Chapter 9:
Mission: Improbable - Ghost Protocol
After the 'incident' in the cafeteria, the rest of the school day went fairly normally for Danny and co, and the group had every intention of heading back to FentonWorks to see what the bugs had picked up and plot out their next move.
Until they headed out the front doors after the last bell and heard someone scream inside the building.
Dash and Kwan stood in one of the school's now-empty hallways, hoping for another chance at one of those bug things on the ceiling. Or, at least a clue as to what they were.
Little did they know, they were staying just outside of the little machine's range. And, Dash had managed to stay out of range of all of the bugs, since his paranoia was spiking and he didn't want to walk directly under them.
"Okay, Bro," Kwan began, and Dash nearly hit the roof. The quarterback did his best to get his nerves under control, as his friend stared at him weirdly. "Dude. What was that?"
Truth be told, 'that' was Dash playing his newest game: 'Is It In My Head, Or Real Life?'
Of course, he couldn't tell Kwan that. He wouldn't understand. Nobody would. How could they? He'd just been bombarded by the thoughts of nearly every kid that walked by him as they headed out of the school, and he was still trying to not feel like he was going to explode. Or, throw up. Or, both.
Who could relate to that?
"Nothing," He finally said. "This whole thing is just messing with me."
"I know, right?" The linebacker agreed. "It's so weird. I knew the Nerds were freaks, but why would they stick metal bugs everywhere?"
Then, Dash's brain kicked in. "Wait. Bugs?"
"Uhh. Yeah, Man. Those little things they stuck everywhere? We watched them do it? Then, we decided we wanted to know what they were?" His buddy hinted.
"I know that," The blond defended. He was about to tell Kwan that he meant the actual word 'bugs'. For some reason, it hadn't occurred to him that the Herd might be using them to spy on people. After all, why would they? But, with the way they'd been acting, would it really be that far-fetched?
But, he never got to voice those concerns, as a figure who'd become almost as common in Amity as the fountain in the park appeared.
"BEWARE!"
"AHHHH!" The two jocks screamed, hugging each other.
"THAT IS RIGHT! TREMBLE! TREMBLE IN FEAR BEFORE THE MIGHTY BOX GHOST!" The blue being cried. He leaned in close to the terrified teens. "NOW, TELL ME, PATHETIC WEAKLINGS, WHERE IS THE GHOST-CHILD!?"
||I SHALL FIND THE HALFA, ONCE AGAIN! AND, WHEN I HAVE DEFEATED HIM IN BATTLE, THEN ALL SHALL SEE THAT I AM A BEING MOST FEARFUL! MOST POWERFUL! THAT I SHOULD BE-||
"Danny Phantom? He doesn't go to school here. He's a ghost," Kwan pointed out.
The strange man's echoing thoughts and evil cackling, which had been overlapping each other in Dash's mind, both abruptly stopped. "Uhh..." The blond droned, as the Box Ghost glared down at them threateningly. "He means... He went that way!" Dash lied, before pointing off down the hall.
"AHA! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE FROM ME, THIS TIME, PHANTOM!" He turned to Dash, patting him on the head condescendingly. "WELL DONE, HUMAN FILTH! WHEN I RULE THIS TOWN, I SHALL CONSIDER KEEPING YOU ON AS A SERVANT! OR, PERHAPS A PET!" And, with that, the unstable creature took off.
The jocks looked at each other a moment. "...Do you think he'll actually find Phantom?" Kwan asked, almost numbly.
His friend scoffed. "Nah. I just said that to get him away from us," He said, as the two calmed.
"BEWARE!" They hear the floating weirdo shout, somewhere down the hall.
||Oh, for crying out loud!||
||Wait. That sounded like Phantom. Or, was it Fenton? Why have I never noticed how alike they sound, before?|| Dash thought, confused.
"C'mon!" He suddenly shouted, heading off in the direction the shout came from.
"What!?" Kwan squeaked, before following. "Dude, where are we going!?"
"To see which one is fighting the Box Loser!"
"Which what!? Dash, you're not making any sense," Kwan tried to reason, as they rounded a corner. An explosion sounded somewhere nearby, just before a green blast hit a classroom door on the opposite end of the hallway.
Dash grabbed his friend, yanking both of them behind a row of lockers to hide from whoever - Or, whatever - was heading in their direction. Then, the Box Ghost reappeared, with none other than Danny Phantom.
"Seriously, Boxy. How many times do I have to kick your butt before you realize you're never gonna beat me?" The white-haired teen's voice echoed around the hallways, his back to the jocks.
"I SHALL NEVER LEARN THAT, BECAUSE IT IS NOT TRUE! I SHALL DEFEAT YOU AND TAKE CONTROL OF THIS PATHETIC, HUMAN CITY, AND LIBERATE ALL OF ITS CARDBOARD CITIZENS!"
Phantom facepalmed. "Citizens? They're boxes, Boxy. Not people."
"SAYS YOU," The blue ghost replied childishly.
This continued for several minutes, as Dash and Kwan watched in a mixture of fear and wonder. Ghosts were dangerous, sure. But, they were also strange, powerful, widely-believed-to-not-exist creatures. And, neither of the teens on the ground had ever actually listened to one of their conversations. Not from this close, let alone one that seemed as casual as this. It almost sounded like a normal, human argument, rather than a supernatural battle.
Then, the boys snapped out of their stupor as the fight picked back up. Box Ghost blasted Phantom into a wall. Then, Phantom sent his own blast towards Box Ghost, who dodged and retaliated. Then, Phantom threw up a shield-looking thing, and Box Ghost's blast bounced off of it and hit the ceiling tiles.
In the middle of an intersection.
Knocking a huge chunk of plaster down.
And, there, in the midst of the rubble, was a little, metal, bug.
||Oh, great. I'll have to come back and find that, after I handle Boxy,|| Phantom thought, his voice's echo seeming to bounce off the walls of Dash's skull.
So, Phantom was in on it? He knew about the bugs? Was that how the others had made them turn invisible, like a ghost? Because, a ghost had done something to them? But, then, why hadn't Phantom stuck them around the school? He could've turned invisible and flown around, rather than having a bunch of ground-bound humans do it. And, what was he doing hanging around with the ghost-hunters' kids?
The blond rubbed at his temples. This was too much, and none of it was making any sense.
Seconds after reentering the building, all prepared for a fight, Danny and his friends heard an all-too-familiar voice ring out through the hallways.
||Oh, for crying out loud!|| Danny thought miserably.
"Nevermind, guys. I got this," He groaned.
"You sure?" Val and Sam asked, in unison.
"Yeah. Boxy's probably here for his 'rematch'. Be back in a second," The tiny halfa assured, taking off. towards the noise.
And, there he was. In all his square glory.
"Seriously, Boxy. How many times do I have to kick your butt before you realize you're never gonna beat me?" Danny snarked.
"I SHALL NEVER LEARN THAT, BECAUSE IT IS NOT TRUE! I SHALL DEFEAT YOU AND TAKE CONTROL OF THIS PATHETIC, HUMAN CITY, AND LIBERATE ALL OF ITS CARDBOARD CITIZENS!"
The teen's hand met his forehead. "Citizens? They're boxes, Boxy. Not people."
"SAYS YOU," His foe retorted, folding his arms and pouting like a four-year-old.
"That doesn't even make any sense!"
"PERHAPS IT IS YOUR FEEBLE MIND THAT CANNOT MAKE SENSE OF MY SUPERIOR LOGIC!"
"What logic!?"
"THE LOGIC THAT DICTATES THAT I AM THE MOST POWERFUL GHOST IN EXISTENCE, AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH!"
"Powerful!? I, literally, watched you lose a fight over a box to a stray cat, last month!"
"I ALLOWED MY PRECIOUS, CARDBOARD CHILD TO KEEP THAT CAT AS A PET, BECAUSE IT MADE IT HAPPY!"
"Do you even hear yourself!? Did you hit your head!?"
"IT IS YOU WHO SHALL HIT YOUR HEAD!"
"Huh?" Danny asked intelligently, just before Boxy sent a blast his way, knocking him into a wall. He groaned, floating back up and sending his own blast at the odd ghost. Boxy dodged and fired at him again, but his shot bounced off of Danny's shield and hit the ceiling tiles.
||Oh, great. I'll have to come back and find that, after I handle Boxy,|| Danny thought, catching a glint of metal in the pile, as the fight inched its way further down the hall.
The ghostly battle continued, until the ghosts rounded the corner, leaving the two jocks watching from their hiding place. Kwan stared after them dumbly for what seemed like a hundred years, until Dash bumped into him as he headed for the center of the hall.
"Dude, What are you-" He began, as his friend dug through the crumbled plaster. Then, Dash pulled back from the rubble, holding a little, silver thing, that looked kinda like a robotic spider.
The jocks looked at each other for a long moment.
Then, Box Ghost screamed and they jumped.
Dash spun Kwan around, unzipping his backpack and shoving the little device inside. Seconds later, Phantom reappeared around the corner, seemingly looking for something.
||Dash and Kwan? Oh, they must be the ones who screamed.||
||Phantom knows our names?||
"Uhh, are you guys okay?" The white-haired ghost asked, landing lightly on the floor and glancing nervously over at the pile of ceiling. Kwan didn't notice. But, Dash did.
"Yeah. We're fine," The Asian jock replied almost shyly. "Uh, that was an awesome fight, by the way. Is that other ghost gone, now?"
"Huh?" Phantom asked distractedly, looking away from the plaster and back to Kwan. "Yeah. He's gone," He assured, smirking and holding up that weird, thermos thing he always carried around.
"How come Fenton and his friends have one of those, too?" Dash suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Phantom seemed surprised. Then, he seemed nervous. "Uh, well," He began, rubbing the back of his neck. "This is actually Fenton tech."
Kwan's brows scrunched together. "But, I thought the Fentons hated you."
"Th-They do. Or, they did. They're warming up to me. But, their kids have liked me for a while. Sometimes they get me access to some of their parents' tech to help me with catching ghosts, or they give me a heads up about new weapons," Danny lied, hoping the tremble in his voice wasn't as obvious to Dash and Kwan as it was to him.
The three boys stared at each other awkwardly for a long moment, before Dash spoke again. "How come you know our names?"
Danny blinked. He hadn't realized he'd said their names out loud. He really needed to pay more attention. "Uh. I guess I'm around the school fighting ghosts - Er, other ghosts so much that I picked up a few things. I know the names of most of the kids at Casper."
Kwan looked like he might ask something else, when his friend interrupted. "Well, uh, it was awesome meeting you, and all. But, we gotta go," And, with that, Dash grabbed Kwan's arm and hurried off, leaving the halfa alone in the hallway.
"What was that about?" He wondered aloud. Then, the thermos in his hand sparked, and he dropped it with a yelp, as a blue blob slithered out from under the cap and took form in the air before him.
"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"
"OH, FOR GOODNESS' SAKES!"
Dash finally stopped behind the school, looking around frantically as his friend watched him. "...Okay, dude. I know this is, like, the third time I've asked this, this week. But, what the heck was that about?"
After checking that the coast was clear, Dash turned to him, his expression serious. Then, he spun his friend around again, retrieving the little robot from his bag and studying it.
"What do you think that thing is?" The dark-haired jock wondered aloud, recovering fairly quickly. Living in Amity Park meant learning to recover from just about anything faster than most.
"...I dunno," His buddy replied after a moment. "But, I'm gonna find out."
Kwan resisted the urge to roll his eyes, trying to ignore his friend's new drama-queen streak. Then, he looked back at the metal bug. "...Isn't it s'posed to have eight legs?"
"That was the coolest thing I've ever been involved in," Toby smiled, completely ignoring his sister's orders to take a bath, rather proud of the muck and 'ectoplasm' caked on his skin and clothes.
"Totally," Carrie grinned, equally proud. "Fake or not, those ghosts know how to party."
"I can't believe you were playing with them. We're supposed to be on an investigation, here," Ray half-scolded, rubbing at his now-clean hair with a towel. "Right, Dave?" He added, turning to his best friend, who was standing in the kitchenette looking over a file.
"Hmm?" Dave muttered, not looking up.
Ray just sighed. Whenever the big man got like this, there was no reaching him until he finished reading.
"So, where do we go to next?" Carrie asked, excitedly. "I can't wait to hang with the haunts some more."
"I know, right?" Toby agreed. "I don't even care that it washed off my tattoos. That was great!"
Angie rubbed her temples. "Are we sure the 'ghosts' aren't just Toby clones, in costumes?" She muttered.
"Aw, come on," Her brother said, swinging an arm around her shoulder. "Y'know ya love me."
"Of course, I love you," She agreed. "But, you're not gonna love me, if you get mud in my hair again," She half-threatened, glaring pointedly at him.
His grin only widened, as he hugged her closer, making sure his dirty arm dragged through her red curls. "You're just jealous 'cause I got to play fetch with the ectopus."
"I still can't believe they made that joke," Ray grumbled.
Angela smirked. "Really? I'm jealous? 'Cause, the last time I checked, you were the one who got all upset that you didn't get to ride the flaming horse."
"That thing was awesome, and you know it!" Her brother argued.
"It was pretty awesome," Carrie smirked.
"Stop gloating," Toby said bitterly.
"Told ya," Angie and Ray smirked.
Then, the redhead turned to the short man. "You didn't say anything."
"No, but I was thinking it," He argued.
"Seriously, though," Carrie interrupted. "What's our next stop? 'Cause I'm pretty sure Mrs. Fenton knows who you two are," She said, gesturing to the siblings.
"She definitely does," Dave agreed, finally looking up from the file in his hands. "And, if she doesn't, those ghost kids who were following you are bound to tell her. It was obvious they knew each other, despite their trying to hide it."
"Yeah," Ray joined. "Even their ghost-octopus -"
"Ectopus," Toby corrected.
"It is stupid, and I refuse to say it." The brown-eyed man said irritably. "- Even 'Marty' seemed to know those kids. And, why would ghost-hunters -"
"Paranormal scientists," Angie noted.
"Whatever! Why do they have a pet ghost?" Ray finished.
"It is weird." Carrie admitted. "Awesome, but weird."
"I think our best bet would be to head to the abandoned G.I.W. base," Dave said suddenly.
"What?" The others asked, turning to him.
"Isn't that place, like, under police investigation and off-limits to everyone?" Carrie asked.
"Yep," The big man replied. "Which means there's probably stuff there that has to do with our case."
"Cool," The blonde smirked.
"I don't know about this, guys," Ray fretted.
"You always say that," Toby pointed out. "And, besides, it's not like it's the first time we've done this. The juciest stuff is always in the places we're not supposed to go. That's what being an investigative journalist is all about. Investigating."
"Why do I get the feeling that by 'investigating' you actually mean 'getting away with stuff, because you think it's funny'?" The short man deadpanned, looking at the younger man, who grinned back happily.
"I just don't understand it," Maddie said aloud to the otherwise-empty room, tapping the black screen with one fingernail. The logical part of her brain knew that this would do nothing to get the feed working again, but it still made her feel better. "What could've knocked this one out?"
"That would be my fault, actually," Danny noted, rubbing the back of his neck, as he and the others came down the basement stairs. "Boxy attacked again, and one of the blasts hit the bug." He pulled out a tiny, metal leg. "This is all that's left of that one."
His mother took the tiny appendage from him, looking it over with a sigh. "Oh, well. I guess it's a good thing we made extras." She stood, walking to the weapons vault and retrieving another little bug. "How extensive was the damage to the school?"
"Just a couple ceiling tiles. They'll have it fixed by morning," Sam replied, taking the device from her. "We'll put it up tomorrow."
Maddie smiled. "Alright."
"So, did you see anything suspicious?" Lester asked almost shyly.
Then, the woman frowned. "No. Not a thing."
"Do you think the other person who got hit could have been from Elmerton?" Clark wondered.
"Or, a homeschool kid?" Jazz added.
"Maybe," The mother said thoughtfully. Then, she shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to keep watching." The teens nodded.
"Where's Mr. F.? Tucker asked, noticing the empty control panel on the opposite side of the room.
"He, Ellie, and Ellie's new friend are in the back yard, doing their best to give Marty a bath," She grinned. "Or, at least, that's what they're calling it. Honestly, I think it was just an excuse to play in the hose pipe."
AN: Hey, everybody! :)
Kinda short, I know. I didn't realize how much I was leaning on Danny's delusions to get to my chapter-length goal, until he was lucid again. *Shrugs* You don't know whatcha got, 'til it's gone.
I know Boxy's coming up a lot, but it is for a reason. (What that reason is, I'm not certain of yet, but I'll come up with something.) :)
Ignore the title of this chapter, too. It's absolutely terrible.
Also, just before posting this, I noticed that I posted my entire Table Of Contents on here. The one I use for myself, with future chapters and a place for author's notes. I fixed it, but I can't believe it took me nine weeks to notice... Actually, yeah, I can believe that -_-
Special thanks to these awesome people, for favoriting/following/reviewing! :)
GhostWriterGirl-1
speedyowl152
Unprofessional Writer
FiveRivers
You guys rock! :)))
As always,
God bless, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
- Ellie