Dizgirl: HAPPY NEW YEARS! Let's celebrate with the next chapter of Meet My Friend Chaos! YAY! Sorry you had to wait so long…and with a cliffhanger no less, but I hope this makes up for it! Enjoy and love! (Disclaimer's in my profile).
EDIT 1/2/09: WOW, I just realized there's a plot hole in this. ^^; Haha...I'll try to fix it but in the mean time, see if you can spot it! Maybe it's minor enough to leave alone. If so I won't bother. SO, tell me if you spot it!
EDIT 1/14/10: Finally figured out how to fix the plot hole! YAY! (wow that took me a while...)
My Best Friend's A Ghost
'You are just being picky. They practically mean the same thing!' Raimee thought as she turned the corner onto the street where her home was.
'There's a huge difference between them!' Chaos argued back. 'Havoc is havoc, chaos is chaos!'
'Oh yes, a huge difference…' Raimee rolled her eyes, wondering silently how many times they had had this conversation before. She was pretty sure it was sitting around twenty six now. 'Come on, you know you need a better reason than that.'
'Chaos is cooler!'
'Uh uh…not good enough.'
'Chaos comes first in the dictionary! Ha!' Chaos declared, sounding very smug. Well that was a new one.
'And that's considered better how?'
'Chaos always comes first!'
'I'm not grasping the 'coolness' of that,' Raimee smiled, her tone teasing.
'Tch, you just don't want to admit I won,' Chaos sniffed.
'What? In what possible way did you win? You haven't even given me a legitimate reason yet!'
'Just stop using havoc! It gets on my nerves!'
'Maybe I'll use it just to spite you—' Raimee broke off as she felt two ghostly presences move into her sense's range. She focused on the two energies and pinpointed their position above her. 'Ghosts.'
'Where?' Chaos asked, dropping the argument.
'Above me, kinda near our apartment,' Raimee paused on the sidewalk, focusing on the energies. 'They're both fairly pow—' she cut off as one of them abruptly dove, heading straight for her. '—And one is coming right towards us!'
'Wait, what?!' Chaos jerked forward, trying to see through Raimee's eyes. 'Invisible?' Before Raimee could answer, the ghost in question materialized in midair, stopping just three feet in front of the girl. She grinned slyly, her red eyes glowing brightly against her green skin.
"So you have wished it, so shall it be!" she announced, waving her hand as pink energy sprung from it and collided with Raimee. The girl grabbed her chest and gasped as the hot light spread across her body.
'Ray! Ray! What did she do?!' Chaos shouted within her, quickly feeling the unexpected heat from the ectoplasm. She squirmed away from it as best she could, but within Raimee she could only move so much. Raimee gritted her teeth as Chaos battled the energy, falling to her knees.
'I don't…ah! This hurts!' she groaned. The heat rose and the two friends mentally cried out. Something was pulling at them and they couldn't resist it, too overcome by the burning ectoplasm. Raimee wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to resist it.
'What's happening?!'
Then suddenly it was gone, leaving her feeling lightheaded. She sighed in relief, but stopped mid-exhale as the heat was replaced by a cool prickling. The sensation unnerved her; something felt off. She looked up and froze, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Chaos, her red eyes just as wide with shock and confusion as Raimee's, floated in front of her. The two stared at each other, feeling the tingling aftermath of the power that had separated them.
"How did I just…?" Chaos breathed. Raimee slowly shook her head.
"I…I don't know!"
"Raimee! Raimee!" Brian stumbled into the street in front of their home, quickly focusing on his daughter and the ghost that had appeared next to her. The specter's face was lit with glee as she encased Raimee in pink energy.
"NO! Get away from her!" he yelled, jumping forward. The ghost looked at him and vanished from sight, the grin never leaving her face. Without pausing to sense where she went, he returned his attention to his daughter.
Raimee was now on her knees, her face twisted up in a grimace. Panic overtook his thoughts as she clenched her teeth and moaned. What had that ghost done to her? The pink energy grew brighter. What was the energy doing to her right now? How could he stop it?! How could he save her?!
He lurched to a stop a few inches from her, reaching out his hands to grab her shoulders, but then he hesitated. What if he touched her and he was also overcome by pain? Then they'd both be incapacitated. Maybe he should call nine one one. Maybe he could—
The light surrounding Raimee shrunk and focused right in the middle of her chest. Before Brian could move, it burst out and congealed into a floating blob of ectoplasm in front of her. He jumped back as the form changed from pink to a mix of black and red that solidified into a human form. He gaped as he recognized what it was.
A ghost. A ghost had just appeared—had just come out of his daughter! His whole mind grounded to halt as he tried to process what that meant. Why was there a ghost inside Raimee?
"How did I just…?" the ghost gasped, staring at his daughter.
"I…I don't know!" Raimee answered, her eyes locking with the ghost's. Brian stared at the two numbly, still waiting for his mind to catch up. Something was wrong with this situation—well, everything was wrong with it, but one thing kept him from reaching out and pulling his daughter away from the monster. It was the look that Raimee was giving the ghost. She was surprised and confused but she didn't look scared or ready to scream like he would expect. Instead her eyes were softening with an emotion he couldn't comprehend and she leaned towards the glowing teen.
"That ghost did this to us?" the ghost suggested. Raimee shrugged as her ragged breath quieted. Neither girl seemed to realize he was there and Brian was too mystified to even make a noise—that is until he heard Raimee's reply.
"Possibly…are you okay?"
"What?!"
Danny gaped as Desiree appeared in front of him and flew down towards Raimee, pools of pink energy in both of her hands. How stupid could he be? He knew that his dad had accidentally released several ghosts into the human world recently and that he should be careful until he caught them all! Obviously one of them was Desiree and he had just made a wish! A wish that he definitely wanted answered but not in this way. Desiree's wishes never ended well. Gritting his teeth, he invisibly dropped to the ground. He needed to stop her.
Then again, if he did he wouldn't have the chance to discover Raimee's secret. But if he didn't what would happen to Raimee? Danny hesitated. He could wait until after she granted his wish to capture her. That way he'd know but Raimee wouldn't have to suffer the consequences. Unless, of course, she was evil or a ghost or something. Then what would he do? Danny grabbed his head. Okay, now he was confused.
He refocused on the scene before him just as Desiree announced her familiar catch phrase. Her ectoplasm engulfed Raimee and he winced as she huddled in pain. Maybe he should just thermos Desiree now…. As Danny tried to make up his mind a man burst out from the nearest apartments and ran across the street.
"NO! Get away from her!" he screamed. Desiree, slightly bigger and smiling wickedly, complied before Danny could intervene. The man rushed to Raimee's side, panic clear on his face. Danny shed his invisibility and took a few steps forward, unsure about what he should do but still wanting a clear view of Raimee.
Just as he managed to see her around the man's wide shoulders the pink light slid to the center of her chest and then off her body, changing colors at it did so. Pink turned to glowing black, red, and gray and he recognized what it was a second before the form settled into a long mane of black hair and a familiar face.
"Chaos!" he hissed. So he was right. That ghost was connected to Raimee—maybe even possessing her! She had to be if she was in the human girl, which explained how 'Raimee' had won the fight against Dash! Danny shook his head. He had guessed something like that but now here was definite proof.
Anger flared inside him as another thought occurred to him. That meant that Raimee was innocent and Chaos was the one causing all the trouble! Wait, or Raimee was somehow involved with Chaos and she was okay with being possessed? He grimaced as he felt the beginning pangs of a headache. His accidental wish was only making things more confusing. With another shake of his head, he returned his attention to the three in the street. The silence that followed the two girls' separation made it easy for him to hear both Chaos and Raimee.
"How did I just…?" the ghost whispered.
"I…I don't know!" Raimee replied, her gaze focused strictly on Chaos. Oddly enough neither of them seemed to realize that they were being watched by Danny or the man that stood only a foot away from them. Who was he anyways?
"That ghost did this to us?"
"Possibly…" Raimee frowned, before adding, "are you okay?" Danny's eyes narrowed. So she knew about Chaos, which meant his second theory was the right one.
"What?!" the man exclaimed. Both girls jerked around, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Dad?!" Raimee gasped. "Wait, you um…" her gaze switched between Chaos and her father several times. "Uh…"
"You were possessing my daughter?!" he roared, and Danny froze at the rage that roiled off him. The man—Mr. Perkings he realized—looked livid. Sure, Danny was mad too but mainly out of frustration. There was something deeper to his anger that Danny couldn't name.
"No way!" Chaos snapped. "I wasn't possessing anyone! Ray will agree with me too!"
"It's true, Dad! Chaos doesn't possess me when she stays inside me!" Raimee stood up, one hand still resting on her chest. Danny's frown returned and deepened. How did Chaos do that? He had never heard of a ghost that was able to be inside someone else without possessing them.
"Don't call her 'Ray' like you're her friend," Mr. Perkings growled at Chaos, his hands clenching into fists at his side. "Not—"
"—But she is my friend, Dad!" Raimee blurted out, jumping in between him and Chaos. Danny couldn't see her dad's face but he could guess as Raimee's eyes widened. It was probably the same expression that his parents would wear if he told them he was Danny Phantom.
"You—you are…!" he sputtered. "You would…a—a ghost!"
"I…uh…" Raimee seemed equally unable to speak, her frame wilting slightly. When neither Perkings seemed able to say anything Chaos intervened.
"Yeah, she's my friend and I would never do anything to harm her!" she declared, defiance clear in her red eyes.
"Too late for that!" Mr. Perkings snapped back. Raimee automatically dropped her hands from where they had been massaging her chest.
"Dad, please just listen to me—to us," she pleaded.
"No," he cut her off. "You said you wouldn't get involved. You promised that you would stay out of this ghost stuff!"
"I said that I would try my best but that was after I met Chaos!" Raimee argued.
"Well that's trying your best!" he scoffed.
"I wasn't going to stop being her friend just because you are too afraid to even let me be who I am!" Raimee countered. She turned and took off down the street.
"Ray!" Chaos jumped into the air and flew after her.
"Don't you dare go near her!" Mr. Perkings cried out, following after her at a much slower pace. Danny also gave pursuit, determined not only to figure out exactly who Chaos and Raimee were but also to hopefully fix the mess he had accidentally unleashed.
Brian chased the ghost down an alleyway and into the next street. She darted to the right and he tried his best to follow, but she was flying quicker than he could run. He pushed forward anyways, his breath heavy and his body aching. It had been a long time since he had moved like this.
He reached an intersection and stopped at the corner. The ghost girl was nowhere in sight. He jerked around, hoping to see just a glimpse of glowing red or black but he couldn't see anything! Where had they gone? What if she had caught up with Raimee? What would she do to her?! Dread trickled down his back, but before it could overwhelm him he remembered his strange new power. Yes! He could sense ghosts!
Closing his eyes, Brian tried to focus on his extra sense. He had tried so hard to avoid it all weekend, but now he needed it! Raimee could be in trouble! And even if what she said was true and she had somehow befriended a ghost, that still meant she was in danger. Ghosts lie. Ghosts pretend to be your friend and then betray you when you try to help. Ghosts do nothing but hurt.
He reached out with his senses, trying to feel for cold spots or some other sensation like those he had noticed throughout the day. He could feel flickers of cold energy around him but none of them were like those that had floated outside his window, which he knew were actual ghosts. Where was she?!
Abruptly, he felt something icy quickly flying towards him from behind. He whirled around, his eyes opening just in time to see a blur of white and black rush past him. The blur stopped about fifteen feet away from him in the sky. It was another ghost, his green eyes roving over the intersection before focusing on something down the street in front of him. He sped off in that direction and Brian stared at his retreating back before taking off after him. Maybe he would lead him to his daughter.
Raimee was mortified. Her dad had just seen Chaos come out of her! It was bad enough for him to know that she was still connected to something ghostly but for him to see Chaos as she was forced out of her body…. Well she had seen his face; he was outraged!
Now what was she supposed to do?
He refused to listen. He refused to let her explain or to even let the idea of a good ghost enter his head! She had hoped that somehow over time she would convince him that he was wrong but now everything was ruined! If he had been stubborn before she couldn't imagine how he would be after seeing what had just happened.
She sprinted down a side street in the opposite direction of her new home and Casper High. The area around her was unfamiliar but that didn't matter at the moment. All she wanted to do was to leave the whole situation behind. Tears pricked at her eyes but she blinked them away before they could fall, searching for a new road to turn down.
She just had to get away from her dad…and even Chaos. If she could just be alone for a few minutes, just enough time for her to sort out her confusing thoughts, she could figure out what to do. Maybe there was a way she could salvage the situation. Maybe she could make things right.
Raimee stopped at a street corner and saw the edge of a park to her left. She turned towards that, hoping for a place to hide and rest. She doubted her dad would be able to find her and Chaos would have a hard time spotting her in a crowd or among trees. Just as she made it to a secluded entrance to the park, though, she felt a ghostly presence appear behind her.
"Raimee! Will you stop already?" Chaos's voice called out from behind her.
"Go away!" she said, not bothering to turn around. "I need to be alone!"
"Tch! Yeah right! Like I'm gonna leave you alone after that ghost chick just tore us apart! No way, I don't think so!" Chaos appeared in front of her, forcing Raimee to stop.
"I can sense her if she comes back," she muttered, trying to find a way around her friend. She leaned to the left but Chaos blocked her path.
"Well that's only half the reason I'm following you anyways," she said. "I'm your friend and most of this is my fault so I'm gonna stick with ya whether you like it or not." Raimee scowled, shifting to the right. Chaos matched her move.
"And what if I don't want you to be around right now?"
"I said 'whether you like it or not' didn't I?" Raimee rolled her eyes, but stood still.
"Okay, so now what?"
"Well how 'bout finding that stupid ghost and wasting her?" Chaos offered, a hard gleam in her eyes. "No ghost upends your life and gets away with it if I can help it." Ruby energy glowed in her hands.
"That's…very nice, but I meant about my dad," Raimee replied, anxiety replacing her anger. "How am I even supposed to go back to him? He hates ghosts—even though he shouldn't—and I just don't know how I can make it better! And what if I can't? What will I do?!"
"You'll figure it out," Chaos assured her calmly. "'Cause you always do and you've got me. And I say we go find that ghost, waste her, and then deal with your dad. Y'know, a little revenge to make you feel better. Who knows? Maybe she can reverse it!"
"I don't—" Raimee was cut off as another voice interrupted.
"I think it's a little late for reversing it."
Danny floated in the air above the two girls, his arms crossed. It had only taken him a few minutes to catch up with them after leaving Mr. Perkings far behind, just in time to hear the tail end of their discussion. He still wasn't sure what to think of the whole situation but he did know that he wanted to, so it was finally time for a confrontation with both Raimee and Chaos.
"Ghost dude? So you survived my Sparks, huh?" Chaos greeted.
"Easily," Danny lied. Chaos frowned and he smirked in response. "But that's not why I'm here. I just saw what Desiree did and I want some answers."
"Desiree?" Raimee wondered out loud. "The ghost who...?" She rubbed her chest.
"Yeah," he answered her silent question. "She forced you two apart, but I want to know why you," he pointed at Chaos, "were in her." He jerked his head at Raimee.
"'Cause I wanna be. How 'bout that?" Chaos challenged. "But why are you asking? Are you friends with this Desiree?"
"No," Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to catch her. She's a wishing ghost and she causes a lot of problems when she's in town but that's not the point. What were you doing in her and why are you two even here?"
"Like I said Saturday night why can't I check out a new town every once in a while?"
"Like I said if you're causing trouble then you're gonna have to deal with me," Danny responded.
"Who said we're causing trouble?"
"I was at Casper High today; I heard what you did to that guy," he answered. "Actually, I heard that you," he turned to Raimee, "beat him up and I thought that was pretty weird so I followed you."
"You followed me?" Raimee gasped. "But I would have sen—er, I would have noticed." Danny quirked an eyebrow.
"I'm a ghost. If I don't want you to see me, you don't," he replied, wondering how a supposed friend of Chaos would forget that. Every ghost can go invisible.
"So what, you're mad 'cause I beat up on some teenage jerk?" Chaos questioned, grabbing his attention. "He deserved it after trying to bully Raimee into working for him."
"Maybe," Danny conceded, secretly pleased by the fact that Dash was probably suffering at the moment. "But I'm still supposed to protect humans from ghosts."
"Well, then how 'bout protecting Ray from that Desiree ghost!" Chaos floated up until she was only two feet from him.
"I was going to," Danny defended.
"'Going to'? A little late for that," Chaos mocked.
"I didn't see you defending her either," he countered.
"Hey! I was—"
"—Stop it!" Raimee interjected. "Both of you! Please! Arguing won't settle anything!" Chaos closed her mouth, silently glaring at Danny. He, on the other hand, did not listen to the human girl.
"Look, I didn't mean for Desiree to do that to you guys, but now that she did I need to know exactly what you're doing here," he stated. "I protect Amity Park so if you're going to give us trouble or 'chaos' or whatever then I'm going to stop you."
"Wait," Raimee's forehead wrinkled. "You 'didn't mean' for Desiree to do that? Why did you say it like that? You mean you knew that she was going to do that?"
"What?!" Chaos rekindled her fists with bright ectoplasm. His eyes widened as electricity danced across her knuckles.
"I didn't say that!"
"You didn't say you didn't," Chaos snarled. "So you were 'going to' help us, huh? What a load of crap! 'Protect the humans'? Ha!"
"Hey, I do protect them!"
"Then why did you let that ghost attack her, huh?!"
"'Cause maybe I thought that she had something to hide! Like a ghost!" Danny pointed out, gesturing at the two.
"Oh, and all ghosts are bad?"
"No, but those that hurt others are!" Chaos moved in front of Raimee, her eyes burning dark red.
"But she doesn't hurt people!" Raimee cried out, feeling the familiar swooping sensation of déjà vu. It seemed like she was constantly defending Chaos lately. "She was just protecting me!"
"Maybe, maybe not, but I had to find out. So I wished—"
"—You made the wish?!" Chaos demanded.
"Not intentionally, but yeah!" Danny snapped back. "I wished she showed me what you were hiding and I'm glad I did because now I know that you can hide in humans without me sensing it and that Raimee is involved!"
"How could you?" Raimee moaned. "My dad hates ghosts and now he knows about Chaos!"
"Maybe that's a good thing!"
"And what if we wished the same thing happened to you?" Chaos asked. Danny froze as those words registered, the argument quickly fading from his mind. Desiree…
Cackling laughter echoed around the three as pink mist curled at Raimee's feet. His ghost sense went off, sending a shiver down his spine. He could feel a ghostly presence loom up behind him and before he could turn around something hot his back.