ZAFT: Forgot another Monday update, but it happens. ^^'
DarkFoxKit: I've been busy, so it's easy to forget. I had a doctor's appointment today, and didn't come home for 8 hours. And I have a stream tomorrow.
ZAFT: Can't wait for the stream. XD I love to participate in those! Now, onto the chapter! XD
Chapter 76: Nightmares Come to Life
Jazz looked up at the house of the address she was given. She walked up to the door and knocked on it. She waited for a moment before someone answered the door.
"Dr. Carbon," Jazz greeted. "I… needed to talk to you."
"Of course, Jazz, come on in," Maxwell said, opening the door wider for her to come in.
Jazz entered into Maxwell's home.
"What brings you to my home?" Maxwell asked when he shut the door.
"I couldn't help but worry about my brothers…" Jazz sighed as she sat down on the couch. "Andy has been having these nightmares lately. He doesn't want to tell Danny or Takuya in a lot of details, but I can tell it's been bothering him. He had dreams about falling off of a moving train… and Danny turning against him. Then he had dreams about Takuya… turning into a monster, destroying the town, and chasing after him. I'm… worried that this whole 'save the Digital World' thing might be causing him too much stress. And Danny… already has enough on his plate as is to be worrying about the Digital World and Andy on top of that…"
Maxwell frowned. "I see. So you think this is all causing stress for your brothers."
"I think it causes a majority of it," Jazz sighed. "I mean I want to help the Digital World too, and I know they won't stop until they can help in their own way. But… well… sometimes I worry how much time they're spending in the Digital World. They rarely talk about things outside of helping the Digital World these days. I had to force them to take a vacation."
Maxwell frowned again. "Yes, that is a cause for concern. You don't want them to get hurt or be burdened by this. And yet they are burdened by it, they have taken on a task that may be too much for them. And that makes you worry about their mental well-being."
"Yes, exactly. I tried to get them to talk to me more about it, but I'm their older sister, so they don't usually like to listen to me…" Jazz sighed.
"They're taking on too much," Maxwell sighed. "Protecting the Digital World shouldn't fall on their shoulders… Do you remember the stories about the Legendary Warriors in the Digital World?"
"Yes, I do." Jazz replied. "They were the ones who protected the Digital World before." She then frowned a bit. "Why do you ask? There's no way Andy and Danny would sit back and let the Legendary Warriors do this on their own."
"Yes, I know. That's part of the problem, I'm afraid…" Maxwell sighed as he sat down on an armchair. "Not only that, the Legendary Warriors are out of sync right now. From what I've seen of them, only 4 of them are able to really work well together. The others are either rogues and doing their own thing, or they're… not used to being Legendary Warriors, or working with the other 4. Perhaps… if at least 6 of them are able to work well together… they might be able to convince, or stop, the other 4 rogues, and have them work with them. With all 10 Legendary Warriors working together, they'll be able to fix the Digital World without needing help from the outside world as much… And maybe you and your brothers, and their friends, can start resting easy."
"You… think that is possible?" Jazz asked. "I mean… it sounds like a great idea, but the chances of that happening are very small. And I don't want us to not be able to do anything to help…"
"Jazz, it's alright to want to help. But there's a difference between helping, and obsessively doing all the work for what should be for other people," Maxwell stated. "I understand that this alone won't make your brothers and their friends stop trying, but… perhaps suggest they take things slow instead of taking the responsibilities of Legendary Warriors. Because… like it or not… they're not Legendary Warriors. They are only human, and they can only push themselves so hard before they break."
Jazz frowned. She knew Dr. Carbon was right. If Andy and Danny kept going like they were, then there was a good chance one of them, or even one of their friends, would break mentally from the stress. "I see your point. And… I think taking it slow may be the best idea."
"Do you think they would be willing to see me in my office at school?" Maxwell asked. "It would be best if I could talk to them myself."
"I don't know if they will… after the incident with Penelope Spectra, I don't know how well they trust another school counselor," Jazz sighed. "I can try asking them, but I don't promise they'll come and see you."
"It's alright, Jazz. You don't need to force them. After all, people don't open up if they are pushed into doing something," Maxwell replied. "I'll see if there's any other way for me to help these poor children, to see if there's a way to relieve them of their responsibilities and stress."
Jazz nodded, feeling relieved. "Thanks, Dr. Carbon. I appreciate your help and thoughts on this. If anything can help my brothers and their friends with this, I will appreciate it."
"You're welcome Jazz. But you should go out and enjoy Halloween," Maxwell said.
"Yeah, you're right. I always feel better when talking to you," Jazz said as she got up and walked to the front door.
Maxwell watched Jazz leave before he let out a sigh. "It's the least I could do… since it's my fault these children took on such an enormous responsibility in the first place…"
Maxwell looked at a mechanical box he kept in the corner of the house. "But without the final piece… of the artifact that Fredrich took… the dream therapy can't progress… I need a substitute, but what can be used in place of such power that can tweak the mind?"
Andy was frowning as he was looking at the doll on the makeshift throne, and the serpent-like BurningGreymon that was behind the curtains. He wondered if those nightmares he had before really had been visions of the future or if he had some kind of fear for his cousin and brother that he didn't realize. After all… he didn't know much about how halfas worked. Vlad definitely looked different from his human half with his ghost half, he looked more like a monster. He wondered if the same thing would happen to Danny one day.
Then there was Takuya. It wasn't just Takuya though. He wondered what would happen if Legendary Warriors were to go bad. Would they really change their appearance if that were to happen? What would happen to the DIgital World if that were to happen?
"Andy? Are you okay?" Lopmon asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine… I've just been… doing some self reflecting," Andy answered. "I still don't really believe in the whole 'premonition' thing."
"You don't? Then what about those times your premonitions actually came true?" Lopmon asked.
"Those could've just been coincidences. It hasn't happened enough for me to say otherwise," Andy replied. "But it made me question if I really have a fear of my brother and cousin… of them turning evil or whatever. I mean… who's to say that won't ever happen? And if it does happen… who could stop them? Freakshow showed how powerful they could be if they turned against us. We were lucky though, that they were only being mind controlled and not sincere in what they were doing, otherwise, none of us would be here right now… And then there's that dark reflection version of us… you saw how they reacted to Danny. That's not something that would happen casually…"
Lopmon frowned. "That's true… But we don't know what will happen in the future for certain. Nothing is set in stone you know. And do you really think they could turn against us in that way?"
"I never thought about it until Freakshow happened… and we were forced to fight against them…" Andy sighed.
"So that whole thing with Freakshow shook you up that much?" Sam spoke up, having heard Andy. "You know… I was worried about losing Danny and Takuya too… But I doubt those goofballs would ever become something truly horrific."
"Sam's right. Danny and Takuya are too kind-hearted to do anything really bad." Biyomon replied. "You saw how distraught they were after they were freed from Freakshow's control."
"Yeah, I suppose so…" Andy sighed, and rubbed his head. "Maybe I'm just worried about nothing. Anyways, Mr. Lancer should be coming soon to see if our room is scary enough. So I gotta get my head into it."
Meanwhile, the Fright Knight came through the Ghost Portal, having found a way into the human world. He had Nightmare fly up into the sky.
"There is not enough fear and scares for this to truly be Halloween…" The Fright Knight muttered as he looked down at the town. "I feel more happiness for sweets than for anything truly scary… Though there are some people who want to be scared. So there is hope for Halloween. But still… I will need to use my Soul Shredder to bring the spirit back. But I cannot be careless, I must find the perfect target."
The Fright Knight focused on the feelings of fear, and then he knew where he had to go. "I found it, my perfect target! Yes… the fear, and an active mind of imagination, that's the best combination!" He turned to the largest estate on a hill. "There is where I must head!"
Fright Knight had Nightmare fly towards the hill, where a lone house sat.
"Mr. Fenton, it's time," Mr. Lancer said as he walked into the room.
Completely unaware of the Fright Knight coming, Andy and Sam picked up their Digimon partners. Andy put a smile on his face as he walked up to Mr. Lancer. "Welcome to the King of Horror's lair."
Mr. Lancer chuckled. "I like the name already. It sounds promising. Lead the way, Mr. Fenton. But what's with the bunny?"
"Oh, just a little something for the kids if they get too scared," Andy answered. "We want them to be scared, but not to the point where they run home crying and have their parents potentially sue the school over it."
Mr. Lancer gave a nod of approval. "Seems you have everything thought out then. That's the sign of a good planner."
Sam rolled her eyes, but at least Andy knew how to derail a situation.
Andy began giving Mr. Lancer the tour of the room, keeping the lego snake version of BurningGreymon hidden. "Over here is the graveyard, where the spirits of the dead haunt you. But their corpse may suddenly-"
When Mr. Lancer got close, the fake skeleton jumped out to scare him. It was definitely unexpected and made the portly teacher jump. "Wow! Now that is a jump scare." Mr. Lancer praised. "This is a good start, Mr, Fenton."
Andy smiled. "Alright, let's take another walk around the King of Horror's house."
Sam plugged her cellphone into some speakers to have it play creepy music to give the house that horror vibe. She began pulling some strings to have the realistic looking plastic spiders come down from the ceiling. One of them landed on Mr. Lancer's bald head.
"Uh-oh, what's that crawling on your head?" Andy asked.
Mr. Lancer reached up, only to yelp. "Gilligan's Travels!" The realistic, yet fake spider fell off of his head. Mr. Lancer looked down, seeing it was a fake spider, but it had bits of fuzz on it to look like a real tarantula.
"Well, that's a scare for anyone." Mr. Lancer praised before he wrote something down on his clipboard. "The creative use of fuzz to make it feel real was very well thought out. I don't scare easy, but you're doing well so far."
"Of course~" Andy smiled. "Wait until we get to the grand finale."
As they were walking to the back of the room, the Fright Knight flew down to the house, and looked through the window. He saw 3 people in that room, and 2 digital beings. He didn't know why these digital beings were here, but then again he saw 2 others in the Ghost Zone earlier. But it wasn't any of his business, he had a job to do. He searched for the human that he was looking for. The adult male had some issues, but nothing that would truly scare anyone, maybe dull them to sleep, but that wasn't what the Fright Knight wanted. He checked the girl in black, she had his type of style.
The girl had thoughts of the macabre and horrifying. The Fright Knight liked that. She also had thoughts of scaring others from time to time, but some of the ideas he sensed weren't quite up to what he was looking for. Nothing that he could use, but the fact she was interested in all things scary made him appreciate her style.
The Fright Knight began to doubt the person he was looking for was here, because the girl felt like the closest thing he was looking for. But her scary ideals got too muddled with the softness of nature, and not the man eating kind. The only other person left in the room was this boy, who looked quite ordinary. But he checked the boy's soul.
The boy was anything but ordinary, the Fright Knight soon realized. He had a strong soul, but also a strong sense of fear. He knew what fear was, and how to use it. He also had a very active mind, always thinking, always going into bright and dark places. The boy saw the best and worst in others, and how even the most innocent of beings could become scary. The Fright Knight grinned from within his helmet. He found the person he was looking for.
"The Soul Shredder will enjoy thou's soul," The Fright Knight whispered before he lifted up his Soul Shredder. "Soul Shredder, listen to my call. Seek out this boy's soul, pierce right into it, and bring out the worst nightmares found in his mind."
The Soul Shredder began to glow as it floated out of the Fright Knight's hand. The once green sword began to change color as it started to sense Andy's soul, turning into a blue and white color. The Soul Shredder pointed its blade at Andy's direction before turning intangible. It went through the window.
The Soul Shredder turned itself invisible as it flew towards Andy.
Lopmon and Biyomon frowned as they suddenly sensed ghostly energy, but they couldn't see it. The invisible Soul Shredder flew into Andy's back. Andy yelped as he suddenly felt something cold on his back and he quickly turned around.
Was that Danny playing a prank on me? Andy frowned.
The Soul Shredder flew out of Andy's back, and back outside. The Fright Knight took the sword's hilt, seeing that it was now blue and white, indicating it had managed to cut into the boy's soul. There was no real harm to the boy's soul, but it was enough to bring out what the Fright Knight wanted.
"What else do you have, Mr. Fenton?" Mr. Lancer asked, wanting to see what else the boys had come up with.
"Oh, yeah, behind the throne of the King of Horror, lies his strongest pet. The creature will burn and devour anyone who messes with nature, and his kind," Andy stated, coming up with the lore on the spot.
However, as Andy went to the rope to reveal his masterpiece, the sky suddenly darkened, and lightning flashed, shutting off any lights they had inside the house.
"Where did the storm come from? It was supposed to be a clear night." Mr. Lancer frowned. "I apologize, Mr. Fenton. I need to go out and turn on the breaker."
"Uh… sure, go ahead," Andy replied, getting an uneasy feeling.
Mr. Lancer turned and left the room, albeit with some difficulty due to the room being dark and cluttered with fake props and all that.
Andy frowned as he felt his heart beating in his chest. While he wasn't scared of the dark… he was worried about what could be hiding in the dark. Now that they couldn't see, he was worried that something was going to come out of the dark and-
Mr. Lancer suddenly screamed as something in the dark pounced him to the ground. Whatever it was, it had stinky breath, and sharp claws.
"Mr. Lancer! What happened!?" Sam called. "Biyomon, do something!"
"O-okay," Biyomon said before she ran at the thing that pounced Mr. Lancer, tackling it off of him.
Sam managed to get over to Mr. Lancer, and helped him up. "Are you okay, Mr. Lancer?"
"Y-yes… Thank you, Ms. Manson." Mr. Lancer replied. "But what happened? Something jumped me."
Andy frowned, he didn't remember putting anything in the room that was supposed to jump onto people. He moved around in the darkness, feeling around for a desk. He found what he was looking for, and picked up a flashlight they left for emergencies. He quickly turned on the flashlight.
Andy's eyes went wide when he saw the heads of the teddy bears that were on the spiked fences were nowhere to be seen.
"S-Sam… did you move the teddy bear heads?" Andy nervously asked.
"Um… no." Sam replied, feeling uneasy now.
Andy heard something moving in the darkness. He quickly moved his flashlight to the thing. He gasped when he saw the heads of the teddy bears growing out their bodies. They had razor sharp claws that appeared to be made of steel. The bears all began moving towards Andy.
"S-Sam…" Andy almost forgot how to breathe.
Sam turned, only to grow pale in the face. "WAAAAHHH!"
"Sam! Get Mr. Lancer out of here now!" Andy shouted.
Sam didn't hesitate to grab Mr. Lancer's hand. "C-C'mon, Mr. Lancer. I'll… help you look for the breaker!" Without hesitation, she pulled Mr. Lancer out of the room, with Biyomon following behind Sam.
"Come on, Andy, let's go!" Lopmon quickly said.
Andy began running to the door, but the door suddenly slammed itself shut just as Sam, Mr. Lancer, and Biyomon got out. Andy gasped as he tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"Lopmon! Try digivolving!" Andy quickly said.
"O-okay!" Lopmon quickly said, and he tried to digivolve. "Lopmon, digivolve to… to… um…"
Lopmon frowned. "I… can't seem to digivolve."
"What!? Why not!?" Andy yelled as the bears were getting closer.
"I… I don't know!" Lopmon cried out. "But something is blocking my digivolution!"
"Could it be me?" Andy frowned as he tried to look at his D-Arc.
However, much to Andy's horror, his D-Arc was dark red and black instead of white and light brown. He also saw a crossbone skull on the screen of his D-Arc.
"W-what happened to my D-Arc!?" Andy shouted. What if this corrupts Lopmon!? What did I do to him!?
Lopmon frowned before he saw fractal code surrounding him without him doing anything. "A-Andy! What's happening!?"
"I-I don't know!" Andy shouted in a panic. "D-don't digivolve! You might dark digivolve!"
"I can't stop it!" Lopmon wailed.
Andy didn't notice, but his chest started to glow green. He let out a scream as he watched his partner turning into that Digimon that his dark reflection had before his very eyes. As he was screaming, the clouds over the house began to form into a vortex. Instead of a green vortex, however, it was blue and white, just like the Soul Shredder's current colors.
"The horror will soon spread to the rest of the city," The Fright Knight noted. "Soon the people will remember what it's like to experience true horror once again!"
More of those gruesome teddy bears began to form around town, and started chasing people down. It wasn't just the bears, however.
The skeletons in the grave props began to climb out, looking very realistic, including the smell of death. The fake spiders grew in size and became real, with poisonous venom dripping from extra long fangs. And any fake bats became real, flying around and screeching as they flew out the windows. And the King of Horror became real, rising up from the throne to enact a reign of terror on the living. But the worst of it was yet to come, especially when it came to Andy's masterpiece.
Everything was going out into the streets, haunting people and scaring them. At the same time, Agunimon, Danny, and Patamon just came out of Fenton Works, and they saw everything going to chaos.
"W-what the heck is going on here?!" Danny exclaimed when he, Patamon, and Agunimon all saw the chaos.
Skeletons were running in the streets, chasing after people. The giant spiders were crawling all over cars, buildings, and trees. The Teddy-Bear Monsters were chasing down people with their razor sharp claws and dripping fangs. Some of the bigger bears transformed their claws into a chainsaw.
"I'm starting to see why Andy's afraid of teddy bears." Agunimon frowned.
"Wait, why teddy bears? What kind of terror is that?" Patamon asked. "I wouldn't expect this from the Fright Knight, if this is his doing."
Suddenly, a familiar face landed behind them with a heavy THUD. Agunimon, Danny, and Patamon spun around to see it was… Beetlemon?
"W-what…" Agunimon blinked. "Beetlemon?"
"What are you doing here?" Danny frowned.
"You are not worthy to be a part of any of this…" Beetlemon stated in a very serious, and unlike JP, tone. "If you keep going with what you are doing, I will have to strike you down."
Agunimon paled. "Wait… what?! Beetlemon, stop! What's gotten into you?"
"Thunder Fist." Beetlemon hissed darkly as green electricity formed in his fist.
"Look out!" Patamon shouted as they quickly jumped around from the incoming Thunder Fist.
"Takuya, I don't think that's Beetlemon, at least not the one we know. He's filled with nothing but ghostly energy!" Patamon warned.
Agunimon's eyes narrowed. "If that's the case, then we don't need to worry about hurting him, because it's a fake." He said as he slammed his fists together, causing fire to coat his fists.
Danny powered up his hands with his ghost ray, and Patamon began to expand himself.
"Pyro Punch!" Agunimon launched the fireballs on his fists at the fake Beetlemon.
"Ecto-Bubble!" Patamon shot out.
Danny shot out his ghost ray at the 'Beetlemon'.
Their powers quickly destroyed the 'Beetlemon', which melted into ecto goop. However, blue lightning struck at the goop. The goop reformed itself, this time turning into Kazemon.
"Do you honestly think you could compare yourself to us?" 'Kazemon' stated darkly. "I can't believe we even humored you with such an idea."
Agunimon, Patamon, and Danny were shocked at this turn of events. Something was creating these fake Legendary Warriors and saying such weird things. Although… Agunimon wondered if this was how Tommy saw them when they thought Kumamon was a rogue Warrior.
Shaking his head, Agunimon forced himself back to the situation at hand. "Danny, Patamon… I think… Something is creating these fake Warriors. But… I don't know what, or why."
"Hurricane Winds." Kazemon hissed as green twisters came out of her fingers.
Danny and Patamon moved away, but Agunimon was caught up in the ghostly twister. Seeing this, Danny flew down and punched 'Kazemon' in the face, throwing her back.
The fake Kazemon melted down into ecto-goop, making the ghostly twister vanish.
"Ugh… Thanks…" Agunimon said gratefully as he regained his senses. He looked back at the goop, wary of which Warrior it would take the form of next.
"We need to get going! Trying to fight this thing off over and over isn't getting us anywhere," Patamon quickly said. "We have to find out what's the source of all of this."
"Patamon's right, there's no time to deal with these fake warriors," Danny quickly said.
Agunimon frowned, but nodded. "Right. Let's see where we can start the search."
The three of them headed away from the ecto-goop and into town to try and get to the bottom of the turn of events.
While they were running through Amity Park, they found they had to fight off some killer teddy bears. They had to save some people about to be slashed by the bears. Danny moved some of the people he saved indoors, hoping that would keep them safe.
Agunimon was able to turn most of these skeletons, bats, giant spiders, and teddy bears to goo, but no matter how much he took down, the goop would reform into more.
But by far, the worst ones were the Legendary Warriors. Strangely, none of the Legendary Warriors that attacked them were the rogue Warriors. They were always someone they knew. The next one was Lobomon. Before Agunimon could move, 'Lobomon' jumped at him with his lightsaber. Unlike the original Lobomon's lightsaber, which was blue, this one was neon green.
Thinking fast, Agunimon gave a shout as he threw a round kick at the fake Lobomon, fire coating his left foot as he did so. The fake Lobomon was hit directly in the face and turned into green ecto-goop.
"Agunimon?"
Agunimon let out a small gasp as he recognized the voice. He turned around, seeing Maddie and Jack. They were just as surprised to see him as he was to see them.
"Ah… Maddie… Jack…" Agunimon said awkwardly. "I… wasn't expecting… to run into you…" Aw crap… and at the worst possible time too…
"How do we know he's not one of those… uh… 'hallucinations'?" Jack asked Maddie.
"These readings are real, he's not ghostly, Jack," Maddie said, looking down at the ghost finder she was holding.
Agunimon realized that the ghost finder could help locate where they needed to go. "Can you use that to point to me where all of this… stuff is coming from?"
Jack and Maddie looked at each other before looking back at Agunimon and nodding.
"Of course. If anyone can solve this, it may be you." Maddie replied.
"We tried to get there ourselves earlier, but some invisible force kept pushing us back," Jack said. "It's at 917 Maple Street, where our kids are!"
Agunimon's face grew pale, his red facial markings standing out on his cheeks. Shit… That's where the haunted house is supposed to be held! "I'll head over there right away!" He said before turning and running in that direction. I hope Andy's okay, same with Sam, Biyomon, and Lopmon!
Danny and Patamon flew down after Agunimon. They were invisible while Maddie and Jack were talking to Agunimon. Luckily, with so much ghostly activity going on, his parents couldn't detect him or Patamon.
"We have to hurry," Danny said. "I think some of the townspeople are getting affected."
"What do you mean by-" Agunimon began to ask when suddenly he saw some people standing in front of him.
As if they were overshadowed, their eyes glowed red as they stared at Danny, Patamon, and Agunimon.
"Is it just me or is this getting worse?" Patamon frowned.
"Capture the ghost boy."
"Capture the ghost boy."
"Bring the ghost boy to the government."
"Experiment on the ghost boy."
"Take him away from his loved ones."
"Never to be seen again."
The crowd all stated in a hive mind.
"Uh, Danny, I think they're talking about you…" Agunimon frowned.
Danny gulped. "I don't like this…" He whimpered.
Agunimon stood ready to defend Danny if he had to. "We can't worry about the crowd. We have to get to the Townsend Estate."
"Yeah… but they're stopping us from going any further." Danny pointed out.
The zombified people all began running at Danny.
"Here's an idea, Danny, grab Agunimon and fly up!" Patamon stated.
"O-oh, right," Danny grabbed Agunimon's shoulders and flew up quickly.
The crowd of zombified people began shouting up at Danny as he flew past them. They were getting closer to the Townsend house.
"There might be more surprises, watch yourself," Patamon warned.
"This is certainly turning out to be a scary Halloween." Danny quipped, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, but it's still going to leave me with nightmares about this for a while." Agunimon pointed out.
Danny landed when they got closer to the house. However, when they tried to approach, an invisible force pushed them back, just like Jack said.
"Okay… that's weird…" Danny muttered as he put a hand out, but he could not enter.
Agunimon reached out as well, feeling the same thing. "This isn't good. If we can't get in, then we can't help those inside."
"Danny? Takuya?"
The two of them perked up when they saw Sam and Biyomon outside of the house.
"It is you two, isn't it?" Sam asked cautiously as Biyomon stood in front of her.
"If you're more of those hallucinations, I won't hesitate to attack," Biyomon warned.
"Biyomon…" Agunimon said. "You… should know it's me, right? Can you sense if I'm a ghost or not?"
Biyomon hesitated as she studied Agunimon for a moment. "... You're right, you don't feel ghostly."
Sam let out a sigh of relief. "Oh good… there were a lot of fake Agunimon and Danny running around here earlier, so we couldn't be too sure…"
"There were fake versions of us here?" Danny frowned.
"Y-yeah… most of them kept saying how they were going to leave Amity Park forever, and go to the Ghost Zone or the Digital World, because that was 'where they belong'," Sam answered.
"But they seemed to have disappeared when you three showed up," Biyomon noted.
"Huh…" Agunimon looked down in thought. "That's odd… Why would the fakes disappear when we showed up?"
"Probably because you guys are the real deal?" Sam said. "I don't know how this… whatever is going on works."
"Where's Andy, Lopmon, and Mr. Lancer?" Danny asked.
"Mr. Lancer ran off, saying he's going to find some help," Sam answered. "But Andy…"
Sam and Biyomon looked back at the house.
"He and Lopmon never came out," Biyomon revealed. "We tried to go back in for them, but something keeps pushing us back."
Danny frowned, knowing his brother was in danger now. "Then I'll just have to push back harder."
"Don't forget me." Agunimon growled back, slamming a fist into his open palm. "I'm raring to get through that force keeping us out."
"Are you sure about this?" Sam frowned. "What if you get hurt?"
"My brother's in there, Sam, I'm not leaving him alone when he could be in danger," Danny replied, squeezing his hands into fists.
Danny, Agunimon, and Patamon looked at the house. They could see the big blue and white vortex in the sky. They backed up for a moment before they charged into the invisible forcefield. They both felt a hot and cold flash going through their bodies as they did.
Danny saw an image of Andy curled into a ball, looking to have his eyes closed. Then Andy's face turned into pain and he cried out.
Something pushed back, forcing Danny, Patamon, and Agunimon down.
Agunimon grunted as he tried to stand up. "This… won't keep me down…" He hissed as he pushed back against the barrier.
Danny shook his head for a moment. Was that Andy I saw? Is he the one… somehow forcing us back?
Agunimon yelped when he felt sharp ice pelting his body. He turned to where the source came from, and saw Kumamon standing there.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kumamon asked, holding his gun.
Agunimon growled. "Not another fake…" He hissed. "That's the last thing we need right now."
"Oh, just another 'fake', huh? I wonder about that, Takuya," 'Kumamon' stated. "What's seen as real or fake to you? I can tell you what's real right now. The fact that you're hurting the one you're trying to help. If you go past that point, you may no longer be yourselves."
Agunimon frowned, as did Danny. That was something a fake wouldn't say… was it?
"What… do you mean?" Agunimon asked slowly, not sure what to make of this.
"Let me ask… how badly do you want to risk yourselves for Andy?" Kumamon questioned. "Even knowing going beyond the barrier may change you into what you don't recognize."
Agunimon and Danny looked at one another before they nodded at each other. They looked back at 'Kumamon'.
"We'll do anything for Andy." Danny replied. "He's my brother, and I won't leave him alone."
Agunimon nodded. "Andy is my cousin, and I won't back down either. He needs me… us…"
"And Lopmon, he's my brother too. I want to save him from this nightmare," Patamon added.
'Kumamon' studied the 3 of them. Danny, Patamon, and Agunimon noticed something was different with this fake Legendary Warrior. He wasn't attacking them outright, only stopping Agunimon from smashing into the barrier again.
"So you don't… plan to leave? To become the guardian of the Digital World? Or to go live among the rest of the ghosts in the Ghost Zone?" 'Kumamon' questioned, looking at Agunimon, Patamon, and Danny. "You promise you won't ever hurt Andy or those he cares about even if you… change?"
Agunimon frowned. "Why would I just up and leave Andy? I'm not going to just leave him behind."
Danny nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I could even live in the Ghost Zone for the rest of my life if I wanted to. It wouldn't be the same without Andy."
"And while I have my duties to the Digital World, I will remain with Danny for as long as I must. And keeping an eye on both Andy and Lopmon," Patamon stated.
'Kumamon' gave a small smile. "Well then… I suppose that's it then. Trying to stop you was pretty stupid of me."
"You tried to stop us?" Danny blinked.
"If you want to go past the barrier, then I'll let you through. But be warned… you're about to head into a world of nightmares," 'Kumamon' informed. "And I don't know if any of you will come out of it the same."
Agunimon, Danny, and Patamon frowned.
Danny then sighed. "Then… that's the chance we'll have to take." He admitted at last.
"We won't abandon Andy or Lopmon," Agunimon stated.
'Kumamon' nodded, before he suddenly shot his body into the invisible barrier, creating an icy path.
"We need to follow the icy path into the hole of the barrier," Patamon quickly said to Danny and Agunimon.
"Then let's go!" Agunimon said before turning and running to the icy path. Danny and Patamon followed Agunimon as quickly as they could.
Sam and Biyomon watched them go, wishing there was something they could do to help. However, Biyomon noticed something behind the house.
"Sam, there's someone over there," Biyomon pointed out.
"What?" Sam frowned. "I can't see anything…"
"It must be in a state difficult for you to see," Biyomon noted.
"Can you describe what they look like?" Sam asked.
"Um… remember that book about the Fright Knight?" Biyomon asked. "It looks like that knight, and the horse, straight out of the book."
Sam paled. "Oh no… That… if that's the case… then…" She realized. "The Fright Knight is behind this…"
Meanwhile, Danny, Patamon, and Agunimon made it past the barrier. However, when they did, their appearances began to change. Agunimon blinked before fractal code suddenly surrounded him with no warning. A ring of light appeared on Danny's torso. And another cocoon of fractal code surrounded Patamon.
"W-what's happening?" Danny gasped.
"It must be the 'changes' that fake Kumamon was warning us about," Patamon quickly said.
When the fractal code faded from around Agunimon, he was no longer his usual humanoid appearance. Instead of smooth red and gold armor with a muscular build, there were very thin legs and a large right arm going down to his right… foot. The hand was bony in appearance, and there was green lava-like fire coming from any gaps in the joints. There was a large cape-like appendage going down from the left shoulder with oozing green lava, and the rest of the body was pitch black with green eyes that were glowing.
When the rings passed over Danny, his skin was a lot more gray instead of the usual, healthy yet tan color. His nails had grown much longer, and looked as sharp as claws. His canines got sharper and longer. He had spikes on his back, and he had a black lizard-like tail. Not only that, but he seemed to have grown out a pair of dragon wings on his back, and he had a pair of horns growing out of his head. He couldn't see it, but his eyes were red like when he had been under Freakshow's control. He almost looked like a humanoid version of his dragon form.
As for Patamon, instead of turning into a more corrupted version of himself, he turned into a Digi-Egg. Unable to communicate or do anything.
Agunimon turned and saw what was going on with Patamon. "Um… Danny? You might want to look at Patamon…"
"I know, I saw it happen…" Danny frowned before he looked at… what he thought was a corrupted form of Agunimon. "Uh… are you doing okay? You kinda look… pretty scary."
"I'm fine." Agunimon replied as he looked at Danny. "Um… I was going to ask you the same thing actually…"
"I feel fine… personality-wise. I don't feel like I'm going to go on a rampage or anything like that," Danny answered, looking down at himself. "But what about Patamon? Is he… going to be reborn and not remember anything?"
The egg suddenly floated at Danny, then bounced on his head. Patamon was still alive and well, he just couldn't speak.
Agunimon snickered. "I think that answers that question just fine."
"Great… let's find Andy and Lopmon, and get out of here," Danny sighed.
As they started moving deeper into the house, they suddenly saw two skeletons coming out of the rooms. Green energy surrounded the skeletons, transforming them into Maddie and Jack. They held out their bazookas at Danny and Agunimon.
"You are nothing but monsters. We will catch you, and dissect you," 'Jack' venomously stated.
"But don't worry, we promise we will fix you, Danny, Takuya. You two won't have to worry about being these monsters anymore~" 'Maddie' purred sadistically.
Agunimon growled. While he was not in his usual form, he was still the Warrior of Flame. "You aren't real! Now let us inside!"
The 'Fentons' fired their bazooka. Danny quickly fired back with his own ghost ray, canceling out the bazooka. Agunimon ran forward, punching the two fakes, and the skeletons scattered into the hallway.
"At least they're easy to deal with," Danny commented.
However, the skeletons reformed, and green energy surrounded them once again. This time they saw themselves. Agunimon and Danny Phantom, but as their normal selves.
"Oh great… We're facing ourselves." Agunimon growled. "This should be a real treat."
"Of course it is," The fake 'Agunimon' replied. "After all, it's your fault that Andy is hurt and scared."
The fake 'Danny' flew in a circle. "You've become too powerful, too alien, to be Andy's twin brother anymore. You isolated him, and lied to him. You attacked him, and hurt him. He gave everything to save you, and this is how you repay him?"
Agunimon growled lowly from his throat. "We're not leaving Andy alone! He needs us, and I don't care what you say!"
"And I know I did some things I regretted… but I never wanted to hurt Andy!" Danny spoke up. "Even though I'm half ghost, Andy will always be my brother."
"How can you say that?" The fake 'Danny' hissed. "After all, he's not half ghost like us. He'll never truly understand us. And what if one day everything will be too much for us, hmm? Who would we be running to? Not to Andy, not to Jazz, not to our parents… but to the only other halfa we know. Vlad~"
Danny was horrified and disgusted at the very thought of going to Vlad for anything. "Why would I even think that!? I don't care how hard things get because I'm half ghost! I will never go to Vlad! And I know Andy is worried, but…"
Danny trailed off as something was starting to occur to him.
"Why would you want to count on Andy for anything?" The fake 'Agunimon' questioned the real Agunimon. "After all, you were chosen by a Legendary Warrior, not him. He's lucky to even be able to live in the same house as you, let alone work with you."
"It's true that I was chosen by a Legendary Warrior, but in the end, I know I can count on Andy. He's saved me more times than I can count, even against Freakshow!" Agunimon countered. "If not for Andy, I'd be one of Freakshow's minions, not standing here trying to save my cousin!"
Danny took a step forward to his fake self. "It's okay… you don't need to be afraid."
His fake self looked at Danny in shock. "What? Nothing's okay! You're not okay! You will never be the same!"
"Maybe I won't ever be the same… but that doesn't mean it has to be a bad thing," Danny said gently. "I know you know this. I know you're trying to help me any way you can through this. But don't be afraid to let me help you too…"
"Danny? What are you doing?" Agunimon asked, surprised that Danny was talking to this fake version of himself so gently all of a sudden.
The fake Danny let out a hiss and a cry. "You don't know that! You don't!"
The fake Danny suddenly melted, turning into a pile of skeletons.
"I knew it…" Danny looked at Agunimon. "These aren't just fake versions of us, Agunimon. They're… from Andy. Or rather, Andy's concerns and fears about us."
Agunimon frowned. "Then… Why didn't Andy tell us about his concerns and fears?"
"I'm not sure if he even realizes it himself, or he doesn't think about them because he's busy with other things, like helping the Digital World," Danny answered softly.
Agunimon looked at the fake version of himself in a new perspective. "So that's it… You're just a representation of what Andy is concerned about and afraid of… He's worried I won't need him… because of the fact I'm a Legendary Warrior."
"You don't need him. No matter how hard he tries, he'll always just be an ordinary human," The fake Agunimon replied back. "You have friends who are like you now. You can go with them, bond with them, watch over the youngest one. Why would you need Andy and anyone else anymore?"
"Because I'm still inexperienced." Agunimon replied. "I may learn more about my abilities from the other Legendary Warriors, but it was because of Andy that I started out learning what I could do. It was because of him that I got stronger when I didn't know what I was. And no matter what… he's still my cousin. I will always be there for him, even if he doesn't think I will."
"Hmph… you'll forget about him, one day," The fake Agunimon said before he turned into a pile of bones on the floor.
Seeing this, Danny and Agunimon hurried forward. They made it to the door where Andy was. Danny and Agunimon kicked down the door. There, they saw Wendigomon standing there. And Andy was on Wendigomon's head. But he was curled into a ball, while a blue and white ghostly energy surrounded him, and was being shot up into the sky.
"Andy!" Agunimon exclaimed. "So he's the source of what's going on?!"
"W-why? How? I sense strong ghostly energy coming from him!" Danny pointed out. "But that should be impossible!"
"DANNY! TAKUYA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" Sam shouted from the window.
Danny and Agunimon looked out the window, seeing Sam yelling up at them.
"Whoa… you guys look… very different," Sam couldn't help but notice.
"Sam? How'd you get past the barrier?" Danny asked.
"The barrier seemed to have weakened after you guys went through it," Sam answered.
"Are you guys okay? You, uh… don't look like you're… um… normal?" Biyomon nervously asked.
"It's… We're still ourselves." Agunimon replied. "It's more of a side effect of being inside this barrier."
"I know we may look freaky, but I promise it's still us." Danny added.
"It's not a bad look for you," Sam chuckled.
"Sam, focus!" Biyomon spoke up.
"R-right. Listen, I think we found out who's behind all this," Sam quickly said. "The Fright Knight. Biyomon and I saw him just around the corner, holding up his sword."
Agunimon and Danny both looked surprised.
"I knew something would happen if he came here." Agunimon growled out. "I just didn't think this was what would happen…"
"So the Fright Knight's doing this, not Andy?" Danny frowned.
"Why would you think Andy was doing this?" Sam asked.
"Because everything that we've seen going on in Amity Park, the killer teddy bears, our appearances, the other versions of the Legendary Warriors and ourselves, those seem to be things Andy is afraid of," Danny explained.
Sam furrowed her eyebrows before she quickly took out her book about the Fright Knight and flipped through the pages. "The Soul Shredder… the story says that when it pierces through a soul, the person is teleported into a dimension where they live out their worst fears… But what if that's only the author's interpretation of how the Soul Shredder works? What if… the Soul Shredder doesn't teleport you into another dimension, but makes your fears a reality?"
Danny felt his face growing pale when he heard that. While it couldn't be seen on Agunimon's own face due to his mutated appearance, had he been in his humanoid Digimon form still, his face would have been pale too.
"Then… how can we stop this?!" Danny asked in alarm.
"I'm looking…" Sam frowned as she flipped through the pages.
"Look out, Sam!" Biyomon warned as she was facing something.
Danny and Agunimon saw it was the Fright Knight himself, he must've heard Sam talking earlier.
"You will not seal me away again!" The Fright Knight stated before he lifted up his Soul Shredder.
"No!" Danny shouted.
However, instead of hitting Sam, the Fright Knight only sliced through the book.
"Now, Halloween must be experienced to the fullest!" The Fright Knight stated.
Agunimon clenched his fists. "We have to stop this… to save Andy!" He growled out. "But this guy is just so powerful…"
"Spiral Twister!" Biyomon shouted as she blew the Fright Knight off of his horse with her fiery twister. "Hurry and look for a weakness, Sam, I'll keep him busy!"
"Okay! Danny, Agunimon, you try to talk to Andy! Maybe if you can calm him down, most of this stuff will slow down!" Sam quickly said to the others as she started picking up the pages.
Danny and Agunimon both nodded.
"I think we can do that." Danny confirmed.
Agunimon looked back at Andy. "I just hope he won't freak out at our… um… altered appearances." He said, looking down at himself.
The two of them approached Wendigomon. Danny gave a nervous look, the last time he saw this Digimon, it, along with the dark reflection of Andy, tried to kill them.
Wendigomon had his eyes closed, however, so he didn't see them. He was as still as a statue.
Agunimon swallowed nervously. "Andy! Can you hear us?!"
There was no response. However, something shot out through the curtains. Agunimon and Danny's eyes went wide when they saw the serpent monster made from legos was apparently alive. It let out a roar at both of them and shot out green fire at them.
"Shit!" Agunimon swore as he dodged. "That's the serpent Andy made!"
"I can see that!" Danny replied, firing a ghost ray at it.
The serpent's legos scattered upon impact. However, the legos quickly reformed itself.
Agunimon growled. "This isn't good…" He hissed as fire formed on his fist. He launched a fiery punch at the serpent creature.
I was walking through a dark forest while carrying Lopmon with me. I didn't know where we were, or how we got here, or where we were going. I just felt scared and worried. I haven't seen anyone for miles.
"How did we end up here?" I asked Lopmon.
"I don't know, Andy." Lopmon replied. "It's unusual… There's no one here…"
"Oh, on the contraire, everyone is here~" A voice echoed through the dark forest.
Lopmon and I quickly looked around, trying to see who said that.
"The problem is they don't want you here." The voice stated.
"What? Why?" I frowned.
"Because of how unstable you are. Honestly, do you really believe you deserve to fight alongside people like the Legendary Warriors? And do you have time to worry about them, when you have a brother who's half ghost? You don't know what he even needs, do you?"
"Who are you!?" Lopmon shouted. "Show yourself!"
I took a step forward, and I was surprised at seeing Takuya stepping out of the shadows. "Takuya?"
"You aren't wanted." Takuya said sinisterly. "The Legendary Warriors don't need your help. We can handle ourselves better without you."
"What are you saying?" I frowned. "You always kept saying how you wanted our help, didn't you? We said we'd save the Digital World together!"
"You're a liability… You're not strong like we are." Takuya replied in a sinister voice with a malicious grin.
"Shut up! You're not Takuya! He'd never say that to me!" I shouted. "Lopmon! Get rid of this illusion!"
"Tiny Twister!" Lopmon jumped from my arms and spun around into a brown and pink twister, going at 'Takuya'.
The fake Takuya vanished upon impact. Lopmon landed on his feet. "How'd you know he was a fake?"
"I know Takuya… he'd never say those things to anyone… even if he thought it," I replied.
Although I knew that Takuya was fake, I couldn't help but wonder if the real Takuya thought the same thing, and he was only letting me help because he wanted to be nice. After all, he was a Legendary Warrior, and he found others like him… what did he need me for now?
I shook my head. "We need to get out of this place."
"But how?" Lopmon asked with a frown. "We have no idea how to get out of here."
"There's gotta be a way…" I frowned as I looked around.
I took another step forward, but this time I saw Jazz. She was graduating high school, and smiling at me.
"Well, Andy, looks like I'm heading off to Harvard. I'll… probably see you never," Jazz said with a smile on her face. "It's just as well. I want to be among other geniuses, unlike you. You can't even get Straight As in school."
"Jazz, wait!" I called out as I tried to reach out to her, but she vanished when I did.
Tucker walked by, snickering. "I'll be getting into MIT soon~ My smarts with technology will land me with the big wigs in no time~" He grinned at me. "I'll see you when you apply for a job under me, Andy!"
Tucker walked away, leaving Sam in his place. "It's a shame, Andy. You have nothing unique about you, unlike Tucker, myself, Danny, and Takuya." She said with a shake of her head. "I had hoped you would be unique like the rest of us, but apparently not."
Lopmon got rid of the Sam illusion by jumping at her. "You can't listen to them, Andy! These aren't your real friends!"
"But what if they're right? What if this is what they're thinking?" I quickly asked, rubbing my head. "I ended up in Danny's mind before… who's to say this isn't my friends' minds and I'm hearing what they're all thinking?"
"Andy, you don't really believe this is how they think of you, do you?" Lopmon frowned. "Why would they be your friends in the first place if that's what they think?"
"I don't know, Lopmon… probably because they're Danny's friends?" I frowned.
Suddenly, teddy bears began climbing up from the ground, like zombies. I let out a scream before I picked up Lopmon and started running for it. "Am I locked in some kind of personal hell!?"
"You can run, but you can't hide from your fears," The mysterious voice echoed through the forest.
I tripped over a tree root, and fell down, dropping Lopmon. Someone was hovering over me. I looked up, seeing Valerie in her red huntress suit. She had Dash standing behind her.
"You're right, Dash, he really is a pathetic mess…" Valerie said, sounding disappointed as she looked down at me.
Dash snickered. "And to think I was ever this nerd's friend. He shouldn't have pushed so hard. Now he's in over his head with everything~"
"Yeah… Andy, you need to stay home. You're not a ghost, or a Digimon, nor are you a ghost hunter, or have any true skills. You'll just get in everyone's way," Valerie said, making me feel like daggers went through my heart before she flew away with Dash.
"Andy! Andy, where are you?" Lopmon called, trying to get over to me.
"Lopmon… Do you think that maybe… we just get in everyone's way?" I asked when Lopmon ran over to me.
"No way, Andy!" Lopmon replied. "You should know them better than that!"
"But what if I've done something horrible wrong?" I asked in fear. "What if my ideas… end up hurting them? Or what if they end up in a situation where someone like Freakshow controls them again? And what if it's my fault this time? And… I can't save them?"
"It hurts…"
I gasped when I heard what sounded like Danny's voice. "Danny?"
"Andy! Don't listen to the voices! They're not real!" Lopmon warned me.
"Please… stop it…" The voice cried out in pain.
"But that 's Danny, Lopmon! What if he's really hurt?" I asked frantically. "I have to find him!"
I began running towards the voice, leaving Lopmon behind.
"Wait! Andy!" Lopmon called out after me.
"Why… do you do… this…?"
"Danny!" I called out as I ran through the dark forest, hurrying to the voice.
I stopped when I saw Danny, in his human form, bleeding out blood and ectoplasm. I gasped in horror when I saw Mom and Dad pointing their ecto guns at him.
"Now, ecto-scum, time to be eliminated!" Dad declared with malice in his voice, which was not the usual joy-filled, jovial man I knew as my father.
"No ectoplasmic ghost will ever be our son!" Mom snarled at Danny.
"NO! STOP IT!" I shouted as I ran forward.
There was a bright flash of light from their ecto guns. And everything became quiet. I was afraid to open my eyes, but when I did… I saw Mom and Dad… crying. Dad was holding onto Danny's… body… and he and Mom were completely heartbroken.
"What… have we done…?" Mom asked, her voice quiet and horrified. "We… we are monsters, Jack!"
"We… we don't deserve to be parents… not after… after this…" Dad whispered back.
"Mom… Dad…" I tried to say as I reached towards them.
They disappeared. And something was floating over me. I heard Vlad's voice speaking.
"You see what happens when you let your irresponsible parents find out who you are, Daniel?"
I quickly turned my head up, seeing Vlad Plasmius floating there with Danny Phantom floating beside him. Danny looked very angry, and very disappointed.
"Your brother wouldn't stop them either, and he's supposed to care about you," Vlad said.
Danny clenched his fists. "Yeah… I counted on Andy, and he let me down. I thought I could rely on him!" Danny's shoulders then slumped. "But… I guess, in the end… I could not…"
"No… Danny, I didn't want this to happen! You know I wouldn't!" I shouted.
"Oh yeah?" Danny hissed as he suddenly floated over to my face. "Where were you when Patamon tried to kill me? Where were you when Freakshow started taking over my mind? How well have you tried convincing Mom and Dad that I'm not an evil, manipulating monster they can just shoot at whenever they want? Have you tried going through what I did? Oh wait, you can't! Mom and Dad don't have a problem with half of you! You don't have to worry about the government taking you away to experiment on you on a daily basis! You don't have to go through losing control of your powers, and having something happen to you without knowing if it's normal or not! Because… you aren't half ghost, Andy, and you never will be. You and I… will never understand each other."
"Danny… I… I've been trying my best to-" I tried to explain.
"To what? Understand me? Help me? Too bad… you never knew that I was suffering. You could never grasp how I really feel," Danny hissed venomously at me. "Some twin brother you are. I rather live with Vlad, at least he can provide me what I need, and teach me how to be a half ghost. Unlike you."
"No… Danny, please don't go," I begged, feeling like weights were on my feet, keeping me rooted in that spot.
"You can't apologize, Andy. It's over…" Danny said as he began to walk towards Vlad, away from me. "Thanks to you, Patamon is gone… I have nobody left who can truly understand me…"
"Danny! Don't go! Vlad is evil, remember!?"I shouted.
"Why is he evil? Because he's half ghost? Guess I'm evil too," Danny replied spitefully.
Vlad grinned at me as he took Danny's hand. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of your ex-brother. Unlike you and your parents."
Vlad laughed as he wrapped his cape around himself and Danny, teleporting away. I stared at the spot Danny and Vlad were at just moments before.
I saw Takuya walking. In desperation, I managed to get my legs to move again. I ran at Takuya. "Takuya! You have to help me! Vlad took Danny away!"
Takuya stopped and turned around to face me. "Help you? I'm too busy with more important things. Things you screwed up for us in the Digital World."
"What?!" I shouted in disbelief. "Takuya! Danny was taken away! Your cousin!"
"Why should I care? That was your fault for not helping him." Takuya replied. "I shouldn't have to fix your mistakes, Andy."
"B-but-"
"Besides… I don't have time to deal with your family drama. I'm with the Legendary Warriors now," Takuya stated.
I saw Beetlemon, Kazemon, Lobomon, Kumamon, and Koichi, standing not too far away, waiting for Takuya.
"So you're just going to leave? Just like that?" I asked.
"Yes." Takuya replied as he turned and began to walk away, turning into Agunimon as he did so. "The Digital World needs me more than you do."
"But Takuya! I can't save Danny on my own! Please-"
I tried to reach out to him, but Agunimon growled when I tried and he turned to me. "Stop bothering me, Andy! You're keeping me from my duties!"
I froze, never hearing Agunimon using such a tone on me before.
"Let me do what I need to do! You are nothing but a mere human! I'm a Digimon! This is not for me to worry about now!" Agunimon hissed. "You save your brother, but leave me out of it! My duties to the Digital World take precedence over your desires!"
"Andy! There you are!" Lopmon called out, hurrying to my side.
"And you're holding Lopmon back," Agunimon added, seeing Lopmon. "You're the reason why he never recalls his past life, and why he's so important. Because of you, you're keeping him from his true potential."
"I'm not…" I frowned.
"Perhaps Lopmon should come with us, he's better off in the Digital World than with someone as messed up and selfish as you," Agunimon hissed.
"How dare you say that!?" Lopmon shouted.
"Lopmon… don't shout…" I said softly.
"What? Why?" Lopmon asked as he looked at me. "Andy, none of this is true! You should know that!"
"Of course it's true!" I suddenly shouted. "You almost dark digivolved because of me! How do I know that I'm not the one keeping you from your memories? Your true destiny!?"
"What true destiny!? Andy, you're not making any sense!" Lopmon frowned. "Pull yourself together! You can't listen to these voices!"
"But he has to, because… they're what he thinks about all the time," The echoed voice stated.
Lopmon and I looked ahead. Agunimon and the other Legendary Warriors disappeared. We saw… my dark reflection walking up to us.
"And you can't run from it," The dark reflection sneered. "But you can try to fight it, if you really want to."
"You!" I shouted. "You're the one tormenting me!"
"How fitting, isn't it~" The dark reflection sneered at me.
"Stop it!" Lopmon shouted. "Why are you doing this to Andy?!"
"Why? That should be a question you ask your partner," The dark reflection replied.
Suddenly, two beings who I think are supposed to be Agunimon and Danny Phantom, were rushing towards me. But they looked very different. The figure to the left had very thin legs and a large right arm going down to his right… foot. The hand was bony in appearance, and there was green lava-like fire coming from any gaps in the joints. There was a large cape-like appendage going down from the left shoulder with oozing green lava, and the rest of the body was pitch black with green eyes that were glowing.
The figure to the right had skin that was a lot more gray instead of the usual, healthy yet tan color. His nails had grown much longer, and looked as sharp as claws. His canines got sharper and longer. He had spikes on his back, and he had a black lizard-like tail. Not only that, but he seemed to have grown out a pair of dragon wings on his back, and he had a pair of horns growing out of his head. His eyes were red like when he had been under Freakshow's control. He almost looked like a humanoid version of his dragon form.
"ANDY!" They both shouted loudly.
I gasped as I backed away from them. Now they were mutating and full out attacking me!
"I'll protect you, Andy!" Lopmon quickly said before he digivolved himself into Turuiemon. "Get on my head!"
I didn't hesitate to climb onto Turuiemon's head… he was… a lot bigger than I remembered him being.
"I've had it with this nightmare world!" I shouted. "We're going to end this right here and now! I won't let these nightmare versions of my brother and cousin torment me anymore!"
"Andy, wait!" The mutated version of Agunimon cried. "We're not going to hurt you!"
"Please, we just want to help you!" The mutated version of Danny Phantom added.
"Lies!" I shouted. "You're all just here to mess with my head!"
Turuiemon growled a growl that I never heard from him before, and instead of calling out his attack, he swung his arms at them. 'Agunimon' and 'Danny' quickly jumped away, avoiding the attack.
"I'll fight them off, and free us from this nightmare!" I shouted.
After Agunimon and Danny were able to burn the legos, melting them into useless plastic, they turned their attention on Wendigomon, who was still as still as a statue. And Andy was still curled up at the top of his head.
"Okay, we took care of that. Let's get my brother down from there," Danny said.
"Yeah, let's do it." Agunimon agreed. "We have to act fast."
Patamon's egg on Danny's head bounced. Unfortunately, Danny couldn't tell what that meant. He just hoped that meant Patamon was eager to get this over with.
Danny picked up Agunimon, and flew them both up to where Andy was.
"Andy!" They both called.
Andy uncurled himself, and opened his eyes. However, he gasped when he saw them.
"He's awake!" Danny noted.
"Good, that means we can get him out of here sooner," Agunimon said.
Andy suddenly glared at both of them.
"He… uh… doesn't look happy to see us…" Danny whispered.
"I've had it with this nightmare world!" Andy suddenly shouted. "We're going to end this right here and now! I won't let these nightmare versions of my brother and cousin torment me anymore!"
Wendigomon began to move under them, letting out a roar.
"Crap…" Agunimon swore. "It seems Andy's partner is awake now too."
"That doesn't sound like Lopmon…" Danny said nervously.
Agunimon decided to try calling out to Andy again. "Andy, wait! We're not going to hurt you!"
"Please, we just want to help you!" Danny frantically added.
"Lies!" Andy shouted. "You're all just here to mess with my head!"
Wendigomon growled before he moved his head, forcing Danny and Agunimon off. He then swung his large arms at them.
"Look out!" Danny yelled.
Danny and Agunimon jumped away, dodging the big hands, which smashed into the ground.
"I'll fight them off, and free us from this nightmare!" Andy announced, his glazed eyes now fixated on Danny and Agunimon.
"... You know, maybe we shouldn't have tried to wake Andy up while we were in our scarier forms…" Danny grumbled.
"Gee, you think?" Agunimon growled back sarcastically. "If only we could get these forms to disappear…"
Wendigomon chased after them. The room seemed to have gotten a lot bigger than before. He let out a roar as he kept swinging his arms at the two. Agunimon attempted to try an attack, only for Andy to throw a rock at his head, interrupting his concentration, and allowing Wendigomon punch him into a wall. Wendigomon launched himself at Danny. Danny let out a yelp as he was tackled by the giant rabbit monster. He groaned in pain.
Danny managed to turn himself intangible to go through the wall, and headed back over to Agunimon. He was glad Patamon's egg was untouched, he didn't know what would happen to Patamon if something happened to the egg.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked Agunimon.
Agunimon grunted as he shook his head. "Yeah… I'm fine. But dang… that was quite the punch."
"We really need Sam to tell us a weakness to that Soul Shredder." Danny frowned. "I don't know if Andy will stop otherwise."
Agunimon frowned as well. This wasn't quite like when he and Danny were being mind controlled like with Freakshow. Andy wasn't acting on the Fright Knight's will, he was acting like he needed to defend himself. It was very similar to when Tommy was hit by Tapirmon's Nightmare Syndrome. They didn't bring Tommy back by fighting him, or by defeating Tapirmon.
"Danny…" Agunimon said nervously. "I… I have an idea on how to stop Andy, but… I need you to trust me on this."
"What?" Danny frowned. "What do you plan to do?"
"Something I did once before." Agunimon replied. "But I need you to not attack Andy. It's risky, but it worked once, so maybe it will work again."
As soon as he said that, Agunimon let down his guard. "Andy… I'm not going to fight you. Not like this."
Wendigomon let out a roar as Andy looked at Agunimon. "Trying to lure me into a false sense of security?"
Agunimon shook his head. "No. I mean it. I'm not going to fight." He said as he looked at Andy directly."You're just reacting to what you're seeing. I promise, I'm still the same Agunimon you remember, even if I look different."
"Agunimon? Agunimon left me…" Andy hissed.
Though Wendigomon took a few steps back, faltering a bit. Wendigomon was likely reacting to how Andy was feeling due to their link.
"You left me, to handle Danny leaving by myself!" Andy cried out.
Again, Agunimon shook his head. "No… I did not. I'm right here. I promise, I'm still me. And Danny is right beside me. He's still here, just as I am."
"I don't… see him…" Andy said softly. "He's gone… I let him down… and he left, hating me…"
"No, that's not true!" Danny spoke up, flying closer to Wendigomon and Andy. "Bro, I'm right here! Why can't you see me? I know I look different, but it's still me."
Wendigomon backed away more, grunting and sounding unsure.
"You can't be Danny… he was murdered by our parents… and taken away by Vlad…" Andy replied, tears falling from his face. "And it was my fault…"
"Andy… I don't know what you're seeing… But none of it is real." Agunimon said gently. "We're both right here, and we're not going anywhere, I promise."
"Yeah, our parents haven't killed me, and there's no way Vlad is getting his grubby hands on me," Danny stated. "Please, Andy, come back to us. I know you're not like this."
"I don't understand… you left me… why do you care about me?" Andy asked. "I'm nothing but a burden to you."
"No, you're not." Agunimon reassured Andy. "You've been far more helpful than you know. … Remember… When I first got Agunimon's Spirit? You were the first one to help me learn what I could and could not do in that form. If not for you, I'd be in the dark about my abilities."
"And you've been helping me even before you knew I was half ghost, bro. I was able to share things with you that I couldn't share with Tucker and Sam," Danny added. "Do you remember when we would train in the lab together? And how you had us learn how to dodge?"
"Or when you tried to get me to learn to fly with my fire? It… uh… sort of worked, but only in the Ghost Zone," Agunimon added.
Andy hesitated as Wendigomon lowered himself to the ground so Andy could get a better look at these two. He squinted his eyes at them. "... You two sound different from the others… you're too… nice… and bringing up the past in a nice way…"
"That's because… we are trying to help you." Agunimon said softly.
"Please… we don't mean you harm, Andy." Danny pleaded. "Let us help you, like you helped us. You saved us from Freakshow, remember? Nobody could've done those crazy stunts like you did. And it was all to save us."
"Yeah, and you don't even need to be a Digimon or a ghost to do all of that. You just need to be yourself," Agunimon added, hoping their words were getting through to Andy.
Andy stared at them for a long moment. He closed his eyes, thinking to himself. "Are you two… real?"
"Andy… We've never been anything more than real." Agunimon said gently. "We… we only want to help you, like you helped us."
"I would never not help you, bro." Danny added.
Neither Andy nor Wendigomon moved. Danny frowned before he approached Andy.
"Danny?" Agunimon asked.
Danny reached out and touched his brother's hands. "There, you see? I'm real, bro."
Andy opened his eyes, surprised that this Danny was able to touch him.
"And I'm not going anywhere," Danny finished. "Especially not with Vlad."
Andy looked at Danny. A gust of wind blew across the room, and a blue light swept across them. Danny blinked, and he noticed his wings, tail, and horns were gone. Agunimon found himself to be back to normal as well. Wendigomon returned to being Turuiemon, his true Champion form.
"You're really Danny… and Takuya," Andy realized.
Agunimon nodded before he made his way to Andy and knelt down, hugging Andy. "We've never been anyone else." He said soothingly. "It's okay… We're here now…"
"It's about time you guys found us," Turuiemon said in relief. "We thought we'd be lost in those woods forever, with those annoying illusions who kept saying mean things to Andy."
Andy squeezed Danny's hands, afraid that once he let go, Danny would suddenly disappear again. "I… don't even know what happened…"
Agunimon pulled back from hugging Andy. "Andy… what happened back there?"
"I don't know," Andy answered.
Andy's body suddenly glowed blue, though Andy didn't seem to notice it. "I think something is trying to mess with me."
Suddenly, Freakshow appeared behind Andy and Turuiemon. He gave an evil grin at Danny and Agunimon.
"I can't have my circus without my main attractions. Cross over to the dark side once again~" Freakshow grinned.
"No, no, no! Not again!" Andy cried out as the glow began to get brighter.
"Andy! You have to stay calm!" Danny quickly said, knowing the more his brother gave into his fears, the stronger the illusions became.
"No! I can't lose you again! Please don't go!" Andy cried in a panic.
"Andy, it's okay! We're not going anywhere!" Agunimon said as he gripped Andy's shoulders, gently squeezing them to reassure Andy. "It's all an illusion, we're right here, and we're not leaving you."
Danny nodded. "We're still here, bro."
Agunimon put a hand on Andy's face, turning the boy's face so Andy's green eyes met his own blue ones. "Andy, look at me. We're not going anywhere… I promise."
Andy looked up at them and started to calm down. 'Freakshow' disappeared, and the egg on Danny's head 'hatched' into Patamon again.
"Oh, it's about time I got out of that egg," Patamon sighed in relief.
"Wah? Patamon, why were you an egg? What's going on here?" Andy asked, confused.
"I'd like to know that too." Turuiemon frowned.
"Uh… don't be alarmed, bro, but you may have been… well… in contact with the Fright Knight's Soul Shredder?" Danny nervously explained.
Andy stared at Danny. "The… Fright Knight? The one from one of Sam's books?"
Agunimon nodded. "Yeah, that's the one." He confirmed before giving Andy a reassuring smile. "But we can deal with him, right?"
"Hold up… if I've been… affected by the Soul Shredder, then shouldn't I be in another dimension or something?" Andy asked before looking around. "... Am I in another dimension again, and you two had to come save us?"
"If I had a coin for every time we end up needing saving from another dimension, I'd have two coins… which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice," Turuiemon muttered.
"Apparently the Soul Shredder does make the victim's worst fears come to life, but not through putting them in another dimension." Agunimon explained. "It literally makes their fears come alive."
"What?" Andy frowned.
"Uh, yeah… Amity Park is kinda being overrun by killer teddy bears right now," Danny sheepishly said.
Andy and Turuiemon stared at them for a moment before both of them shouted. "WHAT!?"
"How the hell did this even happen!? I don't remember being stabbed by any sword! I would've noticed if a ghost sword, being wielded by a flaming knight on a flaming bat horse stabbed into me!" Andy shouted.
"Maybe…" Agunimon looked down in thought. "Maybe it was done discreetly. I mean… it's a ghostly sword, right?"
"So you're telling me Amity Park is in danger and disarray because of me!?" Andy shouted.
"Um… maybe now that he's not scared anymore, he's not gonna do anything?" Turuiemon asked in a hopeful tone.
The house shook as Andy was glowing blue again. Suddenly, the doll that was supposed to be the horror king transformed. This time looking like the dark reflection of Andy.
"Even when you think you're safe, you're really not," 'Andy' stated before raising up his hands.
The killer teddy bears started to rise up from the floor and began to surround them.
"How do you stop this?!" Andy yelled.
There was a loud caw, before fire came through the roof of the house, destroying the teddy bears.
"Guys!" Sam called from above, riding on Birdramon. "I found it!"
"Found what?!" Agunimon called back, not even looking up at Sam or Birdramon; he was not taking his eyes off the dark Andy or the killer teddy bears.
"You will never succeed in anything you do," the dark reflection stated. "No matter how hard you try, you will never be able to be anything more than what you already are."
The teddy bears started to attack. Agunimon, Turuiemon, Danny, and Patamon began to fight back, trying to throw the teddy bears back.
"You can think, plan, do everything in your power to predict what might happen next. But in the end, none of it will matter," The dark reflection continued. "And look at what happened, look at the mess you caused."
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Andy shouted at the dark reflection.
"To cease the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheathe, in pumpkin near," Sam read out from one of the pages in her torn book. "Pumpkin near! Guys, in order to stop this, you have to put the sword into a pumpkin!"
"But where can we find one?!" Danny growled out.
Agunimon saw some killer teddy bears coming at Andy and jumped in front to protect Andy. "Plasma Sphere!" His shield went up, keeping the teddy bears at bay. "Danny! You'll have to find that pumpkin! I'm kinda busy here!"
"It's Halloween, how are there no pumpkins in the room!?" Danny shouted. "Am I an idiot!?"
"No, apparently I am for not noticing this sooner!" Andy shouted as he threw a nearby chair at one of the teddy bears after Agunimon let down the shield. "Next time you two want to take an ancient, unknown ghostly artifact home, at least keep a leash on it!"
"Hey, we weren't the ones who brought it here!" Agunimon retorted.
Danny then smacked himself with his hand. "I was the one who pulled it out of a pumpkin… I'm the idiot here."
"Is this really the time to be saying who's the idiot here?" Patamon grumbled. "We need to find the Fright Knight and a pumpkin!"
"Well who's gonna just walk in with a pumpkin at this time of crisis!?" Andy shouted.
Suddenly, the door opened. Tucker and Kokuwamon were walking in, their pumpkin baskets full of candy.
"Hey guys! We hit the jackpot tonight!" Tucker smiled. "Oh hey… uh… nice costume with the darker version of yourself, Andy. But maybe the killer teddy bears might be a bit much."
"Tucker! That's not Andy!" Agunimon exclaimed as he put up his Plasma Sphere again. "That's an evil version of Andy!"
"Whaaaat? I thought that was probably Danny working on his duplication trick," Tucker said. "What did we miss?"
"Apparently a lot," Kokuwamon said.
"How did you miss any of this!?" Sam shouted from Birdramon. "It's all over Amity Park!"
"It's Halloween, I kinda assume it was part of the course," Tucker huffed.
"I suppose one can tunnel vision on anything, including candy," Birdramon remarked.
Andy looked at the basket Tucker was holding. "Sam! Does it count if it's something that looks like a pumpkin!?"
Sam nodded. "I think it could work!" She replied back. "It didn't say it had to be a pumpkin!"
"Then that basket may be our ticket to ending this nightmare!" Andy pointed out.
"Great, but there's one problem… where is the Fright Knight and the Soul Shredder?" Danny asked.
"We lost track of him when Biyomon digivolved to protect me!" Sam called.
"Great! How are we going to find him!?" Turuiemon groaned.
Andy frowned as he looked at the killer teddy bears and the dark reflection of himself. "You say all of this is happening because that Soul Shredder… came in contact with me, right?"
Agunimon looked at Andy. "Yes, but why?" He asked, concerned now.
"Then that means it's connected to me," Andy answered.
"What do you plan to do?" Turuiemon frowned.
"I don't know… either bring the sword here, lure the Fright Knight here, or find out it's location. Either way, I want to end this nightmare," Andy answered. "But I can't say I'll know what it'll happen."
"Could someone explain what's going on here?" Tucker frowned.
"Give into your fear," The dark reflection stated.
"Yes… I plan to," Andy said.
"What?" Danny and Agunimon frowned.
Andy closed his eyes. "I trust you guys… now please, trust me."
Andy's body glowed blue, and he let out a scream before the blue glow exploded, and unleashed a bright beam of light into the swirling clouds above them. Birdramon flew away from it, trying to get Sam to safety.
The swirling clouds unleashed a lightning that formed the Fright Knight on his horse, while holding the glowing blue and white Soul Shredder.
"What's this? Why am I suddenly here?" Fright Knight questioned. "The night is not overth yet."
Danny and Agunimon realized what Andy was up to.
"Danny, go for it." Agunimon said. "I can keep Andy safe."
Danny nodded before he jumped at the Fright Knight, trying to grab his Soul Shredder.
"What are you doing, child? That is not a toy!" The Fright Knight scolded, trying to pull the Soul Shredder back.
"I'm going to end this nightmare! You hurt my brother with that sword!" Danny shouted angrily before he fired his ghost rays at the Fright Knight.
"Ecto-Bubble!" Patamon fired out his ecto bubble at the horse.
Nightmare neighed, but didn't expect the bubble to explode with as much force as it did, and was thrown back into a wall.
Agunimon grinned. "Nice shot!" He said to Patamon.
Danny flew at the Fright Knight, reaching out for the Soul Shredder. "No more frights for you!"
The Fright Knight moved away from Danny, and he kicked the boy down. He fired a ball of purple energy at Patamon. Patamon braced himself for impact, but instead of being hit, the ball of energy trapped him inside it.
"H-hey, what?" Patamon blinked.
"It's too dangerous to go spouting out your attacks like that," Fright Knight stated.
Danny pushed the Fright Knight away. "Why are you doing this!? Do you know how many people are in danger because of you?"
"Nobody is in true danger. They are merely experiencing the fright they should be experiencing on Halloween," The Fright Knight answered. "The human I bonded my Soul Shredder with was a perfect host for fright, yet also for safety. He does not wish to hurt others, so they will not be harmed."
Agunimon looked up. "What?"
Danny frowned. "No one is in… You mean you just wanted to scare people?"
"Of course! The spirit of Halloween is to experience your fears, but also to embrace them. In order to truly overcome your fears, thou must liveth them out. Thou experience fear, and the thrill of showing thou's true colors, and what thou would do to overcometh the fear," The Fright Knight stated. "Once thou has overcome such fears, thou receive treats as rewards. For that is the true spirit of Halloween! This modern age, humans cannot improve by running away from thou fears and confrontations."
"You… never wanted to hurt anyone then…" Agunimon realized. He wasn't dropping his guard, but he was less wary now.
"So you just wanted people to get a good scare in… You never meant harm, just frights." Danny said.
"But what about those killer teddy bears?" Turuiemon asked.
"If they truly wanted to kill, doesth think thou friend would be here?" The Fright Knight asked, gesturing at Tucker and Kokuwamon.
"That is true, we saw those weird claw teddy bears, but we assumed they were just part of the Halloween experience," Kokuwamon admitted. "I sensed they were ghostly, but not a threat."
"Yeah, their claws are actually made of candy," Tucker said before he reached out and touched one of the teddy bear's claws. "You could break off some of these and lick them."
"You're… kidding me, right?" Agunimon sweatdropped.
Andy blinked a little as he watched this. "So… I didn't hurt anyone then?"
"Of course not. I am careful with the host I choose for my Soul Shredder for the Halloween night," The Fright Knight explained. "The host I picketh must not intend harm for anyone, and haveth fears that would be enough to give the people a good scare, as well as a need to try to overcometh their fears. You have many fears, young one, fears you may have even buried deep inside you."
Agunimon frowned as he looked back at Andy. Andy has… fears… but of… us? Me and Danny?
"I… didn't think Andy had that many fears…" Danny admitted, feeling somewhat bad he hadn't picked up on any of that.
"Many people have fears they try to hide, young child, including from themselves," The Fright Knight explained. "Halloween is the one time of year that humans try to be scared, and try to overcome those fears. That is why I exist. However, being imprisoned for so long have dulled humanity and their willingness to face their fears. It appears Hallowen is all about candy and mild scares to them that has no connection to them."
"Well… I'd rather be asked first than being made the host to your ghostly scares," Andy sighed. And having my fears exposed like that.
"Perhaps I haveth been too hasty after being imprisoned for so long," The Fright Knight noted. "I only meant to scare, not scar."
"Can you de-link me from your Soul Shredder?" Andy requested. "I don't want to be the host for all of this for the rest of the night."
"Yes, please?" Danny asked the Fright Knight. "It's been a tiring night for all of us."
The Fright Knight gave a sigh. "Very well. I supposeth that is enough for my comeback for Halloween for one night."
The Fright Knight swung his sword at Andy all of a sudden, the Soul Shredder going through his body harmlessly. The Soul Shredder lost the blue and white glow it had, and changed back to its neon green color.
"H-hey! Don't do that without warning!" Andy yelped, rubbing his body, checking for any injury.
Agunimon made his way over to Andy, as did Danny, Patamon and Turuiemon.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked as he reached Andy first.
"Yeah, I… I think so. The sword just felt a bit warm when it passed through me," Andy answered.
"Oh good, I got worried for a second," Turuiemon said in relief.
The Fright Knight suddenly gave Andy a glowing blue lollipop.
"Uh… what's this for?" Andy asked.
"A treat for confronting some of thou's fears. Thou managed to summon me with thou's connection with the Soul Shredder, that takes some courage. Maybe once thou faces more of thou's fears, I will give thou a big bag of treats," The Fright Knight stated.
Danny, Agunimin, Turuiemon, and Patamon all sweatdropped. Tucker and Kokuwamon looked on with a little hint of envy.
"This is… very weird…" Danny muttered to the other three, who all nodded in agreement.
"A measly sucker for all of those scares doesn't seem very fitting…" Turuiemon grumbled under his breath.
"Now, I must goeth, Nightmare and I must see how the Infinite Realms are after all these years," The Fright Knight stated before he looked at Danny. "But before I goeth… I must ask, what happened to King Pariah Dark?"
"Uh… who?" Danny blinked.
"Hmm… if you do not knowth that name, then I can be at peace," The Fright Knight stated. "Let us hope you will never have to know who King Pariah Dark is, young one."
The group nodded in agreement. The Fright Knight got back on Nightmare before they flew off into the sky, going up into the green vortex. The vortex disappeared as soon as the Fright Knight and Nightmare went through it.
"I… guess this is over then?" Danny asked, feeling somewhat relieved now.
"It… looks like it. All the teddy bears are gone, and so is that dark reflection of Andy," Agunimon said.
Andy gave a small sigh before he held up the glowing lollipop and just dumped it onto Danny's hands. "Here. I don't think it's safe for a human to eat that anyways."
Danny sighed. "I guess that's true." He then grinned. "Thanks Andy. I'll be sure to enjoy this for you."
Agunimon chuckled. "Of course you would, Danny."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Don't we have to get Andy and Lopmon out of here? Mom and Dad are probably going to bust the door down if we don't."
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say this was quite the Halloween. I get tons of candy, I got to do it with Kokuwamon, and we got a lot of unusual scares," Tucker remarked.
"I hope we get to do this every year, the adrenaline is good for my circuitries," Kokuwamon remarked.
"I'd rather not," Andy grumbled. "If the Fright Knight wants to find a new host for his Soul Shredder, it better not be me again."
"Is everyone okay!? That big ecto swirl in the sky just disappeared!" Sam called as Birdramon flew back to the house.
"Yeah, we're fine! The Fright Knight left!" Agunimon called back.
"Hey, guys? Lopmon and I are going to head home and call it an early night. You guys can deal with the haunted house and our parents," Andy said.
Agunimon frowned. "Andy… Are… Are you sure?" He asked, concerned. "I… I mean…" He trailed off, unsure of how to address the issue he was thinking about. How can I ask if Andy is afraid of me…?
"Yeah, that whole thing with the Soul Shredder just made me tired is all," Andy answered.
Agunimon studied Andy for a moment. Andy didn't look to be afraid of him, he just looked tired like he claimed to be. Although, Agunimon couldn't blame him. After all, most of Andy's worst fears pretty much came to life in front of him, and he used his link with the Soul Shredder to force the Fright Knight to appear before them. Maybe the conversation could wait until tomorrow.
Sighing, Agunimon nodded. "Okay… Just… be careful on the way home, alright?" Aw man… This is turning out to be a Halloween I'm not willing to go through again myself…
Danny frowned as well. "We'll see you at home then, bro." Andy… are you really that scared of me and Takuya? I… I don't know…
Andy gave a sigh as he noticed Agunimon and Danny's expressions. "Guys, relax, okay? I'm not scared of either of you goofballs." No, what I'm afraid of is a fear related to them, but not them directly. But I don't think this is the best time to discuss that.
While that seemed to calm Agunimon and Danny's doubts, both of them still wanted to talk to Andy about this in the morning.
"Come on, Lopmon, let's head home. I'm about ready to crash," Andy said tiredly.
"Yeah, me too," Lopmon said. "Save some candy for us later, Tucker, Kokuwamon."
Lopmon jumped into Andy's arms and Andy walked out of the room. Birdramon landed into the house, seeing how there was still no roof after what happened. Birdramon shrunk down into her Biyomon form once Sam got off of her.
"Were you able to seal away the Fright Knight?" Sam asked.
Danny and Patamon changed, going back to their human and regular Rookie forms. Agunimon did the same, releasing his Spirit, and becoming Takuya again now that the danger's passed.
"Not exactly." Takuya admitted. "It's more like the Fright Knight left after releasing the Soul Shredder's hold on Andy."
"Really? I thought he was gonna put up more of a fight." Sam blinked.
"I sensed his power… he wasn't serious when he was fighting us," Biyomon warned Sam. "If he was serious, I don't think either of us would be standing here right now."
"I don't believe the Fright Knight's intention was to harm anyone either," Patamon agreed. "If he wanted to harm us, well… as Biyomon said, we wouldn't be standing here right now. He just wanted to bring scares to Halloween. However… the modern world doesn't quite run like the way he's used to. I'm afraid bringing out all of those fears from Andy may cause some worrisome effect to his psyche later."
Danny frowned. "That… We may have to get Jazz involved if that's the case. I don't like seeing Andy suffering like this."
"Andy won't like that." Takuya noted.
"He doesn't have to. He just has to talk this out." Danny replied.
"Well, until then… are you going to eat that?" Tucker asked, pointing at the glowing lollipop Danny was holding.
"Tucker, it's glowing," Danny pointed out.
"So? The Fright Knight gave that to Andy, so maybe the glowing is just for show and it's safe for human consumption," Tucker argued.
"I think you've got enough candy as is." Sam rolled her eyes.
"Just put the lollipop away before your parents get here," Patamon said. "The last thing we need is for them to see 'ghostly candy' in your hands."
Danny stuffed the lollipop into his pocket. "There. Now it won't be as noticeable."
The door opened, and Mr. Lancer walked in. "So, is everything okay now? What even happened back there? I saw teddy bears roaming the streets! And I think there was an ice bear wearing armor that protected me from them until they all just disappeared."
Takuya sweatdropped as he tried to come up with an explanation. "Um… well… you see…" Aw man! Why am I such a terrible liar?!
"That was all special effects!" Danny blurted. "But… uh… they were triggered too early, so… we can't use them in our haunted room."
"But the haunted room is still good to go otherwise," Sam quickly said, not wanting all of their hard work to go to waste because of bad luck.
Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow. "I must say… you have ways of making something not scary, very scary. I may have to keep an eye on my own teddy bear after this experience. But if you can do that, I trust you can scare people enough to beat out Tetslaff's haunted house."
Takuya gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I guess that's a possibility."
"Danny! Takuya! Andy! We're here to save you!"
Mr. Lancer was suddenly body slammed into the ground by Jack Fenton, and Maddie rushed into the room, holding her bazooka and looked around.
"Hey… what happened to all that ghostly activity the Fenton Finder was sensing before?" Maddie frowned. "And is everyone okay? Danny? Where's your brother?"
"Ah… the ghost was driven off, and Andy went home. He said he wanted to get some rest." Danny replied.
"Don't worry, everyone is fine, Aunt Maddie." Takuya added. Well, aside from the scares we had, we're fine…
"Don't worry, he has Lopmon protecting him," Patamon added. "But thankfully we were able to drive away the ghost, so everything is fine.
"I see, well that's good…" Maddie sighed in relief.
Jack looked down at Mr. Lancer, his face was on the floor, so he didn't see Patamon speaking. "Whoops, I guess I better get off of him."
Jack quickly got off of Mr. Lancer, and quickly helped the poor teacher up onto his feet. "Sorry about that, we wanted to make sure there weren't any ghosts in the room. Although… What happened to the roof?"
"Um… the special effects projector was destroyed and blew up part of the roof?" Takuya said with a nervous grin.
"Yeah, I guess the technology I used was a little too strong," Tucker quickly added, trying to back up Takuya's story. "I guess I shouldn't have left these guys to it while I was out getting candy."
Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it. "Must have been some powerful projector then."
"Yes, be more careful next time, kids," Maddie said, though it was clear she was just going along with the story, she and Jack likely believed the Digimon and ghosts probably tore off the roof in their battle, after all, they both had seen what Digimon were capable of.
"For now… uh… we'll leave you to your haunted house project," Jack said. "We'll take another sweep around town to make sure everything's clear."
Jack and Maddie left, leaving Takuya, Danny, Patamon, Sam, Biyomon, Tucker, and Kokuwamon to the haunted house room.
Mr. Lancer grinned at the group before him. "This will be the best haunted house this year! I'm sure to beat Tetslaff now!"
Danny and Takuya were pretty tired themselves after the ordeal, but they needed to do this while Mr. Lancer opened up the haunted house for the public to enjoy. They also wanted to give Andy some space, in case that experience really made him afraid of them.
Meanwhile, Andy and Lopmon managed to make it to Fenton Works in one piece. Andy laid on his bed as Lopmon looked out the window.
"Andy… did you really believe what those… illusions said to you before?" Lopmon asked softly.
"Hard to say…" Andy answered. "Because… whatever the illusions said… is probably what I believe deep down inside…"
"Andy… you should know Danny and Takuya better than that." Lopmon frowned. "They would never leave you like that. And the stuff they said? That isn't them, you know that."
"Of course I know that. That was how I knew the Takuya from earlier was fake," Andy answered before letting out a sigh. "But I guess… being bombarded by illusion after illusion began to wear on me, until it felt so real that I had trouble telling what was real and what was fake. And…"
Andy looked over at his brother's empty bed. "I always… worried about how being a halfa was affecting Danny. Not just in a physical sense, but psychologically… how do I know he's not secretly suffering and is just hiding it from the rest of us? What if something happens to Patamon, his only other link to maybe being able to understand what he's going through? What if… our parents overreact and try to 'cure' Danny and they end up hurting him really badly? And… what if Danny resorts to going to Vlad after becoming desperate enough, or emotionally unstable enough to do so?"
Andy shook his head. "Then there's Takuya… We're just not figuring out what a Legendary Warrior really is… and what it means to be chosen by their Spirits. Before, I thought Takuya just found some kind of strange item that gave him a new form, and the ability to use fire, but that was it. But now… he's found others like him, who are all chosen by these Spirits. What if one day… he doesn't need us anymore, and he leaves to go with the others in the Digital World? What if he starts to become more Digimon than human? And he starts to forget his friends and family he left behind?"
Andy's hands gripped onto his blanket. "It was just… a fear, a nightmare, something that I didn't really think about too much before because I knew Danny and Takuya wouldn't do that… but… witnessing the potential nightmare so vividly… having it pulled out and shoved in my face like that… now I'm worried that it might happen. After all, I thought Danny and Agunimon being controlled by someone was just a nightmare too, but look at what happened… who's to say those fears won't come true one day?"
Lopmon frowned. "Andy… I know you're scared of losing them, never seeing them again, but they're your family. They won't just abandon you. It's not like they wanted to be mind-controlled."
"Exactly… these are situations that are out of our control, Lopmon," Andy sighed. "Logically speaking, I know it's not worth worrying and stressing over, especially when it hasn't happened. But… still… it's difficult to just shake it off after seeing it before my eyes, even if it wasn't real."
Andy rubbed his eyes and forehead. "But the fact I could fall so easily to such fears… I don't know, maybe I'm just weak. After all, the Fright Knight didn't go for anyone else, he went for me…"
"Andy, you're not weak. Look at what you've done! No one else could have risked it all to save Danny and Takuya from Freakshow! And you've helped Takuya learn about his Digimon form well before he knew what he was. And Danny? You helped him control his ghostly abilities!" Lopmon pointed out.
Andy let out a sigh before he relaxed. Lopmon shared a link with Andy, so Lopmon knew when Andy was letting emotions cloud his judgment. But at the same time, Andy also knew he was still only a 14 year old boy, who was way in over his head.
"Do you think those things can't happen though?" Andy asked.
"I can't answer that…" Lopmon sighed before he jumped down from the window and hopped onto the bed with Andy. "Nobody can truly predict the future, Andy. But all you can do is try your best, and trust that your brother and cousin aren't suffering in secret, and end up leaving you."
Andy nodded as he pet Lopmon's head. "Yeah… I guess the incident with Freakshow shook me up more than I thought, and the Soul Shredder brought all those fears out. I… know I won't be alright for a while… but I'll keep moving forward. That's all we can do."
"Yeah, but you can get through this, Andy. You're stronger than you think." Lopmon reassured Andy.
Andy was thankful he had Lopmon by his side. He didn't want to think of what his mind would do if he had been alone after the incident. But for now, he and Lopmon decided to just crash for the night, and hope that things got better in the morning.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Yep! XD Fright Knight brings frights to the night!
pokemon fan 1991: ZAFT: Thanks for the compliment on the Fright Knight! That was fun to write out!
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, since we know that Pariah Dark exists, we're able to foreshadow him. Back when the show was still being written, Pariah Dark hadn't existed yet.
Oh? Why would Mikey be a pain to deal with in season two?
Um… why do you assume we're not adapting the Million Dollar Ghost? We already made it clear the episodes are not always going to be in order from the canon universe. And we're just not there yet.
ZAFT: Yeah, it's the last episode for this season. ^^' As for your Digimon ideas, those are interesting to hear, and shows a lot of potential. I hope I can get to read it soon. But small spoiler here, we didn't give the Fright Knight a Digimon to ally with. For your story though, I can agree with that team-up. :3
Lady Darkness: DarkFoxKit: The Fright Knight definitely caused trouble. Well, if we wanted to just show the consequences of being exposed to too much ectoplasm, Andy would be dying from ecto-poisoning rather than just being turned into a ghost. Although I guess technically he would be a ghost if he died, but that's too dark of a route for this kind of story.
ZAFT: I'm glad you like the characterization we are giving Jack and Maddie! We decided to make them see not all ghosts are bad, and it takes several key events for that to happen. XD That has been one of my favorite parts of this season so far. :3
DarkFoxKit: I just don't want to villainize Jack and Maddie. I've seen a lot of fanfic do that too, making them bad or abusive parents to Danny, and I just feel uncomfortable most of the time when I read those. I like it when Jack and Maddie are written as actual human beings, which they are. They were conditioned to believe all ghosts are evil or mindless, but that doesn't mean they can't change their mind.
ZAFT: I've read some of those myself, but I like the fics where they start out as stuck in their ways but change over the course of the story. :3
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, but the ones I'm talking about either never change, or get worse. In any case, to answer your question, it's difficult for me to say. I've had thoughts of rewriting My Brother's a Ghost many times. But I feel like I've done most of what I wanted to do with Digital Phantom, twice. I've practically re-written My Brother's a Ghost twice at this point. So I'm not exactly in a hurry to rewrite it again for a third time, even if it's without the Digimon crossover. But I probably will try to change things up so it's not a complete rehash of the original My Brother's a Ghost. That's what I was doing with every rewrite I've done. Like in this one, instead of Andy not knowing Danny's secret for a long time, and Danny never trying to tell Andy or help him in any way, Danny takes a different route, where he tries to ease Andy into the secret by befriending him as his ghost self.
ZAFT: Thanks for the review! :3
