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.

40. Bonding and Animosity

DarkFoxKit: Sorry we're a bit late, we got caught up in streaming Mother 3, so it kinda slipped our minds to update this. But we're here now, so we hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.

ZAFT: At least we remembered. XD So enjoy it~

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(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)

Digital Phantom!

(Shows several forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton and Lopmon, 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, his twin brother Danny Fenton 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, a shadowed form behind him)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost, a shadowed form behind her)

As our worlds collide

(Jazz is shown beside Andy, the form of Lopmon behind Andy while a shadowed form is behind Jazz)

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 draconic form is shown with blue eyes and wings before fire flares from it, covering the form's visage in flames)

As we move along

(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy and Lopmon, 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, Lopmon, 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!

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Chapter 40: Bonding and Animosity

"Hey, Takuya," Tommy spoke up. "Would you mind if I had some privacy for a bit?"

"Uh… sure?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks, I, uh, won't take long," Tommy quickly said before he ran through the bushes.

"I guess he really had to go," Takuya noted to himself.

With Tommy out of sight for the time being, Zoe decided to approach Takuya. "Are you having fun playing with the boy?"

Takuya jumped. "Ah! Zoe! Don't do that!" Takuya exclaimed before he sighed. "And yeah… I am… Thanks for coming out here, Zoe… Even if there was no sign of trouble."

"No problemo," Zoe chuckled. "Sorcermon wanted to make sure you two would be okay. I was watching you two bonding over fishing. It was rather cute to watch~ Who knew you'd be so good with kids?"

"Well… when you have a younger brother and younger cousins, you kinda have to be good with kids." Takuya admitted sheepishly. "It's kinda a requirement for that…"

"I suppose so. From what I've heard from Koichi, he was very closed off and paranoid," Zoe remarked. "But it looks like he's really starting to open up to you."

"You think so?" Takuya sheepishly chuckled.

"I know so." Zoe smiled before she frowned. "But… How long have you been in the Digital World? School was out for me by the time I came in here. Which means… Since you're in America right now, it's getting late where you live. I know you're supposed to be looking out for Tommy, but you'll worry your family in the real world if you stay here for another night."

"I know, but right now, I kinda need to get Tommy back to the castle. Then I will head back to the real world." Takuya sighed. "It's just… I can't leave the kid alone right now. Not when he is so tense and anxious."

Zoe gave it some thought. "Well, how about this? After you take him back to the castle, you tell him you need to log out to check in on your family, then you'll come back to help him out? I'm sure he needs to log out too soon anyways. And if he doesn't, then that just means I get to spend some time with him myself."

Takuya gave Zoe a nervous grin. "Yeah… about that… Tommy is actually… here physically, like us." He admitted at last. "I mean… he did need to eat when I got him to the castle the first time."

Zoe frowned. "I know, Sorcermon informed me of that. I'm… also wondering about how he could physically be here if he doesn't have a D-Tector, or… one of those 'D-Arcs' I've heard about. Unless maybe he accidentally came here with someone else who had one."

"That… does seem possible, but I can't say for sure that is the case." Takuya sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's just so weird…"

"Well, regardless, until he's ready to tell us how he even got here, all we can do is just watch over him," Zoe said. "If he does have something like a D-Tector, then he could be one of us. If he has a D-Arc, then… I'm not sure what that would mean for him. If he doesn't have anything like that, then we just have to help him get back home."

"Yeah… We would have to do that…" Takuya agreed. He was definitely hoping Tommy would open up to him more, if only so Takuya could find out how the boy got into the Digital World in the first place.

Zoe then giggled. "So… when were you going to tell me you were a Legendary Warrior?"

Takuya blushed. "Um… Well… I… planned to… When I saw you again…" He stammered out. Aw man… Good thing Andy isn't here… He would be teasing me nonstop about this! Takuya then coughed to regain some measure of control of his emotions. "I… have the Spirits of Flame actually…"

"Oooh, no kidding? Tell me more~" Zoe grinned. "I'm all ears~"

Meanwhile, Tommy was looking down at the river where it was at its calmest. He was looking at his own reflection. He took out the device from his pocket and looked at it. This was the thing that was making him suffer, and yet he couldn't bring himself to get rid of it. Tommy saw a strange symbol on the screen of the device.

"What do you want from me?" Tommy questioned. "Why couldn't I just get a Digimon partner like everyone else?"

Should I keep hiding this forever? What would happen if Takuya saw this? Would he react like Sir Michael did? Or would he be able to help me? Unless I tell him, I'll never know if Takuya truly would care about me. If he knew I could turn into… a monster… Tommy frowned to himself.

Tommy looked at his other hand that wasn't holding the device. He still recalled vividly of how it happened that night, when they were at Candlemon's River. A ring of code appeared on Tommy's hand. Tommy stared at the ring of code for a moment. Tommy couldn't keep living with this uncertainty. So Tommy scanned the data on his hand with the device just like he did before.

The code surrounded Tommy before it dissipated, revealing a small white bear-like form in his place. Once the transformation was complete, Tommy looked at his reflection again in the river. Instead of a human boy looking back at him, it was a strange white bear's face. It wasn't just a bear either, it was a Digimon. Tommy knew the name, because he always instinctively knew it whenever he turned into this thing.

"Kumamon."

Tommy, or rather, Kumamon, wondered if the reason why he didn't have a Digimon partner was because of this form. If maybe the other Digimon could sense it, and that was why he couldn't ever truly bond with a Digimon.

Or… what if… I was never actually Tomoki to begin with and I just think I am? What if I've always just been Kumamon, but somehow ended up with Tomoki's memories? Kumamon questioned himself. I mean what other human has the ability to turn themselves into a Digimon?

Before Kumamon could stew in such worrisome thoughts, he noticed something being thrown at him from behind his reflection. Reacting quickly, Kumamon melted his body like a puddle into the ground as the thing flew over him. The thing turned out to be a ring… a slave collar. Kumamon quickly reformed his body before turning to see where the slave collar came from.

"Sir Michael?" Kumamon called.

"Drat! I missed!" A different male voice said as this portly boy on a hoverboard came out.

That's… not Sir Michael… Kumamon blinked, surprised when he saw this unfamiliar boy.

"There's no mistake… you have one of those symbols," The portly boy noted as he looked at Kumamon.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Kumamon demanded.

"Why, you of course! You are one of those 'special' Digimon! Your power will be a big asset to me!" The boy grinned sinisterly.

Special Digimon? … Did he see me transform? Kumamon frowned. "Just leave me alone! I don't want to deal with another player trying to enslave me!"

"So sorry, but you don't have a choice! The red one was already claimed by another party, so I need to capture you to defeat that one!" The boy on the hoverboard said, as if he had already made up Kumamon's mind for him.

"What?" Kumamon blinked. Red one? Is there another one like me?

"I am Theodore Minerals, your future master!" The boy on the hoverboard shouted proudly before he began throwing more enslavement collars at Kumamon.

Kumamon had experience with dodging slave collars, and unlike before, he was well fed and full of energy this time instead of starving and relying on little spurts of adrenaline to keep himself safe. Kumamon's flexible body made it easy for him to weave around the slave collars. And the collars that were trying to seek him out, he easily froze in ice with his icy breath.

Theodore looked quite excited at what he was witnessing. "Yes! That power! I will claim it and I will be stronger than ever!"

"I'd rather you take it then, and see how well you deal with being hunted down," Kumamon spat, getting annoyed with this brat. "How well can you fly that hoverboard of yours?"

"Well enough that I could keep up with an Airdramon!" Theodore replied proudly.

"Allow me to rephrase that. How well can you fly that hoverboard of yours… when its engine is covered in ice?" Kumamon stated.

Before Theodore could ask, Kumamon took out a blaster gun from his back and fired several snowballs at the hoverboard's jet engine, freezing it up into solid ice.

"H-hey! That's not fair!" Theodore exclaimed, trying to regain control of his hoverboard. But the board went out of control, diving to the ground and crash landing.

Takuya and Zoe heard the crash and both of them gasped.

"What was that?" Takuya questioned.

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. Tommy's out there!" Zoe pointed out in worry.

"Yeah, and it sounded like it was in the direction Tommy went!" Takuya realized. "C'mon! He could be in trouble!"

Takuya didn't hesitate to run in the direction he heard the crash, and Zoe hurried after him.

Theodore was shaking. The hoverboard was his only way to stay out of range from the Digimon's attacks, now he was on the ground with no protection. Kumamon was walking towards him, looking quite annoyed.

"You… You won't stop me! I am your future master! You will listen to me!" Theodore stammered out.

Theodore tried throwing another slave collar at the approaching bear, but Kumamon hit the slave collar with his gun, destroying it.

Theodore was beginning to see why these Digimon he had heard about were known as such.

"Enough! If this is how you want to play the game, then I'm going to get rid of all your slave collars!" Kumamon stated, holding out his gun. "I suggest you log out now."

At that moment, a familiar boy came running into view. "H-hey, what's…?" Takuya trailed off when he saw a Digimon aiming what looked like a gun at a very familiar player. "Huh? Theodore?!"

Kumamon and Theodore looked at the voice that shouted. Takuya noticed a familiar symbol on the bear's chest.

"N-no way… Is that…?" Takuya realized. "The symbol of Ice…" He murmured. "That Digimon's a Legendary Warrior…?"

Theodore grinned to himself, seeing an opportunity to salvage the situation. He put on his terrified face. "Oh! Thank goodness you're here! This crazy bear is trying to kill me!"

Takuya frowned. "Is that so?" He asked, his gaze turning serious as he looked at Kumamon.

Kumamon wasn't looking Takuya in the eyes, but he was shocked at this turn of events. That dirty, lying sleazeball!

Zoe frowned as well. Kumamon wasn't a Digimon she recognized, but she could tell he was a Legendary Warrior. But Kumamon wasn't one of her group of Legendary Warriors, so it was likely he was a rogue Legendary Warrior.

"Takuya, get this guy to safety, I'll deal with this one," Zoe instructed.

Takuya looked at Zoe, knowing she was also a Legendary Warrior. "Okay… Just be careful. We don't know anything about this guy."

"W-wait! That player, he's the one who attacked me!" Kumamon spoke up, hoping Takuya would listen to him.

But Takuya didn't listen. "C'mon. Let's get you out of here. We can leave this bad guy to Zoe. She knows what she's doing." He said to Theodore.

"Th-thank you, thank you so much!" Theodore shakingly said.

Bad guy? Kumamon paled, feeling his heart dropping when he heard Takuya saying that about him.

Takuya grabbed Theodore's hand and pulled the portly boy to his feet. "I'll be right back once I get this kid to safety, Zoe!" He said to his companion before leading Theodore away from Kumamon.

As much as Takuya didn't like Theodore, Theodore was still only human, and he didn't have a Digimon partner with him. He saw the hoverboard that crashed, and that its engines had ice on them. It was easy to tell that Legendary Warrior had indeed attacked Theodore, especially since the Legendary Warrior was pointing a gun at Theodore's face. Theodore also seemed to be really terrified, and Takuya couldn't just ignore that even if he didn't like the portly boy. He just hoped Tommy was okay and that he didn't get caught up in that Digimon's rampage.

Once Takuya had taken the boy away, Zoe was left with Kumamon. She didn't look too happy either. "It's time to teach you to not mess with innocent players." She said as she took out a device that looked very familiar to Kumamon, but in lavender and pink.

The magenta outline of her Spirit appeared visible on the screen of her D-Tector as she held it up. Fractal coding appeared on her left hand and she slammed the D-Tector against it as she brought the two together. Zoe then called out the familiar phrase she knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Her body became data as her clothes ripped away. Coding surrounded her in a cocoon of sorts and the power of her first Spirit flowed into her. Her hair became longer, flowing past her waist and turning a purple color. Her body grew in height, increasing her strength and speed. A bikini-like outfit appeared on her body as gloves, and high boots formed on her arms and legs, with shoulder guards appearing as well as a visor that covered her eyes. Butterfly-like wings appeared on her back and she landed, letting out a cry as she unleashed a kick before she came to a stop and said her name. "Kazemon!"

Kumamon's eyes were wide in shock when he just witnessed this human girl turning into a Digimon. "What the…? You… just turned into a Digimon?"

"That's right." Kazemon replied as she hovered off the ground. "What about it? The Spirits of Wind picked me to wield them."

Feeling even more confused than before, Kumamon held up his gun at Kazemon. "You… WHAT ARE YOU!?"

Kumamon began firing snowballs at Kazemon, frustrated and confused. Why was this person against him if she was just like him!?

Kazemon dodged the snowballs like the embodiment of wind that she was. She was certain now that this was indeed a rogue Legendary Warrior, if his reaction to her was any indication. "Time to make you leave!" She snapped as wind appeared from her fingertips. "Hurricane Wave!"

Kumamon was blown away several feet from the wind of Kazemon, and he hit a tree. "Gah!"

Kumamon had fought with Digimon before, but Kazemon seemed to be on a whole other level. She was strong, and she was fast. Though it didn't help that Kumamon wasn't thinking clearly, his emotions were overtaking him. Takuya just called him a 'bad guy', and this girl just transformed into a Digimon before his very eyes. He didn't know what to think other than they were against him.

Kazemon didn't let up on her assault. She then did a handstand and spread her legs wide, spinning around and unleashing a flurry of kicks. "Tempest Twist!"

Kumamon gasped before he melted his body to absorb the kicks with as little damage to him as possible. This took Kazemon by surprise as she didn't expect Kumamon's body to be so… malleable.

When Kazemon backed up, Kumamon jumped into the air, turning his body into a giant icicle spear coming right at her.

Kazemon saw this and flew up higher, causing Kumamon to miss her by a good margin. "Nice try!" She teased as she looked down at Kumamon. "But flight is my specialty~"

Kumamon's body hit the ground, where he melted it again before reforming back to his normal state.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Kumamon questioned.

"You attacked that player." Kazemon replied sternly, her teasing tone vanishing. "We won't let you carry out indiscriminate attacks on humans."

"That's funny, you're attacking me because of the player? So what if it was the other way around? Would you have done anything then!?" Kumamon snapped. "No, of course not, I'm just a monster!"

Kumamon blasted out more snowballs at Kazemon in anger.

Kazemon dodged the snowballs, showing why she was known as the Legendary Warrior of Wind. "As long as you keep acting this way, yes, you are! And we won't tolerate it! You and your comrades give the rest of us a bad name!"

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Kumamon snapped. "What makes you so different from me!?"

"My comrades and I protect humans and Digimon, not try to wipe them out." Kazemon replied back, not even understanding why Kumamon was so upset.

"I haven't done anything wrong! I just wanted to protect my friends! It's not my fault they decided to turn on me!" Kumamon shouted, tears falling from his eyes as he kept attacking Kazemon. "Why is everyone always after me!? What did I do wrong? Who even are you!?"

"I am Kazemon, the Warrior of Wind, and you, rogue Warrior, attacked that player to the point he was scared of you." Kazemon replied.

Kumamon had no idea what Kazemon was talking about when she said 'rogue Warrior', but what she said about herself made him stop. "Warrior… of Wind? As in… a Legendary Warrior?"

Kazemon frowned. "Yes. What of it?" She retorted, not dropping her guard any time soon.

No wonder she's so tough… she's a Legendary Warrior. Why the heck am I fighting a Legendary Warrior? Kumamon questioned himself. I wasn't even attacking Theodore, I just wanted to get rid of those slave collars he had…

"You just want me to leave, don't you?" Kumamon asked as he was starting to think clearly again.

Kazemon was a bit surprised, and it showed on her face clearly. But she regained herself and nodded. "Yes, I do. No rogue Warriors are welcome in this area."

"I don't know what you mean by that. But I'll leave if it'll get you to stop attacking me," Kumamon replied as he put away his gun to show he meant it. "I'm done here anyways."

Kazemon blinked, though her visor hid her surprise in her eyes. Finally, Kazemon nodded. "Then be on your way. I don't want to see you around here again." If he's offering to leave, I don't see any need to fight further.

Whether you like it or not, Legendary Warrior of Wind, you'll see me again. Just… not in this form… the form you see as a monster… Kumamon bitterly thought to himself as he turned his back to Kazemon and began walking away. But now that I know there's someone else who can turn into a Digimon, I have a new goal in mind. I need to find out more about this girl. Why and how she's able to turn into a Digimon, a Legendary Warrior no less. And what makes her different from me? Why am I the bad guy, and she's the hero? I need to know.

As Kumamon left, Kazemon floated down to the ground. Once he was out of sight, Kazemon was surrounded by fractal code and when the code dissipated, it revealed Zoe in her place. But why was the Warrior of Ice here? Did he find that player? It's not that common for us to see or encounter a rogue Warrior, so to see one here is… concerning… Especially since we didn't sense him coming into the Forest Terminal. How did he even get here without any of us noticing?

When Kumamon was out of sight, Kumamon turned around to make sure Kazemon couldn't see him anymore. Kumamon surrounded himself with fractal code, turning back into Tommy. He fell to his butt and just sat there, curling up as he let his tears flow out in silence.

"Tommy? Hello?! Are you here?!" Tommy heard a familiar voice calling out to him, though he didn't give an answer back.

Takuya's face finally peeked over a bush. "Hey! Tommy! There you are!" He exclaimed in relief.

When Takuya approached Tommy, his voice died down when he saw Tommy was curled up on the ground.

"T-Tommy? Hey, are you okay?" Takuya asked in concern, worry visible on his face.

Tommy rubbed his eyes a little with the back of his hand before he stood up, looking up at Takuya with teary eyes. "I'm sorry… if I did… something bad… please don't hate me!"

Tommy began crying, unable to hold it back anymore.

"H-hey! Why would I hate you? I don't hate you!" Takuya exclaimed, trying to calm the boy down. Aw geez… This is just like before when I first met him… "P-please, don't cry! I don't hate you, and you didn't do anything bad! I promise!" Why would Tommy say he did something bad? As far as I know, he didn't do anything like that…

Tommy couldn't answer back, instead he buried his head into Takuya's shirt. Takuya was taken by surprise by that, but he knew he needed to comfort the boy. Whatever happened seemed to have affected Tommy pretty badly. Takuya wondered if Tommy had a run in with Michael while he and Zoe were dealing with that Legendary Warrior who attacked Theodore.

"H-hey… It's… It's okay, Tommy… No one will hurt you… You're safe now…" Takuya said softly, trying to reassure Tommy. "It's going to be okay…" He reached up and hugged Tommy gently. "Michael won't get to you, I promise…"

If only Takuya knew it wasn't Michael who hurt Tommy this time.

---

Takuya had to get Tommy back to the castle when it started getting dark, he also wasn't sure if the Legendary Warrior of Ice was still roaming around the Forest Terminal, and it would be dangerous to get attacked now while Tommy was having a breakdown.

Zoe flew around the Forest Terminal as Kazemon to see if Kumamon had actually left or not. She hadn't seen a single white hair of that bear after he walked away from her, so she decided to return to the castle as well. She saw Takuya and Tommy in the main room. Tommy was sitting on a couch, his head down.

"Is everything alright?" Zoe asked Takuya in concern.

"I don't know. He stopped crying when I brought him back here, but he hasn't said a word or even looked at me…" Takuya replied worriedly. "Not only that… he said he did something bad and asked me to not hate him… But I didn't see him do anything bad…"

Zoe frowned as she looked at Tommy. Tommy refused to look up at either of them, but his body looked tense.

"Why would you think you did something bad?" Zoe asked gently, hoping to get a response from the boy. "Oh… I should introduce myself first. I'm Izumi Orimoto, but you can call me Zoe. I'm a friend of Takuya's."

Tommy didn't respond, he didn't look at her.

"This is bad… What could've caused Tommy to shut down like this?" Takuya wondered. And I was making such good progress with bonding with him too…

Zoe frowned as well, trying to figure out what they could do to get a response from Tommy. "Maybe I can make a tasty snack for him? I know snacks usually help a child feel better when they're feeling upset about something."

"Sure. It might help." Takuya agreed. "Maybe make it something sweet? I know sweets always cheered up my younger cousins when they got upset."

"I know just the thing then! Try to see if you can talk to him while I try to make something sweet for him," Zoe suggested before she walked away to head to the kitchen.

When Zoe walked away, Tommy looked up slightly, watching her go. That image of her turning into Kazemon played through his head on repeat. The Legendary Warrior of Wind… She's the Legendary Warrior of Wind… What did she say before? The Spirits of Wind… picked her? What does that even mean? Spirits? As in ghosts? Or… something else?

Takuya noticed Tommy was watching Zoe as she was leaving.

"Hey… something on your mind, Tommy?" Takuya asked, trying to get Tommy's attention on him.

She didn't have a Digimon partner with her… instead, she turned into a Digimon. A Legendary Warrior… but why? How? And… is she the only one who can turn into a Legendary Warrior or are there others? Tommy wondered. Koichi didn't have a partner either… could he turn into a Legendary Warrior too? And…

Tommy's eyes moved over to Takuya now. What about Takuya? He doesn't have a Digimon partner either.

Takuya felt a bit uncomfortable when he realized Tommy was staring at him. "Um… do I have something on my face?"

Tommy frowned as he was trying to figure all this confusing crap out. "Um… Takuya… about that story… the one with the Legendary Warriors… did the book mention anything about… Spirits?"

Takuya blinked. "Uh… it did… They were the artifacts the book mentioned. Why do you ask?" He asked, confused himself now.

"What do you know about it?" Tommy asked. "About these… Spirits, and… what it means if these Spirits chose someone?"

"Um… Just that these Spirits were the remnants of the 10 Legendary Warriors…" Takuya replied, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. "Why are you asking?"

"Yeah… why am I asking?" Tommy questioned. After all, if you are one of them, why would you tell me? I'm either just a human, or a monster after all… I have no business knowing about these Legendary Warriors.

Takuya realized if he didn't say something soon, Tommy was going to shut down again. "Um… well… the Spirits are all hidden as far as I know. But… maybe someone will find one of them. I mean… it's not like they can remain hidden forever, right?"

"I guess…" Tommy replied.

Takuya tried to think of what else he could say that wouldn't give him away. "I know that… um… the book mentioned the Spirits are sentient despite the loss of their bodies. So they wouldn't just let anyone use them. I guess that's what they mean by 'chosen'."

"I see, I guess… that makes more sense then," Tommy said. Zoe must've found the Spirit of the Wind, and it chose her, that must be what she meant. But… she said 'Spirits', not just 'Spirit'. Is there more than one? … I guess she meant the Humanoid and Beast Spirit? Are they counted as one or two Spirits then? I guess it doesn't matter.

"What about… something else?" Tommy spoke up.

"What do you mean 'something else?'" Takuya questioned.

"Do you think it would be possible… for someone to turn into a Digimon that isn't a Legendary Warrior?" Tommy questioned. "What would that make them? A monster? An abomination?"

"T-Tommy…" Takuya murmured, suddenly feeling very worried, confused, and concerned all at once.

"Nevermind, it was a rather silly question that's got nothing to do with anything," Tommy chuckled, giving a fake smile. "I guess I was just… curious."

Takuya frowned a little, but decided to not push Tommy any further because the younger boy was talking to him again at least. "Okay…" He said at last before he grinned. "By the way, Zoe is making some sweets for us."

Tommy began imagining Kazemon baking sweets, and for some reason, the absurdity of the image just made him laugh all of a sudden.

Takuya blinked in surprise. "W-wha… Are you feeling okay, Tommy?"

"I-I'm fine… I just… had a funny thought," Tommy giggled.

---

How did this happen? I was looking out at the group. Sir Michael, Kwan, Susie, Drake, and Ryan were on the ground. Susie's Numemon was unconscious, Kwan's Veggiemon was burnt from the flames, Drake's Ghostmon was in the water, and Ryan's Kunemon was halfway buried. Only Sir Michael's PawnChessmon was left fighting back.

We were surrounded by angry Candlemon. One Candlemon that looked like he had a waxed mustache, glared at us.

"You tried to take advantage of our hospitality and attempted to enslave our tribe. Don't think you'll be getting away with that without punishment!" The Candlemon stated.

"So you say. You have tricked others before, and we will not stand for it." Sir Michael said in an authoritative voice. "I will make sure you can't trick anyone else ever again!"

"Sir Michael… shouldn't we retreat? All our Digimon are… not looking too good right now," Susie spoke up. "Your partner doesn't look like he's going to pull an anime protagonist and digivolve to save our hides."

Sir Michael frowned. Susie was right. PawnChessmon was still standing, but not looking too good either. "A retreat would be wise, but we're so close too…"

"You won't be getting away from us so easily!" Candlemon shouted. "Surround them!"

Sir Michael knew someone had to get away before we were completely surrounded, and he looked at me. "Get out of here, Tommy!"

Before I could protest, Sir Michael got up suddenly and ran at me. I let out a gasp before he pushed me into the river just before they were surrounded by Candlemon. "Guys!"

I struggled in the water as I didn't really know how to swim. The river was pushing me down, and I reached out to grab onto the nearest rock, trying to pull myself to shore. I quickly crawled out of the water. Luckily, I didn't get too far from the others, but if I stayed here, I was bound to get spotted. I needed to find a place to hide and see what was happening to the others.

There was a small hill of rocks ahead of me. That might not be a bad place to hide, and it would give me the view I needed to see what was happening to Sir Michael and the others. I quickly began climbing up the hill.

I could tell that Sir Michael was trying to hold off the Candlemon, but his PawnChessmon was getting weaker with each attack. "Hang in there, PawnChessmon! Just a bit more!" Sir Michael declared, trying to put up a brave face.

I looked down from the hill, seeing that PawnChessmon's armor was getting burned. It wouldn't be long until PawnChessmon would be defeated.

I covered myself from being wet, and… I looked back and saw there was a cavern behind me. The cavern was covered in ice. Ice of all things! Right next to a tribe of fire Digimon.

But I didn't have time to wonder why there was a cavern of ice behind me. I turned my attention back to the battle between PawnChessmon and the Candlemon. PawnChessmon was hit by another fiery attack, and fell on his back.

"PawnChessmon!" Sir Michael cried out, looking very worried. "Get up! Please!"

"Now that the last of your Digimon slave was defeated, we'll finally be able to take you players to justice!" The Candlemon shouted.

There had to be something I could do to save them. I didn't have a Digimon partner… but still… I couldn't use that as an excuse to keep cowering away and hide in fear. I wanted to save them, I wanted to help them. They were my first real friends here. I couldn't let them get hurt.

"Sir Michael! Hang on!" I shouted as I slid down the hill I was on.

"Tommy? What are you doing!? Stay away!" Sir Michael shouted.

I took off my hat and filled it with water from the river before tossing the water out onto the Candlemon nearby. "I'm not going to standby and watch this anymore! I want to protect you too!"

Suddenly, the strange device that used to be my cell phone began to vibrate in my pocket, and the hill I was just on had a bright glow. I was confused as to what was going on, but I wasn't the only one. The Candlemon, as well as Sir Michael, Kwan, Susie, Drake, and Ryan looked up in surprise.

Something white floated in front of me. I blinked as I looked at the figurine that looked familiar.

The figurine had an image of a bear-like Digimon appearing before me, and seemed to nod at me, as if telling me what to do. As if my body was on auto-pilot, I put my hat back on my head, and I dug into my pocket, grabbing onto that device. I didn't know why, but I just… knew what I had to do. I pointed the device at the figurine. The device let out a beam of light at the figurine, and the figurine… went into the device. A symbol appeared on the screen of the device.

The light green digital form of my first Spirit appeared on the screen of his D-Tector and I formed the ring of coding around my hand. I swiped the D-Tector over the coding, calling out the familiar phrase I would come to know by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" My clothes ripped away as my body became digital and the process began. Coding surrounded me as the power of the Spirit flowed into my body. I lost my hair and my body became white as snow. My fingers became like paws almost and I gained a more cub-like appearance to my body. Green chest armor formed on my body and my feet gained green and red boots. A headband that had the image of a bear on it formed on my head, and I gained a shoulder pad on each side, but one was red while the other was gray in color. I slid down and landed as a mushy pile before I reformed and grinned, calling out my name. "Kumamon!"

There were gasps of shock, surprise, and awe all around me after the transformation was complete. I couldn't say I knew exactly what was going on, but I knew I had to protect my friends. So I fought back against the Candlemon, shutting down their fiery attacks with my ice attacks. I buried most of them in snow with my Blizzard Blaster. They didn't have a chance.

I heard one of the Candlemon mumbling, but I couldn't quite hear his words. But the other Candlemon quickly backed away from me as I approached my friends.

"Are you all okay?" I asked.

They were all staring at me like I was some kind of alien.

"What…" Sir Michael murmured in shock.

"Come on, we can get away now," I said. "We just need to-"

"Who the hell are you!?" Sir Michael suddenly shouted.

"Huh?" I blinked. "What do you mean? It's me, Tommy. I'm trying to help you."

"Help us? You just turned into… You have to have been deceiving us!" Sir Michael exclaimed in anger.

"I don't know, Sir Michael, he looks pretty cute to me," Susie remarked. "And he did just defeat those Candlemon."

"Don't you get it, Susie? He's been deceiving us this whole time! He's not even human!" Sir Michael pointed out. "What kind of human has abilities like turning things to ice? Or melting their own body?"

"Wow… this whole time… I didn't know that the kid was a bear…" Kwan said in surprise.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked. "I… I just wanted to save you guys, I wasn't deceiving you or anything!"

"So… what do we do with him?" Drake asked in confusion. "I mean, he did deceive us, despite saving us back there."

"Maybe he wanted to be human? I mean why else would he disguise himself as such?" Ryan asked. "If he wanted to hurt us, he would've done so a long time ago, right?"

"You're right. He may be a monster, but his powers would be useful for us. After all, he took down these Candlemon when our Digimon weren't able to," Sir Michael agreed as he looked at me, not as a friend, but as someone who saw a potential gain.

"A… monster?" I repeated, feeling like those words were a knife going through my gut. "Sir Michael… I'm not a monster… I just wanted to save you…"

Sir Michael didn't seem to care to hear my words, and he had a grin on his face. "And I am grateful, for now we have your power we can use for our mission… whether you like it or not. But as long as you stay with us, and work willingly, things don't have to get ugly."

---

I stayed with Sir Michael for a while. I wanted to contribute, and stay with my friends… but ever since I turned into Kumamon… the others didn't talk to me like they used to anymore. I wasn't included in most of their conversations. Whenever I asked about something, they stopped talking about what they were chatting about, and just told me to wait my turn.

Their Digimon partners weren't any better. They appeared to be looking at me with unease, but they wouldn't say why. I was isolated from both humans and Digimon.

I carried out Sir Michael's orders whenever I had to use Kumamon's powers. I helped them take down other players, and conquered their territories. I was able to match even Champion level Digimon. Even if my power weren't as strong as some of them, I was able to use my wit to win the battle. Sir Michael seemed quite pleased, and was constantly checking my stats to see if I had gotten any stronger… like I was just… another Digimon for him to raise. It wasn't a good feeling. I felt like I wasn't even a person anymore to him.

And then… Sir Michael decided to have a one-on-one duel against another player, in order to take over their guild. This player was a young girl, she looked to be 7 years old, even younger than me.

"This is my own guild, I made it fair and square with my Digimon partner!" The girl said to Sir Michael. "Besides, I just want to help make the Digital World a better place. The Digimon are scared of us, you know? I want them to know that some of us want to help them."

"Is that so? It's such a pleasant goal, but futile in the end. Just a few helping Digimon won't convince them otherwise." Sir Michael stated. "Besides, Digimon exist to be raised by humans here."

The girl frowned. "Do you really think that? The Digital World isn't just a game…"

The girl's partner Digimon frowned. Her Digimon partner was light pink with a small yellow crescent moon on her forehead. Her ears were blue with matching light pink accents. She even had a long tuft of hair that turned blue as it moved away from her head. She wore two pink ribbons around her chest with a moon clasp in the middle of them. Her hands had small black claws, and she had yellow crescent moons on her lower arms as well as her lower stomach area. Her body looked like she was wearing a dress as well. Her eyes were also light pink as well.

"And Lunamon isn't just a program, she's real and alive! And she's my best friend," The girl stated firmly.

"That's right, I'm as real as you are," Lunamon agreed.

I looked at how close the two were. It didn't seem to matter if Lunamon was a Digimon, the girl saw her as a real friend, and her equal. I missed being treated like that…

"I don't have time to indulge in your fantasy," Sir Michael said. "We need a guild to get our own Digimon stronger faster if we want to take on the Beast Slayer guild before the end of the year."

"Well go make your own then!" The girl snapped.

"You have resources we need, it would take us a long time to make a guild that has what we need," Sir Michael replied. "So you can join us and you'll be treated as a member of the guild. Or you can try to fight back, and be kicked out when you lose."

The girl looked unsure, because Sir Michael looked much stronger than her and her friends. "Do I have to?"

"This is a challenge for the guild's leader. Since you're the guild's leader, you must accept the challenge or forfeit your guild," Sir Michael stated like he was reading off of a script. "Will you do it or will you hand the guild to me?"

"Sir Michael, isn't this going a bit too far? She's only a little girl," I spoke up, not feeling good about this, we were essentially bullying this girl to be one of us or get out.

"She has to fight or give up her guild." Sir Michael stated to me. "Those are the rules for guild leaders. Not that it's your business to worry about the player's affairs."

I stayed quiet after that.

The girl frowned as she looked at Sir Michael. "Fine then, Lunamon and I will take your challenge. And when we win, you will stop bothering us."

Sir Michael grinned. "Very well. And when I win, you have to join my guild, or you leave. It's your choice."

"You won't take our guild." Lunamon frowned.

The girl led Sir Michael, PawnChessmon, and I to an arena that was just outside of the guild's building. It was large enough for a full on Digimon battle.

"Lunamon, I know you can do this!" The girl smiled at her partner.

"Yeah! I'll make sure to protect the guild!" Lunamon replied as she stepped into the battlefield.

I waited, hoping that Sir Michael would use his own partner for this battle. I was supposed to be his friend, basically contributing with my own power, but still, I wasn't supposed to be his Digimon. I ignored the fact that he brought me with him when he told everyone else to stay behind. Maybe he just wanted me to watch the fight, surely.

Sir Michael didn't look at PawnChessmon though, his gaze fixed on me. "You know what to do." He said to me.

"H-huh?" I frowned.

"I've trained you well enough for you to know when I want you in battle, Kumamon, so don't act like you don't know," Sir Michael replied.

"You said you wouldn't call me 'Kumamon' if I wasn't using that form," I replied. "And why me? You're supposed to be dueling the guild leader with your own Digimon, isn't that the rule?"

"Yes, but you are much stronger than PawnChessmon. And I want to show this guild leader I'm not messing around." Sir Michael said, sounding a bit colder than I remembered.

"It's not my fault you didn't train PawnChessmon more. I shouldn't be doing this battle, I'm not your Digimon," I argued.

"Hey! Are you going to send in your Digimon or what!?" The girl called out, not knowing what was going on with our conversation.

"I will, just you wait!" Sir Michael called back before looking at me with a glare, making me wince. "You're right, you're not my Digimon, but I can make you one if you keep arguing with me."

"This… isn't right… you've never actually used your slave collars despite having plenty of chances to with other Digimon," I pointed out.

"I'm willing to make an exception with you," Sir Michael replied. "You're far too valuable to be let loose."

"Sir Michael, please don't do that…" I frowned.

"Then do as I say, and we won't have a problem." Sir Michael retorted coldly.

Feeling scared that Sir Michael would actually go through with his threat of putting a slave collar on me, I stepped into the arena.

The girl and Lunamon looked rightfully confused.

"What are you doing? You can't just send a human into battle!" The girl pointed out.

"Oh, you will see soon enough." Sir Michael grinned sinisterly. "Time to reveal yourself, Kumamon!"

I didn't like doing this, but I was already in too deep. I covered my face with my hat. "I'm sorry about this…"

I took out the device that started all of this. "Execute…"

The girl and Lunamon were quite shocked to say the least when they saw me turn into a Digimon before their eyes.

"Kumamon," I stated when my transformation was complete.

"W-wha… Is this… possible…?" The girl murmured. Lunamon suddenly didn't look very confident in their victory, as was evidenced by the frown and uneasy look on her face.

"I think we're in over our heads…" Lunamon murmured grimly.

"N-no way, he's just a little teddy bear! We can still do this!" The girl spoke up. "Come on, Lunamon, we've fought so hard to try to make a peaceful world with Digimon and humans, we can't give that up now!"

Lunamon frowned, but nodded. "Very well. I'll do my best!" She declared back.

The fight… didn't last very long. Lunamon was determined, but she was still weaker than me. I didn't take pride in this, however. When Lunamon fell before my feet, all I could do was look down on her with sympathy. She didn't want this to happen… and neither did I. She looked up at me with fear, knowing she couldn't win. A feeling I had felt whenever I looked at Sir Michael these days…

"Now… finish her off," Sir Michael ordered. "The loser's Digimon of the challenge will have to be reborn to start anew."

"No! You can't! Lunamon won't remember me if you do that! I'll actually lose her!" The girl cried.

I held out my blaster gun in front of Lunamon, but I hesitated. Could I really do this? Erase Lunamon from this world? She may not truly die, but she wouldn't be the same once she was reborn.

"Do it, Kumamon!" Sir Michael demanded.

My hand began to shake as Lunamon stared at my gun and waited for her end. I could hear the girl crying, begging me to not do it. Sir Michael's desire for me to end Lunamon's life grew louder. I gritted my teeth.

What am I doing? I thought to myself. Is this really who I am? A puppet to someone who thinks Digimon are nothing more than mere programs? Why am I giving in to him so easily? I… I can't do this… I won't, I'm done.

I dropped my gun, unable to carry out the final blow.

"What are you doing? I gave you an order, Kumamon!" Sir Michael demanded.

I turned to Sir Michael and shouted as loud as I could. "LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU DON'T CONTROL ME!"

Sir Michael flinched back a bit and frowned before he sighed. "I was hoping this wouldn't be done the hard way, but it seems I have no choice now. You made it this way, Kumamon. It's your own fault." He said as he took out a slave collar.

I quickly took a deep breath and shot out my icy breath at Sir Michael, freezing his body except his head so he couldn't move. The girl and Lunamon looked at me in shock and confusion.

"Both of you get out of here, quickly!" I told them.

The girl looked confused, but she knew a saving grace when she saw one. She picked up Lumamon and gave me a small smile. "Thank you for sparing Lunamon…" She whispered to me before turning and running off.

Sir Michael looked livid. "You will pay for this! I will make you mine, you hear me?! Your power is mine!"

"Then please, take it," I replied as I picked up my gun and put it away. "It's not like I wanted it in the first place. But since you rather take my mind instead of just the powers, I believe it's time I terminated our 'friendship'. Goodbye, Sir Michael."

I turned around and began running. I heard Sir Michael shouting at PawnChessmon to get him out of the ice. But PawnChessmon wouldn't be able to break that ice so easily, and by the time he would, I would be long gone. I didn't know where I was going to go, or what I was going to do, but wherever and whatever it was, it wasn't going to be here.

"Mark my words, Kumamon! I will hunt you down until you're mine!" I heard Sir Michael shouting.

---

Tommy opened his eyes before he sat up from the bed he was sleeping in. He looked around, seeing he was back in the room of the castle he was staying in. Why did I dream that again? … Heh… I knew I shouldn't have eaten sweets before bed… Mom was right, they do give nightmares…

The door opened, making Tommy look over. Takuya poked his head in, smiling when he saw Tommy was awake. "H-hey, Tommy. How are you doing?"

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Did I scream in my sleep or something?"

"Um… Yeah, you kinda did…" Takuya admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "I was concerned when I heard it. Was it a bad nightmare?"

"No, it was a good nightmare," Tommy sarcastically replied before sighing. "It was… just a memory."

"Of your former friend?" Takuya asked softly, not wanting to make Tommy panic.

"Is it that obvious?" Tommy sighed.

"I was just assuming, since only he can make you that nervous and scared." Takuya admitted. What did he do to you, Tommy? And what can I do to help…?

Tommy gave a sigh as he looked down at his hands. The dream reminded him of how close he came to essentially killing another Digimon. Maybe I really am a monster… a bad guy…

"Maybe it won't be so bad if I can confront him, but… I guess he already left the Forest Terminal, or he doesn't want to get near me when someone else is around," Tommy replied.

Takuya frowned at hearing that. "So then… I take it you don't want me to be with you, if your former friend doesn't want to confront you when others are around. Is that right?"

"N-no! I… I don't want that," Tommy quickly said before frowning. "Sorry, I'm… not quite ready to be alone…"

Takuya could see Tommy was trembling a little. The nightmare likely shook him up. But Takuya knew the time for him to leave was soon. Takuya got a message on his D-Tector from Andy earlier, saying that Danny was asking them when they would come back.

"Tommy, look… I… I know you don't want me to leave you alone, but… I have to get back to my family soon. They're gonna wonder where I am if I don't get back soon…" Takuya sighed. "But… I promise you I will come back here. And I will help you with your former friend. I… I promise…"

"You… have to go back?" Tommy asked. "I… guess that makes sense… you have your own family to worry about too."

"What about you?" Takuya asked.

Tommy frowned. "I'm… going to stay here a little longer…"

Takuya frowned a little as well, but he accepted the explanation. "I… I understand. But I will be back soon, okay? Just… stay out of trouble, alright? I don't want to hear you got into trouble with your former friend while I'm not here. Otherwise I will go after him myself and get you back."

"I'm not a little kid," Tommy grumbled. "But… before you go… could we take a walk outside for a few minutes? I think the fresh air will help clear my head."

Takuya blinked, but nodded. "Sure. I can do that for a bit." He said with a small smile. And maybe it will help you calm down a bit too. I can see how tense you are, even from here.

Takuya led Tommy out of the castle, hoping the stroll would help the boy calm down.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" Tommy asked as they were walking.

"Um… in the human world, maybe a few days at most, but time flies when you're in school, so it won't be long." Takuya said, trying to reassure Tommy.

Tommy looked a little pale and grim at that, but he quickly covered it up with a smile. "Oh, yeah, you're right. School does make the days go by pretty fast."

Takuya then realized Tommy looked a bit pale and he mentally scolded himself. Crap! If Tommy is here physically… Aw man… this sucks! I may have just made him more anxious!

"Don't worry about me, Takuya," Tommy said, noticing Takuya's sudden mental panic. "I'm sure someone as nice as Zoe can help me if I need it, or Koichi. After all, they usually always have someone here, right?"

"Ah… right. I forgot. Sorry…" Takuya replied, feeling silly he forgot about the other Legendary Warriors for a moment. Whew… Thank you Tommy…

"But… I'll admit, I am going to miss you until you come back," Tommy sighed. "I… guess I just… wanted a chance to show you that… maybe I could be…"

Takuya wondered what Tommy was going to say, but Tommy didn't get a chance to finish because the ground under them suddenly began to crack and shake.

Takuya paled. "Uh oh…" He murmured, remembering the last time something like this had happened. Shit… Grumblemon?! Here?!

"W-what's going on!?" Tommy yelled as Takuya pulled him away from the cracking ground.

A sledge hammer came up from the ground, and a familiar gnome looking Digimon came up from the ground.

"Of course, first thing me see are players!" Grumblemon grumbled when he looked at Takuya and Tommy. "Why me not surprised?"

"Well I'm surprised to see you! What are you even doing here?" Takuya demanded, keeping Tommy close to him.

"Me sense new Legendary Warrior in area last night! Me looking for them." Grumblemon retorted, not pleased to see the two boys. "Not one of those Legendary Warriors tainted by player, want to join me and proper Warriors!"

What? Is he talking about Zoe? Tommy frowned. "Takuya, is he… a Legendary Warrior too?"

"Yeah… one of the rogue ones." Takuyu replied. "They attack all humans they see, regardless if the humans in question want to help or not."

"Rogues?" Tommy blinked. Didn't… Zoe call me a rogue before?

"If players wise, you will stay out of my way while me look for new Legendary Warrior!" Grumblemon stated. "But me should rid you before you cause problems."

"You came too late, pal!" Takuya snapped. "Your rogue buddy already left! Zoe made sure of that!"

"Oh really? Why me not believe that?" Grumblemon grinned.

Takuya felt his face grow a bit pale. Crap… is that other Legendary Warrior still here?!

Tommy was still confused. Grumblemon's caveman speech made it difficult to understand him, but from what Tommy could gather, Grumblemon was looking for a Legendary Warrior that he apparently sensed last night. The only Legendary Warrior Tommy faced last night was Zoe when she turned into Kazemon. Though Takuya seemed to be talking about a different Legendary Warrior since Tommy doubted he was talking about Zoe.

"You know something, don't you? Tell me now or me use force!" Grumblemon threatened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Takuya said, trying to play dumb. "The only Warrior I saw last night was attacking a player."

"What?" Tommy couldn't help but ask in confusion. "When did you see that?" I thought he only saw me 'attacking' a player, and I wasn't trying to!

"Smart Legendary Warrior, at least me know that Warrior is not tainted." Grumblemon grinned.

Tommy frowned. "I don't get it, why would a Legendary Warrior attack players? Aren't they supposed to be good guys who protect players and Digimon?" Zoe made that pretty clear last night.

"They are, yes. But it's difficult to say all Legendary Warriors are on the same side. The ones who are rogue don't care about humans, only Digimon." Takuya replied. "So, while they all should be on the same side, they are not."

"You mistaken. Me not rogue, the players who have Legendary Warrior spirits are rogues!" Grumblemon snapped. "Now rid you I will before me go find the Legendary Warrior!"

Grumblemon jumped at them with his sledge hammer. "Seismic Sledge!" Takuya ran while dragging Tommy away from the incoming attack.

"Damn it! This is the worst thing to happen before I leave!" Takuya growled as he was holding Tommy's hand as they ran away.

"Takuya! Can't you call Zoe or someone who can fight back against a Legendary Warrior!?" Tommy yelled as they were running.

Takuya paled when he realized what Tommy was getting at. Shit… He's right… But… I'm the only one with Tommy right now… That means…

"Wait, why Zoe?" Takuya asked when he realized Tommy had said Zoe's name for fighting against a Legendary Warrior.

Tommy gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh… I don't know, she just… popped into my head when I said that?"

Grumblemon came up from under the ground, causing Tommy to trip, letting go of Takuya's hand, and fell to the ground. Grumblemon reached out and grabbed Tommy's shirt, pulling him away from Takuya.

"No! Tommy!" Takuya cried out as he skidded to a stop and turned back to face down Grumblemon. "Let him go, you annoying gnome!" He hissed as he took out his D-Tector.

"Why should I? He make perfect hostage!" Grumblemon grinned. "Maybe even bring out Legendary Warrior!"

"Oh, he will alright…" Takuya growled as he held up his left hand, a ring of fractal code appearing around it. "Just not the one you're hoping for!"

Tommy stared at the ring of fractal code in Takuya's hand. Could it be?

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!"

"T-Takuya… You turned into a Digimon!" Tommy yelled as his eyes stared at Agunimon's form. He's just like Zoe!

Agunimon looked at Tommy for a moment, an unknown look on his face before he slowly nodded. Agunimon felt bad for not telling Tommy earlier, but circumstances had forced him to not reveal himself right away. Facing Grumblemon, Agunimon got into a fighting stance. "You ready for round two? Because I know I am!"

"You!? You held Agunimon's Spirit!?" Grumblemon growled. "Pay you for tainting the Spirit! But you think you can attack me while I have the boy?"

Agunimon actually hesitated, realizing Grumblemon was right. Shit… He's right… I can't just attack him head on. I need a plan to get him to let go of Tommy…

Takuya and Zoe are both Legendary Warriors… they can turn into Digimon, like I can, but… Tommy frowned, seeming more troubled about that than being held hostage, not that Agunimon knew. Why though? Why are they able to turn into Legendary Warriors? Takuya and Zoe's transformation aren't that different from mine, right? What makes us different? Why am I the bad guy? Because I'm not a Legendary Warrior?

Tommy was yanked out of his thoughts when Grumblemon began moving, dragging him not so gently. "See what you do when a player is in my hands!"

Agunimon growled, showing his sharp canine teeth in his anger. "You little…" He growled out. "Get back here!" he shouted, chasing after Grumblemon and Tommy. I have to find a way to free Tommy from Grumblemon… But how? I haven't faced a hostage situation before…

"Don't worry, Tommy! I promise I'll save you!" Agunimon called out.

Tommy looked at Agunimon. He wants to save me? Even though I'm only a monster?

"You save nobody!" Grumblemon shouted before he held up his sledge hammer in his free hand. "Seismic Sledge!"

Grumblemon brought the sledge hammer down at Agunimon.

Seeing the incoming sledge hammer, Agunimon knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it, so that left him with one option. He held up his arms in a defensive move as fire flared around his body, becoming a reddish-orange, transparent orb. "Plasma Sphere!"

Grumblemon growled in annoyance as his sledge hammer wasn't hitting Agunimon, but only the shield he put up.

Tommy watched as Agunimon was on the defensive, never really attacking Grumblemon, but was instead dodging or blocking Grumblemon's attacks. He doesn't want to hurt me. Even though he's a Legendary Warrior… but he's Takuya, right? Takuya… cares about me, doesn't he? He's not going to be able to do anything if he doesn't fight back… but I'm getting in the way of that…

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Tommy heard the voice, it sounded like his own, but he was sure that wasn't his thought. But the voice had a point, what was Tommy going to do about this? He caused the problem, maybe he should be the one to remedy it. Agunimon couldn't fight because he didn't want to hurt Tommy. As long as Tommy was being held hostage by Grumblemon, all he can do is go on the defensive.

Tommy looked at Grumblemon, he had armor on, and his skin was as tough as rocks. Tommy trying to kick him to get away wasn't going to cut it. He would need Kumamon's power to do anything.

Agunimon grunted as he put up the Plasma Sphere again, once more blocking the Seismic Sledge attack. Damn it… I can't keep this up… Tommy needs me, and yet… If I try to go on the offensive, I could seriously hurt him if not worse…

Grumblemon was laughing. "You easy when not able to attack!"

Tommy knew there was one thing he could do… While Grumblemon was about to slam his Sledge Hammer into the Plasma Sphere again, Tommy swung his feet a few times before he made enough force to throw off Grumblemon's aim a little bit. It was enough to hit the dirt next to Agunimon's sphere, kicking up a lot of dust and debris.

"What you doing? You want to get hurt!?" Grumblemon snapped at Tommy.

Tommy looked back at Grumblemon, not with fear, but with defiance. "No, I have something else in mind…"

Tommy took out the device from his pocket. He had to do this quickly before the dust and debris cleared up. Tommy summoned the ring of code to his hand and scanned it with his device.

Fractal code surrounded Tommy before dissipating, revealing the Warrior of Ice, Kumamon.

Grumblemon's eyes narrowed. "So you also…"

Kumamon shot out his icy breath at Grumblemon's face, freezing it into ice. Then Kumamon melted his body from Grumblemon's hold, easily getting out of it. "You Legendary Warriors may not like me very much, but don't think I'll be going down very easily."

Grumblemon knocked away the ice with a punch to his own face. "You pay for that! Me not defeated so easily either!"

When the dust and debris finally cleared enough for Agunimon to see, he was surprised, and confused why Grumblemon wasn't facing him anymore… and why Tommy wasn't in his grasp anymore.

"H-huh?" Agunimon blinked, his Plasma Sphere still up. "W-what…?" He was wondering why the Warrior of Ice was facing down Grumblemon. Aren't they on the same side…? Agunimon wondered to himself.

Grumblemon burrowed underground, Kumamon gritted his teeth as he took out his Blizzard Blaster and shot at the ground, freezing it into ice, making it difficult for Grumblemon to move.

Agunimon, for his part, wasn't sure what to make of this. This is so weird… And… Wait… Where's Tommy?! Agunimon realized Tommy wasn't anywhere near the battlefield.

Agunimon dissipated his shield and ran towards the battlefield, seeing Grumblemon trying to break out of the icy ground. He saw Agunimon approaching them, and knew if these two teamed up, even with his Beast Spirit, Grumblemon didn't see a victory in his future.

"What is going on!? Where's Tommy, and why are you two fighting!?" Agunimon demanded.

Kumamon didn't look at Agunimon, he seemed a bit too nervous to meet the Warrior of Flame in the eyes. Grumblemon, despite his caveman speech, was actually pretty clever. He took notice of Kumamon's unease around Agunimon, and Agunimon's hostility towards Kumamon. A plan began to form in the gnome's mind.

"What you think? This Kumamon is a real rogue," Grumblemon stated. "He not on our side, he not on your side. He want his own power and goals. He came in, took that boy, and try to stop me from getting the player back."

Agunimon looked at Grumblemon skeptically. "Really? I thought you didn't like players." He retorted, showing he was not as gullible as Grumblemon first assumed.

"Me don't, but me don't know what Kumamon want with player, why not ask him?" Grumblemon replied.

"Shut up!" Kumamon snapped, blasting Grumblemon in the face with snowballs.

Agunimon saw this and gritted his teeth, unsure of what to do, but Grumblemon had a point. Tommy was missing, and if this Kumamon did take Tommy, then Agunimon had to get the boy back. "He does have a point. Where is Tommy?" Agunimon asked, his tone somewhat hard when he spoke.

Kumamon flinched at the tone. "He's… he's safe."

Grumblemon shook off the snowballs, but his body was weakening quickly. The Warrior of Ice, despite his cute teddy bear appearance, was no joke. He was strong, and he could easily tear through Grumblemon's armor if he stuck around. While Kumamon and Agunimon were distracted with each other, Grumblemon was going to slide evolve into his Beast Spirit and finish them both off.

The Warrior of Earth grinned to himself before fractal code surrounded him. "Slide Evolution!" His body became larger and more muscular, and he lost all of his armor as his skin became as hard as rock. The fractal code dissipated, revealing his Beast Spirit. "Gigasmon!"

"If he's safe, why don't you take me to him?" Agunimon questioned Kumamon, not noticing Grumblemon had Slide-Evolved.

"I… I can't…" Kumamon replied nervously.

"Why not?" Agunimon asked, his eyes narrowing slightly, his eyebrows furrowed behind his mask.

"Me thinks you're forgetting about something~" Gigasmon grinned before he spun around, turning into a giant tornado. "Quagmire Twister!"

Agunimon and Kumamon both turned at the same time, seeing the incoming twister.

Shit! Agunimon thought as he saw the attack closing in on them. He had to deal with Gigasmon first before he could worry about Kumamon and Tommy. He knew there was only one way to deal with Gigasmon, but he still didn't have much control over it.

Agunimon had to dodge the attack, he knew he wouldn't be able to block it. Kumamon likely thought the same, because the white bear quickly got out of the twister's way. However, instead of just running, Kumamon turned back, looking at the twister's base. Kumamon took a deep breath and let out a strong wind of ice at the base of the twister. Though Agunimon noticed Kumamon didn't call out his move like most Digimon do.

The base of the twister froze in place, throwing Gigasmon for a loop and stopping his attack dead in its tracks.

Wow… Kumamon stopped Gigasmon… Agunimon thought in amazement before it finally struck him. Wait… That's… I know that move! That means Kumamon was the food thief! Agunimon realized as his eyes widened a bit at seeing the move.

Gigasmon growled, seeing how his attack was stopped by Kumamon, who wasn't even in his Beast Form. Gigasmon knew if the others found out about this, he would never live it down.

Kumamon was about to reach for his blaster, but then paused. I wouldn't have enough power.

Kumamon noticed Agunimon not too far away, looking at them. "What are you waiting for? Attack while you have the chance!"

Agunimon realized Kumamon was right. Even if he didn't trust Kumamon, at least he could work with the Warrior of Ice to drive off Grumblemon for now. Agunimon nodded before he focused on his power over fire, flames flickering from his armor on his shoulders, wrists, knees, and ankles. "Time for you to get out of here, Gigasmon!" Agunimon growled out before he spun around, fire enveloping him in a flaming twister. "Pyro Tornado!"

Gigasmon gave a shout as he was pulled into the fiery tornado. Kumamon was watching in awe as Agunimon's flaming twister was able to give even someone like Gigasmon trouble.

I definitely don't want to get on Agunimon's bad side… Kumamon gulped. Though it might be too late for that…

Agunimon emerged from the fiery twister and gave Gigasmon a nasty kick to the stomach as hard as he could before the Beast Warrior of Earth was sent flying away from the force of the fiery twister and the kick together.

Gigasmon could come back if he wanted, but as he was being sent away by the Pyro Tornado, he realized he didn't really have a reason to go back. Especially not when more of those tainted Legendary Warriors would come check out the battle, it wasn't worth it, and the Warrior of Ice was tainted by a human as well. The only good that probably came out of this was that he threw doubt on Kumamon, who didn't seem to even know what he was. Gigasmon gave a small grin at that small victory.

Agunimon landed as the flames of his Pyro Tornado flickered out. He sighed, glad Gigasmon was gone for the time being. Whew… That was close…

Agunimon wiped away sweat from his forehead. Now to deal with Kumamon, I need to know what he did with To-

When Agunimon turned to Kumamon, he saw Kumamon was already running away from him.

"H-hey!" Agunimon exclaimed. "Where are you going?!" He ran after Kumamon.

"Don't follow me!" Kumamon yelled.

"Why not?!" Agunimon demanded, not letting up on the chase.

"Takuya?"

Agunimon blinked as he saw Kazemon flying up beside him.

"What's going on? Why are you in your Agunimon form?" Kazemon asked.

"Long story short, Grumblemon attacked. And then… that Warrior of Ice, Kumamon, appeared. Tommy is missing, and Grumblemon said he was trying to take Tommy back from Kumamon." Agunimon explained as he faced Kazemon. "I… I need to find Tommy… He's… He's just a kid…" Agunimon looked quite worried about Tommy, as it showed on his face clearly.

Kazemon was worried too, Tommy wasn't only a child, but he was traumatized. Kazemon couldn't forgive anyone who would hurt a poor child like that. "I'll make sure he won't get away."

Kazemon flew ahead, catching up to Kumamon quickly.

"And where are you going?" Kazemon asked as she flew down in front of Kumamon, who was looking quite nervous now.

Agunimon reached Kazemon and Kumamon as well. "And where is Tommy? You said he is safe, and yet you run away instead of taking me to him? I doubt you saved him just because Grumblemon had him." Agunimon added, looking quite pissed off.

"And didn't I tell you to never come back? Rogues like you aren't welcome here!" Kazemon added with anger.

"Just… Please, leave me alone. Tommy will be returned safely, but only if you let me go," Kumamon begged softly.

Agunimon and Kazemon were both caught off guard by the tone in Kumamon's voice; he sounded like a lost and scared child. Both the Warriors of Flame and Wind looked at one another, confused and concerned a bit.

After a moment of thinking, the two decided they needed to be firm. They didn't know what Kumamon's intentions were, so they couldn't just let him go so easily. For all they knew, he was just trying to get away by using his cute face and pleading with them.

Agunimon looked at Kumamon. "No." He said at last. "We can't do that. Until we see Tommy again, safe and sound, we'll have to keep you with us."

"Is that… absolute?" Kumamon questioned, looking down, his headband hiding his eyes.

Kazemon nodded. "Sadly, it is." She replied somberly.

"Fine then…" Kumamon slowly raised his arm, holding his blaster at Agunimon.

Agunimon froze when he saw the blaster being aimed at him. W-what?! Is he serious?! Shit… He's tricked us!

Kazemon, seeing this, quickly created wind in her hands. "Hurricane Wave!"

Kumamon knew Kazemon would be on the offensive the minute he made a threatening move, and he liquified himself to the ground as the wind ended up catching Agunimon instead.

Agunimon was quick to defend himself with his Plasma Sphere, but the winds had pushed him back quite a ways before he had gotten the sphere up. He landed on the ground on his back with a grunt, his shield having taken the rest of the attack.

Kumamon quickly reformed himself and made a break for it after Kazemon accidentally hit Agunimon, and Agunimon was defending himself.

If I can just get out of sight and turn back… Kumamon told himself, trying to run as fast as he could. Dang these short legs! I couldn't turn into something that could run faster!?

Kazemon, for her part, looked quite horrified that she had attacked a fellow Legendary Warrior. "S-Sorry!" She exclaimed as she cut her attack and made her way to Agunimon's side. "A-are you okay?!"

Agunimon grunted as he sat up slightly, his shield dissipating. "Y-yeah… I think so…" He said at last. "But… Kumamon got away…"

"No, I can still catch up to him!" Kazemon flew after where she saw Kumamon running.

Dang it! I hate that she can fly! Kumamon gritted his teeth, still running. How am I going to get away from-

Kumamon hadn't been watching where he was going when he heard Kazemon flying after him, he was looking up to find a way to deal with her, when his foot got caught on a tree's exposed root. Kumamon let out a gasp as he lost his balance and fell down a slope in front of him… right into the river. The river wasn't shallow, it was deep.

I don't know how to swim! Kumamon panicked.

In his panic, fractal code surrounded Kumamon's body, turning him back into Tommy, who was struggling to swim. Tommy opened his mouth, desperate to breathe as bubbles came out.

Kazemon, who was flying overhead, looked down and saw bubbles emerging from the river.

"There he is!" She said as she dove down to the river. She reached in and grabbed something that was emitting bubbles to the surface. But what she pulled up was not Kumamon.

Kazemon gasped when she saw she just pulled Tommy out of the river, and he wasn't conscious… or breathing.

"Oh no…" Kazemon paled when she saw this. "Tommy!"

Kazemon quickly landed on flat ground and put the boy down on his back. She remembered learning CPR in health class, and being the Warrior of Wind meant she could help bring air into the boy's lungs while she tried to get water out. She didn't bother turning back into Zoe, she had to do this fast if she wanted to save Tommy.

Kazemon put her hands on the boy's chest, trying to get the water out of his lungs. She used a little bit of her power to have air go into the boy's lungs, it was more effective than doing mouth-to-mouth.

As Kazemon was doing this, Agunimon finally arrived and saw what was going on. "W-w… Tommy!" Agunimon cried as he ran to the boy's side. "Kazemon… what's… Is he…?" Agunimon gritted his teeth in anger and sorrow. He hadn't expected Kumamon to do this! No… No! He… Tommy can't be… Agunimon thought as he shook his head. Kazemon was doing CPR, she knew what she was doing…

Just when Agunimon was starting to lose hope, Tommy suddenly began choking out water from his lungs.

"That's it, Tommy, get it all out and breathe," Kazemon calmly instructed the boy as Tommy coughed out water.

Tommy managed to take in a breath of air after choking out the water.

"Tommy…?" Agunimon asked softly, reaching out to the boy. "Tommy?" He put a hand on Tommy's back gently.

"T… Tak…uya…?" Tommy softly spoke with his raw throat.

Agunimon smiled gently at Tommy. "Yeah… It's me…" He reassured the boy, tears shimmering in his blue eyes. "I… I thought you were…" He trailed off as he wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm so glad you're okay…"

"I'm glad I found you when I did… if you were underwater any longer, you might've drowned…" Kazemon said, concern in her voice.

"I… don't… know how… to swim…" Tommy said. "Are you… going to take me… in?"

"We… we have to…" Agunimon said softly. "You almost drowned… And… It's all Kumamon's fault. He almost killed you…" Agunimon clenched his fist and punched the ground in anger. "He wanted to kill you! He wasn't going to let you go, so he wanted to try to drown you…"

"What?" Tommy blinked, looking nervously at Agunimon, he hadn't seen Takuya get this angry before. "Kumamon? Wasn't I…?"

Tommy looked down, realizing he was wearing his clothes, and his arm and hands were human, not furry or three fingered. "O-oh…" Ohhhhh… no, I must've reverted when I was drowning, and now they got the wrong idea…

"If I ever see Kumamon again… He's in for it…" Agunimon hissed, his voice seeming to let out a low growl from the very back of his throat.

Tommy shivered, though it wasn't because he was wet or cold, he was shivering in fear. The boy who genuinely cared about him, formed a bond with since the Sir Michael incident, was coldly declaring he wanted to hurt Kumamon for hurting Tommy. I… I can never tell him… He'll hate me for sure if he ever finds out I am Kumamon… He'll think I'm just a monster.

"We should get you back to the castle, Tommy, you're shivering. You'll catch a cold if you stay out here," Kazemon said in concern, misinterpreting the reason why Tommy was shivering.

"... Y… yeah…" Tommy softly agreed.

Agunimon's face softened as he looked back when he heard Tommy's voice. It sounded so… broken…

"Tommy… I… I'm…" Agunimon trailed off as he looked down. "I… I'm sorry I couldn't… couldn't save you…"

Tommy didn't give a response, he didn't know what he could say at this point. He didn't think he could speak right now anyway.

"Agunimon… does Tommy know about… you?" Kazemon asked. "He said your name earlier."

"I… I had no choice…" Agunimon sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Grumblemon attacked, and grabbed Tommy. It was to save him… But I couldn't even do that…"

"Grumblemon?" Kazemon frowned. "Come on, let's get Tommy back to the castle, and you can tell me what happened."

---

Takuya waited outside of the room Tommy was put in. Zoe slowly came out of the room.

"He fell asleep quickly," Zoe said softly. "I think everything that happened wore him out. Poor boy…"

"Yeah… I can't say I blame him." Takuya sighed. "Being kidnapped by Grumblemon, then Kumamon, and then Kumamon nearly drowning him… That would wear out anyone…"

"What I don't understand is why Kumamon would drown Tommy," Zoe said. "If he's not with the other rogue Warriors, then what was his motive for drowning Tommy? Was it to distract us so he could run?"

"I think it was…" Takuya growled out, clenching his fists. "I mean, why else would he be running from us? Either that, or he had already done so and you just so happened to find Tommy before it was too late…"

"I don't think it was the latter. If Kumamon had already tried to drown Tommy before we started chasing him, Tommy would've already been dead by the time I got to him," Zoe pointed out. "He said he didn't know how to swim, so he wouldn't have been able to stay afloat long enough for me to find him."

"True… If it is the former, then Kumamon is more sadistic than we thought." Takuya sighed.

"Maybe, I can't say I know what Kumamon's thought process was. If he's not with the rogues, and he's not with us… he could be after anything…" Zoe frowned. "We better be careful, the Warrior of Ice is dangerous, I'll let the others know."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah… it's better if all of us are on the same page." He agreed. "I just hope Tommy will be okay… After his former friend betrayed him, he has to go through this? The poor kid needs someone in his corner."

"I'll be sure to look after him, and I'll let the others know that Tommy needs to be looked after until he's ready to go home," Zoe stated. "I know you're worried about him, Takuya, but… I think it's time you returned home for now."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah… My family is probably getting ready to go out looking for me or something. I can't stay here much longer, otherwise they would think I've been abducted by ghosts." He added it as a joke, though that may not be too far off the mark knowing his aunt and uncle.

"Really? They think you'd be abducted by ghosts? Isn't that a bit too far fetched?" Zoe chuckled.

"Not with my aunt and uncle. They'd believe that in an instant if I was too late coming home." Takuya replied with his own chuckle. "They're a bit… obsessed with ghosts, but they're good people."

"Really? I'll see if I can meet them one day." Zoe smiled.

Takuya's D-Tector beeped, indicating he got a message.

Takuya took out his D-Tector and read the message.

'Takuya, if you don't get your butt home soon, we're going to have cops surrounding our place because our parents went nuts in the Assault Vehicle! -Danny. P.S. I'm sending a message like this to Andy too.'

"Yikes… Looks like I was right…" Takuya muttered with a sweatdrop. "Better get going."

"Good luck out there, and try to come back as soon as you can. The time difference here can make months go by when only a day or two went by in the real world," Zoe said.

"I will, I promise." Takuya said with a smile. "And tell Tommy that I promise to see him again soon."

Zoe nodded. "You have my word."

With that, Takuya gave a quick wave to Zoe before he ran off to the nearest monitor. He hoped Andy was getting to a monitor too.

Takuya reached the monitor and took out his D-Tector, holding it up to the screen. "Time to head back to Amity Park." He muttered as the screen began to glow, and then Takuya was sucked into the monitor.

---

Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: Thank you, I liked the bonding between Takuya and Tommy too.

pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we figured it'd be a good way to take the first step towards Takuya taking control of his Beast Spirit. And I really like Tommy.

For Tommy's Spirit, his English name is Kumamon, which was Bearmon's original name in Digimon World 3. That confused me for a while, but then I saw Bearmon's name changed, sort of. It's still technically the same name, it's just the language changed. But I think Kumamon is cute, and it was my favorite of the human Spirits in Digimon Frontier. As for Digimon having evolution lines that doesn't make sense, yeah, that happens a lot. We just sort of accept it at this point.

ZAFT: We'll see what happens with Valerie. We kinda have things set in stone for Valerie's evolution line thing. XD But Sir Michael, that is not a bad suggestion. XD

Kittylover05: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we tend to do little arcs a lot with this story, especially since we have to switch between the Digital World and the Danny Phantom world. Not to mention all the characters we have to juggle. And yeah, Koichi is an awesome character, so it's a shame he didn't get much screen time. I felt like there was a lot more they could've done with Koichi.

Zoe is an interesting character. She was the only girl in the Frontier group, and it definitely felt like she didn't get enough time to shine. Especially since her debut as Kazemon ended up with her failing to defeat the Digimon and Koji had to come to save her. I can see how that would rub a lot of people the wrong way. Koji stealing a win from her and Takuya? Ah, you must've watched that review. I don't see it as him stealing it though, I see it as him taking the initiative, and they were doing it as a team rather than as one or the other. But I do see their point, Zoe doesn't get enough time to shine as is.

Since you like Andy so much, you'll probably love Tommy, since I mostly handle him like I do with Andy. Heh, I hope you enjoy what we have planned for Tommy~

ZAFT: Oh, what we have planned for Danny~ Danny did handle this with Johnny well. :3 And I am so glad you like Danny and Patamon's interactions~ XD They are so cute together~ And Jazz is a good sister, so of course she will be involved soon~ X3

Oh boy… Andy's lies… That boy is such a clever one, and his lies certainly help. XD Actually, now that you mention it, Andy's lies could have repercussions in the future… That would be a fun thing to do. :3 It would be interesting to see how it plays out to say the least.

DarkFoxKit: Technically, everybody is a liar, some do it more than others, and some are better at it than others. Andy can be both good and bad with it. Though in this case, he was so good with it, he convinced himself it was the truth. Andy really believes he's not much help to anyone and only getting in the way, which was why Lopmon had trouble digivolving.

ZAFT: The beast spirit was fun to do. XD Andy was so fun to write with that~ Tormenting Andy like that is too much fun~ And yeah, the Fentons are terrible at communication, but that's what makes writing them out so much fun~

As for Koichi and what he sees? I think we'll leave that to the readers unless the readers want us to show that some day. :3