DarkFoxKit: We worked hard on how the battle should go between Freakshow and Andy's group. It was definitely not easy. A lot happened during the fight, and we had a lot of character stuff to cover as well. I apologize if some of this stuff seemed over the top or rushed.
ZAFT: Well, at least we had fun doing it, and I think our readers feel it was not too rushed or over the top. XD And on top of that, it's almost Christmas! One week from today. How hard to believe is that? :3
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, so Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all. We hope that you enjoy this big battle we wrote, and we also hope to hear from you guys as well.
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows several forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton and Patamon, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton and Lopmon, and Jazz Fenton)
Falling into destiny
(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky and cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)
Reaching across new boundaries
(Andy Fenton appears with Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)
Let our stories come together
(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, his twin brother Danny Fenton behind the ghost boy)
Growing stronger
(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)
Our pasts intertwine
(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)
Showing our future
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)
As we evolve
(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost, Kokuwamon shown behind him)
Let's go… EVOLUTION
(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost, with Biyomon shown behind her)
As our worlds collide
(Jazz is shown beside Andy, the form of Lopmon behind Andy while a shadowed form is behind Jazz)
We stand as one
(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)
Growing strong
(Ghosts are shown flying all around Amity Park as the shadowy form of Walker is shown atop a building and sneering down)
As we move along
(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy and Lopmon, Patamon, Tucker, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz)
CHOU… SHINKA!
(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)
Let's go… EVOLUTION!
(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself)
Nothing will stand in our way!
(Andy, Lopmon, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code)
Digital Phantom!
Chapter 66: End of the Line
Maddie and Jack worked together to destroy all the little things the ghost sent out to attack or scare people with. Bats, spiders, skeletons, and all sorts of nasty things humans were commonly afraid of. Not the Fentons, these were small fries compared to what they face. Their jumpsuits held many hidden ghost weapons, they didn't need to bring any with them if they wanted to be armed.
The other people who were trapped in the tent were surprised to see that these two 'crackpots' were actually holding their own against this dangerous ghost. Most only saw them as boasting people who never really do anything about these ghosts, but here they were, doing exactly what they always say they do; hunt and fight ghosts.
Jeremy ran to the tent's entrance, only to see it was blocked off by a brick wall. So it was definitely all a trap set up by that evil ringmaster.
"We're trapped!" Jeremy exclaimed, looking nervous.
Pamela was calmer, just writing down what she thought of the brick wall blocking their path. "Okay, that's immoral, obnoxious, and objectionable."
"How are you not freaking out?!" Jeremy asked his wife in a panic.
"Oh, I'm freaking out. I'm just directing it elsewhere." Pamela huffed.
The ghost who had sent out her tattoos to attack the people was surprised that there were humans here who had the technology and training to fight back. The only reason Freakshow sent one ghost, which was her, to take care of these people was because he didn't think there were actually people who had the means to fight back. She may have to get out before-
An ecto blast hit her, sending her into the ground. Maddie ran up to her and held out a Fenton Thermos. "You're going back to the dark world where you belong!"
Lydia gasped and let out a scream as the Fenton Thermos sucked her inside. She had failed her master.
Jack grinned as he saw his wife sucking in the ghost. "Nice catch, Mads!" He praised as he ran over to his wife.
Maddie blushed as she looked at her husband. "I just did what I had to do." She admitted.
With Lydia gone, the tattoo ghosts all disappeared in a puff of green smoke. The other people began to calm down, seeing that they were safe.
"Wow… you actually saved us," Jeremy said, surprised that the Fentons were actually good for something.
"So… do you still have a problem with jumpsuits?" Jack grinned.
"Actually… No… Not if those jumpsuits saved our lives." Jeremy admitted.
"... Maybe… we were wrong about you Fentons being crackpots…" Pamela added.
The crowd of people began to approach them.
"That was some fine shooting!"
"You actually caught that ghost!
"We're so glad you saved our lives!"
"I'll never call you crackpots again!"
"We definitely owe you Fentons an apology then," Pamela said. "Maybe there is more to this world than we thought."
"Hopefully you keep that in mind for future references," Maddie said. "But for now, how do we get out? Our weapons only affect ghosts, not brick walls."
"I don't know." Jack admitted. "Maybe we can break down the wall with something, or see if there is another way out. Surely there isn't only one way in and out of here."
"If that crazy Freakshow can make one mistake, he can make more," Jeremy said. "You can leave this to us. After all, we Mansons know how to whip up an angry mob of parents into a frenzy~"
Jack and Maddie looked at each other in concern about that.
Jazz drove up her car at where the Circus Gothica was supposed to take place. "Huh? Where's the Gothica Train?"
Jazz was rather confused, she saw the tent, but not the train. From what she knew, that train had quite the distinguishing design. Then again, when she called Tucker earlier, it sounded like he was on a moving train… Jazz paled when she realized what that could mean. Wasting no more time, Jazz ran to the tent, and stopped when she saw the tent was covered with brick walls.
"What-" Jazz began to question when suddenly she heard people from the other side screaming.
Actually, no, the people weren't screaming exactly… it sounded more like a war cry from several people. Jazz quickly backed away from the tent, and the brick walls were soon broken down as a stampede of people busted right on through.
Jazz nearly had a heart attack when she saw the people inside the tent coming out in a rush. "WHOA!" She dived to the side to avoid getting stampeded over.
It was amazing how strong people could be when they were angry, especially when there were a lot of them.
"Jazz!"
Jazz heard her mother's voice calling out to her. Jazz looked up, seeing Maddie and Jack breaking off from the crowd of angry adults to run over to her.
"Mom! Dad!" Jazz hurried over to meet with them.
"What are you doing here, Jazz?" Jack asked. "It's dangerous to be out at night with these ghosts-"
"Dad! Mom! Look at this!" Jazz shoved her phone in her parents' face, showing the video of the treasury in one of the train carts, and Devimon himself fighting with Andy and Lopmon.
Though Jazz edited the footage to blur out Andy's face, mostly for public reasons, her parents would be able to tell that was Andy from his clothes and Lopmon alone.
Jack and Maddie both frowned at this.
"So… Freakshow wasn't working alone…" Jack growled, clenching his massive fists at his sides.
"And all that gold, cash, and paintings we saw…" Maddie frowned.
"They're stolen from banks, museums, jewelry stores, and who knows where else!" Jazz spoke up. "Don't you see, Mom, Dad? Freakshow is controlling these ghosts, and Agunimon, to steal those things for him!"
Jack frowned. "I thought something was off. Agunimon isn't a bad Digimon, so for him to do something like this is out of character for him. Well, now we know the cause."
"I also thought it was weird ghosts would want to steal things like money. I can understand ghosts have Obsessions with certain things from their lives on Earth, but to have that many ghosts stealing the same things at once? What would they need them for?" Maddie frowned. "And he has a Digimon too."
"Wait a minute!" Jack realized. "Why were Andy and Lopmon in there!?"
"They knew something was up, that's why they were investigating the circus earlier!" Jazz quickly explained. "And we have to go now! The train that Freakshow was in took off! We have to catch up to them!"
Jack and Maddie nodded.
"Then let's get the police and head off after them." Jack suggested. "We need to help Andy and Lopmon!"
"I'll get the police, you and Mom go after the train, we don't have much time!" Jazz frantically said.
Maddie nodded. "Okay, just don't take too long, Jazz."
Jack then grinned. "Time to get the Fenton RV set for a chase!"
Maddie and Jack ran to the Fenton RV while Jazz hurried back to her own car. She checked her cell phone and saw she had a new email. Blinking in curiosity, Jazz opened the email, and saw a message from Floramon.
"I managed to give the cops the footage earlier while you were getting your parents. Wizardmon and I gave them a direction on where the train was going, at least according to the data of the train tracks. Hope this helps! - Floramon"
Jazz grinned. "Well done, Floramon!" She quickly typed a reply saying as much.
Since the cops were already taken care of, Jazz decided to join in on the chase after the train. Hold on, my baby brothers and cousin, I'm coming! I'm not sure if there's anything more I can do, but I'll try my best!
Meanwhile, back on the Circus Gothica train, Andy realized that as long as Freakshow had that crystal ball, they would never really be able to reach out to Danny or Takuya. They had to get that away from Freakshow.
Birdramon and Sam were still fighting with the other 2 ghosts in the sky. Gardromon and Tucker were trying their best to slow the train down while also fighting off 1 of the ghosts. Turuiemon was having a one-to-one battle against Agunimon. Andy and Patamon were being forced to fight against Danny. Andy also knew there was that DemiDevimon on Freakshow's shoulder they may have to face too if things went south for Freakshow. Not to mention Agunimon had that barrier around Freakshow. So they were put at a disadvantage.
Turuiemon jumped away from Agunimon's Pyro Tornado that nearly caught Andy and Patamon as well. Agunimon ran at Turuiemon with both of his fists on fire, intending to use a double Pyro Punch on the bunny. Turuiemon reached both of his gauntlets and raised up hands to block the Pyro Punch. Agunimon pushed Turuiemon towards the edge of the train, and Turuiemon dug his shoes into the train as much as he could to prevent being pushed off.
"Ugh… Agunimon, you need to snap out of it! This isn't like you! You're not a slave!" Turuiemon exclaimed to Agunimon, even though he knew it would be useless to snap the Legendary Warrior out of mind control.
Agunimon just gave an evil smirk at Turuiemon as he was trying to push him off the edge.
Andy frowned as he looked around, seeing that things were looking bad. Birdramon let out a caw of pain as one of the ghosts managed to hit her wing, making it harder for her to fly. Gaurdromon was firing missiles after missiles to get the ghost off him and Tucker, but he was starting to run low on stamina.
"Don't just stand there, slave, finish them off!" Freakshow commanded Danny since he had just been standing there, staring at Andy and Patamon.
Danny's eyes flashed red before he charged at Andy suddenly while he had been taking in the situation. Andy gasped as Danny pinned him down to the roof of the train.
"Gah! Danny! You're hurting me!" Andy cried out as he felt his arms were being crushed by the strength of his brother.
Danny turned to Patamon, knowing he had a weapon to hurt him. Danny turned his feet into his ghostly tail and wrapped that around Patamon before Patamon could react. Patamon let out a gasp as he couldn't move his hands, let alone the dagger.
"D-Danny… Stop…" Patamon gasped, trying to move so he could breathe better.
"Danny, you don't have to do what he says!" Andy spoke up, hoping to try to snap his brother out of it long enough for him and Patamon to get free. "I know you can fight it! You're not just a ghost, Danny, you're more than that! Please, don't let this crazy madman control you!"
Danny was sneering at Andy, but looking into Andy's pleading face, he found himself hesitating. His eyes flickered between red and green, only for Danny to reach up and grab at his head. It felt like he was being torn in two, no… more than that. It felt like he wanted to do serious harm, but at the same time, the urge to protect was coming back strongly too. "I… Master…"
"Andy… I'll leave this to you!" Patamon called out suddenly.
Before Andy could ask, Patamon opened his mouth and bit down on Danny's tail hard.
"OW" Danny yelped, letting go of Patamon as soon as he felt this pain in his ghostly tail. The tail unwound from around Patamon, releasing the little Digimon.
Patamon, instead of using his dagger to attack, headbutted Danny in the forehead. While ghosts were normally impervious to physical attacks from humans, it was different with Digimon. Danny definitely felt that.
"Go now!" Patamon yelled to Andy after he headbutted the ghost boy.
Andy realized what Patamon was doing, he was keeping Danny busy, to give Andy time to do whatever it was he needed to do. But Patamon was only a Rookie Digimon, he would not be able to hold off such a strong ghost on his own. Andy got to his feet, trying not to let the moving train stop him.
"I don't need this dagger to stop you," Patamon said as he had the dagger stab into the train's roof. "If we really are partners, then I can stop you myself with my own powers!"
Danny laughed sinisterly. "So you say! We'll see how long you last without that dagger of yours!"
Danny and Patamon began to circle each other, almost like a dance between predators.
"Come at me!" Patamon shouted.
Patamon also wanted to prevent Danny from looking at the crystal ball as much as possible. Keeping Danny's eyes on him was the best way to go about it.
Danny launched at Patamon.
Andy ran over to Agunimon, who was about to push his partner off the edge. He readied his Fenton Rod and smacked Agunimon in the face. "I'm sorry about that, Agunimon!"
Agunimon grunted as he staggered back, the blow having caught him off guard. He recovered though and looked up at Andy, his red eyes holding nothing but malice in them. His sharp canine teeth were shown as he growled lowly at the boy. He looked positively sinister.
Turuiemon had never been so grateful to Andy for that intervention. "Thanks, Andy…" He panted.
"Fighting them head on like this isn't working." Andy frowned. Especially since our friends have the intent to kill us, while we don't. That makes them more dangerous. If we're going to get through this, we'll have to work together…
Andy quickly shifted his eyes around the battlefield Birdramon and Sam were flying in the air nearby. Guardromon and Tucker were behind the train, still trying to slow it down. If they were going to break the barrier around Freakshow, and get that crystal ball away from him, they were going to need each other's powers to do so.
"Pyro Darts!" Agunimon began firing off the fiery darts at them.
Turuiemon quickly got in front of Andy to block the darts.
Andy quickly took out his phone, careful to hold onto it as tightly as possible so he didn't drop it. He called Sam's number.
As soon as Sam answered, Andy immediately spoke. "Get Birdramon down here. We're going for a ride."
"Okay! I just hope you know what you're doing, Andy!" Sam said as she then directed Birdramon to dive down to where Andy and Turuiemon were.
Andy hung up the phone and quickly called Tucker. "Get ready to catch us."
"What?"
"Just trust me!" Andy hung up just as Birdramon managed to blow away the other 2 ghosts and flew down to where Andy and Turuiemon were.
Agunimon was surprised to suddenly see the giant fire bird so close to them.
"Get on Birdramon!" Andy instructed Turuiemon.
Not having a lot of time to think, Andy and Turuiemon jumped off of the train and onto Birdramon's back.
"Fly up as high as you can!" Andy called out.
"You heard him, Birdramon!" Sam shouted to her partner Digimon.
"You got it!" Birdramon said before she gave a flap of her wings and was soon climbing quickly.
"Turuiemon! I'm going to be trusting you on this one!" Andy called out.
"Of course! You can count on me!" Turuiemon shouted over the winds.
When Birdramon was high enough that one could see the entire Amity Park, Andy gave his next instruction.
"Okay! Release the strongest Meteor Wing you can and dive! Turuiemon, I want you to jump after the Meteor Wing with your own Gauntlet Claw attack, aim directly at Freakshow!" Andy instructed.
Sam grinned. "Think you can do that, Birdramon?"
"With pleasure!" Birdramon said as she climbed up a bit higher before she began to gather her energy into her wings. "Here we go! Meteor Wing!"
The Meteor Wing attack released more meteors than it usually did, which was what Birdramon wanted.
"Ready, Turuiemon?!" Birdramon called over the sound of her attack launching.
"Always!" Turuiemon said before jumping off and aiming his Gauntlet Claw at the Meteor Wing's target as well. He would need to put as much force into it as he could.
Birdramon was diving to stay close to Turuiemon and the Meteor Wing attack. Andy and Sam held on tightly to not be thrown off as this was going on. Sam had been on crazy wild rides at amusement parks before, but this was the craziest ride she had been on ever. The rollercoasters at Floody Water had nothing on this.
Freakshow had no idea what was going on, he just saw that boy and his Digimon getting on that bird and flying away. "I guess they decided to just run away. Not that I blame them, it's not like they stood a chance in the first place. So that leaves the orange bat, and the annoying robot at the back of the train. They're messing up the wheels on my train."
"Are you sure we should just assume they left?" DemiDevimon asked, feeling a bit suspicious.
"Why would they stick around? I have my two best minions on duty to protect us." Freakshow replied, feeling a bit smug.
However, Freakshow wound up eating his words when a slew of orange, fiery meteors slammed into the shield that his Digital minion had put up around him as protection. The meteors didn't break the barrier, but there were cracks that appeared in random places.
"W-what the heck?!" Freakshow demanded.
"Meteor Gauntlet Claw!"
A powerful punch caused a shockwave as soon as it hit the barrier. The cracks got much bigger and were spreading.
Turuiemon grinned at Freakshow from outside of the barrier.
"Digital minion! Renew your protective barrier now!" Freakshow demanded, starting to get scared.
"Nope!" Turuiemon punched Agunimon.
Agunimon didn't expect Turuiemon to punch him without even calling an attack, so he actually lost his balance on the train.
Birdramon spread out her wings and lowered herself. She snatched Agunimon up with her talons and flew away from the train.
Upon seeing Agunimon getting snatched away from him, Freakshow growled in anger. "Ghost boy minion, go after that orange bird! Get back my digital minion!"
Danny had Patamon on the ground, who was struggling against Danny's hold. Danny, upon getting a new order from his master, let Patamon go and flew up after Birdramon.
Andy saw this and smirked. Just as I thought. Freakshow wants to use his new toys rather than his other slaves to catch us. Okay, bro, let's see what you do.
"Are you sure about this?" Sam frowned.
"Knowing Danny, even while under mind control, unless given specific instructions, he'll do what he normally does… and that's fire his ghost rays," Andy replied.
Sure enough, Danny began firing his ghost rays at Birdramon.
Luckily, Sam had Birdramon train her agility, so she was able to dodge the ghost rays while still holding onto Agunimon. Birdramon circled around the sky, heading back to the train.
Turuiemon, seeing that they were coming back, began running to the back of the train. This was phase 2 of Andy's plan.
Seeing that they were getting closer to the train, Andy knew what he had to do. This was risky, and he knew it. But he didn't have time to think of a safer way of doing this. He stood up and let Danny hit him with his ghost ray. The hazmat suit absorbed most of the damage, but boy did it hurt. The force was enough to send Andy flying towards Tucker and Guardromon.
"Get ready, Guardromon." Tucker instructed. "Andy's counting on us."
"You got it, Tucker." Guardromon said as he began to move to catch Andy.
The ghosts that had been attacking Guardromon before were then hit by Turuiemon, getting them away so they wouldn't interfere with Gaurdromon catching Andy. If they miss, Andy was as good as dead.
Thankfully, Guardromon managed to catch Andy. But this did make him fall behind the train by a good mile since he had to let go of it to catch Andy. Turuiemon jumped onto Guardromon.
"Thanks, glad you were able to catch me," Andy said.
"Dude, are you crazy!? Do you want to die?!" Tucker yelled. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"You can berate me after this is over, this may be our only chance!" Andy quickly said. "Can Guardromon catch up to the train?"
"Yes, I can. But I will be exhausted afterwards." Guardromon explained.
Tucker looked at Andy, and he could see his crazy friend had a plan, one he hoped wouldn't get him killed. "Do it, Guardromon."
Guardromon nodded before he increased the power output of his boosters and sped towards the train, catching up to it. "You'd best be prepared to jump onto the train!"
"Guardromon, could you use your missiles to follow me and Turuiemon when we jump?" Andy requested. "And have them target what we land on? This is crucial for us to succeed!"
Guardromon nodded. "Yes. I can!"
Tucker nodded. "Then let's do this, guys!"
"What is going on now!?" Freakshow yelled, seeing how that giant bird still had his digital pet in its talons, and the ghost boy was still chasing it, but that boy and his Digimon were nowhere to be seen. Considering what happened last time, he was now on his toes.
"They're coming from the tracks!" DemiDevimon pointed out with his wing.
"No they won't! Minions! Attack that robot! Stop them!" Freakshow commanded his ghostly minions, including Danny.
Danny turned away from Birdramon and joined the other ghostly minions in moving to stop Andy, Turuiemon, Tucker, and Guardromon.
"We have incoming!" Tucker shouted as he saw the ghosts coming in at them.
The 4 ghosts began firing their ghost rays at them. Guardromon kept moving, trying to dodge the ghost rays while trying to catch up to the train. Tucker, Andy, and Turuiemon were doing their best to deflect some of the ghost rays away as well, using their own weapons. Some of the ghost rays they weren't able to deflect hit Guardromon's shoulders or torso, but he was determined to keep going. He was rerouting all of his systems into his speed and his missiles once they reached their destination.
"That's it!" Andy called out.
Guardromon got close to the train, and they were about to pass by a bridge over a ravine.
"Hold on tight!" Guardromon shouted as he picked up both Andy and Turuiemon with his hands. "Missiles locked…"
Guardromon threw Andy and Turuiemon as hard as he could while having 10 missiles circle around them. As soon as Guardromon did this, he slowed down as fractal code began to surround him, he was degenerating.
"You did well, Kokuwamon… let's just hope this works…" Tucker said softly as Guardromon came to a stop and he jumped down from his partner as he was degenerating.
"Agreed…" Kokuwamon panted as he looked back at where the train was heading. "It's up to Andy and Turuiemon now…"
While in midair, Turuiemon grabbed onto Andy so he wouldn't go squash like a pancake from this. Andy held onto Turuiemon as they began to fall. Turuiemon made sure to aim himself right above Freakshow.
"Where are they!?" Freakshow shouted as his ghost minions came back, having 'fulfilled' their order in stopping the robot from coming after them.
"The robot could not keep up." Danny reported as he came down in front of Freakshow. "They will not be bothering us anymore, Master."
Freakshow grinned. "Excellent~ Now you four can focus on regaining my Digital pet!"
"Hey Freakshow! Try this in your circus act!" Freakshow heard that boy shouting from… above him?
Freakshow looked up in time to see Turuiemon landing on the already cracked barrier, and the 10 missiles that surrounded them shot at the barrier themselves, destroying it completely.
"NO!" Freakshow shouted. "You brat! You planned this?!"
Turuiemon grinned cheekily. "Never underestimate my partner~"
This is no teenager, this is a mastermind just waiting to happen. Freakshow frowned.
"Grab that crystal ball, now!" Andy quickly said.
Freakshow didn't have time to tell his ghost minions to stop them as Turuiemon and Andy reached out to grab the crystal ball. DemiDevimon jumped from his shoulder and hit the crystal ball with his head in a desperate attempt to keep it out of their reach. This caused Freakshow to lose the staff, however. Danny had been standing in front of Freakshow while this was happening, and he held out his hand, catching the staff before it could be lost.
This… didn't go according to Andy's plan, he didn't expect for the crystal ball to end up in Danny's hand. But… since Freakshow wasn't the one holding it anymore, maybe there was still a chance.
Danny was grinning maliciously.
"Good job, minion, now bring me my staff. Come on, bring it," Freakshow called out, making little puckering noises like one would with a pet.
Danny looked at the staff for a moment.
"Don't do it, Danny!" Patamon called from the floor.
"That's right, you don't have to listen to Freakshow anymore, he's not holding the staff, you are! You can fight it, Danny!" Andy shouted as Turuiemon put him down.
Danny looked down at the staff again and for a moment, seemed like he was going to give it to Freakshow, but he hesitated. "I… have the staff…?"
"Yes!" Patamon exclaimed. "You are in control of it, Danny! You have the staff!"
"Please, fight it, Danny!" Turuiemon joined in.
"Silence!" Freakshow shouted at them, without his staff he couldn't command the other ghost minions to stop them. Once more, he tried to get the ghost boy to bring him his only means of control. "Obey me, ghost, bring me my staff."
Andy noticed the train was now on the bridge over the ravine. Birdramon flew in, not looking so good. She fell onto the train, releasing Agunimon. Agunimon had likely been attacking her with his fire moves. It may not have done too much damage due to both of them being fire elements, but all of that damage added up, and Birdramon had already been hurt by the ghost attacks earlier.
"Birdramon!" Sam called out in worry as she got off of her partner.
Birdramon degenerated back into Biyomon, too tired to keep her Champion form.
There goes our safety net… Andy realized, seeing with Agunimon free now, and Birdramon incapable of helping anymore, this scenario looked identical to his vision.
Freakshow saw Agunimon was back at his side and grinned. "Well, it seems your little plan backfired, children~" He said as he looked at the Digimon. "Now, Digital minion, go retrieve my staff from the ghost boy."
However, because Danny was the one holding the staff, Agunimon didn't even react to Freakshow's order. Instead, he had a confused look cross his face, like he didn't know who he was supposed to obey.
"Danny! You've got to fight it!" Sam called out, seeing that Danny was holding the staff now.
"Quiet! All of you! I need to think!" Danny shouted, his mind being torn in 3 different places at once.
They had been so close, they had taken so many risks, things couldn't end like this, could they? Andy found himself questioning that. If things ended up like they did in his vision, he was about to fall to his death.
"Danny…" Patamon frowned, feeling too injured and weak to move.
"Danny, I know you're still in there somewhere," Andy said. "I… I trust that you will make the right decision."
"Oh enough of this! I'm getting sick of watching!" DemiDevimon grumbled before he hopped down from Freakshow's shoulder. "Just get out of here already! DemiDevi Claw!"
With a swift kick, and a scratch, from DemiDevimon, Andy yelped as he suddenly found himself falling from the train. He didn't realize he had been standing that close to the edge of the train. And now he was falling.
"ANDY!" Turuiemon shouted as he was about to jump to save his partner when he was grabbed by a large dark claw. "Wah!?"
DemiDevimon digivolved into Devimon, and he grabbed into Turuiemon to stop him from saving his partner. He grinned as dark energy released from his claw, hurting Turuiemon. Turuiemon let out a scream of pain before he degenerated into Lopmon and went limp in Devimon's hold.
"NO!" Sam shouted when she saw what was happening. She wanted to help, but this was just something she couldn't handle without Birdramon's help.
"Andy? ANDY!" Danny, when he saw Andy falling, didn't care about the staff anymore. He didn't care about trying to get his mind in order anymore. The boy, Andy, was more important. That boy, who he had been fighting, was first and foremost in his mind.
With that in his mind dominating all other thoughts, Danny dropped the staff as he took off after Andy. The staff fell into the ravine as Danny flew down and reached out to grab Andy. "Hang on, Andy!"
As Andy was falling, he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him. He could hear his heart beating, his mind was playing back his life to him. 14 years of living… and it was about to come to an end. He wondered if Danny felt this way while the portal was shocking him. Although maybe not, since Andy had the luxury of not feeling any pain before he hit the ground. Andy wondered if he would come back as a full ghost, or if he would end up moving on to a different plane of existence altogether.
All of this happened in a span of one second, just before he saw a black and white blur diving down at him, calling out his name. At first he thought it might've been the Grim Reaper coming for him, but as the blur got closer, he could see that it was a different kind of entity coming at him. Danny was flying at him, though his pupils were still red. Danny managed to catch up to Andy and caught him before he could hit the ground.
While Danny caught Andy, the staff fell onto the rocks below and shattered.
When the staff shattered, Danny's eyes flashed before they then turned back to their usual ectoplasmic green color.
Danny let out a bit of a gasp at the sudden control he had over himself. He had been fighting hard to gain enough control to catch Andy, but now he was back in full control of himself.
Andy let out a gasp of his own when his mind finally caught up to him and realized he wasn't falling anymore. Though Danny's cold body may have added to the reason for his gasping.
"Danny!" Andy said. "You… you caught me!"
"Of course, bro!" Danny said before he groaned. "But… everything feels like a blur… Like my brain wasn't fully in control or something…"
"You weren't, but it looks like you are now," Andy said in relief, he had never been so happy to see his brother's ghostly green eyes. "Thank you, bro… I was almost roadkill, literally."
"Actually, if not for you, I wouldn't have acted on my own to save you." Danny admitted sheepishly. "You being in danger forced me to act to save you."
"So that vision didn't end with me dying after all…" Andy said in relief.
"What? Are you saying you knew this would happen?" Danny blinked.
"Not in detail… honestly, I thought I was going to die," Andy admitted.
"Andy! That was dangerous!" Danny exclaimed, feeling like his twin was just trying to give him a heart attack.
Andy couldn't help but laugh. He was so relieved to have his brother back, he couldn't help it. But they weren't done just yet. "Bro, we need to get back to the top of the train. The others might need our help."
Danny frowned, but nodded. "Good idea." He agreed before turning and flying back to the train. He caught up and landed on the top of the train before setting Andy down on his feet.
"Danny! Andy! You're okay!" Sam called out in relief, her heart had been hammering in her chest this whole time.
Patamon stood up and faced Devimon. Knowing that both Andy and Danny were safe, he could focus more on the bigger threat now.
Agunimon was in a daze, but he was shaking off the control now that the crystal ball was broken. Though it wasn't just him, the other 3 ghosts lost their red eyes, showing that they too had been a victim to Freakshow's control.
"H-huh? What happened? I can move on my own again?" The elastic ghost girl asked in shock.
"Are we free? Finally free?" The midget ghost asked hopefully.
Finally, Agunimon shook his head as his own eyes returned to normal, becoming their calming blue color once more. "Ugh… Why does my head feel like it's gone through a blender…?" He groaned as he brought a hand to his head.
Sam grinned at seeing this development. "It seems the control is finally gone."
"Good… I'm glad…" Biyomon said weakly as Sam was hugging her.
"It looks like our plans are going down the drain," Devimon remarked to Freakshow, though he still had Lopmon in his claws.
Freakshow didn't know what to say, he didn't expect to lose the one thing he had that gave him such power.
"No matter, you still have me," Devimon said. "I will be able to get us out of this mess. This Digimon I hold, he's not quite normal. We can use him and his powers."
"Put. Him. Down." Patamon spoke up, struggling to stand on his legs, but refusing to back down.
"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it, little hamster?" Devimon chuckled sinisterly. "You're too weak to beat me on your own~"
While Agunimon was confused as to what was going on, seeing Lopmon in this Digimon's grasp made him growl. "Patamon might be weakened, but I'm not!" He hissed as he got ready to fight.
"And what will you do? If you attack me, you'll be hurting little Lopmon as well," Devimon said, holding out the unconscious Lopmon.
"Put him down!" Andy called out. "Lopmon, wake up!"
"Oh? I don't think so~" Devimon chuckled as he held Lopmon up to taunt Andy.
Agunimon wanted to rush in, and was in fact about to, when Patamon spoke up to him. "Agunimon, stand down!"
"B-but-!"
"Look at his other claw! If you approach him carelessly, he'll corrupt your Digi-Core with his Touch of Evil attack!" Patamon spoke up.
"Ah, so you know about that," Devimon remarked. "My partner isn't the only one who can control others."
"What are you going to do to Lopmon?" Andy demanded.
"Why, turn him into our good little puppet of course~" Devimon snickered sinisterly.
Of all the cheap dirty tricks… This is not favorable to us… Agunimon thought to himself as he clenched his fists.
Devimon grinned before he extended his free claw and grabbed onto the 3 other ghosts, who had been invisible and were trying to get to Freakshow for revenge. He threw them off the train. "I'd fly away if I were you, unless you want to get caught up in this web once again~"
The other 3 ghosts, while they wished they could do more, would rather not risk their long awaited freedom for these kids and Digimon they didn't know. So they flew away, wanting to find a way back into the Ghost Zone and head on home.
Danny frowned, seeing how the other 3 ghosts just flew away. Though he couldn't blame them, he still didn't like that they just left them on their own. Biyomon was far too exhausted and weak to fight, Lopmon was a hostage and unconscious, and Patamon, though he was still standing, clearly was outmatched. It may be up to Danny.
Danny began to walk forwards slowly. "Put Lopmon down." He said to Devimon seriously.
"D-Danny?" Agunimon asked in surprise when he saw his cousin walking towards Devimon.
"Stay out of this, Agunimon." Danny told the Legendary Warrior. "We don't need to fight you again."
"Do you think I can't handle a ghost?" Devimon questioned Danny. "Come on then, try me."
"Wait, Danny!" Andy called out.
Danny fired a ghost ray at Devimon. Devimon canceled the ghost ray out with his claw.
"I've been exposed to a lot of ectoplasm, ghost boy. My weaknesses to ghosts are nonexistent." Devimon smirked. "You might as well just be an undead Digimon to me. Weak and nothing."
Danny frowned, but if his ghost ray was ineffective, he decided to try his melee attacks. He ran at Devimon, trying to punch him. Devimon sidestepped Danny's punches, and grabbed the ghost boy from the back. "You don't seem to be at your peak either. Your body and mind are out of sync, likely from being under my partner's control for the past couple of days. Fine by me, I don't need you interfering with Digimon business~"
"Touch of Evil!" Devimon's dark energy went through Danny's body, weakening him. "You're lucky I can't control ghosts with this, but it should severely weaken you enough where you won't be a threat anymore."
Danny felt his core shutting down. He was going to change back in front of Freakshow and Devimon.
"Leave him alone!"
Both Andy and Sam ran at Devimon. Devimon didn't expect these two to suddenly run at him, they tackled his torso, making him let go of Danny. Danny's core was stable enough to keep his ghost form, but he was definitely weakened.
"Ugh… I… Now I know what it feels like to be hit by a Digimon attack as a ghost…" Danny grumbled as he rubbed at his chest.
Agunimon wasn't going to just sit back and let Danny struggle to save Lopmon alone. He knew he had to be careful of that Touch of Evil though, so he decided to rely on his longer range attacks instead. Fire flared from his left silver wrist armor into his Pyro Darts attack as he threw them at Devimon's face."Pyro Darts!"
Devimon growled before he pushed the two humans back to use his wing to block the Pyro Darts. "How annoying. Death Hand!"
Devimon unleashed dark energy from his hand at the group. Danny ran over to Andy to shield him, while Agunimon shielded Sam from the attack. The dark energy felt like acid to their skin.
Devimon grinned as he began to slowly use his Touch of Evil on Lopmon with his other hand. "You will become one of us~"
"Lopmon!" Andy cried out.
Lopmon began to whimper in pain despite being unconscious.
Danny looked over, seeing what was happening. He was too weak to save Lopmon, but he couldn't just give up now. There had to be a way to save Lopmon.
Patamon moved himself closer. He looked up at Devimon. "You won't get away with this, devil."
"Oh? I think I will~" Devimon sneered at the Rookie-level Digimon before him. "And you can't stop me~"
Andy saw that Patamon was still determined to face down Devimon, and he realized that this could help them. If they couldn't fight Devimon, maybe Patamon could… but he needed his partner to work with him.
"Danny… Do you still believe Patamon is your partner?" Andy asked.
Danny felt something in his chest twinge at that question. While yes, Patamon had been upset with him for being the ghost boy, and while he had tried to kill Danny too, Patamon had also tried to save Danny, even fighting him with that very dagger that could have ended him.
"I… That's… hard to answer… I mean… Patamon did try to kill me… but… he also tried to save me…" Danny admitted. "But… I…" Danny hesitated.
"Danny… you can't hesitate in answering…" Agunimon hissed as he looked over at Danny, his voice tinged with pain due to that Death Hand attack. "Either you believe Patamon is your partner, or you don't…"
"Besides, why would Patamon have fought so hard to stop you, to save you, if he didn't want you as his partner?" Sam added as she looked at Danny as well.
Patamon jumped at Devimon, only to be smacked away like an annoying fly. Patamon shook it off and jumped at Devimon again, but he got smacked back again. Patamon didn't stop, however, despite not doing anything.
"I don't understand you. Why do you fight so hard knowing it's pointless?" Devimon asked. "Just give up before I have to end you."
"You… will never… understand," Patamon weakly said as he stood back up.
Danny could see that Patamon was fighting hard to save Lopmon. It was no different than how he would give it his all to save Andy if he was in danger, despite being no match for the villain.
"Danny, do you believe Patamon will save Lopmon?" Andy asked, remembering giving similar advice to Valerie not that long ago.
"I do, but… not as he is…" Danny admitted. "Devimon is a Champion level and Patamon…"
"Danny!" Andy interrupted. "Don't think, just answer how you feel. Do you believe in Patamon? That he's your partner? That he can save Lopmon?"
"Yes, I do! I know he can." As Danny said those words, he began to realize that it was just that simple. He couldn't let Patamon's actions towards him cloud his judgment when it came to saving Lopmon. Patamon needed Danny's help, even if there had been some tension between them before. "I… I do believe in Patamon. He can save Lopmon, and he can defeat Devimon!"
"Then tell him! Tell him with every fiber of your being!" Andy coached.
Danny nodded as he looked at Patamon in front of him. "Patamon! I know you can do this! You can save Lopmon! Do it! Knock that devil-wannabe back to where he came from!"
Patamon was shocked to hear Danny calling out to him with such encouraging words. He had thought Danny believing in him was the last thing Danny wanted to do.
Devimon laughed. "What a sentimental child! Does he really think shouting at you to win is going to help at all?"
"It's shocking, but that doesn't mean he's wrong," Patamon said as his body began to glow. "I can feel his desire to save Lopmon, to put Freakshow in his place, to make things right flowing through me."
Devimon was surprised at the glow that was coming from Patamon. "No! You're…"
Agunimon perked up as he sensed the power that was coming from Patamon, glancing back over his shoulder. "That's… Patamon's digivolving…?"
Danny heard a loud beeping noise coming from his jumpsuit's pocket. He took out his D-Arc, forgetting he had it there. The screen flashed as words came on. "Digivolution."
"Wh-wha…?" Danny was shocked. He looked up from the screen before his face became set in determination. He held up his D-Arc. "Patamon! It's time to take this to the next level!"
Patamon, upon hearing Danny's words, felt the power flowing through him increase and he grinned. "Yes, it is~"
As if on cue, fractal code surrounded Patamon. "Patamon, digivolve to…" Patamon felt his skin and fur peeling away from him. His body became more humanoid, with his wings shifting to fit on his back before four more wings sprouted from his back and grew white feathers on them. A white bodysuit formed on his body as blue ribbons appeared on one of his arms and legs as well. His hair grew out to become long as a helmet appeared on his head, covering his eyes but leaving his lower face exposed. A gold staff formed and he twirled it before snapping it to a stop. "Angemon!"
The fractal code dissipated in a blast of light, revealing the newly evolved Champion level hovering just above them, seemingly emitting light from his wings.
"That's… Patamon? He's an angel!" Danny's jaw dropped when he saw what Patamon just turned into. He was expecting… Well, he didn't know what he was expecting really, since Lopmon became a bigger rabbit that knew martial arts, and Biyomon became a big, fire bird, he thought Patamon would look like a giant… hamster with more wings or something, not a straight up angel.
"Now that's a twist…" Sam muttered. "But it's also so pretty…"
Agunimon could sense the pure power radiating from Angemon. "And strong too…"
Devimon growled, he had been hoping that Patamon wouldn't digivolve, or if he did, not into an Angemon. He may not be weak to ghosts, but… he was still weak to holy Digimon, which Angemon definitely was.
"You plotted and planned to control others for your own selfish gain, leaving them no choice but to be your slave. You hurt children, and take away their friends, as well as turn them against them," Angemon stated in a voice that was full of authority, and nothing like the childish voice that Patamon had. "You and your partner face many sins."
Devimon growled again. "I will not let you get in my way, in our way!" He sneered. "As I can still turn you into a fallen Angel Digimon!"
Angemon just hefted his staff and held it at the ready. "Even if you try, you will fall to your own demise. I am not the only one here who can fight you, but you underestimate the others."
Devimon hissed. "We will see about that! The Touch of Evil!"
Devimon tried to reach for Angemon. Angemon used his rod to stab through Devimon's palm with his holy energy.
Devimon screamed in pain as he felt the holy energy stabbing through his palm.
Danny grinned when he saw this. "Alright! That was awesome!"
"Do not get too confident, Danny." Angemon warned. "This battle is not yet over."
"You bet it's not!" Devimon growled as he got another attack ready. "Death Hand!"
However, as the Death Hand attack's energy came at Angemon, he spun his rod and was able to deflect the energy away from himself.
"You will not hold Lopmon anymore," Angemon said before he twirled his rod and flew at Devimon.
"Anybody notice that we're not moving?" Sam asked, trying not to get too distracted with a battle between a literal angel and a literal devil.
"Did the train stop?" Agunimon asked.
"Yeah! Get him Angemon!" Danny cheered.
"You can do it! Save Lopmon!" Andy cheered as well.
Devimon couldn't keep Angemon at bay with one free claw, he had to let go of Lopmon to defend himself from Angemon's rod. That was what Angemon was counting on. He quickly caught Lopmon and used a little bit of his energy to detox Lopmon's data from Devimon's dark energy. Lopmon began to open his eyes and was surprised that he was being held by an Angemon.
"Huh? Who are you?" Lopmon blinked. "W-where's Andy!?"
"Andy is safe with Danny." Angemon replied as he hovered down close to the train's roof. "In fact, he has been waiting for you." Angemon then held out Lopmon to Andy gently.
"Andy! You're safe!" Lopmon smiled as Lopmon jumped into Andy's arms.
"I should be saying that," Andy said as he hugged Lopmon. "Thanks, Angemon."
Angemon smiled back at Andy before turning his attention back to Devimon. "Devimon, your plans have been thwarted. You and your partner can leave peacefully and turn yourselves in, or we can do this the hard way."
Devimon growled. "We aren't finished yet…"
However, Devimon noticed some flashing lights nearby, they were red and blue.
"I'd say we are. The human cops had caught up to you and your partner, the train had been stopped," Angemon said. "If you don't want to be cleansed and have a fresh start at Primary Village, I suggest you repent and serve your time."
Devimon growled in anger. "We will meet again. And then I will get my revenge on you and that ghost boy! No, not just him… You and everyone else here!"
Devimon flew up and created a large energy made with his dark power. "Unless you want all these humans to die, I suggest you catch this!"
Angemon frowned as Devimon threw the large dark energy at them. Angemon's right hand glowed with bright holy energy. "Hand of Fate!"
Angemon fired out the bright energy at the dark energy, destroying it. Devimon used this time to fly away. Sorry Freakshow, but I can't have them catch me. We will meet again later.
With that brightness, Angemon degenerated back into Patamon, not wanting the human authorities to catch him and start questioning what the heck he was.
Danny caught Patamon in his arms. "I better hide."
"Where's Freakshow?" Sam frowned, just realizing Freakshow had disappeared.
Danny held onto Agunimon. "You better hide too."
Agunimon blinked before Danny turned them both intangible and they fell through the train car. There, they saw Freakshow trying to hide among his piles of treasure. They looked at Freakshow and Freakshow gave them a nervous smile.
"Uh… when I called you my 'minions', it was a term of endearment… like how I love my minions," Freakshow said.
Agunimon stared for a moment before his eyes turned hard and he gritted his teeth, his sharp canine teeth showing easily. "You'd better hope you don't run into me again, because I will not let this go…" He hissed. "I have more important things to worry about than deal with you anyway."
"But… you wanted all of this, then here, you can have it," Danny said before he used his ghost ray to blast one of the shelves, burying Freakshow in his own treasure.
"Oof… that quite smarted…" Freakshow groaned.
Danny and Agunimon heard footsteps coming to the car. Danny grabbed Agunimon's arm and phased them through the back where they could de-transform.
The cops kicked open the door, seeing Freakshow in all of his miserable glory.
Freakshow could only give the cops a nervous smile when they busted the door down. He couldn't believe after all this time of being successful, of getting enough wealth to accomplish his goal, a mere teenager was able to stop him. He will not forget this.
While the cops were arresting Freakshow, Danny and Takuya, now back in their human forms, joined up with Andy and Sam. Tucker and Kokuwamon finally caught up to them as well.
Andy wanted to ask Danny and Takuya if they were okay, but their parents, and Jazz, caught up to them as well.
"Kids!? What are you doing here!? How did you get here?" Maddie shouted when she saw them.
"Sam!?" Jeremy and Pamela shouted as they had been chasing down the train as well.
"... Oh boy…" Sam groaned.
Biyomon, Kokuwamon, Patamon, and Lopmon had to stay still and quiet to act like stuffed animals to the other people.
"We… came to stop Freakshow!" Sam replied. "We saw all of this stuff that was stolen!"
"You shouldn't have tried to stop such a dangerous man on your own like that!" Pamela scolded.
"Especially since he can control ghosts!" Jack added. "What were you thinking? Just because you have- … talent, doesn't mean you can go galavanting and catching bad guys all willy nilly!"
"You could've gotten hurt, or worse! You're only kids, you need to remember that, and we are worried about you for a reason," Maddie stated.
"Well, I would join in, but I think everyone else has everything covered," Jazz sheepishly said, though she had been very worried about her brothers and cousin too, she was just happy to see both Danny and Takuya were here and back to normal… well, as normal as they could be.
Danny, Andy, Sam,Tucker, and Takuya sighed. They couldn't really talk their way out of this, they knew their parents had every right to be worried about them, it wasn't like they knew the whole story, and even if they did, in truth, what they did was very reckless. Andy could've died on several occasions. Sam and Tucker were put in danger as well. If it weren't for their Digimon partners, all of them would likely be ghosts right now.
"Well… we at least stopped Freakshow…" Tucker said sheepishly. "I mean… yeah, we did get put in danger, but… we came out of it alive, right?"
"That isn't the point," Maddie sighed. "This isn't some cartoon where things just work out alright in the end. I'm going to have to call your parents about this, Tucker. Danny, Andy, Takuya, I understand your need for… justice, but you can't keep putting yourselves in danger like that."
"Maddie's right. I'm afraid we'll have to ground you three," Jack said. "You're not only out after curfew, but you followed a madman who can control ghosts onto his train just to stop him. That is not okay. You should've gotten us, or at least the authorities."
"Wow, so you Fentons can be responsible parents. Maybe we were wrong about you after all," Jeremy said, impressed at how much Jack and Maddie were bringing down the hammer on their kids, including the Japanese boy who was their charge.
Takuya, Danny. And Andy all winced at being grounded. But for Takuya, it actually felt far better than being sought after by the police for crimes he did involuntarily.
"Well, we do raise our kids better than you think." Jack said with pride before turning to the three boys with a stern look. "We will talk about your punishment more when we get back, you three. You've caused enough worry for tonight."
"We will do the same with you, Sam," Pamela said strictly. "We are heading home at once."
"Okay," Sam said without putting up a fuss.
"Huh… I'm surprised you're being so cooperative," Jeremy said.
I'm just glad we managed to get Danny and Takuya back. That's a weight off my shoulders. I think I can handle being grounded for a week or so. Sam thought to herself while carrying Biyomon.
"We'll drive you home, Tucker," Maddie said. So he and Sam have Digimon partners as well. I guess that explains why they felt confident enough to go after Freakshow. But that was still dangerous and reckless.
"Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," Tucker said.
Andy was too exhausted to think of any ways to get out of trouble. He was just happy Danny and Takuya were back and no longer under Freakshow's control, and that Lopmon was okay too.
Back at Fenton Works, after Maddie and Jack parked their Fenton RV and Jazz parked her car, they headed straight for the living room.
"What were you all thinking?" Maddie asked the boys. "I know Danny and Takuya can be a bit hot headed, but I thought you'd know better, Andy. At least explain to us why you all felt the need to go after Freakshow like you did?"
"It was to save Agunimon." Danny replied easily. And me, but Mom and Dad can't know that…
"Your mother and I understand Agunimon is a friend, but what you three did was still too reckless!" Jack scolded. "You three could have gotten hurt or worse! Then what? Your mother and I would be sick with grief if anything terrible happened to you!"
"Perhaps they felt desperate, like nobody would listen to them if they didn't go themselves," Jazz spoke up, hoping to have her parents ease up a bit on her brothers and cousin, she would've involved herself too in order to save them if she had Floramon with her and hadn't been busy with the video.
Jack and Maddie frowned, but had to admit, that did sound believable.
"Even if that is the case, they still should've come to us." Maddie said to Jazz before looking at the three boys again. "This was too dangerous for them, even if Andy and Danny have Digimon partners. And Takuya doesn't even have a Digimon partner to protect him!"
"I'm also surprised that a Digimon as responsible as Patamon would allow this, why did you allow it?" Jack asked.
"We didn't have a choice," Patamon said. "You two were detained by Freakshow's trap while Freakshow himself was getting away. If we had not gone after him when we did, he would've been long gone with Agunimon and… whatever else he had by now."
It was rather frustrating to not tell Jack and Maddie the full truth, they would be a lot more understanding if they knew how close they were to losing not just their nephew, but their son as well.
Jack sighed. "I suppose that's true. Agunimon is a Legendary Warrior, and a main protector of the Digital World."
Andy looked at Lopmon for a moment for support. He had kept quiet because he was tired, shaken up, and he was hoping for his parents to just yell at them, ground them, and have him sent to bed. But it looked like it wasn't that simple. There was one explanation he could give that was as close to the truth as possible without actually giving away Danny and Takuya's identities, but he wasn't sure how well the others would react to that. Lopmon, being his partner, understood that Andy was worried. Lopmon gave Andy a nod.
"Andy? Do you have something to say?" Maddie asked, noticing Andy had been… unusually quiet.
Andy took a deep breath before responding. "If you want the truth, Mom, Dad… you know we are not usually that reckless without a good reason. Remember when you didn't see Danny or Takuya? … I lied about where they were. They weren't in the Digital World. They were kidnapped by Freakshow."
Maddie and Jack looked at Danny and Takuya with horrified looks on their faces.
Takuya and Danny looked at Andy in shock.
"Why didn't you tell us the truth then?!" Jack rumbled at Andy.
"What would you and Mom have done?" Andy asked back. "You were already investigating Freakshow, and look at what he almost did! You may be adults, but you're just as human as we are without your Digimon partners with you! You said it yourself, Freakshow can control ghosts, and he had at least two powerful Digimon working for him. You'd also be worried out of your mind, you wouldn't be thinking clearly! I had a plan though, and yes, it was reckless, it was dangerous, but I wasn't going to let some megalomaniac, messed up man take away my cousin and my twin brother!"
Jack and Maddie had to admit, Andy did raise some good points. And on top of that, they themselves had only limited experience with Digimon, as their main expertise was in ghosts.
"Well, I guess we can't fault you for going after them then." Jack conceded. He then frowned again. "But that was still dangerous, and we can't let that go unpunished."
Andy gave a tired sigh. "Then ground us, please. I just want to go to bed."
Maddie could see her sons and nephew were tired, and Danny and Takuya had probably had a really traumatic experience. She sighed as well. "What are we going to do with you boys?"
"We'll ground you for a week. We'll talk about this tomorrow," Jack said. "For now, you boys head to bed."
Danny was grateful for what Andy did. He hadn't expected Andy to tell… the semi-truth, but it worked at least. But he had… a lot to talk about with Andy, Takuya, and Patamon.
Takuya yawned, he was heading straight for his room. He didn't want to think right now. Danny decided to wait on talking to Takuya then.
"I'm glad you all are safe." Jazz smiled.
"Thanks for getting the cops, Jazz," Andy said gratefully.
"Yeah, they really helped us in the end," Lopmon added.
"No problem," Jazz chuckled. Wait until they hear about Floramon going into the video to save it.
Danny looked around, Patamon opened up the window. He looked back at Danny for a moment before he flew up to the roof of the building.
"Go talk to him," Andy said to Danny as he and Lopmon laid down in bed. "I think you two need to work things out before you can really be partners again."
Danny sighed. "Yeah, we probably should…" He agreed before looking out the window and calling to Patamon; Danny was not about to risk using his ghost form after that whole mind control thing, not when his parents were probably thinking Phantom was the worst ghost to exist.
"Hey, Patamon! Can you come in here?" Danny called to the smaller Digimon.
Patamon didn't give a response to Danny. Danny frowned as he noticed that storm clouds were beginning to form over the sky, covering the moon and the stars. It looked like it was going to rain soon.
Danny groaned. He knew he had to do something to get Patamon's attention, but flying out the window as Phantom would only get his parents' attention. Danny decided to just go up to the roof the old fashioned way via the stairs instead.
"I'll be right back, bro." Danny said as he looked at Andy. "I'm going out to talk with Patamon."
"Be sure to not catch a cold out there," Andy said.
"Can ghosts get colds?" Lopmon questioned curiously.
Andy paused for a moment. "Danny got a cold that our parents passed to him and he passed it to me and Tucker that one time, but that's a good question…"
"While you two contemplate that, I'm going to the roof," Danny sighed.
Danny left the room and made his way to the stairs leading out to the roof. Danny climbed up the stairs and found himself on the roof of Fenton Works when he opened the door. He could see Patamon's smaller form sitting on the edge of the roof and seemed to be staring out at the town.
Danny made his way out to where Patamon was and sat down beside him. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Danny spoke up.
"You… fought to save me… even though I'm a ghost…" Danny said to Patamon softly.
"I couldn't have you running around committing crimes for a messed up person," Patamon replied, not looking at Danny. "It's not fair to the humans of this town after all."
"But you did… You came back for me… worked to save me…" Danny whispered. "Even after… what happened during Walker's invasion…"
"You're just reading too much into it. I'll bet you don't remember much anyways while under that clown's control," Patamon huffed. "So why bring this up?"
"You could've killed me then and there… You… had some kind of knife, a dagger, that you used on me… and it… It hurt, like it was burning my skin." Danny said. "But you… You didn't kill me… You used that dagger to save me instead… And you didn't use it again after that."
Patamon didn't give Danny an answer.
"You said you couldn't kill me," Danny continued. "Or… maybe it's that you didn't want to. Patamon… why did you feel like you had to kill me? Is it just because I'm half ghost? I can't just believe that… otherwise you would've easily severed our bond the minute you found out. You would've hated me."
"I do hate you!" Patamon suddenly snapped. "I hate that you ended up taking me in, and acting all nice and kind to me. Feeding me and taking care of me. Worming your slithery self into my Digi-Core when I didn't ask you to! I can't afford to form a bond with a human, especially a human-ghost hybrid like you!"
Danny's face looked pitiful at hearing Patamon's harsh words. "But… Why did you save me then?" He asked, feeling like his heart was breaking. "You mean you… only saved me just to kill me at a later date…?"
"You don't understand the burden I have to carry," Patamon growled.
"Then tell me," Danny said firmly. "I can't help you if you refuse to communicate with me. This whole partner thing is a two way street you know."
"I didn't want to be a partner in the first place…" Patamon grumbled.
The rain began to pour down. Danny sighed, he held up an umbrella he had taken with him when he noticed the storm clouds earlier. The umbrella kept him and Patamon protected from the rain drops.
"... So why did you save me?" Danny asked again, wanting to hear Patamon's answer.
"I don't know," Patamon finally said after a long moment of silence. "I guess… I just felt like I had to."
"That means you cared," Danny pointed out.
Patamon rubbed his face as he laid his body on the ground. "I sacrificed everything in order to find the ghost boy, to destroy him before he could ruin all 3 worlds, I was prepared to turn into an evil Digimon for it. It was a small price to pay compared to saving all 3 worlds from ruin. And yet… when the moment came… when I had plenty of opportunities to finish the job… I hesitated… I threw away the dagger. I threw away everything I had been preparing myself for. It was my responsibility, I chose to take it, so nobody else had to… and I failed…"
Danny didn't quite understand what Patamon was talking about. But from what he could gather, apparently there was a prophecy of some kind that involved him, and the ruin of the real world, the Digital World, and the Ghost Zone.
"Why did you hesitate to kill me?" Danny asked somberly. "If… this was what you had to do for the three worlds… why hesitate? You said it yourself. The ghost boy, whom I'm assuming is me, will bring about the end of all three worlds. Wouldn't it be better if that didn't happen?"
Danny was surprised at himself, asking such a question. He didn't want to die, of course he didn't, but if this was such a big deal to Patamon… then he couldn't wrap his head around the fact Patamon refused to kill him, to stop a potential threat.
Patamon took a deep breath and let it out. "Think about it from your perspective then. Imagine you saw a very accurate vision of the future. While the future isn't set in stone, you know for a fact this vision had a high 99% chance of happening. What if you saw a future where your own brother was going to destroy the world? And no matter what you do, you can't stop the future unless you take him out before he has a chance to cause that future? What would you do? Would you be able to bring yourself to end your brother to prevent such a horrible future?"
Danny hesitated. He actually shivered at the implications he was now beginning to grasp. "I… I can't really answer that… It's… I couldn't do that to Andy… I… I just couldn't…"
"But you know you have to. So you can't face him when you have this knowledge. You feel it's easier to just… run away and pretend you don't care… To try to distance yourself from him, maybe then you can bring yourself to do the necessary evil to prevent a worse evil," Patamon said quietly. "But you know you're just lying to yourself. Every time you see him, you can't help but hesitate. You can't bring yourself to kill him. You can't… just sever such a close bond so easily…"
Danny nodded. "That's true… And if I had to kill him… I wouldn't be able to live with myself, even if it was for the benefit of the future."
"And yet… you also feel that responsibility. That burden you didn't want anyone else to take," Patamon continued. "So you feel you're the only one who can, and should, do it. It's a cycle, one that I can't get out of. That's why… I was mad at you. You made this impossible for me…"
Before Danny could respond to that, Patamon spoke up. "But that's… not fair to you… It's also my own fault for allowing this bond to form in the first place."
"Do you… regret it?" Danny softly asked.
"I want to say yes, I do," Patamon answered, which Danny felt a sting to his heart, until Patamon said something else. "But… all those adventures we had together, those times you had to teach me about your world, and I had to teach you and the others about our world… the troubles we got into, the close calls of getting caught by your parents… and I got to know you as a person… I can see that you're not some faceless monster ready to take over the worlds and throw them into ruin. You're… just a kid, who got powers he shouldn't have gotten… and took on the responsibility to protect people from hostile ghosts. Even if I hadn't bonded with you… how could I kill a child who only wants to do the right thing? You've become my best friend since… Lopmon and Salamon…"
Danny felt tears forming in his eyes. "You… really think of me as your best friend?" He whispered. "I… don't know what to say…" Danny also felt this thing in his chest vibrating and he grimaced. "Okay… something is literally vibrating in my chest, like it's…" Danny's eyes went wide. "Wait… am I… purring?!"
"It seems you also have a lot to learn about being a ghost… or half ghost," Patamon chuckled slightly.
Danny tried not to let this weirdness distract him. This was still a delicate moment. "Um… Patamon, could you tell me a little bit more about that prophecy? About… why you felt the need to… uh… end me?"
Patamon hesitated for a moment, but he didn't really have a reason to hide it from Danny now. Since he couldn't kill Danny, he may as well try to find alternative ways of stopping that prophecy. For all he knew, this could be a step in the right direction.
"In the year 20XX, a ghost boy that appears to be of adolescent age will appear. The ghost boy will wear a jumpsuit, his hair will be as white as snow, his eyes will be glowing a ghostly color, and he will look human despite his ghostly appearance. Beware, for the ghost boy will become the key to bringing the end to the Ghost Zone, the Earth, and the Digital World. Families divided, hatred and bitterness will stir and bubble, darkness will give rise to a powerful being, and a war will break out. From the ashes of the destruction, a new era will begin." Patamon recited.
Danny grimaced. "That's… quite the prophecy…" He admitted before frowning. "But… What parts made you think it was me? The whole glowing eyes, jumpsuit, and snow white hair thing?"
Patamon responded by just giving Danny a deadpanned stare.
Danny blushed as he rubbed his head. "Okay… that does sound a little too much like me… But still… how do you know for sure it was referring to me?"
"Who else could it have been referring to? We're in that year, and you fit that description a little too perfectly. You're an adolescent, your ghost form has snow white hair, glowing eyes, and you look human," Patamon pointed out. "I know ghosts come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but you're the closest to fit the description of the ghost boy in the prophecy."
Danny frowned a bit. "That's true. But… What I don't get is the whole' end of the world' thing. Is this prophecy talking about like a literal apocalypse or could it mean something else?"
"That had crossed my mind. But the other meaning is that there's going to be a change. I'm not talking about a small change either. It would have to be so universally big to be able to affect all 3 worlds that it may as well be its own cataclysmic disaster," Patamon explained. "It would also mean if the people are unable to adapt, they will die, and something else will take over and roam the 3 worlds."
Danny grimaced again. "Yeah… I see your point…" He admitted. "But, if it is a big change, then we just have to find some way to ease people into it, right? There's no deadline to this prophecy, is there?"
"Of course there's a deadline, it's going to happen at some time this year," Patamon pointed out. "We just don't know when exactly, or how."
"Do you know how vague that is?" Danny groaned.
"Why do you think my best option was to get rid of the source of the problem?" Patamon grumbled.
Danny groaned. "Okay, I get it. You're on a time crunch… But really, I'm sure we can find a way to avert this prophecy. I don't know how yet, but I'm sure there's a way."
"Maybe…" Patamon said. "I can only hope you're right about that."
Danny remembered something that may or may not mean anything, but he figured he should bring it up to Patamon. "When my mom, Andy, and I were in the Digital World, we came across this Legendary Warrior. I think he said his name was Mercurymon or something. He was able to create a dark reflection of Andy and Lopmon, and they were able to make a pocket dimension. When I was able to get into the pocket dimension, the dark reflection of Andy began to go crazy, like he had this bloodlust for me specifically, and he was hyper focused on killing me. Andy theorizes that dark reflection may have come from the future or a timeline that never happened. Do you think… maybe that might be tied to the prophecy?"
"That's… an interesting theory," Patamon said as he tried to think about what Danny just told him. "The Legendary Warriors have powerful and unusual abilities. Most of them were more about power and brute force in some way, but the smarter ones are the most dangerous, like Mercurymon. From the legends, Mercurymon is able to create a dark reflection of anyone he is able to reflect with his magic armor. Normally it would be pretty straight forward. One would think you just fight an evil version of yourself and that was the end of that. But Dark Reflection is so much more complicated than that. It creates a version of you that exists somewhere, either in your subconscious mind, or in another dimension, or even through time itself. It can't just make someone out of thin air. But I can't say for sure if that dark version of Andy has anything to do with the prophecy or not."
"Well, if what you're telling me is correct, then it seems like the dark version of Andy could have come from an alternate timeline." Danny mused. "Because, as you said, the Dark Reflection can't make someone out of thin air. It may have sucked out the dark version of Andy and made that reflection based on how the dark Andy was acting."
"Let's hope that it really was from an alternate timeline and not the future then," Patamon said.
Danny sighed a little. "... So… what's going to happen now? Between us, I mean… do you still feel the need to… leave? I can… take you back to the Digital World if you prefer to go back."
"I will go back… someday," Patamon replied. "Clearly you need me here, considering you had a ring master mind control you earlier."
Danny blinked. "Then… you really want to stay?" He was feeling hopeful, but he knew it was up to Patamon to stay, not him.
"If only to keep you out of trouble." Patamon grumbled. "I guess even ghosts need a guardian angel to watch over them… Or at least a child ghost like you."
"H-hey! I'm not a child, you know," Danny huffed.
"You're 14 years old?"
"Yeah!"
"Then you are a child," Patamon replied.
"I'm a teenager!" Danny pouted as he folded his arms.
"You're acting like a child right now." Patamon pointed out smugly.
Danny felt his cheeks flush red from his blush. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
Patamon thought about confessing to Danny about being one of the Celestial Digimon, he already confessed that to his brother and Lopmon, but it wasn't something he liked flaunting about. He had been in a desperate mindset when he told them. It looked like Andy and Lopmon didn't tell anyone else the truth about him though, so he appreciated they kept that quiet.
Patamon decided that he would wait on telling Danny. They needed to rebuild their bond first, and Patamon wanted to see Danny's face if, or when, he found out the truth about Patamon. But how funny… It's just my luck that I ended up with the most unusual partner. I suppose since Lopmon, my brother, bonded with Andy… it only made sense I ended up with Danny.
Danny grinned at Patamon. "Hey, why don't we head inside? This cold won't be good for either of us if we stay out here too long."
"Yeah…" Patamon said. "It's better to be inside than scrambling around in an alleyway to try to get warm."
Danny frowned. "You did that?"
"Let's… not think about that right now," Patamon said, deciding to spare Danny the details of how Patamon nearly starved himself and hadn't been in the best of living conditions for a while after he left.
"Well, let's get inside." Danny said as he reached over and picked up Patamon into his free hand. Danny frowned when he felt how light Patamon was. "... and get you something to eat. You're much lighter than I remember."
While Danny didn't like the fact Patamon may not have been taking care of himself that well while he was alone, he was happy that Patamon was back now. And hopefully, he and Patamon could look more into this prophecy, and what they could do to stop it.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Glad you liked the battle. :3
pokemon fan 1991: DarkFoxKit: We had to find a way to use the Digimon partners to fight against Freakshow. After all, what would be the point of adding Digimon into the mix if we just ignore them, right? As for Jazz's mini arc, you saw in the last chapter she had one. Surprised you didn't say anything about that in your next review honestly.
ZAFT: The Our War Game reference was intended, so it works out. XD As for Patamon, you'll see~ X3
DarkFoxKit: The Our War Game is probably my favorite Digimon movie, and I'm glad to hear we're getting a proper English dub version of it, if what I heard was true.