The Third Generation Part 2: June
Chapter 1
A tall teenage girl, 17, stood on the tallest building, the Founder's Tower, in Rangeville, Nevada, looking down at the city. She was surprisingly beautiful, yet tough looking at the same time. The set of her jaw said that she wasn't an ordinary teenager. She was June Fenton, granddaughter of Danny Phantom, and a hero in her own right. Her body was powerfully built, fit for a fighter, which she was. Unlike the rest of her family she only worked out certain muscle groups, she had all the strength, but none of the bulk the rest of her family had.
Two months ago her brother, Jack Junior, JJ to everyone who knew him, had survived an assassination attempt. June and her other brother Cooper had gotten the attention of a gang, the Grey Marauders, when they helped the police confiscate almost $9 billion worth of drugs, and JJ had captured a lieutenant in the gang. Only reason she hadn't been there was that a bunch of ghosts suddenly attacked as well. Her Dad, Jack Senior, still wondered if that was really a coincidence. Right now she would rather be shooting hoops with her friends, but JJ had fought human crime before he was beaten up, and now that he couldn't anymore, not until he was fully healed, she had decided to look out for the people on the street for him.
The things I do for family, June wearily thought. Her Ghost Sense went off and she said, "I'm Going Ghost!" White rings flew up and down her body turning her clothes into a long sleeve white and sky blue tank top with one white and one sky blue glove with a white JP symbol and white pants with sky blue highlights and boots. Her black heir turned white and her hazel brown eyes glowed green as she flew up and saw a surfer ghost. "What are you doing?" she asked the ghost. He was pretty average height with blue hair and grey skin flying around a surfboard.
"Whatever the Hell I want!" the surfer said as he flew over and tried to punch her. June dodged the punch and kicked the ghost's surfboard, knocking him off. The ghost screamed as he started falling toward the ground. "FLY YOU IDIOT!" June yelled at him. "I CAN'T!" the ghost screamed. You gotta be kidding me! June flew down and grabbed the ghost and said, "You owe me. You can pay me back by surrendering peacefully and going back to the Ghost Zone." "You sure babe? You don't need a date or nothing? I'm pretty good in-" June put her hand over his mouth and said, "I already have a boyfriend. You're going home." "Can't, the portal closed as soon as I got here," the ghost said.
Terrific, June sighed and said, "You're going in the Thermos until I send you back." "Do I have to? I'm not hurting anybody," the surfer ghost said. June couldn't believe she was arguing with a ghost. She then got a call on her ear mic, "Freezer, we got a robbery in progress at the First Union Bank. Need you now." "On it," she said into the mic then turned to the ghost, "Step out of line and you go in the Thermos," then she flew northwest to the First Union Bank. Police were already outside the bank, a Commander turned to her when she arrived and said, "We got four robbers armed with automatic weapons. We'd be in there sooner, but they have the latest Bruger guns, if we went in they'd slice through hostages like butter."
"How'd they get Brugers?!" June practically yelled, those were the latest assault rifles, on full auto they could fire almost 2000 rounds a minute. "No idea they're in full body armor and we can't find any way to distinguish them due to them wearing identical masks. Only differences are in height, one of them is at least 6'3" while the others range from about 5'8" to 6'1". The Commander told her. "Got it; how many hostages?" "9; 14 if you count employees." "I got the idea, go in, take the robbers out don't let anyone die," June said as she went invisible. June floated in intangibly, I gotta do this stealthily, take 'em out one at a time. June stayed invisible as she looked around, four robbers like the Commander said. 14 people were on the floor.
June flew in and made it to the back of the bank. She loudly hit the wall. "What was that?" one of the robbers said. "Check it out 2," the tall robber ordered the one that spoke. Perfect, June stayed invisible and waited for 2 to arrive. 2 was about 5'8" and looked calm, though she couldn't see his face because of the mask, it completely covered his face, no eye or mouth holes. As soon as he got close June punched him in the throat then knocked him out with a kick to the temple.
Now for the other three, June went to another spot and made more noise. "4, check it out," the tall robber ordered, "3, go check on 2." Crap, gotta speed this up. June flew over and took out 4 like she did 2 then went off to where she left 2. 3 just arrived, June wasted no time and quickly hammer fisted him in the temple, knocking him out fast then flew over to where the tall robber, assumedly 1, was. He was pacing and looking nervous. "2! 3!" he yelled. June kicked him in the solar plexus then knocked him out with an uppercut. June became visible and told the hostages, "You're free to go."
The hostages all got up and June led them out, slowly opening the door, "Don't shoot, the hostages are coming out!" She opened the door and the hostages left. June flew off with a salute to the Commander, seeing how else she could help the city.
Chapter 2
June was rudely awakened when her Ghost Sense went off. She went ghost and saw the surfer ghost from last night. "What do you want?" June groaned, she didn't need this at 4 in the morning. "Last night you said I owed you, so I figure that I can help you," the surfer said. "How can a ghost that can't even fly help me do my job?" she asked, getting annoyed with him already. Should have stuffed him in the Thermos last night. "I can be an inside man in the Ghost Zone, see what's what and tell you about it," the surfer said. "And just how are you going to get from here to the Ghost Zone? We don't have a Ghost Portal here," June pointed out.
The surfer rubbed his neck and said, "I kind of lied last night. Fact is my board lets me go anywhere I want, in the Human World or Ghost Zone." June face-palmed, it is too early for this crap, "Fine, you have anything for me now?" "Ghosts are disappearing from the Ghost Zone," the surfer said. "So they're spending more time in the Human World," June said as she got out of bed. "No, most ghosts can't stay here, not Native ghosts. Newcomers like me can spend all the time we want because we used to be human, but Native ghosts can't spend more than a week here before they start dying," the surfer told her. "Bull, my Aunt married a Native ghost, Roger Wulfsson, he's perfectly fine here," June said, starting to think about just beating up this annoying ghost.
The surfer stared at her and said, "Roger Wulfsson!? He's a special case; he drank from the Well of Truth! And he was already a mutant of a ghost!" Wow, Uncle Roger's famous, "Okay, fine, you're hired. Now leave me alone, I'm getting a shower. And if you try to peek, you're goop, got it?" "See ya later, partner," the surfer said as he got on his board and flew into a Portal.
June just sat on her bed and scratched her head, How does this happen to me? WHY can't it happen to Cooper? She got up and started doing some exercises to help her wake up. She started with 200 sit ups, leg lifts, and crunches. She then stood up and performed 150 calf raises and squats. June finished the exercises in her room with 200 diamond pushups. She then went to her family's training room and went to the exercise equipment for 150 knee curls, followed by leg presses, and finally Romanian dead lifts. She finished those exercises with 100 dips and pull-ups. After taking 15 minutes to stretch she went through all the fighting techniques she knew from Shaolin Kempo Karate and Savate.
Unlike her brothers, she preferred Savate techniques; they were more practical in real fights in her opinion. By the time she was done she was sweating profusely and went to her shower. After showering she checked her wardrobe and decided to wear a jumpsuit. They were fashionable everywhere thanks to her Grandfather's fame, as well as her Dad's, and Aunt Chloe's, and Uncle Jerry's. June had three jumpsuits; she chose a green one with white gloves, belt, and boots. After putting her hair in a ponytail she went to the living room for breakfast and saw her brothers JJ and Cooper at the table.
They were in regular clothes, JJ had let his hair grow out since the attack and Cooper had cut a little from his afro, but it was still too much in June's opinion. "The 1970's called, they want their hair back." "The 1970's are making a comeback, and I'm helping it," Cooper responded. "Keep telling your self that," JJ told him. June shook her head as she got some waffles in the toaster. JJ wasn't much for talking before the attack, but now that he couldn't fight, he had started to develop a sense of humor. It was as dry as the desert, but it still counted. "Dad's fighting tonight," Cooper reminded her. Their parents were in Las Vegas for their Dad's big fight, had left last night.
It was amazing, their Dad was the superhero Jack Phantom, and 6 time defending World Heavyweight MMA Champion. Their parents left them at home because they trusted them. "The party's tonight too," Cooper said, and the three of them smiled, they were having a blowout. Well, June and Cooper smiled, JJ smirked, a little. They had gotten everything set up, invitations sent, as many people as their house could hold were coming, and they had a pretty big house. After breakfast was done the three of them got in June's car and headed for school.
June's first class was Trigonometry, one of the more boring math classes in her opinion. Still, she managed not to fall asleep, thanks in part to her friend Marge, they passed notes along while they waited for the class to end. After Trigonometry was Biology, they were studying inherited genes. As she took notes, June couldn't help but think about how it applied to her family, first a half ghost, then a quarter ghost with one unique power, then me and my brothers, all the powers, weakened. Her Uncle Jerry was a scientist, with degrees in a number of fields. He still couldn't find a purely scientific explanation for the inheritance of ghost powers. Her thoughts were interrupted when Mr. Kowalski went to her desk and said, "Anything you have better to do, Ms. Fenton?"
"No sir," June quickly said. "Very good; now, what were we just discussing?" "The inheritance of eye color and the correlation between eye color and glasses," June said. "Very good Ms. Fenton," Mr. Kowalski said. Right then the bell rang and June left with another of her friends, Alice. "He's not your biggest fan," Alice said as they walked. "He's like a story my Grandma used to tell me about one of her teachers, Mr. Lancer. He was always on her and my Grandpa's cases, but he meant well," June told her.
"Whatever. So, you got everything for the party?" Alice asked. "We got everything," June assured her. "If your parents find out, you're in for it," Alice said, part serious and part jokingly. "It'll be worth it," June promised. Alice smiled and said, "This'll be fun." They separated and June headed for her third class, American History, while Alice went for Home Economics. Along the way she spotted Tyson Banks and JJ glaring at each other. "You think you're better than all of us, don't you, Freak!" Tyson yelled at JJ. "Not everyone Tyson, just you and bullies like you," JJ stated. Damn it JJ, why can't you get a handle on your hero complex?
June quickly got to her brother's side, "Don't start anything Tyson; or I'll tell one of the teachers. "Freaks, all of you're just a bunch of freaks!" Tyson stomped off and June turned to JJ, "Are you trying to start something?!" "No, I'm planning on putting him in his place one day. He thinks I only stand up to him because of my powers. I plan on proving him wrong," JJ told her. "Can it wait till AFTER the party," June said, already wishing JJ wasn't such a goody two shoes all the time. "Yeah," JJ sighed, and then June went to American History. They were studying the long term effects of the Reagan Years, including the rise of debt and poverty.
After American History June headed for the Cafeteria. She spotted Stacy, JJ's girlfriend, and sat next to her after getting her food. "Hi," Stacy said, "Hi," June answered, "you ready for the party?" "Yes, I'm ready for it. Can you promise me nothing'll happen?" "That all depends on you and-" "Hi, JJ," Stacy cut her off. June smirked at how off put he looked to see his sister and girlfriend together. "June, do you mind?" he said. "We're good," Stacy told him. JJ snorted and ate his lunch. "So, what are you wearing at the party?" June asked. Stacy blushed a little and said, "I was thinking about wearing that red dress my Mom got, with the mini skirt."
JJ started choking before swallowing his food and coughing a little. "Let it out," June told him, with a slap on the back. "You're *cough* wearing that dress?!" JJ asked Stacy, shocked out of his mind. Stacy and June laughed at his shock, and June could tell he was embarrassed a little by the way his nose twitched. June and Stacy continued talking while JJ focused on eating. Stacy, you are something else. Stacy was a wallflower of the highest order until recently. June liked seeing her come out of her shell. They all headed to Spanish when the bell rang.
Chapter 3
June woke up with a splitting headache. Oh God, that must have been a crazy party. She managed to make it to the medicine cabinet and took out a little pill. Thank God we bought these before the party. After waiting ten minutes for the pill to kick in she went downstairs, glad it was the weekend. "Morning lushes," JJ mockingly laughed as Cooper and June got into the kitchen. "Shut up," Cooper told him. JJ just ignored him and said, "That's what you get for out-drinking the entire football and lacrosse teams on a bet." "I can't remember anything," June groaned as she started making some toast.
"You want the good news, or the bad news?" JJ asked her, getting a little serious. "What's the bad news?" June asked as she took a bite of toast. "We got two hours to clean the whole house. In case you didn't notice, Hurricane Charles Woods High hit." June paid attention and would have cried if she didn't have superpowers she could use to clean. Cooper actually whimpered when he realized the sorry state of their house. "And finally, Bradley broke up with you, June." "What!" June couldn't believe she forgot that of all things.
"Yeah, he said, and you agreed, that you two just weren't meant for each other. You can stay friends and all that," JJ finished, "And that's the bad news." "What's the good news?" Cooper asked. "We're all still virgins; no crimes were committed last night, and your popularity's through the roof." Cooper snorted, "Dang. I was hoping Alicia," "She didn't. So stop complaining Coop." JJ told him. The three of them ate their breakfast and got ready for the day when they got a call.
"We got a major ghost attack on the corner of Freemont and Thurgood Street!" The caller screamed. "I'm Going Ghost!" all three of them yelled as white rings flew up and down their bodies. Their black hair turned white and brown eyes green; June's pajamas were replaced by a long sleeved sky blue and white tank top with a white glove and one sky blue glove and sky blue pants with white highlights and sky blue boots; JJ's were replaced with a sleeveless black jumpsuit with red belt, boots, and gloves; Cooper's became a short sleeve black jumpsuit with green belt, boots, and gloves. All three of them flew out at 200 mph heading straight for the corner of Freemont and Thurgood Street. Soon as they got there they spotted the ghost as it charged on foot through a police blockade, sending officers and vehicles flying.
JJ, June, and Cooper caught the officers and set them down then JJ said, "Ice rays!" All three of them blasted with all their power at the hulking ghost, it looked like a 12ft four armed Frankenstein's Monster. Their combined power froze the ghost in place. "How did this happen?" June asked the nearest Police Officer. "Officers Flynn and Suarez answered a call to a break-in at Futech Labs. When they arrived they found that ghost on a rampage. Suarez called us, and we called you." Just then they heard the ice crack. "Oh crap," Cooper said. "We gotta keep him busy," JJ said as they flew over and picked up the ghost just as it broke free and flew up into the air. "RRRAAAAAGGGHHH!" the ghost screamed as it hit all three of them at once, sending them back twenty ft.
It started to fly down to the ground when June caught it and threw it towards a Park nearby. The ghost landed with a large THUD and got up, holding his head. "AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" It roared as JJ, June, and Cooper flew down, blasting ghost rays as fast as they could. The ghost shielded its face with its upper arms and body with its lower arms. After five minutes the three halfas stopped, they weren't doing any real damage. "Freezing it's no good, we can't blast through its arms, what now?" Cooper exasperatedly asked. The ghost roared and picked up a nearby tree. "Hand to hand it is!" JJ yelled as he charged forward.
The ghost ripped the tree out of the ground only for JJ to pound it in the solar plexus, making it drop the tree. June flew from above and slammed a brutal axe kick to its head and Cooper finished it with an ectoplasm charged punch to the kidney. The ghost fell and June finished it off with another kick. To their shock the ghost started shrinking; then its skin turned white as two of its arms shrunk back into its body, leaving it a seemingly normal man. "What the Hell!?" Cooper yelled. "Could be a trick," JJ said, a quiver to his voice as he tried to suck the ghost into his Fenton Thermos, only for nothing to happen. "He's Human!?" JJ yelled, "What the Hell is going on!?" June yelled herself.
Chapter 4
"And he then turned back to normal, just like that? No rings, no blood, he just turned into a human?" Jerry asked them on the webcam on June's phone. "That's what happened Uncle Jerry. The police are getting samples now, they're gonna send them to you as soon as they can," June told him. Jerry took his glasses off and rubbed his temples, "He wasn't a halfa, I'm sure of that. But he became a ghost, partially anyway, somehow. You have any clues?" June remembered what the surfer ghost told her, "A ghost I met says that ghosts are disappearing from the Ghost Zone." "How do you know this ghost, can he be trusted?" Jerry asked her seriously.
"I fought him, then found out he needed a surf board to fly. He was falling, I saved him. He says he owes me now, and is trying to be an informant." June quickly explained. JJ and Cooper looked at her, their faces saying, 'Where were we when this happened?' Jerry thought about it for a second, combing his fingers through his wildly unkempt 'Einstein' hair, "I wonder…" he then shook his head, "I'll call you when I get the samples," and signed off. Cooper said, "You're seeing a ghost." "As an informant; and it's beside the point right now," June said, glaring at him. "So what now?" Cooper asked. "Now, we clean our house, we got one hour left," JJ said, and they quickly flew back and cleaned their whole house, making sure to get rid of all evidence they had had a party.
They were done with ten minutes to spare. June turned back into her human form and said, "I hope another ghost, or whatever-that-was shows up. I don't think we have the energy." "Yeah," Cooper said as he plopped down onto the couch. JJ went human and calmly sat down. "We'll do alright," he said then their Ghost Sense went off for all three of them. They reluctantly went Ghost then June saw it was the surfer ghost. "Hold on guys, he's friendly," she then turned to him and said, "What is it?" "Remember when I told you that Native ghosts were disappearing from the Ghost Zone?" the surfer ghost said. "Yes," "I just found out how many, at least 200 ghosts are gone," he said, looking really shook up. "200 ghosts just disappeared from the Ghost Zone!?" Cooper yelled.
June, JJ, Cooper, and the surfer ghost looked at each other, worried. "What could it all mean?" JJ asked. "You guys gotta figure it out, I can't," the surfer said, getting ready to leave. "Hold on, can you at least give us your name?" June asked him. The surfer looked at her and said, "Back when I was alive, people called me Golden Kid," and phased through their roof.
"I can't make head or tails of this, we got a guy who turned into a ghost, then back, and at least 200 ghosts are missing from the Ghost Zone. Could they be connected?" June said. The door opened and their parents came in the house. They didn't look happy. "You had a party while we were away," Jack commented. How do they know!? "If you're wondering how we know, thank the Net," April said as she took out her phone to show a video playing, showing her and Cooper drinking with the lacrosse team. Cooper swallowed loudly and said, "Look, before you ground me forever, I think you need to know that something REALLY bad is going down." "Oh really?" Jack said.
JJ explained the situation with the Golden Kid, the missing ghosts, and that ghost-that-turned-human thing. Jack sighed after hearing this, "Things just got really complicated. Along with ghosts, and human criminals, we gotta deal with that thing's friends in all likelihood. In my experience, trouble never stops at just one bad thing." "But what are we going to do now?" June asked. "You guys used your powers to clean up the house; you got the energy to fight right now?" Jack seriously asked all three of them. June thought about it, and focused for a second on her power. It was there, and ready for use when she needed it. "I'm ready," June said. "Same," JJ said, "Ditto," Cooper confirmed. "Good, for now, I suggest you just go do whatever you want. After your Mom and I are settled back in, I'm joining you out in the streets, Ghost style," Jack told his kids.
Chapter 5
June flew over the Optimax Movie Theater, wishing she was in it. She had a backpack of ghost fighting gear, and wished she didn't need it. Seeing nothing amiss, she took out her phone and called her best friend Marilyn. "Hey, where've you been?" Marilyn answered. "I've been out saving the day. Some weird stuff is happening, so I can't see you, Bradley, Jason, or anyone for a while," June explained. "Sucks to be a superhero sometimes," Marilyn commented. "You have no idea," June agreed, "Look, tell everyone what's going down, I might not be able to." "I will. How are you feeling about breaking up?" Marilyn asked. June sighed, "Better than I thought I would. You were right; Bradley just wasn't the right one." "Sorry," Marilyn said. "Don't be," just then June's Ghost Sense went off, "I gotta go, see you as soon as I can."
June hung up and spotted the ghost. It was the Golden Kid, and he was being chased but a monster of an octopus. "Mayday! S.O.S.! HHHEEELLLPPP!" The Golden Kid screamed. June flew up and bashed the ghost on its head, sending it back twenty feet. The octopus ghost wrapped its tentacles around her, but June focused and blasted her ice energy out, freezing the tentacles and breaking them off. Before the ghost could get away she sucked it into her Thermos. The Golden Kid flew over, "Thanks, I owe you big." "What did you get yourself into?" June exasperatedly asked him. "I was looking around to see if I could find out what happened to all the missing ghosts. Problem was they were all extreme loners, no one I could talk to. I was heading to Clockwork's Tower through a shortcut I knew when 20 of those octopuses-" "Octopi," "octopi, came after me. I managed to escape by heading here, but one of them followed me through my portal."
"So, you didn't find out anything new," June stated. "Nope, I'll try again," the Golden Kid said. "Don't bother, Clockwork only helps when he wants to help, or we really need it. Since he hasn't shown up himself, I guess that means that we're on our own," June told him. "Dang it," the Golden Kid muttered, "Being a hero sucks." "That's why there are so few of us," June told him.
June turned and saw Cooper flying over to her. "The ghost-human-thing woke up. Dad's interrogating him along with the police now," he told her. "So, what are we going to do now?" the Golden Kid asked. "Go back to the Ghost Zone and keep trying to get some more info," June told him at once. "Got it, Boss; see ya later," the surfer ghost flew off on his surf board, a portal opened in front of him, and he was gone. "Dad said that we can go do whatever for now, but he wants us to have our mics on," Cooper said, tapping his ear. June dug into her backpack and put her mic in her ear. "She's got it on Dad," Cooper said. June heard her Dad's voice through the mic, "Keep your guards up June, aside from that; go do whatever you want." "Thanks Dad, love you," "Love you too," Jack said, and signed off.
"I don't know about you, but I'm seeing that College movie," Cooper said, as he flew down to the movie theater. June got her phone out and called Marilyn, "Change of plans, I'm at the Optimax, you wanna see that mystery movie?" "You mean the one about the space colony on Mars?" "No, the steampunk one, starring Justin Fisher," June told her. She took the phone away from her ear as Marilyn squeed louder than a gunshot, "I'll be there in 5 minutes." June shook her head; Marilyn was a major fan girl for Jason Fisher, she couldn't blame her. He had those big blue eyes and curly red hair…she floated down and got the tickets just as Marilyn's car arrived.
The movie was fantastic, Justin Fisher and his co-star Julie Jones really nailed it, and best of all June wasn't called away during the whole film. It had been a long time since she could actually stay and enjoy a movie. "I can't wait for the sequel," Marilyn gushed as they walked out. "I know, Francois Palas knows how to kick ass," "And has a pretty good one," June and her best friend just laughed when June's Ghost Sense suddenly went off. June went Ghost when she spotted the ghost, it looked like a Viking. "Oh you gotta be kidding me," Marilyn said as June flew up, focusing her ecto energy to create a saber. "Go back home, Olaf, or you'll get beaten by girl," June told him, twirling her saber.
The Viking ghost yelled and threw his axe; June deflected it with her saber and got in a ready stance. The Viking then charged forward, swinging his sword wildly. June dodged what blows she didn't deflect, sizing up her opponent, he's strong, stronger than me. But slow, "I've had better fights with a turtle!" The Viking yelled louder and swung harder. June dodged the blows before twirling her saber and disarming the Viking, literally. She finished him off with an ice ray before sucking him into her Thermos. June turned to Marilyn and said, "I'm going home, my Thermos needs to be emptied. See you tomorrow?" "Sure," Marilyn said, and June flew back to her house.
Soon as she got there she found the miniature one-way portal and deposited all the ghosts in her Thermos into it. As she turned to leave she saw her Mom in a green suit of armor. "Mom?" April turned to her and said, "Just in case. Things are happening; we all need to be ready." June took a closer look and saw no guns or anything in the armor, not that that meant there weren't any. "So, what can this do?" April smiled and assumed a fighting stance. Two batons appeared from the wrists and April grabbed them. Pressing some buttons on them, the batons glowed with energy. "Nice," June had to admit, it definitely suited her Mom more than any guns.
"Mind if I tag along with you? It's been a while since I've been able to actually fight," April suggested. June thought about it, back in AmityPark her Mom and Dad had spent a few nights fighting criminals when they were 16. And then after they were engaged and they lived in Shilohville for a time. June liked the idea; she wanted to see her Mom in action. "Let's go," the two of them went out of their house where June went Ghost and a jetpack on April's suit activated, and they flew off.
Chapter 6
"So, this is the suit Uncle Jerry made you," June said as she and her Mom flew over the city. "Yeah, it works for twenty four hours, can fly obviously, has radio and cell communications in the helmet, and increases the wearer's strength ten times over." April told her as they passed over a restaurant. "You're pretty good at flying," June told her, better than I was at first. "It helps that I've seen you, your Dad, your brothers, and just about every other superhero in the family fly. It's all in how you hold yourself, and staying calm," April said, then did a loop-de-loop to demonstrate. "I can see why you do it so much, it feels like…Oh Hell; it just feels good flying."
Mother and daughter flew around for about an hour, looking out for any suspicious activity. They spotted four men in a black truck stop at a warehouse. They then removed something, a large crate out of the truck. The crate was moving. "Could be smuggling animals, exotic pets," April suggested, then called 911. After three minutes she turned to June and said, "We were told to be stealthy, be careful." "Got it," June said as she wrapped her arms around her Mom and made them both invisible. April deactivated her jetpack and June floated them both near the men.
They got the crate into the building, and one of the men said, "So, where do we put the freak?" "A customer is showing up in 10 to pick it up. Then it's her problem," another one said. "Man, you know what they're gonna do wid 'im?" "I don't care, as long as I get paid," the third man said. "There is definitely something going on here," June whispered. April tapped her invisible shoulder to show she knew. The two women stayed invisible as they waited for the customer to arrive.
Exactly 10 minutes later a short, muscular woman in a trench coat and jeans showed. "You have it?" she asked. "Yeah," one of the men said, hitting the crate, causing whatever was inside to start making angry noises. "What the Hell is in there?" April asked, June thought she heard a little bit of fear in her voice. June and April watched the woman give one of the men an envelope. Seeing her chance, June let go of April and became visible, "Nobody Move!" The men and woman all reached for guns, June quickly blasted her ice rays at their arms, making it impossible for anyone to shoot. The woman glared at June and yelled, "You are dead both of you bitches are dead! You hear me! My bosses are gonna tear you apart, you and all you half-ghost freaks!"
"Oh really? And who are your bosses?" June asked, crossing her arms as she walked over to the woman. The woman growled and tried to kick her. June jumped up and kicked her in the jaw, knocking her out. "HEY!" April yelled as one of the men ran over and opened the crate. A loud roar erupted as a grayish-green gargoyle creature came out. "Holy Christ!" April screamed as it came at her. April quickly summoned her batons and jabbed both her batons into the gargoyle's neck, stopping it. April then whacked it as hard as she could on it's collarbones and unleashed an incredible combination on it's ribs before knocking it out with two simultaneous blows to the temples.
While April was battling the gargoyle-ghost, June made quick work of the men transporting it, knocking them all out. She then watched as the gargoyle's wings shrunk into its shoulders, the horns retracted, and claws became hands and feet once more, revealing a normal looking woman. "What is going on here?!" April yelled, and June could just shake her head, the same question echoing in her own head.
Chapter 7
"I know what's going on," Jack said, "partially." "So what is it?" June asked her Father. "Some kind of drug according to that guy who was a four armed giant; his name is John Constance, he was a junkie, lost his house. Said that this woman approached him, and said she could hook him up for free. He followed her to a warehouse, and she gave him some glowing green substance in a needle. Hours later, you know the rest," Jack said, looking at his wife and kids. Just then June's phone rang, "June, it's your Aunt Marie. Put me on speaker, this is important." June put her phone on speaker, "We're all here Aunt Marie." "Jerry analyzed the blood samples the police gave him and tested them. There are elements of ectoplasm and steroids in them," Marie announced. "Ghost steroids? But I thought that Dad destroyed all traces of that years ago," Jack said, his voice having a hint of fear.
Marie shook her head, "This isn't for ghosts; it's specifically designed for humans. There's something else, it doesn't wear off like a regular steroid. According to our tests, the steroids effects take at least a whole week to wear off, and until that week is over, the user can still transform if they're put under enough stress." Jack's eyes started to bulge out of his skull as he heard that, "Oh crap." "Hold on Jack!" Marie yelled, just as Jack got up. "If you rush over there, you could stress the man out and trigger a transformation. For now, just sit back and relax. As long as the person isn't too stressed, everything should be fine."
Jack sat back down with a sigh, "Why do they turn back when they're knocked out?" "You're kidding right?" Marie asked, sounding annoyed. "That last fight DID cause brain damage after all," Marie muttered. "I heard that," Jack said, glaring at Marie's image on the phone's screen. "Okay, these steroids work by making the adrenal glands work overtime, and increasing the body's receptors sensitivity to the adrenaline and ectoplasm, leading to transformations. When they're knocked out, the adrenal gland no longer pumps the adrenaline and ectoplasm, turning them back to normal." "So, we gotta take them down when we see them as fast as possible, and keep them from stressing out?" June asked. "For now. Jerry's trying to make an antidote to the steroid to make things easier. I'll keep you updated," Marie turned her head then turned back to June and her family, "Gotta go, good luck."
June turned her phone off and sighed. "So, what now?" Cooper asked. "You kids are going to sleep, that's what you're doing for now. You need your rest, I got a feeling we got a long Sunday tomorrow," April ordered her children, and the three teens went to their rooms for some much needed rest.
Chapter 8
June woke up feeling better than she had the morning before. She got up and went through her exercises, then went downstairs to see her family already having breakfast. Her Dad fixed her an omelet and she ate it with gusto, Jack made the best omelets. After breakfast and a shower, June got dressed in some pants and a red shirt that had a low neck-line, but not too low. Jack called his kids together. "Something bad is going on. The Police told me that the men and woman June and your Mom captured are members of the Grey Marauders." "Thought so," JJ muttered darkly. "We don't know yet if the ghost steroids are meant to help them fight us, or if they plan on selling their victims as bio-weapons. For that reason, I want you three to go about your lives for now. Don't let anyone know what is going on, paranoia is our friend for now," Jack told them.
"Keep your gear on you at all times, you never know if you'll need it. Keep alert, alright?" "Got it," June, JJ, and Cooper said all at once. June got up and got her shoes on, and put her Jack O' Nine Tails, Ghost Gauntlets, and wrist blaster in her backpack, and mic in her ear. "Anywhere you guys want to go?" she asked her brothers. "Drop me off at the Park," Cooper told her, "I'm seeing Stacy at the Soup Kitchen," JJ said. They got in her car and June dropped off her brothers; then called Marilyn and Marge. "I got a free day," June told them, "I say we hit the town." "I'm in," Marge said, "Same here," Marilyn answered. June drove her car and picked them up.
The girls first hit the Mall, heading straight for a hair stylist. "Keep it simple," June told her hairdresser, "It can't be big or stick out too much." "It might get caught?" she asked. "Something like that," June told her. Marilyn chimed in, "Dye it blonde." "No way," June told her, "Then make it red," Marge joked as her own stylist came over. "No dye," June told her. Thirty minutes later June's hair was done in a swirling corn row style while Marge's was dyed hot pink and curled. Marilyn got hers braided into a bow. The next stop was a dress store. June checked all the dresses, but all but one clashed with her toned muscular body. It was way too revealing than her Dad would ever let her wear in public. "Oh come on, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Marilyn urged her. "No, I'm lucky I wasn't grounded for that party on Friday. If some ghost stuff hadn't come up recently, I'd be grounded until I turned thirty!" June said.
June made sure not to involve her friends in her family's business; they weren't suited to it like she was. "Dang sucks to be you," Marge said. "Tell me about it," June said as they left the dress store. "What now?" Marilyn asked. "Movie?" June suggested. "Which one? We already saw Justin Fisher's movie." Marge pointed out. "I heard that Supergirl movie Tobe Hooper III directed was good," June suggested. "Alright," the three girls left the Mall and headed for the Omniplex. While they waited to get their tickets Marge commented, "You don't seem as sad as I though you'd be."
June sighed, "It helps that I've had a lot on my plate, and I don't even remember the breakup." Marge nodded, "Sounds right. You were great, but you and Bradley just didn't feel right together." "I realize that now, but I thought he was 'the one', the only boy that didn't want to be with me because I was popular, or wanted to sleep with me. He was the only one that seemed to really care about me for…me." June just sighed and got her ticket and headed into the theater.
Two hours later June and her friends were talking about the movie, "The ending could have been a lot better," Marge insisted. "How?" Marilyn asked her in a challenging tone. "I don't know…but it could have been better." Marge insisted. June's Ghost Sense went off and she looked up to see the Golden Kid surfing over to her. "Hi Boss," he said, smiling flirtatiously at her and her friends. Marge and Marilyn got behind June, but when June didn't go Ghost they asked, "What's going on here?" "Family business," June told them, "Get in the car, I'll be there soon." June's friends headed to her car, Marilyn looking back nervously.
"What do you got Golden Kid?" "I know where the ghosts are being held," he said. "They're at Futech Labs, basement area." "Futech Labs doesn't have a basement," June told him, beginning to think he was playing her. "It does actually. It's deep down, but it's there. You need to be a ghost or have their powers to get there fastest," Golden Kid told her, scratching his blue hair. "This doesn't make sense, why are they experimenting on ghosts and people? No one can do that, no matter how powerful they are, Grandpa did everything he could to make sure ghosts couldn't be experimented on, and human experimentation has never been legal," June said, trying to find a motive for it. "I got no idea, all I know is that they have a bunch of ghosts underneath Futech Labs, and they're doing some really nasty stuff to them," Golden Kid told her.
June was disturbed, and wasn't sure what to do. "Stay out of trouble," she told the Golden Kid, then got in her car and drove her friends home before heading home herself. She saw that no one was home and called her Dad. "Dad, I have some information on where the ghost steroid is being made," "From where?" Jack asked. "The Golden Kid, he says that he found a laboratory basement underneath Futech Labs." Jack was dead silent for a minute before saying, "Do you trust him?" June thought about that, did she really trust the Golden Kid? She barely knew him. Could she trust him? June thought about it before answering, "I trust him Dad." "Okay, call your brothers and tell them to meet me at-" A loud explosion interrupted the call. "DAD!" June yelled. "One of the men experimented on has transformed again!" Jack yelled before it was cut off.
Chapter 9
June quickly got into her car and pulled out the weapons in her book bag. She put on her Ghost Gauntlets, and picked up her Jack O' Nine Tails and put eth wrist blaster on. "I'm Going Ghost!" she yelled as the white rings went up and down her body turning her hair white, eyes green, and replacing her clothes with a sky blue and white long sleeve tank top and pants with sky blue gloves. Her mic sounded as she took off in the air, "Freezer, we need you at the Omniplex, we got one mean ghost destroying the place, Brawler's taking on a ghost near City Hall, and Blaster's fighting on the other side of the city!" "I'm on my way!" June yelled into her mic as she flew at top speed to the Omniplex.
Out of nowhere she was tackled by a reddish-grey blur. June looked and saw a figure that looked like a demon with a goat head, cloven hooves, batwings, and claws. June head butted the ghost's face and made it let go, more out of surprise than pain. "I don't have time for this!" she yelled as she blasted an ice ray at it. The demonic ghost blew flame at her, canceling out the ice ray. June poured more of her power into it, but to no avail. I can't keep this up for much longer, she quickly raised the wrist blaster and blasted the ghost, stopping its assault and allowing her to freeze it. The next second the ghost burst out of the ice, June quickly used her Jack O' Nine Tails, wrapping it up and buying her time to suck it into the Thermos, only for it not to work! "Uh oh," June moaned as the demon blew fire at her. Another victim of the ghost steroid!
June dodged the ghostly fire and zig-zagged as she got closer to the ghost. At point blank range she blasted a ghost ray at it then hit it with her wrist blaster. The stunned creature stopped its attack and June got closer. Using her training in Shaolin Kempo Karate she used one her 'flowing palm' techniques. She backhanded it's jaw then palm heeled at the same place, a thrust punch to the solar plexus followed by a shooto strike to the side of the neck, a roundhouse elbow to the ribs and a back elbow to the solar plexus, backhand to the ribs and another roundhouse to the ribs finished with another shooto strike to the side of the neck and palm heel to the jaw. June committed the same combination three more times and finished the battered creature with a roundhouse kick to its face, knocking it out and turning it human. June caught the human, a small woman, and flew her to a Hospital nearby before continuing her flight to the Omniplex.
She saw the theater destroyed; a green ghost with the head and claws of a lion roared at the police who were vainly trying to contain it. June flew down at top speed, putting as much of her ectoplasmic energy as she could spare into her left foot. She spun around in mid air to gather inertia and performed a humanly impossible powerful axe kick on the lion-man-ghost's head, knocking it out in one strike. The creature didn't revert to human form, it was just a ghost. June sucked it into her Thermos and called into her mic, "Freezer here, I got another ghost steroid victim in the Hospital, and the ghost at the Omniplex has been neutralized." "Blaster here, I got the ghost," "Brawler here, the ghost at City Hall was another ghost steroid victim." "I got the others pacified at the Police Station. Freezer, where did you put your steroid victim?" Jack asked his daughter. "She's at the Hospital on Lovell Street," June told him. "Mine's at the same Hospital," JJ said, "I'm still here." "Stay there Brawler, I'm bringing mine to you-hold on, Jerry's calling me." Jack said as he signed off.
June headed for Lovell Street and turned human, feeling exhausted. She went to the room where JJ was, he was in his human form, Ghost Gauntlets ready to be used. The ghost steroid experiments were all together in one ward, sedated to keep them from transforming. June sat down at a seat, seeing how all of them were just barely a healthy weight, proof that they had been homeless before the Grey Marauders filled them with empty promises and poison. She looked at the woman she had captured, and paid attention to her arms. They were more muscular than she expected for a homeless person. Her face didn't look like she had been living on the streets for long. No way, it can't be! June went over and checked her arm, and saw a tattoo. "Crap," June said, "JJ, this woman isn't a victim; she's a part of the Grey Marauders!" "Officer!" JJ yelled down the hall. A police officer ran over, "Cuff her now! She's not a victim; she's a part of it." JJ ordered, even though he had no real authority.
"This is bad, if the Grey Marauders are already using that steroid on their soldiers-" "Then they already perfected it," June said, barely breathing. An entire gang with ghost powers…they could take over the world with that power… JJ already had their Dad on the phone and told him what he found. Five minutes later he was there in his Ghost form, white hair and green eyes showing his shock. "We gotta move now. I was hoping we could get police help, but if they already have the ghost steroid perfected, they could be mass producing it now!" June and JJ went Ghost and followed their Father to Futech Labs.
Cooper met them halfway there and the four halfas continued to Futech Labs. Jack turned to June and her brothers and said, "We have no idea what we're facing; get your gear on now." JJ and Cooper put on their Ghost Gauntlets, wrist blasters, and Jack O' Nine Tails; then Jack continued, "If you see a computer, don't let anyone near it, we'll need them for evidence and to find out how far this has gone. Keep your eyes on each other, protect yourselves at all times. Got it?" "We're ready Dad," Cooper confidently said, puffing out his chest a little.
Chapter 10
The four of them went intangible and flew under Futech Labs. They flew lower and lower, waiting to see what they would find. They found an elevator shaft already, and were following it to the lab the Golden Kid told them about. After ten minutes they saw the elevator, unused at the bottom of the shaft. "This is it," Jack warned them all. They went into the elevator, nothing happened. They then phased into the lab itself. The four of them stayed invisible the whole time. June looked around, it looked like a massive lab, like the one her Uncle Jerry had.
They saw nothing until they spotted a four way fork. Jack became visible, no alarms went off. June, JJ, and Cooper became visible as well and Jack said, "Pick a path. Stay alert;" he then looked at each of them with a look of concern in his eyes, "Be careful." Jack took the farthest right-hand path. June looked at her brothers and took the other right hand path. For the next ten minutes June floated down the corridor, finding nothing. Then, she heard something, like an animal in pain. June went faster and found a door at the end. June phased through the door and saw a short male scientist putting an electrified tool near a Minotaur like ghost.
June made herself visible and yelled, "This party's over!" "NO!" the short man said as he ran and pushed a button on the nearest wall. The right-hand wall opened and ten robots came out. "TERMINATE!" the scientist screamed as he ran to the wall furthest June. June quickly flew up as the robots blasted away at her with green bullets. There's no way I'm letting those things hit me. June quickly blasted away with her ice rays, freezing half the robots solid. She blasted the frozen robots with her wrist blaster, shattering them to pieces. She finished off the rest and saw the scientist was gone. June went to the ghost on the table and released it. "I'm putting you into my Fenton Thermos for a little while. I promise, you'll be back in the Ghost Zone as soon as possible."
The Minotaur ghost nodded its head and she sucked it into her Thermos. June went to the wall she last saw the scientist near and phased through it. She found a long corridor and flew quickly through it. She soon caught the scientist and said, "You're going nowhere Mengele!" The little man struggled and screamed, "What gives you the right to interfere with human evolution!?" "What gives you the right to play God?!" she yelled back at him, loud enough to cow him and shut him up. "What's down this corridor?" she demanded. The little scientist refused to talk. June used her Jack O' Nine Tails and tied him up and ran down the corridor. She reached the end where she found a large room with an elevator.
June called her family on her mic, "Guys, Dad, I found an elevator on the other side of this horror show. They're definitely experimenting on ghost's here." "Tell me about it," JJ grimly said, and his tone promised violence. June shuddered at what he must have found. "I found most of the ghosts here. They're all too weak to go anywhere, I'll need you guys back here to help transport them; I don't have enough room in my Thermos to carry them all," Cooper called. June turned to leave when a shadow fell on her. Acting on instinct she quickly rolled away as a giant metal THING crashed down on the spot she had been on. An arm laser blasted at her and June shielded herself, the ghost shield and laser cancelled each other out.
June then saw that a robotic ape had attacked her. "You have gotta be kidding me!" Of all the things to attack her, a robo-gorilla!? June quickly turned invisible and built up her ectoplasmic energy. Just as she released it the robot somehow saw her and blasted the laser at a higher intensity. June poured more power into the blast and the robotic gorilla responded in kind. Who made this thing? June couldn't spare much more energy into the beam war and at the last second stopped and flew away, using her greater agility to dodge the robot's lasers. June fired off a few weak ice rays that the robot blasted with lasers from its eyes. She tried going intangible and rip it apart from the inside but an electric field surrounded the robot gorilla and shocked her, stopping her in her tracks and letting the machine backhand her away.
June just barely dodged its laser blasts and blocked a few more before answering with a few shots from her wrist blaster. She hit the arm laser square, destroying it. The robots eye lasers blasted her out of the sky before she could dodge. June stood up and focused what power was left. "AAAAHHHHH!" June screamed as she unleashed a Ghostly Wail, destroying the mechanical beast in an impressive explosion as she turned back into her human form, and passed out.
Chapter 11
June woke up in her room, her parents sitting by her side. "What happened?" she asked them. "Are you alright?" April asked her, putting her hand on her head. "I'm fine Mom, I just passed out from using the Ghostly Wail on a gorilla robot," June said in annoyance. "We got the ghosts back to the Ghost Zone. The scientists there were paid by the Grey Marauders to make a steroid from the adrenal glands of ghosts. One of the scientists claims they have a Ghost Portal," Jack explained to her. June got up and Jack stopped her, "You don't have to go anywhere sweetie, JJ and Cooper are handling the search for the Portal. You can help tomorrow." June sighed at her Dad's over protectiveness then lay back on her bed.
"What about the victims?" June asked. "Jerry got a cure and Marie delivered it while you all went after the lab," April explained, "They're all cured now, and the woman you captured is in Interpol custody now." June nodded at this then her and her Dad's Ghost Sense went off. The Golden Kid appeared and excitedly said, "You're okay!" "What's that supposed to mean?" June asked him. "I heard you were hurt when you took down that lab, I… wanted to make sure you were alright," the surfer ghost explained. April got up and motioned for Jack to follow her. He stopped at the door and he said, "You want to be alone?" "Yes Dad," June said, and he left, giving the Golden Kid a look as he shut her door. "Look, I came by to give you this," the Golden Kid said as he showed her a flower. It had seven petals, two red, two blue, and three green. "See you later," the Golden Kid said as he left. June looked at the flower and started thinking about getting to know the Golden Kid better.
To be Continued in The Third Generation Part 3: Cooper