DarkFoxKit: Alright, we have a new chapter up.
Andy: I'm surprised you even remembered.
DarkFoxKit: Why do you say that?
Andy: You've been pretty busy shiny hunting in Pokemon Scarlet, and D&D that it looked like you hardly had any time to give this story a thought.
DarkFoxKit: Hey, this story is important to me, and I enjoy it. So just because I got a little busy doesn't mean I'm not still thinking about this story. Have a little more faith in me.
ZAFT: Good to hear that. But I can understand being busy. It can get annoying at times…
Takuya: Like you have been busy?
ZAFT: Shut it, fire boy… We may torment you some more in the future if you make any more quips like that.
Takuya: Shutting up…
Andy: I've seen the future, you torment us either way.
DarkFoxKit: Hey, no foresight powers to predict your fate, that's cheating. But anyways, let's get into the chapter!
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows six forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton, and Jazz Fenton)
Falling into destiny
(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky and cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)
Reaching across new boundaries
(Andy Fenton appears with Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)
Let our stories come together
(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, a black-haired boy with blue eyes behind the ghost boy)
Growing stronger
(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)
Our pasts intertwine
(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)
Showing our future
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)
As we evolve
(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost)
Let's go… EVOLUTION
(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost)
As our worlds collide
(Jazz is shown beside Andy, her hand on his shoulder as Andy looked shell-shocked by something)
We stand as one
(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)
Growing strong
(A shadowed form is shown with blue eyes and a glowing white blade erupting from what looks like a giant weapon in the form's hands)
As we move along
(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy, Tucker, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz.)
CHOU… SHINKA!
(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)
Let's go… EVOLUTION!
(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself.)
Nothing will stand in our way!
(Andy, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code.)
Digital Phantom!
Chapter 22: The Music of Mind Control
It had been a few days since the Dumpty Humpty concert. Danny, Andy, Tucker, Sam, and Takuya had a rocking time. It was also Takuya's first rock concert in America, it was more wild than most concerts back in Japan, but he enjoyed it nonetheless.
Nobody had really seen Valerie since, however. She would still sometimes show up at school, but for most of the day, she was mysteriously gone. She was usually gone when her dad left for work, so Damon didn't know what Valerie was doing locked in her room all day either. Although nobody really asked her, since most figured since she didn't have a lot of money to go on a shopping spree these days, it made sense to stay in her room when she wasn't going to school to avoid the temptation. Andy just hoped Valerie was doing okay, he couldn't help but worry about her, but he wasn't going to force her to talk about it.
Danny could see Andy had been worried for Valerie, whom he was 85% sure his brother had a crush on. There was no way Andy would be that worried about Valerie, someone who used to be quite mean to them when she was popular, otherwise. But to try to get his mind off of Valerie, he decided to make a suggestion when Tucker and Sam came over.
"You want to map out the Ghost Zone?" Andy questioned in shock. "You do realize how hard of a time we had the last time we went into the Ghost Zone, right? And now you want to go in there to map it out?
"Hey, it would help us navigate the Ghost Zone better, and learn what areas to avoid." Danny pointed out. "Although… I will admit the last time we went in, we had no idea of what to expect…"
"I don't think it's such a bad idea," Tucker said. "I mean in video games, you learn more about the enemy once you can map out their base, but you do have to be careful when you run into the enemy."
"Besides, it wasn't so bad. Ghosts have a hard time touching us in the Ghost Zone," Sam reminded.
"Yeah, that… would've been good to know in the first place." Danny admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"But even so, the Ghost Zone is dangerous to humans without some kind of protection," Andy pointed. "Danny has his ghost half to keep him safe. And I had him to keep me safe while in the Ghost Zone. But from what I saw, the Ghost Zone is filled with ectoplasm, it's practically toxic for a normal human to even breathe in there. I'd rather Danny didn't try to map out such a dangerous place alone, especially with all the enemies he has."
"Relax, bro. You, Tucker, Takuya, and Sam can use the Specter Speeder to help me map out the Ghost Zone." Danny said. "It's not like I would've done it by myself."
"And it would be kinda cool to see what we can map out in the Ghost Zone." Sam added with a grin.
"Are you sure we won't get lost though?" Andy asked.
"Wow, what happened to the boy who threw caution out the window and played with, and rode on, the giant ghost dog a few days ago?" Takuya asked.
"That was because we didn't have a lot of choice," Andy pointed out. "The situation just happened. But the Ghost Zone, we're planning on it. I just want to make sure we don't end up lost out there, or get stuck."
Takuya groaned. "Alright, you made your point…"
"Relax, Andy. We won't go far from the Fenton Ghost Portal." Danny said. "At least, at first. As we get further with the mapping, we could always use familiar locations we mark down on the map to guide us back."
"Plus, we don't have much going on now anyways. The ghosts seem to be having a dry spell this week," Tucker pointed out. "So we might as well take advantage of it and do something productive, right?"
Andy sighed. "What do you think, Takuya?"
"As long as we're careful, it may be of some advantage to us." Takuya conceded. "I certainly don't want to get lost in there forever the next time we might have to go in, so a map would be handy to have."
"Alright… I can agree that having a map of the Ghost Zone, or at least a layer of it, would be beneficial to us," Andy agreed. "Just… we still don't know what the side effects could be if we go in there, even with the Specter Speeder. Let's just prepare ourselves before going in, just to be safe."
"How would we prepare ourselves?" Sam asked.
Since Jack and Maddie were out right now, the group went into the lab. Jazz walked down when she saw them.
"What's going on?" Jazz asked.
"We're thinking about mapping out the Ghost Zone near the portal," Danny answered.
"Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Jazz asked in concern. "What if you don't come back?"
"Jazz, we'll be careful." Danny reassured her. "It's not like we can miss the Ghost Portal's opening to our world. Plus, we could find our way back with the Specter Speeder's instruments and sensors."
"Okay, but…" Jazz frowned. "How… would going into the Ghost Zone affect… uh… ghosts?"
Danny raised an eyebrow.
"I think she's worried that you going into the Ghost Zone means you're 'moving on'. We had the same worries before the… Walker incident," Andy translated.
Danny paled. "N-No! Jazz, I'm not 'moving on'! I just want to map out the Ghost Zone for exploration and to know what areas to avoid for the next time we may have to go in there for some reason!"
"And Danny's been in the Ghost Zone before," Andy vouched. "He came back just fine, Jazz."
Jazz let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, that's good to kn- you went into the Ghost Zone before!?"
Danny groaned.
"Well then… uh… should we leave you two alone?" Sam asked.
"No… it's fine…" Danny sighed. "Yes, Jazz, I went into the Ghost Zone before. But I'm fine, see?"
Danny decided it would be wise if Jazz didn't know Andy went into the Ghost Zone too, as Danny's skin puppet.
"O-Okay… But why did you go into the Ghost Zone before?" Jazz asked.
"It's kind of a long story…" Danny grumbled.
While Danny was talking to Jazz, Andy took out his white and navy blue hazmat suit, something he hadn't worn in a while, and put it on.
"Maybe you and Tucker could wear Jazz's spare hazmat suits?" Andy suggested to Tucker and Sam.
Sam took out the teal and black hazmat suit. "Well, anything is better than that orange monstrosity your father wears." She muttered.
Tucker grimaced. "Yeah, that hazmat suit screams 'big target', no offense to Mr. Fenton of course."
Takuya took out his own hazmat suit, the red and orange one. "Hey, he likes the color orange, what can I say?"
"Besides, have you seen Naruto? Orange is a cool color to have, when you can afford it," Andy chuckled.
"Then maybe Danny should be in orange spandex," Tucker joked.
"No way! Orange is not my color!" Danny huffed, having heard Tucker's comment.
"Excuse me, but orange definitely looks good," Jazz huffed, flicking her orange hair. "And at least I didn't dive into the Ghost Zone trying to retrieve a gift that Dad would have just made a new one with."
"But it was a one-of-a-kind gift!" Danny argued.
"He could still make another! But he wouldn't be able to make another Danny!" Jazz frowned.
"Hey, hey! Just calm down you two." Takuya said as he got between the arguing siblings. "Jazz, Danny made it out alive last time, and Danny retrieved the gift. Isn't that enough?"
"I just want him to know when to set his priorities. Going into the Ghost Zone to save someone's life, okay, I can understand that. But an inanimate object? That's not worth throwing your life away, even if you are half ghost," Jazz stated firmly.
Danny groaned. "Okay, I get it Jazz! I will be more careful next time!"
Andy sighed. "Okay, that's enough! Jazz, are you okay with us going into the Ghost Zone to map out the area near the portal?"
Jazz sighed. "Well, since Danny already tested out that he can come back just fine from it, I guess it's okay? But what about humans? Can humans go into the Ghost Zone?"
"Sort of," Andy replied sheepishly. "Humans would need more protection though. That's why we're preparing ourselves, and we plan to travel in the Specter Speeder. Mom and Dad made that to specifically explore the Ghost Zone."
Jazz sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "As long as you guys take precautions, I'm not against it then. But just… be careful anyways. Things with the best of preparations can sometimes go wrong."
"What would you be doing?" Takuya curiously asked.
"What I do best, cover for you guys in case Mom and Dad get home before you do," Jazz answered.
"Are you okay with that?" Tucker asked. "I mean if it were me, I wouldn't want to just be the cover up for-"
"Tucker, not helping!" Danny hissed.
Jazz grinned at Danny's comment to Tucker. "Don't worry, Danny." She then looked at Tucker to answer his question. "You guys do need someone to cover your butts being gone, and since I am the only one here, it falls to me. I'm fine with it, really."
"That's true, and with you here, you can also update us on what's going on in Amity Park while we've been gone." Sam smiled.
"That's true." Jazz smiled as well. "I'll keep an eye on things."
"Here, wear these," Andy said, handing Sam a pair of silver and green earphones.
"What are these?" Sam asked.
"They're Fenton Earphones, according to Mom and Dad, they're made to filter out spectral noises," Andy explained, already putting a pair of his own in his own ears. "I'm guessing that means it'll keep other ghosts from confusing us with their noises, or, I don't know, sound based attacks? Maybe mind control if they do that sort of thing?"
Takuya took a pair as well. "They look kinda cool, sort of like something from the future." He admitted as he slipped them in his ears.
"They're also there to make it easier for us to communicate." Danny smiled. "This is one invention I'm 100% behind on with Mom and Dad."
Tucker took the last pair of Fenton Earphones. "Well, I can't complain about how they function, but how they look is another matter." He admitted as he slipped on the pair of earphones. "These things are like a fashion 'don't'."
Sam put on her own Fenton Earphones. "I think they look like some kind of techno-goth earrings. Kinda cool."
"Wait, Danny, aren't you going to put those on?" Jazz asked when she noticed he was the only one in the group without the Fenton Earphones.
"There isn't enough for all of us," Danny replied. "Besides, since I'm half ghost, I'm more resistant to spectral noises, so I think I'll be fine."
Jazz frowned a little, but she knew Danny was more aware of his own abilities as a half ghost, so she knew she had to give him the benefit of the doubt. She nodded in understanding. "Okay, if you're sure. Just stay close to the Specter Speeder when you're in the Ghost Zone."
"We'll be fine, don't worry," Andy reassured her, though he was also trying to reassure himself. "I think we have everything. I have my Fenton Rod in my pocket, a Fenton Pistol for longer range, we have a few Fenton Thermoses in case we need to catch a ghost that's chasing us…"
"I have the Fenton Lipstick." Sam said as she held up the weapon.
"And I have my wrist ray." Tucker said as he grinned, showing said weapon on his wrist.
"And don't forget my own Fenton Rod." Takuya finished as he took out the rod as well.
Andy frowned as he looked at Takuya. "We need to get you your own weapon. Maybe some kind of gauntlet since you punch people."
Takuya grinned sheepishly. "Ehehe… That could work too…" He admitted sheepishly.
"How about those Ghost Gloves?" Danny asked jokingly.
"No way! It would have to be something small and concealable!" Takuya exclaimed. "I'm not carrying around those big honking metal gloves!"
"You mean these?" Jazz asked, holding out a couple of keychain-sized metallic gloves.
"Uh… Are those the same Ghost Gloves?" Takuya asked.
"Yeah… Mom realized how much of a burden the gloves are to carry around, so she added a shrinking tech to them," Jazz answered before she pushed a button that was on the front of the gloves.
The gloves grew back to their larger size.
"Plus, they also made it where the gloves will shrink down to fit whatever hands are wearing them, so it's just not meant for Dad's hands anymore." Jazz added.
Takuya took the gloves and grinned. "I think I can work with this." He said as he put on one of the gloves, only for it to shrink to fit his fist. "Sweet!"
"Awesome, now that we have everything, shall we get going?" Tucker asked. "I don't want to miss my 4-0' clock feeding."
"That sounded so wrong…" Takuya groaned as he opened the Specter Speeder's door and hopped inside.
"If we're not back by midnight, then… I guess you should let Mom and Dad know we're in the Ghost Zone, because by that point we might be in trouble or stuck," Andy said to Jazz. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Jazz nodded. "Yeah, it'd be bad if Mom and Dad had to get involved."
Andy climbed into the Specter Speeder. Tucker was at the wheel, and Sam was sitting in the back. Danny transformed into his ghost form. "We'll see you later, Jazz."
"Be careful out there," Jazz replied before Danny flew into the portal before Tucker started up the Specter Speeder, and flew in after Danny.
Since Danny felt the most at home in the Ghost Zone, not that he would admit it to anyone, he figured it was best he took the lead for the Specter Speeder, that and he felt better being in front in case they were attacked. At least he would be in the line of fire instead of his friends and family.
The group flew around the Ghost Zone for a while, mapping the place out. Sam was drawing out a map since she was probably the best drawer of the group. Takuya was in awe as he looked around, despite being here before, the place was just… so unnatural and creepy. Andy was looking out the window too, seeming to be fascinated by everything. Last time Andy didn't have time to really look at anything, but now he actually had time to take everything in.
"This place is both amazing and yet creepy at the same time." Takuya noted. "It's just… how this place can exist is just amazing, period! There is so much ectoplasm, and yet so many ghosts too…"
"Yeah… I almost can't believe I had been flying out there before. I know it was mostly Danny using my body, but still…" Andy remarked. "It's hard to imagine flying out there in all that ectoplasm, not to mention that creepy sense of unwelcomeness."
"I know what you mean," Sam replied. "Though I also like it in a way."
"You would." Andy rolled his eyes.
Tucker grinned at Sam's comment. "I guess being goth has its advantages~"
"Oh, shut up!" Sam huffed.
"There's a lot of ghost lairs floating around here," Takuya noted.
"But there are some floating islands that look like they have a lot of content on them," Andy stated. "Maybe ghosts have domains as well, not just lairs."
"That… would be both cool and weird." Takuya muttered.
"Well, at least we know one island to avoid…" Tucker grumbled.
"Yeah, Walker's Prison." Sam agreed. "If we see it, it's going on the map as 'Must Avoid'."
After a while, Danny decided to land on one of the empty looking floating rocks. "Let's take a bit of a break."
"Maybe we should get back soon. We still don't know if there are any time differences between the Ghost Zone and our world," Andy suggested. "And it's pretty difficult to tell time here."
Takuya gave a nod of agreement. "Who knows how long we've been here? It may be getting close to dinner time for all we know."
"You mean I may have missed my 4-0' clock feeding?" Tucker whined.
"Can you think about something else?" Sam grumbled.
When Danny landed on the floating rock, however, he saw something coming towards him. "Hmm? What's tha-aahhh!"
Danny was hit in the chest by a big snowball. Though it didn't hurt him, it definitely caught him by surprise.
"Danny? Are you okay?" Andy asked through the earphones.
"I'm fine… Just… caught off-guard, that's all." Danny replied as he got back up. "But where did that snowball come from?"
"What did I say about keeping your guard up around ghosts, bro?" Andy scolded. "Do we need to go back to dodge training?"
Danny paled. "No, no need to go back to that! I'm definitely more alert now!"
"Hello!" A loud voice spoke up, causing Danny to jump a bit. "Oh! New friends come to visit me!"
The voice belonged to a ghost that looked chubby, wore pink and purple striped pajamas, and had green skin. The irises were red, and the hair was blonde while the lips were purple.
"What the?" Danny blinked.
"I'm Klemper! What's your name, new friend?~" The ghost called Klemper asked.
"Whoa, slow down, we just met, I wouldn't call us friends yet," Danny spoke up.
This seemed to have a negative effect on Klemper. "Oh, don't be like that! How about I give you a nice, cold hug?"
Klemper held out his arms and charged at Danny. Danny reacted by instinct, grabbing onto Klemper's arms just before the chubby ghost caused him to fall to the ground. Danny now found himself wrestling against the weird, PJ wearing, friend obsessive ghost.
"Shouldn't we help him?" Takuya asked.
"It's one ghost, and it doesn't seem to be too high of a level according to the Specter Speeder scan," Tucker explained. "He seems to be about as dangerous as the Box Ghost."
"Even if he is about as dangerous as Boxy, he's so annoying!" Danny groaned. "Will someone please help get this thing off of me?!"
"If you can bench press a vehicle, you can get that ghost off of yourself," Sam replied. "Besides, it would be dangerous for us to get out to help you, and if we tried to shoot at the ghost with any weapons here, we'd be hitting you too."
"Wait, when did Danny bench press a vehicle?" Andy asked, surprised. "Why didn't you tell me you bench pressed a vehicle!?"
"H-hey! Let's not get off topic here!" Danny exclaimed. He felt himself getting hugged tightly by Klemper, only to pull away and begin to fly off. But Klemper just grabbed Danny's hand and pulled Danny back towards him. "Wah! Tell me again why this was a good idea!?"
"You were the one who wanted to map out the Ghost Zone," Andy reminded. "I was the one who was worried about getting attacked or lost."
"You're also the only one who doesn't have to wear these stupid earphones," Tucker grumbled. "Good thing they also work as wireless earphones, because these things are just so tacky."
"Didn't you say that before?" Takuya asked. "And what's so bad about them? I think they look cool and futuristic."
"Considering this is coming from the techno geek of the group, that's saying something," Sam snickered.
"Yeah, whatever. At least this geek has some good music to play to pass the time." Tucker remarked as he pushed the 'play' function on his PDA to start some music he had stored on there.
Sam, Andy, and Takuya both winced as music started blaring in their earphones.
"Ow… That was loud!" Takuya grumbled as he reached up and removed one earphone to rub at his sore ear.
"My bad, forgot to turn the volume down," Tucker apologized.
"Besides, the earphones aren't supposed to look good!" Danny spoke up, still trying to get out of Klemper's hug, who was now holding him up. "Why are you all being so nonchalant about this?"
"Tucker may think they look bad, but I think I'm pulling these off pretty well~" Sam grinned, looking at her reflection in the window. "Maybe girls can just naturally pull this off better than guys could."
Takuya looked at his own earphone he was holding and winced at the green clashing with his red and orange hazmat suit. "Maybe this thing would look better in silver and red for me…" He muttered.
"You guys are totally ignoring me!" Danny whined.
"You're doing great, Danny!" Andy cheered. "Come on, kick his butt and let's go home!"
Danny grumbled before he managed to pull himself away from Klemper. Klemper, however, wasn't so willing to let his 'new friend' go, and tried to freeze Danny with some kind of frost breath. Danny yelped as he was hit by the frost breath, but he managed to use his ghost ray to break out of the ice.
"Do you think that fridge door up there is Klemper's lair?" Andy asked. "He seems to be able to use ice powers."
"It may work." Danny agreed as he saw the door. "Anything's better than being hugged to death by that guy!" Danny flew at the fridge door, Klemper following him.
Danny landed on the door when he reached it, looking back to see Klemper following him. Danny then yanked the fridge door open, letting Klemper fly through it and into a snow-covered world. Danny quickly shut the door before he flew back to the Specter Speeder. He was pretty tired from all that flying, and he was cold from that annoying ghost's frost breath.
Danny phased into the Specter Speeder before reverting back to his human form. Tucker was singing loudly, and very off note.
"EMBER! YOU WILL REMEMBER MY NAAAAME!" Tucker 'sang'.
Takuya kicked Tucker's seat while Andy pushed Tucker to get him to shut up.
"You're going to make my ears bleed if you keep that up!" Andy snapped.
"Ow!" Tucker yelped as he felt the seat move with Takuya's kick as well as Andy shoving him.
Danny shivered. "Ugh… can a ghost get frostbite?" He muttered as he tried to get warm.
Sam groaned. "Here… my hands are warm." She put her hands on Danny's to try to warm up his hands.
Of course, both Danny and Sam just realized their position with each other and started to blush. Luckily for them, however, Takuya, Andy, and Tucker were a bit too annoyed with the other to notice them.
"Can you drive us home?" Andy grumpily asked Tucker. "And turn off that music? I'd rather you didn't blare out our eardrums."
Tucker grumbled. "Fine, but you guys clearly don't understand my great taste in music." He huffed as he put the Specter Speeder on a course back to the Fenton Ghost Portal.
Although the Ghost Zone mapping was technically a success, Danny was starting to wish he hadn't, because now Andy had been curiously asking him questions, like how being in the Ghost Zone felt to him, and how being covered in ice didn't seem to cause any negative effects on him other than being cold for a few minutes.
But thankfully, Takuya kept Andy busy for the most part, because Takuya was attempting to use his flames to fly as Agunimon. That hadn't been working out so well for the boy. Although Andy was collecting a lot of data between ghost and Digimon with them. If nothing else, they were able to understand a little more about themselves.
Although one thing that had them concerned was Jazz. They noticed she was lost on her computer, listening to that music Tucker was playing earlier. She smiled at them, saying she was glad they made it back safely, but then went back to listening to the song. That was… unlike Jazz, but they decided to leave her alone. Surely after a while, Jazz would get sick of hearing the same song over and over again.
However, when the group got to school the next day, they were a little surprised. Tucker was playing that song again with his PDA, not only that, but he was wearing a black shirt with a blue flame design in the middle of it. He also changed his iconic red hat with a purple one that also had that blue flame design in front of it.
Danny, Andy, Sam, and Takuya were weirded out by how much Tucker was sucked into this song sung by someone named 'Ember Mclain.'
"I just don't get it. This Ember Mclain comes out of nowhere and the next thing you know, she's the biggest thing since… well… ever!" Danny grumbled. "It's so…"
"Infuriating that mindless prepackaged corporate bubblegum is preventing true musical artists from being heard?" Sam ranted.
"Ah… I was going to say 'weird', but… okay!" Danny said with a small smile.
"I think you were just waiting to say that, weren't you Sam?" Takuya teased.
"Just because someone becomes popular doesn't mean they're mindless prepackaged corporate bubblegum," Andy said. "I mean we don't know the full story behind this."
"Besides, Ember's not just about music. It's an expression of my unique individuality." Tucker smiled.
The group then turned the corner, only to see the hallway was filled with other students wearing Ember's marchandise, and the walls were covered in Ember posters.
Takuya felt like smacking himself with an open hand to see if he was dreaming. "Um… I don't think this is allowed…"
Sam grumbled. "Oh, sure, you're one of a kind, every single one of you." She muttered.
"... Where did they get all that merchandise?" Andy blinked, surprised. They… look pretty good, I kinda want one…
Paulina approached them, she was likely surprised there was a group of kids who weren't wearing any Ember clothing. She noticed something on Sam's ears. "Nice earrings. Sale at the 89 cent store?"
Why do people think 'cheap' equals 'bad'? Andy rolled his eyes.
Sam grinned. "For your information, Paulina, they were a gift. Danny gave them to me." She said with confidence, despite Andy being the one who handed the earphones to her.
Paulina looked surprised. "Wait… Really? He gave you earrings?" She then scoffed. "I always knew you two losers would end up together."
"H-hey! Just because she has earrings from me, that doesn't mean we are together!" Danny exclaimed.
"And we're not losers!" Sam snapped.
"Ember! Go Ember! Remember! Go Ember!" Tucker cheered loudly.
"Will you keep it down!?" Andy and Takuya both shouted at Tucker in annoyance.
""Okay! Geez, can't a guy enjoy his music?" Tucker grumbled.
Dash was looking over at Andy. He found it weird that only one of them in their group seemed to be into Ember.
"Hey, check it out, Dash. The losers are ganging up on each other," Kwan snickered.
"Are you sure you want dragon boy to hear you?" Dash asked.
"Dude, it was just a prank. Calm down." Kwan said.
"Then do you want dragon boy to pull that prank on you next?" Dash questioned.
Kwan paled. "No, no I don't…" He muttered. "I swear I almost crapped myself last time he pulled that prank…"
"Exactly. Maybe instead of labeling them as 'losers', we should put them in a different category," Dash muttered.
"Like what? The 'Pranksters'? The 'Mastermind'?" Kwan asked.
"... Those aren't bad names," Dash commented.
"You can't still be scared of that scrawny loser, can you?" Calvin snickered when he approached Dash.
Like with all the jocks so far, they replaced their iconic white and red leather jacket with purple and blue, as well as a black T-shirt with the blue flame pattern.
"Maybe I don't want another dragon prank pulled on me." Dash muttered. "Once was bad enough, but twice was pushing it, and it ruined my party!"
"Why don't you just wail on the loser so he would learn his lesson not to mess with you? That's what we always do with losers who don't know their place," Calvin pointed out.
"What's wailing on him going to do? It's not going to stop him from wanting revenge and pulling another prank like that," Dash argued back. "You can wail on him if you want, but I'm keeping my sanity intact."
Calvin actually hesitated for a moment. "... I'll wail on him at a later date. Right now, Ember is more important than some loser group."
Yeah right, you just won't admit you're worried what he might do to you. Dash huffed.
Andy looked over in Dash's direction, and Dash flinched a little, but tried to look intimidating. He couldn't let dragon boy see how much his stupid pranks affected him. Andy blinked at Dash for a moment before he turned back to his friends. Dash… actually felt relieved when Andy turned away from him. I can't believe I'm actually scared of him. This is not going to help my reputation…
Class was finally starting for the students. Mr. Lancer was making an announcement.
"As you know, the Northwestern Nine Standardized testing starts in two days, and because my bonus is proportional to your grades, we've installed the Cramtastic Mark V, the latest, state-of-the-art, subliminal study-aid technology." Mr. Lancer announced, while every student had three computer monitors on their desks, and an odd helmet on that had four antennae extending out from it.
"Um… is this legal…?" Andy whispered to Danny sitting beside him.
Some of the other students looked quite nervous themselves.
"I… don't know…" Danny frowned, looking nervous himself. "Is one of my three screens okay?"
"What do you mean?" Andy asked.
"The middle one seems to be glitching out a little bit," Danny replied, poking the screen as data was glitching out from it.
Sam peered at Danny's screen. "Huh… that is odd… My screens aren't doing that."
"Maybe you should have Mr. Lancer look into it?" Andy asked.
The screen stopped glitching out and seemed to have returned to normal.
"Nevermind, looks like it's fine now," Danny replied, shrugging at the oddity.
"Okay, but if it acts up again, please tell Mr. Lancer." Sam said.
"I will." Danny promised.
"You know, this reminds me of a TV show I was watching," Andy remarked while Mr. Lancer was droning on. "Only it wasn't for studying. One student gets a 'master helmet', while the rest have a normal helmet. Then when the teacher activates the helmets, they all go into the master helmet's mind. The students and teacher learn all about the student that was wearing the master helmet. But the student with the master helmet was hiding a secret about themselves, so their little 'personalities' were quite different from what the teacher had been expecting."
Danny raised an eyebrow at Andy. "I think you watch too much TV, bro, and that's coming from me."
"Hey, at least I'll be prepared in case that happens to us," Andy remarked.
"Whatever, I think Mr. Lancer is about to start that machine up." Danny shivered. "I hate how they are literally trying to implant the knowledge into our brains."
"Well, if it's a faster way of learning, then maybe schools will end faster," Sam said, trying to look on the bright side.
"I just find it funny that Mr. Lancer's doing this to get the highest bonus he could get, when he probably spent more money installing that thing," Andy chuckled.
"Let the learning begin!" Mr. Lancer said as he pushed a button to start the knowledge implanting, but instead of knowledge coming through the screens, Ember's music began to play as an image of a pale skinned girl with flaming blue hair, green irises, and wearing purple lipstick appeared. She was wearing a black tank top, one black glove that went up most of her right arm, and black pants as well.
"Oooh Ember, so warm and tender! You will remember my name!" The singer sang.
All the students, except Danny, Sam, and Andy, stood up and cheered loudly. The 3 exceptions just removed their helmets. Angered by this unexpected development, Mr. Lancer shut off the computer and opened up the disc opener. He saw a 'Live Concert' label written on the disc. Mr. Lancer picked up the disc, and was about to demand who put the disc in there, when they heard a loud drumming noise that sounded like the start of that Ember song.
"Foley! Shut off that blasted PDA!" Mr. Lancer shouted as he threw the disc at Tucker's desk. It hit one of the computers on the desk and bounced off.
Holy moly! I didn't know Lancer could throw a disc like that! Andy blinked in surprise.
"It's not me! It's coming from outside!" Tucker said before he and several other students turned and ran to the window.
"What's going on out there?" Danny frowned as he, Andy, and Sam went to see what all the hub hub was about.
They saw a six wheel truck pulling into the school's driveway, and it was carrying what looked like a stage with 2 large speakers. Purple smoke appeared on the empty, mobile stage. Ember herself appeared on the stage, and not long after, a drummer appeared, and two other guitarists. What was off about them was that they had blue glowing skin. Ember strummed her guitar and started up her song.
"Yeah~! Ooohhhaaahhh~!" Ember began to sing, drawing out the majority of the student body easily. The doors to Casper High were flung open and students poured out like water from a faucet.
Ember grinned upon seeing this. "Hello, Casper High! Tell me who you love!" She cheered.
The crowd began chanting her name. "Ember! Ember! Ember!"
Ember seemed to revel in the cheering. "That's it baby, say my name! Are you ready for a little youth revolution?!"
The crowd of teens cheered loudly. Danny, Sam, and Andy were standing outside of the door. Tucker rushed out and jumped into the crowd, being a part of the craze. Takuya came out afterwards, frowning. He was surprised by all the craziness that was going on.
"WE LOVE YOU EMBER!" Tucker shouted happily.
Danny frowned before his ghost sense went off.
"Uh, oh…" Danny muttered to himself.
"What? What is it?" Sam asked, having seen Danny's ghost sense go off.
"I think there's a ghost nearby…" Danny muttered.
Takuya gasped as he felt the chills of heat and cold run down his spine. Shit… why did I get that feeling now?!
"That's because I fill a void in your empty lives!" Ember said to Tucker's words.
"You're right, Ember!" Tucker cheered.
Andy blinked as he looked at Ember, the literal fire on her hair, and the band she had behind her that looked very… ghostly.
"Do you think it's Ember herself?" Andy asked. "Because she does look pretty ghostly."
Danny blinked as he looked at Ember for a moment before he realized Andy was right. "Oh my gosh… you're right, bro! Ember's the ghost!"
"Wait, seriously?!" Sam asked in surprise. "... I guess it makes sense now that I think about it…"
"... So is she using music to mind control everyone?" Takuya asked.
"That… would explain a lot…" Sam frowned.
"So what should we do?" Danny asked. "There's so many people here, I'm not sure if I should start a fight with Ember like this. They'll all get caught in the crossfire."
"Don't ask me… maybe Andy might know a way?" Sam suggested.
"Oh yeah, Andy, what do you- … Andy?" Danny blinked.
Andy's head was bobbing to Ember's music, then he heard his name being called. "Huh? What was that?"
"Um… what should we do about the large crowd? I mean, I can't start a fight with Ember with so many students around. They'll all get caught in the crossfire." Danny said.
"Oh, um…" Andy blinked a few times. "Do you have to fight her? I mean she's not hurting anyone, is she?"
Danny frowned a little. "No, but… I just want to be prepared in case she does, you know?"
At that point, Mr. Lancer stepped up, holding a megaphone in one hand. "Attention freakishly dressed teen idol! I order you to cease and desist!"
Ember seemed to take that as a challenge. "Desist this, Grandpa!" She turned a knob on her guitar before strumming it, and out came swirling purple waves that washed over the students assembled before her.
The students's eyes turned red and they turned to Mr. Lancer with killer intent. Mr. Lancer looked legitimately scared.
"Okay, nevermind then," Andy sighed. "You should make sure Mr. Lancer's safe, I'll see if I can come up with something."
"Yeah," Danny agreed before he ran into a nearby bush to transform, he didn't want to risk transforming in the open even if everyone's attention was either on Ember or Mr. Lancer.
Once in the bush, Danny called upon the rings of light that washed over him. When the rings faded, Danny was now in his ghost form of Danny Phantom.
"Pride and Prejudice!" Mr. Lancer exclaimed in horror as he saw the students coming at him.
Danny, as Phantom, flew out of the bush while intangible and came to a hover behind Mr. Lancer as the student mob ran for him. Danny put a hand on Mr. Lancer and turned him intangible, having the angry mob rush through them.
Once the angry mob went past Mr. Lancer, Danny let him go and flew up into the air. Mr. Lancer opened his eyes when he saw he was okay, and was confused.
Danny looked over at the stage, trying to figure out how to handle her, but when he turned to the stage… it was gone. All of it was gone, the semi-truck, the stage, the band, Ember herself were just gone. All the students looked like they were coming out of a trance.
"Hey… where did she go?" Danny wondered aloud to himself.
Sam was making her way over to Tucker. "Hey…" Tucker groaned as he came out of his trance. "No encore? What's that all about?" He moped.
"Later, we need to talk," Andy whispered.
Tucker followed Andy, Takuya, and Sam behind the school while the teachers were trying to get the students back into the school.
"Ember's a ghost?" Tucker frowned.
"Yeah, the flaming hair, the blue skinned band, those weren't special effects," Andy pointed out. "And Danny's ghost sense went off, proving she's a ghost."
"I'm pretty sure Ember is using mind control on her music, which would explain why everyone is so obsessed with her now." Sam grumbled.
"Mind control?" Tucker frowned more. "Aww man… so you're saying I don't actually like her music? I just like it because I'm being mind controlled into liking it?"
"That's what it sounds like." Andy frowned as well. "Although the music is pretty good… it's a damn shame that it's being used for mind control though."
"Wait… if it's mind control music, why are Sam and Takuya not affected by it?" Tucker asked. "Or you, Andy? I mean you say you like it, but you aren't cheering out her name or wearing her merchandise."
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's just not my taste?" Sam shrugged.
"Or the Fenton Earphones are keeping you protected," Andy pointed out. "I did say they likely would keep you safe from possible mind control if it's spectral noise."
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain you or Takuya being immune," Sam pointed out.
Danny landed next to them, returning back to his human form. "She got away…"
"We know Danny's immune because he's half ghost," Takuya said. And I'm probably immune because of the Digimon spirit.
"What?" Danny blinked.
"We're talking about why we're not affected by Ember's music, besides Tucker," Sam explained.
"Oh… right." Danny nodded. "I guess those Earphones are keeping you safe, and Takuya… uh… has something keeping him safe too, I'm sure."
"I'm probably not exactly safe. I was starting to enjoy Ember's music," Andy admitted worriedly. "I'm not sure why it was taking longer for me to fall for it though, but the longer I listen to her music, the more I'll start to fall for it…"
Danny paled. "Then you'd better wear your Fenton Earphones, bro… I don't want to see you become a raging fan too…"
"Hey! I'm not a raging fan!" Tucker whined.
"Um… you're wearing Ember clothing…" Takuya deadpanned. "Not to mention you were under her spell to attack Mr. Lancer…"
Tucker frowned.
"I'll have to go back home to get the Earphones," Andy replied. "Although I'm not sure how safe we are, since her music is already in our heads. The Earphones could filter out any more noise, but I don't know if it'll cure us."
"So what else could we do then? Risk exposing you and Tucker to more of Ember's music?" Takuya frowned. "She seems to be everywhere right now."
"I think we should at least see if the Fenton Earphones keep Andy from becoming more of a fan than he already is. Same goes for Tucker." Danny sighed. "At the very least, it should keep them from being affected more by the music. It may not be a cure, but it's a good preventative to keep it from getting worse."
Andy sighed. "Alright, then we better pick up extra pairs for Tucker too."
Tucker grumbled. He didn't like having to wear those earphones.
Later that evening, Takuya entered Andy's room. He saw Andy wearing the Fenton Earphones, but he didn't see Danny anywhere.
"Where's Danny?" Takuya asked curiously.
"He went to give Tucker his earphones," Andy answered. "Being a ghost and all, he can travel to Tucker's house faster than we could."
"Ah. Okay." Takuya said as he nodded. He then looked at Andy. "How are you feeling? Are the Fenton Earphones keeping you from getting more obsessed with Ember?"
"I don't know. I haven't heard any of her songs yet since I put them on," Andy shrugged.
"What about Jazz?" Takuya asked.
"She refuses to wear them… I think she's been exposed to too much of Ember's music." Andy frowned.
"Great… And that means maybe Ember's music will be playing here in no time." Takuya groaned. "Well, at least it would test if the Earphones work as expected and actually prevent more exposure for you."
"Yeah, here's hoping," Andy grumbled.
Takuya then had a strange sense. It wasn't one he had before, not like when a ghost was nearby. It was more warm. He heard something coming from Danny's computer. He looked over, seeing the screen glitching out.
"H-hey… what's going on with Danny's computer? The screen is glitching out." Takuya noted as he walked over and examined the screen.
"I'm not sure. It's been doing that off and on lately," Andy replied. "I don't know what's wrong with it. It's not even on."
When Takuya got close to the screen, the glitching suddenly stopped. Then suddenly, the device he kept close to him since he found that strange figurine began to vibrate in his pocket.
"H-huh?" He took out the device and peered at it. "What the… Why is this thing vibrating? It's never done that before."
Takuya's eyes went wide in shock when he saw a strange symbol appearing on the screen, a symbol that didn't look like Agunimon's.
"Takuya Kanbara…" A feminine voice spoke up from the device.
"What the heck…?" Andy blinked. "Who's that?"
"I… I don't know…" Takuya admitted. "This is the first time I heard this voice… What the heck is going on?"
"But she knew your name." Andy frowned.
"I see… you have the Legendary Warrior of Flame. I was worried he was lost forever," The voice noted.
"Wait… what? Legendary Warrior of Flame?" Takuya asked, confused as heck now. "What is going on? Who is this?"
"There is much that you must know… but…" The voice began. "I can't talk for long… the signal is too weak."
The symbol on the screen began to fizzle out.
"H-hey! Don't just cut out on me! What do you mean by 'Legendary Warrior of Flame'? What do you mean by that?" Takuya asked.
"You have… the Legendary Warrior… of Flame's… spirit, do you not? The… one called… Agunimon," The voice answered, static starting to overtake the voice.
"Yes, but… What does that mean? Is Agunimon a Legendary Warrior? Am I the Legendary Warrior?" Takuya asked.
"Come… to the… Digi-... -orld… we-... talk then…" The voice said as it became harder to hear, then the symbol on the screen vanished.
"H-hey! Come back!" Takuya called to his device, but to no avail. "Aw man… that was weird…"
Andy frowned, finding the experience interesting. "So she knows about Agunimon… and she wants you to go somewhere to talk. If that doesn't say 'stranger danger', I don't know what does."
"But it could be our only chance to learn more about Agunimon's Spirit thing, and these 'Legendary Warriors' the voice mentioned." Takuya pointed out.
"Maybe, but do you know where to go to find this mysterious person?" Andy asked. "It was a little difficult to hear what she said."
"I… think it said something like 'Digi…orld… Maybe it means something?" Takuya shrugged. "I guess we need to find this place."
"Digi… orld?" Andy frowned. "What's an 'orld' though?"
Andy paused for a moment. "Digi… world maybe? Digi world?"
Then Andy remembered the new game he had been looking forward to, the one called The Ruler of the Digital World. "The Digital World…? Is that where she wants you to go?"
"Hold on… you mean like in that game that's coming out?" Takuya blinked. "I mean… the name makes sense, but why have me go there? The game isn't even out yet!"
"There has been special promotions for early access to the beta lately," Andy admitted. "But I wanted to wait until the beta was fully released, since early access tends to have a lot of glitches and not a lot to do. But I don't know why they want you to go there to talk to you… or how they know your name."
"Yeah… that part is mysterious." Takuya agreed. He looked down at his device again. "But… maybe we can get answers if we go there, to the Digital World I mean. It may be our best bet to find out what is going on." Takuya then sighed. "But that will have to wait until after Ember is dealt with."
"Hmm…" Andy gave a thoughtful expression. "Yeah, maybe."
"What's wrong?" Takuya asked.
"Something is just bothering me… I can't really say what it is though," Andy admitted. "As for Ember, we'll need more information on her. Like why she's mind controlling people, and what her end goal is."
"I guess we need to do some research then." Takuya sighed. "If there is anything on Ember, it would be online at the very least."
"I'll get started on it then," Andy said as he booted up his computer.
The next day, at school, Danny, Andy, Takuya, Tucker, and Sam met up with each other. Andy was explaining what he and Takuya found out about Ember.
"Apparently she was a teenage girl back in the late 80s, she was into music, mostly rock. She had a date with someone she really liked, but he stood her up. Her house caught on fire and she died in the flames," Andy informed. "So that probably explains why she's a fire ghost."
"But why does she use mind control? What is her end goal?" Sam asked, still wearing her Fenton Earphones.
"It may have to do with her being stood up by her date." Takuya replied. "But that part of the article was kinda… murky on the topic, so it's just an assumption for now."
"It's probably in the lyrics of her song," Andy said. "I listened to the lyrics to get a better idea and-"
"Whoa, whoa, you listened to Ember's song? And you were getting on me for listening to her song?" Tucker pouted.
Andy put his hands on his hips. "It was for research purposes, and I had the Fenton Earphones on."
"So that explains why you're not wearing Ember's merchandise." Danny chuckled. "Looks like the Fenton Earphones worked after all."
"Yeah, it would seem so." Sam agreed with a smile.
"So anyways, according to the lyrics, it seems to be describing Ember's date and how she was stood up, and then she was… erm… 'warm and tender', that could mean she's describing how she died," Andy explained. "It's possible the mind control thing is because she's obsessed with attention. Or it could be something she had wanted to do in life, but was cut short when she died in the house fire."
Danny frowned. "Wow… that's a sad way to go, dying in a house fire like that…"
Takuya grimaced. He had power over fire as Agunimon, and to imagine Ember's death made him very uneasy.
"That's a brutal way to go." Sam frowned as well.
Not that being electrocuted and ripped apart by molecules is any better. Andy frowned as he glanced at Danny for a moment. "My guess is most ghost's deaths are pretty brutal, otherwise they wouldn't come back as ghosts."
"Like how Syndey did?" Danny asked before wincing. "Okay, bad example, but it's still pretty scary to think about when it comes to a ghost forming."
Andy, Sam, Takuya, and Tucker all looked at Danny when he said that.
"What?" Danny frowned. "Okay, I know I'm half ghost, but I'm still half human too, guys."
"Let's just not think about that. We still have to stop her," Takuya pointed out.
"Problem is, while she is every face plastered on every merchandise right now, we have no idea where Ember herself is." Andy frowned.
"Yeah, and that's the problem. If we can't find her, we can't stop her." Danny agreed. "Which means we have to wait until she shows up again, and that could be at any time, any place."
"Hey everyone!" Paulina called, wearing an Ember fire hair wig on her head, and even had the eye tattoos under her eyes. "Ember's giving away free concert tickets at Booky's Mega Music store!"
Almost immediately, just about everyone in school, besides the group, were charging towards the school's exit, screaming out Ember's name.
"... Well, that was easy," Andy muttered.
"Tell me about it…" Danny agreed.
Tucker was pulling to catch up with the crowd rush as Takuya and Sam were holding him back. "Must… have… Ember… tix…"
"I thought the Fenton Earphones were keeping him from being Ember's fan!" Sam groaned.
"It only filters out spectral noise. It doesn't do anything if the spectral noise is already in your brain, like I was saying earlier," Andy grumbled. "... I wonder if I could get that cool flaming hair wig?"
Andy began to move towards the door when Danny quickly grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving.
"H-hey! Don't go leaving now, bro! Stay focused!" Danny exclaimed as he held Andy in place himself.
"Sorry, I'm focused! … But I really do think that flaming hair wig would look cool…" Andy pouted.
"We're going to have to deprogram them…" Sam frowned.
"But how?" Takuya grunted as he tried to keep Tucker in his grasp. "We don't know what will deprogram Andy and Tucker!"
"I know! In a mental delima like this, the characters from the TV show use those mind helmets to cure them!" Andy smiled.
"This is real life, bro… not that TV show," Danny grumbled, but he still held onto Andy's arm.
"We have mind helmets though, like the ones in Mr. Lancer's classroom," Andy pointed out.
Danny blinked. "You want to use one of those as a cure?" Then he remembered the Cramtastic Mark V. "Oh! Now I get it!"
"Well either that or you could try the overshadowing trick," Andy remarked nonchalantly, but also curiously. "I wonder if that would do anything? Could a specter entering one's body cancel out the spectral noise in that same body?"
"Either that, or it would affect me too." Danny pointed out.
"We don't know that, you seem fine compared to us," Andy pointed out. "But before we try anything, are you sure you don't want me to get those free tickets? I mean… those could get us into the concert to see Ember."
Danny blinked. While it was a possible option, he didn't want to risk getting Andy exposed to Ember's music even more. "... I think we'll have to pass on those tickets, bro…"
"Come on, let's at least try the Cramtastic thing," Sam spoke up, trying to pull Tucker with Takuya's help to Mr. Lancer's classroom. "I didn't know Tucker could have such strength!"
"Obsession and motivation are powerful tools," Takuya grumbled.
"Come on, bro, at least let me get the hair! I want cool flaming hair too!" Andy whined when Danny started pulling him as well.
"Oh no you don't!" Danny exclaimed, using his ghostly strength to hold Andy back. "Not you too, Andy…"
Andy was pouting, but he knew he wouldn't be able to win against his brother's ghostly strength.
Takuya, Sam, and Danny forced Tucker and Andy to sit down at their desks, and put the helmets on their heads.
"This is where the healing begins," Sam sighed. "Maybe we should tie them up to make sure they can't escape."
Takuya frowned a bit. "Maybe… but is that really necessary, Sam? I mean… they aren't going anywhere right now."
"Let's at least lock the door to make sure they don't run off to see Ember," Danny suggested.
"I suppose that works too," Sam agreed.
Takuya sighed. "That makes way more sense." He sighed in relief. "Let's go see if we can stop Ember before she gets those tickets out."
The 3 of them nodded before they walked out of the classroom, locking the door behind them. As soon as they did, Andy grinned before he started to type something on the keyboard.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Fake-out Make-out to the rescue~ XD
Son Sandy: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Andy's ideas can be misunderstood or misinterpreted sometimes, especially if he lets himself get a little careless. And this was a show made back in the early 2000s, a lot of shows like Danny Phantom often like to tease a boy and a girl hanging out as being romantically involved. And I liked to play it off as a satire kind of thing here. And of course, Valerie is a pretty important character so I wanted to include her with the Digimon stuff as well.
pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: In a way… XD And no, Valerie will not be a Legendary Warrior.
DarkFoxKit: Since people are getting the wrong idea, most likely due to our previous installment, I will just say it now: none of the DP characters will be a Legendary Warrior in this story.
SMiTH io: ZAFT: You will have to keep reading. And to repeat what DarkFoxKit said, no DP characters will be a Legendary Warrior.
Dion ComicWiz: ZAFT: Now this is a big boy of a review! XD First of all, glad you could review! And second, thanks for the in depth review! This is what we like to see~
DarkFoxKit: Indeed, it gives us a lot more to work with, and to see what someone actually thought of the chapter or story. To start with your review, yeah, we often try to mix episodes together to create a cohesive story. Though later on we start to mix the episodes up a bit to what we feel would work best in the timeline. We try to keep things different, but not change anything too drastically, well, at least not yet anyways. We wanted to make things a little more realistic, not everyone who's a background character is just a one-note flat character that only has one kind of personality after all. And the whole joke with Jack's present having the Box Ghost come out at the end of that episode just bothered me, not to mention I felt it also ended up being retconned because Jazz acts like she's never seen a ghost before in the very next episode. What was the point of building up that present only for it to not pay off? So we changed it to be something less of a joke, and something more emotional. We also figured that Sydney and Harriet deserved better endings than what they got.
ZAFT: For the second part of your review, the changes Andy and Takuya bring make things much more interesting. And they have real consequences as well, which we felt was missing. Andy being involved as he is means Danny has more training and can get better instead of just stumbling around. It also shows how much Andy supports his brother, and Danny learns from Andy, growing to think more instead of only fighting. Now Takuya being the heart of the group is kinda what he does. XD But for sure calling out Andy on his actions is a good way to show Takuya as the older cousin. And trust me, Rulers of the Digital World will be more important than you think down the road. XD
DarkFoxKit: Andy laughing about Cujo throwing Danny around isn't really out of character for him. Now that he knows Phantom is Danny, he thought it was funny because he knows Danny can handle it, and he's played pranks on Danny before, it's like how one would laugh when their sibling got pie in their face. He just didn't expect the big mess that happened afterwards. And after all Andy had been through, he just wanted to cut back a little. Of course, becoming too careful has its own consequences too as you will see later on, since Andy took what Takuya said to heart.
ZAFT: As for the Digital World… that will be revealed as the story goes along. XD But some things will be the same, some will be different. And we will work on making sure an arc is not drawn out too long. I think we have a good pace going so far.
DarkFoxKit: However I do apologize if anything becomes too drawn out. That is something I myself need to work on.