Danny Fenton ran through the halls of Arcadia High, trying to get to a safe place while he thought of a plan. There was this… thing… chasing him, and he had no idea how to handle it. Was it just curious? Or did it have murderous intent? Whatever it was, the sound of it scuttling across the floor was creepy. Nothing he ever fought touched the ground like that.
Danny saw his opportunity: the janitor's closet. He ran inside and slammed the door shut, breathing heavily. He heard the thing grunt out in the hall as it realized it had lost sight of him, but through slats in the door he watched it sniff the air. "Waka Chaka…" it growled, and turned towards the broom closet, leaping forward -
Someone blocked the way, grunting loudly as the thing made impact. "I hate Goblins," said the guy, whoever he was, pulling out a sword from nowhere. Danny saw him slice through the creature, and it simultaneously exploded and imploded, warping the light in the hallway for a second before spraying goop everywhere. The dude was wearing armor, like knights used to. What, was there a renaissance faire in town or something?
"Jim!" yelled someone else, a girl. "Good work." She paused in front of the door, thinking to herself, and then said, "It seemed like it was trying to get to something. Who do you think sent it this time?"
"Uhh, I'm not sure. It was headed for this broom closet when I got here." Jim turned to the door, the one that Danny was behind, and it suddenly hit him that something weird was going on. It was Jim who was wearing the armor, holding the sword by his side. Jim Lake, from Spanish class. Jim was fighting goblins with swords? It looked like his knight's armor, was glowing. That was pretty weird, for sure.
"I think it was coming for me," Danny said through the door, voice cracking. He tried the handle, but it only turned. The door was locked, and he didn't have the key…
"Who's in there?" asked the girl, who Danny could see now was Claire Nunez. "Is that... Danny Fenton?"
"Uh, yeah," said Danny, "and the door's kinda... locked."
"Don't worry, Danny," said Jim, the glowing armor around him dissolving, "I'll get Mr. Lancer!" He turned down the hall and bolted towards the principal's office. One second, he's killing goblins and wearing glowing costumes, the next he's running to get a teacher…
"Look, I know this is weird," said Claire, peeking through the slats of the door. "But… it's not as bad as you think. Let's get you out of there and we'll… invite you to our LARPing group?"
"...Those things were not LARPers, Claire." The way they'd exploded into goop, they couldn't be.
"Oh, well, uh…." Her stuttering was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps as Mr. Lancer and Jim came back down the hall.
"To Kill A Mockingbird," shouted Mr. Lancer, "what are you doing in this closet anyway?!"
As the door swung open, Danny shrugged. "I…. thought I saw a ghost, and got scared?"
Mr. Lancer's expression shifted from frustration to slight fear as his eyes darted around him. "Ah, yes, well… things have been a bit…. spooky around here lately, haven't they?" He glanced down the halls. "Class is over now. You kids better get home." Mr. Lancer was suddenly in a hurry to get out of there, leaving the kids behind.
Danny turned to Jim and Claire. "Listen. I have a secret of my own. If you tell me what's going on with you guys, I'll let you in on my secret."
"Why would we even want to know your secret?" asked Claire, cautious.
"Because if you're fighting bad guys… I think I can help you out."
