Squares, Arrows, and… Ghosts?
As Sam and Reynie had expected, the room was on the seventh floor. They had ignored the door at first, since it didn't have a label. But, after passing rooms 7-A, 7-C, 7-D, and 7-E, they concluded that the door was what they'd been looking for. Kate, being the boldest, knocked loudly. Then, when she got no reply, she knocked again. And
again. And again. Then they finally got a reply.
"That's enough knocking." A deep, calm voice said. Which, surprisingly, the beholder of the voice was close to the children. All six of the teens shot around in surprise. A tall, lean man in a worn-out hat, jacket, pants, and boots stood before them. His cheeks were ruddy and dark with some whiskers; his hair, the little that showed under his hat, was a yellow color. His sad, ocean-blue eyes appeared to frown, generating a wave of sadness. Danny didn't even need to come in contact with him to know something was wrong.
Reynie, who had also noticed he was sad-looking, questioned, "Are you
feeling all right, sir?"
He shrugged indignantly and replied, "Not really. But that's neither here nor there. Are you all prepared for the third test?"
Kate took a step towards the man, unfazed by his sadness. "But we haven't even had a proper introduction!" She forcefully stuck her hand out. "I'm Kate Wetherall. But my friends call me—" she turned back to look at her new pals. All gave her doubtful looks. "Well, they call me Kate."
The man shook the blondes hand hesitantly. Everyone had also introduced themselves, Reynie noted that Danny didn't bother to shake hands. He tucked that question away for later, for it was his turn to shake. He frowned when he did. His handshake seemed almost helpless, he had barely squeezed.
"Now that we've met, I do believe we have a test—"
"But you haven't introduced yourself, yet!" Sam pressured.
Danny cowered a bit. The man had very powerful emotions. He was too scared to find out what would happen if he shook his hand…
His attention was snapped back into place when he heard the man let out and annoyed vibe and sigh. "Call me Milligan. Now, which one of you is George?"
Kate and Sam scowled slightly. "Weren't you listening?" Kate demanded. "Our names are Reynie, Danny, Tucker, Kate, Sam, and Sticky!"
Sticky held up two fingers nervously. "Well, my real name is George. Sticky's just my nickname."
"Wait," Tucker order. "Your names George Washington? Like the first p-p-p." He never finished, for he had cracked up into a fit of laughter.
Sticky glared at Tucker. "It's not an uncommon name, so don't tease me!"
Reynie placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, Sticky. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."
Danny huffed. "Yeah, Tuckers just being Tucker. Him and Sam gave me an awful nickname one time." Before anyone could ask about it, Milligan intruded.
"I doesn't matter what your name is. Sticky, or George, you go first. Walk into the room and shut the door behind you."
"I have to go in alone?" he whimpered quietly.
"It's quiet all right. After all, it is only a test. The others with be with you shortly."
Danny gave him a clap on the back, which Reynie and Sam mimicked. "Best of luck, Sticky," he said.
Sticky entered the room.
Kate seemed angered, Sam, who felt the same way, stomped furiously on the ground, huffing. "Do you believe that?" Kate demanded. "He didn't tell us anything!"
"Big surprise." The three males teens muttered. Sooner than expected, Milligan returned. It was Tucker's turn.
Bravely, Tucker entered the room. He glanced around his surroundings, noting all the small details. Then, he frowned. He had read the sign and didn't know what to do about it.
Then a thought clicked. Tucker got on his back, legs up towards the celling, and used his arms to push himself towards the other side of the room.
After that, Milligan returned. Reynie's turn. "See you on the other side." Kate said, grinning. Reynie entered the room.
Five minutes later, Milligan returned. Sam's turn. Sam, who refused
to show a hint of fear, waltzed in.
She read the sign, then sight heavily. She calmly removed her spider backpack and tossed it to the other side of the room. She took a few steps back, then ran. Sam cartwheeled to a large red circle that was placed in the center of the room.
Samantha regained herself, then repeated, cartwheeling to the other
red circle on the other side of the room.
Milligan walked out of the door casually, announcing it was Kate's turn. Happily, Kate stormed into the room.
Next, it was Danny's turn. The Halfa walked into the room cautiously. He stopped. A large sign hung from the roof on the other side of the room. In a quiet whisper, he read it aloud to himself. "Cross the room without setting foot on a blue or black square."
Danny looked at the floor. It was completely covered in black and blue squares, except for the red circles at the ends and in the middle. Did they know about him? Do they expect him to… fly? Deciding that if they had indeed known, they would've acted funnier. Plus, how else would everyone have passed?
Danny gave an angry sigh. How was he going to do this? He glanced
back at the sign, then the floor, back at the sign, back at the floor. He blinked a few times. He smiled. Then, the Halfa walked across the floor calmly.
The ghost boy walked through the door on the other side. Reynie was smiling at him while all the others gave him confused looks. Milligan showed no emotion.
All six kids ended up following Milligan down a dark hallway. All these insect crawled in and out of random cracks… probably creeping out al the boys. But, Sam and Kate were unaffected by the insects.
Danny, thanks to nifty ghostly vision, had no trouble waking through the vast tunnel… the others, well, let's just say Sticky cringed every six or seven-seconds. But, quickly thinking about something else besides the bugs, Sticky turned his attention to two boys with rhyming names.
"Not that I'm upset or anything, but how did you guys pass the test? I'm really glad you did, don't get me wrong! But, Tucker an I crawled, while the girls just did some tricks, but you two walked right across the floor. How?"
Danny smiled, not that anyone could really tell; as did Reynie. "Sticky," Reynie began, "the floor was covered in rectangles. Not squares." Danny nodded in silent agreement.
"Oh." Sticky spoke, meekly. He might remember anything, but he certainly wasn't very observant. Tucker hung his head.
"Well, I'm glad I crawled. It just shows how pure awesome Sticky and I are!"
Sam and Kate shared glances, then broke out into a fit of laughter.
When they finally calmed down, Kate asked, "Hey, Milligan?" The tall man glanced at the girl. "Where are we going? And, where are we?"
He sighed, sucking in his emotions unknowingly, which made Danny frown. "Right now we are under Fifth Street. And we're going to the final test."
"Another test?" Tucker complained, exasperated. He was very lucky to have made it even this far… how was he going to pass another test?
Then, Danny caught sight of a glimpse of sunlight. And, after five minutes of walking, the group saw it, too. The bright light illuminated the darkening tunnel, causing everyone to squint under the powerful rays.
Then, when their eyes had fully adjusted to the sun, they realized
Milligan had disappeared. Instead, a short, fat man stood in his place. Instinctively, all of Team Phantom crouched into a defensive stance, and, so did Kate.
"Who are you? Where's Milligan?" She demanded. Then man frowned at her, removed his glasses, and pointed to himself.
"Right beside you."
Danny stared in awe at this man. He had completely changed his appearance. And, he did it faster than Bertrand.
"Are you a magician?" Tucker questioned, completely forgetting the fact he might be a ghost.
'But, then,' Danny thought, 'he would've set off my ghost sense.'
"I am nobody." He replied plainly. He sped his pace up a bit, striding to a three-story building in the distance. Within seconds, the hexad had reached the building and entered.
As soon as they did, Milligan said, "Go and wait by those steps. Rhonda will be here shortly."
"Kazembe? Rhonda Kazembe?" Reynie asked, but he received no answer. Milligan had left them, this time, though, no one else stood in his place.
"I don't suppose you think we'll meet anyone normal today, do you?" Kate asked the others.
"Normal's overrated." Sam answered tamely. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed, while the remaining four boys shrugged.
They walked over to where Miligan had told them to. But Reynie was still curious about something. Cautiously, so he didn't upset his friend, he asked Sticky, "Did your parent know about you-"
"We already talked about this." Turning to the girls he explained, "The women avoided our question on wether or not she called Reynie's tutor and Danny and my parents."
The Halfa placed a hand on Sticky's shoulder, trying to get a reading. Stress. Nervousness. Those were the two big ones.
"Did something like that happen to you guys?" Sticky asked the other three.
Sam and Tucker shared a look, then Sam answered, "Well, it doesn't really matter. Tuck's parents only care if we make it home by eleven."
"I don't have parents." Kate said honestly. All the others looked at her, eyes wide with sorrow. "My mom dies when I was little and my father left me when I was two."
Sticky was horrorstricken. "I'm so sorry."
Kate grinned bravely. "Don't be. I still have one memory about me dad."
Sam quickly sat down and sat criss-cross-applesauce. "Spill, girl." She ordered playfully. Kate complied when she saw the other's agreeing nods.
"Well, it was at this old mill we used to hang around at. I played in the cool water, splashing to my hearts content. Then my dad, I still can't picture his face, lifted me up, and then carried me to the house. I asked if we could go to the mill again, and I recall him saying, 'Certainly, Katie-Cat.' That much is completely clear. Katie-Cat."
"Did you ever go back?" Danny asked. Quickly, he promised himself that they all would return to that pond, his heroism wouldn't let it be otherwise.
"No. Next thing I know, I'm in an orphanage."
"That's strange, Kate." Reynie mentioned. "Your dad seemed like a, well, a nice man."
Kate scuffed angrily. "I know. So, he must've changed."
"That's awful." Sticky said, completely thrown back.
"Hey, guys, it's okay, really. I've had a blast working in the circus. Completely lifted my spirits."
"Circus?" Danny asked, slightly suspicious. Ever since Freakshow... Danny shivered at the unpleasant memory.
Kate laughed, her mood suddenly brightening. "Yeah! I ran away to join when I was seven. They had to return me, but I ran away again. I did that few times, then they finally agreed to let me remain part of the circus.
"But," she continued. "I wanted to do something different. So, when I saw the add, I said bye to my circus pals, and, well, here I am!"
"That's... an interesting life." Reynie said truthfully. "Does the circus help? I mean, like, do you ever miss your parents?"
Kate, slightly annoyed, stated, "What's to miss? If they left me, they left. As I said, I don't recall anything about my mother, and who would want a dad that left you? Clowns and tigers are so much better."
Danny suddenly felt a huge wave of distress. But, not from Kate; but from Sticky. "Hey, you all right, buddy?" He asked, feeling a bit gloomy, too.
Sticky glanced up at Danny, then back down at his shoes, seemingly finding them interesting. "Yes. I was just feeling sorry for Kate. It must be awful to know that you weren't wanted."
Kate laughed, "Dude, weren't you listening? I've had a blast!" Then, forgetting Sticky's shocked expression, she began to tell all these tales about her life in the circus. She told them about cannons, elephants, tigers, and acrobatics until the matter of parents was dropped.
An hour later, all the kids began to complain about hungry one another were. By Danny's watch, he knew it was well past eight.
Then, Rhonda Kazembe entered, or, at least, they had assumed it was Rhonda. For this new girl had the same, dark skin, she was the same height, but her green hair and puffy white dress were long gone. In fact, she had lovely dark braids hanging around her face and wore a simple blue jumper and sandals.
"Hi, kids! Remember me?"
"Rhonda?" They asked simultaneously.
"I sure hope so. If not, then someone is playing an awfully mean trick on me." She said with a laugh.
Then, just as she stopped laughing, Sam and Reynie gasped dramatically. "Why, you're not even a kid! You're a grown-up!" Sam motioned, stating the obvious.
"A very short and young one, yes."
Suddenly, Reynie pointed an accusing finger. "I just knew you were hiding something! I just thought it had to do with the fact that you were cheating!"
"No. I just had to distract you guys and call attention away from my age."
Kate leapt to her feet, followed by Sam and Danny. "Here's a thought. Why don't you give us some food and we can discuss this next test?"
Rhonda waved a taunting finger back and forth. "Not just yet. But whether you pass of fail this next test, you are promised a filling supper. Deal?"
"Deal!" Kate said, readily agreeing.
Rhonda smiled gently, then walked over to a black door. "Let's begin, shall we?"
"When I order you to, one of you must go through this door. Once you reach the back of this house, just run up the stairs and ring the bell. Don't dawdle, you are being timed. Questions?"
"Will this test be harder then the other ones?" Tucker asked nervously.
Rhonda shrugged. "You may find it difficult, but you should be able to do it with your eyes closed."
"Will it be scary?" Sticky questioned, worriedly.
Again, Rhonda shrugged. "Possibly, but I can assure you it isn't dangerous."
"Who goes first?" Reynie asked.
"Well, since this is such a large group, we have to send you in in pairs. So, you and Danny get to go first. Next is Sticky and Tucker. Then Kate and Sam."
She shoved the two boys in.
The room they had entered was brightly lit with black walls. The door that was behind them was painted black and had no doorknob, making it blend in with the walls. Three doorways– one on each wall– passed into a pitch black room, which Danny could easily see. The doorways had no doors, so you could just walk through to the other room.
The pair glanced at each other, then, nodding to each other, they headed through the doorway in front of them.
Then Danny's ghost sense went off. The cold, blue wisp of mist escaped his mouth. Reynie stared in pure shock. It wasn't cold in the room. Then, why could he see his friend's breath?
"What was that?" he asked, taking a step back.
Danny, ignoring his question, took a defensive stance and began to eye the room's perimeter. This was the first ghost encounter since he had arrived in Stonetown. He would've readily transformed, but someone was with him.
"What was that?" Reynie repeated. When he saw his friend look at him, he knew something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
Danny was debating on whether or not to reveal his secret. He knew he could trust him– all of them. Something told him that. But he didn't want to. He wasn't ready. But, protecting others was more important than protecting his secret.
"Promise not to–" his ghost sense went off again. This time, though, Danny shivered.
Then the ghost appeared.
It was a particularly annoying ghost. He was fat, blue, and wore a pair of overalls. "BEWARE! I AM THE BOX GHOST! I DIDN'T LIKE TO HAUNT THAT PLACE WITHOUT THE OCCASIONAL FIGHT! SO I HAVE COME HERE! PREPARE TO FACE MY CARDBOARD BOXES OF TERROR AND THE BUBBLE WRAP OF DOOM!"
Reynie gasped, but, thankfully, didn't scream.
"Boxy, do you have to do this now? This is knid of important." Danny said, clearly annoyed.
Reynie stared at Danny. "There's a ghost," he paused, a small smile tugging on the ends of his mouth. "Who fights using boxes?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah. He's such a bug." Reynie laughed.
"HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR DOOM!"
"As I was saying, promise not to tell anyone what you are about to see?"
Reynie nodded.
"Good. Here it goes. Goin' ghost!" (I am so sorry. I just had to do that!)
Two of the familiar blue-white rings emerged from Danny's chest. They quickly propelled each other into opposite directions, one going up, one traveling down. As they did, they turned him into Danny Phantom, his ghost form, now hovering three feet in the air.
Reynie gaped.
"Now, Boxy, are you going to get into the thermos nicely, or must I make you?" Danny taunted, pulling out a green and silver thermos with the word FENTON on it. It had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Actually, it did.
Ghosts, you see, have a 'storage space', if you will. They can out any items in it, and take them out at will.
"YOU CANNOT CONTAIN ME IN THAT SOUP CANISTER! CIRCULAR CONTAINERS ARE NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH TO CONTAIN THE ALL POWERFUL BOX GHOST!"
Danny rolled his eyes. "Wanna bet?" he challenged, uncapping the thermos. The Halfa pressed a small button, making a blue spiral emerge from the device. Danny aimed it at the Box Ghost, allowing it to suck him in, his faint cries barely noticeable.
Reynie was fully and completely awed as his friend– who he now realized was a hero– land gracefully on his feet. He. Had. Turned. Into. A. Full-fledged hero.
"That. Was. Awesome!" He shouted, unable to keep his excitement under control.
Danny turned to face him and smiled shyly. "Thanks. You won't tell anyone, would you?"
Reynie was a bit shocked by this question. he had no one to tell– well, besides Kate and Stick, for he had assumed Danny's friends new. "I won't tell anyone." He promised.
Seeing the relieved look on Danny's face, he continued, "Well, let's solve this test."
They had been discussing what to do about this test. It was harder then they had anticipated it to be, which upset them a bit.
But, then they remembered the clue Rhonda had given them.
"Solve it with our eyes closed." Danny repeated slowly, closing his eyes.
Reynie walked around the room they were in currently. It was just like all the others, but this time, he just happened to notice a strange panel by one of the doorways.
"Danny, look at this."
The Halfa opened his eyes and approached his friend. He stared at the panel. It was a simple, wooden panel. It had a blue arrow pointing to the right, a a green one pointing to the left, a wiggly yellow one pointing to straight ahead, and a purple one pointing down.
"Do you think we follow one?" But, as soon as he asked it, he knew he was right. It was that feeling again. The one he had felt during the test, telling him he had chosen the right answer.
Reynie nodded. "The question is, which one?"
"The yellow."
Reynie stared at Danny, half impressed, half shocked. "Why would it be– oh! I see. Let's go."
And they followed the wiggly arrows.
Soon, they came upon the stair case. Both boys sprinted up at lightening fast speeds. When Danny got there first, he heaved on the bell.
Mrs. Jobozle walked out of a door with a stopwatch in her right hand. "Ten minutes, forty-two seconds." She stated. "Now, come with me."
She walked over to the boys with two handkerchiefs in her hand. The pencil women tied them around their eyes and lead them back to the starting point. She then untied the them and said, "Solve it again." Before leaving out a random doorway.
Reynie and Danny shrugged at each other, then took off racing, following the yellow arrows.
"Two minutes, thirty-two seconds." She reported to them. Calmly, she lead them up more stairs and gestured towards a coach.
"Did we pass?" Danny asked, not sitting on the coach.
"We asked to complete the maze to see if you had actually solved it. Couldn't have you coming upon it be luck, could we? If you solved it, you would've been much quicker the second time around, which you were. Therefore, you pass."
Reynie stared at her. "Why not just ask us the secret?"
"You know what, you'd be surprised how few children pointed that out."
Then she left, leaving them alone in the room in complete and total silence– at least for now, anyways...
Danny had been showing Reynie all his neat-o powers when the bell rang. It had rung before Danny was halfway showing off to his new friend. Instantly, he shifted out of Phantom.
The bell had been rung very loudly, too, making Danny and Reynie wince. Then Kate and Sam strolled into the room.
"They didn't need to go through a second time?" Danny asked, somewhat jealous.
Yellow suit shrugged. "No point." Then, she left again.
Kate and Sam turned to face the boys. "A second time?" Sam asked.
The boys then exclaimed the little event. (Too tired to elaborate right now.)
Then, when they were done, the girls told them how they 'solved' the test. Sam began.
"We unscrewed a heating duct and crawled through, simply going to the back. It was a tight fit, too. Kate had to tie the bucket to her foot. I kept hitting me in the hand."
"I said I was sorry."
"Anyway, we just unscrewed the other end and plopped down by the staircase."
Twenty minutes of boredom had passed. The group had tried to keep themselves entertained, but, they failed when the piano did. It hadn't made a sound because all of the people had replaced the string with books. Kate had made a snotty remark at it.
Kate had continuously reorganized her buckets possessions, when a thought, or question, popped into Reynard's mind. "Why the kaleidoscope?"
The blonde picked it up and inspected it, debating something. Conceding into Reynie's question, she replied, "Since we don't really have any secret here," Danny cringed, "I'll tell you."
She uncapped it, revealing a small, round telescope. "It's really a spyglass. A very good spyglass, actually, so I wouldn't want anyone to steal it. So, I disguise it as a kaleidoscope, a bad one at that, so no one even thinks to take it."
It was such a great idea that everyone in the room smiled widely. "That's pure brilliance!" Reynie exclaimed.
Kate beamed, but frowned when her tummy growled. Sam's smile vanished, too. "Do you ever think those two are going to get here? I'm starved!"
And, to answer her exasperated question, the bell rang. Only once, and very quietly. Then came a voice, Tucker's, Danny recognized. "No, you gotta do it harder! Like this!" The bell rang louder, though not as loud as Kate's had.
Reynie smiled. "They shouldn't be long. Once we figured out the secret, it took us only about three minutes to make it through."
But they waited. Three minutes became five. Then five became fifteen. Then came the ring.
The two boys entered the room. Tucker was smirking and Sticky was grinning shyly. Yellow suit entered behind them, she was also smiling.
"Congratulations! You all pass!"
The teens cheered with happiness, but soon became quite when they realized that the pencil women was no longer there.
"She really likes to leave us hanging, don't she?" Kate huffed. Then she turned her gaze to Sticky and Tucker. "Reynie here said there was a secret. Then, why did it take you two so long to find your way through the second time?"
Tucker smiled brightly. "I figured out the arrows. We had decided to split up–"
"You decided." Sticky corrected. Tucker waved his hand, dismissing the correction.
"–and I found it out pretty quickly. Stick, on the other hand, why don't you tell them?" Then he sat down next to Danny and whispered, "You're gonna love this."
Sticky's skin turned a deep shade of rose. "I tried my luck. Just passing through doorway after doorway."
"And you found it faster the second time?" Danny asked, a but impressed. "You must've gotten really lucky."
"What? Oh. no. The second part was easy. I just retraced my steps. Left, right, straight, left, straight, right, left, left, right, and so on. Exactly as I did before."
"Exactly as you–" Kate mumbled, to shock for better words.
"That's absolutely amazing!" Sam finished for her. Then, out of the blue, Reynie starts laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You took the hard way, buddy!" He said between coughs of laughter.
"There was an easy way?"
Tucker smirked. "Follow the yellow arrows."
"Oh. That would've been nice to know."