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.

62. The Choices We Make

ZAFT: Close to Thanksgiving now! Hard to believe we're almost done with the year.

DarkFoxKit: Yeah, it doesn't really feel like November to me because it's been really warm. I don't like that. I like the cold season actually being cold. It used to be pretty cold here.

ZAFT: Same here. I'm actually hoping for feet of snow this year, but… you never know… -_-

DarkFoxKit: Snow would be cool, though I rarely get it where I live, so I always cherish it when it is able to snow. But anyways, let's get into the story.

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

Digital Phantom!

(Shows several forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton 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!

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Chapter 62: The Choices We Make

Andy and Turuiemon were currently hiding from dark Andy and Wendigomon. They were in one of the taller trees.

"You can try to hide, my light self, but you can't hide forever~" Dark Andy sneered as he and Wendigomon were walking.

"What do we do, Andy?" Turuiemon whispered. "We can't keep hiding forever. We need to find a way to beat them."

"I'm trying to figure this out," Andy whispered back to his partner. "I'm no match for this dark version of me… I think he's also a future version of me too, he's obviously seen more battles than I have. He's way too strong, and I'm pretty sure under that shirt of his are actual, toned muscles. Whenever I tried to block his attacks, it felt like my arms were going to break from the sheer force he put into his swings. And Wendigomon may be the same… you're both Champion level, but he's doing more damage to you than you are to him…"

"Then… Can we even beat them?" Turuiemon asked with a frown. "Because it doesn't sound like we can…"

"I don't think we're meant to, at least not in a full on confrontation," Andy said. "The dark reflection of me said it wasn't his purpose to kill us. He has another goal in mind. Though he never said what it was. Is it to trap us here? To break our spirits? To… make us doubt those closest to us? He talked about how he was betrayed by someone who was closest to him, besides you of course. And how he was filled with so much anger and hate that it leaked into his partner. And… well, I think there's also something else about him… something that… may not be human."

"That much is obvious, he was created by a Digimon," Turuiemon deadpanned.

"No… I don't mean like that," Andy sighed. "The way he fights, and his immense strength… I don't know, it feels similar to…"

Andy shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter. The point is that we can't face them head on, we'll be defeated quickly if we tried."

"So we have to fight smarter, not harder." Turuiemon realized. "That sounds like it's right up our alley, so to speak."

"I don't think we can outsmart him either. Think about it, he's me, even if he's not real. He'll be able to think like me. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he knew we were here right now and he's just toying with us," Andy warned. "What I want to know is how did he turn out like that? Who betrayed him and why? Was it… Takuya? Or… Danny? Or someone else?"

"I… just can't imagine Takuya or Danny betraying you." Turuiemon frowned.

"Neither can I… but then, maybe that's why I turn out like that…" Andy said softly and worriedly. "People don't take it well when someone they thought they could trust, someone they were closest to since childhood, ends up backstabbing them. I… don't even know what I would do if that happened to me."

Turuiemon frowned. "Then we need to find out who betrayed your dark self. Maybe that is the key to defeating him and Wendigomon."

Suddenly the tree they were on began to lift up. Turuiemon and Andy gasped as Wendigomon was lifting them and the tree up with ease. Dark Andy was on top of Wendigomon's head, grinning at them.

"Are you finished discussing your plan with your partner?" Dark Andy asked.

"Of course you'd know that," Andy replied. "What is it that you want from us if it's not to kill us?"

"Did I not tell you before?" Dark Andy said. "I'm here to give you a choice. As your dark reflection, you must already know that you can't defeat me or my partner by traditional means. So what do you do then? Hmm? Use your brain for this one."

Turuiemon frowned. I hope you have some kind of plan, Andy. We can't be reckless here…

Behind Dark Andy, Wendigomon was grinning, revealing all of his yellowed teeth in a sinister smile.

"Put us down then," Andy said. "It's a little difficult to have a discussion when you have us trapped in a tree."

"Poor little rabbits, stuck in a tree," Dark Andy remarked. "Very well then. You can try running, but I think we both know how useless that is. This is our space, there's nowhere you two can go that we wouldn't know."

Wendigomon put the tree down, allowing Turuiemon to pick up Andy and hop down. Dark Andy didn't have Wendigomon to let him down, instead, he just floated slowly off of Wendigomon's head and landed on his feet. Andy found that very creepy, and added to his theory of this dark reflection of his not being all 'human'. It could just be because this version of Andy wasn't real, and so anything goes for him, but… something in Andy just told him it wasn't that simple.

"You said you were here to give us a choice," Andy noted. "What do you mean by that?"

"As I've stated before, I'm not just a dark reflection of the current you. The current you had too little darkness to create a full dark reflection for you to face. It's annoying, but at least you know you're doing a good job with being a good person I suppose. But the future, however, is a different story," Dark Andy informed.

"That's absurd, you can't just create someone's dark future self, especially since that future hasn't happened and could never happen," Andy argued.

"That's normally true, if you hadn't been reflected by a Legendary Warrior. Their powers go beyond the limits of understanding and logic," Dark Andy stated.

"Legendary Warrior? The Digimon we saw before was a Legendary Warrior?" Turuiemon frowned.

Wendigomon gave that sinister grin before nodding.

Turuiemon groaned. "Of course it would be a Legendary Warrior that did this…"

Why would a Legendary Warrior do this? Is it a rogue Warrior? Is this that Warrior's trap? Andy frowned, but answering that question would have to wait, he had to focus. "So why are you here with a 'choice'? What does this choice have to do with anything?"

"What caused me to be like this… or what will cause you to be like me… it wasn't just one event you know," Dark Andy stated. "It was a series of choices that led up to that event, and even more series of choices after it. All these choices, the mindset, the thought process, the emotions, the anxiety, the threat of losing those dear to you, and how alienating a certain… culture is to the likes of us. The choices we make is what will determine our future, and what, or who, we end up becoming."

Dark Andy raised his hand, creating what looked like a blue fireball. "And some of these choices leads us to where our world end up burning away, and we're left with nothing but darkness and despair."

Andy was surprised his dark reflection was able to create that fireball, before snuffing it out by balling his hand into a fist.

"And you…" Dark Andy pointed at his light self. "What do you think your choices would be when the time comes? You can't prevent it, you can't predict it, all you can do is experience it and make your choices. Will you fall into darkness and despair like I did? Or would you overcome it and become stronger for it?"

"That's impossible for me to say, especially since I don't even know what the heck you're talking about. I don't know what 'event' led to these choices you're talking about that turns me into you," Andy replied.

Dark Andy let out a sigh. "Such a predictable answer, and a boring one at that. Or maybe you just don't want to even try to imagine it. Imagine a scenario that could end up pushing you off the deep end. What's wrong? Are you scared?"

Turuiemon growled. "Andy's not scared!" He snapped before he paused. "Uh… right?" He added, looking back at Andy.

Wendigomon just grinned with that sinister smile again, making Turuiemon feel a bit creeped out at how human the smile looked, and it was not in a good way either.

I definitely don't want to turn into that… Turuiemon gulped.

"Don't lie to yourself, you can feel his fear right now," Dark Andy said. "You are, after all, his partner. Wendigomon is the only one I can truly count on in these dark times, he, and my cousin, are the only ones who stuck by me after all this time."

"Wait… so Takuya didn't betray you?" Andy said, surprised that his dark reflection revealed that so casually.

"Takuya may be a hot head, but he knows where his loyalty lies," Dark Andy said.

I don't like how he said that. He makes it sound like he only sees Takuya as a tool. Andy frowned.

"But that eliminates Takuya from being the one who betrayed me. So who's left then, I wonder? Who else, who isn't Lopmon or Takuya, is closer to you than your friends? Who is the one who will betray you?" Dark Andy grinned sinisterly. "I know you're not stupid, Andy. You already know who I'm talking about."

"Ugh!" Andy didn't like being called out so easily, but then again, this was a dark reflection of him, he would know everything about Andy. "No way! I refuse to believe that he would ever betray me! If… if you say he did, then he must've been brainwashed or under mind control! Or maybe he was being blackmailed! Because there's no way he would ever betray me of his own free will!"

Turuiemon didn't quite get what was being talked about, but he knew Andy had Danny as his other close person. However, like Andy, Turuiemon had trouble believing Danny would betray Andy as well. It was absurd! They were twins for crying out loud! "Andy's right. There's no way his brother would betray him! Danny and Andy are too close to have that happen."

Wendigomon just shook his massive head in disappointment, as if unable to believe that Turuiemon would stand by Andy that easily before looking back up and giving another sinister smile.

Dark Andy started laughing, which creeped both Andy and Turuiemon out, it was like they said the funniest thing in the world.

"How naive I was…" Dark Andy said after he finally stopped laughing. "You have no idea what people are truly capable of. Or maybe it's more like… you don't know what ghosts are truly capable of. You have to stop thinking of Danny as a full human, and remind yourself that he is a ghost. Therefore he also has the instinct of a ghost. He is no longer the human brother you remember, and it's best you keep that in mind from now on."

"S-shut up! You're sounding no different from my parents now!" Andy snapped.

Turuiemon stood his ground. "Danny may be half ghost, but he is still part human as well! That will never change! So why would his ghostly side change things between them?!"

Wendigomon gave a sinister laugh, which sent chills down Turuiemon's spine. It was like Wendigomon found what he had said funny when Turuiemon had meant every word.

"You don't know how different ghosts truly are to humans in the way of thinking. If you knew just what kind of laws and culture the ghosts have, you would be completely appalled. Things like brainwashing, mind control, stripping someone of everything they once were and hollowing them out… they are seen as normal and acceptable in the ghost society. They will use the excuse it's therapy, it's good for the younger ghosts, it will help them recover from trauma. They deserve it, they broke the Taboos, taking everything away from them is considered to be a light punishment. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps our parents had a point after all about how twisted and evil ghosts actually are," Dark Andy stated in a low tone, dripping with venom and hatred.

"... What… happened to you?" Andy asked, not entirely sure what he was more horrified by, the laws that were apparently seen as normal for ghosts, or his own apparently future self.

However, before Dark Andy could reply, Turuiemon perked up, as if sensing something. "Wait!" He exclaimed as he looked back as a light began to shine above the four of them. Cracks began to spread out from the point of light before the trees behind them began to crack and fall apart, like a broken mirror.

In the center of the opening was Danny, and he was running towards Andy and Turuiemon. "ANDY!"

Wendigomon frowned upon seeing this new development.

"D-Danny?" Andy asked in shock. "What are you doing here? Are you… real?"

"Yeah, of course I'm real! I managed to break into this space to get you out!" Danny quickly explained before he looked at Wendigomon. "Whoa, what is that ugly monster? Is that who you were fighting?"

Wendigomon was starting to growl as a dark aura began to rise from his body.

"Maybe you shouldn't have insulted him," Turuiemon said.

"No… it's not coming from him…" Andy paled as he looked at his dark reflection.

Dark Andy was glaring at Danny with intense hatred as a dark aura was engulfing his body. "You… how dare you show your face here!"

"Wh-whoa… I don't think this guy is too happy to see me…" Danny gulped. "I think we need to run, bro, and like now!"

Andy didn't get a chance to answer as Danny grabbed onto his hand and began running. Turuiemon quickly followed them.

"Who's that? He looks like you!" Danny asked as they were running.

"Apparently he's a dark reflection of me from the future!" Andy quickly answered as he felt the tense aura getting stronger behind them.

"What?" Danny frowned.

"Look out!" Turuiemon shouted as Wendigomon suddenly teleported in front of them.

Dark Andy was on top of Wendigomon's head again and he was giving them an insane smile of bloodlust. "DIE!"

Wendigomon launched at them, ready to crush them with his hands.

"Whoa!" Danny yelped. On reflex, he turned himself and Andy intangible, causing the giant hands to pass through them with ease.

When Wendigomon lifted his giant hands again, Danny returned himself and Andy back to a tangible state. "Wow… that was close…" Danny gasped.

"I don't think we're out of the woods yet!" Andy warned.

"Koko Crusher!" Wendigomon let out a loud shout that caused a massive shockwave.

Andy, Danny, and Turuiemon were sent flying. Danny quickly transformed into his ghost form and grabbed onto Andy and Turuiemon. Turuiemon was weakened from the attack and degenerated back into Lopmon.

"You show yourself again!" Dark Andy laughed an insane laugh. "Haha… you never change… hahaha… but one thing is different… hahaha… you're not as powerful as you will be!"

Wendigomon was suddenly right on Danny's tail with his mouth wide open, looking like he was going to try to eat Danny and crush him with his teeth. Danny let out a gasp as he turned himself, Andy, and Lopmon intangible to have Wendigomon pass through them. However, as Wendigomon passed through them, dark Andy turned around and fired what looked like a ghost ray at Danny from his hand.

Despite being intangible, the ghost ray hit Danny in the chest, blasting him a few feet away, and also caused him to drop Andy and Lopmon. Andy quickly grabbed onto Lopmon, and Lopmon expanded his ears to slow their descent.

Danny regained his senses and flew back to grab Andy and Lopmon. He knew he had to get his brother and Lopmon out of here, and it had to be fast, too. "Hang on, bro! I'm coming!"

"Don't worry about us! He seems to be after you!" Andy called out.

As if he was teleporting, Wendigomon was on Danny's tail again. Danny gasped as Wendigomon managed to slam his body with his hand, causing Danny to hit the ground really hard. Wendigomon landed on top of Danny, showing no mercy. Danny was in a lot of pain, but his pain tolerance allowed him to turn intangible to go into the ground to get away from the angry rabbit.

"You can't escape, Danny! You won't escape from what you've done!" Dark Andy shouted.

"Stop this! He hasn't done anything to you!" Andy shouted at his dark reflection.

Poor Danny was just plain confused as he came out of the ground. "What are you talking about?! I just got here! I haven't done anything to you!"

"DIE!" Dark Andy screamed out as Wendigomon slashed at Danny.

Danny yelped as he flew back, though parts of his suit got torn off by Wendigomon's nails.

Danny hissed as he fell to the ground. His torn suit quickly amended itself.

"Huh?" Danny blinked, he didn't know his suit could do that.

"Your suit can do that?" Andy blinked as well.

"Do you see how inhuman he is?" Dark Andy said, the smile of bloodlust still on his face. "He may as well lose the rest of his humanity now so we can avoid a painful conviction later!"

"STOP IT!" Andy and Lopmon shouted as Lopmon flattened his ears so he and Andy would fall towards Wendigomon's head.

Andy punched his dark reflection's face before he could do anything else to his brother.

Danny grinned. "Nice shot, bro!" He exclaimed with a smile. While Danny was confused as to what was going on, he had never been happier, or relieved, to hear this raving mad version of Andy shut up.

"You fool! I'm doing us a favor!" Dark Andy snapped before he grabbed Andy and threw him off of Wendigomon.

Lopmon gasped and quickly jumped down to save Andy.

Dark Andy glared at Danny. "This has been a long time coming! I'm going to end your existence!"

Danny's eyes went wide as Dark Andy pointed a finger in his direction and Danny suddenly couldn't move, it was like his entire body had been paralyzed.

"W-what did you do to him!?" Andy shouted when Lopmon managed to grab onto him.

Dark Andy didn't answer, instead, Wendigomon walked up to the paralyzed Danny, fully intending to rip into the ghost boy's chest to tear out his core.

Dark Andy's bloodlust grin grew wider as he began to move his hand, and Wendigomon's hand moved with his in sync.

"Stop! Stop it now!" Andy and Lopmon begged.

Suddenly, something glitched in front of Danny. Maddie and Wormmon fell through, though Maddie had her back to Danny, so she didn't see him.

"We finally made it in!" Maddie said in relief.

"W-what is that!?" Wormmon yelped when he saw Wendigomon standing in front of them with his arm stretched out.

Dark Andy froze when he saw Maddie appearing all of a sudden, and in turn, Wendigomon stopped moving.

Maddie was staring in shock at what she was seeing. "What is… going on here…?" She was sure she was seeing an illusion of Andy, one that was dark and… sinister. "Is… Is that… Andy?"

Maddie didn't see Andy himself, he was still floating down from behind Wendigomon, but Andy couldn't help but notice the situation seemed to have… suddenly stopped when his mother appeared.

"Andy… are you okay?" Maddie asked. "Is that… Lopmon?"

"That… can't be… that's a dark digivolution." Wormmon frowned.

"M… Mom…" Dark Andy whispered, saying the word like he couldn't believe it was her. "Is that… you?"

"Yes, it's me, Andy. Are… are you okay?" Maddie asked, not seeing the real Andy behind Wendigomon. She really thought Dark Andy was the real Andy.

Maddie removed the goggles and the hood from her so Dark Andy could see her face easier. His eyes went wide when he saw the eyes of his mother for the first time in… ages.

"Mom… you… need to get away… you shouldn't be here…" Dark Andy said, though his voice didn't have any conviction behind it.

Maddie frowned at the tone in her baby boy's voice. "I'm not leaving without you, Andy. You or Lopmon."

"Stop it… you have to leave, now…" Dark Andy hissed, though his and Wendigomon's arm lowered.

Andy and Lopmon landed, but they were still behind Wendigomon.

"It's your mom, shouldn't you go to her?" Lopmon asked.

"Shh… let's see how this scene plays out first," Andy whispered. It's clear that my dark reflection still loves Mom at least. He doesn't seem to have the will to attack her. His entire demeanor changed when he saw her.

"Not until I get you and Lopmon out of here." Maddie replied sternly. "It's too dangerous for you to be here. For all we know, the Legendary Warrior could have something lurking here, ready to kill you!"

"No, you don't know anything!" Dark Andy replied back. "You shouldn't even be here…"

"Um… Maddie… I don't think…" Wormmon began to say.

Dark Andy put a hand on his forehead. "But of course you'd find a way… you love your children so very much… you're willing to go to the extremes for them if you could…"

Maddie at once felt a chill in her gut, a chill that told her this was not her baby boy. The way the form before her spoke was not indicative of it being Andy, but rather someone else. "W-who are you?!"

"I'm a dark reflection of your son," Dark Andy said. "Do you hate me? Well… I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Wendigomon looked down as his body started to disappear.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay anymore. My drive to see this through is gone… as much as I was filled with anger and hate… there is still love in me too after all…" Dark Andy said. "Even when everyone is against you… Mom… I will always love you."

Maddie blinked in surprise and confusion. She didn't even know what to say, her mind was trying to process what she was seeing and hearing.

Lopmon watched his dark Champion form vanishing. "Is… is this over?"

"It looks like it is…" Andy said quietly.

As Wendigomon and Dark Andy began to disappear, Dark Andy gave a sad smile at Maddie before he closed his eyes. "Here's hoping the choices you make will be different from mine, Andy…"

With those last words, Wendigomon and Dark Andy disappeared. The space around them began to warp and change. Danny was no longer frozen by the invisible force that kept him unable to move. He immediately changed back to his human form. Maddie turned around when she thought she saw a flash of light behind her, and saw Danny there.

"H-hey, Mom, looks like you made it here too," Danny sheepishly waved.

"Is this where you were? Do you know how worried I was when you suddenly disappeared? If it weren't for Wormmon, I wouldn't have found you!" Maddie scolded. "And what was that just now? Did your brother and Lopmon just vanish!?"

"No, Mom, we're here!" Andy called out, getting their attention.

"Andy! Lopmon!" Maddie exclaimed in relief. "There you two are!"

Maddie ran over to Andy and Lopmon before scooping them both up in a hug. "I was worried about you!"

"We're fine, Mom," Andy said as Maddie was hugging them. "But… thanks for coming… I think you saved us from… our dark reflections."

"Is that what that thing was?" Maddie asked as she set down Andy and Lopmon. "I thought for sure that was you!"

"Well, it wasn't Andy, or me. So no need to worry, Maddie." Lopmon reassured her.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Wormmon spoke up as he crawled over to Maddie. "That wasn't a real person you were talking to."

Danny frowned, he had been there, but he was still confused. "Andy did mention that being his dark reflection before, but… what did you mean by that, bro?"

They noticed they were standing in the forest again. While the space they were in looked identical to the forest they were in before, the reality around them didn't feel fake anymore, nor were they alone. They could hear the chatters of other Digimon in the area now.

Andy deduced that with Wendigomon gone, the space no longer existed, so they were back in reality.

"I'm not entirely sure myself, but apparently a Legendary Warrior used some kind of technique that created a 'dark reflection' of me and Lopmon," Andy explained. "And they sent us into that space we were in."

"So that's what he meant when he said he was a dark reflection of you," Maddie noted. "I didn't know these Legendary Warriors had such power."

"Well, it appears they do, at least they each appear to have different powers that are unique to them." Lopmon mused. "Like this Legendary Warrior has the ability to reflect a being's dark side. And Agunimon has the ability to create a sphere of plasma around himself or others for defense."

Maddie frowned a bit. "I see. That means we have to be careful when we see another Legendary Warrior then since we don't know what unique powers they may have."

"But it seems we can now get out of this forest since we found Andy and Lopmon." Wormmon said optimistically.

"Yeah, the sooner we get out, the better, let's hope we don't run into another incident like that again," Maddie sighed.

"Yeah…" Andy agreed, though he definitely had his mind elsewhere.

"Wait, Mom, how did you and Wormmon get into that space?" Danny asked. I was able to use a bit of my ghost ray to open the cracks enough to get in, but… how did Mom get in?

"You can thank Wormmon for that." Maddie smiled. "He noticed one of the cracks was a lot bigger and weaker than the rest, all he had to do was use an attack to get it to open."

Oh… that must've been the crack I made… Danny realized.

"You noticed something like that? You must be quite intelligent." Lopmon complimented.

Wormmon smiled as he puffed his chest out a little. "Y-you really think so?"

"Oh sure! If you could see a crack like that, you must be smarter than those Dokunemon you were with." Lopmon smiled back.

Wormmon wasn't sure if that was an insult or another compliment, so he decided to take it as the latter. "Thanks… I think…"

"That's a Lopmon compliment, so take it as a good thing." Danny chuckled.

Maddie began to lead the boys as they walked, though she was keeping a closer eye on them.

"Andy? Are you okay? You seem deep in thought about something," Danny whispered.

"A lot… happened in that space…" Lopmon frowned as he was back on Andy's head.

Andy wasn't sure if he should tell Danny about how his dark reflection was apparently a dark reflection from his future.

"Hey, it's okay, bro. I mean the dark reflection thing… it was creepy how he really wanted to kill me, but at least he was stopped in the end, right?" Danny said. "Though if you actually have issues with me, maybe we should talk about it so you don't actually try to kill me or something? You're not… you know, bottling up your emotions and trying to hide it from me, are you?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Andy reassured Danny. "I don't have some deep dark secret about hating you or whatever. That dark reflection was… a bit special. He… said he was from the future. So whatever he was feeling, it has nothing to do with the here and now version of me."

Danny smiled a bit. "That's good to know. But really, bro, if you have any sort of feelings of jealousy or something… don't hesitate to tell me, okay?"

"You already know that I wish I could do more to help, but otherwise, I don't really have anything that dark in me… that's why the dark reflection was from a time that hasn't happened yet," Andy explained. "And… I don't know what got him that messed up, but the implications are… worrying. He really… had it out for you… but he seems to still love Mom, that's why he didn't attack her, and lost the drive to stick around."

Andy also frowned as another thought occurred to him. "And… what were those powers my dark reflection were using?"

Danny blinked. "Andy, that was probably because your dark reflection was created by a Legendary Warrior. Who knows what else he could've had your dark self use?"

"The Legendary Warrior probably wanted to make sure you couldn't defeat your dark reflection through brute strength alone," Lopmon said. "After all, he and Wendigomon were really strong, way too strong for the two of us to handle on our own."

"I guess…" Andy said. It makes sense, I suppose… but it still bothers me. It looked like he had some kind of ghost powers himself.

Danny frowned. "But… why was he so… gung ho on killing me? Do you know?"

"Do you… want to tell him?" Lopmon asked.

Andy thought for a moment. But he realized trying to keep it a secret wouldn't help them. After all, Danny and Takuya trying to keep their identities a secret only led to pain and misunderstanding. And having Danny in the know may help prevent that possible future.

"I don't know all the details, but… apparently someone who was closest to him, aside from Lopmon, and Takuya, had betrayed him," Andy revealed. "And I can only assume that was you."

"W-wait… What?" Danny blinked, unsure if he heard that right. "I betrayed him? How? I'm right here!"

"Remember what I said, he's a dark reflection of me in the future. While you hadn't done that now… apparently you'll do it in the future," Andy explained.

"But… why would I?" Danny frowned.

"I don't know," Andy said. "I was just as confused and shocked about it as you are. He never gave me a straight answer… but what he said, it may have something to do with your ghost half, and maybe the ghosts in general."

Danny frowned. "Andy… I will never betray you, even if I am half ghost… You know that, right?"

Andy looked at Danny and gave him a small smile. "I know you wouldn't. But… the future isn't decided on one event… my dark reflection mentioned that it was a series of choices that led to that event in the first place, and another series of choices that led to me becoming that version of myself. We don't know what happened… or… what will happen, or could happen. And that's what's so scary about it. We think there's no way it's going to happen, but… how can we be sure that it won't until it does?"

Danny could see how torn up Andy was about this revelation. "Andy, don't worry about what will happen, because you don't know what will happen. If you worry about every little choice you make, then you probably will make the choices that end up with that being your future."

"That's true," Lopmon agreed. "The future isn't a set path, it's defined by the choices we make. Like Cherubimon probably wouldn't have gotten killed by the players had he waited in the castle, and there wouldn't be a Beast Slayer Guild we're working to take down some day."

"Yeah, that's true… the choices we make decides what our future will be." Andy nodded. "I don't know what kind of future is ahead of us, but… I want to make sure I make a future where there is a happy ending for all of us."

"Then work on trying to reach that goal, bro. Don't worry about what dark futures could await us." Danny said confidently. "We can find a way to avert that future your dark reflection came from, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah! Just stay focused on the good future you want, Andy!" Lopmon smiled.

Wormmon was on Maddie's shoulder again and he looked back at the boys and Lopmon for a moment, seeing they were whispering to each other. He could see a determined look on their faces before he looked over at Maddie. "Do you ever wonder what they're talking about?"

"Sometimes I do, but the boys are entitled to talk amongst themselves. Besides, if I try to butt in, they may get a bit miffed at my nosing." Maddie chuckled. "They're teenagers. What teenager wouldn't want their parents to stay out of their conversations with others?"

"Teenagers?" Wormmon blinked. "What's that?"

"You… don't know?" Maddie asked.

"No… should I? Is that a stage in human evolution?" Wormmon questioned.

"It's… between a child and an adult. It's not an evolution." Maddie replied. "Like… I am an adult, a fully grown human. Andy and Danny are still growing, but nearing adulthood. That's what a teenager is."

"Oh? So it's like an intermediate stage if humans could digivolve?" Wormmon asked.

"Um… yeah, kinda like that." Maddie replied.

Maddie knew she was going to have a lot to teach Wormmon about humans, just as Wormmon will likely have a lot to teach Maddie about Digimon. She wondered if it was the same for Andy and Lopmon, and for Danny and his Digimon partner. It was a nice feeling actually, she had spent so much of her life researching ghosts that it was refreshing to learn about these new beings.

Mercurymon was watching the group leave the forest. Another Digimon walked up to Mercurymon.

"So you just let them go?"

"Twas not the time for battle. I was testing Lopmon's partner to see if thy was worthy for him," Mercurymon replied. "Unlike you, Arbormon, I recognize that Lopmon still doesn't have his memories of his past life, as he is not the same Master Cherubimon as he was before."

The Digimon, Arbormon, frowned. "Then that means I got tricked? Some Warrior of Wood I am…"

"Some Warrior indeed. Thy's mission was to protect the peace in the Digital World from humans, not terrorize locals for burgers," Mercurymon scolded.

"What can I say? I was hungry, and I don't think right when I'm hungry," Arbormon huffed.

"There are better ways to get a meal than to terrorize the locals. Thou and Grumblemon are giving the Legendary Warriors who are pure and not tainted by humanity a bad reputation," Mercurymon stated firmly.

"You can scold me after we get out of here. I may be the Warrior of Wood, but I don't like having these bugs trying to crawl all over me," Arbormon huffed. "But speaking about that test… did that human pass?"

"Thy results… are inconclusive," Mercurymon said.

"What does that mean?" Arbormon questioned.

"Thy boy's brother interfered. Tis only logical that the results of the test are not conclusive. The boy will need to be tested again, when no interference can occur." Mercurymon replied. "Only then will we know if Lopmon is suited to be thy boy's partner."

"Why do you care anyways? Shouldn't we take Lord Cherubimon away from the humans?" Arbormon asked. "The humans are only going to corrupt him, right?"

"Ugh… that's the trouble with the rest of you. Thou fail to see the big picture," Mercurymon grumbled. "Humans appear to bring out a Digimon's potential. I had seen it when I observed these players and their partners. Digimon that were normally weak or destined to stay weak, become strong and digivolve into unexpected forms, and were able to accomplish things one wouldn't think they would be able to. Imagine what a proper human partner could do for Lord Cherubimon."

"But wasn't our mission to eliminate humans? Even if this human can bring our Lord Cherubimon's true potential, a human is still a human, isn't it?" Arbormon replied, not really understanding why Mercurymon cared about this. "Besides, Lord Cherubimon is strong enough as he was. He just needs to get his memories back, which the human may be blocking to keep Lord Cherubimon to himself."

"That may be, but until we know for sure, thee are forbidden from attacking that human." Mercurymon said firmly. "If he proves unworthy, then eliminating him is not out of the question."

"You and your weird mindset," Arbormon grumbled. "What about his brother? And the others around him?"

"Do not attack his brother yet, until I know who his partner is," Mercurymon replied. "However, the others I do not care much for. Do with them what you wish."

Arbormon grinned. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" He exclaimed as he slammed a fist into his open palm.

"Ugh… Thou's boarish behavior is grating on my nerves at times…" Mercurymon grumbled. No matter. I will be keeping my eyes on these two at the very least. They have my interest.

---

"Do you think… we're ready to head back now?" Jazz nervously asked Takuya.

It was the next day at the Forest Terminal. Floramon was feeling much better now, she was able to walk around without any issues. Jazz and Veemon had been especially happy and relieved to see Floramon was doing okay. Jazz, Jack, Floramon, Veemon, and Takuya were having breakfast together. Takuya could only guess Koji didn't join them because he didn't want to have to explain himself to Jack and Veemon. And they were discussing what they should do regarding their house since they came into the Digital World to escape the ghosts that were invading it.

"I think so, but… I just… I can't help but get this feeling that is bothering me." Takuya replied. "I know it sounds odd, but I can't help but wonder what caused those ghosts to attack us."

"Well, why wouldn't they?" Jack asked. "Ghosts don't need a reason to attack humans."

"I don't know…" Takuya replied. "Maybe…"

"Do you really have to go back anyways?" Veemon asked.

"We have to at some point. Our home was invaded by ghosts," Jack explained. "We'd like to be able to take our home back."

"True…" Veemon conceded.

"Maybe the ghosts may have left, Dad." Jazz suggested. "I mean, maybe they were there for a reason."

Jack frowned. "Why else would those ghosts have been at our home other than to cause trouble and property damage? It's not like a ghost has a brain to think of a plan or even make one."

Takuya frowned. Jazz did bring up a good point. "Maybe, but I think Jazz may be on to something."

"Besides, saying ghosts can't think is like saying Digimon don't eat, it's false," Veemon said.

"What makes you say that?" Jack asked.

"We may not have actual ghosts here, but we have Digimon that evolved into ghost-like beings due to their data getting mixed with ectoplasm," Veemon explained. "They can clearly think, and some of them are very conniving and clever."

"So, you think those ghosts could have come up with a plan and attacked?" Jack blinked, surprised at this possibility.

"Either that, or those ghosts were sent to attack us, meaning they can clearly follow orders if given to them." Takuya replied. "Either way, it's not good if they were attacking for some reason."

"They seemed to be mostly targeting us," Jazz said. "And with us gone, they may not have a reason to stick around."

"Maybe I should come back with you…" Floramon said worriedly. "If you're getting attacked by ghosts all the time, you'll need me to protect you."

"No, no, it's too dangerous. I don't want your data getting messed up with all that ectoplasm…" Jazz frowned.

"But what about Lopmon and Patamon? Aren't they usually at Amity Park with you?" Floramon frowned.

"That's… different," Jazz said. "They have those devices that let them travel between our worlds, and… well, Patamon wasn't looking too good when we saw him. And Lopmon is usually with Andy. And besides… Time passes by a lot slower in our world. You have a home and a job here, wouldn't you be missed if you came with me?"

"Yes, I would, but I have a duty to you as your partner Digimon as well." Floramon replied. "I can't just leave you unprotected."

"Hey, don't leave me out of that either!" Veemon exclaimed. "I'm not gonna just let my new friends head back into danger either!"

Takuya couldn't help but laugh a little. It was nice to see these Digimon were determined to keep their partners safe, but they weren't sure if they could afford to have more than just two Digimon in the real world right now. Besides, Tucker and Sam would likely want to have Kokuwamon and Biyomon with them when they see Floramon is with Jazz.

"Maybe someday you guys can follow us to the real world, but I think the world isn't ready to have too many Digimon in it right now," Takuya said. "Besides, right now you'd be heavily reliant on someone with a special device to get back to the Digital World."

"Hey, that's fine by me!" Veemon grinned. "If three of you have those devices, it won't be a problem to get back and forth!"

"Yeah, but we will have to be careful while in the real world, Veemon." Floramon said. "That means following the rules that are set for us."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jack asked. "From what you guys told me, ghosts could really hurt Digimon."

"You think it's better to go back to a possible ghost invasion without us?" Floramon asked.

"We don't know if those ghosts are still there," Jazz said. "And what if you get hurt again? We wouldn't have access to a Digimon doctor right away…"

"Maybe, but we can't just leave you three alone." Floramon replied.

"Besides, who knows? Maybe Agunimon may show up to help drive those ghosts off." Takuya pointed out. "I mean, he does have a way to get to and from the Digital World if he keeps showing up in the real world."

Veemon looked excited at that idea. "Those ghosts wouldn't stand a chance!"

However, Jack was quick to put the idea to rest. "No."

Floramon and Veemon looked at Jack in surprise.

"What?" Veemon asked. "Why?"

"I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous for you two." Jack replied. "I don't want to take the chance on you two getting hurt or worse because of ghosts attacking you two."

"B-but Agunimon can! So why can't we?" Veemon whined.

"Agunimon is a Legendary Warrior. His power is greater than yours, and he has experience against ghosts. You two don't." Jack pointed out. "I'm sorry, but this decision is final."

"But what about Lopmon? He's able to go but we can't?" Floramon frowned.

"Floramon, it's fine," Jazz said. "Lopmon… doesn't have a home here, and… he's had experience with dealing with ghosts already. But you still need to get back to your own home, Floramon. Like Takuya said, maybe someday we can take you to our world, but that day isn't today."

Floramon frowned. "I still don't like it… but… I guess I'll stay in the Digital World for now… just don't get hurt out there."

"What about me? I don't really have a home to get back to," Veemon pointed at himself.

"You could stay here for the time being. I'm sure Sorcermon could use the extra hands to keep this castle safe from players," Takuya suggested.

"Really?" Veemon blinked.

"Yeah. And Uncle Jack can still talk to you," Takuya said. "That demo website for Ruler of the Digital World. Since you've formed a bond with Veemon, I'm sure he'll be the Digimon you can talk to using that website."

"You think so?" Jack blinked.

"Hey, if I did it, then you can too." Jazz replied with a smile. "It's so easy, and no one else can talk to Veemon but you!"

Veemon grinned. "So it'll be like he's never left? Awesome!"

Takuya chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Isn't that great, Veemon? You finally get a home and a partner who cares about you." Floramon smiled.

"Yeah, it's awesome! Here's hoping I'll get to see Jack in the Digital World again though. Maybe we can get stronger together." Veemon smiled.

Jack gave a smile as well. "Maybe when you're strong enough, I'll feel confident in taking you back to the real world with me."

"Then that's a promise!" Veemon grinned.

"For now…" Takuya said as he held onto his D-Tector in his pocket. "We should get back. I'm sure we'll be ready for those ghosts this time if they're still at our house."

Jack nodded, as did Jazz.

"We'll be waiting for you when you come back." Floramon said.

"Yeah, and kick some ghost butt for me!" Veemon exclaimed.

Jack grinned with pride at hearing Veemon's comment. "A fellow ghost buster! Wow! Now this is a pleasant surprise indeed!"

Takuya and Jazz sweatdropped at Jack and Veemon.

"I guess Veemon really is Uncle Jack's partner…" Takuya muttered.

"Great… I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing…" Jazz grumbled.

"Don't worry, leave Veemon to me if he gets out of hand," Floramon chuckled.

Takuya, Jazz, and Jack walked over to the nearest monitor in the castle.

"I guess we should get back now," Jazz said.

"Please, be careful," Floramon said in concern.

"I'll be rooting for ya! And I expect to hear from you soon, Jack!" Veemon stated.

Little did they know, a little orange Digimon was watching them, and was waiting.

"Okay, guys, get ready and hold onto each other." Takuya said. "One of you, grab my free hand so we don't get separated when we go through the gate."

Jack and Jazz took each other's hand before Jazz took Takuya's free hand.

"We're ready." Jazz told Takuya.

"Okay, here we go." Takuya said as he held up his D-Tector to the monitor. "Take us to Fenton Works in Amity Park!"

The orange Digimon quickly flew at them, grabbing onto Jack's back just as the portal opened, taking them back to their world.

"Wait… did you just see that?" Floramon asked.

"Yeah… That was a Patamon!" Veemon exclaimed. "But… Why would he latch onto Jack like that? Aww man, I should've thought of doing that!"

"Hey!" Sorcermon called out, running to Floramon and Veemon. "Have you two seen Patamon? I've been looking for him all morning."

"Yeah, he latched onto Jack as they were leaving." Veemon replied. "Is there something wrong?"

"He's supposed to be resting! I didn't think he'd try to go back to the real world so soon!" Sorcermon frowned before he looked over at the monitor. Why are you still trying to shoulder this responsibility, Seraphimon?

"Hey, um… this might not be a good time, but… do you mind if I worked here?" Veemon requested.

---

The three humans went through the vortex. Jazz's clothes were replaced with her teal blue and black hazmat suit Jack's new outfit was replaced with his usual orange and black hazmat suit. Takuya's outfit changed to his red and orange hazmat suit as he passed through the vortex. Patamon was at Takuya's side.

The next thing they knew, the four were spat out into a pile in Takuya's room. Jack was on the bottom of the pile while Jazz landed beside her dad with Takuya landing on Jack's back. Patamon landed on top of Takuya.

"Wow… you kids need to work on not landing in a pile…" Jack groaned as he felt Takuya move off of him.

"Hey, at least I wasn't on the bottom of the pile this time." Takuya joked back sheepishly.

"Dad's right though… this 'landing in a pile' stuff is getting ridiculous." Jazz grumbled.

Patamon flew up as everyone began to untangle themselves, and Takuya was the first to notice Patamon was with them.

"Wait… Patamon?! What the heck are you doing here?!" Takuya exclaimed. "I thought you were back in the Digital World!"

"I decided to come back here with the rest of you," Patamon said. "After all, my duties here isn't done yet."

"But weren't you resting?" Jazz asked.

"I've rested long enough," Patamon replied. "Besides… don't you have a house to reclaim from the ghosts?"

Takuya frowned, but nodded. "We do." He agreed. He wasn't sensing any of the ghost animals, but that didn't mean he could drop his guard.

Slowly, the group made their way to Takuya's door, which was still standing, but showed signs of being slammed into by the ghosts previously.

Takuya reached out and opened the door slowly, keeping an eye out for any ghosts that could attack.

The house still reeked of ectoplasm, though those were mainly from their battle earlier. They were going to need to clean up the house later on, that was for sure. But Takuya, and Patamon, didn't sense any activities at least. Even if they couldn't sense these pseudo ghost animals, they didn't sense any danger, nor did they hear any growling or movement.

Patamon scouted around the house. He didn't see any more ghost animals, though the house was definitely a mess. "It might be safe to say those ghost animals aren't here anymore."

"Then, they left?" Jazz blinked before she sighed in relief. "Good… I wasn't sure if we would be attacked again or not."

"It seems they were after us then." Takuya noted with a frown. Either that, or they were after one of us… but… who? Who were those ghosts targeting?

"I think it's safe to say we confused those ghosts with that little escape trick then." Jack chuckled. "They left after they couldn't find us."

"Either that or the ghosts left because no one was here to attack them." Jazz theorized.

"Either way, we're going to have to start cleaning before Aunt Maddie, Danny, and Andy get home," Takuya said.

"Oh yeah, they'll be so jealous if they knew we had a battle here," Jack muttered. "We should probably not tell Maddie about what happened either…"

"It might not be a good idea to keep Mom in the dark about the Digital World at least," Jazz suggested. "I mean… she'd be the only one in the family who wouldn't know about it. That just doesn't seem fair, and… I'm pretty sure she'll figure it out eventually."

"Good point." Takuya muttered.

"True. I don't want to keep Mads in the dark about something as cool as a digital world of beings like Digimon." Jack agreed.

"Then I guess it's settled then." Takuya noted. "We'll tell Aunt Maddie about the Digital World when she and the twins get back."

"But in the meantime…" Jack smiled. "I finally get to teach you two how to remove ectoplasm from the carpet, walls, ceilings, and furniture."

Takuya and Jazz sweatdropped.

"That… might not be a bad idea…" Jazz admitted for once. "Especially if we have to deal with ghosts attacking like that again…"

Jack beamed with pride at that.

---

It was evening by the time Maddie, Wormmon, Andy, Lopmon, and Danny were out of the forest. Andy and Lopmon walked a little ahead, looking down from a hill at the buildings head.

"We're finally out of that forest!" Lopmon said in relief.

"Yeah… I'm glad we don't have to keep roughing it…" Andy sighed. Or have to face another one of those 'dark reflections'.

"And I think that's a town just ahead of us!" Danny exclaimed. "I never thought I'd be glad to see buildings again, especially after that whole cottage incident and then roughing it out here."

"Maybe there's a monitor so we can get back home as well." Maddie remarked. "I'd be glad to get back home as soon as possible. I'm sure everyone else is worried about us."

"So this is the town just outside of the Dark Forest," Wormmon noted.

"Dark Forest? Is that what the forest was called?" Danny asked.

"It used to be called Dark Continent Forest, but everyone decided it was easier to just drop the 'Continent' part of the name," Wormmon answered.

"The forest was pretty dim, but it wasn't that dark," Lopmon remarked.

"I didn't name it," Wormmon shrugged.

"Come on, the sooner we get into the town, the sooner we can get home," Andy said, tired, and wanting to just get into his own bed and crash.

"Good idea." Maddie agreed. She too was feeling the stress of the last few days getting to her.

"Home does sound good right now…" Danny groaned out. Even being attacked as a ghost by Mom and Dad sounds good right about how… Wow… I must be tired if I thought something like that…

The group made their way to the town, with Wormmon leading the way there.

"Hopefully someone here can direct us to a monitor if we ask." Danny said as he looked around.

The small group headed down the hill, entering the small town. The town had a few Digimon roaming around, but there weren't a lot out right now.

"I think I see a possible local," Lopmon pointed out.

A blue penguin-like creature was running in a hurry down the streets, looking a bit frantic.

"Hey, it's a Penguinmon," Wormmon noted.

"Hey, excuse me, could you point us to the nearest-" Maddie began to ask.

Penguinmon yelped. "Humans? Now? Here? What are you here for? Do not cause trouble!"

"Whoa, whoa! Settle down! We mean you no harm!" Danny said as he raised his hands to placate the panicked Penguinmon. "We just wanted to ask you where the nearest monitor was. We didn't mean to scare you so suddenly."

"But humans… humans hurt our friend! Our protector!" Penguinmon shouted.

"Please, calm down!" Lopmon quickly said.

Wormmon shot out a sticky piece of string from his mouth to cover Penguinmon's beak before she could scream anymore.

"Wormmon?" Maddie asked.

Wormmon hopped down from Maddie's shoulder and slithered up to Penguinmon. "We're not here to cause trouble, or hurt anyone. We just wanted to know where a monitor is. But…"

Wormmon looked back at the group. "Would it be alright if we asked what happened to their friend?"

"Sure." Danny replied. "Especially if they are worried and…" Danny paused. "Wait… did Penguinmon say 'protector'?"

"Ask about that too," Andy added.

Wormmon nodded before he turned back to Penguinmon. "Who is this friend, and protector, of yours, and what happened to them? We are friends here, we won't hurt anyone. I'm going to release you from my Sticky Net, and I want you to calmly answer those questions. Do you understand?"

Penguinmon nodded her head.

"Okay, good," Wormmon said before he pulled back the sticky thread, getting it off of Penguinmon's beak.

"Sorry about that. I was just… I just panicked…" Penguinmon said, feeling a bit embarrassed now. "I-I mean… human, players… attacked, and I just assumed you were here to hurt us as well…"

"Hey, it's okay." Danny said. "We're probably going to get that a lot for a while, so… No harm done."

"But please, tell us what happened," Maddie said politely.

Penguinmon frowned. "Our protector was on his way to an important meeting somewhere, when suddenly, a player was riding on an Okuwamon, and attacked. Our protector didn't expect to suddenly be ambushed by such a powerful Digimon, and he got really hurt. He managed to fight them, and wound the Okuwamon enough that they had to retreat, but our protector fell nearby. We quickly got him into the nearest clinic, but we don't have the tech to fix up a human."

"Wait… did you say… a human?" Andy blinked.

"Oh…" Danny paled. "Oh no…" Does this mean a Legendary Warrior was protecting this place? This is not good…

"But… a human? Why would a human be hurt by a Digimon?" Maddie wondered in confusion. "What about their Digimon partner?"

"Digimon partner?" Penguinmon frowned. "I… don't think they have one…"

"What?" Maddie looked very confused.

"This human… could you take us to them?" Andy asked. "Since we're humans, we might be able to help him."

Penguinmon frowned, but nodded. "I guess so… Just… don't hurt him anymore…"

Penguinmon led the small group through the town. The other Digimon were looking nervous, and some went to go hide in their houses.

"Do… players often attack this place?" Danny asked.

"Not attack, no," Penguinmon answered. "But since we're so close to the Beast Slayer Guild, the humans there would sometimes come here for… payment… Whether it's food, supplies, or money… if we don't pay them enough, they may do something that wouldn't be good. Or leave us to bandits, or feral Digimon…"

"That's… extortion." Andy frowned.

"Yeah, and it's not fair." Penguinmon muttered. "But what can we do? We can't fight back against the players of that Beast Slayer Guild. They're too strong…"

"How long has this been going on?" Lopmon frowned as well.

"Since before I was born, I know that…" Penguinmon sighed. "The humans at the guild don't seem to age very much, time seems to be different for them."

"It must've been when the game's alpha was first launched, and these beta testers were playing the game…" Andy muttered. "They've become the top elites at the Beast Slayer Guild. But… why would they feel the need to extort Digimon? Surely they have more than enough resources of their own…"

"They have all those resources because they take them from us," Penguinmon said. "It's not just us either. They go to many places on this continent to gather food, supplies, and money from other towns and cities. They don't take too much, but for some places, they can't afford to give away their resources. And they're usually targeted for enslavement by the Dark Rings."

Danny frowned. "Wow… It sounds like these players have really gotten too arrogant for their own good…" And because these are the guys who defeated Cherubimon, we need to be extra careful when we encounter them…

"So there's nothing we can do to help?" Maddie asked worriedly.

"Well… that's why we have our protectors," Penguinmon said. "They sometimes check on us, and other Digimon, who live on this continent. They fight off the players if they're bullying us, or they help give us extra money or food to make sure we have enough to live as comfortably as possible."

"Then it was just bad luck that the player with the Okuwamon caught him?" Wormmon asked.

"I doubt it." Lopmon frowned. "Since it was an ambush, it was more likely a set up."

"I have to agree. Someone might've wanted the Legendary Warriors gone from this place," Andy added.

"That makes sense." Danny admitted. "But… whatever the reason, we can't assume anything until we know more."

Maddie was listening in confusion. She had heard the individual injured was a human, but now Andy was mentioning a Legendary Warrior?

"But… why would someone attack a human if they wanted to get rid of a Legendary Warrior?" Maddie questioned.

Andy, Lopmon, and Danny frowned. They weren't sure how they were going to tell Maddie about this.

"Maybe they thought the human was the Legendary Warrior from afar and attacked them?" Wormmon guessed, not really knowing the full story either. "Okuwamon are strong, but they don't have… very good eyesight."

Danny blinked before nodding. "Y-yeah! That makes total sense! I mean… the Legendary Warriors can look quite human, even from afar." Please, please believe it, Mom!

Andy frowned, he wasn't sure how well they could keep all of this covered up, especially from their mother. The only reason Andy wasn't just outright telling her about the human Legendary Warriors, was out of respect for keeping Takuya's secret. After all, if Maddie were to find out that humans could become Legendary Warriors, it wouldn't take much for Maddie to put two-and-two together and realize Takuya was Agunimon. In fact, Maddie, not knowing such a thing was possible, was the only reason, Andy was sure, why Maddie and Jack didn't figure out that Danny Phantom is Danny Fenton.

Am I overthinking these things? Andy questioned himself.

"But why would the human riding on that… Okuwamon, or whatever, let them attack the person?" Maddie questioned.

"Maybe they have bad eyesight too," Andy said. "It's not important, we should go see if we can help this person who's injured."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, the sooner we can help, the better." He agreed. This thing in his chest was aching, telling him to help despite not knowing the full situation yet. Wow… I need to figure out what is going on with me, especially why I keep feeling this urge to help…

Maddie sighed. "Alright, let's go."

Penguinmon finally led them to what looked like a clinic. It wasn't as big as a hospital, but in a town this small, it wasn't surprising that all they had was a clinic.

Inside the clinic was a Digimon that had leaf-like wings on her back, and green eyes. Her skin was a pale pink color, and she wore a pink flower hat on her head. She had green vines hanging down from her head like hair, and she wore a pink flower-like dress. She wore green sleeves on her lower arms with a floral edge that was yellow, and wore boots that were similar in color.

"Wow." Maddie noted. "That Digimon looks pretty."

"That's Lilymon, she takes care of the patients that come in, she's also the doctor's nurse," Penguinmon explained.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Lilymon asked in a polite tone.

"So professional, she doesn't even falter when she sees humans," Lopmon noted in awe.

"You're easily impressed…" Andy grumbled.

"You can't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing!" Lopmon huffed.

"Um…" Wormmon hopped up onto the counter. "We're here to see a human who got hurt recently from an Okuwamon attack?"

"Oh, sure. I can let you see him, but I will have to get the doctor to bring you to him." Lilymon said.

"I brought the bag of ice Dr. Piddomon told me to get," Penguinmon said, holding up a small bag with her flipper-like hands.

"Thank you very much, Penguinmon," Lilymon said gratefully before she took the bag of ice. "I will get Dr. Piddomon, you should wait in the waiting room."

"Okay," Danny said.

"I hope this doesn't take too long," Maddie said. "Doctors in our world tend to take hours before they can see the next patient."

"Well, we're not patients, we're visitors," Wormmon pointed out.

"True." Maddie conceded.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait for too long. In came a Digimon that looked humanoid. This Digimon had a white bodysuit on with pink ribbons around his left arm and right leg. He had two white wings emerging from his back and had golden accents on his outfit as well. He also wore a dark helmet over his eyes, leaving his lower face exposed, and his hair was long and almost an orangish color.

"Oooh… he looks cool," Lopmon noted in awe. "I wonder if Patamon would look like him one day? I feel like he would."

Andy raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Hello. I am Piddomon, the doctor of this clinic," The Digimon introduced himself. "I understand you are here to visit Junpei Shibayama?"

"That's the person's name?" Maddie asked.

It took Andy a moment to realize the name. "Ah, that must be JP. Yeah, we're here to visit him."

"I don't sense any ill will here. Then please, follow me," Piddomon said before he turned around and began walking.

Danny, Maddie, Andy, Wormmon, and Lopmon followed Piddomon while Penguinmon waved at them.

The group headed into one of the rooms, following Piddomon. On the bed was JP, and he had quite a few bandages on his body, showing he hadn't gotten off easy from that fight. One of his legs looked like it was in a pretty big cast too, if the thickness of the bandages around it was any indication.

"JP!" Andy, Danny, and Lopmon quickly rushed to him.

"Hey guys… I was kinda hoping you wouldn't see me like this," JP chuckled sheepishly.

"How did you get this way?" Lopmon asked in concern.

"Uh…" JP noticed Maddie. "Who's that with you?"

"That's… Maddie Fenton, our… mother," Danny sheepishly introduced.

Maddie waved to JP. "It looks like you're a friend of my boys?"

"Yeah… you could say I am." JP said sheepishly. "Although when I met Andy, it wasn't exactly under the best circumstances."

"Wow… You look like you lost a fight." Lopmon said, trying to make a joke.

"Actually… you could say I did." JP muttered, feeling a bit embarrassed at that fact. "I mean I didn't lose the fight exactly, but… it wasn't without some consequences."

"He bravely fought off a player that had quite a strong Digimon with them," Piddomon explained. "They attacked him first, trying to give him no room for retaliation. But even so, Junpei managed to fight them off in the end, weakening them enough to cause them to retreat."

"You… did that?" Maddie blinked, unable to believe a human without a Digimon partner was able to fight off a strong Digimon on his own.

"I… have my ways…" JP chuckled sheepishly. "But… I'm really worried that the player and that Digimon will come back after they've finished licking their wounds. But I'm in no condition to fight right now."

"Normally we would have medicine that could heal a Digimon's broken limbs quickly, but that doesn't seem to work as well on humans," Piddomon explained. "It would take a lot more food and supplies to heal that leg, as well as the other injuries. But we don't have a lot due to the monthly extortion. Everyone is always afraid that if we don't give enough, the players from the Beast Slayer Guild will use their Dark Rings to enslave us."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Danny growled, clenching his fists. He was now beginning to feel helpless, and this thing in his chest was twisting and aching with the desire to help, but Danny knew he would be up against some of the strongest players in the Digital World if he did do something.

"Patience, Danny," Andy said as he put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "They'll get what's coming to them soon."

Wormmon looked at JP's cast. "What kind of injury did you suffer?"

"Broken leg… In a couple of spots." JP grumbled. "Not to mention a few cuts and scrapes… Okuwamon used its Double Scissor Claws to break my leg."

"So broken bones, and cuts…" Wormmon noted.

"Is there something you can do to help?" Lopmon asked.

"Hmm… well, considering the two clans I lived with often break out into fighting, we've had a few injuries like cuts and scrapes, and in some major cases, broken bones," Wormmon said.

"Don't bugs have exoskeletons that don't break so easily or something?" Danny asked.

"Probably, but these aren't like bugs in our world, their anatomy could be completely different," Maddie pointed out.

"True," Danny conceded.

"Where are you going with this?" Andy asked.

"I know that some of the Dokunemon have to gather medical fruits and herbs to heal the injured on a daily basis," Wormmon explained. "We use our Sticky Web to make sure the mashed up herbs and fruits stuck to the body until they were fully healed. And it usually takes a minute or two. For a human, it might take an hour or two since your bones are bigger and a little more complex."

"Are you saying you can help JP?" Danny asked, surprised but also hopeful.

"Actually, that may be the best thing." Lopmon admitted. Then he grinned. "You would make a great doctor, Wormmon! Oh! And you would need a little lab coat for you if you want to look the part!"

For some reason, Maddie had the image of Wormmon in a little white lab coat come to mind and it made her want to smile.

Wormmon blushed at hearing that. "O-oh, well… you know… since I didn't like hunting or fighting the Dokunemon, I usually try to help out the injured. I got pretty good at that…"

"So… do you think you can find these medical herbs and fruits to help heal JP's leg?" Andy asked.

"I think so, I'll have to go back to the Dark Forest to collect them, but they're pretty common," Wormmon said. "You just have to know what you're looking for."

"In that case, perhaps you wouldn't mind getting some extras along the way? It'd be good to have my nurse study them so she can collect these medical herbs and fruits for future patients," Piddomon requested.

"Danny, how about you go with Wormmon?" Andy suggested. "It might be… faster if you help Wormmon find these herbs and fruits. We'll stay here in case the player with the Okuwamon decides to attack again."

Danny nodded. "Sure. Plus, I can carry more than Wormmon."

Wormmon smiled. "Great! I could use your help anyway. You know… I don't really have hands…" He wiggled his little pink claws for emphasis.

"What about me?" Maddie asked. "Shouldn't I go too?"

"Actually, Mom, you should stay here," Andy suggested. "You have some medical knowledge too."

"Yeah, before I got into researching ghosts, I did try to study to become a doctor like my parents wanted me to…" Maddie noted.

Andy and Danny blinked, it wasn't often they heard anything about their mother's side of the family. In fact, they didn't remember anything about their grandparents from their mother's side.

Maddie shook her head. "I get it, you think it'll be better if I stayed here to see if I can do anything to help, or teach Piddomon more about how to treat humans?"

"Yeah, that would help benefit them in the long run," Andy agreed.

"Nice going, Andy," Lopmon whispered.

"I needed to keep Mom away from Danny somehow. It'll be faster for him to get the medical stuff once Wormmon shows him what they look like," Andy explained quietly.

Lopmon nodded. It would also allow Danny to help JP, but in a way without his ghost powers.

Danny looked at Wormmon. "Well, let's get going. I kinda need to know what these herbs look like, so, show me the way."

"Alright, let's go," Wormmon said as Danny picked him up and hurried out of the clinic.

"Let's hope I'm wrong about the player and his Okuwamon coming back…" JP said. "Jeez… I wonder what Zoe would say if she saw me like this…"

Maddie frowned. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but… aren't you just an avatar in a video game? If your avatar gets hurt, you actually need to heal it in a hospital to use it again?" Myself, my boys, and the Digimon, are an exception. But I thought the other humans here are just avatars being used by the real humans in our world? So… doesn't that mean he's not actually hurt?

JP hesitated to respond, which didn't bode well for Maddie. The silence sent a chill through her actually.

Maddie frowned. "Don't tell me that if your avatar gets hurt, you get hurt in real life. Or… are you actually…"

"Hey, Mom, it might be best to not ask too many questions," Andy said, hoping to save JP from having to answer. "Just think of players as being our shoes as well. He's hurt and needs to heal fast, that's all that matters."

Maddie frowned again, but decided not to pry any further. She had a feeling things would be explained later, but she wasn't sure why. "Okay… I'll let it drop for now."

JP felt relief at Andy's intervention. "Good idea… I… don't really know how to explain this myself…" Given that I'm not really an avatar…

"Do you know anything about the player who used the Okuwamon to attack you?" Lopmon asked JP.

"I didn't get a good look, but I know he's an adult man at the very least," JP answered. "During the fight, I heard him shouting how he needed to do this to 'be approved'. Though I didn't know what that meant, but I'm guessing he wanted to impress some higher up people or something."

"Approved? That doesn't sound good…" Lopmon frowned. "Why would this player want to be approved for something?"

"I don't think the 'why' is important right now, more like the 'how'. How is he going to get their approval?" Maddie pointed out. "People, especially adults, will tear through the entire Ghost Zone if they were desperate enough for approval for their boss, or someone they admire, or whoever they're trying to get approval of. I don't really know why an adult attacking a child would get approval from anyone though."

Andy frowned, he had a better idea why attacking the child would get approval from people, especially if he had been in his Digimon form. "Are you able to contact your friends?"

JP nodded. "Yeah, I can. I just need my D-Tector to do it, but it's possible." He then paused before continuing. "I just… haven't contacted them lately… The fight did more damage than I had first thought…"

Maddie blinked. "D-Tector?"

"It's a device certain players can use to contact each other." Lopmon explained, giving a half-truth. "But it's extremely rare to have."

"Is it like that device you have, Andy?" Maddie asked.

"Uh…" Andy hesitated. "Well… sort of? They're not the same though."

Andy turned his attention back on JP. "Wait, did the player damage your D-Tector?"

"Um… no. It was fine last I checked." JP replied. "Those things can take a pounding; I've dropped mine from a high place a few times."

"Is that it on the table next to you?" Lopmon asked.

JP nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

The blue and yellow device looked just fine. No serious damage was done to it, save for a few scratches that looked like they could be buffed out.

"So… why can't you contact the others?" Andy asked. "They might be able to send someone over to help you out."

"It's… the guy is still out and about." JP admitted at last. "And while I was able to beat him, I still took a lot of damage. I don't want the others getting hurt. He said he was looking for those who are connected with the Legendary Warriors."

"The Legendary Warriors?" Maddie frowned. "Are you connected to one of them?"

"I at least know one of them pretty well," JP answered.

Andy and Lopmon frowned.

"Let's see if we can meet up with this business man later," Andy remarked.

"You want to confront him?" JP asked.

"If you don't face up to the hunter sooner or later, you'll keep being hunted," Andy said. "We learned that the hard way recently."

Lopmon nodded in agreement. "It's best to end it before it gets out of hand that way."

Maddie looked at Andy and Lopmon. "Are you sure about that, Andy? You and Lopmon could get hurt or worse!"

"Relax, Mom, we've faced some tough Digimon before," Andy reassured. "And we'll have Wormmon to help us when he gets back. But maybe he won't come back, and we can leave once JP is better."

Maddie frowned, but she had to trust her boys since they knew more about the Digital World than she did at the moment. "Okay. I'll trust you on this. But if things get really bad, we leave right away."

Lopmon grinned. "Nothing like a mother's concern to make you feel all fuzzy inside~!"

JP grinned as well. "Hope she doesn't go full on mama bear when she sees you getting hurt by a Digimon."

"You hush! She totally would!" Andy hissed, his cheeks turning red.

Maddie chuckled. "They do have a point, Andy. I would even face down a Digimon just to protect both my baby boys." She squeezed Andy's cheeks as she said that.

Lopmon was covering his mouth with his giant ears at seeing Andy being treated like a baby boy, which he was to Maddie.

"That includes you, Lopmon," Maddie said as she squeezed Lopmon's cheek as well. "Not only are you cute as a button, you're also important to Andy, and you've been protecting him this whole time, so that makes you important to this family."

"Mooooom! Stop embarrassing us in front of our friend!" Andy whined.

JP was clearly enjoying the embarrassment Andy was being put through. "This is definitely better than reading old books for entertainment~"

"Why? You're my little Andyroo~" Maddie grinned.

"MOM! What did we say about using that nickname in public!?" Andy squealed, slapping Maddie's hand away from his cheek.

Lopmon no longer found this funny since he was now in the same boat as Andy.

"Andyroo?" JP asked. "Where did that nickname come from?"

"Well, there was this one time we went to a zoo-" Maddie began before Andy jumped to interrupt her.

"OKAY! Let's do story time some other time, please!?" Andy shouted.

"Yeah! We're supposed to be talking about other things!" Lopmon agreed.

JP snickered. "Okay, we'll drop it for now, but you have to tell me how you got that nickname later."

"No, no I don't…" Andy grumbled.

---

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Danny and Wormmon looked around.

"Okay, so what do these medical herbs and fruits look like?" Danny asked.

"Just follow me. I know where there are some close by." Wormmon replied as he began to head off to the left a bit.

Danny followed Wormmon closely so as to not get separated from the worm Digimon.

Danny wondered if Wormmon bonding with his mother was just a lucky coincidence, or if it was possible it was fate. So far, every time one of them has met with a Digimon, they usually bond with them and become partners. Well, not counting Legendary Warriors as they were pretty much their own Digimon. It made Danny wonder if his relationship with Patamon was different, and if they had ever truly been partners to begin with.

In his mind, as far as Danny knew, he and Patamon had not really been much of partners since Patamon had found out his secret. It was like they were drifting apart or something, and it worried Danny.

Danny was so lost in thought, he almost stepped on Wormmon. "Hey!"

Danny realized what had happened and pulled his foot back. "Sorry! I-I didn't mean to almost step on you!"

"I know I can blend in with the forest, but at least try to watch where I am," Wormmon grumbled before he looked at Danny. "Something is bothering you, I can tell."

"It's…" Danny sighed. "I feel like Patamon and I have not really been partners. It's like… I am wondering if my relationship with Patamon is different, or if we are not really meant to be partners."

"Did something happen between you and Patamon?" Wormmon asked.

"We… kinda had a fight… and Patamon found out something that… made him… want to be alone for a while." Danny admitted.

"It must've been something pretty big to have shaken up someone who was your partner," Wormmon remarked.

Danny sighed. "Yeah… it really was…"

"I won't pry into it, but…" Wormmon frowned. "A lot of conflict usually gets started because of poor communication and misunderstanding. If you see your partner again, you two should try talking it out."

Danny huffed. "I would probably do better with a 'Good Luck' response, because Patamon is a very closed off Digimon and won't talk unless he chooses to."

"If Patamon is a closed off Digimon, how did the two of you bond in the first place?" Wormmon asked. "... If you two are really partners, then maybe you're also pretty closed off yourself. I think that's the main issue here, both of you have trouble talking, even to each other."

Danny blinked. "I… Wow… I never considered that as part of the issue. I just…" The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess I do need to open up a bit more to Patamon…"

Danny remembered how Patamon reacted when he saw his ghost form, and Danny didn't do anything to remedy the situation. He saw the look in Patamon's unnatural green eyes when he saw Danny in his ghost form for the first time. That wasn't just the look of shock and fear, that was the look of betrayal. Patamon had known from the moment he saw Danny as Danny Phantom. Danny tried to play dumb, but that only made things worse between them. It made Patamon fester in this knowledge alone, and drove him away from Danny. For a brief moment, Danny wondered if the same thing would've happened with Andy after he found out Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person, and Danny didn't speak to him right away about the situation.

"You know what? You're right, Wormmon." Danny said at last after he put his thoughts back in order. "I'll talk to Patamon and see if we can resolve this issue between us." Danny then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "And to be honest, I think my sister Jazz has a point about this family having issues with communicating… You're not the first one to point this out…"

"Heh, but I guess I'm the first who was able to really spell it out for you. Sometimes it's good to have a third party point it out as it gets too easy to ignore your own family member," Wormmon sighed. "I should know, I get ignored a lot by the other Dokunemon. But that's neither here nor there. We should focus on getting what we came here for."

"Yeah, you're right. But… thanks, I think you've helped me more than you know," Danny said, feeling like some weight was taken off his shoulders.

"Happy to help." Wormmon replied cheerfully. "Oh…"

Wormmon crawled over to a leaf that was in the shape of a star. "Here. This is a medical leaf that helps with the skin. For the bones, we'll need a lot of a specific fruit's juices."

Wormmon crawled up a tree. Danny looked up, a little worried a Digimon might chase Wormmon out of it. Wormmon used his sticky web to bring down a yellow fruit that appeared to be in the shape of an eggplant.

"These… find fruits that look like these. These fruits are excellent for healing worn out bones and tiredness," Wormmon showed. "Though try to be careful, a lot of Digimon try to claim trees that grow these kinds of fruits naturally. I was lucky the Digimon here are living at the top of the tree."

Danny nodded. "Right. Yellow eggplant fruit. I can do that."

Danny then went to another tree and began to climb up it, grateful he could easily climb trees thanks to his greater strength. "Okay… Where are you, you plant?"

A Tentomon growled and hissed at Danny when it landed on a branch.

"Get down from there," Wormmon quickly warned. "That's a Kabutarimon tree."

Danny yelped as he was startled, only to fall out of the tree. "Whoa! OW!"

"Super Shocker!" The Tentomon fired out electricity at the two.

Danny and Wormmon yelped as they began running to get away from the angry Tentomon. Wormmon turned around and fired a Sticky Net at the Tentomon, trapping it so it couldn't follow them as they kept running.

"You… weren't kidding…" Danny groaned when they managed to get away.

"Yeah… you'd have to be invisible if you want to try to get more fruit from these trees…" Wormmon sighed. "I can collect the herbal leaves, but the fruits will be a lot harder…"

"Invisible, huh?" Danny noted as an idea started coming to mind. "Okay… Wormmon, you gather up the leaves. I'll gather the fruits."

"I rather you didn't try to get the fruits on your own, especially after almost getting hurt by a Tentomon." Wormmon frowned.

"Trust me, I know a better way to get the fruits without drawing ire from the wildlife," Danny promised.

Wormmon noted that Danny seemed pretty confident about that. He hesitated a little, but he decided to give the kid another chance. "Fine, but Maddie will kill me if you get so much as a sting from a Flymon. So don't you dare risk more than you should. Run away if you catch someone's ire."

Danny nodded. "I promise." He reassured Wormmon.

Wormmon began to go and gather the leaves while Danny began to sneak back towards the trees. Confident he wouldn't be seen, Danny then tapped his invisibility. Looking himself over, Danny grinned when he saw he could see the grass through his arms. Now to get that yellow eggplant fruit!

Now invisible, Danny began to climb up another tree that had the yellow eggplant fruit hanging from its branches. And there were a lot of them hanging within grabbing distance.

Since the bug Digimon couldn't see him, they left him alone as Danny grabbed the yellow eggplant fruit. It would be a lot faster if Danny could fly between trees as well, since he didn't want to take all the fruits in one tree and make the Digimon suspicious and angry. He wasn't sure how many he needed, so he decided collecting about 4 fruits would be enough. Since the fruit were pretty big, however, he had some trouble carrying them all back.

Danny released his invisibility by the time he got back to Wormmon, who had a good number of leaves.

"Whoa! How'd you get that many fruits so quickly?" Wormmon asked in surprise.

"I have my ways~" Danny said with a mysterious grin on his face. "I'm just lucky I didn't get spotted this time around."

"I'll say. Not even Ninjamon would've been able to get that many fruits without getting spotted at least once," Wormmon said, still surprised. I wonder… if this relates to this secret Danny was talking about?

"Well, I suppose we should be glad you were able to get this many fruits so quickly," Wormmon said. "Let's get them back to the town. But carrying all of that in bulk would be too hard. Put them down in a pile."

Danny blinked, but nodded. "Okay." He put the 4 fruits down in a pile. "Is that good?"

"Yup," Wormmon said. "Sticky Net!"

Wormmon created a bag made out of his threads. "There, this should be able to hold the fruits easily."

Danny grinned. "Awesome! Now we can just haul them back to town!"

Danny grabbed the end of the 'bag' with both of his hands. "Now let's get going. Mom may be getting worried about us."

Wormmon nodded as he wrapped up the leaves and put them into another bag he made.

---

At the same time, a familiar man was looking down at the town. "That Legendary Warrior still has to be hurting. I gave you enough food to heal your injuries. You should be able to fight him and win this time."

"Master, I can fight, but I don't know if taking down the Legendary Warrior will be that easy. They are Legendary Warriors for a reason. We only got the drop on him before," A Kuwagamon pointed out.

"True, but now we should have the advantage. We know he is here. Even if he is a Legendary Warrior, all opponents can be beaten if given enough time and strength." The man replied. "Once we defeat him, we'll bring his Spirit to the elites at the Beast Slayer Guild, and we'll be as good as in."

"Okay, Master, I will do my best," Kuwagamon said.

"Now, we need to flush him out. I know he's still in that town, licking his wounds," The man noted. "No self respecting Legendary Warrior would ignore the Digimon's cry for help."

---

Andy sighed as he walked out of the hospital. Lopmon followed behind him.

"Are you alright, Andy?" Lopmon asked.

Andy crossed his arms. "I'm not sure. I'm glad that Mom is alright, and she's able to bond with a Digimon. But I'm starting to wonder if having her here is such a good idea. She may overreact and get overprotective if we get attacked by a Digimon or a player, and get herself hurt. And she may have a bit of a meltdown if she sees me or Danny getting hurt, which is very likely to happen in the middle of battle. There was a reason why we didn't want our parents to know about this world in the first place, and it's easy to see that reason being played out now."

Lopmon frowned. "Yes, but what if you were here and got hurt and your mom didn't know about this world when that happened? How would you explain that to her? Unlike Danny, you can't exactly heal fast."

"It wouldn't be the first time I got hurt. Heck, Takuya nearly killed me, three times," Andy pointed out.

"... I think he's becoming hazardous to your health…" Lopmon deadpanned.

"My point is that the Digital World has ways to heal us pretty quickly," Andy sighed. "Like now, JP's broken leg can be fixed with the right kind of food and medicine."

"True." Lopmon conceded. "But that may not always be the case next time."

"But I'm not sure if Mom knowing would make it any better," Andy sighed. "I'm more worried she would interfere and make things worse because she doesn't want us to get hurt."

"You can't stop your mom from wanting to protect you." Lopmon admitted. "But you can work with her to make sure you, Danny, and her don't get hurt."

"I'm not sure it's entirely possible to not get hurt in battle forever," Andy sighed.

"Maybe not, but your mom knows now, and that's not going to change any time soon," Lopmon pointed out. "The best you can do is embrace that instead of worrying about it."

"I hate that you're right," Andy grumbled. "We might have to tell her about the Legendary Warriors at some point if she's going to be working with us. It wouldn't do us any good if she was kept in the dark about them. But I can't force them to tell her that they're Legendary Warriors either. They only told us, eventually, because we already knew about Takuya being one, so it wouldn't take much thought to come to the conclusion they're all Legendary Warriors."

"We'll figure that out when we come to that bridge." Lopmon admitted. "For our part, we can only focus on the here and now."

"Yeah… for the record though, I blame Vlad," Andy grumbled.

"Me too," Lopmon sighed before his ears began to twitch. "Huh?"

"What is it?" Andy asked.

"I hear… a loud buzzing noise…" Lopmon replied.

Just then, a large red beetle-like Digimon emerged from the trees nearby. "I know he is here! The Legendary Warrior! Come out, my prey!"

The local Digimon all began running around screaming in a panic.

"If the Legendary Warrior doesn't come out, I'll have Kuwagamon start turning you into Digi-Eggs!" The man riding on the Kuwagamon threatened.

"Don't those two look familiar?" Lopmon frowned.

Andy had a brief flash of the man and the Kuwagamon who attacked the Fortune-Teller Village, and Shamamon's mansion. They were the ones who got fused by Technus and nearly threw the Digital World into glitching chaos.

"I can't believe they're here causing more trouble." Andy frowned. "We have to stop them!"

"But what can we do?" Lopmon frowned. "We'd need help from the Legendary Warriors to beat this guy, and the only one who is a Legendary Warrior here is hurt!"

"No, we don't," Andy said. "We're strong in our own rights, and besides, that's a Kuwagamon, right? He's a Champion level Digimon, not an Okuwamon. Come on, Lopmon, we don't have time to stew in doubt right now!"

Kuwagamon grabbed onto Penguinmon, squeezing her.

"Let me go!" Penguimon shouted.

"If the Legendary Warrior doesn't come out, this little penguin will be nothing but an egg!" The man threatened.

Andy and Lopmon ran at them, and Andy picked up Lopmon, tossed him into the air, taking out his Fenton Rod and used it to bat Lopmon at the Kuwagamon.

"Huh?" Kuwagamon was confused why this chocolate ball was coming at him.

Lopmon inflated his ears to stop his momentum as he was right in front of Kuwagamon's face. "Blazing Ice!"

Lopmon froze Kuwagamon's face.

"How dare you!?" The man exclaimed in his anger before he paused, almost as if recognizing the small brown and pink Digimon before him. "Wait… I remember you!"

Lopmon smirked back. "I'm glad you do~"

Kuwagamon's grip on Penguinmon loosed enough for Lopmon to pull her out, and used his ears to glide them away.

"Don't just stand there, Kuwagamon! Go after them!" The man shouted. "The partner of that one can't be too far!"

Kuwagamon let out a roar, breaking the ice on his face.

"Andy! We have incoming!" Lopmon exclaimed as he and Penguinmon floated down to Andy's location.

Andy frowned as Kuwagamon was flying at them.

"Nobody hurts my baby!" A woman shouted before a bazooka with ecto energy fired at the Kuwagamon, causing it to fall back a few feet, shouting in pain.

"M-Mom?!" Andy yelled, surprised.

"I won't let anyone hurt my son!" Maddie replied as she aimed that bazooka at the Kuwagamon again. "Now scram, you big bug beast!" She fired off another shot at Kuwagamon.

Kuwagamon saw the blast incoming and flew down to avoid getting hit, but the Champion level Digimon was flying too fast to avoid crashing into the ground, and made a big skidmark with the impact.

"Who is that crazy woman!? Is she a Digimon?" The man hissed as he was still on Kuwagamon's head.

"Mom! Stop it!" Andy shouted, running to her and grabbing onto her arm to get her to stop firing the Fenton Bazooka. "Ecto energy has a bad effect on Digimon, and on this world!"

Maddie paused. "It does?" She asked, looking at Andy in surprise.

"There's a reason why ghosts and Digimon don't naturally get along," Lopmon explained when he landed near Andy. "The ectoplasm does something to the fractal code that makes us up."

"That Kuwagamon, and that player…" Penguinmon began. "They're the ones who attacked us before."

"But didn't you say an Okuwamon attacked you?" Maddie asked.

"Kuwagamon can digivolve into an Okuwamon," Lopmon explained. "It must be a bit too weak from fighting with… JP to digivolve right now."

"Well, that would explain why it's not as strong right now." Maddie noted before she frowned. "But if ectoplasm is bad for Digimon and this world, then that means I can't use my weapons…?"

"You can, just not the ones that use a lot of ecto energy," Andy explained before he held out his Fenton Rod. "You can still use a weapon like this."

Maddie frowned, but nodded. "I guess close range fighting is the only way to go right now." She conceded as she took out her staff weapon and ignited the glowing green blades. "This should work, since it doesn't use ectoplasm."

"Are you really gonna fight?" Penguinmon asked.

"We're just gonna try to knock out the player, and hopefully that'll also stop Kuwagamon," Lopmon explained. "But try to get the other Digimon away from this area, we can't promise that they won't be caught in the crossfire."

"Y-yeah, I'll do my best!" Penguinmon quickly said. "I hope our protector gets better quickly!"

Penguinmon ran off to try to get the other Digimon to evacuate the immediate premise.

Where are you, Danny, Wormmon? We could use those medicines right now! Andy thought urgently.

Kuwagamon managed to get back up. His body seemed to glitch a little from the ecto blast earlier.

"Kuwagamon, what's wrong with you?" The man asked, seeing his partner glitching out a bit.

"No… problem… I can still fight, Master!" Kuwagamon reassured. "I feel… energy! I can… I can digivolve!"

The man grinned. "Excellent! Now, time to reach new heights and evolve once more!"

Maddie's eyes went wide when she heard this and felt a sinking feeling in her gut. "Did… that Kuwagamon just say it can… digivolve…?"

"But how? I thought the Fenton Bazooka would make it weaker." Lopmon frowned.

Andy looked at Lopmon, remembering what happened back at the Ghost Zone with Valerie. "Not necessarily. It looks like… if a Digimon can handle absorbing some ectoplasm, it makes them stronger, if a bit unstable."

As if on cue to prove Andy's point, fractal code surrounded the Kuwagamon. "Kuwagamon, digivolve to…"

The fractal code dissipated, revealing a greenish-gray colored insectoid Digimon. It had red accents on its horns, and what looked like glowing green accents on its head and lower limbs. The wings were a bright greenish white, but glowing slightly, and a ghostly glow surrounded the Digimon.

"Okuwamon!"

"Why… does that Digimon have that color and the ghostly aura?" Maddie asked in shock.

"It absorbed some of the ectoplasm," Andy warned. "Lopmon, it's time you digivolved too!"

"Right!" Lopmon agreed.

Fractal code surrounded Lopmon. "Lopmon, digivolve to…" Lopmon began to lose his skin, on his face, and then his legs lost their skin as well. His ears also lost their skin before his skin began to come back, but on his legs and feet first. Lopmon's legs gained shoes and yellow pants with a belt and yellow top that matched, two blades appeared as his hands regained their skin and red gloves, grasping the blades in both hands. The skin on Lopmon's head and face came back, just as a blue bandanna appeared around his neck as well. "Turuiemon!"

The fractal code dissipated, revealing Turuiemon in Lopmon's place. Turuiemon slammed his fists together. "This won't be easy, but I think we can pull off a win."

"Is that… the same Lopmon?" Maddie asked, surprised, it was her first time seeing Turuiemon.

"Yeah, this is his Champion form," Andy answered.

Turuiemon jumped at Okuwamon, pulling back his fist. "Gauntlet Claw!"

Turuiemon punched Okuwamon's face pretty hard. Okuwamon let out a grunt, but reached up and grabbed Turuiemon and threw him to the ground.

"Turuiemon won't be able to do this alone." Andy frowned.

"But what can we do? This Okuwamon is stronger, not to mention much more dangerous!" Maddie exclaimed.

Turuiemon got back to his feet and jumped back up. "Ninja Fist!" He punched Okuwamon on the side of the head, forcing the ghostly insectoid Digimon down lower to the ground.

Okuwamon slammed into the ground, but as he did so, he managed to knock Turuiemon to the ground as well with one of his large legs.

Turuiemon crashed into some trees near Andy and Maddie. "Ooof!"

"Turuiemon, are you okay?" Andy asked in concern.

"He's… really tough…" Turuiemon groaned.

JP was looking out the window, he saw the battle going on. "This is bad…"

JP reached into his pocket to take out the D-Tector.

"JP, you can't, you haven't recovered yet. The injury will be transferred to your Digimon form if you were to spirit evolve now," Piddomon warned.

"I can't just sit back and do nothing though." JP pointed out. "This guy is back, and is after me. His Okuwamon partner is stronger than Andy's partner too. I can't just be sitting back like this…"

Andy and Maddie weren't done yet. Okuwamon stood over them with his partner still riding on his head.

"We don't need to do this the hard way, you know. Just tell me where the Legendary Warrior is hiding, and you won't need to get hurt," The man stated.

"We saved your life before, and this is how you repay us?" Andy frowned.

"Saved my life? I don't recall such a thing!" The man snapped. "No teenager is able to save an adult's life! It's always the other way around!"

"I don't think he remembers being fused with a ghost." Turuiemon whispered to Andy. "That would explain why he thinks we didn't save his life."

"I think he at least has an idea," Andy said. "Look at his reaction. That's a man who's being defensive rather than outright dismissive. But he doesn't want to think about it, he probably feels embarrassed and ashamed."

"You could tell just from looking at his reaction?" Maddie asked, while she was pretty observant herself, she wouldn't be able to tell that from one reaction from a person she didn't know. She could only tell if her children were hiding something, and Jack, because she knew them so well and their mannerisms.

"Yeah… isn't it kinda obvious?" Andy replied.

Turuiemon grinned. "That's Andy for ya! He can tell quite a bit about people based on reactions alone."

"That doesn't matter now, we need to defend ourselves!" Andy quickly said as the man was shouting.

"You're the ones who put me in danger in the first place!" The man shouted angrily. "Okuwamon, teach them a lesson!"

"Yes, Master," Okuwamon said before it roared.

Maddie and Andy got their weapons ready, and Turuiemon prepared himself as well.

JP squeezed his D-Tector, he knew he had to do something.

"Double Scissor Claws!" Okuwamon shouted as his pinchers sharpened.

"Don't let that touch you!" Andy warned.

Maddie, Andy, and Turuiemon scattered to avoid getting caught up in that death grip. The pinchers sliced through one of the buildings like it was made of hot butter.

Turuiemon, being the only other Digimon in the battle, decided to get Okuwamon's attention. "Hey, big ugly bug! Think you can catch me!?"

Turuiemon hopped around quickly. Okuwamon may be big and powerful, but Turuiemon was small and quick on his feet. He was able to use his small size and speed advantage on BurningGreymon as well, this was the perfect time to make use of that again.

While Okuwamon was chasing after Turuiemon, Andy and Maddie ran at both sides of Okuwamon, and they jumped, swinging their Fenton weapons at Okuwamon's side. The exoskeleton made Okuamon's hide quite tough to hit, however. Andy felt his arms vibrating from hitting such a hard skin.

I swear, between this and my dark reflection's inhuman strength, my arms are gonna shatter! Andy inwardly groaned as he quickly ran to get as far away as possible from the giant bug monster.

Maddie tried to whack Okuwamon's side again, but her own Fenton weapon bounced off. She felt her own arms shaking with the impact and winced. "Ow… Now I know how a Rookie-level Digimon feels against a Digimon of this strength…"

"Do you really think your human weapons would do anything to my Ultimate level Digimon?" The man laughed.

Okuwamon began turning his attention on the two humans. However, this gave Turuiemon an opening.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent! Gauntlet Claw!" Turuiemon punched Okuwamon's back with his gauntlet, using its claws to pierce a little through the exoskeleton, and gave it enough force to have Okuwamon land on the ground, but not hit it.

"Pathetic, only weaklings gather around each other to try to be strong," The man growled.

"Not always!" Turuiemon exclaimed. "Sometimes strength comes from others helping you!"

"Teamwork is necessary against stronger opponents!" Maddie added.

"Which is why you will never be strong!" The man snapped.

Okuwamon flew up and his pinchers grew sharp.

"Look out!" Turuiemon warned.

Maddie and Andy yelped as they scrambled to get away from Okuwamon's giant scissor-like pinchers, and to avoid being sliced in half.

Meanwhile, Danny and Wormmon finally made it back to the town, only to see the fight that had broken out with the Okuwamon, and some of the buildings falling apart. They saw the local Digimon running out of the town in a panic.

"That's an Okuwamon! The player must've come back just as JP predicted!" Wormmon warned.

Danny frowned. "This isn't good. Mom and Andy are most likely fighting it with Turuiemon, but with JP being injured, we don't have much of a chance against Okuwamon."

"Come on, let's get these to the hospital quick! The sooner we get it there, the sooner JP can be healed and help!" Wormmon quickly said. "Actually, you do it. I'm going to join in on the fight. I may not be strong, but I want to help protect Maddie and Andy."

Danny frowned. "Are you sure? I don't know what to really do to help JP with these…"

"Piddomon will know, you just need to get it to him. Now hurry!" Wormmon quickly said before he dropped the basket of leaves for Danny and jumped into the town to find Maddie.

Danny quickly picked up the basket of leaves. He knew he didn't have a moment to spare. He heard Andy screaming as he barely dodged the giant bug's deadly pincers. I can't diddle daddle. It might be risky, but it's the quickest and easiest way to get these ingredients to the hospital without getting caught up in all of that.

Danny reached into the cold spot in his chest, and transformed into his ghost form. Once he had transformed, he turned himself invisible and intangible, and quickly used his power of flight to fly past Wormmon and made a beeline to the hospital.

"What was that…?" Wormmon blinked when he felt a cold breeze going past him.

Danny didn't waste time as he flew into the hospital. He dropped the invisibility and intangibility, causing some Digimon to yelp. He ignored them and ran down the corridor, transforming back into his human form along the way, and made it to JP's room in record time.

"JP! I got the medicine stuff!" Danny spoke up. "Is that doctor angel Digimon here?"

"I am." Piddomon replied. "That was fast."

"Yeah, well, the faster the better, right?" Danny chuckled sheepishly before he showed Piddomon the silk baskets with the fruits and leaves. "Will these help JP's leg recover quickly? I saw the fight going on, and it might reach this place soon if it keeps going."

"Yes, these should help greatly." Piddomon confirmed. "If what you say is true, I will have to get started right away on what I need to do before that fight reaches here."

"I'll go try to help them out," Danny said.

"Are you sure? You don't have a Digimon with you, do you?" JP frowned.

"I'll make do with what I can," Danny quickly said. "You just focus on getting your leg healed as quickly as possible."

"Right, just don't get yourself killed out there," JP said, feeling confident that Danny had something up his sleeve.

Danny grinned back. "I won't be that careless." He grinned, making a joke. Granted, I'm already half dead, but the sentiment is still nice…

Danny looked at Piddomon. "Good luck."

"I wish you the blessing of good luck as well, young hero," Piddomon said before Danny ran out of the room. "Now, let's treat your leg."

JP nodded as he laid down. "Let's do this, quickly."

Danny rushed out of the hospital. He didn't have Patamon with him, but he still had his own powers. Surely there was something he could do. He knew if he used too much of his ghost powers, it may cause the Digital World to go haywire, but he seemed to be able to use the basics just fine. Flight, invisibility, and intangibility seem to not have any negative effects on the world. It may be their best chance to slow down Okuwamon enough for JP to join in. And if he can keep his invisibility up, his mother would never know 'Danny Phantom' was here.

As soon as Danny was outside, he looked around, not seeing anyone. And anyone who was here weren't paying attention to him, they had other concerns right now. Danny quickly transformed into his ghost form again, and immediately turned invisible before he flew towards the battle.

He made it in time to see Turuiemon getting slammed into a building. Andy tripped and fell to the ground. Okuwamon was about to grab him, but Maddie pushed Andy away in time to get grabbed herself.

"Mom!" Andy shouted in distress, seeing his mom likely about to get sliced by the bug's pincers.

Danny didn't waste any time to fly over to his mom. Luckily, she wasn't wearing the Specter Deflector anymore. He just hoped she wouldn't notice the sudden cold touch. He grabbed onto her shoulders and turned her intangible, getting her out of Okuwamon's grip before he could use his Double Scissor Claws on her. The pincers went through her, and nicked his own hand instead. Okuwamon let out a roar of pain, letting go of Maddie. Maddie was very confused about what just happened. Danny gently had her land on her feet before letting her go.

"Mom?" Andy blinked, having seen her unnaturally floating to the ground without Lopmon's, or any other outsider's, help. "What just happened?"

"I… I don't know…" Maddie admitted, feeling a bit confused, but also grateful about whatever happened. "I just know I was about to get attacked and then… whatever happened occurred.."

Turuiemon ran over to Maddie. "Are you okay?"

Maddie nodded. "A bit shaken up, but I think I'm okay."

Danny smiled in relief, glad he had been able to do something, even if he wasn't really fighting this time around. Then again, I don't think I'll have to fight myself.

"Hey! Are you okay!?" Wormmon called as he quickly hopped over to the group.

"Wormmon?" Andy blinked. "When did you get back?"

"Just a minute ago, I think, Danny should be getting the medical supplies to the hospital now," Wormmon answered.

"Danny…" Andy blinked as realization hit him. He must've transformed to help Mom get out of a jam. Heh, of course he did. That's so like him.

"I'm fine, Wormmon. Something weird happened that made Okuwamon miss me, but I'm fine otherwise." Maddie reassured the worm Digimon.

Okuwamon growled, holding his hand that had been injured from his own attack.

"Don't let them make a fool out of us!" The man shouted.

Andy looked at Wormmon, recalling his special attack. "We might be able to slow them down. Turuiemon, Wormmon, you two will need to work together to pull this off."

"What do we need to do?" Wormmon asked.

Andy quickly devised the plan, and told Turuiemon, Wormmon, and Maddie.

"I don't know, Andy, this is dangerous, and if it goes wrong… well, there's no second chance for us," Maddie warned.

"Trust me, Mom. If things do go wrong, I have a feeling we have some back-up," Andy said, knowing Danny was nearby and watching them.

Danny was grinning like an idiot at that. Wow, who knew being a support rather than the main instigator like this would be so much fun? I should do this more often!

Danny knew he couldn't join in on the fight directly, but seeing how Andy had regained some confidence, knowing Danny was here to back them up, there was a good chance they would make it through.

Wormmon was on top of Turuiemon's head, and he clutched onto Turuiemon's head with his claws to keep from falling off.

Maddie and Andy ran in front of Okuwamon and his partner.

"Hey! Big, stupid, and ugly! What's the matter, you can't catch a couple of pesky, weak humans?" Andy taunted.

"You little pests! I will make you pay for messing with me and Okuwamon!" The man exclaimed. "Okuwamon, attack them!"

"Are you sure about this, Andy?" Maddie asked as they prepared themselves. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"We'll be fine, Mom, just trust me, and treat this like any ghost attack back home!" Andy quickly said just before Okuwamon launched at them.

Maddie and Andy began moving quickly to avoid getting caught up in Okuwamon's pincers. They twirled their weapons to get some hits in to try to slow it down. A few times, Okuwamon nearly caught Andy, but Danny came in to turn his brother intangible, making Okuwamon miss. Andy smiled, knowing what happened.

Maddie still didn't, but she wasn't going to question it in the heat of battle. She just knew that even though Okuwamon could've caught them, something was causing it to miss them. Danny kept going between Maddie and Andy to make sure they would be intangible for a split second to avoid being caught. Not enough time for Maddie to notice what was happening.

Meanwhile, Turuiemon jumped on top of one of the buildings, and were waiting for Maddie and Andy to lure Okuwamon in that direction.

"Come on, come on, come on…" Turuiemon anxiously whispered.

"Don't worry. They'll be here." Wormmon assured Turuiemon.

"I know, but it's hard watching and waiting." Turuiemon admitted nervously.

Okuwamon was slowly, but surely being lured over to the building. Since Maddie and Andy couldn't fly, Okuwamon had to stay on the ground to try to catch them. It was lucky that the man hadn't trained Okuwamon to be able to use long range attacks, or attacks outside of his special attacks, or they would've been dust by now.

"See? They're coming this way. No need to worry." Wormmon said, but he was hiding his own nervousness at this plan very well so as to not make Turuiemon even more worried.

"Yeah… No problem…" Turuiemon murmured anxiously. C'mon… just get over here already!

Andy and Maddie, with a little secret help from Danny, managed to get to the building where Turuiemon and Wormmon were waiting. Turuiemon waited until Okuwamon was moving past the building.

Now! Turuiemon jumped from the building. "Aim!"

Wormmon opened his mouth. "Sticky Net!"

Wormmon shot out the sticky thread from his mouth and aimed it at the man on Okuwamon. The man yelped when he was quickly caught in a sticky thread.

"What is this!?" The man shouted.

Okuwamon stopped chasing after the two humans, and looked up to see what had his master in distress.

Wormmon pulled the man off of Okuwamon's head, and had him dangling as Turuiemon landed on another building's roof.

"Call off your Digimon, and promise to leave and never come back, and we'll let you go!" Turuiemon stated.

"Why should I? I am after the Legendary Warrior! I don't want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice!" The man replied.

Danny, who was hovering nearby while invisible, frowned. It seemed this man wasn't going to back down from his search for JP.

"Whether you wanted to hurt us or not, you still attacked us, and innocent Digimon," Turuiemon pointed out. "We can't just let that slide."

"Then you leave me no choice! Okuwamon, you know what to do! Since these Digimon refuse to cooperate, it's time we made good on our threat!" The man shouted.

"M-Master, if I use it, I won't be able to control myself," Okuwamon warned.

"Just do it!" The man shouted. "I can always create another avatar!"

"Y-yes, Master…" Okuwamon replied in a defeated tone.

"What's going on over there?" Maddie frowned.

"Something tells me that he's not so willing to give up so easily…" Andy warned as he got a bad feeling in his stomach.

"Destructive Impulse!" Okuwamon shouted and his body glowed with red aura.

Okuwamon began to roar in like an out of control beast, and he began to slash at the buildings, and slice them in two with his pincers. He didn't seem to have any rhyme or reason for doing this, he was just going on wild.

"What've you done!?" Turuiemon shouted.

"I had Okuwamon free himself, and go absolutely wild," The man snickered. "He may end up killing me, but I can always create another avatar."

"You're insane!" Wormmon shouted.

"Well, who wouldn't do anything to get their hands on a Legendary Warrior?" The man retorted with a grin. "So I may not survive this time, but I can always return with a new avatar! And then that Legendary Warrior will be mine!"

Turuiemon frowned at this. Something tells me we'll have to help the Legendary Warriors get stronger too… If players like this guy are after them, we'll need to make sure the Warriors can handle these players down the road.

Okuwamon began to fly up into the sky and started moving around sporadically through the town. Now nowhere was safe from this wild beast.

"What happened!?" Andy called.

Wormmon broke the string from his mouth, and tied it up around Turuiemon's arm, so the man would be stuck with them for the time being.

Turuiemon hopped down from the building, catching the tied up man.

"This desperate moron just made his partner go absolutely crazy. Like BurningGreymon crazy," Turuiemon answered.

"What? Why would you do that!?" Andy snapped at the man. "We're all in danger now!"

"So? Can't you just make new avatars?" The man replied. "It's not like you could really die here. This is a video game world after all."

"You can't make a new avatar, stupid! That's why when new players lose their avatars, they can't get back into the game!" Andy informed the man.

"What? What kind of game doesn't let you make a new avatar?" The man frowned.

"This isn't a game!" Wormmon snapped.

"Leave him be, talking to him is only going to waste time," Maddie spoke up. "We have to do something!"

"Turuiemon, we're gonna need all the strength we can get. Put that man down somewhere, and let's see if we can at least slow Okuwamon down," Andy instructed.

Turuiemon looked at the man before sighing. "Very well." He said before plopping the man down near a random building. He gave the man one last glance. "We'll stop your partner, then you leave this place alone."

With that said, Turuiemon made his way to Andy's side. "Alright, let's stop that Okuwamon."

The man frowned as he watched them run off. "I don't get it. What do these people hope to gain by protecting this backwash town? All they're doing is fighting against a battle they can't win."

Danny was the only person there to hear the man's mumblings, though he was invisible. He flew over to the man and whispered to him. "Maybe it's because they care about more than just their own status here."

The man gasped, and looked around, wondering who just said that. Danny left the man to his own musing, hoping the man would believe that was his own conscience talking to him.

JP saw Okuwamon getting closer to them from the window. Piddomon had already administered the medicine on his leg, using an injection to make it faster than if JP were to drink it himself. However, it was still going to take at least a minute or two before the effects completely healed him.

"H-how much longer?" JP asked.

"Try moving your leg," Piddomon said as he removed the cast from JP's leg.

JP moved his leg, and it didn't hurt, much to his surprise and relief. Sure, it felt a bit sore, but then again, it had been broken beforehand. "Aside from some soreness, it feels great! Whatever you used really helped! Thanks!"

"Just try not to strain it too much, but… I know you have your duties as a Legendary Warrior. We're counting on you," Piddomon said. "Now go, and hurry!"

JP got up and grabbed his D-Tector. "Thanks, Piddomon!" He called as he ran out of the hospital. Now out of the hospital, JP knew what he had to do. The green outline of his first Spirit became visible on the screen of his D-Tector as he held it up. JP then held up his left hand as fractal coding formed around it, his D-Tector held in his other hand. Slamming the device against the ring of coding, he brought the two together. JP then called out the familiar phrase he knew by heart. "Execute! Spirit Evolution!" Coding encircled him as his clothes ripped away and his body became data, the power of the Spirit flowing into him. Blue and yellow armor formed on his body as he grew in height and strength. On his back, wings formed before they were covered by two halves of a hard shell and on his head, a horn grew. His eyes became green as a faceplate covered his mouth and he felt the power of thunder flowing into his body. He landed, slamming his fists together as he cried out his name. "Beetlemon!"

Beetlemon quickly took off into the air as soon as he was out of the hospital. "Sorry to keep you waiting, guys, but I'm coming!"

---

Titanic X: DarkFoxKit: Well, you just saw what happened next, so there you go.

ZAFT: And more comes away! XD

Pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: We'll answer both of your reviews then. The slave collars having different colors was to help indicate it wasn't an ordinary slave collar. The slave collars themselves could come in a variety of different colors actually, but this one was specially made to be able to control Legendary Warriors. Though it was only a prototype.

ZAFT: There could be a reappearance of those kinds though, so you never know who is safe or not~ XD And Jack growing as a character is always fun! XD And you were right~ Maddie is Wormmon's partner! :3

Now, as for Mercurymon and his test, it was fun to do that. XD I love putting in Dark Andy. X3

DarkFoxKit: Mercurymon is quite the cunning character, he's fun to use, but we haven't used him much, at least on screen, because we feel it amps up the mystery behind him if we didn't use him too often. Also, it wasn't hard to predict Wormmon being Maddie's partner, we didn't exactly make it a secret when we showed Veemon to Jack. Although you're probably one of the few actual Digimon fans to review this story, so you might've been the only one to predict that for all I know. Originally, Jack and Maddie's partners were gonna be Agumon and Gabumon, but I felt that was too overdone at this point. And I like Imperialdramon, so I figured we might as well use it.

ZAFT: It will be a while before we get to Imperialdramon, but it will be cool to see when it comes in. XD

DarkFoxKit: Due to the nature of Danny Phantom as a show, being more episodic than an ongoing story, it gets very difficult to keep everything balanced once we start introducing Ultimate level Digimon, which is why we've been hesitant on using those. Ultimate level Digimon are very strong, I doubt a lot of the regular ghostly enemies would stand a chance against them. It was why I suggested Takuya wouldn't have access to his Beast Form so easily because realistically, his Beast Form would destroy a lot of these ghosts, kinda rendering a lot of the plot moot, and stunts Danny's growth as the protector of Amity Park. In the previous story, I felt like we had to nerf Takuya to the ground just to make it work, and it felt like we were just dumping on Takuya a lot that it didn't sit right with me. It got to the point that we figured it might be best to just have Takuya be separated from the main group, but then that kinda defeats the whole purpose of adding Takuya to begin with. So we had to scrap it and start over, this time Takuya not having access to his full powers right away. We also changed some things like Andy and Lopmon being partners. But the point is Ultimate level Digimon and above are a very slippery slope to bring into the story.

ZAFT: Well, the plot with the Digital World being thought of as a video game kinda helps with that, since that would be more ideal to bring in the stronger forms. So we can still work it in, just not against the ghosts directly.

DarkFoxKit: I always thought that when the D-Arcs started the Digivolution process, it was actually saying it out loud so the tamers would know that it's working. I just thought they never had any reason to really acknowledge it.

ZAFT: And as for Danny and the test from Mercurymon… we will see what happens. XD

DarkFoxKit: Danny will have his own test with Patamon. Also, your comment about Andy there… we can't really make sense of it. What are you asking about Andy?

ZAFT: We will be able to answer that comment next time you review if you explain that to us.