Volume 1: The Future Part 2
Danny and Sam walk into the gymnasium, which has been set up for the day's exam. When a student proves ready to become an official ghost hunter, the Academy allows them to take a final examination to shows their skills. The exam is then reviewed by Maddie, and she decides whether a student should graduate to ghost hunter or not. In order to take the exam, students do need to have certain requirements, and Michelle, even though she is only fifteen, has skipped many grades, and became the youngest student at the Academy to take the test to become a ghost hunter.
Michelle is standing at the corner of the gymnasium, next to her seventeen year old boyfriend, Elliot, and Danny can see the fear and anxiety building up inside her. Danny gets up, but feels a soft hand grab his, stopping him. He looks over to Sam, and her eyes tell him everything he needs to know. Danny sits back down, and puts his arm around Sam.
"Wow, you two are a dream couple," Maddie says. Danny blushes and smiles, looking away, and Sam smiles as well.
"Thanks, Mrs. Fenton." Maddie looks over at Michelle, and checks the clock, wanting to make sure that they don't wait too long.
"Alright, Michelle, we need to get started soon." Michelle looks over at Maddie and her parents, and kisses her boyfriend on the cheek before heading to the starting line.
"I'm ready, grandma," Michelle calls out.
"Okay, you know the drill. An android will come out, representing one of the dozen ghosts you've studied in your Most Wanted class. Your job is to take down the ghost with no casualties, minimal property damage, and within fifteen minutes." The last measure was not included until one exam when a student spent two hours trying to take down an android representing Technus. For the sake of the exams, Tucker has invented an android that can morph into any ghost, and can mimic their powers. When Valerie tried to move for the androids to be used in action, Danny prevented it when he showed how the androids have no regard for defending life, making them a liability in battle. "Do you understand these rules?"
"Yes, grandma," Michelle respectfully answers.
"Starting in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1." The lights dim and a ghost erupts from the ground. The ghost is revealed to be Skulker, and Danny smiles, wanting Skulker to be the foe that Michelle faces. Maddie activates the ghost shield that prevents the Android from bringing the battle to Maddie and the other bystanders.
"Hello, whelp," Skulker says.
"Wow," Danny whispers to Maddie, "I didn't know Tucker upgraded the vocal units on the androids." Maddie looks up, realizing a new danger at hand.
"Danny, he didn't." Danny looks at the scene, seeing Michelle dodge the blasts of energy Skulker fires at her. Michelle moves around the field, still believing that this is a simulation when she is facing the real world Skulker. Danny goes ghost instantly, and prepares to fly out to help his daughter.
"Wait," Maddie says, and Danny looks over at her, completely shocked. "Let's see just how skilled Michelle is."
"Mom, that's Skulker, the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter! I'm not going to let my daughter's life be at risk."
"If she passes this exam, Danny, her life will be at risk every moment she is on the job." Danny stubbornly sits back, and watches as his daughter faces off against Skulker.
Michelle jumps across the field, dodging dozens of blasts of energy, saving the cardboard civilians while she keeps the blast mainly focused on the sidewalks and roadways, preventing debris from falling from the sides of the buildings. She waits for when all of the people are safe, then turns around and blasts Skulker to the ground with an Ecto-rifle.
"Why is Skulker attacked her?" Danny asks. "Michelle doesn't even have ghost powers."
"Maybe he's after Jason," Sam suggests. "He's never met any of the kids, none of your enemies have. Perhaps he's just trying trial and error."
Skulker looks at his prey, and notices her apparel and weaponry. Her belt is decked out with an array of devices and a few Ecto-grenades. An Ecto-pistol sits on her hip, with a holster on her back for her Ecto-rifle.
"You're not the ghost-child," Skulker concludes.
"Ghost? You're the only ghost here." Skulker looks behind Michelle to see a fuse box, and fires a blast from his wrist mounted rifle. Michelle instinctively dodges out of the direction of the blast, but the fuse box is hit, resulting in an explosion that shut down all of the lights. Danny shot out from his seat, and flew out after his daughter. Right when he left the peanut gallery, Skulker turned towards Danny and fired an electrical blast. The blast connected with its target, and Danny yelled in pain before falling to the ground, turning back into a human.
"A weapon I scavenged from Vlad's lab. Enjoy your twelve hours of being a human, for when you wake I will have your son as my pet."
Sam and Maddie both leap from the peanut gallery, ready to aid Danny. Sam fires a Fenton Foamer at Skulker, trapping him to the ground, and Maddie pulls out an Ecto-rifle. Skulker phases through the foam, and fires a rocket at the two ghost hunters. Sam grabs Danny while the two flee from Skulker's rocket, but the blasts still hits them all, knocking them all unconscious.
"Mom! Dad!" Michelle turns towards Skulker, but sees that she can't win the battle on her own. She tosses down a few smoke bombs to give her cover before beginning her retreat. Skulker fires a few random shots, seeing if he can get a hit, but Michelle succeeds in her escape from Skulker. She stumbles into the hallway, and begins to run for help from any of the teachers, fully aware of how many are skilled ghost hunters. As she goes from room to room she sees that Skulker was smart in his attack. Every room is filled with unconscious students and teachers, and Michelle tries to form a plan to take down Skulker.
Skulker storms into the hallway, searching for his prey, and Michelle dodges around a corner, wondering who she could go to for help. Skulker stalks through the hallway, passing by the hallway Michelle was hiding in. She pulls out her ghost radar, and sees that there are three ghost in the area.
"Alright, Dad and Jason are both ghosts, so Skulker's alone. Now, what do I do?" Michelle looks at the radar, and sees a blip on the radar moving towards her. Thinking it's Skulker, she pulls out her Ecto-pistol, and charges it up, ready for action. "If I'm going out, I'm going out fighting." She turns around the corner right when the blip passes by, and her pistol meets with the forehead of a ghost boy. Michelle looks at the ghost kid, and feels overjoyed to see her brother.
"Michelle, what's going on?"
"Oh, Jason," Michelle shrieks as she hugs her brother, making him grunt from her peak physical strength, "we're in trouble."
"What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anything, Skulker's here. He's taken down everyone in the school, and he's hunting for you."
"Why me?"
"Well, let's see, he's the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, you're the son of the most heroic ghost in history, and are the child of a human and human-ghost hybrid."
"So are you," Jason remarks.
"Danielle and I both don't have ghost powers, you do. You're one of a kind, you're more valuable to a hunter."
"Wait," Jason says, "how did he find you?" Michelle realizes she overlooked that crucial factor. Somehow, Skulker knew where Michelle was, but didn't know she wasn't the human-ghost hybrid.
"How would he find me?" Michelle asks herself.
"Don't ask me, you're the ghost hunter."
"So are you," Michelle chastices.
"I'm the failure, remember? You're the perfect one!"
"I'm good at ghost hunting, but Danielle knows how ghost think. She's the smartest person I know when it comes to ghost theory. Let's go get her before Skulker finds her."
"Alright," Jason grunts as he follows Michelle down the hallway. They hear a duo of screams erupt from the dormitories, and Michelle stops in her tracks. Jason stops right behind her, and looks at her confused. "Why'd we stop?"
"Danielle," Michelle gasps, and she runs for the dormitories. Jason goes ghost, and flies after his sister. Michelle pulls out her Ecto-pistol and Ecto-rifle, ready to storm in guns blazing. Before she can bust into Danielle's room, the door is blasted off the hinges as Skulker is launched out of the room.
Michelle points her weapons at Skulker, and looks at the room to see if her sister is okay. Jason flies behind Michelle, his hands pointed at Skulker, charged with Ecto energy, ready to blast him. Skulker looks up to Michelle and Jason, and his eyes lock onto Jason.
"Hello, ghost child," Skulker calmly says as he throws down a flashbang, distracting Michelle and Jason, followed by Skulker blasting Jason with his arm mounted cannon.
"Jason," Michelle yells.
"I'll handle Skulker," Jason responds. "Go make sure Danielle is safe!" Michelle follows the orders, despite being used to giving orders, and runs into Danielle's dorm room. She sees Danielle unconscious on the floor with Star standing over her, holding the Ecto-bazooka she was assembling the night before.
"Danielle!" Michelle yells. She hears an explosion behind her, and worries about Jason being hurt or maybe even killed by Skulker. "What'd he do to her?"
"That ghost came out of nowhere, and attacked Danielle, yelling about ghost kids or something. He took her down quickly, but I got him off her before he could do anything worse to her. Who the hell is that guy?"
"His name is Skulker, he's the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. He's hunting Jason, but didn't know which one of us was the ghost child. But how'd he find Danielle?"
"DNA tracer," Danielle moans. Michelle and Star both stare directly at Danielle, shocked that she is still able to speak after the beating Skulker gave her.
"What?" Michelle asks, confused. Danielle lifts herself up, trying to keep herself from slipping unconscious again. Star helps her up, and Michelle keeps watch on the door, her ghost hunting instincts starting to take control.
"Skulker must have a piece of Dad's DNA. He used it to track down all of us. Tracer must not be able to determine dormant ghost DNA from active ghost DNA so he did trial and error. We need to get to Jason."
"Too late, Jason's keeping Skulker busy. Star, could you go help him? I'll be there in a little bit."
"Of course, Commander," Star says. Star grabs her Ecto-bazooka, and rushes out, firing a blast just as she leaves the dorm room. Michelle watches as Star leaves, worried she just sent Star to her death, this being the first real battle she or Jason have ever fought.
At the Ghost Hunting Academy, excelling students participate in ghost hunting simulations. They're placed in teams depending on strengths and the preferences of team captains. Michelle's team, the Phantoms, is the top ranked team at the Academy, and part of their success is due to Star's in field repairs of weapons and equipment. Through this team, Michelle became close friends with each of her teammates, and found out her teammates are throwing a surprise going away party if she passed her final examination to become a ghost hunter, signaling her graduation from the Academy and departure from the team.
"Danielle," Michelle says, "you need to help me stop Skulker. What do you know about him?"
"He's the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and was once a mercenary working for feudal lords during the Middle Ages. He was renown for his advanced weapons and armor, which were actually just made out of meteorites he found. When he died, his body was dumped in a lake containing a hidden portal to the Ghost Zone at the bottom that contaminated the water with Ecto-energy. This energy made him into the ghost we now know as Skulker."
"Enough with the history lesson, Danielle, I need to know the chink in his armor."
"Sorry, head still hurts. Skulker is prideful, he went on a hunt for Dad just because his girlfriend called him a lousy hunter. His pride is also his weakness, tending to throw him off focus."
"Alright, thanks, sis. I'll be back after we deal with Skulker." Michelle gives her sister a hug before picking up her Ecto-rifle laying at her side, and rushing to rejoin the battle.
Please give a review, it would be very helpful. Also I hope to include some original ghosts as well as classic ghosts so if you have an idea you'd wish to include feel free to tell me, I'll give credit to anyone who gives an idea I use.