Chapter 2: A Whole New World
(This continues from the series, not Phantom Planet. Though some aspects remain, like Danny and Sam are dating now.)
"Danny! We're going to be late! Hurry up!" Sam waved her hand at her two best friends, mentally urging them to catch up.
"Dude." Tucker sighed as his best friend simply stared after Sam's retreating figure. "You asked her out yesterday. Finally, I might add. Just cause she said yes, doesn't mean you can turn into mush on me. I thought you got past that after Paulina. Now come on, I don't want to be late for our first day of school."
"Hey, for your information, my daydreaming has nothing to do with Sam." Danny said defensively. "My parents just made a new anti-ghost device and this one actually works. Problem is, they haven't put it to the wayside so I can take it for my own use."
"Another one? You'd think by now they'd made enough. Your parents' lab is filled with supposedly broken machines and they still make more. Do they scrap any of the old ones?" Tucker asked incredulously.
"A few." Danny replied. "I save the best ones in my room. Well, except the ghost peeler and an extra Fenton thermos."
"And the ones you've given us." Tucker added. "So what's this new weapon do anyway? Assuming it is, in fact, a weapon."
"It's a miniature ghost portal that's disguised as a watch. It requires a certain amount of ectoplasm to work, which makes it problematic as it's not exactly an infinite resource but Mom and Dad are trying to find a way around that. I wish they'd let me or Jazz help them but they say it's too dangerous." Danny frowned, kicking a small rock as he walked. "At least they'll consider it once I've graduated."
"What about Jazz? She's in her first year of college."
"And taking engineering and physics courses to help how she can. Mom and Dad have already agreed to let her help build ghost stuff once she graduates and not a moment before."
The school loomed ahead, putting an end to their discussion as other students began to flood the grounds. The freshman tended to stick together every year, which made them obvious targets for the upperclassmen looking to assert their power over the fresh meat as early as possible. Danny and Tucker both winced when they saw Dash already picking on the newest set of nerds.
"He works faster every year." Tucker said, shaking his head. "Five bucks says he tries to use his power as a new senior to get those nerds to be his personal punching bag for the school year."
"Oh, come on guys, Dash isn't that bad. Especially since he's dating Paulina now and that takes a lot of time and effort. I didn't think it was possible to be that high maintenance." Sam came to stand next to them, a cynical look on her face.
"Ha ha ha!" Dash's obnoxious laughter could be heard throughout the school yard as he finished hanging up the last nerd by his underpants to the new Casper High Ravens statue installed over the summer. "With my power as a high school senior, I now declare you nerds as my punching bag for the rest of the school year!"
Sam pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to Tucker saying, "Don't rub it in, Foley."
Tucker took it with a grin and replied, "Wouldn't dream of it. Though the statue does look better now."
The statue was commisioned by Principal Ishiyama at the end of the last term, and was supposed to be a way to raise school morale as well as be a good luck charm for the school. It was essentially a large raven getting ready to toss a football, as that was the sport that drew the school the most attention and donations. The raven was supposed to look majestic, but it just looked like the mascot suit had been frozen in stone, making it look blocky and unbalanced at best. Danny shuddered at the thought of having to see it every day, as he personally knew how bad that suit actually smelled and how hot it got.
The nerds were hung on the bird's beak and feathers, and somehow made it look like the raven had just charged the three boys and were taking them with it to the goal line. Around the statue, spectators were pulling out their smartphones to take pictures of the unfortunate trio. Tucker did the same, snapping a few extra, as he wanted several angles to laugh at later. Finally, he and Danny weren't the ones being picked on!
"Mr. Baxter!" The voice booming across the yard belonged to Mr. Lancer and he did not look happy. "Get those pasty nerds off that statue and get to class! That goes for the rest of you too!"
"Hey!" One of the nerds stopped struggling to cross his arms and glare poignantly at Mr. Lancer. "I'll have you know I spent many hours in my basement playing dungeons and dragons to get this pale! My bard rules over all!"
Next to him, a shorter boy whose face was covered in acne turned to argue with his friend. "Dude, bards are almost as bad as warlocks and a few lucky dice throws aren't going to convince me otherwise. No matter how many Owlbears you help defeat, your class is still going to be lame."
"I'll have you know," the first nerd said, pushing up his glasses, "that bards are a lot stronger than any of you plebians would ever understand. Gandalf was a fifth level bard himself and even Merlin was..."
"Ugh not another tangent on bards!" The third nerd threw his hands up in the air and tried in vain to twist himself around from where he hung on the beak to glare at his friends. "Everyone knows all you're good for is buffs and a song or two. The sorcerer is best. Haven't you ever tried fried goblin?"
"Um, no." Mr. Lancer was below the statue now and gazed up at the boys, confusion on his face. "Goblins are fictional and don't exist. And no Prisons and Lizards will help you in your studies. Now get down and get to class" He lifted the first boy down onto the grass and moved to the second.
"It's dungeons and dragons." The boy complained. "And roast goblin probably tastes delicious!"
The boy advocating bards rolled his eyes at his friend. "Oh give it a rest, Sheldon. No one cares about your imaginary meats."
With Sheldon finally off the statue's beak, the students began to shuffle inside under the watchful gaze of Mr. Lancer, with the three nerds bickering the whole way.
"Paradise Lost! This is going to be a long year." Mr. Lancer muttered as he turned to join the students heading indoors.
On the other side of town, Albedo had just stepped through the portal into Amity Park. The portal shut down on this end, though it was primed and ready to be reopened on the other end. He looked around, gauging his new surroundings. He wouldn't be able to stay long, maybe eight hours at the most. For the portal to be open longer, he would have to travel to Earth and set up base there. Troublesome, yes, but Earth was a big planet and he didn't have to go near Tennyson just yet. Today he would scout around for a few hours, then head back and continue on his journey.
New calculations were needed, and so many questions were begging to be answered. For instance, was there another Ben in this universe? Or another omnitrix? Perhaps even another one of himself. Oh, the possibilities were endless. He couldn't wait to get started.
