Angel: Hello everyone! Welcome to a new story! This is based off a game called Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. Go watch the walkthrough for that because this game is awesome. I didn't play through all of it because I had it on my IPod, which I don't have anymore ^^' I only got to Chapter 5, unfortunately. I was gonna post this tomorrow, but Thursday I won't be here to post it.
Also! This is not a crossover because all of the original characters from the game were replaced, and I didn't use any of them at all. This is only 19 chapters. The game has 18, but I'm gonna add another one. I won't say anything about it until I've officially ended the story. Not ALL main characters will be present, and I did use a few OCs here and there. For instance, I added them where I deemed fit, so you will see a LOT of characters, most of them from 2012. I did use some from the 2014 move and the 80s show, though! If you think hard enough, you might be able to guess who they are. I also took some elements from the 2003 show as well.
Plot wise, I basically used the whole thing, but I edited some things, so there's a vast difference between this and the actual game. The main villain will not be obvious, so yes, it is not Shredder. And if you recognize this first chapter, that's because it's from the Songfics story. It's basically an extension of that chapter, but in WAY more detail as the story goes on. Anyway, let's get started!
It's dark. Eerie. Meaningful. He didn't know where he was. Must've been unconscious for a while...his head feels 'fuzzy' like...kind of like he's swimming through the darkness...
A girl with red hair in a ponytail, a yellow coat, red boots, and a dark blue jumpsuit stands in front of a fence. She had blue eyes and freckles. When he came to, he saw her standing there. A woman he doesn't know.
At least...he doesn't think he knows her.
And then there was a man with a gun.
He stands just a few feet away from the woman, a yellow pistol in his left hand. He wears a black top hat with a silver stripe, a black suit with a red tie, black pants, and black shoes. He could see the man wore black glasses and he had white skin.
He doesn't know him either...well, probably not, anyway.
The man points the pistol at the woman and she shoots her hands up in surprise. Now, he's not the kind of guy who can just stand back and watch a poor woman get shot...but he had just one little problem...
He's already dead himself.
He sees a green body with a shell and a purple mask, sprawled on the floor. That had to be him. No question about that. After all, there was no other dead bodies lying around there...yet. "So long, sister," the man says, about to shoot. He felt bad for her, sure. But what can he do? He's dead. But just as he was thinking this...
"This is no time to be dead!"
It's a female voice. Soft, silky, and concern.
"You're the only one who can save her!"
This voice is now male. Deep, commanding, and responsible.
Suddenly, the atmosphere is red, and his dead body had blue swirls coming it along with a flame. He could see the red shadows of the woman and man. It was then he notices where they were. It's a junkyard. "Wh-What the?!" He exclaims, sweating. The whole world just changed on me all of a sudden! Did I do that?
"Welcome to the Ghost World, the land of the dead," the female voice explains. A voice in my head?!
"Who are you?!" He demands.
"No time for that now. You have to save her!" The male voice answers. He couldn't see them, but he could hear them...
"We know you can do it! All you have to do is use your powers," the female voice says encouragingly.
"Huh?" He asks in confusion. Me? Save her? Uh, how?
"Take a look at your corpse," the male voice orders and he looks at his body.
"Do you see that blue flame? That's your soul," the female voice explains.
"And do you see that bright white spot nearby?" The male voice questions. He sees a white spot blinking at him. He sees a long stick connected to something, the white spot on top of it.
"Yeah..." He answers certainly.
"That's a core," the female voice tells him. He places his fingers on his chin as he recalls the item that holds the core.
A crossing gate. For railroads.
"A core...?" He asks in confusion. Hmm. Just looks like a railway crossing gate to me.
"Look, the best way to understand is to just try it," the male voice replies in determination. Could they hear his thoughts in the Ghost World? He had to admit, it was a little silly...but he is dead, so he didn't have much of a choice.
"First of all, try touching your soul," the female voice explains. He raises an eyebrow. All of this was very confusing to him...he reaches his hand out and pokes the soul. He gasps as his hand moves around, the soul following his every move. It was like an interactive video game...
"Next, with your finger still on it, slide the soul across to connect it with the core," the male voice continues. He does as he is told and his soul connects with the core. He looks in awe. Was this magic? A new technology that was invented for dead people?
"Congratulations!" The female voice exclaims happily.
"Your soul has now possessed the crossing gate," the male voice explains.
"So...what? Now I'm a crossing gate?" He asks. Not really the first thing I'd wanna possess...
"Ahem. Use that crossing gate to save the woman!" The female voice retorts in a 'duh' tone.
"What? But how?" He implores in disbelief. Honestly, just the thought of using a crossing gate to save a woman from a gun seemed crazy. In fact, it was outright impossible.
"In a moment, time will start to flow normally again. That will be your chance," the male voice answers.
"Listen, when the man pulls the trigger, the woman dies, right?" The female voice guesses.
"So before that happens, you have to use your powers to stop it!" The male voice finishes.
What powers? "H-Hey! Wait a second! I still don't know what you're talking about!" He exclaims nervously. How was he supposed to use a simple crossing gate to stop a woman from getting shot?
"Heh heh," they both chuckle. "You'll see. You'll see."
He raises an eye ridge. They seem to know each other, and about his...powers. He couldn't put a finger on it. It was as if he knew them on a personal level...
"Now, then. Time will start to flow again..." The female voice says and true to her word, everything turns back to its original color. Just like before, the man is pointing a gun at the woman. She still has her hands up. He sees something from the crossing gate as two buttons appear as a hologram, floating in front of the gate. The one on the left reads 'Ghost,' while the one on the right reads 'Trick.' He presses trick, since he figured Ghost was a way back to the Ghost World. And to his shock, the crossing gate lifts up, knocking the gun out of the hitman's hands. The woman, seeing this strange opportunity, pushes the attacker and runs.
"Oof!" The man quickly sees his gun and picks it up. "Hold it!" He shouts, pointing the gun at the woman again. She holds her hands up again.
He couldn't believe it. Did he do that?
"Well played," The male voice says.
"Uh, what just happened?" He asks, his mouth open.
"That's one of your powers at work, silly! A...'ghost trick,' if you will," The female voice explains.
"You mean...I made that crossing gate move?" He questions in awe.
"That's right. You manipulated that object with a power of the dead, a ghost trick," the male voice elaborates.
"And all you have to do to perform a trick like that is touch the trick button," the female voice finishes.
"Now her fate has changed! Well, just a little..." The male voice replies and he hears a smack, most likely coming from the female voice.
"Yeah. She still kind of has a gun pointed at her..." He replies as the man points the gun at her. He wonders why he hasn't shot yet. Not that he wanted her to die, but maybe he's pausing for dramatic effect?
"Yeah, that's not good, is it?" The female voice replies sarcastically.
"But at least now he's starting to figure out to use his powers," the male voice points out.
"So I enter the Ghost World with 'Ghost,' possess an object, and then go back and perform a 'Trick' with it, eh?" He asks in thought. He presses the left button and he sees the blue flame on the crossing gate, which is still raised up. He sees two cores above the item.
"Now you're getting it! Let's move on to the next step," the female voice explains.
"Try possessing a different core," the male voice orders. He tries to move it to a giant wrecking ball, but it was too far. He could only move a short distance. He sees a guitar and he finds that he can reach that core. He moves to it.
"I see...that's a guitar, is it? Ahem," the female voice says, clearly annoyed.
"Hey, what do you want from me? I would've preferred that giant wrecking ball—that would solve the problem real quick, I bet! ...But I guess I can't reach cores that are too far away," he answers.
"Well, I guess we'll see what you can do with that guitar," the male voice replies with a sigh. He didn't sound too happy about the guitar, either.
"Let's set time in motion again and find out," the female voice says dryly. The setting goes back to its regular colors. He quickly presses the right button and the guitar suddenly plays a tune.
"Who's there?!" The man exclaims, shooting a bullet into the guitar. The woman runs again, wondering if someone was here. The guitar falls down to the ground, since it was standing on a broken microwave. The man runs after the woman again. "Hold it!" He screams, pointing the gun again. The woman holds her hands up yet again.
"That's gotta be some of the slowest 'running away' I've ever seen," he says since she wasn't really running for her life the first two times. "Hmm, looks like I'm gonna have to come up with something more," he puts his hand on his chin. He suddenly notices that he had three green fingers. He looks down to see three toes on each foot. He touches his chest, only to feel a hard surface, his plastron. So he was a turtle...a giant turtle. The setting becomes red again and the guitar was in front of his dead body, where he could see blue swirls coming from his shell.
"Let's see. What core is close enough to possess from here?" He murmurs and he looks to the left to see the only core he could reach. He smiles to himself. "I guess all there is...is me. No time to be picky. I've got a woman to save!" He clenches his fist.
"We like your attitude. It's admirable, truly. But..." The female voice sounds hesitant.
"But what?" He questions and the two fall silent. "If I can manipulate objects...then I oughta be able to manipulate my own corpse, right?" He explains with a smile. He could see it now, just getting up and punching that guy in the face.
"Well...tell you what. Why don't you just try it and see?" The male voice suggests.
"Go ahead and possess your corpse," the female voice explains. The world goes back to its normal color. "Okay, go ahead and try the trick button." He presses the right button and waits. But...it just sits there. Not even a limb moved. He keeps pressing it, but it was the same result.
"Huh? Nothing's happening," he says in shock.
"Exactly. Sad but true, we're afraid..." The male voice answers.
"You can only manipulate non-living things," the female voice explains, sounding genuinely sad.
"Corpses, even if they aren't alive anymore, aren't really just ordinary things," The male voice finishes in remorse.
"You've...gotta be kidding!" He exclaims, his mouth wide open. Then he remembers time was still in motion. "Wait, what about the woman?! What's happening to her?!" He exclaims in concern.
"Let's take a look, shall we?" The female voice asks. How was he supposed to do that?
"If you want to take a look around, you can slide the screen," the male voice answers.
"Slide...the screen?" He questions in surprise.
"It's easy. Here, give it a try," the female voice tells him.
"Touch the screen and slide it in any direction you want," the male voice explains. He touches the screen and just like with cores, the screen follows the movement of his fingers. He quickly slides to the left and sees the man pointing the pistol at the woman.
"Well, sister. This is it. Two things are looking pretty dim right now. My eyesight...and your future!" He declares. Suddenly, there's a flash of white light and the woman falls to her knees. She lands on the floor, her arm outstretched. He looks in horror as he sees a bullet in her back. Not a minute later, she falls to the bottom floor. The man tips his hat after putting his gun away. A ring can be heard. It's the telephone from the second floor, which is underneath the junkyard. The man walks, but the body was in his way. HIS body. "Outta my way!" He exclaims, kicking it with his foot. The body falls somewhere underneath, just like with the woman. A yellow bag can be seen where the body was. The man disregards it and walks down the stairs. As the phone rings and rings, he slowly walks down the stairs. The man finally picks up the phone and puts it to his ear. "It's done. I'm on my way," he says to someone before hanging up.
He walks up to the green body, which is sitting on a chair somehow. His head is down. The man smirks and tips his hat to him before leaving. He failed...in the end, it looks like her fate remained unchanged. So what good are those 'ghost tricks' of his? She still died...but as he was thinking this...
A light shines on a blue desk lamp and a stop sign to the right. The desk lamp suddenly tilts and adjusts itself so that it's facing him. The lightbulb turns its head to him. The stop sign, which was bent, suddenly stands up. The word 'stop' faces him. The lightbulb flashes on from the lamp.
"Hello there," he hears the male voice. The stop sign tilts up a little.
"How are you feeling?" The female voice wonders.
"Not very well, we imagine. A terrible tragedy, what happened tonight..." The male voice laments. He didn't know what to say. Two ordinary objects suddenly just moved and talked to him?
"Oh, ignoring us, are you? It's a little too early for you to be so stiff and cold, we'd say," the female voice replies in a fake hurt tone. He slowly smiles as he recognizes them.
"Ah, so it was you guys. You were the voices in my head, right?" He assumes.
"Well, we wouldn't say 'voices' exactly. The dead don't have voices, you see," the desk lamp answers.
"It's more like our thoughts were being beamed directly into your mind," the stop sign explains.
"That's another little 'trick' ghosts can do," the desk lamp finishes.
"It looks like my ghost tricks didn't do much good..." He murmurs sadly, glancing to the right as they see the woman on the ground, lifeless. She still ended up just as dead as before...
"That's true. For now," the stop sign points out.
"For now?" He asks in confusion.
"We still have more to teach you about the powers of the dead—your 'ghost tricks,' " the desk lamp explains.
"...Who exactly are you two, anyway?" He questions curiously, since they seemed to know a lot about ghost tricks...were they dead as well?
"Before we answer that, I think we should save this young lady," the stop sign answers dismissively. He frowns and the desk lamp turns to the dead woman, turning on the light. The glow shadows over her.
"Isn't it a shame to see such a woman lying here like a discarded piece of trash?" The desk lamp asks.
"But what can I do? She's already dead," he answers in confusion. The desk lamp turns to him again.
"Time for more ghost lessons for you, my friend," the stop sign tells him.
"First of all, we'll have you possess me," the desk lamp replies.
"Possess you, eh?" He asks in amusement.
"Once you've done that, we'll tell you about another one of your powers," the stop sign answers, not at all amused.
He ponders this in thought. Why is he so determined to save this woman? After all, it's not like he knows her. But, he guessed, he'll take the desk lamp and stop sign up on their invitation anyway. His reason is twofold. Number one, he's not the type to leave women lying around, discarded like trash. And number two, he doesn't have anything else to lose at this point. He sees a bubble above him with three x's. He touches it curiously.
"That thought bubble you just touched...those are your thoughts, what you're saying to yourself in your head," he hears from the male voice.
"My thoughts, eh?" He wonders. So, the dead don't have voices...and what we think is communicated directly to one another...so these thought bubbles are sort of a stand-in. I think I'm starting to get it.
"We think so, too," he hears from the female voice.
"Just remember to keep an eye out for thought bubbles," the male voice tells him.
"Okay, good idea," he replies. I just might get some important clues from them.
"Now, then. In order to possess something, you first have to enter the Ghost World," the female voice instructs, even though he kinda already knew that. He decides not to say anything about it, though, in case he needed a refresher.
"And the 'Ghost' button is your ticket in," the male voice explains.
"The best thing to do is just try it," the female voice says encouragingly. The 'Ghost' button, eh? Guess I'll give it a little touch.
The desk lamp swings back and forth while the stop sign sways back and forth. He taps the left button and everything goes red. He could see five cores, including his own. "So this is the Ghost World," he murmurs, looking around. He sees a car door and slides to it. Behind the car door was a traffic cone. He possesses it and slides to a closed cot.
"By the way...have you taken a look at the right screen?" The female voice speaks up. He looks in thought.
"Hey, how come when time is flowing, we communicate by thoughts, but in the Ghost World, we can talk normally?" He asks curiously.
"Actually, everything we say here is still thoughts. It's different in the Ghost World," the male voice answers.
"When time is flowing, however, what you're saying is still thoughts as well," the female voice finishes. He nods slowly before he recalls what she had asked.
"What about the right screen?"
"It tells you what 'trick' you can perform with the object you're currently possessing," the male voice explains. He looks to the right to see a portion of the screen cut. There's a picture of the item and then a description of what he can do with it.
"The information is there for you to check out whenever you need it," the female voice tells him. He sees the item and words underneath it on the right screen. So, in the case of this folding cot, it looks like I can unfold it.
"And to perform a 'trick' on the object you're possessing..." The male voice starts.
"You first have to return to the land of the living," the female voice finishes. They must be close if they know what each other is thinking.
"Oh, okay," he says.
"This time, the back button is your ticket out of the Ghost World," the male voice replies. He sees a button that says 'back' where the 'Ghost' button was when time is flowing.
"Well, good luck! All of us are counting on you!" The female voice exclaims in excitement. Huh? Who's this 'all of us?' He decides not to question it now and he presses the back button. Everything was the same as he had left it. He touches the left button and the folding cot unfolds, one end in front of the desk lamp. He goes back into the Ghost World and possesses the desk lamp. He sees the woman lying on the ground, a yellow dot on the area she got shot.
"Huh, that's funny..." He murmurs.
"What is?" He hears from the male voice. He looks between the two dead bodies: His and hers. His body still has the blue swirls coming from it, like a flower that was emerging. She didn't have that, however.
"My corpse and her corpse...there's definitely different about the two," he mutters. There's something emanating from my corpse.
"That's because...you're special," the female voice answers and he imagines a smile from her, that is if she wasn't a stop sign.
"What's that supposed to mean? Because I'm a turtle?" He asks in confusion.
"Not everybody who dies gets special powers, you know," the male voice points out. So those waves are because of my 'powers of the dead,' eh?
"Anyway..." The female voice says before they're back in the real world. He figured they must have done that, since he didn't press the button. The desk lamp stops swaying and so does the stop sign.
"Congratulations, you passed!" The male voice says happily. He smirks at his accomplishment.
"Well, what do you know. What prize do I get?" He replies playfully.
"A new power. What else?" The female voice answers in a 'duh' tone.
"Another one?" He asks curiously. He wonders what it was.
"Now, let's review. You can possess objects and manipulate them, right?" The male voice responds. The two objects turn to the woman.
"Now what do you suppose will happen if you possess a corpse?" The female voice asks. He had no idea he could even do that. But...
"Nothing, because I already tried that, remember? And nothing happened at all," he answers, recalling when he tried to possess his corpse in an attempt to save her. He frowns at his failure. If only he could've done more...
"True, you don't have the ability to manipulate a corpse," the male voice says.
"However...there is something else you can do," the female voice answers.
"Oh, yeah? What's that?" He asks. The desk lamp lowers itself closer to the area she was shot.
"Why don't you try it and see?" They answer at the same time. He shrugs, not having much of a choice. He presses the left button and slides to her. He could see a green line, connecting himself to her. Suddenly, there's a flash of bright light and a blue light emerges from her. There's a flash of red and he sees a blue flame-like creature floating in front of him.
"What's this?!" He asks in shock. The creature doesn't answer. "Can you hear me?" He waves a hand, but there's no response. "Wait a minute. What's going on here?!" He demands, looking around. There was a red hole to the right, red surrounding it, kind of like a black hole. The whole place was red, like the Ghost World, but different.
"Hmm...it looks like she's unconscious, poor thing," the stop sign says, suddenly next to him.
"Unconscious? But...she's dead," he replies in confusion.
"Yes, but think back. Remember when you died?" The desk lamp points out.
"When you came to your senses, you'd been unconscious, too," the stop sign replies. Unconscious, eh? Come to think of it, they're right. When I 'came to,' I was already dead.
"Let's leave her like this for now. And while she's resting, we can save her life," the desk lamp suggests.
"Oh, sure. You make it sound so easy," he mutters.
"And it IS easy," the stop sign retorts.
"When you use your powers on a corpse..." The desk lamp starts.
"You can go back to the past, to a time four minutes before that person's death," the stop sign finishes.
"Are you serious?! Back through time?!" He exclaims in shock.
"That's right. But...there's a catch," the desk lamp explains. Of course there was a catch.
"It only works on 'new corpses,' corpses that have been dead for less than one day," the stop sign replies.
"And she's still well within that limit," the desk lamp points out.
"You might want to give it a try, before it's too late," the stop sign tells him.
"But...this is crazy! None of it makes any sense!" He exclaims.
"We're talking about the powers of the dead here. It doesn't have to make sense," the desk lamp retorts with a huff and he hears chuckling from the stop sign.
"Now, then. Let's go, shall we? To the time four minutes before this woman was murdered!" The female voice says dramatically, making him laugh. She seemed to take away his nerves, slightly. He gasps, his eyes widening.
"H-Hey! Wait a second! I still don't know what you're talking about!" He exclaims and they both chuckle.
"You'll see. You'll see," they tell him, the same way they had said it before. A red button slides in front of him and it reads 'Rewind Time.' He presses it and he sees a glimpse of a black and red clock, but he could only see the gears and the hands spinning. There's a flash of bright light and he has no idea how he hasn't gone blind yet. And so now he's going back in time, to witness this woman's last four minutes alive. Not as a fuzzy, distant memory of the past, but as a very real, 'living' present...
7:01 PM. Zone D Waste Center. 4 minutes before death.
Everything is in red. Suddenly, the world goes back to its normal color, but a film screen appears, as if he's watching a movie. The woman is shaking his dead body awake, or trying to.
"Donnie, wake up! Are you okay?! What happened to you?!" She shouts. Is that his name? Donnie...he remembered something. She knew him. She knew him! But the way she sounded, it was like she didn't witness his death. "Oh, no...! He's...dead..." She whispers, covering her mouth as sobs escape her. Suddenly, her head snaps up and she turns around. He didn't see anyone, though. The woman stands up. "Who are you?!" She demands, backing up. The man appears, a yellow pistol in hand, just like the one he saw before. This must have been after he was shot, then. The man stops in front of his body, since it was blocking the woman. She bumps into the fence and looks back at it before turning back to the man in fear.
The man puts his gun on his shoulder, his other hand in his pocket. "Here's my business card right here, sister. My little golden friend," he replies, indicating his gun.
"You did this. You killed him, didn't you?!" She says, livid. Perhaps she had just gotten there? But what was she doing at a junkyard at that time of night?
"Instead of playing 'whodunit' right now, you oughta be more concerned about your own fate," he answers. He didn't kill him? It seemed like he did...after all, he had the motive and the weapon to do so...
So who did kill him?
The man points the gun at her, just like when he had woken up. The woman puts up her arms. "Who are you? Some kind of hitman? What do you want from me?" She asks nervously.
"They said we had to rub out all traces of Heart of Darkness left of this country," he replies darkly. Heart of Darkness? Maybe an organization she was a part of?
"Heart of Darkness...? What in the world is that?" She asks in confusion. She didn't seem to know the name, either.
"Beats me. I just do what I'm told. All I know is, you've got nowhere else to run to. Time to die, sister," the man explains and he looks up. The screen moves up to the giant wrecking ball he had tried to possess earlier, but couldn't reach. "As long as that bad-boy wrecking ball stays right up there where it belongs."
Was that a sign?
The screen moves back down to the two. "Look, all I want to know is, who are you?" She demands.
"You don't know me, and I don't know you. This is just business," he replies, twirling the gun so that it ends up in both of his hands. The woman looks to the side in fear. "So long, sister," he says. Not two seconds later, the grossing gate knocks the gun out of his hands, just like when he was learning about his powers. The woman pushes past him. "Off!" He shouts and quickly picks up his gun. "Hold it!" He yells, pointing the gun at her again. She shoots her hands up. The guitar suddenly plays a tune, and the woman runs. "Who's there?!" The man screams, shooting at the guitar. The instrument falls next to Donnie's body. "Hold it!" The man exclaims, and the woman throws her hands up in defeat yet again. Did this woman have a death wish or something?
"A shotgun? Kind of a flashy weapon for a hitman, dontcha think?" She asks nervously, sweating a bit.
"Not flashy. Just thorough," he answers, shrugging. Donnie realizes that this conversation must've happened when he tried to move his corpse. "They call me 'Nearsighted Snake,' but I never let my prey get away." So his name was Snake...it suited him.
"Ever thought about just buying a pair of glasses?" The woman asks and he had to laugh at that. She was pretty funny, although she was about to get killed...again.
"Well, sister. This is it. Two things are looking pretty dim right now. My eyesight...and your future!" There's a flash of white light as he hears the gunshot. He winces as the woman first falls to her knees before landing on the ground. Her arm outstretches before she falls onto the second floor. The screen turns gray.
"And there you have it. The last four minutes of her life," he suddenly hears from the desk lamp. Had they been watching him?
"No...!" He shouts, upset that he couldn't do better.
"It's kind of ironic, when you think about it. A woman toyed with by fate, and a man toyed with by ghosts..." The stop sign murmurs.
"But she still died..." Donnie whispers, tears stinging in his eyes.
"Yes, and you can change that—with your ghost tricks!" The desk lamp encourages.
"Just like you did four minutes ago," the stop sign replies. Possess...and manipulate, eh...? Ghost and then Trick...
"And you can rewind these four minutes as many times as you like too," the desk lamp answers.
"Now then, are you ready?" The stop sign asks. He smiles in determination, nodding.
"I am. Let's do this." Suddenly, there's a flash of white light and he sees an hourglass with the sand lifting back up. Another flash, and he's back in the real world, the woman shaking him like he had seen just four minutes ago. He sees the shadow of her dead body on the second floor, where he was. The desk lamp and stop sign are in front of him.
"So this is four minutes ago, eh? Fine. I get that. But what am I doing way down here?" He replies. The desk lamp and stop sign turn to him.
"That's just how it works," the male voice answers.
"Her corpse was your gateway into the past, after all," the female voice explains.
"So, naturally, your starting point is where her corpse was," the male voice finishes.
And this is where she died. Okay, I get it now. The desk lamp lowers itself to him.
"Hop in, then!" The female voice encourages. He presses Ghost and he moves to the desk lamp. The shadow of her corpse disappears and time starts to flow. The desk lamp turns around itself around.
"There are only four minutes before she dies," the male voice reminds him.
"You better try and get to her as fast as you can!" The female voice tells him in a funny warning tone.
"There's no time to lose..." The male voice says seriously, as if silently telling her that this was not a laughing matter.
"I know that!" The female voice exclaims in defense.
"Who are you?!"
They look up to see the woman backing away into the fence as the man with the gun approaches her. He sees a blue hourglass with the words 'Time is passing.' "The last seconds of her life are counting down," the male voice tells him. Looks like I better get up there fast.
"That's right. Have a look at the top screen on the right," the female voice tells him.
"The top screen, eh?" He asks, seeing the blue hourglass.
"The sand in the top of the timer is how much time she has left," the male voice explains.
"Get to her quickly, before all that sand is gone!" The female voice says dramatically. The desk lamp lifts itself up.
"Up you go, then!" The male voice explains. He presses Ghost and everything is red. He moves to a statue that was on the ground, and then a tire. He sees that he can roll it. He goes back to the normal world and presses Trick. The tire rolls to the left, propping up the statue. The tire stops next to the statue and he slides to the head of the statue. He moves to the door of a fridge and opens it. A blender drops from the fridge and rolls next to a red flag. He hears a click and looks to see the man pointing the gun at the woman, who has her arms up.
"Who are you? Some kind of hitman? What do you want with me?" She asks, sweating.
"They said we had to rub out all the last traces of Heart of Darkness left in this country," Nearsighted Snake answers.
"Heart of Darkness...? What in the world is that?" She asks and he finds himself wondering that as well. The blue hourglass in front of him was two-thirds full. Uh-oh. Her time is running out!
He presses Trick and the fridge closes. He presses Ghost and moves to the head of the statue, then the blender. He presses back and sees that he can turn on the blender. He suddenly sees a fan and grins. He presses Trick and the blender turns on. He presses Ghost and moves to the fan. He goes back and presses Trick. The fan lifts up before turning to the flag. Donnie presses Ghost and moves to the flag. He presses back and soon, the string of the flag gets caught in the blender, just like he planned. The flag lifts up.
"So long, sister," Snake says, about to shoot.
Just a few more steps! Hope I can make it!
He presses Ghost and moves to a bike that's behind the hitman. He moves to the bike pedal and waits. Just like twice before, the crossing gate lifts up, knocking the pistol out of Snake's hands. The woman runs past him. "Oof!" He quickly picks up his gun and aims it at the woman. "Hold it!" The woman holds her arms up. Not a second later, the guitar lets out a tune, giving the woman a little time to escape. "Who's there?!" Snake shoots at the guitar and it falls near Donnie's corpse. "Hold it!" He aims his gun yet again and the woman holds her arms up.
"Now's your chance to change her fate!" He hears from the female voice. There isn't much time left. This is coming down to a battle of seconds!
Time till Death: 3
Since it's the only thing he can possess, he presses Ghost and moves to the bike's bell. As soon as he goes back to the real world, he presses Trick. The bell goes off and the woman runs. Snake turns back in surprise before shooting, knocking the bell off the bike. "Dammit! What's going on here? Nearsighted Snake never misses, as long as the target is within point-blank range!" Snake says in annoyance.
The male voice sighs in relief. "It looks like you made it in time...just barely."
"Yup. She's still alive!" Donnie replies happily.
"And in that split second, hope was born!" The female voice exclaims.
"Just now, her fate was changed, although ever so slightly," the male voice replies.
"Uhh, I wouldn't be too sure of that..." He hears from the female voice and he looks to see the woman blocked by a bridge that was up. Since there was a hole where the bridge was, she suddenly stops. She looks back at the bridge.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me! The bridge is up!" She exclaims nervously.
"That's because I did it," she hears and turns to see the hitman inching towards her. Donnie sees that while the bell was knocked off, he was on the handles. He goes to the Ghost World and looks at the right screen. He could move the bike! He goes to the normal world and presses Trick, making the bike move in front of the handle. He goes back, presses Trick, and the handle moves down. The wrecking ball moves from the left to the right, above the hitman who is aiming his gun at the woman. He gives a look of surprise, looking around but thankfully not up. "You hear something?" She doesn't answer, nor look at the wrecking ball, which she knows was moved.
Donnie goes back to the Ghost World and moves to the bottom of a ladder. He goes back and presses Trick. The ladder lifts up to a streetlight. He presses Ghost and moves up the wrecking ball, and then the handle that's holding it. He snickers as he sees he can open it. He goes back, presses Trick, and smiles when the handle opens, dropping the wrecking ball on the hitman. The bike lifts up to an electrical cord, since the wrecking ball lifts up the ladder from the drop. The woman, who had her hands up, watches in shock as the wrecking ball rolls past her, the man's squished body on the wrecking ball. It moves to where the bridge was before she hears a whistle, then a boom.
She falls to her knees, placing her hands on them. She couldn't believe it. What had just happened?
"How does it feel to save a lady's life?" The male voice asks and he could just imagine a smile on his face.
"So the danger is gone?" Donnie asks.
"Yep! It looks like the 'danger'-Mr. 'Danger,' in fact—rolled away somewhere," the female voice answers happily.
"You used your powers to avert that woman's fate," the male voice explains just as happy.
So I did all that, huh?
"You most certainly did! Congratulations!" The female voice exclaims.
"YES!" Donnie shouts, jumping up happily. He saved her life.
"And we knew you could do it," the male voice finishes.
Fate Averted!
So he lost his life tonight and saved somebody else's life. The clock's hands spin to the right before there's a flash of white light. "I really need sunglasses," he mutters, rubbing his eyes. When he comes back to the present, it's raining. The woman sits down like before. He had saved the life of this woman, now sitting forlornly in the rain. Even as the story of his life on this planet comes to an end...
The woman sneezes before rubbing her arms, shivering from the cold downpour. A stranger...that word strikes a chord. And a terrible truth begins to dawn on him...
He can't recall a thing.
Who is he? What is this place? And, most important of all...
Why was he killed?
Suddenly, he's in the Ghost World. "Your story isn't over yet," the stop sign says, appearing in front of him. The desk lamp appears next to her.
"Who exactly are you two, anyway?" He asks.
"Just call me...'Lia,' " the stop sign answers.
"Ryan, heh heh," the desk lamp chuckles.
"Lia and Ryan, huh? So you aren't going to tell me your real names, I take it," Donnie says with a smirk.
"You haven't told us your name, either, actually," Lia argues.
"D...Donnie...that's all I remember," he answers. Lia and Ryan pause, which makes him worry a bit.
"...Yes, I guess the memories of the newly departed tend to get a bit...confused," Ryan answers, almost sadly.
"Some of us get our memories back. Others never do," Lia replies, just as sad.
"But, if you ask us, does it really matter?" Ryan asks.
"After all, there's only one path left to the dead...and that is, to disappear," Lia explains. He gives a shocked look.
"Disappear...?" He murmurs.
"When the sun rises in the morning...I'm afraid you're going to cease to exist," Ryan tells him.
"Wh-What?!" He exclaims, sweating. Tomorrow morning...?! "But wait a minute...these powers of the dead..."
"Yes?" Lia questions.
"I'd like to use them to save somebody else's life," he explains.
"And whose life might that be?" Ryan asks.
"Mine," he answers in determination.
"Ah...we see," Lia replies.
"But think about it this way. If we could use ghost tricks to save ourselves..." Ryan starts.
"Wouldn't we have tried to save ourselves as well? I mean, look at us. I'm a stop sign and he's a desk lamp," Lia finishes.
"...Why a stop sign and a desk lamp, anyway?" He wonders.
"We're not really sure, ourselves, to be honest," Ryan answers.
"But in any case, it seems we are unable to use our powers on our own corpses," Lia argues.
"You're kidding!" He exclaims.
"You'll only exist in this world until tomorrow morning," Ryan tells him.
"We're afraid...that fact can't be changed," Lia answers sadly.
So there's really no escaping my own death...?! In the morning, he's going to cease to exist. Apparently, there's nothing he can do to change that. But still the same, he still wants to know...he wants to know his story. The lost story of his fate, right up until the time of his death. And until he learns that...
"...You won't be able to rest in peace, right?" Ryan suddenly asks and he doesn't answer. It was almost as if they knew him. They knew what he wanted to do.
"Very well. We understand how you feel," Lia replies.
"You want to go and learn the truth and about your death, as well as you should," Ryan tells him.
"I will. But let's see...how should I go about doing that, I wonder?" He replies, his hand underneath his chin. I can't even imagine what the first step would be.
"The first step? That's easy. You start with her," Lia says and they go back to the normal world. They look down at the woman sitting in the rain. She sneezes again.
"The person who witnessed your death. She should have some important clues, don't you think? After all, she knew you enough to know your name," Ryan explains.
Hey! That's right! And not only that...
"She might know who killed me!" He exclaims.
"Yes, we'd say there's a very good possibility of that," Lia says. What was I doing here tonight, in a place like this? That woman probably knows the answer.
"That's right. Never forget that," Ryan tells him.
"She's the key to everything tonight," Lia explains.
"The key to everything? What do you mean?" He asks.
"You'll know soon enough, when you regain your memory," Ryan answers. Yeah, I'm like a blank sheet of paper right now...I should probably keep some kind of record of everything I learn tonight.
"That's a good idea! Check out your journal to view everything you've learned. Check it out every now and then," Lia encourages.
"Memories aren't the most reliable thing, you know," Ryan says. A journal appears in front of him, ink on the first page. He grins and slaps it shut.
"Alright, then," Lia starts.
"We wish you good luck!"
He nods gratefully and goes back to the Ghost World. Donnie moves to the bike handles. He goes back and presses Trick. The bike shimmies on the electrical cord before it stops next to a green and white umbrella. He presses Ghost and moves to the umbrella after moving to the bike pedals. He goes back and presses Trick. The umbrella opens up and descends down in front of the woman. She looks in surprise before standing up.
"What in the world just happened...? The crane moved all by itself, and then that big iron fell all by itself...it started raining all by itself, and then an umbrella came down all by itself..." She suddenly gasps. "Oh, my goodness! Don't tell me I have psychokinetic powers!"
Donnie couldn't help but chuckle. If only she knew it was him. She walks over and picks up the umbrella, inconveniently taking Donnie with her. She descends down the stairs and stops in front of Donnie's body, which was somehow on the chair even though the hitman is dead. There, in front of his body...
Was a robot turtle? The robot turtle beeps at the woman before jumping on his corpse. The turtle looks at him before jumping off and walking away. The woman stops in front of his corpse. "Donnie..." She whispers tearfully. His eyes widen at this. Apparently, they were close. Too bad he couldn't remember a thing besides his name. "But seriously...what in the world just happened?" She asks herself before seeing something in Donnie's belt. She bends down and picks up a piece of white paper. "What's this? Some kind of note?" She glances at the note.
Donnie gasps. He might remember something from it! He presses Ghost and moves to the paper in her hand. Did I write this note? Maybe I should give it a read.
"So, you don't remember writing it, huh?" Ryan suddenly asks.
"No, I don't remember writing it," he confirms. But before he can press Trick, the phone rings from behind the woman. She looks towards it, putting the piece of paper in her pocket. Darn!
He goes back to the Ghost World. Dang it! I didn't get a chance to read that note.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get a chance," Ryan tells him.
"Not to interrupt your guy chat, but...I wonder if you've realized...where this telephone call is coming from?" Lia asks in annoyance.
"Huh? How would we know that?" Donnie asks in confusion. Lia curses under her breath before sighing.
"Think back. Before you helped her avert her fate, didn't a telephone call come in at around this time, too?!" She explains, aggravated.
"...Oh yeah!" Ryan and Donnie exclaim at the same time. He recalls that when the woman had died, the hitman had accepted a call...what did he say?
"It's done. I'm on my way."
THAT telephone call!
"Oh, I get what she's saying! In other words...at this very moment, on the other end of this telephone line..." Ryan realizes.
"Is the culprit who ordered your murder and probably hers too! Finally, you learn!" Lia exclaims.
"HEY!" Ryan shouts.
"What?!" Donnie demands. They go back to the normal world.
"We recommend you possess the telephone," Lia tells him.
"Once you've done that...we'll tell you about another one of your ghost tricks," Ryan explains. He goes back to the Ghost World, moves to the telephone, and goes back to the normal world. And then he sees him...right there, on the other end of the line, he sees the face of the man who ordered him dead. He sees a tall man with blades, a helmet, and a cape sitting on a throne.
"Is it done?" He asks, his voice deep and threatening. The woman doesn't answer. "Speak up, fool. Did you get her?"
"...Who is this?" The woman questions sharply. He didn't answer at first. A few minutes passes by and Donnie glares at him.
"Hmm, I see. I...apologize, my lady. I must've dialed the wrong number," he hangs up.
Trace Complete
So that's him, eh?! The man who stole my life!
"That's right. So what do you think? Would you like to see him?" Lia asks.
"You better believe I would!" Donnie exclaims, seething with anger.
"Then you would do well to listen to us," Ryan tells him in a serious tone.
"We ghosts exist by possessing inanimate objects. However..." Lia starts.
"There is one way we can move from place to place over great distances," Ryan continues.
"And that would be...?" Donnie asks in confusion.
"The dead can jump from point A to point B...by moving over phone lines! Dun dun dun!" Lia says dramatically, Ryan chuckling softly.
"Say wha?" Donnie questions.
"We've done all we can to help you," Ryan explains.
"You'll have to do the rest on your own," Lia tells him.
"You're not coming with me?" Donnie asks sadly. He had already started to get used to them and be friends with them...
"We're sorry, we're glad we met you too," Ryan says.
"But our powers have grown weak. We've used most of our remaining strength just to get here tonight," Lia replies.
"But we had to come, to ask for your help," Ryan finishes.
"My help?" Donnie wonders.
"Many mysterious things will happen in this city tonight," Lia explains.
"We're both trusting in you to get to the bottom of them and find out the truth," Ryan says.
"You're the only one who can do it, Donnie!" Lia exclaims.
"We want you...to use your powers of the dead to find this truth," Ryan replies seriously.
"...I'm grateful to you, both of you, for everything you've done. But I can't promise I'll help," he answers. They don't answer, which gives him a signal to continue. "Tomorrow morning, I cease to exist. That doesn't give me a whole lot of time...I need to pursue my own mystery, find out the truth about me."
"That's more than enough," Lia answers and he could imagine a smile on her face...if she had one.
"Huh?" He asks in confusion.
"If you succeed in doing that, you'll have done what we asked anyway. The two are the one and the same," Ryan says.
"One and the same?" He asks. Hmm...the desk lamp and the stop sign know a whole lot more than they're telling me.
"Now, then," Lia interrupts.
"From that call a moment ago, you now have the culprit's telephone number," Ryan explains.
"The rest is all up to you," Lia tells him.
"Good luck!" They encourage at the same time. He looks at them and smiles before pressing the new number. Suddenly, he's whisked away through the phone cord, leaving the stop sign and lamp to swivel around happily.
And so the story of the search for himself beings, a story that will last one night only. Tomorrow morning, he will cease to exist. And he's surprisingly okay with this face. He has to find the answers before the sun comes up. Why was he killed? And what exactly is going to happen in this city tonight?