Chapter 6:
The Playful Spies
"Later, Skulky~!" Ellie sang happily, as her sparring partner headed home after his devastating defeat, vowing that there would be another rematch in the near future. Albeit, he vowed it surprisingly good-naturedly.
"We do battle again, tomorrow!" He announced.
"Sure!" She smiled.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" She assured, as her mechanical buddy disappeared.
The girl floated back towards home slowly, enjoying the fresh air. After the little mall outing she'd had with Sam, Jazz, and her Mom, the latter two had decided it would be best if her human half stayed hidden until they'd had a chance to discus her, - Ehem, - situation with Mikey's Dad. She still wasn't sure how she felt about that. But, Danny's time-travely friend had said that the man could be trusted, and Danny trusted him, and she trusted Danny, so she would take the chance. Now, they were just waiting on the General to get a free moment to talk, since he was busy working through everything Vlad and the G.I.W. had messed up.
It could take a while...
But, she could still hang around town in her ghost form. And, it was a lot safer for her this time, since all of Amity's ghost-hunters were now either dead, in jail, or on her side.
The green-eyed, little girl drifted around, gazing down at the city that would be her new home. She might be stuck in ghost-form, but at least she wasn't stuck behind a desk on such a pretty day, like the others. That was a plus.
She debated flying over to the school to make faces at her big brother and sister and their friends through the windows, but stopped when she spotted a young woman with blue hair. And, it wasn't Ember McClain. It wasn't even that Carson girl that Mikey kept bringing up, that made Clark giggle and Lester blush.
Curious, the little ghost nearly floated down just to say 'hi'. But, then someone else joined the woman on the ground. A guy wearing a bright, white wig. He looked like he was headed for a Danny Phantom look-a-like contest.
Y'know, except for the fact that he was wearing purple overalls, fancy dress shoes, and had a (hopefully temporary) tattoo of a vomiting snake on his face. He grinned cheekily at the woman, saying something that he apparently thought was funny.
Then, the woman slapped him upside the head.
"Ow! Angie!" He shouted, quickly attempting to right the now-lopsided wig, as the woman - Angie, - shushed him. Ellie turned invisible, floating down to listen in. Wasn't 'Angela' the name of one of those undercover Crew people?
"Toby, we're undercover, remember?" The woman scolded, her puffy, blue, musical-note-studded dress bouncing with every motion.
Well. That settled that question. So, these were the weirdos from The Nasty Burger. Ellie had to admit, she never would have recognized them. Their disguises might have attracted a lot of attention, but they certainly looked nothing like their pictures. She floated down even closer, lounging in the air casually next to the pair, her chin propped in her hands.
"I know that," The man continued, still rubbing the sore spot on his head. "I'm just teasing. Good grief," He grumbled. "It's not my fault you look like one of the Tap-A-Capella Singers swallowed a Smurf," He muttered, his grin returning.
Angie hit him, again. "Actually, it is your fault. You're never picking the costumes, again. And, where did you even get that awful tattoo?"
"Just wait 'till the end of this case, when you realize these are the greatest disguises we've ever had," He argued, folding his arms and smirking conceitedly. "And, you like it? Got it out of an egg machine, down the street. Best fifty cents I ever spent."
"It's one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen," She deadpanned. "And, I saw that moldy sandwich you kept under your bed all through high school." She shuddered. "Pretty sure that thing used to come to life, at night."
Toby looked thoughtful a moment, then nodded. "Yeah... It might've... Pretty sure I heard it growl, once," He added, before hooking his fingers like claws and leaning in towards his sister, mimicking monster noises. She yanked his wig down over his eyes. "Man," He grumbled, as he worked the stupid thing back into place, again. "I haven't seen you this grumpy since you got stuck in that secret, underground, hamster-fighting ring, in Massachusetts."
Ellie watched, as the siblings continued their hushed argument, covering her mouth to hide her giggles and silently deciding to look that hamster episode up later. These two were gonna be fun to spy on.
"Dude," Kwan breathed. "You did what?"
"I broke up with her." Dash replied, leaning back against his locker, staring at the ceiling. He looked like he couldn't decide if he was upset or proud of himself.
"But... She's gonna kill you..." The dark-haired jock noted. Dash nodded. "And, I'm your best friend. She's gonna kill me, by association." Dash nodded, again. "Bro, why?"
The blond looked at him for a long moment, first fearfully, but slowly seeming to grow more confident. Then, he looked around, before grabbing Kwan's arm and dragging him into a nearby janitor's closet.
"Dude, isn't this what the Trio does all the time?" The confused teen asked, as the two did their best to fit into the small space while still being able to breathe.
Dash looked at him, again. "...Maybe." Then, he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Do you remember when I got hit by that ray-thing, the other day?"
"Yeah..." Kwan replied uncertainly.
"So, ever since then, I've been, like... Hearing stuff."
The other's eyes widened. "You mean... You're going crazy!?"
"No, I mean -"
"Look, Bro, if the voices tell you to kill me, DON'TLISTEN!"
"Kwan!" Dash said, grabbing his frantic friend's shoulders.
"Oh, no! It's starting! SOMEBODY HEL- "
Dash slapped his hand over the whimpering jock's mouth. "Kwan. I'm not hearing voices." The dark-haired boy relaxed slightly and Dash removed his hand. "Not like that, at least." The blond started fidgeting uncharacteristically. "I think I'm... Reading peoples' minds..."
"So, you really think these bugs your parents are building will be able to detect who else was hit with the G.I.W.'s ray?" Mikey asked, as the eight teens headed for their next class.
"I guess so," Danny replied uncertainly. "At least, I hope they do. But, more often than not, my parents' inventions tend to do the opposite of what they're supposed to. Except for when they're doing exactly what they're supposed to, but doing it a little too well."
"Like, giving you a ghost-cold?" Val suggested, smirking.
"Or, sucking you into oddly-shaped containment devices," Tucker supplied, cheekily.
"Or, hitting you in the head with mechanical boomerangs?" Jazz added, grinning innocently.
"Or, separating your human and ghost halves and splitting your personality in two?" Sam piped in.
"Yeah," Danny replied, feigning grumpiness and trying to hide his own smile. "Like that."
The kids continued talking, stopping at each of their respective lockers. Finally, as they stopped at Valerie's, Danny glanced around. He thought he'd heard something, but after a moment he shrugged it off. Then, he heard it again. While the others watched Mike, Les, and Clark drool, as Tucker explained some kind of ghost tech to them, the halfa strayed a short ways down the hall, towards where he thought the sound had come from.
Dash looked at the group heading their direction, then hid around the corner. Kwan looked at him a moment, then at the group, before yelping as he was yanked back by his friend. "Dude, what the hec-"
"It's the Nerd Herd."
"Yeah. So, what?"
Dash gave him that 'I'm carrying a bombshell' look, again. "It kinda gets worse whenever I get near Manson."
"What gets worse?"
"The mind-reading, man!" He whisper-shouted.
"What, you mean, like, she makes it stronger?" He gasped. "Maybe Paulina was right! Maybe Sam really is a witch!" The two looked at each other, then peeked around the corner at the large group, who were standing by Gray's locker as she got her stuff.
The quarterback shook his head. "I dunno. I just know that, when she's around, it goes from hearing thoughts to seeing them."
"Huh. So, that's why you've been avoiding Danny. I thought it was because we're afraid of Valerie," Kwan noted. "Wait," He said, the gravity of what Dash had just said finally sinking in. "So, like, you see pictures in your head, that aren't your thoughts?" The blond nodded pathetically. His friend thought about it a moment. "Hey, did you see a picture of Star and Paulina in jail, during detention the other day?" Dash stared at him, again. "Dash?"
Then, the quarterback grabbed him by the shoulders, slamming him against the lockers. "You saw that, too!?" He whisper-screamed, a wild look in his eyes. Kwan got the sense that this was getting to him.
"Uh, you guys okay?" Then, Danny Fenton was standing right next to them.
And, then Kwan was alone, and Dash was running down the hall, screaming.
The two stared after the blond for a moment, confused. "What was that about?" Danny asked, turning to the other jock. Kwan blinked, trying to come up with some excuse.
Then, Sam was there. "Danny? What're you doing?" Then, Kwan stared at her.
"I was -" The blue-eyed boy began.
"Uh... Heh, heh..." Kwan chuckled nervously, as the other two paused to stare at him.
And, then he followed after Dash.
"No way!" Toby whisper-shouted happily, picking up one of the comics from the store's rack. "I can't believe they have a first-edition Crimson Chin! And, it's only ten dollars! Carrie's gonna be so jealous!"
"Toby, that's not what we're here for," Angela half-scolded, still keeping her ears peeled for any idle chatter that sounded promising. Then, she noticed the cover of the comic her brother was holding. "Oh, that thing? I've seen, like, twelve of those. If it's that good, why not just grab two? One for you and one for Carrie's birthday."
Toby's eyes widened. "You saw more of them?" He asked, his voice hoarse and crackling. Then, he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Angie, do you have any idea how rare these are?" He added, still keeping his voice low. He glanced around, hoping no one else had noticed the value of what was there. "Cover for me in the spy mission. I'm going on a treasure hunt." He mock-declared quietly, before rushing off to look for more paper gold.
"Toby," His sister called, but it was too late. She sighed, going back to her work, pretending to look over the story in her hands of a hero dressed in white and blue with a big chin and little, golden wings in his ears.
Then, she heard a disembodied giggle echo from somewhere, followed by a gasp, as a chill ran down her spine. She and the other people in the store looked around. The redhead didn't fail to notice how nervous the Amity Park-ers seemed, but her brother remained oblivious. As usual.
"Toby," She repeated, more guardedly this time. "Did you hear that."
"Can't talk. Comic-Booking," He replied, pulling out something else that was apparently rare, judging by the look on his face. Then, another giggle sounded, and suddenly the colorful papers slipped from his fingers and floated in the air above him. "What the -" He began, as the people in the building quickly began to scream and panic. Soon enough, the siblings were the only two left. At least, on the visible spectrum. "Hey!" The young man shouted, jumping for the floating object, completely undeterred by the fact that it really shouldn't be floating. "Gimme that!" He hopped up and down a few times, as the comic rose and fell, remaining just out of his reach. More giggling. It sounded like there were two of them, now.
"No way! I wanna read it!" A child's voice replied.
Toby didn't miss a beat. "I saw it first!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Toby, I don't think this is the time," Angela noted.
"He started it!" Her brother defended, pointing to the stolen comic.
"Did not!" The voice shouted.
"Did, too!" Toby shouted back.
"Are you some of the ghosts?" Angela half-demanded. She wasn't usually the assertive type, but this disguise was really getting on her last nerve, and the invisible voice's obnoxious tone wasn't helping. "Show yourselves!"
The second voice giggled again. "Show yourselves, she says!" The child mocked. "Get a load of this one!" As if in reply, the first voice joined in.
Ellie floated in the comic book store, watching the undercover siblings and quietly laughing at their antics. But, she just couldn't hold back a chuckle when Toby got all sparkly-eyed at some comic and declared he was officially ditching the spy job in favor of a treasure hunt. Of course, that got everyone's attention, and suddenly all the humans were looking around for where the attack would come from. Well, except for Toby, who still had his head in a bargain bin.
Then, the little halfa gasped and a wisp of blue curled out of her mouth, before a green-skinned ghost in a cowboy costume flew in, who looked to be about a year or two younger than her.
Ellie couldn't help but giggle, as Toby pulled out another book. The look in his eyes was just too hilarious, especially since his wig was now askew from his search. The new guy must've agreed with her, because he laughed as well. Then, as if on instinct, he flew down, snatching the comic out of Toby's hands. He held it above the man, teasing him with it and chuckling when he hopped up and down, his wig was bouncing with him. The little ghost-girl couldn't hold back her laughter, as the new ghost chuckled with her.
"Gimme that!" Toby shouted.
"No way! I wanna read it!" The boy argued.
"I saw it first!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Nuh-Uh!"
"Yuh-Huh!"
"Toby, I don't think this is the time!" Angela pointed out. Ellie kinda felt sorry for her. It didn't look like either of the boys was done, yet.
"He started it!"
"Did not!"
"Did, too!"
"Are you some of the ghosts?" Angie asked. Finally, she was catching on. Which should be fine, as long as she didn't know Ellie was there. "Show yourselves!"
"Show yourselves, she says!" The new guy laughed, turning to the other ghost in the room. "Get a load of this one!" Ellie laughed along with him, though she didn't know why it was supposed to be funny. "Name's Youngblood," The boy introduced, half to her and half to the humans. "Comes from the fact that only kids and childish adults can see me."
Angie turned to her brother pointedly. "Can you see him?" The man-child nodded. "Of course," The woman muttered under her breath, face-palming. Then, she glared up at the very-talkative, empty space above them. "So, you are ghosts," she deduced.
"Yyyyyep," Youngblood dragged out, nodding proudly and folding his arms.
"Ghost-Shmost! You're gonna be dead twice-over, if you don't gimme that comic!" Toby shouted, jumping again. Suddenly, a skeletal horse-thing appeared behind the young man and the green boy pushed him backwards, causing him to trip and fall into one of the shelves. Youngblood laughed some more.
"Hey," Ellie started, floating over and propping her fists on her hips. "That wasn't very nice."
"Chill out, new girl," He said, then paused, turning to the horse. "Wait, how do you say that in cowboy?"
"I believe it would be, 'Calm down, there, Little Lady'," The skeleton replied, his voice holding all he patience of someone who really wanted to strangle someone, but had given up on that dream long ago.
"Right," The boy said, turning back to Ellie. "Calm down, there, Little Lady. I reckon I was just havin' a little fun 'round here," He continued, as Angie helped her brother up.
"Well, I don't think that was very funny," The little halfa replied, gesturing to the siblings.
"Oh, yeah? Well, that figures, 'cause you don't look like too much fun, anyhow," He retorted.
"Hey! I'm plenty fun!"
"Are not!"
"Am, too!"
"Are not!"
"Am, too!"
"How's about we settle this the ol' fashioned way? With a shoot out in the streets," The boy proposed.
Ellie considered it, then smirked. "You're on, Cow-Patty-For-Brains."
Youngblood smirked back. "Fine, then, Horse-Breath."
And, with that, the two invisible children flew out the front window, the white-haired girl completely forgetting about her spy-work, for the moment. For the first time in a while, she had somebody her own age to play with.
Toby and Angela listened to the 'ghosts' go back and forth for a few moments, before the skeletal horse disappeared, and the strange chill left the store. A few seconds later, green blasts began going off outside the building.
Then, they spent another hour watching the light-show, while Toby giggled like a schoolboy at the insults the ghost-kids threw at each other.
"Okay," Jazz said into her phone. "See you in a few." She hung up, putting the little device back into her pocket. "Mom and Dad finished building their bug-things and are on their way," She announced.
"Now?" Tucker asked. "But, it's the middle of the day."
The redheaded, young woman shrugged. "That's what I said, but we need to know what to look for, just in case. So, Mom says we're just gonna have to be stealthy about setting them up."
"Cool!" Clark suddenly shouted. "Spy mission time!"
The others looked at him a moment, before Danny smirked. "Actually... He's kinda right."
"So, these guys are trying to figure out whether or not the ghosts are real?" Youngblood asked, as he and Ellie sat on the ledge of an apartment building, watching Toby and Angela spy on a hotdog vendor down below. After their battle, they'd finally been able to stop all the witty banter long enough to actually talk to each other.
"Yep," The girl replied. Back on the ground, Angela tripped over a crate in an alleyway and fell headfirst into a trashcan, as her brother and the two kids busted out laughing.
"And, they sent these two?" The boy emphasized, amusedly.
"Apparently," Ellie chuckled. She didn't understand why they'd picked the siblings, either, but she was glad that they had.
"But, why does it matter? So, what, if they find out ghosts are real?"
"Oh, I don't care about that," Ellie clarified. "We just wanna make sure they don't find out about me and Danny being halfas."
"Ohhhh," The boy droned, nodding in understanding. "I get it. So," He began, floating up slightly above the concrete barrier they were sitting on. Then, with a 'pop', his costume changed to that of a secret-agent-y tuxedo. "We drop the cowboys thing and play super-spies?"
"Sure," The girl grinned.
"The name's Blood," He said, tugging on his lapels haughtily. "Youngblood." Then, he snapped his fingers and her own suit changed.
To a sparkly, purple evening gown.
She sent him a deadpanned glare. "I don't think so."
"Fine," He mock-huffed, not even trying to hide his smirk. "How 'bout this, then?" He asked, changing her costume once again.
She paused, looking herself up and down. "...Not bad..."
AN: Sometimes, I'm Angela. Sometimes, I'm Toby...
Hey, everybody! :)
*Rubs hands together, thoughtfully* So, Dash is the other one who got hit. *Smirks* How many of you guys guessed it? :) Or, was it harder to figure out than I thought? It always seems obvious, when you already know the answer...
Virtual cookie for anyone who can guess what comic Angie was holding! :))
Also, while I think the Danielle/Youngblood pairing is absolutely adorable, that is not going to happen here. They're just gonna be friends and partners-in-mischief. XD
And, the MLP (which I do not own) reference is for my friend, Unprofessional Writer (whose screenname is completely misleading, because their writing is awesome! Seriously, check it out!) :)
Special thanks to these awesome people, for favoriting/following/reviewing! :)
GhostWriterGirl-1
Unprofessional Writer
speedyowl152
Moore98Luke
Bilo0618
You guys rock! :)))
I do not own The Smurfs, the Tap-A-Capella Singers, or The Crimson Chin. (Not sure who owns the first, but Wee Sing owns the second, and Butch Hartman owns the third.)
As always,
God bless, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
- Ellie
