"Haha! Come on Shane hurry up!" 18-year old me yells as I run through the trees. I turn back a moment, to make sure that I'm still being followed.
Shane pants as he tries to catch his breath by a stump. "Wendy where're we going?" We're in the woods-part of the park, the sea of trees where Shane and I used to play as kids.
"Just keep up and you'll find out," I smile before disappearing behind another tree.
As tired as Shane is, he smiles and shakes his head. "Since when is she ever this enthusiastic about anything?" Shane walks forward to keep up with me, only to find he's really lost me. "Wendy?" I call. No response. "Come on I hate this whole you-can-see-me and I-can't-see-you thing."
Weirdly enough the air around the trees grow darker and darker, and the trees start to disappear behind the darkness as well until there's one bright tall tree left. Shane walks towards it and looks behind, only to see a faint image.
It's 14-year old me, hand-in-hand with 14-year old boy named Alex Foley. It's like a flashback, the two of them as a couple, to a time where Shane was at his most conflicting of minds. Shane turns around and he's met with another image of the present. He sees himself and me, arm in arm, only for it to start fading away.
"Wendy wait!" Shane calls out, running to our image, only for it to fade into sand and wind. through his fingers. "What the hell…?"
A girl's giggle is enough to make me spin back around and see a third image. Only it's of me and this blond guy Shane don't even know. He sees them talking casually, and for some reason Shane feels a small pang in his chest he can't register. The image fades into a different one: of me and the same guy sitting together on what appears to be a date. Then the blonde puts his arm around me, and I lay my head to sleep on his shoulder.
"Wendy?" Shane asks, not understanding what he was seeing. Where he was right now.
Just when he thinks it can't get any worse, he see the blond and me as older people. Adults graduating college together. Shortly after the image turns into one of marriage in a quaint church. The sound of applause rings as they kiss, and adult-Shane's in the audience, clapping to a bittersweet sight.
"Ahh!" Shane gasps, sitting up. He finds himself in the Fenton's Room, with Nett asleep in a nearby mattress and Danny in his own bed, drooling. "Just a dream..." Shane breathes out, holding a hand to his head. It wasn't like him to have such anxiety-driving dreams, but this one was just crazy. As he falls back to his pillow, Shane tries to go back to sleep, only for his eyes to open back wide up. "We're in 2007."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It's the first night sleeping in the year 2007. So when I wake up, it's a little hard to remember yesterday's events. Was it a dream? Am I at Crissy's place sleeping over and that's why I'm not in my room? It hits me when my legs automatically find their way to this walk-in bathroom.
My first instinct is to wash cold water over my face to wake me up and smooth out my short hair from its bed-head formation. But as my blurry morning vision cleared and sunk down the sink hole with the cold water, I then notice my distinctly younger reflection in the mirror and- "AHHH!"
"Wendy?" My door bursts open with Sam looking in. She notices my empty bed then the light inside the bathroom from the open door. She rushes to see what happened and sees me, my bottom stuck in the bathtub and some toiletries scattered along the floor. I had tripped backwards and, here I was. "Are you okay?" Sam asks, bewildered and wide awake.
Sore, I blow a little hair out of my face, and try not to look to horrified at my mother's younger, same-age appearance. "... Yeah," I say swiftly, taking everything in all over again, only in three seconds.
Good God it so wasn't a dream.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Meanwhile back at Fentonworks...
"So your parents are at work..." Nett tries to accept. He, Shane, and Danny were walking down the stairs to the kitchen. "... What the heck do they do?"
"Something ghost-related," Danny shrugs, not quite knowing himself. "All that matters is that they're not down in the lab." The boys settled yesterday night that they would be doing the training in the lab downstairs. Straight into the kitchen, they stop suddenly seeing Jazz already there. "Oh. H-Hey Jazz good morning," Danny snaps chipperly.
Jazz arches her eyebrow. "Morning." She eyes each of the boys one eye one, as if they'd done something wrong. "Okay this is creeping me out. Danny I'm going to the library today. You babysit okay?"
"We don't need babysitting," Nett defends as Jazz walks past them, but she doesn't say a word as she makes her way out of the house. "Wow she's... she's uh..."
"Kind of a spazz?" Shane finishes.
"W-What no! No no no I mean to say eh um-"
"No she's a spazz," Danny affirms with a straight face.
"Knock knock! Look who I brought!" Tucker greets, running into the kitchen. Sam and I were right behind him. From what I'm getting, Tucker is definitely a morning person, whereas Sam is not. "Jazz let us in. She okay she looked kinda spaced."
"Don't ask," Danny finishes, getting some juice boxes from the fridge. He tosses one to each of us. "You guys eat breakfast?"
"Tofu-Pancakes," Sam and I respond together, her a little more enthralled than me. If one thing hasn't changed it's Mom's diet. And me having to go along with it.
Danny blinks. "... So some toast then?"
"Yes please," I smile, taking a seat at the table. I notice Shane nearby, sitting too and staring off into space. I arch my eyebrow and poke his shoulder. Mm. No response. "Hello? Earth to Shane?" I call, waving my hand in front of his face.
"Mm?" he replies cooly. "Oh sorry."
"Sleep okay?" I ask with a sympathetic smile. "Don't worry. I had a rude awakening, too. I totally forgot where we were and just freaked out when I saw myself in the bathroom."
As distraught as Shane still looked, my story sparked a half smile and a controlled chuckle from him. "Figures. But I'm fine. Just had a rude awakening too, that's all."
"Was it Nett?" I whisper, glancing to our Foley scarfing down cereal Sam poured for him and Tucker. The two appear to be having an eating contest, and slightly scaring my mother.
"Actually," Shane starts out, sitting up. "Wendy you think you and I can ta-"
"So what're we doing today guys?" Danny asks, walking up to the table. "We got the lab all to ourselves."
Nett shrugs from where he is. Totally not being asked the question but he replies anyway. "Beats me. Wendy's the teach. Hey Teach what're we doing?"
I can't help but just glare are Nett, reminding me that I have to be a teacher this morning. I don't mind teaching Danny, it's just, I dunno. Part of me just really doesn't want to go back to ghost business. "Why don't we go downstairs and wing it from there huh?"
"I'm down with that," Sam shrugs.
After a short breakfast, together we walk to the space in the wall that at first I thought were be obscured by, well, a wall. Instead it's an open downward staircase that Sam, Danny, and Tucker walk down casually, and it's so brightly lit. I'll remember before when we'd go down these stairs, there were no lights in the living room or the kitchen, and it'd lead to a pitch black stairwell and into a huge dark room where we'd have to find the light switch. Here it's... just another part of the house.
Then if the stairwell was one thing, the three of us seeing the lab was definitely something else. "Dude," Nett gapes, and we just stop.
The lab, is just soo... alive. No rust anywhere. No dust or cobwebs everything. Everything or rather anything here looks new. No missing tiles or broken beakers. And major pieces of furniture like tables and major machines are just where they were. My mind instinctively fades back and forth between our lab and this one, like a flashback. Or flashforth... My mind's shutting up now.
Danny stops, realizing we have. "You guys okay?"
"Y-Yeah we're fine," Shane answers for us, catching himself, as do I. "We're just-"
"Wow," Nett finishes, not having snapped out of it yet. I slap him on the back of the head, causing his glasses to fall forward on his nose.
"So uh, how does this training session work?" Tucker asks curiously.
"Yeah. What did future-me used to do when he'd train you?" Danny asks, grinning with excitement. "Should we try this the same way?"
At that moment the three of us over here have our own unique facial reactions. Nett looked ill. Shane's eyebrow arched up as his frown lowered. I looked somewhat (totally) disturbed. "No," all of us respond together without having a second thought.
Sam, Danny, and Tucker look rather curious about our instant opposition to the simple question. But come on - he would NOT want the same training method I had. Life endangering ghost tests? Sending my own super powered buddies after my pupil to help 'build character'? (Plus I don't even have ally ghosts to send after Danny anyway)
"Hey..." Nett whispers to me very quietly, looking around first. "Maybe you should try a different training method-"
"I know!" I snap, unsure of how to go about this. Maybe that's what's getting to me. Instead, I take a deep breath first. "Alright, how about you go ghost and show me what you can do first?"
"Sounds good to me," Danny grins, jumping up and going ghost. Watching him do so makes me nostalgic, but I put my mind to the back of my head.
Meanwhile Shane and Nett walk over to the sidelines as they used to when they'd watch me train, only they're alongside Sam and Nett now. In the distance they watch Danny and I converse, before Danny starts demonstrating what he knows.
"So," Tucker starts out, suddenly in front of Nett. "Feel like having a tour of the 2000's lab?"
Nett's face brightens, and the two boys run off to go inspect the lab's gadgets together - whereas Sam and Shane watch on. "That was quick," Shane notions.
Sam almost laughs before turning to the boy. "I'm guessing your Nett's our version of our Foley?"
"You have no idea," Shane says, resisting the urge to laugh at the double meaning. He then turns his attention towards our training session, watching me try to be a mentor. While watching Danny and me, Shane's attention drifts towards the closed yet fully operational Ghost Portal against the wall. Curiosity can only fly.
"Looks cool doesn't it," Sam catches, causing Shane to flinch away his gaze.
"Huh?"
"The Ghost Portal?" Sam crosses her arms and looks at it, too. "That's the thing that got us all into the mess in the first place, not that we regret it or anything."
"What happened?" Shane asks.
Sam looks up, recalling the day. "Tucker, Danny and I were hanging out around down in the labs one day over the summer. Danny's parents just built the portal, only it wasn't operational yet."
"The parents couldn't find the right part or something?"
"Try the right button. Apparently they put the 'ON' switch inside the portal walls, only we didn't know, and apparently neither did they." Sam smiles. "I had this stupid idea to mess with it and pursuade Danny to go inside. So he put on a suit, walked in, accidentally switched the portal on and bam - Portal glows green and when Danny comes out, he's black and white."
"He became part ghost..." Shane realizes, looking at Danny now.
"So what about your girlfriend?" Sam asks. "How'd she get her powers?"
After all these years Shane still can't surprises even the slightest color tint on his face at the mention of 'girlfriend'. "She's not-" Shane cuts himself off, remembering who and where he was.
Sam looks at him strange. "She's not your girlfriend?"
"She is," Shane answers, taking a breather first. "Sorry. It's just that back when I actually was fourteen like this, it was always my first instinct to say she wasn't. And, well, now she is..."
Sam smiles, content with that. "That's sweet. How long'd it take for you two to get together? Couple months? Years?"
"How'd you guess?"
"I can read people," Sam smiles proudly, arms crossed and no hesitation in her claim. "Plus she really seems to like you."
"You can read that?" Shane asks in disbelief. In plain sight he can barely notice himself.
Sam scoffs. "Please. Anyone with eyes can see that. She talks to me about you sometimes." Shane blushes, and then frowns. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Shane replies flatly. But if he knew Ms. Manson from the future, there's no doubt her dotting personality would be the same here. "I'm just, getting a vibe that maybe... maybe it's time we, took a break is all."
"..." Sam remains silent, unsure of how to react to this sudden turn of news.
"It's not that I want to it's just," Shane pauses, watching me and Danny spar as he tries to think of words. "We're all going to college soon. The three of us. And, I feel like if I stay with Wendy then I'll just be holding her back."
Sam can't quite comprehend that. "How?"
"I don't know," Shane shrusg. "Wendy's an amazing friend. She's bound to attract some real good guys in college. And, I wouldn't want to be the person to hold her from that opportunity, that's all."
"That's a stupid reason," Sam reacts.
An inner click goes off in Shane's head, not exactly expecting that as a reaction. Then again, if Samantha Manson was any forward and blunt as her daughter, then this was it."What?"
"I know I'm not person with dating experience but, I just don't see why two people should break up over something like that," Sam reasons, arguing incredibly justifying, as if she's arguing a case in a trail. "If two people really like each other as much as they say they do then they should be able to get through anything, even college." Sam turns to Shane, a regretful frown on her face. "And by the looks of you, you must like her a lot."
"Mm." Shane continues to watch me at work, critiquing Danny. The dream he had last night of me with another future guy just seems to reply in his mind over and over. Maybe that talk with her last night about getting over things is getting to me.
Meanwhile with me and Danny, Danny's so far shown me that... He can barely fire anything ray-like, he always accidentally turns intangible, has trouble turning things invisible, can't do shields, and, well, nothing else yet.
"Ooh ooh ooh how do you do that ghost-duplication thing?" Danny asks with eagerness. He seems so happy about having a teacher - much more than I ever was. "I've always wanted to learn that. Do I ever learn how to do it in the future?"
"Well, I guess you do," I say, trying to recall that power or how Danny taught it. "Now that I think about it, you didn't really show me how to do it. I sort of learned on my own after you told me to try and it became an instinctive thing."
"Oh," Danny slumps. "I see."
Heh, Dad wasn't kidding when he said it took him forever to learn Duplication. I smile sympathetically. "But hey, at least you can fly straight. It took me months to learn how to even keep my place in the air." Danny smiles, too, feeling comforted. "Okay, let's deal with basics first I guess. Ecto-Rays."
"Alright."
I take a stance, and Danny automatically copies me like a mirror's reflection. As he does, I automatically flash back to Danny's lesson many years ago.
"Now we'll be focusing on your ecto blasts," Danny begins to teach.
"But I can already do those."
"Yeah, but only small ones. You want to be able to fire larger sources of energy at ghosts." He flies a few feet away. "Here, try and fire at me as practice."
"You sure? I don't like the idea of trying to shoot you."
"He's only comfortable with letting her shoot him because he knows she'll miss," Shane remarks quietly, causing small laughs amongst him and Nett.
"I heard that!" I bark.
"Any time you want to fire ectoplasmic energy, you'll need to focus consciously every time," I say seriously. "It sounds tedious, but you'll get the hang of it in time. Your body and ghost energy will adapt to the action to the point it eventually becomes second nature. By that point long period of focus will merely turn into a second of thought."
"You really know what you're doing."
"I learned from the best." That compliments earns another smile from Danny, and he begins to practice focusing and meditating mentally, just as I instruct him.
Along the hour of training, I demonstrate old martial arts I try to make Danny copy, all while incorporating ecto-energy. Punches that fire. Jumps that boost your speed. Kicks that shoot flames. Okay so maybe he isn't as... cool as his future self. Maybe a bit more clumsy... and nerdy... and clumsy. I feel like I make it look easy, even without powers, but I notice Danny struggle. Nonetheless he remains persistent.
"Oh man, it's the Fenton Fisher," Nett gawks. "And the original Ghost Gauntlets. And the original Ecto Skeleton! Even the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick!"
"Wow, if you know what the Anti-Creep Stick is then you really know your stuff," Tucker says, watching Nett name remotely everything in the lab.
"Sort of forced myself to learn," Nett reminisces. "When Wendy and Shane would be in trouble, I'd have to do something and well, computers was the only thing I was good at at the time, so I had to make do with that."
Tucker's eye slight up. "Someone who gets it!" Tucker exclaims, grasping Nett into a tight hug. Nett blinks his eyes, glasses crooked. "Dude, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!"
Nett coughs, still trapped in the hug. "You don't get out much do you."
Suddenly a siren starts to go off, from the top of the ghost portal. Everyone stops what they're doing and turns to the portal. "Siren. Siren's glowing what's the siren for?" I ask urgently. I don't remember that ever being a lab feature.
"Ghost!" Danny warns as the doors slide open, revealing the beautiful neon green circling light from inside. It has me almost in a trance until three ghosts fly out - those three bird vultures. Those guys? "Get behind me," Danny says, stepping in front with an extended arm.
"There's the girl!" one of the birds yell, facing Sam. Her eyes widen as all three birds look to her and Shane. I feel my heart beat with fear. Suddenly everyone's on end.
"Now what do these bird-brains want?" Sam panics, cornered by the table.
"I dunno," Shane says, next to her at the moment. He looks to me first and connects suddenly that he's been tasked with protecting my mom. "But it can't be good."
In seconds the lab becomes a battle royalle with Sam as the target. Danny takes out two birds while Shane pushes Sam out of the way. Tucker throws Shane a ghost weapon as he uses that to defend himself and Sam.
"Wendy!" Nett shouts, tossing me a metal rod from the floor.
Running I jump and catch it, running over to help Danny. I may not have ghost powers anymore but that doesn't mean I can't help fight. Danny's beaten one and has it flying to the wall. Another one I clock with a swish of the rod, me landing back to back against Danny. "Danny you alright?" I ask, out of breath.
"Yeah-DUCK!" With a swift duck Danny shots a small ecto energy ball at a bird behind me. And as Danny jumps for a split second, I swing my rod across the floor to throw the bird across the lab.
"AAAHH!" Tucker and Nett scream as a third bird closes in on them, only for the bird Danny and I just hit to fly into theirs, knocking both out of the way. The fight continues with us all trying to keep the ghosts away from Sam. At one point I see one knock Shane aside and he crashes into some beakers near the lab tables.
"Shane!" I don't need a second thought to run to him, all while Danny flies to Sam to protect her.
"Who sent you!" Danny orders. "What do you want with Sam!"
"We're only following orders, kid, now hand her over." The three birds corner in on Danny and Sam, while Danny tries to generate another ecto-beam. Only for some reason I see him struggling. It's not working. Oh man... "W-Wendy! Wendy I'm not working!" Why do I feel like I've said that too at one point? "Focus focus focus." Danny hand merely flickers a green light, like a broken light bulb, and I feel a sudden horrific pang run through me.
"This isn't good," Shane winces, me helping him sit up. "What are they after Sam for anyway?"
"I don't know," I panic, looking around for any last minute plan.
In the midst of my anxiety, I almost overlook Nett's wildest last resort idea. I have to do a double take at the ridiculous sight. "What the..."
He stands near the entrance of the lab, holding some form of of projectile machine. "Please work...!" Nett squeaks, pressing a button. Out of this giant Fenton device, it shoots two of the Ghost Gauntlets, sending them flying towards the birds. The force of the metal gloves are enough to throw all three birds towards the other wall of the room, where Tucker reopens the ghost portal just in time to send them, and the Gauntlets, back into the Ghost Zone. With them gone, Tucker shuts the portal immediately after, and then the roof-high tension... is gone.
All of us are standing where we are, frozen and out of breath and completely dumbfounded at what just happened. I know we used to have sudden ghost attacks in our days but, this was just completely random. "What just happened?" Sam demands.
"They said they were looking for you. What'd you do?" Tucker recalls as he walks over.
"I didn't do anything!" Sam defends, stepping out from behind Danny. "And they weren't looking for me they were looking for 'a girl'. We all know how bad those geezers are at assassinating and finding their targets!"
"Maybe they were looking for me," I pick up, suddenly very guilty for putting everyone in danger. As sudden an assumption it sounded, it sounded pretty realistic. Shane places a hand over my shoulder as I see Sam and Tucker's feud die down.
"Hold on we don't know anything yet," Danny defends, turning back into his human form. "If anything I know it's that they must've been sent by someone. Those three aren't smart enough to pull a heist all their own."
"Well who sent them then?" Tucker asks. "Could've been anyone."
"Anyone with a target," Nett weighs in. "Female one anyway."
"Whoever they are," Shane begins, looking from Sam to me. "They were definitely looking for one of you two. Only why?"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Shortly after the incident in the lab, all of us went back upstairs to cool off and calm down. I had broken down into a guilty wreck, so Danny offered me his room where Nett and Shane could talk me down. Sam, Danny, and Tucker were meanwhile down in the living room, trying to sort out this mystery.
"Geez," Tucker says. "Girl sure knows how to feel the blame."
"This isn't funny Tuck she thinks this whole thing's her fault."
"Well lots of other attacks end up your fault but you never feel this bad," Tucker points out.
Danny's expresion remains stagnant. "Thanks, Tuck."
Meanwhile upstairs, I'm sitting on Danny's bed next to Nett, as Shane stands next to the window nearby. "Guys, what the hell are we doing? Thinking we could get by just by hanging out with Danny? We don't even know how this will affect the time stream or us or our parents back home and-"
"I think we've already passed that line, Wen," Nett says, only to receive a glare from Shane. Nett thinks quickly. "Stop being so hard on yourself. We don't know anything yet about who sent those birds or who they were really after."
"It doesn't matter who they were after. My point is I was training Danny and, something happened and I put him and Sam in danger because of it." The image of Danny's horror-stricken face when his ecto beams wouldn't work is plastered in my mind. This foreign feeling of overprotectiveness and guilt just overcame me there, and I'll never forget that feeling.
"Oh now that totally couldn't have been your fault," Nett opposes. "If Danny ends up in a situation where he can't control his powers yet then it's not your fault."
"But it could be," I say, looking down. He believes in me to be his mentor for all this. How can I compare to him who taught me? "I just don't think I can take the guilt of knowing I was a bad teacher, and the one to blame if anything bad ever happened to him."
"Look, Wendy," Shane says, coming up on my other side. "I know how you tend to go overboard with the whole self-guilt thing, and I know you know it, too. But beating yourself up like this isn't going to make you feel any better."
"Yeah, but it'll remind me that I still have to find a way to get us back home somehow," I remind.
"You mean we still have to find a way," Nett corrects with an arm around me. "Shane and I aren't the same spineless teenage boys we used to be; relying on you all the time for the big stuff. You can count on us now, too, okay? We're all gonna get ourselves out of here. Together."
"As corny as Foley sounds he's right," Shane nods.
Aw. Horomes make me want to cry. "Thanks guys," I smile quietly.
"We're gonna go down back to the others. Feeling well enough to come with?" Nett asks, standing up.
"No I think I'll just stay here a bit longer," I say, wiping my eyes with my wrist. Nett doesn't say anything more and he makes his way to the door.
Shane's on his tail, but stops before he can pass me, and he bends over close to the side of my face. "You sure you're okay?" he asks one more time, reading past me.
Come on Shane. Nett just ended with a cheesy uplifting pep-talk. Can't I leave it at that for now? "Later," I let out quietly, admitting I wasn't totally okay but I didn't want to continue the conversation here at FentonWorks. Shane keeps his same doubting look, but leaves me be. Just before he turns around to leave, I suddenly throw my arms around him in a last-minute hug. Whether out of gratitude for the talk or just for comfort. Nonetheless he hugs me back and smiles once more before he follows Nett out and closes the door, leaving me to my lonesome. I groan to myself and lay back.
Danny, Sam, and Tucker are conversing amongst themselves in the living room when they hear footsteps and see Nett and Shane coming down the stairs. "So how is she?" Sam asks.
"Wendy-ish," Nett replies. "Don't worry she'll be fine eventually. She gets pretty hard on herself sometimes so this is fine."
"Maybe I should talk to her," Danny offers, standing up from his seat. "Can I?"
Shane and Nett are left standing there, unsure of what the right answer was. "Go ahead," Shane shrugs, thinking it couldn't hurt. So as Shane and Nett step aside for the Fenton, they take his seat around the coffee table. "So what were you guys talking about down here?"
"We were narrowing down possible suspects for who could've sent the ghost vultures," Sam eplies, sitting back with her legs up on the table. "And so far-"
"-it's going nowhere," Tucker finishes off, holding up a practically full list of names on a piece of paper.
Shane takes the sheet as he and Nett read off it. Nett adjusts his glasses and closes in on it. "Ember. Skukler. Ttechnus. Poindexter. YoungBlood. Spectra. Klemper. The Box Ghost- What is this a ghost hunter's shopping list?"
"It's a list of all the ghosts that have hired the Vultures in the past to fetch something for them," Tucker replies pretty casually. "So this isn't the first time we've seen those three. They're almost as constant as the Box Ghost, so it's hard to figure out who sent them this time." Shane turns the list over, only to find more names. "You can see our predicament."
"Well this totally narrows it down," Shane sighs with his trademark sarcasm. "So we really have no leads?"
"No names. No motives," Sam narrows down as she leans forward. "But we did try speculating why they'd want me or Wendy. Me, well, I'm Danny's friend so maybe as bait for him? That was our guess."
"As for Wendy," Tucker states. "I'm just as lost as Danny is."
"You think someone knows where we're from?" Nett asks.
"It wouldn't matter, would it?" Shane asks. "I mean, Wendy doesn't have any powers so what use would she be to a ghost in the Ghost Zone?"
As the four teens conspire in the living room, Danny finds himself knocking upstairs on his own bedroom door. "Um, h-hello? It's me, Danny. Can I come in?"
"Y-Yeah," I stammer, rubbing my eye a quick second before he walks in. "Are you okay?"
"I think I should be asking you that question," he smiles, walking over and sitting next to me. Leave it to Danny to keep a smile on his face after all this. Even before when he was my mentor he'd always maintain this happy attitude despite my whinish one. "So are you?"
"I'm fine," I sigh out, keeping emotions under control. No I'm not. "I'm sorry Danny. I don't think I can keep up this whole teaching thing."
"But we were doing so well," Danny points out. "I finally know the magic behind those ecto-blasts thanks to you." I give him a half smile, but Danny isn't content with that. Danny tries to think for a moment before it hits him. "You were worried about when I couldn't get the attack out."
I look away out of stubbornness, not wanting to talk about it.
"Can't expect me to know everything after one training session, you know."
"But I could when you were my teacher," I mention, saying something I probably shouldn't have. Too late now, though. Danny's hooked. My heart feels for the father I've lost, resting somewhere in the afterlife now. It feels so surreal seeing him right here next to me at the same time, as a kid. "When you were my mentor, all you have to do was tell me what it was and how it is and, as untalented a Halfa as I was I got it. It was all because of him. You."
"You're telling me there wasn't one instance where your powers wouldn't work," Danny tries.
"Well yeah of course it happened but..." My voice trails off. "Mm... If I was ever in a situation I'd never tell Danny." I hug my arms, remembering. "He'd worry."
Danny sends me a sympathetic look. "Sounds like me," he starts. "Hey, I don't know how good I get at being a ghost in the future, but if anything never worked out for you, you had your friends to back you up when I couldn't, right?"
I can't count the times Nett and Shane had my back when my powers got out of hand. Like when I got stuck up in a tree and the baseball fence, Shane would climb all the way up to get me down. Or Nett and his crazy contraptions and last minute save-Wendy plans. I'll never forget when he crashed his father's cr through Aragon's castle in the Ghost Zone. The reminiscing brings a faint smile to my face. "They did." I look to Danny, who's wearing a hopeful expression. "Can I trust that Tucker and Sam will be there for you when I'm not around?"
"You can count on that," Danny assures. It wasn't a big talk we've just had, but I feel like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. Even when I was a Halfa in training and didn't tell Danny everything (what girl tells their father everything?) he must've been worried sick a lot, and I bet he had to put his trust in Nett and Shane to look out for me when he couldn't even leave the lab. Now I need to do the same and trust Tucker and Sam to watch over Danny.
Danny and I walk downstairs together, expecting to see the others conversing still. Instead we find them all sanding around. Baseball mits and a Fenton Creep Stick on the table. "Guys?" Danny starts.
"I think I have an idea," Nett says, and I assume this is all this brilliant updoing. "It's another training exercise for Fenton here," he tells us, tossing a baseball up in the air.
Seeing the baseball reminds me how bad I am with this sport, and I take a stomach-churning gulp. "Dare I ask?"
"Danny's ecto beams are all in the wrist, right?" Nett says, imitating him by holding the baseball in-between both hands and out. "If we practice some catch then maybe that'll do something."
"Sounds fun," Danny grins. "You up for some catch, Wendy?"
"I think I'll pass," I say with a flat knowing face and a hand up. If anything hasn't definitely changed, it's my inhumanely horrible hand-eye-coordination.
I see Shane walking up to us, too. "Besides, I was meaning to ask if you wanted to walk around instead while Nett stays here." The offer surprises me, but Shane seems serious about it. "Come on. You could use the down time."
Danny nods. "Go ahead; explore. We'll just be here."
I'm a little worried spitting up again, but I take Shane up on his offer and nod. "Alright."
PREVIEW:
All the kids jump out of the way and behind a nearby car on the curb, waiting for the smoke to clear. "O-Okay. What was that?" Nett panics.
"Hold on," Sam squints. "It's... Plasmius!"
x-x-x
"If my calculations are correct then the settings are exactly the same as when Danny got his powers." Tucker looks back at me for the go. "You ready?"
"Do I really have to answer," I say, shakey.
x-x-x
"Just, get out there. Be free and become this macho successful artist I can brag to my college friends about one day," I say, seeing it now. He'll be amazing. Have everything he wanted. Even some girl... "Staying in Amity Park won't do anything for you."
"You really think I should go?" Shane asks me, inwardly wishing I was doing otherwise. Begging him to stay. To say 'I'll wait for you'. But he can't ask that. Never. I nod, and that's all he needs. "Okay then," Shane finalizes. "If we ever get home, then I guess that's where I'm going."