya, who had reverted back to his human form, came running into the room. "What happened? Is Uncle Jack okay? I saw he was being possessed and then everything went crazy! I was pushed out of the room by the panicking party-goers, so I didn't see what happened next." He said, trying to act all confused.
"It was quite amazing, Takuya!" Maddie smiled. "I mean it was also really dangerous, but-"
"This story is going to make my career!" Harriet shouted, looking very excited. "Jack, for all the times I thought you were a crackpot, I… erm, apologize for that. But still, ghosts! Who would've thought they actually exist! I'm going to need as much information as I can get about these ghosts."
"Um… maybe you shouldn't," Jazz spoke up. "A lot of people don't believe in ghosts. I didn't believe in them until a ghost literally showed itself to me tonight. The company might fire you if you wrote that story."
Harriet realized Jazz had a point. "Erm… well… That's true. But I can't just let this go unpublished!" She groaned before she had an idea. "Wait! What if I try my hand at a 'supernatural tale'? Like a novel? This way I can put it out, but not be fired!"
"That sounds like a good idea. I'd like to read that book myself." Andy smiled.
Harriet grinned. "Well, it would be a nice change of pace too, considering I tend to deal with facts most of the time. It can get a bit boring after a while."
"I'm glad we seemed to have all learned something today, even if it was at the cost of Vlad's shindig." Jack grinned.
Later that night, Jack was driving the Fenton RV down the road. Maddie was tired from the ghost attack, and had fallen asleep in the back. Jazz had pretty much passed out as well, leaving only Danny, Andy, Takuya, and Jack to be awake in the vehicle.
"That was very… eventful," Andy remarked.
"Yeah, tell me about it." Takuya agreed. "I didn't expect a ghost to crash the party."
Danny grinned. "Well, we learned Jazz isn't as immune to the whole ghost hunting thing as she likes to claim to be as well." He teased.
"Well I'm glad she isn't, she played a key role in saving Mom from Plasmius," Andy said.
"It was a pretty good battle," Jack agreed. "But I'm a little sad at how things left. Vlad was so mad that he didn't even say goodbye, and pretty much told us to go home. And we were such good chums at college… sometimes I really miss the good old days."
"Hey, people change, Uncle Jack." Takuya said gently. "But you turned out to be a ghost-butt kicking adult who actually won against his first real ghost! Not many can say that, now can they?"
"That's true," Jack noted.
"And maybe that means there's still hope for me yet," Danny chuckled.
"Heh, thanks son. Oh, by the way, when we get home, just a thing to remember, your curfew is still 10," Jack stated.
Danny blinked. "Oh, c'mon! Really?!" He groaned. "Aw man!"
"Aww man…" Andy groaned at the same time Danny did.
Both twins looked at each other. Andy didn't know why Danny was staying out so late, but he rather liked having more than just 2 hours a night to spend time with his ghostly friend, speaking of which…
I wonder if Phantom is still at the castle? What brought him there in the first place? Andy wondered. I thought his Obsession was to protect Amity Park, but the fact he followed us all the way out here is… odd. Maybe his Obsession isn't Amity Park, but… maybe it's us? Or… someone in this family?
Andy looked at Danny for a moment. He couldn't help but notice how every time Phantom was around, Danny wasn't. He remembered Phantom asking him a question regarding that, and he wondered if maybe there was some truth to that.
Takuya looked down at his transformation device, which he was holding in his hand. I didn't expect to actually learn what I turn into though. A… Digimon, was it? I become a digital being? That… actually as odd as it sounds, makes a ton of sense, which also explains why ghosts don't seem to like me.
Whatever the case may be, Andy and Takuya had a lot to think about. Then there was Jazz, who now knew ghosts existed. Who knew what that was going to do later down the line.
Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: Since both you and DPMarvel mentioned something about Danny trying to tell Andy his secret, I'll answer you both the same way. Danny will not be telling his secret to Andy during this time. Really, I'm more… surprised neither of you mentioned what Vlad said about revealing what Takuya was or anything.
ZAFT: Well, I guess neither of you really paid much attention to that. ^^' It happens, but please try to pay more attention next time, okay?