DarkFoxKit: Alright, with the Holidays over and behind us, we best start getting back to school or work or whatever you guys are doing. But fear not, we have a new chapter to help you get through the long week.
ZAFT: It should be good to get back to routine. I know I am. XD
DarkFoxKit: That's probably the worst thing about having a long holiday, it's difficult to get back to routine. I wonder if that means Andy and Takuya will come back on here soon?
ZAFT: Pretty sure they will next week. They're probably too stuffed to move. XD Anyway, onto the 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 18: The Peppy Counselor
It was on a Monday morning, Andy was heading to school pretty late. He wasn't actually late to school, but he was coming in later than Danny and Takuya were. He had some last minute homework he had to finish up. He was a little embarrassed to admit he had gotten a little too into something he was reading last night that he forgot about his homework. But the book was so engaging that he couldn't put it down. It was about a lawyer trying to serve justice to criminals while defending an innocent person in trial. Andy knew trials were never that exciting in real life, so the book did a great job making it tense, and made him feel for the characters.
But of course, he managed to get his homework done. Danny, Takuya, and Jazz had already gone ahead to school, and Andy would be able to make it in time before the first bell, so he was good. However, when he reached Casper High's campus, he was surprised to see Jazz standing outside, watching Mr. Lancer jumping on a trampoline. There was a banner hanging on the front of the school that read 'Spirit Week Centennial "100 years of Casper Spirit"'.
What the heck did I just walk into? Andy frowned.
"Casper!" Mr. Lancer shouted as he started doing tricks with each word in the air. "High!" "Spirit!"
Mr. Lancer landed on the trampoline before he hopped down from it and smiled at Jazz. "Ah, Spirit Week, I love it so. The pump! The circumstance! And mostly the spirit sparklers!"
Mr. Lancer held out a picture of himself in front of Jazz, when he was in high school himself. He appeared to be wearing some kind of red track suit, and was jumping over some spirit sparklers that spelled 'Casper High'.
Andy blinked as he walked over to them, standing beside Jazz to look at the picture. Huh… Mr. Lancer as a teenager, never thought I'd see it.
Mr. Lancer smiled. "Did you know that I was a cheerleader when I went to school here?"
Jazz looked a bit unnerved. "I did not know that…" She said as she pushed the picture down. "It's great to hear you loved your time here but, it's a bit… awkward to see a male cheerleader…"
"It may have been a bit unusual, but don't let gender stop you from doing what you want," Mr. Lancer remarked.
"Right… um… Mr. Lancer, could I talk to you for a minute?" Jazz requested, not noticing Andy was beside her.
"What do you need to talk about, Jasmine?" Mr. Lancer asked curiously.
"It's about my brothers, Danny and Andy, and my cousin, Takuya," Jazz answered.
"Why do you need to talk about us?" Andy asked, causing Jazz to jump.
Jazz looked at Andy. "I didn't see you there!" She exclaimed, trying to calm her racing heart. "Geez, you snuck up on me."
"It wasn't like I was trying to, you just weren't paying attention," Andy remarked. "So why do you need to talk about us?"
Jazz frowned. "Well… it's more about Danny. You and Takuya just won't say anything."
Andy blinked. "What's wrong with Danny?"
Jazz sighed. "It's just… he's been acting really weird lately, ever since the accident… I mean, you noticed it too. How distanced he had been during the first month of recovery, how he kept you out of your own room for a week, and how secretive and moody he's been lately. It's… just not natural, even if he was recovering from the accident. It's like he's not himself anymore."
Andy frowned. He had noticed that, but since Danny hadn't been pushing him away anymore, he tried to pretend he didn't. Danny would still act squirrely at seemingly random times, he never wanted to talk to Phantom, and seemed to be frightened at the idea of talking to Phantom. Normally Andy would understand that fear of talking to a ghost, but Tucker, Sam, and Takuya were all fine with Phantom being near them, it was only Danny who seemed to have a problem with it. Andy knew Danny was still hiding something, and he refused to share it with him and Takuya. Danny seemed more comfortable around Tucker and Sam about it though, which Andy couldn't help but feel a bit of a sting with that.
So I guess it was only a matter of time before Jazz would notice that. Andy noted.
Mr. Lancer, Jazz, and Andy began walking into the school as Jazz continued talking.
"I'd talk to him, but I'm his older sister and he's just going to think I'm being bossy." Jazz continued. "But if Danny doesn't get some help, if he doesn't talk to somebody, all that frustration I think he's repressing could come out the wrong way. Already I'm worried it may have come to that, but Dann's just not showing it, or letting us see it."
"You really think Danny's hiding some negative feelings like that?" Andy asked, now more worried about Danny.
"I mean, it's highly possible." Jazz admitted. "I don't really know, since Danny never talks to me and pushes me away, but it seems likely. Haven't you gotten anything out of him?"
"Well, not anything life changing," Andy shrugged. "He just let me and Takuya hang out with him again… but I can tell he's hiding something. But I didn't think it'd be something that would build up frustration inside him."
"Then what do you think Danny is hiding if it's not frustration?" Jazz asked with a bit of a frown. "I'm just worried about Danny. I don't want him to keep dealing with whatever he is going through alone."
"Come on, Jazz, whatever Danny's hiding or going through, I'm sure it's not going to end up with him becoming violent in some way," Andy said, rolling his eyes.
However, Mr. Lancer opened the door to the new school's counselor office. He was supposed to welcome her on her first day on the job, especially since she was renowned as a teen psychologist, however, when he opened the door, he saw Danny standing in the office… and the office itself looked like a complete wreck. Papers and files were all over the place, some of the walls were cracked, the desk was halfway destroyed, and a chair was literally smoking. Danny frowned, realizing he had been caught in a particularly bad scene. Mr. Lancer, Jazz, and Andy were looking at Danny in shock.
Danny groaned to himself. Way to go Fenton, you not only let the ghost get away, you got caught in a bad situation! He scolded himself mentally. "I… I'm in trouble, aren't I?"
"What do you think?" Mr. Lancer frowned. "I can see why you would be concerned, Jazz."
Jazz frowned as well. Andy was just wondering what the heck Danny was doing in this office, and why he trashed it, if it was even him who trashed it.
"Maybe we can hear his side of the story?" Andy suggested.
"Look… This may seem bad, but I didn't trash the office on purpose." Danny began to explain, going off of Andy's opening.
"Then what were you doing in the office in the first place, Mr. Fenton? It wasn't open to students right now," Mr. Lancer questioned.
Danny paled as he heard that. Crap, there goes my first excuse of saying I heard a sound from here and found the place trashed when I opened the door… "Um… Well… a ghost did it?"
"Mr. Fenton… I'm going to ask you to stay here until our new student counselor comes in today," Mr. Lancer sighed.
Danny groaned. While he told the truth, of course nobody, but maybe Andy, was going to believe him. But Andy couldn't do much here himself.
It didn't take long for the student counselor to come into the office. The new counselor wore a red suit jacket with a black tie and a white shirt. Her skirt was a matching color of red and she also wore black dress shoes. Her hair was a bright red color, shaped in a way like horns in the way it swept back and she had green eyes. Her skin was also a darker tan color. And finally, she wore black glasses on her face.
She was smiling despite the wrecked office. The first thing she did was walk over to the thermostat and twist it a bit. "Greetings, I'm glad to see so many people coming to welcome me here today."
Jazz was shivering. "Is it always so cold in here?"
"I like it cold, I find that cold temperature keeps the mind icy sharp~" The woman grinned. "And don't you worry about this mess of an office either, stuff happens, no biggie."
Danny wasn't exactly in a good mood. While they had been waiting for this woman to get here, Andy told him why Jazz was with Mr. Lancer, and how she was talking to him about how she had been worried about him. However, Danny seemed to have taken that the wrong way due to his frustration about being blamed for wrecking the office. He just wanted this whole thing to be over with.
"Right Jasmine?" The woman smiled.
"Uh, yeah, I guess so… but please, call me Jazz, everyone calls me Jazz," Jazz requested.
"Well, this brother of yours calls you a 'fink'!" Danny snapped back, feeling frustrated for real now.
"I was only worried about you. We used to talk all the time." Jazz frowned.
"Yeah, when I was 8 and you weren't such a fink and a spazz when you found out you're wrong!" Danny snapped back.
Andy frowned, it wasn't like Danny to lose his cool and snap at Jazz, especially in front of other people.
"That's more than enough out of you, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Lancer frowned. "Andy, you and your brother should head to class now while Ms. Spectra and I discuss his punishment."
Danny glared at Jazz for a moment before he took Andy's hand and all but dragged him out.
"Whoa, ouch! Danny, take it easy, you're about to cut off my blood circulation with how hard you're gripping my arm!" Andy spoke up when Danny dragged them out of the office.
"Sorry, bro…" Danny sighed as he released Andy's arm.
"What's with you today? You're not normally this angry or moody, not even if you had the worst morning ever," Andy asked. "Don't you think you're blowing Jazz's talk with Mr. Lancer a little out of proportion? It wasn't like she snitched on you, she was just talking to someone in concern about you."
"I don't need someone to be talking about me like that though. I mean, I'm not an emotional time bomb." Danny grumbled. "It's just… I don't know… I don't know what's going on with me…" Danny sighed at last.
Andy blinked, seeing that Danny was calming down a bit the further they walked away from the office. "Let's just get to class, maybe you just need some time to cool down a bit."
"Yeah, maybe…" Danny admitted at last. "I just… Some time away from that office may be what I need. I mean… I just feel like… aggressive when I am near that place."
Andy raised an eyebrow and looked back at the office. I wonder if something in that office affects someone who's been exposed to a lot of ectoplasm?
Meanwhile, Jazz was still sitting in the office after her brothers left the office. Mr. Lancer wasn't exactly pleased with Danny's moodiness.
"Unlike her moody brother, Jazz is one of Casper's best and brightest." Mr. Lancer smiled as he put a hand on Jazz's shoulder. "She'll be giving the pep speech centennial on Wednesday."
Jazz gave a bit of a smile herself. She felt honored to be elected to give the pep speech to the whole school, normally a senior student would be chosen to give such a speech, but since she was at the top of her class and had higher grades than most seniors, she was made an exception.
"Right on!" Ms. Spectra said. "That's why I'm here! To pump up the pep!" She gestured at three different photos of her and some past students she had worked with.
Jazz blinked as she looked at the pictures. The kids in the picture weren't smiling, they just looked tired. There was one picture that had 3 cheerleaders that were looking the opposite of cheerful.
Mr. Lancer, however, didn't seem to think anything was wrong. "Jazz, Ms. Spectra is a renowned and respected motivational speaker, and teen therapist. She's agreed to help 'pump up the volume' on that old Casper High spirit week."
"And allow me to introduce you to my assistant, Bertrand." Spectra smiled as a short looking man came walking into the office.
The man wore a black suit jacket with dark gray pants and black shoes. His hair was gray in color and he had a matching mustache. His eyes were a piercing green color, too green to be a normal color, and he wore a white shirt with a red blazer top over it under the jacket.
Jazz gave a small wave at the man, but he just snorted, making Jazz look uncomfortable as she looked away from the man.
Spectra either didn't notice or didn't care, she was still smiling. "Jazz, we're going to have a super week. Wait until you see what we have planned for the spiritathon! Right after your speech, show her Bertrand."
Bertrand held up a picture that showed the words 'Casper Spirit' with black dominos.
"Right after your speech, we'll set off this domino chain that says 'Casper Spirit'. The dominoes represent how each person's spirit can affect the next person they touch!" Spectra explained. "Slammin', huh?"
"If by 'slamming', you mean weird, then yes." Jazz said, feeling a bit creeped out by how peppy this counselor seemed. It all felt a bit… too peppy for her.
"And the spirit sparklers go off afterwards… right?" Mr. Lancer asked, feeling like the Spirit Week just wasn't the same without the spirit sparklers.
"Oh, you bet they will~" Spectra grinned, reaching under her desk to pull out a couple of sparklers. "After all, what's Spirit Week without spirit sparklers?"
Mr. Lancer smiled, now this was a woman who knew how to do Spirit Week.
Jazz gave it some thought. "You know, you're a little over-peppy but… my brothers might benefit from talking to you. I don't know about my cousin, he seems to be alright, but he also looks like something is out to get him sometimes. But I doubt they'd listen to me or take my advice, especially with how mad Danny is right now."
"Yes, well, Danny will listen to me." Mr. Lancer said, having just the punishment in mind for Danny.
Danny had no idea how he got himself into this situation. But he wasn't happy. Not only was his class interrupted, but he was sitting in this chair just outside of that good forsaken office, with a stupid sign over his head that read 'happy chair'. What am I, 7?
Then the door opened up, showing Paulina walking out, who was looking quite self conscious about something.
"So you're saying my popularity is completely dependent on my beauty?" Paulina asked, wanting to be sure.
"I'm not saying it's fair, sweetie." Spectra said to Paulina in a sickeningly sweet voice. "But if you feel you need something, like a lot of makeup, I say go for it! After all, you're the only you you've got!"
Danny frowned as he looked at Paulina and Spectra. While things didn't work out between him and Paulina at the school dance, mostly due to his brother going on a draconic rampage, he was pretty sure what Spectra just said to Paulina was completely uncalled for. Having lived with a twin brother who was just as into psychology as his sister, he had picked up on a few things.
"Danny! Come on in~" Spectra grinned as she looked at Danny, which Danny felt a little uncomfortable by.
Spectra walked back into her office while Danny looked at Paulina. Paulina definitely looked down as she walked away. Danny frowned as well, he may not be an expert in psychology, but he was sure Spectra wasn't helping Paulina at all with her comment.
Danny walked into Spectra's office. According to the nameplate on her desk, her full name was Penelope Spectra. He was cold in the office, which made him wonder how anyone could stand being in an office this cold. He could see his own breath coming out of his mouth.
Danny would've angrily commented on Jazz convincing Mr. Lancer on making this his punishment, but he was more concerned about Paulina. "What you said to Paulina, isn't that a little harsh? I mean there's more to her than her beauty and make up."
"But no one is judged fairly in life." Spectra said with a smile. "I mean, most people look at others for their beauty if they have it. It's the same with those who have the brains. They are the ones who get the praises for their smarts while everyone else is unfairly judged to the standards those smart people set. So the others need to find something that will make them stand out in their own, unique way~"
"I… guess. But I kinda thought you'd be helping her realize she doesn't need popularity to be special, isn't that your job?" Danny asked.
"Sweetie, nothing will go fairly in life. Yes, Paulina may have other qualities, but her beauty is her greatest one, so if she wants to be beautiful, let her do so." Spectra said in a sickeningly soothing tone. "Besides, we're not here to talk about Paulina, we're here to talk about you. You know, your sister did say you could be a bit of a baby, and a worrywart."
Danny frowned, surprised to hear that. "What? Why would she say that?"
"You do tend to worry a lot." Spectra said with a smile. "And you always seem to have some kind of complaint, like a baby or a toddler would. Of course, you're not the only one who complains a lot, so don't feel bad~"
"What do you mean I always have some kind of complaint?" Danny frowned. "And you didn't answer my question about why would Jazz say that."
"Oh don't worry too much about the 'why', Danny. It's not your fault she thinks you're a loser, and will grow up to be nothing but a deadbeat," Spectra replied in an nonchalant way.
"You're saying Jazz called me a loser and a deadbeat too?" Danny questioned, shocked to hear about that, but it also really stung.
Sure Danny's relationship with Jazz may have been a bit strained lately, but it was really weird, and quite cruel, of her to say such things about him.
"Hey, those are her issues. Besides, I'll be talking to your cousin and twin brother soon. I'm sure they have better opinions about you," Spectra reassured as she stood up from her desk and walked closer to Danny. "Besides, I don't think you're a loser, Danny. I think you're a great kid!"
Spectra put her hands on Danny's shoulders in a gesture to try to cheer him up, but Danny noticed the grip felt tight and harsh. Not only that, but as soon as Spectra touched him, Danny suddenly felt… drained and tired. It wasn't like he felt like his energy was being drained, but… he felt a crushing weight in his chest, like his sadness just grew 4 times over.
"Then why do I feel so miserable?" Danny groaned.
"You know what I think? You might be a mess, but 'mess' is just the beginning of 'message'! Now go out there and be a better you!" Spectra grinned, sounding all peppy.
Danny found the peppiness to be irritating, he was more than happy to leave. He got up from his chair, wanting to head out the door. But his muddled mind made it difficult for him to think straight, and he ended up walking into a wall. Danny groaned a bit before he moved around the wall and walked out the open door, feeling a little embarrassed.
Takuya happened to be walking by just as Danny walked out, looking… like a mess.
"Hey, Danny?" Takuya asked as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Are you okay? You… don't look so good."
"I can't say I feel so good right now either," Danny grumbled. "I just want to go home and crawl under my bed."
"Wow… that's harsh." Takuya said with a frown. "Aw man… I hope you feel better. I don't want to see you like this later."
Danny shook his head. "... You don't think I'm a loser… or would grow up to be a deadbeat, do you?"
Takuya blinked. "What? Danny, why would I think that about you? You're no loser, and you… may have some issues with your grades, but you're definitely not a deadbeat." He then frowned a bit. "Why would you ask me that kind of stuff? That's not like you to think such things."
Danny frowned a little. "I… wonder… Takuya, are you and Andy going to talk to that… um… Penelope Spectra today?"
"I was told to by Mr. Lancer earlier, why?" Takuya asked.
"It's… just a hunch, and I have no proof, but… be careful when you talk to her. I'm not sure if she's really helping us," Danny warned.
Takuya frowned, but nodded. "I will be careful." He said in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry."
As the day went on, more students were going to see Penelope. It was Takuya's turn to see her. He saw a rather depressed looking Dash as he walked out of the office. He didn't even look at Takuya as he walked by him.
Geez, I may not like Dash, but even he doesn't look that good and I am worried about him. Takuya noted with a small frown as he watched Dash walk down the hall. I hope I don't end up like Dash.
Takuya walked into Spectra's office, who was grinning at him. "Hello, Takuya Kanbara, welcome to my office."
"Um… hi." Takuya said as he took a seat. He felt on edge, and he didn't like it. Oh man… I don't know why, but I;m not getting good vibes from this lady.
"So, I've been hearing that you've been feeling like something could get you at any moment? Any particular reason why you feel that way? Or was that exaggerated?" Penelope asked.
"Um… no. No, I don't feel like something is out to get me." Takuya said, trying not to act all nervous. But he was feeling like something was there, just on the edge of his senses. But he wasn't sensing anything unusual, or even seeing anything.
"I see… so that means you're just naturally twitchy," Penelope remarked. "It's alright, most people have their quirks and habits. Although I do wonder how others see you if they think you look like you're about to be chased by someone, even though you're acting completely normal."
Takuya frowned. "What? What are you saying? I'm not… acting like I'm going to be chased. I'm just… an active teenage boy. I don't like sitting still for too long."
"And that can be seen as someone being paranoid," Penelope said. "Have you ever had any worries about your family? About how they could get hurt or lost? Or when something bad happens you feel it's your responsibility to help them?"
At once, images of Danny and Andy came to Takuya's mind. "Kind of…" He admitted. "My twin cousins… I get worried about them. It's… hard when something happens to them and I can't help them." He remembered when he was at the reunion and he had to help his uncle out of a trap. "And… the others in my family too…"
"You should try to relax more. People don't want to be around someone who seems to be paranoid and worried all the time, especially since your worry could end up holding them back," Penelope remarked.
"So… you're saying I need to just… relax and not worry about them?" Takuya asked, not sure why Danny was so worried about this lady. She seemed fine to him.
"Of course. After all, you can't always be around to protect them from every little thing. Sometimes things happen, and they learn better that way," Penelope stated. "So why don't you go out there and treat yourself to something nice to help you relax?"
Takuya smiled. "Thanks. I think I will." He said before he stood up and walked out.
Penelope watched him go and frowned. "Keep an eye on that one, Bertrand. I sensed… digital energy inside him."
Bertrand nodded, knowing all too well about their kind's natural enemies. "I can do that easily."
Andy hadn't been sure what he was expecting when he was sitting on the 'happy chair' just outside of Penelope's office. Danny hadn't seemed to be in the mood to talk, in fact, he looked more tired than usual. But it wasn't just Danny, he noticed a lot of the other students had been starting to feel more down than usual. Paulina was starting to feel more self conscious as she looked into her cosmetic mirror frequently during class. Dash didn't seem to be able to concentrate very well during P.E. and got tackled several times in football practice. Only half of the cheerleaders were actually cheerleading, while the other half were just sitting on the bench. It was definitely concerning Andy.
"Andy! Come on in~" Penelope's voice spoke up as she grinned at him.
Andy looked up at Penelope before he followed her into her very cold office. Oh gosh, it's like a meat locker in here!
"Now, why don't you take a seat?" Penelope said as she gestured to the seat in front of her desk.
Andy sat down on the chair, wishing he had a jacket on right now. "Um… so, uh… what should we talk about?"
"I've been told that you've been worrying your sister lately. Although not as much as Danny had been. Apparently Danny had been acting quite strange for a while now, and you've been ignoring it," Penelope remarked. "Would you like to talk about that?"
Andy frowned. "Well… Danny's definitely been… a lot more secretive since… uh… an incident that happened a few months ago. For a while, I was worried he was going to keep pushing me away, but… he's not doing that anymore, so I decided to not bring up what he could be hiding since I didn't want things to change between us."
"But this secret is bothering you. You want to know what it is badly, don't you?" Penelope said with a smile. "Anyone would want to learn a secret if it was a family member who was hiding it."
"Well… I do want to know. Danny hasn't been comfortable telling me stuff that might involve his secret, and that stings because we used to tell each other everything all the time before the… erm, incident." Andy frowned. "I don't know why he doesn't want to tell me, but… it's not like I can just force him to tell me."
"What exactly are you worried about anyways? He's hanging out with you again, right?" Penelope responded. "Or is that not enough for you? You'd rather things would go back to the way they were, is that it?"
"Well… I do, yeah…" Andy admitted.
"Well, that's pretty selfish of you," Penelope bluntly stated. "Perhaps this is a good thing for your brother, and you wanting things to be the way they were before means you want him to be the average, ordinary boy again, like you, instead of letting his potential flourish. Maybe you're just envious of him, you don't want to be in his shadow."
"What? I don't think like that!" Andy argued.
"Ah, but therein lies the problem. You want to have your brother be normal like you again, and yet you say you aren't jealous of him? I think, no… you do have some jealousy. Your brother has potential to flourish, and yet you want him to be just like you, a normal, average boy." Penelope said. "But that's okay~ Everyone has a bit of jealousy every now and then!"
Andy frowned, trying to work out what Penelope was saying. "Are you saying Danny isn't normal or average? On what grounds?"
"I'm just saying what I'm reading off of you, Andy. It's clear you've got some jealousy and resentment towards your brother for keeping such secrets after all," Penelope remarked. "Perhaps you might be worried that he might succeed and move on where you fail."
Andy wasn't sure if that was actually true, but he would sometimes have dreams of Danny leaving into the Ghost Zone. Though it wasn't just Danny, he would often dream about being at home alone. His parents, his sister, and his brother weren't home. Sometimes Takuya would be there, sometimes he would be gone too. Tucker and Sam were also absent.
But disregarding the dream, when Danny told Andy about having ectoplasm in his system, even if it was just a little bit, Andy had been worried at first, since their parents made it clear that ectoplasm was deadly to humans. But Danny not only seemed fine, he appeared to be able to utilize the ectoplasm enough to have the endurance of a ghost, and to also be able to sense ghosts. He could be hiding more… unique abilities for all Andy knew. And Andy had also been worried about Danny leaving to become some kind of hero or an important person of some kind to the world while Andy was just left behind, forgotten.
"But don't worry about it too much, Andy," Penelope spoke up after Andy had some time to take in what she said before. "After all, everyone in the world are only ordinary humans, right? Only a few exceptions could ever truly be different and exceed human limitations. And Danny already thinks you're holding him back anyways."
"He… does?" Andy frowned.
"Yes, he does." Penelope said. "He told me this himself." She then held up her hands. "But those are his issues, I'm just saying what I heard from him." She then stood up and made her way to Andy's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But I don't think that. I think you're a great kid who could become someone great one day!"
Andy suddenly felt tired, and he had this crushing weight in his weight. He had always had some doubts and worries that Danny may not be… normal after the accident, but he hadn't noticed he had a more… selfish reason to worry about it until now. He hated it, he hated the idea that Danny would, and maybe have already, changed that much. And it really hurt to know that Danny just believed Andy was only holding him back. Of course Andy was holding him back, he didn't know Danny's big secret, nor could he really do anything to help or benefit Danny. The most he could do was tell Phantom where the bad ghosts are and have him deal with it with Danny, if Danny ever let him.
Spectra was almost beaming when she touched Andy, and she smiled. "But you shouldn't rely so much on your brother anyways. You should go out there and be more independent! Now go on, be a better you!"
Andy felt the pep talk to be more patronizing than helpful. He stood up and walked out, though he really didn't want to go back to class. He couldn't even look at Danny right now without feeling like he was being judged by his own twin brother.
Spectra smiled as she watched Andy walk off. She may not have gotten the Digimon boy so depressed, but the twin boys she saw more than made up for the lack of teen misery from the Digimon boy.
Marvelous. Those Fenton kids are a walking spa treatment! Spectra grinned. I wonder if we could push them just a little more~ "Bertrand! I believe it's time to cause some chaos."
Bertrand smirked as he appeared. "How do you want to cause chaos? A giant monster? A big green wasp? Or maybe a three-headed dog?"
"The three-headed dog thing wipes you out, Bertrand. Stick to one head for now," Spectra remarked. "I'd say go for the wasp, it's been a while since you used that one."
Bertrand grinned as he turned to his blob form and transformed into a giant glowing green wasp. "Oh, this will be fun~"
The bell rang, students were coming out into the hallway to gather up their books. Tucker, Sam, Danny, Andy, and Takuya were walking together. Though Andy was standing beside Tucker and Takuya rather than beside Danny. Danny was still looking quite moody.
"Um… Danny, Andy, are you two okay?" Tucker asked in concern.
"No. I still can't believe Jazz convinced Lancer to make seeing that shrink my punishment, and that shrink told me Jazz thinks I am a loser on top of it!" Danny said in frustration.
"I'm okay, why wouldn't I be okay?" Andy nonchalantly said.
"Well… you seem to be standing far away from Danny, that's just… a bit unusual," Tucker noted.
"Don't be ridiculous," Andy huffed. "Maybe I just wanted to change our usual position, that's all."
"Besides, about that Jazz calling you a loser, that doesn't sound like Jazz," Sam pointed out. "You guys know your sister well, she would never say something like that."
"Which was why I was shocked when that shrink told me she said that," Danny remarked.
"I don't know what your problem is with that lady. She seems fine to me." Takuya remarked as he looked at Danny with confusion.
"Well I'm glad she's fine for you, but she wasn't for me," Danny grumbled in annoyance. "Or for Paulina."
Danny looked over at Andy who looked away from Danny. "Or for Andy if his reaction is anything to go by!"
Takuya frowned at seeing Andy, who was staying away from Danny. But why? Why was she nice to me and yet everyone else seems miserable after seeing her?
"Do you think something might be up with Penelope?" Tucker asked.
"I don't know, I'm saying it's a high possibility, but-" Danny began to say when Jazz approached the group.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Jazz asked, hoping to make conversation and see if Danny, Andy, and Takuya's been feeling any better.
Danny grumbled. "What do you want now, Jazz?"
"You're still mad, I see," Jazz sighed. "Andy? Are you okay? You're looking a little fidgety."
"Everything's fine! Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Andy grumbled, getting annoyed himself.
Takuya frowned. "You're not walking beside Danny like you normally do." He pointed out. "That alone tells me you're not fine."
"I'm going to pepper spray the next person who points that out," Andy threatened, clearly in a bad mood.
"Erm… well, uh… changing the subject…" Sam quickly and nervously spoke up.
Takuya groaned as he realized Andy wasn't going to spill what was wrong any time soon.
"You need to talk to somebody, you both barely have any friends," Jazz pointed out, now worried, and frustrated, that something seemed to be wrong with Andy now.
Sam and Tucker frowned at Jazz's words, making her correct herself when she saw their glares. "Um… I mean besides these two, and both of you have no extracurricular activities you do!"
"We don't really have time for extracurricular activities..." Takuya grumbled, remembering how often they would go train or face ghosts on an almost daily basis, the last thing they needed was more things to worry about.
Tucker had to agree with Takuya. "Yeah, it's not like we need to do anything after school." He agreed, trying to keep the ghost hunting and training from Jazz.
Danny huffed. "Well, maybe this is me now!" He snapped. "Not everybody is pumped up and full of spirit like you all the time you know!"
"I know someone who may be a spirit…" Andy huffed to himself.
Before Danny could respond to that comment, a familiar blue mist came out of his mouth. Danny was surprised, and confused. He didn't see any ghost, but that didn't mean one wasn't nearby. If his past battles taught him anything, ghosts could appear anywhere at any time. But seeing how Jazz likely saw that blue mist coming out of his mouth, he quickly began shivering to pretend he was cold.
Jazz frowned, concerned. "Danny? Are you okay? You're shivering. Do you have a cold?"
At the same time, Takuya felt that odd feeling of heat and chills down his spine. "Ah…" He tried to hide his reaction from Jazz. Shit… a ghost now?!
Danny had to throw Jazz off, as she had probably seen Takuya's reaction to what was his own 'Ghost Sense'. Luckily, Danny had a good excuse to overreact to Jazz.
"Leave me alone!" He exclaimed, trying to get away from Jazz and ran down the hallway.
"It's worse than I thought…" Jazz frowned, now really worried for Danny.
Suddenly, a lot of students began screaming and running, many of them were screaming about a 'freakishly large, neon green hornet'. Tucker and Sam quickly ran away, acting scared themselves. Andy frowned before he pushed Takuya into an empty classroom.
When this happened, Andy yelped when he saw the freakishly large, neon green hornet down the hallway looking at them. Jazz let out a scream as she was paralyzed with fear. Andy grabbed onto Jazz's arm and ran in the opposite direction.
"Don't hesitate! The ghost will catch you if you do!" Andy shouted, his training and ghost battling instincts kicking in.
Jazz looked at Andy. "How can you be so sure?! Can't ghosts go through walls and stuff?!" She shot back, feeling fear. "Oh man! How could this get any worse?!"
In the empty classroom, Takuya growled to himself as he realized he had to save Andy and Jazz. He took 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 evolved, Agunimon knew he had to find that ghost wasp and take it out.
Andy dragged Jazz to find a place to hide, but he noticed the ghost wasp seemed to be fixated on them and wouldn't stop chasing them. No matter how fast a human may run, however, they could never outrun a ghost. The ghost wasp caught up to the two of them pretty quickly, grabbed Jazz, and knocking Andy away. Andy rolled on the ground, and frantically dug into his pocket to take out his Fenton Rod.
"Back off, ghost bug!" A familiar voice shouted as a black and white blur came in and kicked the giant ghost wasp through a wall, literally.
Jazz blinked. "Wait… That was a ghost?! That bug was a ghost?! That just proves it! Ghosts do exist!" Her mind was racing now. "But why was that ghost after me and Andy?"
Jazz looked down to see Andy getting up to his feet. "Did you see that, Andy!? That was a ghost! It went through the wall! I think there was another ghost that kicked it through the wall! Like it literally went through the wall!"
Andy looked at Jazz. "Really? Oh, how exciting! It's not like what I was trying to tell you for the past month or so when you had to fight off the ghost that took Mom at Wisconsin or anything!"
Jazz frowned. "Andy, what's going on? You're so snappy right now."
"What's going on with you? You're acting like this is the first time you've seen a ghost," Andy pointed back.
"I mean… I just thought the ghost in Wisconsin was the only one we saw! I didn't think there would be more ghosts!" Jazz explained. "I… may have also tried to convince myself it was a one time thing…"
"Hey!" Another voice spoke up, catching Andy and Jazz's attention.
Jazz's eyes went wide when she saw Agunimon, the armored man she had been seeing a few times now. "It's you!"
"Uh, yeah… where did that big bug go?" Agunimon asked.
"Last I saw, it was kicked through that wall by, who I could only assume to be, Phantom," Andy pointed at the wall beside them.
Agunimon frowned as he realized that meant Phantom was outside. "Great… I'm going to find him and see if he needs help." He muttered before looking back at Andy. "Just… make sure the two of you stay safe." He said before running off to find Phantom and that ghost wasp.
Andy frowned before he took Jazz's hand. "You want to see the ghosts, right?"
"Uh… yeah? Wait, did you know that other ghost that kicked the big wasp earlier?" Jazz asked.
"Maybe," Andy said before grinning a little. "Come on."
Andy took Jazz into another classroom. The classroom was empty due to the students panicking from the giant ghost wasp attack. Andy looked out the window, seeing they were on the second floor of the school. They got a good view of the giant wasp outside, along with Phantom staring it down.
"Did someone call an exterminator?" Phantom quipped, but he didn't have his usual smirk on his face and was just glaring at the ghost wasp.
"Aren't you the clever one? Then how about you swat this, big boy?" The wasp spoke back, then it flew at Phantom with its giant stinger that was about the size of a big dog.
Phantom just floated there, looking almost helpless.
Andy opened the window and shouted. "GO INTANGIBLE!"
Phantom, upon hearing Andy's words, turned intangible right away, the stinger passing through his body. Once the ghost wasp had passed through Phantom's form, he flew up at where Andy was, glaring irritably.
Jazz shivered from fear as Andy slowly closed the window, despite knowing it wouldn't do any good for a ghost.
However, before the wasp could try anything, fireballs came out of nowhere, burning the wasp's abdomen.
"Why don't you take on me, bug face?!" Agunimon shouted from the ground.
The wasp buzzed, annoyed. It shot out some kind of green acid at Agunimon from its stinger. Agunimon jumped out of the way, but it gave the giant hornet time to launch itself at Phantom. Phantom quickly created an ecto barrier around himself, making the bug crash into it, and bounced it away.
Seeing the wasp being deflected by Phantom's shield, Agunimon jumped up and kicked the wasp as hard as he could, sending it to the ground.
"Phantom! Get the Thermos!" Agunimon called out.
The wasp, seeing that he was outmatched, knew it was time to retreat. He opened his… mouth, shooting out thick, green smoke, covering Agunimon and Phantom's visions while also disrupting their Ghost Sense since the smoke was covered in ghost energy.
The smoke cleared, revealing the ghostly wasp was gone. Agunimon looked around, but didn't see any sign of the wasp. "Damn…" He hissed. "It seems the thing got away. I can't sense it anywhere."
"Great… The bad guy gets away." Phantom sighed. "If it weren't for you and Andy, I probably would've gotten hurt in that battle too… maybe I am just a loser…"
Agunimon was surprised to hear Phantom say that, it kind of came out of nowhere. However, before Agunimon could respond, Phantom was already flying away into the sky.
"Phantom…?" Agunimon murmured, confused and concerned now himself.
Andy was surprised to see Phantom flying away all dejected. He didn't quite hear what he said since the window was closed, but he could tell something was definitely bothering his ghostly friend. Andy looked back at Jazz, and she was still trying to process what happened.
"Ghosts… I guess I can't say the one at Wisconsin was an isolated incident anymore…" Jazz muttered.
"You're not going to break down from that too, are you?" Andy asked, remembering how Jazz had sort of had a breakdown after the Wisconsin incident.
"I don't know, but…" Jazz frowned. "I guess… There's really a lot more to this world than I thought. Our parents were right about ghosts after all. It was pretty silly of me to really think I couldn't be wrong about anything."
"Yeah, it definitely was," Andy agreed.
"We should get back." Jazz said with a small sigh. "I'm worried about Danny, and you, Andy. I think we need to have a talk."
"Hmm…" Andy frowned for a moment as the ghost attack helped clear his mind from his emotional distress earlier. "Yeah, we should. But we need to do it at home… you never know who could be listening at school."
Jazz nodded in agreement. "Privacy is very hard to get when around other students."
The other students aren't what I'm worried about. Andy thought to himself, but he only nodded to her.
Later that day, Jazz, Andy, and Danny were at home in Fenton Works. Andy made a note for himself to visit Phantom later and try to see what was wrong with him. But this was more important right now. The 3 siblings were talking in the kitchen while their parents were in the living room, tinkering with their latest invention.
Takuya meanwhile was in his room doing homework, so he was not in the conversation. Andy did ask if he wanted to join in on the conversation, but Takuya decided not to since it looked like it was going to be a personal conversation between the 3 siblings.
"What do you mean you 'didn't see a ghost'?" Jazz questioned Danny.
"It didn't look like a ghost to me. It just looked like a giant bug." Danny replied. "So I ran, like a 'loser'."
"You're really not going to listen to me, are you?" Jazz frowned, not sure why Danny was emphasizing on the 'loser' part like he was mocking her.
"Nope~" Danny grinned.
Normally, Jazz would try calling their parents to get Danny to talk, however, she didn't need to use that wild card yet since Andy was here, and was willing to talk. If anyone could get Danny to listen, it was him.
"Danny," Andy spoke up, catching his brother's attention. "This talk is more than just as sister and brothers. After what happened today, we need to be open to talk to each other."
"Why?" Danny frowned.
Andy pointed at Danny. "Just a minute ago, you sounded like you were mocking Jazz with that 'loser' comment. As if she called you a loser herself. Why is that, I wonder? Did Jazz actually call you a loser?"
"No, I would never!" Jazz looked horrified at that.
Danny blinked. "Wait? What? But that shrink said you called me a loser!" Danny protested.
"You mean Penelope?" Jazz frowned. "Why would she say that? Did she misinterpret why I wanted you to talk to her?"
"She told me things that made me worry that Danny saw me as a burden, and as someone who was just holding him back," Andy confessed when he was now sure that Penelope had not been helping them with her words. "Is that true though? Is that what you see me as, Danny?"
Danny blinked. "What? Andy, why would you say that? You're my brother! You're not a burden to me at all!" In fact you saved me just earlier from a nasty wasp sting.
"Well, there you go then," Andy said.
"What?" Jazz blinked, not sure what conclusion Andy just drew.
"Penelope Spectra isn't helping us. She's making things much worse for us," Andy pointed out. "Isn't it obvious? Everyone who's spoken to her has become upset, depressed, and unsure of themselves… well, even more so than usual."
Jazz's eyes widened. "Oh… Oh no…" She muttered, feeling guilt hit her. She had suggested her brothers and cousin see Spectra, but now… "Andy, Danny, I'm so sorry!"
Danny frowned, he really hadn't expected that. He knew that Spectra person may not be really trustworthy, but it took Andy laying it out for them for him to really realize that.
"But wait, what about Takuya?"
"I don't know, maybe he just didn't have any problems Penelope could exploit," Andy shrugged. "And Jazz, I get it, you were worried about Danny and me. I probably would've suggested the same thing if I thought something was going on with Danny and I didn't know what to do about it." I still kind of don't, but at least it wasn't as bad as the first month after the accident.
Danny huffed a little, as mad as he was at Jazz for telling Mr. Lancer about his business, he couldn't really fault Jazz for being worried enough to get him to talk to what she thought was a helpful shrink. If he hadn't approached Andy as Phantom, he probably would've kept shutting him out of his life. With Jazz, it was less noticeable since she was the older sister, it was normal for the younger brother to want to distance himself from his older sister. But not so much his twin brother. But even so, Danny probably tried too hard to fritz Jazz out.
"So what do you suggest we do then? Stop talking to that shrink?" Danny asked.
"Well…" Andy hesitated as he looked at Jazz, then at Danny. He knew what he would say next may make or break what would happen next, but he hoped it would change things for the better in the long run between them. "Sure, we could stop talking to her. But considering how toxic she is for the student body, we need to get her fired before she does more damage to the school. You don't want everyone in class to grow up as miserable adults, do you?"
Danny frowned, but realized Andy had a point. "Yeah, you're right. We need to get Spectra out of the school. But what can we do? We're just kids. We can't just get a staff member fired without good cause or reason!"
"Nobody else notices the damages she's causing either," Jazz added. "I thought she was a good therapist, so did Mr. Lancer."
"We need to figure out something first," Andy said. "As to whether or not Penelope is a ghost or a human."
Danny frowned. "That… is a good question. She seems human enough, but I don't really know what to make of her."
"How would you know she was a ghost?" Jazz asked. "She didn't look like a ghost."
"Not all ghosts look like ghosts," Andy answered. "Some can disguise themselves as human." Like Vlad, in a way. Though that's complicated. "If she is a ghost, however, this will make things easier. If she's human, that would definitely make things harder. That's why it's important to know if she's human or ghost. As for finding out…"
Andy looked at Danny for a moment. Danny didn't seem to know if Penelope was a ghost, so she was likely somehow hiding from his ghost sense. "I'm not sure yet. We might find something about her or her office if we continue to talk to her. But I do worry how that would affect our psyche if we did."
"Well… we can't just stop talking to her. If we do keep seeing her, we will have to be extra careful." Danny agreed. "It may be our best bet to find out what is going on with her."
"Are you sure? I don't want her making things worse for you two." Jazz frowned, concerned for us.
"We're going to try. It wouldn't be the first time we had to get rid of a ghost problem," Andy informed.
Jazz frowned more. "How long… have you guys been doing this? The whole ghost thing I mean?"
"A few months now," Andy answered. "I've been trying to help us train for possible ghost threats. Though there's only so much we can do on our own. We've had help from an armored fire man named Agunimon, and a friendly ghost kid who fights against other ghosts."
"You mean that armored guy I've seen a few times? You met him?" Jazz blinked before she processed Andy's next words. "Hold on… a friendly ghost? Ghosts can be friendly?"
Danny was a little nervous that Andy brought up his ghost half to Jazz, but he wasn't sure if he should stop him since if he tried to, Andy would wonder why Danny was worried about telling Jazz about Phantom.
"Yes, they can," Andy confirmed to Jazz. "Our parents may have been right about ghosts existing, but they're wrong in saying all ghosts are evil. I've met with some ghosts that don't have any ill intentions, some just like eating cheese for a past time, or to be left alone. I've been wanting you to meet with Phantom, the friendly ghost kid… he's been a friend of mine for the past few months, and has been helping us with battling ghosts. But he's… pretty nervous about meeting anyone else in the family." Well, other than Takuya, but one bomb shell at a time.
Jazz blinked before she smiled. "Well, I would like to meet Phantom one day. If he is friendly to you, then maybe he would like to meet me as well."
"I'll have to ask him, but I'm not sure if you should see him now anyways." Andy frowned.
Danny blinked. He had been wondering how he should greet Jazz as Phantom since she seemed willing to give his ghost half a chance, which was both anxiety inducing, but also exciting. It meant there was potential the whole family could accept him for his entire self. Though what Andy said surprised him.
"Why not?" Both Danny and Jazz asked.
"Well, when I saw Phantom fly off earlier after dealing with that giant wasp, he seemed to be depressed about something," Andy answered. "I don't think he should have any visitors he doesn't trust until he feels better."
Danny frowned, realizing Andy had most likely seen his depressed state earlier. Aw man… How do I go about explaining that if Phantom shows up looking somewhat better after hearing what Spectra is doing?
"Okay… then you try to talk to him then," Jazz said. "And let me know when I can talk to him."
"Yeah, that's the plan," Andy agreed. "I'll see if I can talk to him tonight, then we'll deal with the Spectra thing tomorrow at school."
It was rather odd for Jazz to be in on something now, because Danny had been used to her not being a part of the group. But somehow Jazz, and Andy, managed to worm their way into Danny's little private circle. Although, Danny believed it wasn't a bad thing.
Danny smiled. "That would be a good idea. Phantom, if he looked depressed, could use some cheering up."
"Wait… so you going out at night…" Jazz spoke up, realizing something. "That was you visiting Phantom?"
Andy nodded. "That's right. I certainly can't talk to him during school, or at home, for obvious reasons."
"Does Danny go with you?" Jazz asked, which made Danny realize quickly how much he was screwed here.
Considering Andy often tended to put 2 and 2 together if given enough information, Danny was scared now that what Jazz brought up was going to have Andy realize Phantom was Danny.
"What do you mean?" Andy asked.
"Does Danny go meet Phantom with you?" Jazz asked, clarifying things for Andy.
"No? Why would he?" Andy asked.
Jazz blinked. "Because he-"
"Hey kids!" Jack suddenly called from the living room before he and Maddie rushed into the kitchen, looking excited. "We just finished our latest invention for combatting ghosts!"
Danny sighed in relief, his parents had the best timing ever.
Thank you, Dad for your timing! Danny thought in relief. He had been so worried he could be exposed to Andy, but thankfully, that had been averted.
"We call this the Fenton Ghost Peeler! It peels apart a ghost atom by atom!" Jack said with pride as he held up the small device. "Just push the red button on the back and it armors you up so you can be protected from the ghost while it is being peeled apart!"
"But we still have yet to be able to test it out on an actual ghost," Maddie sighed. "It worked on the ectoplasmic test samples we had. But it completely vaporized the ectoplasm. I don't want to completely vaporize the ghost though, I want to be able to study the remains."
"We'll find a way to work out the kinks, Mads, don't you worry." Jack smiled.
Danny sighed, he really hoped his parents didn't decide to use him as a test subject. That would be one way he didn't want his secret revealed. Not to mention he had no idea how it would affect a halfa like him.
"Maybe you two should invent something more defensive rather than destructive," Andy grumbled. "Just one Ghost Shield isn't going to be enough."
Jack grinned. "That's a great idea, Andyroo!" Jack beamed.
"Dad! What did we say about that nickname?" Andy blushed. "Just because I rode in the zoo's kangaroo's pouch one time when I was 5 doesn't mean I'm a baby kangaroo!"
Danny couldn't help but chuckle at Andy's nickname. "I'd say it does~"
"I still can't believe that kangaroo let you ride in its pouch like that, and right beside its own joey too," Jazz chuckled.
Andy groaned as he rubbed his hair. It wasn't a nickname Jack used a lot, but sometimes Jack would use it and remind Andy of that very weird, yet embarrassing time of his life.
"Alright, I think Andy's embarrassed enough." Maddie chuckled. "But it was cute when that happened. I think I have some pictures of that day~"
"Stop talking about it!" Andy yelled, his face a cherry red by now.
Later that night, Andy headed out to meet up with Phantom. Since Jazz was aware of why Andy would go out now, she promised to cover him for his parents. Though she wasn't sure why Danny had to feel the need to sneak out himself since he apparently wasn't going to see Phantom. But Jazz decided not to stick her nose into Danny's business this time, she didn't want to make the same mistake twice. If Danny was fine, then she would have to live with it.
Andy stopped at the central park. He looked around, wondering if Phantom even would show up. Phantom did seem pretty down earlier, he may not want to talk to anyone right now, not even Andy. Maybe I should leave…
However, Phantom suddenly appeared behind Andy. "Hey-"
"WAH!" Andy jumped from the sudden voice of Phantom, turning around. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"I'm a ghost… I'm supposed to be somewhat sneaky…" Phantom said with a deadpan look.
Andy grumbled. "Nevermind. I came to see if you were doing alright. You seemed pretty upset about something last I saw you."
Phantom sighed. "I just… It's…" He sighed again. "I was just… someone called me a loser." He finally admitted. "Or… at least I think they did. I don't know…"
Andy frowned. He had no idea who'd have the balls to call a ghost a loser. Andy didn't think Phantom would've cared if one of his ghost enemies called him that, since Phantom knew his enemies are meant to be hurtful.
"Uh… well, did this person know you when you were alive? Were you close to them?" Andy asked, hoping to try to figure out the situation.
Phantom winced. "I used to be, but then… after… well… I began to drift away from them as they got older and well… they became too nosy and bossy…"
Heh, I wonder if Phantom grew up with an older sister. I hope she's doing okay, it must be hard for her knowing her brother died. Andy thought to himself, wincing a bit at the reminder that Phantom was a dead kid. I need to stop thinking about that.
"But I doubt they would call you a 'loser' out of malice. Maybe they're just sad about… what happened," Andy cautiously said.
Phantom sighed. "Maybe… but… I… It's just… being called a loser… I can't stand that, you know? It… reminds me of when… bullies… when I was… alive…" He ran a hand through his snow white hair. "I was called a loser by bullies quite a bit…"
"I see…" Andy frowned. "Bullies will always call others names in order to degrade and hurt them. That will never stop. It's a sad reality we live in. I know my brother and I often get bullied and called names by bullies too. But… if it affects you this much, why have you never tried to get back at them with your powers? Like Sydney said, you could've easily used your powers to get back at those who bullied you."
"I… don't like hurting others… and using my powers for some payback seems wrong to me as well…" Phantom admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well there you go," Andy suddenly said.
"Huh?" Phantom blinked.
"What you said already showed you're not a loser. A 'loser' is someone who would give into the bitterness and do whatever they can to sabotage others, and constantly fail in life. Do you think you're a loser?" Andy asked.
Phantom blinked before blushing. "Well… not really, but sometimes I feel like I am a loser…" He admitted sheepishly.
Andy wondered if it was more than just because someone called him a loser. He sat down on the grass and patted the side of him. Seeing this, Phantom sat down beside Andy.
"It's normal to feel like a loser," Andy finally said after a moment of silence. "You probably feel alone, and like the only one in the world despite not being alone. When things don't go your way, disappointment can make you feel depressed, and make you think you could've done a better job. Sometimes you feel like a loser when you think someone you're close to is succeeding, while you're still struggling behind them, and sometimes you wonder if you're just a burden to them. And then it hits hard if someone else points this out to you."
Phantom blinked, surprised by Andy's words. Andy wasn't wrong, though Phantom wondered if that was how Andy himself felt.
"But…" Andy continued. "While it's easy to believe the harsh words other people say, you have to ask yourself if they're right. Only you truly know yourself. You should listen to the people who care about you more rather than the bullies who only want to tear you down. You can't let what someone else says keep you down. You'll always meet someone who would try to use words to cripple you, and, heh, well, us teens can get pretty sensitive when it comes to approval of our peers and adult figures. But if it means anything, I think you're the best ghostly friend one could ever ask for. I know I can always count on you whenever a ghost attacks, and you know you can count on me to have your back."
Phantom blushed green. "Andy! Do you like seeing me as a Christmas light?!" He squeaked out.
Andy blinked, surprised by Phantom's reaction before he started to laugh. "I was just trying to help you feel better. You were the one who took it like that. And yes, as cheesy as it was, I meant every word of it."
Phantom finally processed Andy's words and blushed a bit more. "Andy… you always seem to have a knack for making me glow like a Christmas tree…" He groaned, but there was a small smile on his face as well. "But… thanks."
"Heh, at least I don't have to worry about you going dragon on me," Andy joked.
"You were the one who ate the amulet," Phantom reminded.
Andy blanched. "That was a low blow! You were the first one to get stuck with it!"
"Oh, like I wanted that amulet stuck on me!" Phantom grumbled back. "That thing had a mind of its own when it latched onto me, I swear!"
Andy and Phantom laughed as they were teasing each other. But it was starting to get late. Andy stood up.
"I should get back," Andy said before he looked at Phantom. "Oh… um, Phantom? Would it be alright if I brought my sister to meet with you soon?"
Phantom blinked, but then gave a slight nod. "If… if she is willing to meet with me, I don't see why not." He said at last.
Andy smiled. "Great. I'm sure she would like to meet you. And maybe one day, we can get Danny to meet you, and then we could try to convince our parents that not all ghosts are evil."
Phantom sweatdropped. "That'd… be nice, but uh… don't get too ambitious." I still haven't figured out how I'm going to work getting 'Danny' to meet with me… I really need to learn how to duplicate myself like Plasmius did.
"Heh, right, let's take it one step at a time," Andy chuckled as he went over to his moped. "I'll see you later, Phantom. I hope you remember my advice the next time someone calls you a loser."
Phantom nodded, "I will try to remember." He then smiled at Andy. "Thanks Andy, really…"
"Of course." Andy smiled back. "Goodnight, Phantom."
"Yeah, goodnight, Andy," Phantom replied back as Andy got on his moped and left.
The next morning, everyone was at school again. Jazz was thinking about something. Andy told her that Phantom would be fine with meeting her later tonight, though she couldn't help but feel nervous. Just yesterday she finally accepted that ghosts were real, and now she was about to speak to one.
Wow… I'm really going to meet a friendly ghost for the first time. Oh, what do I ask? I can't just ask anything, can I? How would I go about this? Is it even okay to ask about how this ghost became a ghost? Is that considered off limits? Jazz's mind was racing with all sorts of questions and possibilities.
Jazz nearly bumped into Tucker and Sam.
"Whoa, Jazz, you almost smashed into me," Tucker spoke up.
"Oh, s-sorry!" Jazz quickly apologized.
"Is everything okay? You look a little out of it," Sam asked in concern.
"Um… I'm fine. I just have a lot on my mind." Jazz admitted. "You know how it is."
"Did something happen last night?" Tucker asked. "I know! You failed a test, right?"
Jazz frowned. Is that how most people see me?
"That's rude, Tucker." Sam frowned disapprovingly.
"No, I didn't fail a test." Jazz grumbled. "I was just… thinking about some stuff, that's all."
"Are you still worried about your brothers?" Sam asked.
"Well… I guess I am, yeah," Jazz answered. Just not the same way as I was before.
"Hmm… maybe I could tell you something for a little bit of… cash?" Tucker wiggled his eyebrows.
Sam elbowed Tucker before she spoke up. "We've all got our problems, Jazz. I know you're worried, but Danny, and Andy, are okay. And Takuya's also watching their backs. Sure, they keep some things to themselves, but it's not like they're doing anything criminal."
Tucker was groaning as he rubbed the spot Sam elbowed him at. "I was just joking about the cash thing. I mean we're Danny and Andy's friends, that means we keep their secrets from the sister."
Before Jazz could reply, there was a sudden alarm that rang loudly throughout the school. The sprinkles on the ceiling were turned on and began to rain on top of the students.
Takuya was nearby, he covered his ears with his hands and noticed Danny's backpack strap was caught on the fire alarm. Danny himself looked just as surprised and confused as everyone else.
"Aw crap…" Takuya groaned as he saw what was going on.
"What the?!" Danny looked back and saw his backpack was on the fire alarm's handle. "How did… How did that happen?"
Andy ran over and took the strap off of the fire alarm, but the damage had already been done. All the students were running down the hall in a panic to get out of the school. Though it wasn't from some fire, it was from the water. The sprinklers did a bit too good of a job, and was soaking everybody wet.
"STAMPEDE!" Andy shouted just before he, Danny, and Takuya were swept away by the students.
Sam, Jazz, and Tucker were also swept away by the student body tide coming at them. "WAAHHH!"
After surviving the stampede, and the FireFighters arrived at the school to see what caused the fire alarm, nobody was happy when they realized there wasn't any actual fire or emergency. There was a Dalmatian among the FireFighters that was growling, looking rather annoyed itself.
Mr. Lancer found out that Danny's backpack got caught on the fire alarm mysteriously. However, because Danny was the one responsible for causing the fire alarm to go off, Mr. Lancer decided to punish him.
"A month's detention!? But I didn't do anything!" Danny argued.
"Danny's right, Mr. Lancer. Punishing someone over an accident is counterproductive," Andy agreed. "You're teaching the student to fear mistakes rather than learn from them."
"Even so, I have to do something about this. The mishap with the fire alarm wasted these good people's time," Mr. Lancer explained.
Before Andy could say anything more, Penelope suddenly spoke up with her cheery smile.
"Andy is right, Mr. Lancer, it was an accident." Penelope agreed. "But we're going to take that accident and turn it into an acci-don't, and learn from it so it never happens again!"
Danny blinked before frowning. He knew better than to trust Penelope Spectra's words now, but he still didn't want to have other kids go through seeing her. Danny tried to protest. "B-but…"
"No 'buts'. You could learn a thing or two about school spirit from Ms. Spectra here," Mr. Lancer stated. "When I was in high school, I got the same advice. And look how I turned out."
Mr. Lancer demonstrated this by leaping into the air, doing an air split. Danny was… concerned, since Mr. Lancer wasn't exactly the healthiest example of how one should turn out in adulthood. But he was more concerned about Penelope herself. This was a good way to figure out if she was human or a ghost, on the other hand…
"And this is supposed to help me how?" Danny groaned as he found himself standing in Penelope's office, wearing a red sash on his front that said 'spirit', a tall, black top hat on his head, and… worst of all, he was wearing an actual diaper. A diaper of all things!
Danny knew talking to Penelope would risk not just his psyche, but his reputation as well. She was planning to humiliate him.
"We're going to help you overcome your fear of being called a baby." Penelope replied with a smile.
"I'm not afraid of being called a baby, I was afraid of being called a loser." Danny frowned.
"Ah, and therein lies the problem. You care too much of what other people think," Penelope stated.
Somehow my own brother is a better therapist. Danny grumbled. And he's 14!
"Where'd you want us to put these banners Ms-" Dash's voice spoke up as he, Calvin, and Kwan came walking into the office.
Penelope made sure to move away so Danny was in full view of these jocks, also known as the bullies of Casper High.
"Hey, guys, check it out!" Dash said with a mean grin on his face when he saw what was before him. "It's the Casper High Spirit Baby!"
The three jocks began laughing hysterically.
"Of course…" Danny sighed, realizing he walked into that one.
Danny felt Penelope touching his shoulder, and he became aware that he felt tired, drained, and even more depressed than he was a second ago. That was a sure sign that this woman wasn't normal.
Andy saw the humiliation going on in Penelope's office. He frowned before he saw Takuya coming by. He walked over to Takuya and gave him the devilish mischievous grin. "Hey, cuz? Would you mind doing me a favor?~"
Takuya blinked and shivered when he saw Andy's grin. "Um… sure?" He said, not sure what Andy had in mind.
Dash, Calvin, and Kwan were still making fun of Danny while they were moving things around Penelope's office. Penelope wanted them to stick around to continue tormenting the boy, it was feeding her nicely. The fact that Dash and his friends had been feeling rather down themselves lately, they made sure they were harsher on Danny to feel better about themselves.
"I always knew Fenton was a loser, but I didn't know he was such a baby! I mean he's wearing a diaper? Maybe that's a good idea since he's always running to the bathroom!" Dash sneered.
"Yeah! Maybe he has potty issues!" Calvin snickered meanly. "It fits him so well too!"
"Poor baby Fenton!" Kwan laughed.
"Are you sure you want to keep making fun of Danny?" Andy spoke up as he walked into the office.
Dash frowned as he looked at Andy. He hadn't been hounding the Fentons as much since the dragon prank Andy pulled. He wasn't fully convinced it had all been a joke. But Andy hadn't pulled that dragon stunt in a while, so Dash was hoping that maybe it really was just some elaborate prank. Still, Dash wasn't too keen on getting on Andy's case.
"Oh look, it's the twin brother of the baby!" Calvin laughed, having no such inhibitions.
Andy only gave a grin at them, which made Dash more worried.
"What do you want?" Dash asked, not sure what Andy was up to. As far as he knew, the Fenton kid was just playing around with him.
"I just wanted to know if you really think making fun of Danny right now is a good idea," Andy remarked. "After all… do you remember that dragon prank?"
"Yeah, you were just playing as a fake dragon, so?" Calvin rolled his eyes.
Kwan just frowned, he wasn't sure if he should say anything.
"Maybe it wasn't a prank after all." Andy grinned before he snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, flames seemed to have burst from behind him. Dash let out a squeal.
Behind Andy, out of sight, Takuya had evolved into Agunimon and had used his Pyro Darts on Andy's fingers being snapped. I really don't know if I should be scared of Andy or impressed… Agunimon thought as he sweatdropped at Andy's evil grin. I'm surprised he doesn't do this more often to the bullies.
The bullies dropped everything and ran out of the office in a panic, apologizing over and over for making fun of Danny. Once the bullies ran out, Agunimon stopped using his Pyro Darts. He was glad he could control the flames so he didn't actually burn anything.
Danny was just blinking. He was the one with ghost powers, yet Andy scared even him sometimes. Penelope was frowning, she hadn't expected Andy to scare off the bullies like he did. She didn't know how he put up that fake fire trick behind him, but she could've sworn she felt a spike of digital energy.
"I think Danny's therapy session is over," Andy said as he frowned at Penelope. "You've humiliated him enough for one day."
Penelope frowned a bit before smiling. "Why, I'm just trying to help your brother. He cares too much about what others think about him, and that can make anyone feel sad and depressed."
Outside the room, Agunimon was listening in, a frown on his face. Wait… Penelope Spectra is humiliating Danny? But why?
"And making him feel like trash because of what people say isn't going to make that any better!" Andy snapped, clearly upset about what Penelope tried to do to his brother.
"So you want to keep holding back your brother's full potential because you're too protective of him?" Penelope spoke up.
Danny blinked, and Andy hesitated a little.
"After all, you're only a child, what would you know about true psychology and what your brother needs to become the best person he could be?" Penelope continued. "Or maybe you want to hold him back so he could be dragged down to your level. You're jealous of him, and don't want him to rise above you. Don't you think this is maybe toxic behavior? After all, how does your brother feel about being smothered? He got angry and resentful towards your sister after all."
Danny frowned. "I'm not being smothered by Andy! He's just looking out for me!" Danny protested, feeling his anger rising. He didn't like what Penelope was implying about Andy, he could also tell that it was hurting Andy too.
Penelope frowned. She usually only had one teen to work with rather than two.
"Whatever, you clearly don't care," Danny growled as he took Andy's hand. "Let's go, bro. She clearly won't help us."
Andy blinked as if snapping out of a trance, but nodded. "Yeah, let's go."
Seeing Andy and Danny coming out of the room, Agunimon ducked out of sight into an unused classroom and reverted back to Takuya. He emerged from the room, making sure he was just acting casual. "Hey, are you two doing okay?"
"Yeah," Andy replied. "But… I think we need to talk. Not here, but… somewhere else, after school."
Takuya blinked, but nodded. "Okay. I can meet up with you after school then." He agreed, hoping things were not as bad as he was thinking they were.
Danny did, however, look at Takuya and Andy. "First of all, I'm getting out of this baby suit as quickly as possible. Second… Andy… did you get help from Takuya to make that… uh… 'fake fire' earlier?"
"Yeah?" Andy replied, having Danny stare at him for a moment. "What? We already went through a lot of trouble covering up the dragon incident, we might as well take advantage of it."
"Yeah, sure…" Takuya grumbled. Of all the… Andy, you really like to push the boundaries, don't you? Although, I don't think Andy realizes how scary he can be.
Danny sighed. "Well, whatever. Thanks for that, Andy, Takuya. I needed that help, literally."
"Yeah… I think Takuya and I need to cover you up to make sure nobody else sees you," Andy pointed out.
Danny frowned. "Yeah… good idea…"
Pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we thought having the present being used as a genuine emotional moment was a better pay off than a stupid gag that made no sense, nor did it follow the story canonically since Jazz clearly saw the Box Ghost, but didn't really react to him. Then later she was surprised to see real ghosts actually exist. So yeah, that ending always bothered me in the episode, and we never really got to see what was in that present.
ZAFT: Yeah, My Brother's Keeper will be fun for our readers. XD Ghost type Digimon… you'll have to keep on reading~ XD And yeah, I was watching Digimon Ghost Game and got the idea for how Agunimon would learn his moves throughout the series. Pretty fitting if I may say so myself. And for the… other Spirits… We already have plans for them, and no, no DP characters will be getting Spirits this time.
DarkFoxKit: I'm surprised you mentioned a scene from the previous story that was nothing more than a gag scene. ^^' I didn't find it necessary to do it this time, hence why we didn't do it. But it's flattering to know someone likes Andy's fear of teddy bears. But yeah, like ZAFT said, we don't plan any of the DP characters to get a Spirit this time. It was more of an experiment when we did it in our previous story, and we found that it doesn't work that well with them. As for Digimon partners, those are some good possible Digimon for the group if we're giving them Digimon partners. But we won't reveal whether or not they will get anything Digimon related until we get to a certain point.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Glad you liked the chapter, and Agunimon's scene. XD
Son Sandy: DarkFoxKit: Uh, thank you? I'm glad we could make you happy on your birthday, though it would've been nice to hear your thoughts on the chapter itself. ^^'
CT7567Rules: ZAFT: That's a good theory on Walker. And yeah, he will be out for revenge soon~ :3
DarkFoxKit: That depends on if Walker was even alive before. Though it is possible, it was never confirmed. So we try to keep that vague. As for revenge… heh… hehehehe…