"I KNEW YOU WERE ONE OF THEM" she shrieked as she charged Dan. He dodged her easily, but before he knew it she was after him again.
"One of them?!" He yelled jumping away from another blow, "What the hell are you talking about woman?!"
Becca stalked him across the living room towards the bare brick wall, her hands clenched into fists with trails of ecto-fire billowing up from them. "I don't have to fucking explain myself to the likes of you." The closer she came the more feral she looked, her teeth had slightly elongated to fangs and her fingers had morphed into glowing claws. Dan had to get her under control and fast.
Just as she drew back for another punch, Dan turned invisible and jumped behind her. Before she could realize what was happening, he spun her around and threw her against the brick wall. Holding her hands above her head he was able to concentrate on getting eye level with her.
"If you would just chill the fuck out I can explain what's going on," he growled, "but I need you to fucking behave."
Her response was to reach out with her teeth and snap at his neck. Tightening his grip on her hands his patience was about to wear thin when he saw her eyes flicker back to their original teal color. The whites were still black, but the wild angry glow of her green irises were starting to morph into a look of confusion and terror.
"Wh-what's happening to me," she sobbed before passing out cold. Catching her before she fell, Dan carefully picked her up bridal style.
"Fucking great." he mumbled, trying to figure out what to do next. With a wave of his hand a portal appeared, stepping through he made his way to a certain clocktower to demand some answers.
When Becca finally started to come to, the first sense to register was her hearing. Laying there with her eyes clamped shut she tried to focus on the different voices seeping through her conscience. One in particular she could faintly recognize, hearing someone even slightly familiar helped soothe her rising anxiety. Whoever it was, they were pissed. Funny, even when this person was screaming their head off the deep baritone of their voice still made her weak in the knees.
"You fucking said she didn't know about ghosts! How in the hell did she know what I was then?!" the voice bellowed.
These words made her memory come flooding back. Her head began to pound as she forced her eyes to open. As soon as she took in the scene before her she wished she would have just stayed asleep. Across the room from her were four men, or ghosts rather, all pacing back and forth. One had blue skin, red glowing eyes, a purple tunic and a staff with a miniature clock on top. He was the one Dan was screaming at, or at least she assumed it was Dan. He had his same hulking physique the same facial features and the same deep voice, but instead of having black hair, tanned skin and blue eyes, he had flaming white hair, light aqua skin and red eyes.
The other two ghosts stood off to the side close together, the older one was wearing a white tux with a red and white cape, had black and white hair, red eyes and light blue skin. The younger one is who caught her attention though. He looked the most human out of all of them, the only thing unnatural about him was his Snow White hair and glowing green eyes. She couldn't stop staring, he looked so familiar! Then she realized as she glanced back to Dan, the two of them could pass for brothers.
No one had noticed she had woken up, so she just laid there on what she guessed was a chaise lounge and watched the scene unfold. Her eyes were about to close again when her head started to pound. Reaching up from under the blanket they had given her, she pulled her hair out of its bun in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. That was when the younger ghost noticed she was moving.
"Hey you guys," he called over to Dan and the blue ghost, "She's awake." They didn't even hear him. Continuing in their argument, he rolled his eyes and him and the ghost in the suit came towards her. She sat up quickly scooting back towards the arm of the couch trying to put as much distance between her and them.
"It's okay my dear," the older one soothed, "Were not going to hurt you."
"He's right." the younger one agreed, "We're here to help you. My name is Danny," he pointed to himself, then to the older ghost, "And this is Vlad Plasmius."
"Feel free to call me Vlad, my dear."
She sat there stunned, not sure what to say. "Umm, hi Danny, Vlad. It's nice to meet you?" She questioned with uncertainty "My name is Rebecca." She glanced back across the room, Dan and the other ghost were about to go to blows by now.
Following her gaze Danny answered the question on her mind. "You've already met Dan the Dickhead, but the other ghost's name is Clockwork."
"Ah," she nodded stifling a giggle. Giggle? Why the fuck am I giggling at a time like this?! "And what exactly am I doing here?"
"That's something better answered by Clockwork," Vlad mumbled, "You weren't doing so great when Dan brought you here which is why we came."
"Where's here? And what happened to me?"
Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Again, questions better answered by Clockwork." he glanced back at the two spirits and yelled, "Which if he would QUIT ARGUING WITH CAPTAIN FUCKING DOUCHE CANOE HE CAN ANSWER!"
"Language, little badger." Vlad reprimanded.
"...sorry." Danny muttered, but his outburst finally got their attention.
Dan was surprised to see that Becca had come to, so he quickly phased into his human form hoping she hadn't seen too much.
"I've been watching you fight for five minutes Dan." She deadpanned, "You can go back to your original glowing self."
He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well excuse the hell out of me. Last time I did something ghostly in front of you, you attacked me."
"What are you talking about? I didn't-" she began to argue when another memory flashed through her mind. She remembered the bright red flames that were coming out of her hands, looking down at them there wasn't any signs of any damage. She looked down to the rest of her body and stretched looking for any other signs of evidence of what happened, but she found nothing. It finally dawned on her that the only thing she was wearing was Dan's oversized shirt and her underwear.
As if reading her mind, Clockwork came to sit by her on the cough. Skipping introductions, he went straight to answering the question that was running through her mind. "Rebecca, what happened to you last night was an unstable manifestation of your reaper powers."
"M-my what?" she gaped incredulously.
"Let me start from the very beginning." And with that Clockwork launched into his lengthy explanation. By the time he was finished, he had revealed everything about Becca's past, as well as everything about her father. When he was done with his spiel, everyone sat with baited breath to see how she would react.
"So let me get this straight," she closed her eyes and tried to force her thoughts to straighten out, "My father was the reaper king, he was overthrown by some ancient ghosts, and now I have to learn to control my abilities, take over his throne or the entire world will be catapulted into chaos?"
"Yup." Dan mumbled. He had settled himself across the room at Clockwork's desk, his feet were propped up and his hands were clasped behind his head with his eyes closed. Seeing him be so nonchalant when her world had been turned upside down made her want to throat punch him.
Rolling her eyes, she focused back on Clockwork. "And what if I don't want to step up? Why can't I choose a successor or something?"
He shook his head, "In order to be reaper king or queen, that person has to have what we call a neutral spirit. You're responsible on deciding if someone goes to heaven or hell, therefore your spirit has equal parts evil and good. Get someone who's more partial to one side or the other then all the souls would end up in either heaven or hell."
"How am I supposed to learn my powers? Especially in such a short amount of time?" she asked, the reality of everything starting to hit her. "Last night only happened because I was scared and pissed."
Dan stood and walked towards the couch. "That's where I come in. Over the next few months it's my job to train you physically as well as spiritually. Your powers come with a mean punch, if you don't have the physical strength to keep up then you won't be able to control them."
She shot him a go to hell look. "Are you seriously saying I'm out of shape? Do I look overweight to you?! Dancing takes a lot of strength believe it or not."
"Just because you have a shape doesn't mean you're in shape." he mumbled absentmindedly while examining his fingernails.
"Not everyone can be a steroid pumping beefcake like you," she spat.
"You're just jealous your boyfriend will never look this good." He nearly purred flexing his bicep. Before she could argue any further Vlad raised his hand to stop her.
"As much as I hate to admit it Rebecca, Phantom is right." he agreed "Physical and mental strength go hand in hand. If you want to be able to control every aspect of your reaper half you'll need to get stronger in all areas."
"So, after I get through this training, what happens then? Is there like a coronation or something?" Rebecca asked the group innocently.
Dan barked with laughter, but a stern look from Clockwork shut him up pretty quickly. "There's one other thing I need to show you." Clockwork stood up, signaling for her to follow him.
Swinging her legs off the couch, she relished the cool shock the tile floor gave to her feet. Standing up slowly, she followed Clockwork, Danny and Vlad out of the office while Dan trailed along behind her. She was thankful that the t-shirt landed right at her knees so it was like she was wearing a dress, but even if it hadn't she wasn't the type of person to be shy with her body. She turned her attention to the three ghosts in front of her and what they would have to show her.
As they continued along the hallway, Dan couldn't help but be surprised at how well Becca was handling all of this. Maybe she was in shock, but she seemed to have accepted her newfound fate pretty well. He also couldn't help but grin in satisfaction at how well his shirt fit on her petite curvy body.
Feeling his gaze burn into her back, Becca peeked over her shoulder to scrunch her nose up at Dan in disgust. Instead of taking his eyes off of her like she wanted, he just smirked, shot her a wink, and kept on staring. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she whipped her head back around to hide the uncontrollable blush that had started to bloom on her cheeks.
Dan burst out laughing, earning him an annoyed growl, but before she could come up with a witty comeback they had made it to Clockwork's lab. The first thing she noticed was a giant metal capsule that went from floor to ceiling situated against the back wall. Random tubes and machines were hooked up beeping away showing different bits of information that made no sense to her.
Stepping up to a control panel next to the capsule, Clockwork started typing away on the screen. "This is where your reaper half is housed." He began, "Your father had it separated from your human half when you were young right before he erased your memories. This is the form you'll merge with once you're ready to take your father's place." He glanced back at her with a questioning gaze, "Would you like to see it?"
Becca gulped suddenly not sure if she wanted to or not. "Do I have a choice?"
"Nope" Dan quipped from behind her.
"Yes," Clockwork corrected, "you do. Though I do believe the more you see the easier it will be for you to process everything. Ultimately it's up to you."
She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. One thing she was coming to learn about Clockwork, he wasn't one to beat around the bush. He was always to the point, and in a situation like this she appreciated his direct attitude.
"Might as well get it over with." she groaned. Crossing her arms nervously over her chest, she watched as he typed away on the screen. She jumped when dan leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"Don't worry, I've seen your reaper half. She's not that scary looking."
"Really?" she asked hopeful.
"Yup," he leaned in even closer, his breath on her neck caused her to shiver, "She's actually pretty hot."
Throwing him a dirty look, she smacked him in his chest. "Fucking asshole."
He crossed his arms and chuckled. Becca turned her attention back to the pod as the metal casing started to open. Inside was a glass capsule that held a bright glowing liquid, suspended there she laid her eyes on her Reaper half.
She stood there eyes wide and mouth hanging open in shock. Her Reaper half looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Gathering up her courage, she stepped closer and placed her hands on the thick plexiglass. Dan was right, she didn't look scary. She looked like Becca's twin physique wise, but her hair and skin was what took her by surprise. Her Reaper half's hair was a tad longer than her human hair. Instead of the usual black it was an electric purple, her skin tone was a beautiful sage green instead of its usual alabaster.
The only feature that was way out there were her ears. They looked like damn elf ears, but she figured she's lucked out if that was the only ghostly thing about her other half. Gazing into that capsule she almost started to feel at peace, as if the pieces of her chaotic life were finally starting to fall in place. The serenity didn't last long, because next thing she knew a pulse shook her reaper half and made her heart seize.
Alarms immediately started going off as her reaper half slowly and deliberately opened her eyes. She wasn't afraid before, but she was now, because instead of gazing into her usual human teal eyes she was staring at the black and glowing green depths of what looked like a demon.
Her reaper half swam up to the glass, lips twisted into a snarl showing off a mouthful of glistening fangs. Before she could react, Dan had snatched her away from the glass so Clockwork could slam the metal plates back into place.
"What the hell was that?" He asked, arms still wrapped protectively around Becca. "I thought you said her other half was stable?"
"She is, but the longer we wait the more unstable she'll become." Clockwork explained.
"Which is why the sooner the two of you get started on your training the better." Danny huffed. Seeing him glare at the two of them Dan growled as Becca stepped out of his arms.
"Okay okay, I get it." Becca reasoned. "We'll get started on it first thing in the morning. I need one good nights sleep this week before we start working on all this mess."
"That's fair," Clockwork reasoned, motioning for everyone to follow him out of the lab. Everyone walked to the entry doors to head on their own ways. Once they reached the doors, he turned to Becca. "If you need any help, you know where to find me."
"Same for us," Danny added, "Just let us know if you need anything."
Dan threw his arm around Becca and opened his own portal. "Thanks guys, but I think I can take it from here." Pulling Becca close to his side he muttered down to her, "Hang on tight reaper girl," and with that he pushed them back through to the human world.
