Digital Phantom

by ZAFT Convoy

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

25. Misunderstandings

ZAFT: I hope Andy and Takuya are ready for this chapter~ XD This one is gonna be a fun one~

Takuya: Why do I get the feeling this will not be a fun chapter…? ^^'

DarkFoxKit: I think a lot of the chapters are fun.

Andy: That depends on your definition of fun. For us, this is just more of an excuse for you to torment us.

DarkFoxKit: Maybe, but I think this one will be quite the amusing one~

ZAFT: And on to the chapter we go~ XD

---

(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 black-haired boy 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, Tucker, 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 25: Misunderstanding

Takuya and Tokomon were walking through a small forest. Takuya just hoped they were going the right way.

"So… Tokomon…" Takuya spoke up, feeling like he needed to know something. "These players… they're mostly dangerous because of their Digimon, right? So why won't their Digimon just leave them? I mean… why would the Digimon purposefully work with people who think this world is just a game?"

"They're partner Digimon to these players," Tokomon answered. "I don't know all the details, but there have been legends about whenever a human is born, a Digimon is born as well. And I mean a new Digimon, not a Digimon who was reborn. The two are linked like soulmates in a way. Some say the link can be forged even if they weren't born together. Others say the link can be forged depending on if the Digimon that's been reborn accepts the human. In a way, they're almost like the same people. If they hurt the other, they only end up hurting themselves."

"Wow, that sounds messed up." Takuya said as he looked down at Tokomon. "I can't imagine how that would work. But wait, that doesn't explain why someone would steal Kokomon then. I mean I doubt Kokomon would be this person's partner Digimon, right?"

"Well…" Tokomon frowned a little. "Players are using these items called the Dark Rings. These rings, once they catch you, if you're not strong enough to break out, you become their mind controlled slaves. The players use these to control non-partner Digimon, and force them to do their bidding. But as for Kokomon… if he was being controlled, then his full power can never be unleashed. And all we'd have to do to free him is to get rid of the Dark Ring. We would only have to worry about that if he becomes a partner Digimon to this kidnapper."

Takuya frowned. "Yeah, I can see why Leomon assumed you were going to be my slave." Oh man… if I have to become Agunimon, I'd have to be very careful not to get one of those rings on me. "How would we know if Kokomon became this person's partner?"

"I doubt Kokomon would form a link with someone who kidnapped him. The link has to be a two-way thing after all. Trust, love, and a bond between Digimon and human is what forms the link," Tokomon explained. "But… if such a thing does happen, most likely Kokomon would digivolve with this human, and start to take on the traits and personality of the human. As all partner Digimon do."

"Great… if this person is really bad, then that could be bad for this world." Takuya groaned. "And I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it!"

"Relax before you blow a gasket," Tokomon sighed. "Like I said, it's very unlikely Kokomon would form a link bond with a human who would kidnap him. If Kokomon is scared, he would never trust the human. If Kokomon is angry, he would never love the human. If the only thing we have to worry about is the Dark Ring, then that's an easy fix. Since Kokomon is a Celestial Digimon, even if he doesn't remember it, he would not digivolve so easily if he was being controlled by a Dark Ring."

"Good. It sounds like those Dark Rings have a weakness then." Takuya realized.

"Yes. Dark Rings seem to be a prototype though, so it's possible new, stronger versions will be made in the future. Thankfully they don't work that well on Celestial Digimon… um… so I've heard," Tokomon stated.

"I hope that doesn't happen then." Takuya said with a sweatdrop running down the side of his head. Yeah, I hope I don't see a player when I am evolved then…

As they were walking, they heard someone groaning and complaining.

"Hurry up and eat! You need to get your strength back so we can show those two that we're stronger! They only caught us by surprise with that stupid digivolution, that's all!"

"I'm eating, I'm eating!"

Takuya paused. "Hold it…" He said to Tokomon quietly. "I think I hear someone nearby…"

"That's not hard, they're being really loud," Tokomon grumbled.

Takuya slowly approached the location where the voices were coming from. He peered through the bushes carefully, only to see a boy and what looked like another Digimon. The Digimon looked quite beat up, and the boy was looking mad about something.

"Who are they?" Takuya wondered to himself, curious if he should even evolve yet. I don't like the way those two are acting…

"Looks like a player, and his partner is a Dracomon," Tokomon whispered. "Looks like they got beaten up by someone."

"I didn't expect them to be so strong," Dracomon said as he was munching on some meat and berries. "Normally Digimon that just digivolve without any training should still be quite weak. But I didn't expect that Lopmon to be so strong."

"And what's worse, if we lose again, we won't get into the Beast Slayer Guild!" The boy complained. "That's why we need to get stronger and beat that kid and his Lopmon!"

Wait… they said something about 'digivolution'... Does that mean Kokomon evolved or something? Takuya wondered to himself. Maybe it's just a coincidence. There are a lot of players after all.

Tokomon, however, looked quite pale… well, paler than usual, which was a feat since his body was white.

Takuya, noticing Tokomon wasn't looking too good, quickly picked him up, and moved away from the two. Takuya made sure he was far enough away from the kid and his Dracomon before he spoke up again.

"Tokomon, are you okay?" Takuya asked as he set Tokomon down on the ground, keeling down beside him. "You look a bit freaked out."

"Takuya…" Tokomon hissed. "This… this is really bad…"

"What? What is it?" Takuya asked in concern.

"Lopmon… is the name of Kokomon's Rookie form," Tokomon answered.

Takuya paled. "Then… you really think he formed a link-bond thing with his kidnapper?!"

"I don't know how, but yes, that's the most likely scenario. Kokomon could not have digivolved otherwise." Tokomon frowned. "He's too young to digivolve naturally into Lopmon. The Dark Ring wouldn't have let him digivolved. If Kokomon didn't like his kidnapper, then he wouldn't digivolve for him. So the only explanation is… Kokomon somehow bonded with his kidnapper."

Takuya clenched his fists as he reached into his pocket. He wanted to evolve so badly, but he didn't want to get mistaken as a random Digimon either. At least in my Agunimon form, I would be able to defend myself and with my senses being enhanced in that form, I would be able to find the kidnapper much faster instead of running around blindly…

"Um… maybe the kidnapper isn't such a bad guy then?" Takuya asked, trying to be optimistic.

Tokomon frowned. "If the kidnapper wasn't such a bad guy, why go through all of that trouble to kidnap Kokomon specifically at Primary Village? Actually… now that I think about it… it's more likely that the kidnapper took advantage of the fact Kokomon is still mentally a baby. He could've influenced Kokomon by giving him candy or something, so Kokomon would like him. Kokomon likely didn't know he was being kidnapped."

Takuya paled again. "Yeah… probably…" Wow, way to make me even more worried, Tokomon…

Takuya then shook his head. "Okay, we need to find this kidnapper, but where do we start?"

Tokomon looked at Takuya. "... I hate to say this, but our best lead would be the player and his Dracomon. They were the last people to have seen the kidnapper and Kokomon."

"Great… But that player may assume I am a player as well." Takuya grumbled. Maybe I should evolve… It would give me the edge at least…

"Players don't usually attack each other unless they're going to battle with their Digimon," Tokomon said. "Or so I've heard from Sorcermon. You can try talking to him and see if he's willing to point you in the right direction."

Takuya frowned, but was silently relieved he didn't have to evolve. "Okay, I can just pretend to be a player. But… that means you have to pretend to be my Digimon partner. Are you up for that?" He asked Tokomon. Maybe I can get through this without having to evolve after all…

"Sure, why not? Just as long as the idiot doesn't attack us," Tokomon replied.

Takuya took a deep breath and let it out. He walked back to where the person with the Dracomon was.

"I'm full… no more, please," Dracomon groaned, rubbing his tummy.

"You need to get stronger!" The boy snapped, only for him to turn when he heard someone approaching. "Who's there?!"

"Ah… sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" Takuya said as he held up his hands, Tokomon beside him. "I didn't realize another player was here!"

The boy frowned. "Oh great, another player… what do you want?"

The boy noticed Tokomon in Takuya's arms. "You better not have another one of those overpowered, hacked Digimon!"

"Um… No, no I don't! I just overheard you complaining about something, a player with a Lopmon." Takuya replied. "Did this kid really beat up your partner Digimon?"

The boy glared hotly. "Don't mention that Digimon or that guy!"

"I'll make them suf- BURP!" Dracomon growled before burping. "Ugh…"

"Uh… sorry, but… was it really that bad?" Takuya asked nervously.

"Bad? That kid is a hacker, I swear! First he was a liar, trying to get my guard down with his manipulating words, then he had that Kokomon or whatever digivolve, and wiped the floor with us!" The boy snapped.

Ah, great… I'm sure I got in over my head here… Takuya thought with a sweatdrop.

"Which way did he go?" Tokomon asked.

The boy frowned. "If you want to get your butts kicked, last I saw, he was heading to the Fortune-Teller Village or whatever."

Takuya frowned a bit as well. "I see. Well, I think I can find my way there. Thanks for that info." He said as he looked at the boy. "I'll be sure to be careful."

Takuya quickly walked away with Tokomon, leaving the boy and his Dracomon to sulk.

"Do you know where that town is, Tokomon?" Takuya asked.

"I think so," Tokomon replied. "It's not that far from here. But why would the kidnapper risk being seen by other Digimon with Lopmon?"

"I don't know, but if we can find this kidnapper there, then we can find Lopmon as well." Takuya said with a frown. I'd better prepare myself mentally for this, but I don't know if I'm really ready to fight a human with such skills…

"Let's prepare ourselves when we get there," Tokomon took a deep breath and let it out. "If the situation wasn't dire, I would've suggested going back to the Forest Terminal to get Zoe or Koichi to take care of the kidnapper before he grows too strong."

"Yeah… speaking of… how would either of those two handle the kidnapper? They don't have Digimon to fight for them." Takuya said, not really liking being kept in the dark about Zoe and Koichi's abilities. "I can't see how two kids could fight off a kidnapper as strong as this one."

Tokomon sighed. "Nevermind that now, we wouldn't have time to go back to them anyways. The kidnapper could leave by the time they get here. Let's see what happens when we get to the Fortune-Teller Village."

"Yeah, good idea…" Takuya said as he put one hand into his pocket, feeling that device he carried with him. Aw man… I hope I can handle such a strong player as Agunimon… Of course I may have to explain myself to Tokomon later.

As Takuya and Tokomon were moving, Takuya was trying to think of why this crafty kidnapper would go to a town with Lopmon. At first, he thought maybe the kidnapper was being too careless, but then another thought came to him. The kidnapper may want to prove himself strong with a Celestial Digimon and take over the town. Or maybe, with what the name Fortune-Teller means, maybe there are Digimon there that could tell one's future. The kidnapper may want that power for himself too, to be able to see the future.

Oh man… this could be bad… Really, really, bad if we don't hurry! Takuya thought to himself, feeling his heart beginning to race. He picked up his walking pace, transitioning into a running pace without even being aware of it. We have to get to Fortune-Teller Village, and fast!

---

"Wow, so this is the Fortune-Teller Village?" Andy asked Lopmon when they finally made it to what looked like a small town filled with different kinds of monsters, which Andy assumed were all Digimon.

"Yes, it is." Lopmon confirmed. "Here, many Digimon come to get their fortunes told, or to give out fortunes to other Digimon."

"Foruntes? Likes they tell them their future?" Andy asked.

"Yeah, something like that. Are you interested?" Lopmon questioned.

"I don't really believe in fortune telling," Andy admitted. "Although, since this is a different world from what I'm used to, and you Digimon have all kinds of powers… maybe it's a real thing here."

"It most certainly is a real thing, but there are only a select few who can truly see the future." Lopmon admitted. "Most Digimon cannot see into the future unless they are of a high enough level or are powerful enough to do so."

"Hmm, do you know any Digimon who can see into the future?" Andy asked.

"No… I don't know a lot of Digimon unless I see them. I just know some of them can use that ability," Lopmon sheepishly admitted.

Andy could hear Lopmon's stomach growling. "How about we get some food first, then worry about using fortune telling? Maybe someone can tell me where to find Takuya."

"Food sounds good." Lopmon admitted, feeling his cheeks blushing beneath his fur. "I haven't eaten since that battle we had… although… Do you have any more of those candies?"

"I'm not feeding you candy for a meal, Lopmon," Andy sighed.

"Awww…" Lopmon pouted, trying to look cute.

Andy was glad Lopmon was on his head, so he couldn't see the chocolate bunny's face right now. "If you want to eat, help me find a good place to get food."

"Okay," Lopmon pouted before he began to look around. "How about that place over there?"

Andy turned his head to see what Lopmon was pointing at.

It was a restaurant nearby. The name was in an unknown language, but Lopmon could apparently read it. "That's the Burger Cafe."

"You can read it?" Andy asked.

"Yeah," Lopmon replied.

"It's written in a language I've never seen before." Andy frowned. "I guess that means I'll have to learn how to read the Digimon language…" I wonder if this place is as good as the Nasty Burger?

"The translation to your language would be a bit difficult, but it can be done." Lopmon chuckled. "It will just take some time." Lopmon's stomach growled again. "I'm hungry…"

"Let's head on in." Andy chuckled.

Andy walked into the restaurant. The place had such a delicious aroma, it was difficult to not have his stomach growl from the aroma alone.

"Welcome to the Burger Cafe!"

The speaker was a small Digimon that was cream-colored and had small black eyes. It had on its chest a small image of a burger that was situated on a… bib thing, and had a giant burger bun hat. It had a tail as well as small wing-like tufts of fur that stuck out from the sides of its head.

Whoa… is that a burger Digimon? Andy blinked.

"Andy, this is Burgermon. They're the best Digimon to go to for good burgers." Lopmon smiled. "Not that I've had any burgers before."

"Oh my, aren't you two adorable?" Burgermon giggled.

Says the adorable Burger Digimon. Andy inwardly chuckled.

"Are you a player?" Burgermon asked Andy.

"Not really," Andy answered. "Although some may see me as one,"

"Oh? Is that so?" Burgermon chuckled. "Well, regardless if you are a player or not, we are always happy to have new customers coming in~ You must be hungry!"

"Thanks!" Andy smiled before he remembered something important. Wait… do I have any money on me? Do they even take American dollars? "Uh… what kind of currency do you take?"

"This is your first time here, right? Any first timers get a chance to have their meal for free, if they can beat the challenge." Burgermon said with a grin.

Andy was both relieved and nervous when he heard that. He had seen some shows on food challenges, and those usually made him feel bloated just watching it. "What kind of challenge?"

"If you can eat 8 big burgers, you get your meal free," Burgermon answered.

"8 big burgers? How big are they?" Andy asked.

Burgermon went to the back for a moment before coming back out with a cardboard box that looked to be as big as Jack's plate, and opened it up to see a huge burger.

That's even bigger than the biggest whopper in Nasty Burger! Andy gulped. I don't think I can survive eating 8 of them!

Lopmon looked at the burger and gulped as well. "Oh dear…" Then an idea hit Lopmon. "Hey, is it possible for the two of us to split the burgers so that we each eat 4 of these? Would that count for the challenge?"

"Sure thing. The burgers were meant to be consumed by Digimon. I'm not sure how much a human can eat," Burgermon admitted. "If you two can eat all 8 of these burgers, then you will have your meal free."

"Okay…" Andy said. I'll have to channel my inner dad for this one. "Bring it on, we'll take the 8 burger challenge."

Burgermon grinned. "We have two more for the 8 burger challenge!" Burgermon called out happily to the kitchen.

---

Due to Takuya's speed picking up, the trek to the village didn't take too long, much to Takuya's relief. "Is… Is this the place?" Takuya asked Tokomon as he panted, now hiding in some brush near what looked like a village of Digimon.

"Yes, I believe this is it," Tokomon answered. "The kidnapper should still be here with Lopmon. But… it doesn't look like there's anything going on in the village."

"Did… did the kidnapper get what he wanted then?" Takuya asked nervously. Aw man… What if we were too late?! What if all the Digimon here got kidnapped as well?!

"I guess there's only one way to find out. We need to go in and gather information," Tokomon stated. "Staying out here isn't going to do us any good."

Takuya nodded, but he wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to go in if this super strong player was in there. Oh man… if I go in there like this, I may get attacked or worse!

Tokomon noticed how nervous Takuya looked. "Come on, pull yourself together! We have to hurry before the kidnapper does whatever else he plans to do!"

"Y-yeah… I guess…" Takuya said, feeling his heart racing, His hand brushed his transformation device in his pocket, trying to gain the mental strength he needed from it.

After taking a moment to calm himself, Takuya carried Tokomon with him into the village. Much to Takuya's surprise, there were Digimon out and about, looking like nothing was wrong.

"Huh… No one seems to be alarmed about a kidnapper being in this village." Takuya noted before frowning. "Unless this player has somehow hidden himself from these Digimon."

"Hmm… we better ask then," Tokomon suggested. "Look, there's a Veggiemon, why don't you ask her?"

Takuya looked over and saw what looked like a yellow pear-shaped Digimon with large red leaves coming from the back of her head and the leaves had blue tips to them. There were red accents on the face from the forehead down to the eyes, and the eyes were red in color. Two vines extended from the Digimon's sides to act as arms. The mouth was full of sharp and pointy teeth, making Takuya grimace. Oh geez… Well… I'm not going to get anywhere by just standing around acting nervous…

Takuya approached the Veggiemon. "Ah… Um… hi there." Takuya said nervously.

"Hmm?" Veggiemon looked at Takuya. "Another player? What do you want?"

"Ah… I'm… not really a player…" Takuya admitted. "But if you want to consider me as such… I don't… see anything wrong with that. I just wanted to ask if there was any sign of a player with a Lopmon around."

"You mean the one who rolled into town about an hour ago?" Veggiemon asked. "Yeah, there was one. It looked like they were looking for something."

Takuya paled. "Um… do you know what they were looking for?" He asked, trying to hide his worry.

"What am I, their babysitter?" Veggiemon grumbled. "I heard them talking about fortune telling, so maybe they're looking for Shamonmon or another Digimon to tell them their fortune."

"O-oh… Thank you for that information." Takuya said, but he was feeling his heart racing. Ah crap… this is very bad… Those Digimon could be in danger!

"I couldn't help but overhear that you're looking for a player with a Lopmon?" Another Digimon spoke up, walking up to them.

This new Digimon was gray in color with a lighter gray stomach. The eyes were red, and it had black claws on its paws and feet. The ears looked like they were dog-like, but at the same time fox-like, and the Digimon had a tail with three black belts near the tip.

"Ah… yeah… Yeah, I am." Takuya confirmed. Wow… what Digimon is this?

"This isn't any of your business, Gazimon," Veggiemon huffed.

"But I've seen this player and the Lopmon," The Digimon called Gazimon stated. "And you two want the information, don't you?"

Veggiemon rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm out of here."

The Veggiemon hopped away.

"Um… yes, I would like the information." Takuya said, but he wasn't sure if he could trust this Digimon; something was making him wary of this Gazimon, but he didn't know what it was. "Could you please tell me where this player is?"

Tokomon was frowning, but he didn't say anything.

"Sure, but I don't know if I should. After all, this player was pretty… sketchy. I could see how he was hiding a dark intention under that friendly smile of his," Gazimon stated. "He was really focused on getting somewhere, he didn't even stop to talk. I know someone like that can't be trusted. Buuuut maybe if you make it worth my while, I could be persuaded into telling you where this player is."

Takuya frowned a little. "What do you want then? What would persuade you to tell me where the player is?"

"Do you have any money? Some food on you? After all, information doesn't always come free." Gazimon grinned.

Takuya frowned some more; he was already not trusting this Gazimon. If this Digimon wanted something from him, then there was a decent chance he could still be tricked anyway, even if he handed over what the Gazimon wanted. Maybe that odd feeling I was getting was right. For whatever reason, I didn't trust this Digimon when I first saw him, but now I'm fairly sure this is a bad idea.

"Well, if you don't have anything, I'll be on my way while the player gets what he wants," Gazimon shrugged and started to walk away.

Takuya shook his head before he spoke up. "I do have some food with me." He said at last. "It's not much, but I do have a bit left from my journey here."

Takuya gave Gazimon a pack of dry noodles. Gazimon took the pack and grinned. "The player with the Lopmon is at the Burger Cafe. But be careful, I hear he's stirring something big in there with his Lopmon."

Takuya frowned, but nodded. "Thanks for that information." He said. He felt a bad taste in his mouth at having done what the Gazimon wanted, but it had to be done. Aw man… I hate shady characters… I guess it's not that different from the human world where humans can be shady too.

"Let's hope that Gazimon wasn't lying, we can't afford to waste more time," Tokomon grumbled. "Gazimon aren't exactly known to be very trustworthy Digimon."

"Well, the only way to find out is to head over there." Takuya grumbled as well. "Do you have any idea of where this Burger Cafe is?"

"Um… follow your nose?" Tokomon asked.

"What?" Takuya frowned.

"I've never been here before, I don't know where everything is," Tokomon grumbled.

Takuya groaned. "Great… Well, there's no point in standing around here complaining." Aw man… I wish Tucker was here right now… He would know the way ASAP…

Takuya then sniffed the air before a scent hit his nose. It smelled a lot like burgers. "Wow… I smell something good."

Takuya knew burgers when he smelled them, so he quickly followed his nose. He had been eating nothing but canned food and dry ramen for the past few days, he needed something like burgers anyways. He just hoped the evil fiend who took Kokomon wasn't going to destroy this Burger Cafe just to prove his strength.

Takuya frowned as he realized that was a high possibility. After all, people who want power and domination would do something like destroy other places people liked just to prove their superiority. There was no doubt in Takuya's mind that this kidnapper who took a Celestial Digimon straight from his crib would do something like that.

Aw man… I may have to evolve after all. I don't want to face down a player who is trying to prove his strength like this. I would get hurt or worse! At least as Agunimon I would have a chance of fighting back, not to mention that form has armor on when I evolve. Takuya thought to himself as he made his way in the direction of the Burger Cafe.

It didn't take Takuya long to reach what he assumed to be a restaurant. He could see words on the front of the building. It was written in a language Takuya was certain he had never seen before, and yet… he could read it somehow, it read 'Burger Cafe'. At least Takuya knew this was the right place.

"Look! A lot of Digimon are gathering around the Burger Cafe!" Tokomon pointed out. "They look… nervous?"

"I guess whoever the kidnapper is must be up to something." Takuya growled. I need to evolve… but… Tokomon is here, and I can't just Spirit Evolve when I'm holding him…

Takuya sighed. "Tokomon, I'm going to need to put you down. I don't want you to get hurt when I confront this kidnapper and Lopmon."

"What are you going to do?" Tokomon asked as Takuya put him down.

"I can't believe that player is able to do that!" A Digimon gasped in shock.

"And how is that tiny Lopmon able to just take down such a huge opponent?" Another Digimon gulped. "I'd get taken down really easily if I tried that!"

Takuya clenched a fist before he reached into his pocket and took out his device to transform. "Tokomon… please don't freak out at what you're about to see." Takuya said as he called forth the fractal code around his hand.

Takuya held out his D-Tector and the blue digital form of his first Spirit appeared visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he formed the familiar fractal coding on his left hand. He swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase he knew 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!"

Tokomon stared and blinked at Agunimon. "What the!?"

Now evolved, Agunimon glanced down at Tokomon for a moment. "I'll explain later! Right now, I have a player to take down!" With that said, Agunimon turned and began to make his way to where the Digimon were gathering around.

The Digimon crowd were surprised when Agunimon began squeezing himself through, trying to get into the restaurant.

"Excuse me, coming through! Trying to get to the player! This is an emergency!" Agunimon quickly said he managed to get into the Burger Cafe.

"Hello, welcome to the Burger Cafe, how may I help you?" A Burgermon greeted.

"Not now!" Agunimon hissed as he looked around for any sign of the player, his body tense and ready for combat if it came down to it. C'mon, where are you?!

"What's the matter? You look really tense." Burgermon frowned.

"I'm looking for a player with a Lopmon. Things could get really bad if something isn't done about them." Agunimon explained quickly.

"Oh, are you friends?" Burgermon blinked. "The human said he's not a player though… but he is with a Lopmon. He's just in the back, doing a-"

Agunimon didn't let Burgermon finish, he rushed towards the back of the restaurant. When he got back there, he saw more Digimon looking at something. Agunimon prepared his Pyro Punch, he knew if he wanted to get the advantage, he had to strike first.

"Pyro Pu-" Agunimon came in for the attack… only to see a familiar face chowing down on some burgers.

Seeing that, both Agunimon and the person gasped as Agunimon moved his punch down at the last second to avoid hitting the person and he ended up hitting the giant burger on the table, and the table itself.

Agunimon landed and pulled back, with a bunch of burger bits, ketchup, and mustard all over him. "I-I… Andy?!"

Andy took a moment to swallow down his mouthful. "Hey… Agunimon… you know, if you wanted a burger, you could've just asked… you didn't have to punch it into submission."

"B-but… I… I thought you were a… player…" Agunimon trailed off, suddenly feeling very embarrassed about what had just occurred. Shit… Now Andy's gonna get some payback on me… I swear… "Wait a minute, what are you even doing here?!"

Agunimon saw a chocolate looking rabbit Digimon eating a big burger himself, seeming to be enjoying it.

"I guess you can say this little guy brought me here, when I was wishing to find you," Andy answered. "Though we were pretty hungry, so we came here to get a bite to eat. But I didn't have any money on me, so we were doing a burger challenge to get the meal for free. By that way, that burger you just destroyed is on you."

Agunimon looked down, his face burning with embarrassment. His red facial markings vanished, fading into his blush. "Sorry… I just… everyone was going on about how someone was a bad player who kidnapped a baby Digimon… They said that person was here…"

"So you were going to punch the living daylights out of that person?" Andy asked. "Jeez, Agunimon, you almost took my head off there."

"Sorry about that…" Agunimon said sheepishly. "I just… figured… you know, attack first and get the upper hand."

"Is this that Takuya person you were looking for, Andy?" The rabbit Digimon asked.

"Ye- uh, well…" Andy hesitated before looking at Agunimon. "Is it okay if he knows?"

Agunimon looked at Andy in disbelief. "What?"

"You know, is it okay if he knows your secret?" Andy clarified.

Agunimon blinked. "Um… I guess…?" He wasn't sure how to respond to that otherwise.

"Yeah, this is Takuya. Although he almost took my head off just now," Andy said.

"Wow, that wasn't very nice." The rabbit frowned.

"Hey! You try being on edge with rumors of a hacker player on the loose!" Agunimon protested.

Andy frowned. "You're looking for a hacker player? Heh… well, I'm just glad you're okay. We've all been worried sick about you, you know."

Agunimon sighed. "Yeah… I'm glad to see you too, Andy. It's just… I didn't expect to run into you here. I only came looking for a player that kidnapped a Kokomon from the Primary Village. After that… the rumors spread."

Andy and the rabbit Digimon slowly looked at each other nervously.

"Oh… uh… about that…" Andy began sheepishly.

"Thunder Fist!"

Electricity, and a large, metal body slammed down on the table, crushing it, causing Andy, the rabbit Digimon, and Agunimon to fly back several feet. All the Digimon in the cafe quickly ran out in a panic.

"Ugh…" Agunimon grunted as he got back to his feet. "Now what?!" He hissed as he tried to get a good look at the form that had attacked them.

"I finally found you, you Celestial kidnapper!" A voice snapped angrily at Andy, who was sitting on the ground.

"Wah?" Andy blinked, confused as the being grabbed his shirt and picked him up.

"Do you know how much trouble you caused for your selfish greed for power?!" The being shouted angrily at the boy.

"H-hey! Let him go!" Agunimon shouted as he ran at the larger figure, slamming into the unknown being as hard as he could.

The being let go of Andy as Agunimon slammed into him. Agunimon now got a better look at the being.

The being was a humanoid covered in blue and yellow armor with gray accents on it. The being also had a beetle-like shell on its back that could open to reveal two wings. On the back of the shell was an odd symbol that looked oddly like the Kanji for Thunder, a symbol that matched on the being's upper leg armor. The being had a beetle horn extending from the forehead, green eyes, and a mouth plate where the mouth normally would be.

"What are you doing!?" The beetle-like Digimon snapped as he pushed Agunimon away. "You…"

The Digimon looked Agunimon over. "You look like a Legendary Warrior, but I've never seen you before."

Agunimon blinked, remembering that female voice he had heard over his transformation device, how she had called him a 'Legendary Warrior'. Realizing he may have an opening to clear up what was going on, Agunimon nodded. "That's because I am." He replied carefully.

"Who are you? I'm Beetlemon, the Warrior of Thunder," The beetle-like Digimon introduced himself.

"Agunimon, Warrior of Flame." Agunimon replied, keeping an eye on the newly introduced Beetlemon. He wasn't about to drop his guard, lest Andy get attacked again. I can't drop my guard, not yet, not until Andy is safe.

"Agunimon… oh, I thought the Spirit was lost after…" Beetlmon began before shaking his head. "Nevermind. We have time for explanations later. I need to bring that kidnapper to justice, and purify the Celestial Digimon from that player's influence."

"W-wait… You can't just…" Agunimon began before hesitating. That was his cousin who was being attacked, and he wasn't about to let Andy get hurt, but he didn't want to fight this Beetlemon because he was also a Legendary Warrior.

"Um…" Andy timidly spoke up. "I think you have the wrong guy."

"Yeah! Andy didn't kidnap anyone!" Lopmon spoke up.

Andy looked at Lopmon.

"W-well, not anyone important anyways!" Lopmon corrected.

Agunimon watched between Andy, the rabbit Digimon, and Beetlemon nervously. He would protect Andy if it came down to it, but he wanted to see how this would play out first.

"And why do you say that, player?" Beetlemon growled out.

"Because you keep saying I kidnapped a Celestial Digimon," Andy said.

"Your point being?" Beetlemon hissed.

"Why would I have a Celestial Digimon? I'm pretty sure that kind of Digimon would've turned me inside-out by now." Andy frowned.

"Yeah, besides, Andy wouldn't kidnap a Celestial Digimon," Lopmon agreed.

Agunimon tensed up, seeing that Beetlemon didn't seem to be believing Andy's words. Aw man… If this guy attacks again, I'll appear to be the bad guy because I'll be protecting Andy!

Beetlemon was silent for a few moments, but he didn't look convinced. "It seems things are worse than I thought. It's already too late for Lopmon. He'll have to start from scratch again, after I take care of this lying, manipulating, megalomaniac, player! You caused enough trouble as is!"

"Excuse me! I'm not the one who just destroyed a freaking table!" Andy snapped back, getting annoyed at being called such things when he didn't even know what a Celestial Digimon was.

Finally, Agunimon had seen enough. "That's enough!" He said as he got in front of Beetlemon and blocked his way to Andy and Lopmon. "I don't know what's going on, but clearly there must be some kind of misunderstanding on some level!"

"Evidently, since you're sticking up for the kidnapper!" Beetlemon snapped. "If you truly are a Legendary Warrior, then you should be working with me! You should be bringing that conniving player to justice!"

"Just listen!" Agunimon pleaded. "Let him explain himself first! There has to be a way to clear this up!" Agunimon could feel his heart, or whatever was in his chest, racing now. I can't let him hurt Andy, but there has to be a way without violence! Legendary Warriors should not be fighting each other!

"Andy, maybe we should get out of here before things turn ugly. Beetlemon doesn't sound like he's going to let us go." Lopmon frowned, getting really nervous.

Andy frowned as well. He didn't want to run away after making such a stance about standing up for himself, but he knew there were battles he couldn't win, and this was one of them. "Okay."

"Agunimon," Andy whispered. "We're going to try to sneak away while you keep him distracted. Hopefully that'll stop him from destroying more of this place."

Agunimon could hear Andy clearly thanks to his enhanced hearing. He didn't even look back, but he did give the slightest of nods; he hoped Andy's plan would work, otherwise things would be made worse.

Agunimon moved slightly to try to cover up Andy and his bunny Digimon as much as possible while he continued speaking to Beetlemon.

"Look, I don't know what transpired exactly, but clearly there is a misunderstanding. That boy… Andy… He… he wouldn't hurt anyone." Agunimon said cautiously. "He may be a bit of a trickster, but he doesn't mean any harm to anyone."

"So you're telling me you know this kidnapper?" Beetlemon hissed.

Agunimon hesitated. He knew if he told the truth, things could go downhill very fast, but lying wouldn't be a good idea either. So, he opted for a vague explanation. "Kind of… I've… worked with him before… in the human world, not here."

"Then you should know what kind of person he is!" Beetlemon snapped. "Why else would he have the Celestial Digimon with him? He has to be the kidnapper that Elecmon told me about!"

"W-what did Elecmon say the kidnapper looked like?" Agunimon asked; he just realized he had not been told what the kidnapper had looked like.

"He didn't see the kidnapper, only Swanmon did. From her description, the kidnapper looked like a teen boy with raven black hair, with a tuff-like hair-style. He had green, beady eyes. And wore dark blue and white colored clothes." Beetlemon explained.

Agunimon, upon hearing that, actually grew pale in the face as an alarmed look crossed his face. S-shit… That's… that was Andy they were describing?! B-but… Andy wouldn't kidnap anyone!

"You can see that boy you're trying to protect fits that description to a T. Now move aside," Beetlemon stated firmly.

Agunimon, realizing if he moved, shook his head. "No." He said firmly. "Just… let Andy explain himself. There is clearly a misunderstanding here. I know Andy, much better than you think, and he just doesn't have it in him to kidnap someone."

Beetlemon turned his head a little. "If you believe he can explain himself, then why is he trying to sneak away?"

With that as the only warning, Andy gasped as Beetlemon suddenly jumped over Agunimon, using his wings to fly. "You won't get away! Thunder Fist!"

Andy yelped as he and Lopmon barely dodged the incoming lightning fist by jumping in opposite directions. But even then, Andy could swear the loud booming noise from the Thunder Fist alone would make his ears bleed. He could only imagine how poor Lopmon must be feeling.

Thinking fast, Agunimon turned and ran at Beetlemon. He called forth fire around his right fist and jumped up into the air, thrusting his fist at Beetlemon's back. "Pyro Punch!"

Beetlemon yelped as he fell to the ground from the unexpected attack. Andy, seeing that Beetlemon was after him and Lopmon, knew he had to take the fight outside. This poor building would collapse if this went on any further. Andy picked up Lopmon and ran outside. Beetlemon growled as he opened his wings and flew after Andy, trying to ignore Agunimon. Agunimon, seeing this, ran outside with them.

Damn it! I can't let this go on! Agunimon thought to himself as he finally got outside. But what can I do?! Beetlemon is clearly stronger than me in terms of strength, and he can fly on top of that!

"You won't be able to outrun me, kidnapper!" Beetlemon shouted.

Andy looked back before he put Lopmon down, and took out his Fenton Rod. He was surprised that it was in his pants, but he wasn't going to question it right now. "I'm not running from you, I'm just trying to make sure you don't cause the entire building to collapse on us."

"We're not going to let you hurt anyone else!" Lopmon agreed.

Realizing Andy and Lopmon were going to actually fight, Agunimon knew he had to end the fight quickly. Damn it… I hope this crazy trick works… He thought as he prepared to jump into the air again. Beetlemon might be strong, but I'm guessing he won't be able to deal with the heat that engulfs him.

Taking his chance, Agunimon jumped up into the air behind Beetlemon. Fire began to flicker from his armor on his shoulders, wrists, knees, and ankles. Agunimon spread his arms and began to spin around, letting the fire cover his body as it became a twister of fire. "Pyro Tornado!"

Beetlemon let out a yell as he was covered in flames. "KNOCK! IT! OFF!"

Despite being engulfed in flames, Beetlemon slammed an angry Thunder Fist at the spinning Agunimon, knocking him away, ending the Pyro Tornado.

"Gah!" Agunimon slammed into the ground, creating a small crater with the impact. "Ugh…" He tried to sit up, but his whole body was aching from that fall. Ow… I… I can't move…

This guy clearly has more experience as a Digimon than Agunimon does. Andy frowned.

Beetlemon glared back at Andy. "Now, to deal with you, troublemaker."

Lopmon ran up at Beetlemon and jumped in his face. "Blazing Ice!"

Lopmon blasted out an icy wind at Beetlemon's face. While the attack didn't do much damage, that distracted him enough for Andy to run at Beetlemon himself to slam the Fenton Rod into his gut. The metallic rod let out a loud CLANG against the armor. Oh crap! This guy's armor is tough!

Andy quickly jumped back, and Lopmon landed beside Andy.

Beetlemon glared at Andy. "You may have gotten to the Celestial Digimon, but you won't defeat me so easily!" He hissed.

From his spot on the ground, Agunimon could only watch this going down with worry on his face. He was still stunned, so moving to help Andy was out of the question at the moment. Damn it… I really messed up with that last attack…

"Dude, I don't even know what you're talking about! What the bloody heck is a Celestial Digimon!?" Andy shouted, rolling on the ground to dodge more incoming lightning attacks from Beetlemon.

"Stop playing dumb!" Beetlemon shouted.

Lopmon jumped up as high as he could, and used his big, floppy ears to glide down at Beetlemon. He grabbed onto Beetlemon's back, stopping his wings from moving. This caused Beetlemon to fall to the ground.

Beetlemon grunted as he landed on the ground. "Ugh… Sneaky trick… Your tricky influence definitely tainted him!"

Agunimon finally made to move, and staggered to his feet. "Please… just… stop this already!" He pleaded as he looked up, holding his left arm with his right hand.

Agunimon saw something white running past him and towards the battlefield. His eyes went wide in horror when he saw it was Tokomon.

"Wait! Tokomon! Stop!" Agunimon cried, not wanting Tokomon to get hurt.

Tokomon ignored Agunimon, and jumped towards Beetlemon before fractal code began to surround the small Digimon. "Tokomon digivolve to… Patamon!"

Agunimon's eyes went wide when he saw this. "W-wha…?" He blinked, not sure what to make of this.

Beetlemon's eyes also went wide when he saw the newly evolved Patamon. "W-what the?!"

The new Digimon looked like a small hamster that had wings for its ears. The eyes were blue, and it had four legs and a small stubby tail. The Digimon was an orange color with a cream-colored underside as well.

"Boom Bubble!" Patamon expanded himself like a huge ball before blasting out a large air ball at Lopmon, making Lopmon let go of Beetlemon.

"Ow!" Lopmon hissed.

Patamon used his wings to fly up, getting their attention. "That's enough! All of you! All this fighting is causing damage to the village, can't you see that!?"

Agunimon had not expected Patamon to actually have such a commanding presence, and he felt like maybe something was different about this Digimon. He slowly glanced back over his shoulder, seeing that there was indeed damage to the village, though mostly on the Burger Cafe. Agunimon actually flinched upon seeing that.

Beetlemon looked around, his gaze also landing on the cafe. "Oh… crap… But… what about the kidnapper?"

"Let's hear what he has to say before we do anything else," Patamon stated. "Maybe not everything is as it seems."

Andy was relieved that this… tiny Digimon stopped this Legendary Warrior from attacking anymore, but he wasn't sure if he was truly in the clear since, while he didn't mean to kidnap Lopmon, he still did, and never actually took him back to the nursery place.

"Alright, fine," Beetlemon grumbled as he looked at Andy. "Then tell us, why did you go through the trouble of sneaking into Primary Village to steal Lopmon?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't sneak into the… Primary Village?"Andy frowned. "I was at home, back in my world, playing with Kokomon on the computer, when Kokomon took out this weird device that sucked me into this world in his room. When that… swan monster saw me, and accused me of being a player or something, I panicked, and picked up Kokomon before running away."

Agunimon listened as well, realizing everything he had said about this being a big misunderstanding had been on point. "So that's why you fled…" He murmured. "You were just scared and didn't want to get hurt."

Beetlemon didn't look like he believed Andy, but at least he was not attacking and was actually listening to Andy's explanation. "And do you have this device on you?" He asked, skeptical at best.

"Yeah," Andy said, knowing he needed to show physical proof.

Andy reached into his pocket and took out that strange device, relieved that it was still there. "See? Here it is."

Beetlemon looked at the device in Andy's hand. "Huh… I've never seen any device like that before. Not even players have a device like that." Looking at that device again, Beetlemon began to feel a bit foolish for his actions, as he reached up to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly.

Agunimon blinked as he saw the same device in Andy's hand. "Is… that the device you mentioned?" I guess this was a misunderstanding…

"But that still doesn't explain everything. Why and how were you playing with Kokomon in the first place?" Beetlemon asked.

"There's a 'raise a Digimon' demo that's out in my world now, where you can log in and get a random baby Digimon to take care of. I got Kokomon," Andy explained. "I thought it was just a game until I got sucked in."

Agunimon's eyes went wide as he remembered the phantom human rumors, and how only certain baby Digimon could see them in Primary Village. "So that's what Leomon and Swanmon meant! Those 'phantom humans' must've been humans using their computers to raise certain baby Digimon that get assigned to them!" He realized.

Beetlemon looked at Agunimon. "Phantom humans?"

"It's something that was observed in Primary Village." Agunimon explained as he made his way closer to Beetlemon, still holding his left arm with his right hand. "Certain baby Digimon can see humans, but no one else can, not even other baby Digimon. Apparently, this 'game' assigns certain baby Digimon to a human, and only that human can be seen by the baby Digimon in question. No one else is able to, not even another baby Digimon who has a human assigned to them can see another human of another baby Digimon."

"That… actually makes sense," Lopmon said. "I always wondered why nobody else could see Andy back in Primary Village."

Andy sighed before he gave a bow to Beetlemon. "But I am sorry for causing so much trouble. I wanted to return Kokomon back to Primary Village, but I was scared that the caretakers were going to attack me if I did, and Kokomon really didn't want to leave my side."

"It's true, I wanted to stay with him," Lopmon vouched, bowing as well. "He isn't a bad kid, I promise!"

Agunimon watched Beetlemon with wariness, not sure how the other Digimon would react to this. But to his relief, Beetlemon did stand down with a sigh.

"I guess this was just a big misunderstanding after all." Beetlemon admitted at last before looking at Agunimon. "Sorry about that. It appears you were right about it being a misunderstanding somewhere."

Agunimon finally relaxed, sighing in relief. "I'm just glad no one else got hurt." He said before giving a small smile. "You're really tough to fight. I guess that's why you are a Legendary Warrior." He chuckled.

"Well, yeah, I've fought with a lot of tough Digimon," Beetlemon answered proudly before he noticed Agunimon was still holding his arm. "Err… sorry about being so rough with you."

"It's fine. I've been worse." Agunimon replied, remembering his fights with Plasmius and Technus. "I've fought some… very tough opponents myself, just not another Digimon before."

"Well, now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, how about we find somewhere to talk? I'm sure our friends here could use some explanations," Patamon spoke up, looking at Andy and Agunimon. "Besides, the Digimon will need to rebuild the damaged buildings."

Agunimon gave another flinch at the reminder. "Yeah… they probably will." He agreed. I guess I also got caught up in that misunderstanding… Way to go, Takuya…

Beetlemon sighed. "It's not the first time this has happened, but it certainly is the first time two Legendary Warriors were behind it."

---

Patamon led the group to a secluded place in town. It was a small park, where only a few plant-like child Digimon were playing around.

"You two should probably release your Legendary Warrior forms," Patamon suggested to Agunimon and Beetlemon. "It'll be better if you two could talk face-to-face. Besides, Agunimon needs to recover, and releasing the form would help with that."

Beetlemon nodded before fractal code surrounded him. When it dissipated, Agunimon's eyes went wide at what he saw. The fractal code had dissipated to reveal a human boy who looked to be about 16, wearing a blue jumpsuit with yellow cuffs on the sleeves and pants, as well as yellow pockets while his shoes were blue and yellow. He had short spiky brown hair and brown eyes.

"You're…" Agunimon breathed. "Like me…"

The boy, who didn't look that much older than Takuya, looked at him. "Hmm? What do you mean?"

Agunimon surrounded himself with fractal code, turning back to his human form as well.

When the code dissipated, the boy raised an eyebrow.

Takuya reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hehe… Surprise…"

The boy blinked. "So you were Agunimon, huh?" He noted, not that surprised, much to Takuya's surprise and confusion.

"Actually… aren't you Takuya Kanbara? You were one of the football players from that last game at my school," The boy noted.

"Um… Yeah… That's me…" Takuya said sheepishly. "But I transferred to the United States on an exchange program for students, and well… I am staying with my cousins while I'm there. One of them is here." He pointed at Andy.

"Ooh, so you were that transfer student. I knew I recognized you from somewhere. Weren't you in the same class as Zoe?" The boy asked. "Oh, I forgot to properly introduce myself. The name's JP Shibayama."

"Nice to meet you." Takuya said with a grin before he blinked. "Wait… you know Zoe? I met her here when I first arrived."

"Yeah, she and I go way back." JP grinned.

"Um… so… uh, wanna know my name?" Andy asked. "Because my name isn't 'Kidnapper'."

JP, to his credit, did grin sheepishly. "Yeah, that would probably be best." He admitted. "It would be helpful to know who you really are."

"My name is Andrew Fenton, but everybody calls me Andy, and I do prefer 'Andy'," Andy answered.

"And I'm Lopmon!" Lopmon introduced.

"Yeah, I know you're Lopmon," JP chuckled.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to introduce myself anyways. Besides, I'm pretty sure Takuya didn't know my name," Lopmon huffed.

Takuya rubbed the back of his neck. "I kinda did, but I wasn't entirely sure so… thanks for clarifying for me." He said sheepishly. Now that I think about it… isn't it kinda odd that Lopmon bonded with Andy of all people? … Actually, Andy says he doesn't know about the Celestial Digimon… oh boy, that's going to blow his mind.

"So, now that we have introductions out of the way, I believe an explanation is in order," Patamon spoke up. "Takuya, I hadn't been sure, but I thought I sensed a faint aura of a Spirit of a Legendary Warrior inside you before. Your spirit evolving just confirmed it."

"Wait… so you knew I had the Spirit of Agunimon the whole time?!" Takuya asked, surprised.

"Jeez, weren't you listening? He said he wasn't sure you did," Lopmon remarked. "Do you have cottons in your ears?"

Yup, he definitely has some of Andy's personality… Takuya sweatdropped.

"Well, sorry for not being well versed in the Digital World and its workings." Takuya huffed as he folded his arms. I had to find out what I could turn into through a vampire-like ghost of all things!

"What does that have to do with what Patamon said though?" Lopmon questioned.

"Just drop it, Takuya can be a bit… hot headed," Andy sighed.

"So you don't know much about the Digital World, huh?" JP snickered.

"I had to be given a crash course on it from Zoe." Takuya admitted.

"I barely know anything about it myself. Lopmon suggested I look for a Digi-School to learn the basics," Andy stated. "I was going to do that after we eat, then look for Takuya, but… I guess Takuya found me instead."

"Yeah, but I was under the assumption you were a player who had kidnapped Lopmon and hacked him to make him super strong. I saw a kid who had a Dracomon with him, and he said you beat him through a hacked Digimon." Takuya explained. "Sorry about that, Andy…"

Andy gave a mischievous grin. "Yes, Takuya, I'm an evil, twisted, hacking genius player who maliciously stole Lopmon to become a dominating, powerful, unstoppable player! Fear me!"

"And I'm an all powerful god-like entity bent on doing Andy's bidding because he influenced me as an In-Training. Raaaawwwwr!" Lopmon grinned as he moved his arms around.

"H-hey! I said I was sorry for attacking you!" Takuya exclaimed. "No need to go all evil prankster on me!"

Andy and Lopmon laughed.

"Wow, is Andy always like that?" JP asked.

"Pretty much…" Takuya sighed. "But when paired with his twin Danny, Andy is even worse! Those two just love to prank me, whether it's with a plushie avalanche, toothpaste on the floor, or even pies to the face."

JP snickered. "It sounds like you have two cousins who love to mess with you. Although, Andy has a twin brother?"

"You can just say that to me, I'm right here," Andy grumbled. "And yeah, but he doesn't know I'm here. He was asleep when I got pulled into this world."

"Oh, wow. Then we have to get you two back to your world right away." JP said seriously.

"We don't know how to get back though." Takuya frowned. "According to Zoe, the Trailmon that usually take people from the Digital World and to our world aren't running due to the players."

"You both have something like this, right?" JP asked, pulling out a device that looked very much like Takuya's.

Takuya blinked. "Y-yeah! I have one just like that!" He took out his own black and red device. JP's was blue with a yellow grip, unlike Takuya's which was black with a red grip. "My phone turned into this thing when I got the Spirit."

"But those look different from mine," Andy remarked, frowning.

"I'm not sure about yours, Andy," JP sheepishly said. "But these devices that Takuya and I have are called 'D-Tectors'. They hold the Spirits, and they allow you to spirit-evolve. They can also hold other fractal codes."

"Fractal… codes?" Andy blinked.

"Is that what I call forth to Spirit Evolve?" Takuya asked as he looked down at his hand, the one he used to evolve with.

"Yep." JP confirmed. "Fractal code is what makes up the Digital World."

"Everything in this world, the sky, the ground, the sea, even Digimon themselves, are all made up of fractal codes. It's our essence," Patamon explained. "If someone were to consume the fractal codes, the world would disappear. The D-Tectors can hold these fractal codes, and release them."

"So it's like restoring the world?" Takuya asked. "That's… kinda cool."

"You could say it is like restoring the world in a way." JP chuckled.

"But… What about the Legendary Warriors? What's their story? And why do I have the Spirit of one?" Takuya asked.

"That's quite a long story… and Lopmon had the right idea," Patamon said. "You two, or I guess three if we include Lopmon, should enroll in a Digi-School to learn all the basics."

"I'm already struggling in school back in my world… I don't need another semester of school to worry about…" Andy grumbled.

"You don't have to enroll for an entire semester," Patamon chuckled. "You can enroll for a few days and leave. The school is free to anyone who wants to learn, and you only need to learn the history of the Digital World. The school is mainly meant for Digimon only."

"Well, I guess it's better than just sitting around or just wandering around trying to figure out what the heck is going on." Takuya sighed. "And it would be helpful to know this world's history at the very least." But would that history include ghosts and how they know of Digimon? That is one thing that is confusing me still, even after all this time and all of the past ghost battles.

"But first…" Andy looked at JP. "You were saying about how we can get back home?"

"Oh, right," JP remembered. "Well, all you have to do is go to a monitor of some kind, and hold up the D-Tector to it. It will take you back to the human world. But be careful, the monitor can take you anywhere in the world unless you can re-route the monitor to a specific place."

"Ugh… great, that sounds like something up Tucker's alley. He's the tech whiz of Andy's group of friends." Takuya sighed.

"But at least we have a way to get back to our world, even if it is a bit random right now," Andy remarked. "Danny's probably up by now and is freaking the heck out…"

"How long have you been here?" Patamon asked.

"I don't know, a few hours, I think?" Andy answered.

"Well, I've been here a few days." Takuya pointed out. "At least, in this world's time. Apparently, our world's time is slower than this world's time rate. A few days here is equal to an hour there."

"What?" Andy looked at Takuya in surprise. "Seriously? You've already been here for a few days?"

"Um… yeah?" Takuya blinked as well, staring at Andy as if he had just realized something. "Um… Are your clothes different? They look kinda cool."

"Huh?" Andy looked down at his clothes. "Uh… yeah, I guess so… It's weird, because I was wearing PJs before I ended up in this world."

"I think it looks good on you." Lopmon complimented.

Takuya grinned a bit. "I'll say. That outfit kinda reminds me of your hazmat suit almost."

"It does?" Andy looked down at his clothes again. "I guess it kinda does have the same colors, only they seem inverted."

"That's odd, but cool." Takuya chuckled before he sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "So now what? Do we find a way back to our world, or do we go to this Digi-School to learn about this world's history?"

"That's up to you, if you think you need to go back, then you should go back," JP stated. "But we could always use another Legendary Warrior to help us out with these players."

"Besides that, it would be a good chance for you to learn how to properly use your powers, and learn more about the Spirit of Agunimon," Patamon added.

Takuya looked down at the device in his hand, his D-Tector. Both JP and Patamon had a point, but he had already been in this world for a few days and he was sure his family was worried sick about him. "I know, but… my family is probably worried sick about me." He admitted at last. "But… I can't just pass up a chance to learn about what I can do either."

"Can't we come back here?" Andy asked. "I'd like to learn more about this world, and the Digimon too."

"I don't know, you look too much like a player, even with that device you have," JP remarked. "Besides, it's kinda weird that you have Lopmon of all Digimon with you. You might paint a target on your back."

"Huh? Why?" Andy asked, surprised.

"Yeah, why?" Lopmon frowned, looking just as confused.

"It's… difficult to say," JP vaguely answered. "Just that it is."

"How did you end up with Kokomon as your assigned Digimon with that game anyways?" Patamon asked. "Was it just random or was there some kind of system in place?"

Andy frowned, not sure why everyone seemed interested in his connection with Lopmon. "Well, the website gives you a personality test before it assigns you the Digimon. It gives you a Digimon based on the answers you put in that would give a Digimon best suited for the player. I ended up with Kokomon."

"So it was just based on your answers, huh?" JP noted with some interest.

Takuya frowned a little, also interested. "That does make sense." He agreed. Takuya then looked down at his D-Tector again, frowning some more. If Lopmon really was as important as everyone was claiming him to be, for whatever reason, then that made Andy a target as well because he was Lopmon's partner. And if that is the case, then I have to find a way to get stronger as well instead of just stumbling around with my own abilities as Agunimon. This Digi-School thing might be our best bet at doing something about that.

Finally, Takuya looked up. "We should probably check out the Digi-School first. I mean, because time travels faster here, there won't be too much time passed in our world. Plus, I do want to learn how to use my powers better instead of just stumbling around the way I have for the last few months or so."

Andy nodded to Takuya. "I agree. Maybe I can also get stronger while I'm here. If nothing else, it'll help for the battles to come later in our world."

"Battles?" JP asked. "What kind of battles are you talking about? Like school sports or something?"

Takuya rubbed the back of his neck. "Remember when I mentioned I had fought tough opponents before?"

JP nodded. "Yeah, why?"

Takuya sighed. "Well, those enemies were ghosts, and I don't mean like the usual haunting kind. These ghosts are real, and can attack humans."

"Real ghosts?" JP blinked. "Wait, seriously!? How? I thought ghosts were stuck in their own kind of world!"

Patamon frowned, looking rather troubled about something.

"I'm not sure if you'd believe us if we told you, it sounds something like out of a comic book," Andy sheepishly admitted.

"Yeah, but it did happen." Takuya groaned. "My aunt and uncle somehow managed to create a working portal to the world of ghosts. Ever since then, ghosts have been coming through quite often. In fact, a ghost attacked the high school Andy and I attend and that is how I found Agunimon's Spirit."

"Wait… your aunt and uncle made a portal that goes to the ghost world?" JP blinked. "Do they work for the government or something?"

"No, they're freelancers," Andy answered. "They're also my parents. They've got a passion for ghost research, and they've been working on a working portal since their college days. They are quite the geniuses, though my dad can be considered an 'idiot genius'."

JP looked at Andy and Takuya with a shocked face. "Does that mean you two are geniuses as well?!"

Andy and Takuya slowly looked at each other before they both began laughing.

"When non-Digimon pigs fly!" Takuya laughed.

"If we were geniuses, we probably would've graduated school by now!" Andy laughed as well. "Although I guess my sister is already on the road to that."

JP looked sheepish at that. "Ehehe… Sorry. I just assumed you were in the same boat as these two genius adults."

"That was a good laugh you gave us though." Takuya chuckled, having calmed down from his laughing fit. "I think Andy and I really needed that after that whole misunderstanding."

"Yeah, although I like the idea that I could be mistaken as a dangerous mastermind, if just to scare the living daylights out of my cousin~" Andy grinned. "Although the fiery punch I could do without."

"I said I was sorry!" Takuya grumbled.

"And I think the whole genius genes skipped my and Danny's generation," Andy added. "Either that, or Jazz inherited it all."

"That would explain why she is such a know-it-all~" Takuya teased Andy.

JP chuckled at seeing Takuya and Andy's bond. "Well, I'll let you two get to the Digi-School then if you're going to learn about this world."

"What about you?" Takuya asked.

"I have to get back to Ophanimon's castle," JP said. "I have to let Elecmon know about the misunderstanding so he can let Leomon and Swanmon know about the situation."

"Oh, about that… should I still return Lopmon to that nursery place?" Andy asked.

"I don't want to go back! I'm not a baby anymore," Lopmon pouted.

"Well, yeah, but… like, don't you get parents or something?" Andy asked.

"Usually, but I wasn't really considered to be one to be adopted out." Lopmon revealed. "Something about me being too special or something like that."

"Eh?" Andy blinked.

"He was going to be taken somewhere to be raised properly until he… well, essentially 'grew up'," Patamon explained. "So don't worry about parents wanting to adopt him. He can stay with you for now."

"Oh, well I guess if it's okay, then I have no issues letting Lopmon stay with me." Andy smiled.

"Just keep him safe and things should be good." JP grinned.

"Hey! I'll be helping out too, you know." Takuya grinned back.

"Sure, if you can learn to use Agunimon's Spirit properly." JP joked back.

Takuya pouted when he heard that. "Don't need to rub that in…" He moped.

Andy looked at Lopmon for a moment. "Would you mind telling me what makes Lopmon so special though? I understand everyone freaking out that I stole a baby, but you were saying how I took a 'Celestial Digimon'."

"I'm pretty sure that's a misunderstanding though. Celestial Digimon are like… crazy strong and special, I'm not any of those things," Lopmon said.

Takuya frowned. He wondered how he should tell Andy and Lopmon. "I… don't know if this is true, but… what if Lopmon is a Celestial Digimon? I mean, the way everyone was freaking out over Lopmon being stolen and all that… that's not something that would happen normally, am I right? I… I'm just really assuming at this point, but I could be off on this theory."

"Don't say such things, that's an insult to the Celestial Digimon." Lopmon frowned, looking rather angry.

"Heh… you've changed," Patamon chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean? Have we met?" Lopmon asked.

"Don't worry about it," Patamon sighed. "I think you'll benefit going to Digi-School too. You were supposed to go once you matured a bit as an In-Training, but I guess things got moved ahead of schedule when you digivolved."

"Yeah, I was planning to enroll with Andy," Lopmon agreed.

JP walked over to Takuya and whispered to him. "It might be best not to let him know about his true self until he's ready. Sometimes when a Digimon is recovering, making them do something before they're ready could really hurt them. And I don't know how Andy would take it if he knew his partner is… well, special."

Takuya blinked, getting a funny feeling running through his body. "I guess I can… but… hiding it from Andy won't be so easy… Andy's… quite observant." Takuya whispered back.

"Well, if he does figure it out, just make sure he doesn't tell Lopmon," JP replied quietly.

Takuya just nodded, hoping Andy wouldn't freak out if he figured it out. Although, after the bombshell that came with Danny revealing to be Phantom, maybe Andy figuring out Lopmon was a Celestial Digimon wouldn't be that shocking to him… Takuya hoped.

"How far away is the nearest Digi-School?" Andy asked. "Is there one in this town?"

"There isn't one in the town, but there is one further up ahead." JP said as he pointed ahead of Andy, Lopmon, and Takuya. "It's not that hard to find. You'll see lots of baby Digimon when you find it."

"I'll take you guys there. It was a school I had to go to myself," Patamon admitted.

"Wow, really? Thanks, Patamon." Takuya smiled.

"You guys have fun," JP chuckled. "I better get going. I'd rather not leave Ophanimon's place for too long."

"Okay, see you later then, JP," Takuya waved.

"Good luck with those players," Andy said.

"Don't worry, the players haven't had a good time against the Legendary Warriors." JP chuckled. "We'll keep them busy."

JP then took out his D-Tector and used it to spirit evolve back into Beetlemon. It was the first time Takuya got to witness it from the outside. "Wow, did I look that cool?"

"Yes~" Andy grinned.

Beetlemon opened up his wings and flew up into the sky, making Takuya a little envious since he still wanted to be able to fly himself.

"Isn't this great, Takuya? You'll finally be able to learn more about Agunimon, and there are others like you that aren't crazy like Vlad." Andy smiled.

Takuya gave a grin at Andy's words. "Yeah, it is cool." He agreed before looking down with a sad smile on his face. "But man… I wish I could fly like Danny and Beetlemon."

"I wanna fly too!" Lopmon smiled. "The most I can do is just jump really high and use my ears to glide."

"And you're good at it." Andy chuckled.

"Maybe one day you both might be able to fly," Patamon chuckled. "After all, Digimon are always capable of evolving into different forms with different abilities."

Takuya grinned when he heard this. "Yeah, I guess that's true." He chuckled. "C'mon, let's get going. I wanna see this Digi-School already!"

"Alright then." Patamon chuckled as he flew up. "Then follow me."

Andy smiled as he looked at Takuya. "I'm… glad you're okay, Takuya. I really was worried about you when I heard what Ember did."

Takuya smiled back at Andy. "Well, I'm glad you're okay, Andy. I was worried about you and the others. But if you beat Ember, then I guess everyone got out of it alright." Takuya then paused. "Say, how did you guys beat Ember anyway? I mean, I was here, so I couldn't help you, so… how did you do it?"

"Oh! That's right, you didn't see him." Andy realized. "Well…"

As they were walking with Patamon, Andy was telling Takuya about what happened with Ember. Lopmon was walking beside Andy, listening to the story as well. He was pretty intrigued to hear how Andy handled such a dangerous ghost girl.

"In the end, we were saved by someone who called himself Lobomon. None of us had been sure at the time, but seeing how there's more than one Legendary Warrior, I think he was a Legendary Warrior too. But I'm not sure what he was doing there," Andy finished.

Takuya blinked as he took in this information. "So a new Legendary Warrior showed up to help you? While I'm glad you had help, I also can't help but be cautious about this guy since I don't know anything about him except for what you told me." He said at last.

"So you saw Lobomon, huh?" Patamon remarked. "I know him. He was helping Zoe and Koichi before."

"Who are they?" Andy asked.

"They're people around my age, they said they were protecting the Forest Terminal and Seraphimon's castle while Seraphimon is in hiding," Takuya answered.

"Are they Legendary Warriors too then?" Lopmon questioned.

Takuya blinked. "Actually… they never told me if they were or not. Everyone else was so evasive on the question when I tried to ask how two kids could fight back without Digimon partners." He admitted at last.

"Then it's most likely they are. It would make sense why they wouldn't tell you," Andy remarked. "I mean, remember how Danny kept his secret from us for so long? And how you didn't want to tell the others yours?" Speaking of which, I should probably let him know they know about him being Agunimon now…

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Takuya admitted after a bit of silence. "I mean, I didn't tell them my secret so, it makes sense they wouldn't tell me theirs."

"It might be in your best interest if you told them," Patamon stated. "Especially if you plan to work with them in the future."

"Yeah, I should," Takuya agreed with a sigh. "When I see them again, I'll tell them."

Maybe I'll tell him later, we already have enough on our plate as is. Andy decided. For now, we'll focus on this school, and hopefully get back home before anyone notices we're gone.

---

Titanic X: ZAFT: You should know… ^^' It was the first one defeated… ^^'

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, they outright said which Celestial it was.

Son Sandy: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, though Andy doesn't know that. He thinks Lopmon is just another Digimon. Lopmon himself doesn't remember being a Celestial Digimon. And don't worry, Takuya will definitely learn a lot about his evolution and the Digital World.

ZAFT: But that doesn't mean there won't be mishaps along the way~ XD

: DarkFoxKit: Not all the humans are bad, but we wanted to show an example of a player thinking this is all a game, so they don't feel like they have a lot of consequences while they're here. As for the Koromon thing, that was just used as an example. We don't have any plans of involving Star or an OC any time soon in the story, if at all.

ZAFT: It's funny you called the chapter an 'episode', but you could say it kinda is like one. XD

pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: Yeah, we did swap Dorumon for Lopmon, but it was a fun change. :3 And no, Star is not going to play a bigger role. That was just an example. ^^' As for Star and Danny getting together… we haven't even decided if Danny and Sam are going to get together yet… ^^' If we do delve into that, do not expect Danny to gain a second love interest in Star… ^^' And yeah, the change for introducing the Legendary Warriors are a fun one. They are around Takuya's age, save for one who has yet to be shown. XD

DarkFoxKit: I find it hilarious people are thinking we're going to involve Star just because we used her and a random Koromon as an example. And I have seen some writers doing a Danny X Star story. I'm… not really sure where the sudden interest with Star came in with the fandom, but I personally don't have a lot of interest in Star, or her having a relationship with Danny. So I do apologize, we do not plan to give Star a bigger role as of this point in time. Oh, and something I feel I need to correct, while we did replace Dorumon with Lopmon, don't mistake it as us giving Jazz Dorumon later, we have a different Digimon in mind for her. When we wrote the story the first time, we didn't actually plan to give Andy a Digimon partner. But when we wrote this story, I decided that Lopmon would make more sense than Dorumon would to be Andy's partner.

Kittylover05: ZAFT: Oh boy, another meaty review from Kitty! XD To start, I am so glad you think this could be a two-part episode! That was not the idea, but I am glad it came off as that to you! XD

DarkFoxKit: Well… you might feel like a lot of these chapters could feel like a two-parter episode, because the ones we do that aren't a part of the canon episodes can feel a lot longer than if we had just stuck with the canon episodes. These are either our own story, or they're a heavily tweaked version from Digimon Frontier's episodes.

Hehe, I figured cutting to Andy and Kokomon just chilling after Takuya wondering what sick, twisted monster stole Kokomon from Primary Village would be pretty funny. As for if Andy did go back to the nursery, Kokomon would start whining and crying how much he wanted to stay with Andy. And Andy might get knocked out by Swanmon and put into a prison of some kind until Takuya finds him. It still works, just wouldn't be as fun to do.

ZAFT: As for the Ancient Ruler Digimon, those are the Celestials. No, the Celestials are not early access Digimon. Andy getting Lopmon was just a coincidence. XD And Tucker does have a Digimon, but you will have to see which one it is. XD

DarkFoxKit: I'm curious, what does Ophanimon and Kokomon being born recently have to do with anything? I'm not sure if I understood where you were going with that. ^^'

ZAFT: I think she is wondering if Ophanimon helped select Kokomon's partner. ^^' But I can get the confusion, yeah.

DarkFoxKit: It's fine, I rather talk about character analysis than plot analysis, because I feel when people try to guess the plot, and they end up very wrong, or very right, I feel like I don't know how to respond to it. Because I don't want them to know if they were right or wrong until we get to that point. So I usually have to say some vague stuff, mostly regarding the characters themselves. And I feel self-conscious if the prediction turned out to be wrong, because it means it may not be the plot they were hoping to see and what actually happened would disappoint them. And if they are right, I feel annoyed because now it's not going to be a surprise, and I'll get people saying how they called it and crap.

ZAFT: As for the Digital World having players, yes, this will hinder things and the idea of a time limit to find the mastermind is a good guess. XD But as to who that mastermind is, you will have to keep reading to find out. But you did have a good guess on who it could be. XD

You will like how Andy, Lopmon, and Takuya meet, especially in this chapter~ XD It definitely has some drama in it, which you may like~ :3

DarkFoxKit: The whole no 'Teacher of the Year' episode is pretty much a yes on that. If we really wanted to, we could find a way to squeeze that episode in, but I feel that would break the pacing we set up for what we have.

ZAFT: Oh boy, yes, Takuya is clearly the one best suited to hold the Spirit of Flame. XD Yea, Takuya didn't think with his brain, and thus ruled out Andy. Andy is just too sweet to be an 'evil kidnapper'! XD

DarkFoxKit: Besides the emotional stuff, logically he would count Andy out as the kidnapper, because how would Andy even get here to begin with? As far as Takuya knew, Andy didn't have the helmet or anything to enter the Digital World himself.

Heh, yeah, Andy and Lopmon are just an adorable duo. Since you haven't read our previous story, I'll just tell you that previously, Andy's partner was a Dorumon. Jazz was the one who had Lopmon as her partner. But as time went on, I couldn't help but feel like Andy's partner should've been one of the Celestials. And so in this rewritten story, he does end up getting Lopmon instead of Jazz.

ZAFT: Good guess on how Kokomon got Andy to the Digital World. That is kinda what happened. XD And I am glad you thought it was a cute way to get Andy to the Digital World~ But as you can see, that didn't come without some unintended consequences~ XD

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, I do believe the Fentons love their children very much. They may not go about it in the best ways, especially in the show, but it's clear that they do love their kids. I'm not really too crazy of the whole… vivisection fics, though I do enjoy the angst. As for your comments on Butch, yeah, I can't help but feel like he tried too hard to make the show 'kid friendly' and focus on 'comedy' that some of the lines used in the show felt too off from what's actually going on. I would just ignore Butch about what he said about ghosts never actually being human and just wanted to be, he may have created Danny Phantom, but he wasn't the main writer for it.

ZAFT: And as for Jazz just kinda being like 'Yeah, I'm not gonna deny this anymore' and accepting the craziness that is her life was pretty funny too! XD