Chapter Four: An Interview
"Dann-o!" his dad's voice whipped up the stairs. "The interview's on in just a few minutes!" Danny, who had been skyping Sam and Tucker to come up with a plan to find out who wanted to expose him—among other things—closed his laptop's lid, jumping off his bed to go downstairs.
Despite his protests, his parents had insisted on watching the interview as a family. "Aren't you proud?" his dad had asked. "Your parents are famous!" Danny had almost rolled his eyes at the proclamation; one interview at the local news station did not make a person famous, but his dad seemed so enthusiastic, grinning and nearly jumping, that he didn't want to burst his bubble.
So he'd said, "Yeah, great," and somehow he'd ended up agreeing to watch it with them. As he entered the living room, the two were positioned together on the couch, watching the TV with an anticipation hardly restrained. Even his mom was excited and nervous, tapping her foot with a giant smile across her face. Lucky Jazz was still out doing something—probably for class or whatever—and wasn't present. He got his parents all to himself. Joy.
"Oh, I'm glad you're here, Danny," his mom said. "They're just about to begin!"
Danny sat down in a chair to the right of the TV and prepared himself to lie through his teeth. He had to know what his parents' game plan was, what people thought of him. He had to know how dangerous going ghost would be, how hunted he would be.
If anyone would be willing to defend him, now that he wasn't "just a ghost."
Danny closed his eyes briefly before he let himself be sucked into the interview that would determine whether his parents were going to take his half-human status into account. He opened them as his dad turned up the volume.
"Welcome to Amity News at Nine, everyone. I'm your host, Lance Thunder, and this is my co-host, Tiffany." Lance shows off his pearly whites. "We're here firstly to discuss matter of the famous ghost boy known as Phantom."
"As of right now," Tiffany begins, "there have been no sightings of Phantom since the news. This is unusual in that Phantom can often be seen flying through the air at least once a day—or at night. It is likely that he's heard the call, and his reaction suggests the information on him, that he's half-human, is true. How he will act when he eventually shows himself, probably through a fight with a ghost, is up for debate."
"However," Lance takes over again, "how is it possible? How can someone be half-ghost and half-human? Earlier today, we interviewed two leading experts on the subject: Jack and Maddie Fenton. They are best known for their highly effective ectoplasmic shields and their ghost weaponry, though they have also dabbled in clean energy, inter-dimensional theory, and ghost anatomy. Unfortunately, we couldn't have them live on the show; they are very busy people.
"So, without further ado, we will show you what we believe to be the most vital clips of the interview. For the full thing, you can go to our website at or watch it tomorrow morning on our seven o'clock show." After he's done speaking, the scene of him and Tiffany fades to them sitting on one end of a room, Jack and Maddie on the other.
"We're so happy you were able to come in!" Tiffany exclaims, clasping her hands together in her lap and leaning forward. "Our viewers are very curious to see what you two have to say on the subject of the possibility of a half-human, half-ghost hybrid."
"We're happy to be here and answer all your questions. It's rare that Jack and I get to speak to the public about this sort of thing," Maddie responds, beaming. Beside her, Jack looks as if he can barely contain his excitement. He bounces a little in his seat.
"I'm sure," Lance says. "We're very lucky the two of you are here. I think our first matter of business is how possible is it that Phantom really is half-human, as the unknown caller claimed?"
"Actually, though Jack and I initially rejected the possibility, we spent time researching the idea, and now we have a few hypotheses that could explain the matter. We are unsure, though, how this caller managed to discover that Phantom is half-human and not his identity. It's a rather large leap to make on your own. Jack and I have always known something was off about the ghost boy, but before we suspected he was perhaps a different kind of ghost, not a hybrid."
"What exactly makes him different?" Tiffany asks.
"Well, for one thing, he exhibits behavior that doesn't directly tie in with an Obsession. He doesn't ramble about it, and what it is isn't clear," Maddie says.
"Which is unlike other ghosts," Jack adds excitedly, "who just say just what it is. The hunter ghost goes on and on about the hunt; the box ghost talks about boxes; that technology ghosts rants all the time about its mastery over all electronic devices. But the ghost boy? His behavior isn't consistent. He doesn't ramble on about anything in particular, aside from puns, maybe, and he has many different powers rather than a focused few. Beyond that, he also does a number of different things. Mostly, he fights, yes, but he also simply flies around for no particular reason. The most popular belief is that Amity is his haunt…" Jack trails off, as if finding the idea doubtful.
"But," Maddie says, "he's been seen elsewhere, fighting ghosts. Not even just in nearby states. Do you recall those popular rumors about the demon-ghost serial killer in California that popped up last year? We went to investigate, but when we got there, it had already been taken care of. The person who'd solved it matched Phantom's description exactly. And that's just one example."
"So, what hypotheses have you come up with?" Lance questions, obviously keen on directing the conversation back to where it had began.
"The second most likely hypothesis is that Phantom has—and this is a tad gruesome, so prepare yourselves—animated his own corpse," Maddie answers, pausing to wait for a reaction. Lance blinks in surprise, looking green, and Tiffany's eyes widen.
"Why on earth is that the second most likely theory?" Tiffany asks.
"Hypothesis, dear," Maddie corrects absently. "In science, a theory is generally backed with extensive evidence. Regardless, we believe this because of how Phantom looks."
"His proportions," Jack starts to explain, gesturing animatedly, "are perfect. Other ghosts, their arms are too long, they grow in size, they shrink, their shoulders are too broad. Phantom exhibits none of this. He looks like any other teenager.
"Say Phantom died, but for some reason he got stuck here, instead of moving on to the Ghost Zone. And he sees his own body, and he knows it's him. So he tries to reunite with it, and his developing ectoplasm fuses his consciousness to it. Aside from the glow, Phantom also has the coloring of any normal human. Green eyes and very pale blonde hair. It's entirely possible, and it would make him a hybrid of some kind. He might even need to sleep, eat, drink, and breathe. His organs, powered by ectoplasm, would also work."
Lance sits back and Tiffany's mouth gapes. "Wow," he says. "That's… crazy."
"It may even be possible," Maddie says, "for him to turn off his aura and live among us, just with an uncanny resemblance to Phantom. He could stay in some nearby city or town and come in whenever there's a ghost to fight, as unlikely as that sounds."
"And the second?" Tiffany asks.
"The second is even darker, but the most likely," Maddie warns. "Perhaps Phantom is even more malicious than his actions with the mayor or the robberies indicate. He might, when he's not fighting, take up residence in some poor innocent person to hide from hunters who would put him in the Ghost Zone where he belongs. Over time, it's possible he completely integrated with this person's body, a prolonged overshadowing that pushed the person's real consciousness dormant. He'd fly out to hunt ghosts, leaving the human body inert and coma-like, only to return and possess it once more."
"It is possibly the most likely hypothesis," Jack says, "because the other two require circumstances that are near impossible to happen."
Tiffany swallows and Lance covers his mouth with his hand.
"I almost don't want to ask, but the third one?" Lance questions.
"The most unlikely of the three," Maddie replies, "is that Phantom somehow is both alive and dead."
"We believe it may be possible," Jack continues, "for a human's DNA to fuse with ectoplasm and give them a ghost-like abilities, along with their normal human characteristics. This could only happen, though, if they were somehow exposed to massive amounts of ectoplasm. Lethal levels, but instead of complete death, they get ghostly DNA."
"We haven't worked out all of the details, however," Maddie explains. "And, when we look deeper, this may not even be possible. But our research currently points to the idea that this could happen, and it could make Phantom 'half-human.'"
"If this were to be the case, he could still have a completely alive human body. His own family may not even know he died," Jack says.
"But this hypothesis is the least likely of the three?" Lance confirms, and the two hunters nod.
"And as for Phantom's 'secret identity,' do you believe that the GIW, and others, should be looking out for a teenager?" Tiffany questions.
"Yes." Maddie uncrosses her legs and re-crosses them opposite of how they were. "For the first hypothesis, it is obvious why. For the second, Phantom died when he was a teenager, and thus if he were to take permanent control of a human body—" the news anchors shudder at the thought—"he would likely choose one that was familiar to him. Around the same age he died, similar build and coloring, male."
"The third is a little trickier," Jack says. "But if he still has a functioning, living body, he is likely still growing, and his ghost consciousness would reflect that. If you look at pictures of him from three years ago up to now, he does appear to grow. Of course, this could also be a result of the ghost becoming more powerful and expressing that, or of him drifting further and further away from what he originally looked like."
On this last word, the screen changes back to the live video of Lance and Tiffany sitting at their desk.
"So, there you have it, folks!" Lance says. "Our 'hero' may not be as heroic as he seems: maybe he's an evil ghost that likes to possess the body of a teenager, or he's tragically attached to his own dead body."
"Again, for the rest of the interview, go to our website or join us tomorrow on our early show. Anyway, what hypothesis do you think is what's really going on, Lance?" Tiffany asks. Lance looks to his fellow host.
"To be honest, I have no idea. But I've seen footage of Phantom saving people—in fact, he saved my fiancé—so I find him possessing a teenager's body to be too out-of-character to be true," Lance defends. It's clear he's on the ghost boy's side.
"What I really want to know is who could possibly benefit from outing Phantom this way," Tiffany says.
"He has lots of enemies." Lance sighs. "Perhaps one of them found out he was half-human and decided to make his after-life miserable."
"I suppose," Tiffany agrees reluctantly, but something seems to be wrong to her about this scenario, something she can't quite put her finger on it.
"But we'll never know until the ghost boy's exposed, unless he decides to confess. With his disappearance, however, I don't think that's going to happen."
"I agree," Tiffany says, sighing. "And now, onto other news. Since yesterday night, a court case for suing the makers of—"
The television is muted, and all Danny can do is stare at it, hardly breathing. Human's DNA to fuse with ectoplasm. They'd gotten it spot on. Well, one-third spot on. He clutched his hoodie, feeling hot all over, like he was being slowly roasted, and everyone was sharpening their knives, ready to feast on his secrets.
"So, what did you think, Dann-o?" his dad bellowed. I think I'm gonna be sick, Danny thought. He gave his parents a shaky grin.
"It was good!" he said. "Really. But what does it mean? Are you still going to hunt Phantom?"
"Probably," his mom said, her eyes full of concern. "Are you alright? You look sick."
"Fine. Just tired." Danny recoiled as she stood up and reached across to put her hand on his forehead. "But why? If he's human…"
"He still needs to answer for his crimes!" Jack shouted, jumping to his feet. "If he's part human, he'll be tried in court. But if it's taken over some poor soul's body, Mads and I will tear it apart molecule by molecule!" He motioned ripping something in two, and Danny felt bile flood the back of his throat. He swallowed the disgusting stuff down.
"Jack," Maddie said disapprovingly, pursing her lips. "Not so loud. The neighbors will complain again."
"Sorry, Mads!" his dad apologized, just a hair quieter.
"I think I'm going to go to bed," Danny told them, getting up and fake stretching. He hoped the long sleeves of the hoodie concealed his shaking hands.
"Alright, sweetie; good night," his mom said as his dad moved into the kitchen.
"You too," Danny mumbled. He watched them go and then took the steps two at a time, racing to his room. He shut and locked his door quickly, pressing his back to the door and sliding down to sit. His parents had the key, but it made him feel better. A barrier between them and him, even if existed just in his mind.
His phone vibrated. Eleven new messages, all from Sam, Tucker, and Jazz. The latest from Tucker: U ok?
No, he wasn't. He didn't reply, didn't even pick up as his phone started to ring, letting the sound fade on its own. Missed call from Sam Manson, the screen said. He shoved his phone on the floor away from him and buried his face in his hands.
He just wanted to sleep.
AN: Thank you all so much for the response! I love everyone who favorited, followed, (especially) reviewed, or just read! Special shoutout to HDDNeptuneFTW for being the only one to mention the Buzzfeed Unsolved reference in chapter one. A thank you to my sister for looking this over. Sorry this is a little shorter than normal, but the other part I wanted to put in would've been too long.
Feel free to drop a review, and I hope you enjoyed! Look for the next update next Sunday as planned.