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.

55. Working Things Out

ZAFT: Another Monday update. And Halloween is just around the corner. Not a holiday I look forward to.

DarkFoxKit: Not a fan of zombies, right?

ZAFT: Pretty much anything creepy. Zombies, etc. It's just a holiday that is not my thing.

Andy: And don't get me started on how Halloween seems to affect ghosts.

DarkFoxKit: It's not like it mutates your brother or anything… does it?

Andy: … I would rather it didn't, but now that image is in my head, thank you very much.

DarkFoxKit: Well, I don't care about the creepy stuff. What I don't like about Halloween is having to answer the door like 20 times because some kids want candy. I'm a pretty big introvert, so I find it rather tedious. And I just don't like having to greet a bunch of people I don't know. What if one of those people in a costume is a serial killer?

ZAFT: Same. My sister answers the door. Me? No thanks. ^^'

DarkFoxKit: Too bad I don't have a sibling who could answer the door for me. But I digress. Let's get into the chapter. We're finally concluding Tommy's arc with being stuck in the Digital World. Where would we go from here with him? I guess you'll have to wait and see.

---

(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 and Patamon, 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, Kokuwamon shown behind him)

Let's go… EVOLUTION

(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost, with Biyomon shown 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

(Ghosts are shown flying all around Amity Park as the shadowy form of Walker is shown atop a building and sneering down)

As we move along

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

---

Chapter 55: Working Things Out

Andy let out a gasp as he fell off of the couch, and woke up when he was on the floor. He quickly checked himself over, he was definitely alive and not splattered as strawberry jam somewhere on the ground. "That… that was a dream?"

"Andy? Are you okay?" Lopmon asked as he looked down at Andy from the couch.

"Y-yeah… I guess I just had a nightmare," Andy replied as he climbed back onto the couch.

"Must've been bad if it made you fall off the couch," Lopmon remarked in concern. "Want to talk about it? What if it's a vision of the future?"

"Come on, it's too unlikely for it to be a vision of the future," Andy grumbled.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to share what the dream was. It always helps to talk about a bad dream." Lopmon pointed out.

Andy sighed as he rubbed his hair for a moment. "It's… a bit hard to describe. We… you, me, and even Patamon, were on top of a moving train. Agunimon was attacking us… apparently he was under some nut job's control. He stopped him from attacking me by digivolving into Turuiemon. But the guy also had Danny under his control. Patamon and I tried to talk to him, but nothing seemed to be getting through to him. Then… I'm not sure what happened, I think I missed a lot of context after that, because the next thing I knew, the scene had changed. There were more ghosts, and I was suddenly falling off of the train. And then I woke up on the floor."

Lopmon frowned. "We may have to be careful in case that happens. Not many things can control a Digimon like that, especially a Legendary Warrior."

"What I don't get is… if Agunimon was being controlled because he was a Digimon… why weren't you or Patamon being controlled?" Andy asked.

"I have no idea why I wasn't controlled, but Patamon is Seraphimon. Don't forget he is a Celestial Digimon. They have powers that may protect against such an object or whatever can control a Digimon." Lopmon theorized.

Andy raised an eyebrow as he looked at Lopmon. So what does that make you then? "Well, maybe it's also possible it doesn't work on Digimon partners? Or pure Digimon? I mean I guess we wouldn't know unless it actually happens… though I really hope not…"

"Same here… That sounds very bad… Especially if Danny was also being controlled…" Lopmon admitted.

Before the two could discuss anymore, both of them heard footsteps approaching. Lopmon quickly laid down on the couch to appear to be a lifeless toy.

"Oh, Andy? What are you doing down here so early?" Maddie asked in surprise.

"H-hey, Mom," Andy greeted a little nervously, hoping she didn't hear the conversation he had with Lopmon. "I wanted to relax a bit on the couch."

"Oh, well, I'm glad I found you then." Maddie said with a smile. "You and Danny are growing up so fast, I remember when you both were so little I could carry you both."

"Wah? Mom! What brought this on all of a sudden?" Andy blushed as Maddie sat down on the couch beside him.

Maddie was holding a scrapbook, and she was flipping through it. She showed pictures of Andy and Danny being babies, to being little kids while she was hugging them happily. Lopmon quietly, and subtly, leaned in to see the pictures for himself.

"Oh, I was just looking through some of our old pictures," Maddie said fondly. "And it got me thinking about how you two, and Jazz, have been shooting up so fast… We used to be so close. We shared everything, you, me, and Danny. Secrets, bunsen burners, even soda."

"Eew… Mom, please, don't bring up the soda incident…" Andy groaned. That didn't feel like it happened all that long ago.

Lopmon covered his mouth to try to keep from laughing.

"I feel like we've been drifting apart lately, that's all." Maddie sighed. "Ever since you two entered high school, you seem to just be… becoming distant."

Andy frowned, he hadn't really considered how his parents felt about everything after the accident, and when he, Danny, and Takuya began going out to fight ghosts and, more recently, going to the Digital World. They always seemed to be keeping themselves busy when inventing the newest tech for fighting ghosts, or going on patrol in Amity Park to look for ghosts.

"Have we really been drifting apart that much?" Andy asked.

"It certainly feels like it." Maddie admitted. "I would love to get some of that closeness back so very much. I mean when was the last time we really spoke as a family? Only when you kids got in trouble, which isn't how I wanted things to go…"

"You and Dad were usually busy with your ghost passion," Andy pointed out. "I didn't think you really noticed that we've rarely been home lately…"

"Andy, your father and I have definitely noticed, and it has made us more concerned for you." Maddie revealed. "We just wanted you to talk to us about why you haven't been home much, but you kids just kept leaving, never talking to us about what you're doing, things like that."

How can I talk to you about them? One of your sons is half of the very thing you guys hunt, your nephew is part Digimon and a Legendary Warrior. There's a Digital World that people think is a virtual world and are trying to take it over. Your friend from college is also half of the very thing you guys hunt. Oh, and by the way, I have one of those digital monsters sitting on our couch right now. I'm not really sure those are good conversations to have with one's parents. Andy frowned. "Sorry Mom, things have… just gotten really complicated… Like I don't even know where to begin…"

Maddie then sighed. "I'm wondering if there is any way we could just go somewhere, the three of us, to bond as a family again."

"Why just the 3 of us?" Andy asked. "Why not the whole family?"

"Because I feel like the rift is the biggest between the three of us." Maddie replied.

Andy frowned as he wondered if there was anything he could do to help close the rift between them. He knew how much it hurt when Danny had pushed him away not long after the accident. He didn't want his mother to go through that with both of her kids. Maybe I can't tell her about Danny being half ghost, but… maybe I could let her in on Digimon? She and Dad don't hunt them indiscriminately… yet… maybe telling them now would nip that potential threat in the bud.

Andy was about to try to bring Maddie into the conversation about Digimon, and hoped Lopmon would cooperate, when they heard the doorbell ringing.

"I got it!" Jack announced as he ran out of the kitchen and up to the front door, opening it.

The door was opened, revealing what looked like a normal mailman, but there was a bit of an uneasy feeling that Lopmon was getting from the 'mailman'. "Letter for Maddie Fenton."

Jack took the letter, which was labeled 'Invite' on it, and appeared to be official. "Thanks, pal."

The mailman gave a nod and tipped his hat in acceptance. "Have a good day."

Jack shut the door and made his way over to Maddie. "Hey, Mads, there's some kind of an invite for you." He handed Maddie the letter.

Andy frowned a little. What a way to interrupt an important conversation…

Maddie took the letter, and she took a moment to read it. Her eyes soon lit up like a Christmas tree. "Just what the doctor ordered!"

"What is it?" Andy asked.

"Andy, you'd better get Danny up, because I need you two to pack your bags!" Maddie said excitedly. "We're going to a mother-son science symposium in Florida!"

"Wah?" Andy blinked, taken off guard by the sudden vacation. But we were going to use the weekend to fix up the Digital World and get the Trailmon station running again! We don't have time to go off on some mother and son vacation!

Andy was about to protest, but the happy look on Maddie's face made him hesitate. She looked so excited and happy about this trip that Andy couldn't find it in his heart to argue with her. She must've really been worried about him and Danny if this trip was making her this excited, especially since it would also mean she wouldn't be able to work on any more ghost inventions with Jack for a while.

"We're… going today…? Isn't that a bit sudden?" Andy asked in a weak attempt to maybe get his mother to postpone the trip at the very least.

"The flight is for today." Maddie revealed. "We have to get ready before we miss it."

"Who sends a last minute invitation like that?" Andy frowned. "Isn't that a little… unprofessional of them?"

Andy looked at the front of the letter Maddie was holding, it certainly looked official. It was apparently sent by someone from the 'The Dalv Group'. Still, Maddie didn't look like she was going to take 'no' for an answer, or at least not take it well. If Andy really wanted to, he could talk his way out of this… but… Maddie was giving him those puppy dog eyes. He had no idea how his mother was able to do it.

"... What time do we have to leave?" Andy finally gave in and asked.

"As soon as you and Danny are packed. It should be around…" Maddie looked at the letter. "1 P.M. that our flight leaves."

Andy looked at the clock in the living room, it was currently 10:32 AM. So Andy roughly had about 3 and a half hours to not only get back to the Digital World, find Danny, tell him about this, and-

"Oh, and be sure to wake Jazz and Takuya. Since your mother is going out with you two, I'll be spending father-daughter… and nephew quality time with them, and see if I can teach them how to defend themselves from ghosts!" Jack smiled.

Scratch that, Andy now had to find Danny, and Takuya, and Jazz, who was still missing, and get them all back home before 1 PM in real world time. No pressure… I'm sure that's plenty of time in the Digital World, right?

Maddie smiled. "That would be a great idea, Jack! Jazz and Takuya do need some defense lessons in how to handle ghosts, so this is a perfect time to teach them! Maybe I should do the same for Danny and Andy while we're out."

Jack smiled as well. "That's also a great idea, Mads. I'll also work on something that should keep you safe in case you run into any unruly spooks."

"I'll go make some breakfast then, make sure we all have a full tummy before leaving," Maddie chuckled as she and Jack walked into the kitchen, leaving a pretty stressed out 14 year old on the couch with his little digital monster.

Now alone with Andy, Lopmon spoke up. "Are you okay, Andy? You look… kinda pale."

"One sec…" Andy requested before he grabbed a pillow and gave a muffled scream into it.

The boy went limp on the couch after a few seconds of muffled screaming, still having the pillow on his face. Lopmon sweatdropped before he removed the pillow off of the boy's face before he suffocated himself.

"I think I'd rather almost die back at Skulker's Island than deal with this…" Andy groaned.

"Well… it shouldn't be too hard to find the others… right?" Lopmon asked with a sheepish grin.

"That's being very optimistic… Jazz is still missing, and we don't know how much time has passed in the Digital World… so Danny and Takuya could be anywhere right now…" Andy groaned again before he rolled off of the couch, intentionally falling to the floor this time. "Come on… we better drag ourselves back into the Digital World. Like it or not, we have a limited time to get everyone and get back here before Mom and Dad realize we're all kinda missing."

Lopmon nodded as he hopped off of the couch. "Okay, let's go then."

Andy grumpily pushed himself onto his feet and picked up Lopmon into his arms. He quickly hurried upstairs. While they had about 3 and a half hours before they had to leave, they had less time than that before Maddie called them for breakfast. Which meant, at most, they had about half an hour. Andy ran so fast to his room that he nearly crashed into the door.

Andy slipped a little over to his computer, and he put Lopmon down on the desk in front of him as he quickly fiddled around in his pocket to get the D-Arc out. He nearly dropped the device a few times in his haste. Once he had the D-Arc firmly in his grasp, he picked up Lopmon again with his free hand before shoving the D-Arc in front of his computer screen. "Hurry, take us to the Flame Terminal!"

The vortex opened, sucking Andy and Lopmon into it. Andy went through the vortex, gaining the dark blue and white clothes he usually got when entering the Digital World. Lopmon was at his side.

Since it had just been Andy and Lopmon coming through the Digital Portal, neither of them were expecting anyone to be in front of the monitor they were ejected out of.

"OW!" A familiar voice yelped as Andy and Lopmon landed on top of someone. "Of all the… Who landed on me…?"

"Huh?" Andy blinked, looking up to see Tucker, Sam, Dash, and their Digimon partners looking at him in shock. "Oh, hey guys. I… uh… guess I wasn't late to the meet up spot after all?"

"Yeah, and you just happened to land on Danny." Tucker said, feeling kinda bad for the boy.

Andy and Lopmon looked down to see just who they landed on. It was definitely Danny. Andy and Lopmon quickly got off of the poor half ghost boy.

"S-sorry, bro! I didn't know you'd be right in front of the Digi-Portal!" Andy quickly apologized.

"I'd say that's probably a nicer surprise to him than you'd think," Sam laughed. "Danny was pacing back and forth seconds before you and Lopmon landed on top of him. He was really losing his mind about how we'd find you."

Danny got to his feet. "I was not losing my mind! I was just really worried about Andy and Lopmon!"

Tucker laughed. "Sure, pacing back and forth is the sign of a calm person."

"We were just about to discuss an intervention just before said person fell on top of you," Kokuwamon remarked.

"Heh, and they say your problems can't be solved by having it fall out of the sky," Biyomon snickered.

"All's well that ends well then," Labramon chuckled. "The fog is gone, and Andy and Lopmon are alright."

"But what exactly happened to you two?" Dash asked, now that he was no longer worried about Andy and Lopmon, he was more curious than anything. "And what happened to the fog?"

"And more importantly, why did you two go into the fog alone!?" Danny scolded Andy, getting right up in his brother's face. "Do you know how dangerous that was? And how worried we've all been!?"

"H-hey… I know you were worried, but Lopmon and I are fine, and we're here now," Andy quickly said, trying to appease his mother hen of a brother.

"Yeah, sure we almost died from ectoplasmic poisoning, but we're fine now," Lopmon stated.

Andy was trying to gesture at Lopmon to not reveal that by having his hand swipe across his throat, but apparently Lopmon really sucked at charades.

"WHAT!?" Danny exclaimed. "Andy, you could've died?! What were you thinking?!"

Tucker couldn't help but bust out laughing at Danny's mother-hen tendencies kicking in while Dash and Sam sweatdropped.

"I swear, Andy, you just always find a way to make me worry!" Danny continued. "And this is just the worst of it yet!"

"Look, I didn't know the green fog was going to lead us into the Ghost Zone!" Andy groaned.

"The Ghost Zone?" Sam blinked, surprised by that revelation.

"You mean you ended up in the Ghost Zone and not Amity Park?" Tucker asked.

"No? Why would you think it'd take us to Amity Park?" Andy asked.

"Well, remember Kumamon and how he ended up in Amity Park?" Danny asked. "You think that would be a clue, but… apparently that wasn't the case for you and Lopmon."

"I didn't know where Kumamon came from, and if it was the same fog, alright? Give me a break…" Andy grumbled.

"What's this Ghost Zone?" Dash asked.

"It's the world where ghosts came from," Tucker answered.

"How'd you end up there by going through the fog?" Biyomon asked.

"We're not sure, but we think the fog may not actually be fog… but parts of the Ghost Zone leaking into the Digital World," Lopmon answered.

"And when we entered that leak, we must've went through the walls between the Digital World and the Ghost Zone, and ended up in the Ghost Zone," Andy explained.

"Hold on… you and Lopmon ended up in the Ghost Zone… without any protection?" Danny spoke up.

"Like I said, we didn't know the fog was going to lead us into the Ghost Zone. Why would I have any protection for ghosts in the Digital World?" Andy sighed.

Danny groaned. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you for the next few weeks, bro… Just to make sure that ectoplasmic exposure doesn't do anything to you."

Sam then had a thought. "Andy… Did you and Lopmon find Valerie and Salamon by any chance?"

"Yeah, we did." Lopmon smiled. "We not only found them, but we rescued them! Valerie was able to bring Salamon with her, and last we saw, they went back to Valerie's home. They had it pretty rough, having to spend a week on Skulker's Island and being hunted."

"Skulker's… Island?" Danny's eyes went wide.

"And here we go…" Andy groaned. I'm going to have to teach Lopmon not to be so honest all the time…

"Andy, I swear, I may need to put a freaking leash on you!" Danny groaned. "Of all the places to end up, it was Skulker's Island?! That's just plain bad luck right there! That's it, you're not allowed to go anywhere without me, do you hear me?"

"Danny, you can't stick to me like glue all the time just because of one bad experience," Andy grumbled.

"That wasn't one bad experience! That was three wrapped up into one!" Danny pointed out. "I was right to worry!"

Dash could say he had never seen this side of Fenton before. A part of him was impressed, Danny was a really good brother. The other part was intimidated, he didn't know Fenton had such an angry and worried side to him. Then again, Dash never really got to know most of the people he bullied.

"H-hey, bro, we got out alive," Andy said, hoping that by reminding Danny of that factor, Danny would calm down a little bit. "Shouldn't that be what matters?"

"You got out alive this time, but what about the next time this happens?!" Danny retorted. "You seriously need a leash to stay out of trouble!" How is it that I have the ghost powers, and Andy is the one who flies into more trouble than I ever did?

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I do have a question of my own," Kokuwamon stated. "How did you get that fog to disappear?"

"Huh?" Andy and Lopmon blinked.

"What do you mean? The fog disappeared?" Lopmon asked.

" we arrived, the fog was gone, no trace of it anywhere." Kokuwamon replied.

"Labramon and I were leading them back to the Continent of Light after you and Lopmon went missing," Dash explained. "But when we got there, there wasn't a trace of that fog anymore."

"Kokuwamon and I even flew ahead to see if we could spot the fog," Biyomon added. "But there was no fog. It was as clear as daylight."

"That's… weird… I'm not sure what we did to clear out the fog," Lopmon remarked in curiosity.

"It's… possible, and this is only a theory, that when we defeated Skulker at his own domain, it caused the leak into that specific part of the Digital World to close up," Andy theorized. "Though I don't know for sure if that's the case, maybe someone sealed up the weakened wall after Lopmon and I went through it and it was just coincidence."

"Well, whatever the case, the fog is gone, and we don't have to worry about it anymore for a while." Danny sighed before something Andy said hit him hard. "Wait… you defeated Skulker in his own domain?"

"Sort of, it's a long story," Andy replied. "Something I really need to tell you about… uh…" Andy glanced at Dash for a moment. "... Later. Right now, there's something else I need to tell you. Is Takuya here?"

"He… is off looking for Jazz and Floramon…" Danny replied sheepishly. "We… kinda split up…"

Andy deadpanned. "And yet you let him go on his own after worrying about me?"

"Hey, unlike him, you can't turn into a Legendary Warrior," Danny huffed. "Yes, you have Lopmon with you, but still, there was a chance you two would have gotten separated, and he can't digivolve if there's a lot of ectoplasm. So if you were in the Ghost Zone, there was no way he could've protected you!"

Andy sweatdropped, Danny had no idea that Digimon could adapt to the ectoplasm if they absorbed enough of them. Oh shoot, I forgot to purify Lopmon's fractal code! But… he seems to be doing alright… Unless he's in danger, maybe it's beneficial for him to keep a certain amount of ectoplasm in his system so he can still digivolve even if there's a lot of ghosts in the area…

"Either way, we now have to find Takuya and get Jazz back too." Lopmon muttered with a sweatdrop.

"Well, you've managed to get Valerie and Salamon at least," Sam said in relief.

"We'd still need them to come back soon before we can finally open the Trailmon station," Biyomon sighed.

"But if Salamon needs time to rest, then we should give it to her. Being in the world of ghosts couldn't have been easy for her." Labramon frowned.

"Why do we need Salamon and Valerie to be here to open up the Trailmon station?" Andy asked. "Is… Salamon…?" Could Salamon be another one of the Celestial Digimon?

"Wait, Andy, you said you had something you needed to tell me," Danny spoke up before Andy could voice his question. "What is it? Is it urgent?"

Andy frowned. "Sort of… it's not life threatening, but… after we made it back to the real world, and Valerie left with Salamon, Mom talked to me for a bit. She mentioned how she felt we were drifting apart from her lately, and she missed those times we would share everything with her. Then she got a letter from something called the Dalv Group, inviting her to a mother-son trip at a Science Symposium in Florida. She decided she wanted to take you and me there in about… 3 and a half hours in real world time. Though she's making breakfast last I saw, and Dad is also looking for Jazz and Takuya, so we have roughly half an hour in real world time to get everyone back."

Danny grew pale in the face. "Crud… Of all the times for Jazz and Takuya to be missing…"

"H-hey, it shouldn't be that hard to find Takuya, right?" Sam spoke up. "I mean, if he has found Jazz and Floramon, then it stands to reason they would be together. So if we find Takuya, we may find Jazz too."

"But we don't know if he actually found Jazz yet," Tucker pointed out. "He hasn't returned yet from his meeting with the other Legendary Warriors."

"Let's hope they're doing okay," Labramon said.

"I can't believe you didn't tell Mom 'no' about that trip," Danny groaned. "You know we were going to be busy with the Digital World this weekend."

"I couldn't say 'no' to her," Andy admitted. "She was giving me her motherly puppy dog eyes, bro! What could I do about that?"

Danny winced. "Ooof… I guess I can see why…"

"Jeez, you can face ghosts, you can face Digimon, you can face your cousin when he's an out of control fire breathing dragon, but you can't stand up to your mom's puppy dog eyes…" Tucker chuckled.

"Shut up…" Andy huffed. "Who was the one who bought Danny that deluxe DLC for Doomed when he gave you his puppy dog eyes?"

Tucker grimaced. "Yeah… I see what you mean…"

"Be glad it wasn't Dad who gave you the puppy dog eyes… He can really make you feel like you kicked a real puppy." Danny grumbled.

"Those puppy dog eyes are a Fenton gene, I swear you must be descendents from dogs or something," Sam grumbled, though admittedly she was putty in any of their hands if they used that trick on her, not that she would tell any of them that.

"Let's just focus on finding Takuya and Jazz…" Danny groaned. "We're on a serious time crunch right now!"

"Where did Takuya say he was going?" Andy asked.

"He and Tommy were-" Danny began before Andy interrupted him.

"Tommy? Tommy was here?" Andy blinked. "How was he?"

"Um… he seemed okay, no problems with him. He was sticking to Takuya like glue." Danny replied. "Why?"

"I was worried about him. It was why I asked Jazz to stay with him when I went back to the real world to help you guys with the ghost invasion," Andy explained.

"But it's good to know he's doing okay," Lopmon said.

"He was really smart, he was the one to suggest he and Takuya go to the Forest Terminal to talk to the other Legendary Warriors about helping them find Jazz," Dash explained. "I've never seen a kid sound that smart before. I wonder if video games make you smarter?"

"I'm not sure if that's entirely the case, he could just be born smart," Labramon remarked.

"Forest Terminal, huh?" Danny mused. "Then that should be where we start our search for Takuya and Jazz."

"Have… any of us ever been to the Forest Terminal before?" Sam asked.

"I don't believe so, it's a sacred ground for Seraphimon," Biyomon replied. "Even if he is in hiding right now, we should still treat the place with respect."

"And we hadn't had a reason to go there ourselves before," Kokuwamon added.

"Then that's not good, because none of us know the way there." Andy frowned.

"I think I might know," Lopmon spoke up.

Everyone looked at the little rabbit.

"You do? How?" Andy questioned.

"I'm not sure… I just feel like I've been there before… and I know the way there from here," Lopmon answered.

Danny grinned. "Well, then let's go! Lead the way Lopmon!"

"It might be faster if I digivolve, and the rest of you ride on Birdramon to follow me," Lopmon suggested. "This way we can get there quicker than just walking at a KaratsukiNumemon's pace."

"I'm guessing that's a snail in the Digital World," Tucker remarked.

"It's not a bad idea though, especially since we're pressed for time," Sam agreed.

"You guys go on ahead without me," Dash spoke up suddenly.

"Huh? Why Dash?" Danny asked, surprised.

"From the sounds of it, you have it taken care of," Dash answered. "And there's something I feel like I need to do while I'm here. I'm not just here to 'play this game'. I'm also here to try to change with Labramon. There's… a friend of mine that I feel like I need to confront about having a certain kind of Digimon. I want to show that I'm not ashamed to have Labramon as my Digimon. And… well, you guys do what you need to do."

Danny blinked. "You mean, you want to confront Calvin on this issue?"

Dash nodded. "Yeah. I want to show I have Labramon as my partner, and that I'm not ashamed of it. She's been helping me the whole way with my changes, and I don't want to hide having her as my partner any longer." He reached down and scratched Labramon on her head with one hand.

Labramon smiled as she wagged her tail in happiness.

Sam couldn't help but smile. "You know, Dash? I wish you the best of luck with that. I'm glad you're finally deciding to stick up for yourself and Labramon."

"But are you sure you won't regret this later?" Tucker asked. "I mean… wouldn't this hurt your reputation at school?"

Dash looked at Tucker seriously. "If it does, I will deal with that when it comes." He said with determination in his voice. "You have your own reasons to be here, and I have mine."

"Well said, Dash." Andy smiled. "We'll leave you to it then. I'm sure we'll see each other again at school on Monday. Until then, good luck with Labramon."

"And good luck finding everyone and getting the Trailmon station to finally open again." Dash grinned. "If you ever need me and Labramon, just give us a shout."

"We'll do our best to do what we can to help." Labramon smiled as well.

With that said, Dash and Labramon began walking away.

"Well, there they go," Biyomon sighed. "I'm going to miss Labramon. She was a lot of fun."

"I have to say, this does give me a warm feeling. Is this what they mean by 'character growth'?" Kokuwamon asked.

Tucker chuckled. "You bet it is."

"Well, let's get Biyomon to her Champion form and we'll head off to the Forest Terminal." Danny said. "We have a missing cousin and sister to find!"

"Are you up for it, Biyomon?" Sam asked her partner.

"Yeah, I'm ready and raring to go! Good thing we had that big meal before Andy and Lopmon came through." Biyomon grinned.

"How do you feel, Lopmon? Are you okay to digivolve too?" Andy asked. "I haven't purified your fractal code yet, are you okay?"

"I feel just fine, Andy." Lopmon replied. "I feel well enough to digivolve."

"Okay, then let's go." Andy smiled. "Since Dash left, while we're on our way, I might as well tell Danny, Tucker, and Sam the whole story after we got to Skulker's Island. Danny's gonna wanna know about my deal with Valerie."

"Good luck with that mother Swanmon~" Lopmon grinned.

"I am not a mother hen… err… Swanmon… whatever!" Danny groaned. "I do not mother over Andy!"

"I think you fussing over Andy earlier says otherwise~" Tucker snickered.

---

Turuiemon was running and jumping at full speed with Birdramon flying overhead behind him. Tucker, Kokuwamon, Danny, Sam, and Andy were riding on Birdramon.

"You sure we aren't too heavy?" Andy asked in concern.

"Nah, you guys are like cardboard on me!" Birdramon proudly stated. "Although Kokuwamon could stand to lose a few pounds."

"My body is made of metal. Metal is naturally more dense and heavy than flesh and bones," Kokuwamon explained.

Danny was snickering. "Well, at least we can see if we can spot Takuya or Jazz from the sky."

"Yeah, but we need to reach the Forest Terminal first." Tucker pointed out.

"If they are still there," Sam added.

"Well… while we're on our way, you might as well tell us what happened when you and Lopmon ended up on Skulker's Island," Danny said to Andy.

"I could, but first… have you told Birdramon and Kokuwamon about your unique status?" Andy asked. "I'd rather not go through all of that drama with them like with Lopmon, and especially Patamon." Just hope there's no prophecy these two are trying to prevent like Patamon was.

"Unique status? What do you mean?" Kokuwamon asked.

"Are you like Takuya then?" Birdramon asked. "I mean can you turn into a Digimon like he can?"

Danny grimaced a bit. "Um… kinda… but not exactly the same…" He admitted. "I'm… kinda… well… I have my own unique powers."

"Which are…?" Kokuwamon prompted. "If you have such powers, why have you not used them yet?"

"Because it's dangerous in the Digital World…" Danny frowned.

"Go ahead and tell them, Danny. I know Kokuwamon and Birdramon will be understanding," Tucker encouraged.

"Yeah, they know you're a good person," Sam added softly.

Danny sighed, and nodded. "Right." He then let out a breath. "But for some context… I think they should know about my… um… lab accident first… since that is pretty much how I got my powers."

"Lab accident?" Birdramon asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I can tell we're going to be explaining for a while…" Andy sighed.

---

Meanwhile, back in the TV Forest… Takuya began waking up when he heard a familiar voice shouting at someone.

"What did I say about using Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome on others!? Until you have that under control, you'll end up damaging their psyche! And look at the mess that was caused when you used it last night! I knew I should've stayed up last night!"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't think it would be affecting those… kids… um… Digimon… that badly." Maxwell's voice said in an apologetic tone.

"To be fair, we were asleep until the smell of cooked meat apples brought us out of the village…" Tapirmon's voice muttered.

"You should've woken us up then! I recognized at least two of them!" The familiar feminine voice scolded.

"I didn't want to disturb you since you hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while," Maxwell's voice explained.

Takuya sat up, rubbing his eyes. That female voice… is that… Jazz…?

"Well, I don't care! If you had gotten me up, then the whole thing could have been avoided!" The female voice continued to scold.

Takuya looked over at the voice. Not too far away, Takuya saw Maxwell and Tapirmon looking down as they were being berated by a familiar orange haired teen girl with a Floramon standing beside her.

"Weren't you already awake, checking the TV Forest though, Tapirmon?" Floramon asked.

"Well… yes, but Maxwell was sleeping. I get my rest from his dreams, someone had to stay awake to keep an eye out for potential intruders," Tapirmon sheepishly explained. "The smell of the meat apples is what woke him up. And he told me I should try to get at least the youngest of the kids. He had been hoping the youngest child had the least amount of problems, like wanting to go home to his mother, and would get the other ones to take him out of the forest."

"We had no idea the boy would be able to become a Digimon." Maxwell added. "That was kinda a mistake on our part…"

"A mistake huh? Yeah, it was a mistake, one that could've gotten the others hurt!" The girl scolded Maxwell.

Takuya grimaced. Oh boy… That's Jazz alright… And she is mad…

Takuya got up from his spot on the ground. "Um… Hey, Jazz…" He called out to her.

Jazz stopped her tirade on the poor man and his Digimon when Takuya spoke up. She went from angry to smiling in an instant that it kinda freaked Takuya out. "Takuya!"

Jazz ran over to her cousin, practically tackling him to the ground. "You're awake! And you're here! I had been worried about you and Tommy!"

"I… am fine… Just… can you not hug me so hard…?" Takuya rasped, feeling his face turning a bit red from lack of air.

Floramon walked over to Jazz, snickering. "It's been a while since she had seen you, I don't blame her for wanting to crush you in a Bearmon hug~"

"Yeah… great…" Takuya grimaced with a pained smile. "I get you're happy to see me, but… can you please let go now?"

Jazz finally let go of her suffocating cousin. "How are you? Are you okay? Are Danny and Andy doing alright too?"

"I'm fine and okay." Takuya replied. "And yeah, Danny and Andy are doing okay." He then sighed. "But boy… do I have a lot to tell you about…" I hope Jazz doesn't panic when I tell her Danny is basically ghost enemy number one now…

"I think we all have a lot to talk about," Floramon suggested. "Good thing the others are a bit busy with the Digimon around here."

Takuya blinked before looking at where the others were. JP and Zoe seemed to be playing with what looked like In-Training level Digimon. They appeared to be pretty good with young Digimon. Koji was just cooly watching. To Takuya's surprise, not only was Tommy already awake, but he was applying some kind of ointment on an injured looking Elecmon. The Elecmon wasn't the same one from Primary Village. Takuya frowned, seeing how he had been the last one up, and he wasn't sure if the others had talked to Tommy yet about his Kumamon form.

"The others only got up a few minutes before you did," Jazz informed. "They haven't talked about anything important yet if that's what you're worried about."

Takuya felt his eyes widen in surprise as he looked at Jazz. "Did… Are you some kind of mind reader?"

"No, I just know my cousin," Jazz chuckled. "Though… I'm guessing you were as surprised as I was when I found out about Tommy having a Digimon form."

Takuya sighed. "I'm guessing Maxwell told you about that, huh?"

"I made sure he did," Jazz replied as she crossed her arms. "He's Maxwell Carbon. He's actually our school's new teen therapist after Spectra was… 'fired'. He recognized me since I often end up talking to him to learn more about being a good psychologist. Having an actual mentor makes it easier than just trying to read about it in a book. So he invited me and Floramon to stay here for a few days after our… trip, which I'll explain to you in more context later. But I guess he didn't recognize you because, for one, it was dark and probably hard for him to get a good look at you without getting too close to your group. And two, you never really went to the school's therapist after the Spectra incident, so neither of you really know each other that well."

"Yeah… I guess so." Takuya agreed before he ran a hand through his hair. "But as to Tommy's Digimon form… I will admit, I was just as shocked. I mean… I didn't expect Tommy to be Kumamon, so… things will be… a bit awkward between us for a while…"

"While I understand that, it would be best to talk to him as soon as possible about it. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to talk about it," Jazz said.

"Besides, I think Tommy himself feels a bit too worried about talking to you guys about it. He's further away from everyone else," Floramon pointed out.

Takuya frowned at hearing this news before he sighed. "I guess we all need to talk to Tommy about it, not just me. But I agree… putting it off is not going to help anyone."

Takuya looked at Jazz. "But first… would you mind telling me what happened to you and Floramon first? I'm glad you're safe, but everyone's been looking for you two. Tommy included, he's been worried about you."

"Yeah… he told me himself after he woke up and saw me and Floramon," Jazz answered. "We had been worried about him since we thought he couldn't defend himself without a Digimon partner, though it turns out he didn't need one."

"We should probably start from after we found that fog near the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain," Floramon suggested.

Jazz nodded. "Well, after the fog appeared near the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain, it began to engulf the entire area. It was like it was coming towards me and Floramon, who managed to digivolve into Kiwimon, her Champion form."

"So you were able to get Floramon to digivolve after all. Congratulations." Takuya smiled.

"Thanks." Floramon smiled proudly.

"As Kiwimon, she was able to run across the mountain, which was cool." Jazz admitted with a smile. "But getting back to the story… I think we saw a white bear Digimon as we were trying to get away from the fog. The white bear Digimon looked surprised as well. We didn't know where he came from. But this caused us to slow down enough for the fog to catch all 3 of us. I clung onto Kiwimon as she tried to run out of the fog, but there didn't seem to be an end to the fog."

"It was really scary, and I couldn't keep holding onto my Champion form. Eventually, I had to degenerate back into Floramon," Floramon explained.

"And after that, it felt like we were floating in midair," Jazz explained. "I didn't see that white bear anywhere, so I guess he ended up somewhere else."

"So where did you two end up?" Takuya asked. I know Kumamon… Tommy… somehow got to Amity Park.

"We're not really sure, but we caught a glimpse of a completely different world," Jazz explained. "I remembered seeing purple floating doors, an endless green and black void, and floating islands."

Takuya's eyes went wide as he heard that description. Sure, he had been in the Ghost Zone only once before, but he could never forget a place like that so easily. "That sounds like the Ghost Zone…"

"That's the Ghost Zone?" Jazz frowned.

"It sounds like it at least," Takuya replied. "How did you and Floramon get out though?"

"When I saw we were heading into a world that wasn't safe for either of us, I quickly grabbed onto Jazz," Floramon explained. "I raised up my other hand and shot out a vine. I stretched it as far as I could. Thankfully, I managed to grab onto something solid and I used that to pull us away from that scary world, and that fog."

"At least you escaped it." Takuya sighed in relief. "I'd hate to have to go into the Ghost Zone to find one of my cousins who went missing." Wait… didn't Andy go through the fog…? Oh shoot… noooooo, I think I will have to go into the Ghost Zone to find one of my cousins after all…

"We ended up back at the KaratsukiNumemon's mountain. We didn't see Tommy anywhere, which worried us." Jazz frowned. "I told the other KaratsukiNumemon who had been with us to stay away from the fog. I can only guess the ones who went missing ended up getting taken into the Ghost Zone… which couldn't be a good fate for them. After that, Floramon and I left the mountain. We needed to find Tommy, and I was really worried he might've gotten caught up in that fog himself. Looking back, he likely was. And I had forgotten about Zoe, who likely came back after we left and saw that Tommy, Floramon, and I went missing. I should apologize to her for that."

"How did you end up here though?" Takuya asked.

"We explored more of the Digital World, trying to find Tommy, and looking for any rumors about a human boy walking around without a Digimon," Floramon said.

"We did hear that there was a boy by that description who was at the TV Forest with a group of people before. But that had been a while ago," Jazz sighed. "But it had been our only lead, so Floramon and I decided to go there to see if we could find him. We did hear about that nasty rumor about something about that forest causing players to turn against each other. But I was hoping since it was just me and Floramon, we would be okay."

"If I had started attacking Jazz, I told her to get as far away from me as possible," Floramon remarked.

"Floramon and I started to get hungry after a while, so we found some meat apples and started up a campfire to cook them," Jazz continued. "Maxwell and Tapirmon ended up finding us due to this. Maxwell was surprised to see me here, and I explained the situation to him. He told me I was free to stay here as long as I needed to. And well, you know the rest of the story from there."

Takuya nodded. "I see. Well, I'm glad you're doing okay, Jazz, especially since I was worried about you."

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine." Jazz said with a smile. "So, what has happened with you, Andy, and Danny lately?"

Takuya groaned as he rubbed his face with his hands. "Let's just say… it will take quite a bit of time to explain it all to you…"

"Hmm… then perhaps you can tell me later," Jazz suggested. "Since you're awake now, it might be best if you talked with your… group? I have a feeling they'll need it, especially Tommy. I can get Maxwell and go somewhere else to give you privacy."

Takuya smiled at Jazz. "Thanks, Jazz. I'd really appreciate that."

"Alright, Floramon?" Jazz said.

"I'll do my thing," Floramon chuckled before she went to the center of the tiny village. "Listen up everyone! It's time to go on a little field trip~ We'll look around outside of the village to see if any of you are ready to leave yet!"

The In-Training and other young Digimon looked pretty excited about this trip. They hurried over to Floramon. The bigger Digimon grouchily got up and walked over. The more injured or sick Digimon stayed inside the cabins.

"That's it, come on, you don't want to miss out on this experience!" Floramon called, using her natural charisma to get the other Digimon to go to her.

"I take it that we're going so we can give these guys some privacy?" Maxwell asked Jazz.

"Yes. This is something they need to work through by themselves." Jazz replied. "As much as I want to help them with this, this is an issue only they can solve themselves."

"Good to see my teachings are already rubbing off on you. The Jazz I knew before would butt in until they told her everything," Maxwell chuckled.

Jazz blushed a bit. "That… I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"I would say you were." Maxwell grinned. "C'mon, let's give them their privacy already."

"Good luck," Tapirmon said to Takuya.

With Floramon leading the line of Digimon out of the village, and Jazz, Maxwell, and Tapirmon behind them, Takuya looked over at the others.

"Looks like we have the place to ourselves for a bit…" JP remarked sheepishly.

"Yeah…" Takuya rubbed the back of his neck. "We may as well talk about… well… what we learned last night… I mean… we can't put it off forever… And… I think we all need this to happen."

"For once I have to agree with Takuya," Koji said in a serious tone.

"Yeah, but…" Zoe frowned. "Is Tommy ready for that conversation?"

The group looked over at the youngest boy of the group. Tommy frowned as the attention was on him. "I… suppose we can't hold off on this any longer…"

Tommy walked closer to the group. "What I want to know is… what do you guys plan to do with me now? Would you take… the Spirit away?"

The others looked surprised at that question.

"W-why would we do that?" Takuya asked. "We… We wouldn't…" He trailed off, not sure how to really answer that question.

It wasn't something the group had discussed either, so they were taken by surprise by that assumption.

"Why not? I mean… unlike you guys, Kumamon was probably a bad Digimon in a past life or something," Tommy pointed out. "Wouldn't it be bad to keep using him then?"

The rest of the group winced at Tommy's assumption.

"I… think we… should clarify it for Tommy…" Koji muttered. "He really doesn't seem to understand who, and what, Kumamon is."

JP, Zoe, and Takuya all nodded.

"Then please tell me," Tommy spoke up. "Just who is Kumamon? Why do I have him?"

The group looked at each other, seeming to be mentally debating who should be the one to tell Tommy. Takuya then cleared his throat, silently volunteering to be the one to tell Tommy the truth about Kumamon.

"Tommy, do you remember that story I read to you, about the 10 Legendary Warriors?" Takuya began.

"How could I forget? I was inspired to try to be brave like them to confront Sir Michael, but I still haven't seen him at all," Tommy replied.

"Tommy… it's not that Kumamon is a bad Digimon…" Takuya continued. "It's… more like the opposite… He… Kumamon is… one of the Spirits of the Warrior of Ice…"

For a long moment, Tommy didn't give a response to that. It looked like the younger boy was trying to process what Takuya just told him. Tommy looked like he was going to say something a few times, but then changed his mind. He seemed to be struggling to wrap his mind around that.

Finally, Tommy asked something in a quiet tone of voice. "Is… that true…? You're not… just saying that to make me feel better, are you?"

"Believe me, it's the truth," Koji confirmed. "And you know I wouldn't be kidding about that. Kumamon is the Human Spirit of the Warrior of Ice."

"That's… why I called you a 'rogue Warrior' the first time we met," Zoe spoke up a little quietly. "I didn't know that a human was using Kumamon's form, so I thought… he was one of the rogue Legendary Warriors."

"We all thought that… that's why we treated you like one when we saw you…" JP admitted. "We jumped to the assumption that you were already a bad guy, not that you actually were bad."

Tommy found all of this so… strange. He had gotten used to being labeled as the 'bad Digimon' as Kumamon by everyone. Sir Michael didn't see him as bad, but more of a tool to be used in battle because of his power. Not that that made Tommy feel any better about it, but it had only gotten worse after he left Sir Michael when the other Legendary Warriors began treating him like he was evil or out to get people, or outright attack him for just being there. But now… the Legendary Warriors who had hurt him so much were apologizing, telling him that he had been a Legendary Warrior himself all along.

Now that Tommy thought back on it… it made the most sense. He hadn't seen or heard of any other human able to transform into a Digimon. Only the ones who were able to transform into Legendary Warriors because of their Spirits, the Legendary Warriors didn't have their own bodies, so they would need a host for their powers and forms. No other Digimon had such a story or legend behind it. It would explain why Tommy had the same D-Tector as the others, just in different colors, and why he always saw a strange symbol on his screen whenever he had to use Kumamon, and also why other players had been interested in capturing him as Kumamon. It was rather silly that Tommy never picked up on any of that, although it was easy to ignore when he felt like he didn't belong with the other Legendary Warriors. Kumamon wasn't exactly intimidating, nor did he wear a lot of armor.

"Tommy… what we did to you… We can't take it back, but… we do feel bad about how we treated you…" Takuya began. "If… if we had known… we'd have been more than willing to help you, to teach you more about your other form… We… And we still are… But only if you're willing to accept that." Takuya bit his lower lip nervously. "If… If you don't want our help… we… we would understand… I can't exactly imagine you'd be willing to accept our help after what we did, and how we treated you though…"

"It would be good for you to receive some kind of training for your Digimon self, but we do understand if you don't want us to be the ones to do it…" Zoe agreed, looking down. "We have been really horrible to you."

"While I had been on the fence about Kumamon, I like to think I didn't treat you that badly. But I will still take responsibility for not trying to convince the others you may not be as bad as they thought you were," JP sighed.

"And yes, I apologize as well for attacking you before," Koji apologized, not looking directly at Tommy himself. "I'm sure if Koichi was here, he'd be apologizing to you too. When you were attacking me while you were under Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome… It was the first time I had truly felt helpless since I got Lobomon's Spirit. And I have nobody to blame but myself."

To say this was a bit overwhelming for Tommy would be an understatement. He had always admired them even if they hadn't treated his Digimon side well.

"Guys, stop it, please," Tommy suddenly said, surprising the group. "It was bad how you guys treated me as Kumamon, but you didn't always treat me like that. You were all so nice to me as a human. You were all so helpful, trying to help me feel safe after being hunted down by Sir Michael. You let me watch you train, and see how you protected the castle and the Forest Terminal, and I even got to help a little. I admired you guys for your strength and courage. I was more mad at myself for not being more like you guys than mad at you guys for how you saw me as Kumamon. I left not because I wanted to get away from you all, but because I felt I wasn't worthy enough to stay with you guys, and that I was just getting in the way. I wanted to try to better myself, to try to improve Kumamon's reputation. So please, don't keep apologizing and acting like you've done nothing but hurt me, because that's far from the truth."

The group was surprised. They hadn't considered Tommy would've had other reasons for leaving them when he did, but now that they knew, it made more sense to them.

Takuya rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess that's a good reason…"

"Although, to be fair, I guess we didn't exactly make you feel comfortable around us…" JP admitted. "If we made you feel unworthy of being around us, that's our fault."

"No, it's not that, JP," Tommy said. "I liked being with you guys. I just didn't think a bad Digimon belonged with the Legendary Warriors. I mean… if you thought your Digimon form was supposedly bad, wouldn't you feel the same around those who were meant to be heroes?"

JP grimaced at that question. "If I was in your shoes… probably…" He admitted at last.

"Tommy… we… we don't think you are a bad person, or Kumamon a bad Digimon." Takuya assured Tommy. "We… as explained… we just… jumped to conclusions… and didn't bother to think about whether or not that was the right thing to do."

"I should take some responsibility for this," Tommy sighed. "I didn't really explain myself well to you guys either when you thought you saw me doing something bad. I was… scared to say anything, and I was also frustrated with myself for not speaking up either. It was part of the reason why I wanted to improve myself. So I could one day tell you that I was Kumamon. I… didn't want you guys to find out like this. I was always afraid you guys would hate me if you found out I was Kumamon, and that nightmare made me believe it happened. Maybe if I had kept a cool head, I would've figured out I was in some kind of nightmare, but… I fell for it… This just proves that I was weak."

Takuya shook his head. "No, Tommy, you're not weak. If anything, the fact you kept using Kumamon's Spirit, despite our own distrust of… well, despite our distrust, it only shows you're much stronger than you think. Anyone else would've stopped using Kumamon's Spirit at some point. But you didn't. You kept using the Spirit, because it was the right thing to do."

"I can see why Kumamon's Spirit chose you. You're pretty brave for a kid, and determined to do what you think is right despite what everyone else thought," Zoe complimented.

"That's right…" Tommy realized. "That night, when I saw Kumamon's Spirit for the first time… I was trying to help Sir Michael and some other players from Candlemon. I didn't have a Digimon or anything to fight back, but I couldn't just sit there and do nothing. That was when Kumamon's Spirit came up before me. It was the first time I Spirit Evolved, though it was in front of Sir Michael and the others."

"Wait… you evolved in front of others?" Koji asked, surprised. "That was reckless!"

"Awww, I didn't think you cared, Koji~" Takuya snickered.

"Quiet you!" Koji grumbled.

"In my defense, I knew literally nothing about what was happening to me," Tommy sighed. "I did end up feeling the consequences of it though. Why do you think Sir Michael has been hunting me? It's certainly not because I'm a human child."

The rest of the Legendary Warriors had chills run down their spines at this revelation.

Takuya clenched his fists. "So that's why Sir Michael is after you? Because he thinks you're a Digimon?"

Koji growled. "Now I really want to teach this Sir Michael a lesson…"

"I think we all do." JP huffed in agreement.

"So after you became Kumamon, you ran away and he started hunting after you?" Zoe asked.

Tommy shook his head. "I probably should've, but… he was my only friend in the Digital World at the time. I wanted to help him, and I didn't want to be alone. I still didn't know what happened to me either, just that I seemed to have the ability to turn into a Digimon. But everyone began treating me more like a Digimon… well no, more like a pet that needs training to fight. I tried to ignore it, because… at least I was being useful to my friends, that's what kept me going for a while."

Koji winced. "Now I really regret not taking you away from Sir Michael's group. Had I known about how you were being treated… maybe I could've spared you all that grief and whatnot…"

"I did see you and Koichi back then too… There were rumors about a rare Digimon being seen in the TV Forest, that was why we were out there in the first place. When we saw you two, we wondered if the Digimon could turn into a human like me… err… well, a human that could turn into a Digimon actually. I wanted to ask one of you about it, but I was stuck with Sir Michael at the time, and I didn't know how I would bring it up without outing you," Tommy explained.

"How did you finally escape from Sir Michael then?" Takuya asked.

Tommy frowned as he remembered that day all too well. "He wanted to fight a little girl and her Lunamon for control over a guild. He used me, but I thought it was overkill as Lunamon wasn't particularly strong. His PawnChessmon could've taken her. But he wanted to set an example I guess. I was ordered to take out Lunamon, to turn her into an egg. The girl was begging me not to do it, because she would lose Lunamon then as Lunamon wouldn't remember her. The scary thing is… I almost did it too. But I didn't. I knew it was going too far… and… that experience is actually what helped me wake up from the Nightmare Syndrome. When I saw Agunimon kneeling before me, it reminded me of what I almost did to Lunamon. After that, I yelled at Sir Michael to leave me alone and ran away. He promised to hunt me down."

Takuya blinked. "So it was me that snapped you out of that Nightmare Syndrome? Wow, I just… I was just trying to show you I didn't mean you any harm, but… I guess it was a good thing I did that then…"

"And here we thought you were just being crazy." JP snickered.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Takuya huffed back.

"I'm glad I didn't seriously hurt you guys… I wouldn't forgive myself if I did," Tommy said softly.

"It's okay, Tommy, it wasn't your fault," Zoe reassured the boy.

"It might be a good idea to do some mental training just in case we run into this problem again in the future," Koji remarked.

The rest of the Legendary Warriors nodded in agreement, but Takuya did groan in protest.

"Mental training is definitely not my strong suit…" Takuya grumbled.

"I can tell, considering you haven't learned how to control your Beast Spirit yet," Koji remarked.

"That was uncalled for!" Takuya huffed.

"But he has a point. To control your Beast Spirit, you'll need a lot of mental strength to make sure the beast doesn't take you over," Zoe pointed out.

"You should make note of this, Tommy, since it's only a matter of time before you find your Beast Spirit," JP pointed out.

"Me?" Tommy blinked. "Oh… sorry, I'm not used to being a Legendary Warrior myself. It still feels surreal."

"Tell me about it." Takuya chuckled. "I've been at this for a few months now, and it still feels like it's not real sometimes."

"You'll get used to it as time goes on." Zoe giggled.

Tommy gave a small smile. "Hey… this means Takuya and I could train together with you guys too, right?"

JP grinned. "You know it, Tommy! I'd be glad to train with you whenever you need it!"

Takuya grinned. "I guess that makes two of us. I mean, I know Kumamon is a Legendary Warrior, but I kinda want to see how Tommy uses his Spirit in battle as well."

"You know, when he's not under the Nightmare Syndrome," Zoe added.

"From what I've seen, he's already pretty strong in battle. Even without that strength he was pretty dangerous, using the trees to fall on top of us and freezing the ground to make it harder for us to run," Koji pointed out. I can see why the Warrior of Ice picked this kid. He's dangerous with his mind. Though I wonder if he even realizes that himself.

Tommy was blushing. "I didn't think I was that strong. I always felt like I was lacking in a lot of power compared to you guys. So I usually have to get creative in how I fight."

"Tommy, the Legendary Warriors' Spirits are definitely powerful, much stronger than your average Digimon." JP explained. "Most Digimon wouldn't mess with us unless they were with a player or just causing trouble. Kumamon is a Legendary Warrior's Spirit, so he has strength to match it. You just didn't realize it."

"You seemed really strong when you were fighting with us last night," Zoe remarked. "A Digimon would usually have to be at least an Ultimate level to freeze an entire tree in that much ice."

"Huh? I don't recall being able to do that before…" Tommy admitted sheepishly. "I don't really remember a lot of what I was doing when I was fighting with you guys, just that I wanted to defend myself and fight back."

"When you attacked me with your icicle form, I had a rough time holding you back." Koji explained. "And that's saying something because I had to use most of my strength to push you back and away from me."

"My icicle form? You mean that weak little attack? I normally only use it to try to pierce through something, but it doesn't usually work unless I have the opponent's guard down," Tommy responded, which surprised Koji.

"Wait, really? It didn't seem weak to me at all, not with how much force was behind it." Koji replied back.

"Maybe it's different when I'm trying to really hurt someone?" Tommy guessed. "I never really try to hurt someone when I'm defending myself. So that could be why." I mean it's not like I was trying to hold back when we fought against the likes of Grumblemon or Golemon, but… I can't really think of why else I seem to be a lot stronger when I was under the Nightmare Syndrome's influence.

"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out when we start training," JP smiled. "You still want to train with us, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course! I always wanted to be like you guys," Tommy replied before sheepishly chuckling. "I… guess I kinda was this whole time and didn't realize it."

Takuya grinned. "Well, now you officially are, Tommy! And we wouldn't have it any other way!"

Tommy blushed even more. "It'll probably take me some time to get used to being a Legendary Warrior though."

"That's fine, and we'll help support you anyway we can." Zoe smiled. "It's also the least we can do."

"For now though… what's our next step?" Koji asked. "We found Jazz and Floramon. We solved the mystery of the TV Forest. And we now have a new Legendary Warrior on our side."

"I guess I'll be taking Jazz back to the real world, since that is why I was looking for her." Takuya admitted. "She's been gone for far too long. I'm pretty sure if I don't get her back soon, her parents will go out and look for her thinking a ghost kidnapped her."

"Yeah, and I need to get back home myself," Tommy remembered. "My parents and brother have been worried about me. Now that I know I can use my D-Tector to come back at any time, I'm not afraid about leaving anymore."

"Will you come back?" Koji asked.

"Yeah, of course! The Digital World may not have always been kind to me, but… I don't think I can stay away from it for too long," Tommy replied. "I have a lot of unfinished business here anyways, like confronting Sir Michael."

Takuya grinned. "And we'll help you out with that too if you need it."

Koji nodded. "Yeah, no one treats someone like he treated you and gets away with it."

"Looks like you've got the lone wolf on your side, Tommy." JP grinned.

Koji blushed. "I am not a lone wolf! Geez… How many times are you guys going to call me that?"

Tommy couldn't help but laugh.

Takuya smiled as well, all things considered, he was glad to see how everything turned out. Tommy didn't hate them like he was worried he did, even though the kid had every right to. The boy was too kind hearted, and sometimes a little too smart for his own good… he was… a bit too much like Andy now that Takuya thought about it, but maybe less mischievous. Speaking of Andy, Takuya hoped that boy was doing okay.

Suddenly, Koji's D-Tector began to beep, showing the Legendary Warrior's symbol of Darkness on screen.

"Huh?" Koji took out his D-Tector and answered it. "Hello? What's going on, Koichi?"

"Um… Koji… there's a group of players walking around in the Forest Terminal. They claim to be looking for Takuya and Tommy?" Koichi's voice replied. "Do Takuya and Tommy know them?"

"Did they say who they were?" Koji asked, concerned for his twin brother's safety.

"I haven't interacted with them, I've only been observing them from afar," Koichi answered. "I've been trying to determine if they're here to invade or just pass by. I heard them asking some local Digimon about Takuya or Tommy though."

"What do they look like?" Koji asked. "Or… what Digimon do they have with them? Takuya and Tommy might recognize them if they really know them."

Tommy was worried that it might be Sir Michael and his group looking for him. Takuya had faced with Sir Michael before, so he could also be looking for him as well.

"I can tell one of them has a red hat on his head and a Kokuwamon as his partner, one looks like she is wearing goth clothing and has a Biyomon as her partner, and another one has a Lopmon on his head and is wearing dark blue clothing." Koichi replied. "The last one doesn't seem to have a Digimon partner with him, but he looks identical to the one with the Lopmon."

Takuya's eyes went wide. "That must be my twin cousins and their friends! So Andy made it back to them it sounds like. That's a big relief."

"Yeah, that definitely sounds like them." Tommy nodded in agreement. "Since they found Andy and Lopmon, I guess they're wondering where we are, and if we found Jazz."

"Yeah. I should probably get Jazz so the two of us can meet up with them." Takuya admitted. "They probably came all this way looking for us for a reason."

"Koji, could you tell Koichi to let them know we'll be there soon and to not go anywhere?" Tommy requested. "Uh, please? They're good people, I know they won't hurt anyone."

Koji nodded before he turned back to his D-Tector. "Koichi, Tommy says they're good people. If they're here because of Tommy and Takuya, then you can make contact with them. Tell them to not go anywhere and that Tommy and Takuya will be heading back."

"Got it, I'll do just that," Koichi responded before hanging up.

"I've got a lot to tell Koichi about this too," Koji sighed, though he didn't seem bothered by it, if anything it gave him a good distraction for Koichi to focus on so he wouldn't have time to yell at Koji for going into the fog himself.

Zoe gave a smile. "So it looks like everything turned out alright, huh?"

"Yeah, and after we've gotten everyone home, and everything settles down, Tommy and I can come back for our Legendary Warrior training." Takuya grinned. Maybe I'll finally be able to control my Beast Spirit.

"Just know that I won't take it easy on you." Koji grinned as well. "You both have a lot of catching up to do before you're at our level."

"I think I have a few tricks up my sleeve you won't expect." Takuya retorted back with a smile.

"Shouldn't that be my line?" Tommy snickered.

"I look forward to our training session as well. It gets boring just guarding a castle all day," JP chuckled.

"For now, I better find Jazz and let her know we should get going," Takuya said as he stood up.

"I doubt she went far from the village," Zoe said.

"I'll go with you, so everyone else knows I'm okay before I go back home," Tommy decided as he stood up as well. A Legendary Warrior… me… Kumamon was a Legendary Warrior all this time. It's gonna take some getting used to… but honestly? This is way better than thinking he was a bandit or something.

Takuya nodded. "Okay, let's go find Jazz." He said with a smile.

"The rest of us will get going then, we have no reason to stick around here now," Koji remarked. "Good luck on getting home and all that."

While Koji was trying to sound like he didn't care, he really did hope everything went well for them after everything that had happened.

Takuya smirked at Koji. "You might try to act cool, but I can tell you care about Tommy~"

"Nobody asked you," Koji grumbled.

Zoe, JP, Takuya, and even Tommy laughed. Tommy was just happy to finally find true friends who would help both sides of him now.

---

Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: What was epic? A lot of things happened in the chapter.

ZAFT: I think she means the chapter as a whole… ^^'

DarkFoxKit: Okay, still though, try to be a bit more specific.

pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: You will see how Tommy gets treated now. It will be an interesting next few chapters.

DarkFoxKit: I'm not sure how Tommy keeps becoming a secondary main character. He's just fun to write for. It also helps to have another Digimon character to write for when Andy and Danny aren't in the scenario. Though it looks like we're done with Tommy for the time being.

And Jazz is alright, as you can see.

The season finale? Oh, you mean the Control Freaks preview? Just a heads up, Control Freaks is not exactly the season finale in this story.

ZAFT: Yeah, we start to go out of order soon episode-wise, so enjoy it. XD

DarkFoxKit: So don't worry about the episodes we haven't done yet. We'll get to them soon.

Son Sandy: ZAFT: This was planned for a while. XD But yeah, things will be awkward for Tommy for a bit now. X3

DarkFoxKit: I'll be honest, originally I wasn't going to focus that much on Tommy. He was just gonna be one of the Legendary Warriors who was investigating the fog. Takuya was going to meet up with him, thinking he's just a regular kid, then gets surprised when he sees that the kid was a Legendary Warrior. But then the story changed when I had Tommy on the run from Sir Michael, and honestly, I prefer that. It gave Tommy a lot of room to grow, and he's become my secondary main character when Andy isn't around.

As for Andy's vision, it may not be an exact one-to-one of what's going to happen. We were keeping things vague, and skipping over details to keep you guys guessing what will happen. As for the staff controlling Digimon, well, as you can see, Patamon and Lopmon weren't controlled by it, only Agunimon was. The explanation for that will be revealed when we actually get to that point in the story. And you seem pretty excited about Andy potentially becoming a halfa~

DawnBreaker23: ZAFT: We have plans for Maxwell, that is all I can say. ;3

Freakshow will be a fun one to get to. You will see what happens as it gets closer to that. XD

DarkFoxKit: Andy may or may not talk about his vision of Freakshow. And it's not like he has the time to worry too much about it anyways since he doesn't know Freakshow yet.

As for your question regarding Ken's brother, I don't know? I don't know Ken's brother enough to make that kind of call. If Sam, Ken's brother, really cares about Ken and is worried about him, then he probably would ask Davis to keep an eye on him.

Kittylover05: ZAFT: Now for the big review from Kitty! X3

Yes, this is what Tommy has been waiting for! It's so nice to have the boi finally get people who care about him!

DarkFoxKit: The nightmare probably could've used more work to make it seem more plausible, and scarier, but we were excited to finally get Tommy to show who he really was to the others, and to let out his anger and resentment at them for mistreating his Digimon half. For the most part, Tommy was seeing them as the enemy, and seeing them at their worst when they were hurting and attacking him as Kumamon. The nightmare helped him reach his boiling point essentially, until Agunimon reminded him of what happened to Lunamon, making Tommy remember who he was as a person rather than as the angry, scared child who's been hurt.

Oh, I should tell you that the whole nightmare thing was an actual episode in Digimon Frontier. I remember seeing it on TV a long time ago, one of the first episodes of Digimon Frontier I remember seeing. So that's probably why it stuck out to me even after all these years. We just reworked it to fit into the context of the story, and I feel like it works a lot better here as Tommy has more of a reason to lash out at them than he did in the actual episode.

ZAFT: Takuya's nightmare was more fun to do as well, and more realistic here, because let's face it, kid loves his family! The poor boy would be upset if he saw his cousin murdered in front of him! XD

DarkFoxKit: Well, we weren't gonna go that far here. And even in Takuya's dreams, Andy's too strong to just die that easily. XD As for Maxwell, he's actually an OC we made for this story. As you could probably see by now, he's a replacement for Penelope Spectra as the Casper High Teen Therapist. You'll learn more about him later.

Yeah, the show kinda neglects to really show you how dangerous the Ghost Zone is to humans, and why it was always important for the humans to be concealed in something like the Specter Speeder. Although there were some episodes that had the humans in the Ghost Zone with no protection. Like in the Infi-Map episode, though you could theorize the map protects them. And Beauty Marked, where Sam and Tucker were in the castle without any protection, but you could probably theorize Aragon's lair keeps the humans preserved because he wanted to marry a living human, not a dead one. But we wanted to show a real danger of humans being exposed to the Ghost Zone for too long. But Andy will be okay, because his body is used to having ectoplasm in his system, he just had more than he could handle right now.

ZAFT: Humans being exposed to ectoplasm will be a fun thing to continue exploring, no doubt. XD And as for Jack and Maddie, yes that does sound like something they would do! But don't worry, things will come to a head between them and Andy soon enough~ X3

DarkFoxKit: The fog is definitely related to the Ghost Zone. But that's all I'm going to say on the matter. Admittedly, we definitely messed up with Valerie. We completely forgot that she and Phantom left on good terms, so we were using the knowledge we had from her hatred of Phantom in the canon episode to dark digivolve Salamon here. When I had gone back re-read the original chapter we already posted, and saw Valerie was actually supposed to be on good terms with Phantom, we had to decide if we were going to scrap that whole part with BlackGatomon, or try to rework it to make it work within the context of the story. We decided to try to add a few extra dialogue lines to show Valerie had a relapse of hating Phantom because the two of them never really talked after their last encounter, so Valerie had time to stew in her resentment for Phantom again, bringing back the hatred. But it really was our bad for forgetting that Valerie was supposed to be on better terms with Phantom in the first place.

ZAFT: I will admit it was our fault, but it does make things interesting here, and gives more growth to Valerie. We hope to keep it going in this direction from here on though. Now as for Andy and Valerie… They are cute together, aren't they?~ X3 I like the pairing between the two of them for sure!

DarkFoxKit: Valerie trusting Andy is most likely due to the fact Andy approached her when everyone else abandoned her, and had always tried to talk to her to get her to open up, and to remind her that she's not the only one who had been hurt by the other students. Andy has this way with people whether he knows it or not.

The reboot for WAP is more because I'm not sure if my current co-writer for it is willing to continue the story anymore. And at this point, I really can't continue WAP without them because their characters and ideas are so deeply intertwined with the story that I would have no choice but to scrap it entirely if they don't continue it with me. Although, Digital Phantom is considered a spiritual successor to MBaG and WAP, so I don't really feel the need to do a complete reboot of WAP any time soon. Mostly because I'm kinda tired of starting Andy's journey over again.

ZAFT: On the main plot of the 'game' thing for this story, we plan to delve into that more in Season 2 and even a 'break' story, which is going to be called Digital Phantom: Frontier. It will be followed up on, just not in one major chapter or arc. It's more of a series long plot to follow. XD

DarkFoxKit: I apologize, the way I tend to structure my stories is that I have an ongoing plot like this, a mystery and a reason for our characters to be doing what they're doing. If we were to solve it all so quickly, then there wouldn't be much of a reason to keep going. We're building our characters up to prepare for this big plot involving the 'game' and who's behind it all (we don't even know that yet). The characters have to go through their ordeals, they need to know each other, they need to learn to work together, build up their trust and relationship with each other, and all of that before we can really get into the big plot of the 'game' and the 'big bad'. So yeah, that's just me saying 'don't expect that to be followed up any time soon'. The first season, as ZAFT said, is gonna be focusing on building and setting everything up.

ZAFT: Oh boy, Freakshow is gonna be fun. XD You will see what we have planned, that is all I can say right now.

DarkFoxKit: Well, Andy's vision isn't going to be an exact one-to-one when it actually happens. We were also kinda testing the scene ourselves. Danny and Agunimon being mind controlled could just be how Andy himself sees them in the vision when they referred Freakshow as 'master'. Or it could just be something we added in the story. To be honest, we've written the actual scene with Freakshow months ago from the time of updating this, so I don't really remember what we did in terms of Danny and Agunimon's personality while being controlled. But I don't think we kept the 'monotone' attitude like we showed in the vision here.

ZAFT: I can confirm that since I reread the chapters for fun. XD But yeah, Freakshow will be a blast for everyone to read I hope~

DarkFoxKit: Whew… always a pleasure to read your reviews, Kitty, but boy does it take a while to respond to everything. XD Here's hoping you continue to enjoy the story.

ZAFT: We await the next review~ X3