Author's Note: Not going to be doing one of these author's notes on every chapter. I don't like reading them, so I try not to write them. Just wanted to state what wouldn't fit in the summary for those who are looking for specifics.
This is not a romance focussed story
Continuity takes place before Phantom Planet and starts between Seasons 2 and 3 of Hero Aca (Before the Training Camp Arc)
Rated T for occasional swearing and some potential violence and angst
I have not read the Hero Aca manga, I only watch the show, so no spoilers, pls
No set update schedule
Again, I don't expect to write another one of these notes for the duration of this story. Thanks for showing interest and I hope you like what you read.
A cool Autumn breeze drifted through the night air. All was silent, but for the dry leaves rustling along the pavement. Indoors, the citizens of Amity Park were curled up under their blankets, unaware of the goings on in the dead of night. All but one.
Danny had been stirred by a sudden and all too familiar chill down his spine. With an exasperated groan, he sat up and hastily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He transformed, his pajamas vanishing in a ring of white light, instantly replaced by a sleek, black jumpsuit, then phased through the floor. His ghost sense hummed in the back of his head, drawing him nearer to its source until he was floating, invisibly in the basement his parents had long since transformed into a haphazard lab of sorts.
The open Ghost Portal lit the room in an eerie neon green glow that reflected off of the multitude of metallic surfaces like an inverted disco ball. Rummaging through a box on the floor of the lab was a green skinned figure with long white hair, wearing a black, floor length coat and draped in a white cloak. Danny sighed and let his invisibility drop.
"Alright, Technus, what's in the Fenton junk heap that you couldn't wait until a decent hour to come steal?"
The ghost whipped around to face the teen, a look of shock not well hidden behind his shades. "You! How did you find me?"
Danny raised a brow. "Uh, ghost sense. Same as always. Did you really expect to get in here unnoticed, just because it's past 3 AM?"
"No, you fool." Technus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small disk that had a few stray wires poking out of the gaps in the metal surface. "This was supposed to shield my presence from you. Why isn't it working?" He shook the device for a moment, then proceeded to bang it against the wall.
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Danny mocked.
"Huh?" Technus blinked up at him, then looked back down at the device. His thumb flicked at the switch once, then again in the other direction. A light beeping sound chirped and Technus grinned, holding the disk over his head, proudly. "Success! Now, ghost child, I will be hidden from your detection and free to do as I please!"
Danny crossed his arms and floated in the air, not taking his agitated gaze off of the ghost. Technus didn't move.
"You can still see me, can't you?"
"Yup."
"Right…" Technus wilted slightly, knowing how this was likely to end. Impulsively, he reached out, grabbed the overflowing box of mechanical odds and ends and immediately turned and bolted through the portal.
"Hey!" Danny shouted, speeding after him. "Get back here with that, you lanky, overgrown packrat!"
The two sped through the Ghost Zone at speed, weaving and ducking around floating islands and avoiding the various doors that hung in the nothingness of the world. Every time Danny would almost get close enough to grab Technus' coat, the latter would make a hard turn and zoom off. Thankfully it looked like most of the Ghost Zone's residents were also sound asleep, so their chase wasn't noticed by many. The last thing Danny needed was to have to deal with other ghosts jumping into the fray, though most seemed to keep to themselves if they could help it. Danny was, however, an exception in many specter's books.
Just as he was getting close again, something hard barrelled into Danny's side and sent him tumbling into a floating brick wall. He looked up. "Oh you have got to be kidding me. What the heck do you want?"
"I am The Box Ghost!" the heavyset spirit proclaimed. "And I couldn't help but notice the lovely cardboard container the two of you were fighting over and I want in."
"In? In on what? It's just a bunch of junk from the lab." Danny groaned and got to his feet, scanning the area for Technus. "Look I really don't have time for this, so buzz off or I'll keep you stuffed in the thermos for a week!"
"How dare you threaten me!" the ghost shouted. "You shall face the wrath of-" but before he could finish, Danny was already racing off through the green tinted space. "Hey! Get back here! You can't run off when I'm threatening you!"
Danny had finally caught sight of Technus again and was racing at top speed to reach the thief. Behind him, the Box Ghost flew on, unable to keep up, but not letting Danny out of his sight ether. Danny pulled up and glided over Technus. Once he was right on top of him, he nosedived and slammed his fists into the bespecticaled specter. The box Technus had been holding went flying out of his arms. Technus turned and shot an ecto-blast into Danny's face, successfully launching the teen off of him.
"Why must you be so persistent?" Technus shouted, preparing another blast.
"You're stealing stuff from my own home!" Danny responded, righting himself just in time to dodge an attack.
"I'm taking only what is no longer wanted. You said yourself, it is only a pile of junk."
"Yeah, and I've seen what you can do with my family's used appliances before. I'm not just going to sit back and let you take a whole box of them." Danny summoned a shield and reflected one of Technus' blasts back at him before sending one of his own. "Even if it is just cluttering up the place…"
Technus deflected the first blast, but the second hit him square in the face, knocking his shades off in the process. Danny reached behind him, deftly unclipped the thermos from his belt and uncapped it. "Now, be a good little burglar and-" A heavy, wooden box dropped onto Danny's shoulders and sent him crashing into an island below.
"Ha ha! That will teach you to underestimate the likes of me, The Box Ghost!"
Danny had hit the ground hard and it took him a few moments to catch his breath. No doubt he'd have bruises before the night was done. He looked up and could see the two ghosts talking, likely making their little team-up official. His gaze turned to the area he'd landed on. That box had to have landed somewhere, right? Then again, it could have just floated off somewhere. Physics had a habit of picking and choosing when to and not to work in the Ghost Zone. His eyes flickered over to a nearby island and stilled. There! The box was about 50 feet away, its contents strewn about the little landmass. If he could just get to it, while they were talking he might have a chance at getting home before sunrise.
Slowly, Danny got to his feet and crept to the edge of his island. 30 feet. He could make it. He hazarded a glance overhead. They were arguing now. Perfect. He carefully floated over the void between the islands and began picking up the odd metal scraps that had been tossed around. He gently lowered a handful of pieces into the upturned box, wincing at the slight clanking noise they made. He turned and was just about to reach for half of what looked like an ecto-gun, when a bolt of energy shocked him from behind.
Danny screamed as electricity jolted through his body. When it finally stopped, he was on the ground again. Not trusting his still shaking legs to hold his weight, he floated up and glared at Technus, who was manipulating the scraps out of the box and beginning to piece them together. Next to him, The Box Ghost grinned, holding the now empty box aloft, as if it was some sort of equally dangerous weapon. Danny turned his focus back to Technus.
"You even know what that's gonna do?" he asked.
"That's what testing is for, child." Technus grinned, grabbing the handle of a now more gun-like device and aiming it at Danny. He fired. Danny dodged and the beam of energy that missed him melted a hole through a crumbling wall. "Ooooo! Effective! Now, let's see what this setting does." Technus pressed a button and the gun glowed purple. He aimed it at Danny once more and fired. Danny moved to dodge, but something was hastily shoved over his head and made him stumble. His hands lit up and ripped the cardboard to shreds, just in time to see a purple beam surge past him, less than an inch from his ear. The beam stopped in mid-air and the purple energy pooled, growing into a large, flat circle until it was about three feet in diameter. Danny's face paled as a familiar force began to pull him towards the new portal.
"The Portal Gun." Danny muttered. "You messed with the portal gun!" Normally he wouldn't be too concerned. In the mortal world, the portals made by the gun would suck ghosts into the ghost zone, which Danny knew how to get out of with relative ease. But in the ghost zone, portals could send anyone anywhere and anywhen. There was no telling what lay on the other side of this portal or how quickly it would close after he went through.
He tried to brace himself, digging his heels into the dirt, but the pull from the portal only grew stronger. Overhead, Technus and The Box Ghost were also having to fight the pull and seemed to no longer be concerned with Danny. Ghostly rocks, dead shrubs and some of the unused scraps were hurled through the portal. Danny tried to fly against the pull, using every ounce of strength and speed he could muster. Over his shoulder he could see the portal already shrinking. He just had to keep this up a little longer. Just a few more seconds.
A stream of metal scraps came flying at Danny's face. The gun Technus had used was now discarded and coming about without his ghostly energy holding it together. Danny frantically tried to wave the pieces out of the way, but the distraction caused him to stop for just a moment. Instantly he was hauled through the portal, unable to right himself in time.
Sunlight blinded him the instant he came out the other side of the portal. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt the familiar sensation of gravity heaving him down towards the ground. He caught himself and opened his eyes slightly. He had to be well over five stories high, judging from the size of the buildings all around. Below him the metal scraps hit the pavement, some bouncing off of cars and making people jump out of the way. Unfamiliar writing, some type of asian text, was plastered on buildings and massive TV screens. On one screen a man with what looked like horns growing from his head, sat at a desk, talking to the camera. Danny shook his head. Some TV show, he thought. Still, where was he?
He looked up. The portal was barely a foot across now, and closing fast.
"No." He bolted, his legs flickering into a ghostly tail as he sped upwards. "Nononononononono!"
He watched in horror as the portal grew smaller and smaller. He reached out. He could almost touch it. Just a little closer. And it was gone. He sped through the space where it had been, but nothing happened. He darted across the space again. Nothing. His ghost sense wasn't going off ether. It was gone. The portal. The Ghost Zone. Just… gone. He was trapped.
"No!"