Danny sat quietly as he pensively watching Richard sitting across from him.

"So, Richard Waltz," Danny started, "That is your real name, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir." Richard responded plainly. "I mean, at least that's what I hope it is. It's really all I remember from when I was alive."
"Mmhm," Danny said, his cold blue eyes piercing into Richard like an icy dagger. "Why do you want to attend a human school? I'm sure the Ghost Zone has plenty of places to teach you what your lifetime had failed to do."
"Yes, but it is no substitute for the real thing. You see, Mr. Fenton, I never had the chance to have an education when I was alive. At least, from what I remember, nothing past grammar school. And the things I hear about modern schools caught my interest."
"And what have you heard from modern schools? That there are pretty girls around every corner ripe for the picking?"
Richard's eye widened. He shook his head fervently, so did he with his hands.
"No, nothing like that!"
"Then what is it like? You tell me. From what I've seen, you have been flirting with my daughter, playing the obtuse ghost that needs to be taught how to function in the modern, living world, and then after what couldn't be more than a week later, you're on a date with her. That doesn't sound like someone interested in a good education."
"Please, Mr. Fenton, I really do care about her. I swear on my grave that I have no ill intents towards Ophelia. She is a kind, sweet, beautiful girl, and I consider myself the luckiest boy in the entire Ghost Zone to have someone like her in my afterlife. "
"I'm glad we're on the same page." Danny got up from his seat and walked over to him. A twinge of nervousness went across Richard as Danny loomed over him. Danny blinked and his eyes turned an ominous ghostly green.
"I am only going to say this once, so for your sake you better listen carefully. Ophelia is my one and only child, and I love her dearly. She has had things happen to her that would make one lose their faith in humanity, but despite that she managed to be a sweet, kind innocent child. As her father, it is my duty to protect her from any more harm. If you take advantage of her, break her heart in any way, if any harm falls upon her because of you, you will rue the day you died and left yourself with nothing to escape to. Are we at an understanding?"
Richard said nothing, he could only nod his head in agreement. Danny smiled and his eyes returned to a placid blue. He tussled Richard's hair in a friendly manner.
"Nice to know we have an understanding, Waltz, I'm glad we had this time to talk."

He walked over to the door behind Richard.
"You're next date is tomorrow night, right? Bring her back home by eight and we'll have no problems."
He opened the door to the vast space of the Ghost Zone.
"Until then, Waltz."
"Yes, Mr. Fenton," Waltz said hazily, "Until then."
With that, Richard flew out of the room and into the Ghost Zone. Danny closed the door behind the boy and smiled. He walked across the room to the other door. He went through the door and into the second floor hallway of his house. He already made his way to the kitchen when the front door open and foot falls were heard.
"Hey Dad, I'm home," chimed Ophelia's voice from the front door. "And I brought friends."
Ophelia walked into the kitchen with her friends Darcy and Abi. Abi had on her cheerleading uniform with her pompoms poking out of her backpack, and Darcy and Ophelia wore their gym uniforms, covered in mud from the feet upwards and leaving a trail of it behind them.
"Hey, hey, hey," Danny protested, "No dirt in the house. Do you know how much work your mother makes me go through to keep these floors clean?"
Ophelia lifted her feet and inspected the soles.
"Oops, sorry Dad, Coach Baxter made us run up that dirt trail in the park today." Ophelia kicked off her shoes and held them in her hands. "And of course after the rain yesterday it isn't exactly the cleanest track to run. Darcy, give me your shoes."
Darcy rolled her eyes as she kicked off her shoes and handed them to Ophelia. Ophelia walked out and put the shoes out on the doorstep.
Danny propped his head up on his elbow, and gave a tired expression.
"Um, sweetie, did it ever occur to you to phase the dirt off?" He said.
"Nope, but at least I'll know what to do in the future."
"Hey, Mr. Fenton, do you have anything to eat?" Darcy asked.
"I'll check, but I don't think we anything aside from my wife's rabbit food."
"They're vegetables, and I think there are some ice cream pops in the freezer." Ophelia said as she reentered the room.
"Then it's all yours."

"Yay" Abi said cheerily.
As Ophelia went to the freezer and Darcy and Abi took their seats at the kitchen counter, Danny finally noticed something.
"Hey, aren't there usually four of you girls?" Danny inquired.
All three of the girls' face dropped.
"Yeah, well, Em's not allowed to hang out with us anymore." Darcy said.
"Why not, I thought you were all great friends."
"It's nothing, Dad, just drop it." Ophelia said bitterly as she passed by him.
"Come on, Phé," Abi said with a shove to the ghost girl's shoulder, "Just tell him, he might be able to talk to her."
Ophelia glared at her harshly as she unwrapped her ice cream.
"Talk to who about what?" Danny said, annoyed with the lack of information he was given.

"Nothing!" Ophelia said sharply.
"Em's mom doesn't want her to hang out with us," Abi said, "she thinks Ophelia's too dangerous to be around."
Danny looked over at Ophelia. Ophelia didn't look in anyone's direction as she sucked on her Ice cream pop.
"Ophelia? Dangerous? Why would she think that?"
Ophelia pulled the frozen treat out of her mouth with a pop.
"No reason," Ophelia said sharply, "Just because I burned down the magic theatre, got the track field trashed, Em being drained to the point of anemia from a vampire, oh and let's not forget the giant dragon ghost that destroyed the gym and nearly got everyone hurt." With the last word, she shoved the ice cream into her mouth.
"She's not seriously blaming you for that? None of that was your fault."
Pop
"I don't want to talk about this."
shove
"Well too bad, we're talking about it! I'm not letting someone keep my kid away from her friends because of something she didn't do." Danny look over to Abi and Darcy, "You two, you can stay here," he then turned to his daughter, "Ophelia, you're coming with me."
Ophelia's eyes dimmed and she dropped the ice cream onto the table.
"Dad, wait, no-"
Danny ignored her and headed to the front door. He went all the way across the street to the Yumes' house when Ophelia finally caught up with him.
"Dad, please, it's fine, I still see her at school. She just can't come over to our house. Please don't make it into a big deal."
Danny rang the doorbell.
"I'm just going to have a little talk with Em's parents. Honestly, what do you think is going to happen?"

He could see that Ophelia was about to say something, but the door opened before she could say a word. Behind the door was opened by a tall Asian woman who could be no more that forty years old. She had brown eyes and long black hair that hung over her shoulder.
"Hello, Mrs. Yume," Danny greeted with a friendly smile. "I heard that you've been keeping Emelia from her friends. May I ask why?"
"I'm not keeping my kid away from her friends," she said harshly, "Just your kid. And I think you already know my reasons."
Danny's smile faded.

"No, I actually don't know the reason why."
"Every time my kid is around yours, her life has been put in danger. I want to keep my Emelia alive, and I can't do that when she's hanging around with her."
Ophelia looked away at the sight of Mrs. Yume's accusing finger pointed in her direction.
"Hey, you can't blame my kid for that, none of it was her fault."
"Like nothing is ever yours?"
"Excuse me?"
"Ever since you came back to this town, crime and property damage has sky-rocketed. You attract more trouble than you are worth. You go flying around in your cute little super hero suit while people like my husband have to clean up after your mess. Just because you saved the planet one time, you think you have the right to create chaos."
"Listen lady, I work as hard as anyone else to protect this town from ghost criminals and so has Ophelia. She is forced by human laws to fight your battles instead of having a normal life. Maybe if humanity wasn't so paranoid about us half-ghosts, my kid wouldn't be such a health hazard to your kid."
"Or maybe if you ghosts weren't such trouble makers and stayed in your own damn dimension, we wouldn't have to make laws to protect ourselves from the likes of you!"
Danny's eyes flashed green.
"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! You're actually stereotyping us based on the bad few your husband brings in to the station?"
"That's not stereotyping, this is stereotyping: all ghosts are vengeful scum who have nothing better to do but terrorize the living to make themselves feel better about their own pitiful, wasted lives!"
Ophelia's eyes flashed white and looked up to her father. Danny eyes beamed anger.
"I wanted to be civil with you in hopes Ophelia could get her friend back, but if this is the kind of hatred and ignorance you are exposing your kids to, then I don't want any of your family near mine."
"Likewise, Phantom, now get off my property!"
Mrs. Yume slammed the door at his face. His anger fizzed like soda pop. The nerve of that woman! He turned to leave and saw Ophelia. In her eyes, there was a mixture of sadness and anger.
"Dad!" she chided, "What on Earth was that!"
"Anthropocentric thinking at it's worst." He answered bitterly.
Ophelia dropped her eyelids.
"You know when you asked what you think was going to happen? Well, that was what I was thinking! You just alienated me from one of the only few friends I have here."
"No worries, Ophelia," Danny said as he led Ophelia back to their house, "If she's anything like her mother she wasn't a good friend to have."
"But she's not like her, Dad, she doesn't think that all ghosts are evil. Em didn't care less about my ghost half. "
"I'm really sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it now."

Ophelia stopped in the middle of the street, causing Danny to do the same. She turned around to look up to him. Her eyes flickered at him angrily. No, not anger, frustration.
"You don't get it, Dad, this would've all blown over if I kept my distance long enough. Mrs. Yume would've gotten over it if I gave her enough space, but no, you had to go and confront her about it! Now we're in a feud and I'll never see my friend again!"
Danny could see that she was upset, but it wasn't towards him. She was hurt over the whole situation. Once again, she was being punished for something she had no control over.
He put his hand on her shoulder.
"I know how you're feeling, Phé, and I am sorry, but I am not apologizing to that woman."
Ophelia's eyes flashed bright as a traffic light.
"Fine! I hope you're happy, we are now in a feud."
She turned and stomped off to their house. Danny stood there for a moment. It was then that he finally felt eyes on him and realized Ophelia's friends were still in the kitchen. He glared up to the kitchen window to find the two girls with their hands pressed against the glass looking through. As soon as they saw him looking back at them, they ducked under the window and out of his line of vision. Danny smiled. The girls must've watched the whole thing through the window. At least Ophelia didn't have to explain too much too them.

"He didn't bother talking to me about it first, he just went ahead and confronted her! Now I'm never aloud to see Em again!"
Ophelia had just told her story to Richard while they sat in the middle of a grassy knoll, a part of Richard's realm in the Ghost Zone. The gentle breeze of swayed the tall grass to the ebbing rhythm of a sleeping ocean. He had his arm around her shoulder while she fiddle with a piece of the tall grass surrounding them.
"You weren't aloud to see Em before." He reminded her.
"Yeah, well, it's official now."
"You cannot exactly blame your father for that, he only had the best intentions."
"There's a whole road paved with the 'best intentions' and it doesn't lead to anywhere fun."
Ophelia fell back and lied down, hidden in the rustling yellow and green sea.
"To be honest, I'm not mad at him, I'm not even mad at Em's mom, I'm mad at myself. Things like this happen to me over and over again, and I wonder each time why it happens. I shouldn't even bother wondering when I know the answer: I am too different. No one knows what to do with me and it scares them. So they try to put me to good use, or just keep me out of sight. I try to be normal, I want so much to be normal, but it's hard when you don't know what borders between normal and different. As much as I try, I always end up upsetting someone and have to live with the consequences, and there are always consequences."

Richard looked down at her.
"Must you blame yourself for everything."

"Why not, I make a great scapegoat."
"You're not a scapegoat," Richard brushed the snow-white locks from her purple eyes. "More like a sacrificial lamb."

"Thanks." She said with bitter sarcasm.
"Who cares what other people think of you? Who cares about anyone? You have a right to be who you are and you shouldn't let people hold you back. You deserve to be happy along with the rest of us and hiding yourself in the dark will not make you happy."
Ophelia looked away, her eyes reflected the unseen sun and the ebbing grass.
"Knowing that I haven't hurt someone makes me happy, knowing that no one's dead because of me makes me happy, knowing that other people are happy makes me happy. If I use my powers, no one's happy."
"I'm guessing your weird sense of guilt involves your ghost-proof blood?"
Ophelia's face showed no reaction, save for a pale flash across her eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Alright, we won't. Here," He took her hand and stuck his other hand under her shoulder blade. He pulled her up and rested her head on his lap. "this is not a time or place to worry about all of life's troubles, this is a place where you ignore them for a while. What kind of boyfriend am I to let you wallow in your misery for this long?"
Ophelia casted her eyes to the earth beneath them.
"What kind of girlfriend am I to bother you with my problems."

"A troubled one."
At that moment, something happened. Their eyes met and a strange feeling came to her. She sat up and put a hand to the side of his face, he mirrored the action. Their faces were leaning closer and closer to each other and their eyes slowly closed. The next thing she knew, she felt his lips touch hers.
Ophelia's head buzzed, a tidal wave of information flooded her mind. She saw flashes, heard sounds, smelled scents, none of them were anything she had experienced before. It was all too much for her to take in at once, she was feeling sick.
Ophelia pulled away. Her eyes dimmed to a pale lilac with a wide stare at Richard. She was breathing heavily to soothe her overwhelmed senses, she guessed Richard thought she needed to breathe.
"I've got to go."
She got up and brushed the dirt from her jeans. Richard looked on with a perplexed expression.

"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just fine." She said in a hasty panic, "I-I just promised my dad that I'd be home early and whoa, look at the time, it'll almost be dark soon."
"Should I walk you back?"
"No, no, I'm good, I'm fine, peachy keen. You just stay here, I'll see you at school tomorrow."
Before Richard could protest, Ophelia scurried off to the gate at the bottom a little ways away and opened it into the Ghost Zone. She shut the door behind her and winced when she realized it was a slam. She leaned against the door and slid down to sit onto the little bit of rock below it. She took deep, even breaths to calm herself. She was completely shaking from the sensory overload. This was not what she expected from her first kiss.

School the next day was the perfect storm of awkward. She was still shaken from their kiss the other night and so kept a plutonic distance from Richard (she found even standing next to him for too long triggered some of the sensory overload). She couldn't go near Em now that she was officially banned from going near her, Abi and Darcy were trying to avoid either of them terrified of taking sides. Mick kept the same distance because Abi was doing so. The only people left to hang around her was Wal and Owen, but she was just as scared of being around Owen as was with Richard so it only left Wal.
"Hey, why aren't you tip toeing around me like everyone else?" Ophelia inquired.

"I guess I didn't get the memo." Wal said. "So you've managed to scare away our whole gang in less than twenty four hours, maybe you should add alienation to your list of superpowers."
"Or maybe you and Mick shoulder add that to your collection of superheroes." Ophelia retorted with a smirk. "It's got to be better than Captain Confection."
"Hey, being able to turn anything into sweets is a very useful power."
"Oh yes, gingerbread men are very scary." Ophelia laughed.
"Well excuse me if I can't think of a superhero as extraordinary as Danny Phantom."

"You're excused. I have to admit that you can't top a half-ghost, especially not one who saved both sides of the duoverse."
"You're darn right, it is."
They started laughing when Richard came over.

"What's so funny?"

Ophelia waved it off as she calmed herself.

"It's nothing, no worries."

Richard wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. The kiss triggered some of the senses she felt from yesterday, coming in like an electrical shock.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked sincerely.

"Um, fine, thank you." She said nervously.

"Did you make it home on time last night?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I got home safe. Sorry if I worried you."
"As long as you're safe, I'm happy."
He leaned in for another kiss when Ophelia spotted Owen coming their way. Ophelia quickly phased out of Richard's arm and took a step to the side.
"Hey Ophelia," Owen greeted, "Hey Wal….uh, hey Richard. Do you know what's up with everyone lately."
"Ophelia started a feud." Wal told him.
"I did not!"
"Fine, Ophelia told her dad about Em's mom and he started a feud. Now everyone's avoiding each other so they won't be forced to pick a side."

"What, that's insane!" Owen replied aghast, "You don't hate Em, do you Phé?"
"I don't, and neither does she hate me, but she's terrified of her mother and my dad doesn't exactly have her in his good books either at the moment."
"That sucks! Does that mean we have to pick sides too?"
"Not necessarily, you cam be with both of us if you want. No one has to pick sides over us. The choice is yours, and Darcy's, and Abi's…for both her and Mick."
Owen laughed.
"Oh Mick and that hopeless crush of his. I mean, everyone knows that he likes Abi, including Abi, he should just fess up to her about it. Let the chips fall as they may, you know?"
Wal tried in vain to stifle a chuckle, Ophelia flashed a cautionary glance his way without the other two boys seeing it.
"Perhaps he's not aware of it himself, emotions are a confusing aspect of the human psyche."
"Oh, he's aware of it. He's had this crush since the eighth grade, we guys talk about it all the time, don't we Wal?"
"Yes, we do."
Ophelia bit her lip.
"Well, maybe he's just scared of what will happen if he asked her out. I mean, you guys have been friends since you were little kids, that's a lot to jeopardize over a crush that might've just gone away on its own."
"Well, what I'm saying is that he shouldn't be scared to admit how he feels to a girl he likes. If he doesn't do it soon, he'll end up regretting it when someone else snatches her up."
Ophelia's eyes dimmed. She casted them down to the ground.
"I guess you're right."
Yet another poorly covered laugh came from Wal's direction. Ophelia glared at him annoyed. She kept her hand at a low, unnoticeable level as she poin her finger towards Wal and stung him with a ghost ray.
Just when Wal made a protesting "Ow" the bell rang to warn inform them that class is about to start.
"I got to get to class." Owen said.
"Yeah, me too." Wal said while rubbing the spot Ophelia shot him at.
They walked off to the directions of their classes When Owen stopped and looked back.
"You coming, Phé?"
"Nah, this is my free period. I'll see you at lunch, okay?"
"Maybe." He said jokingly and walked off.
Ophelia turned around to open her locker.
"Okay, what was that?" Richard asked.
"What was what?" Ophelia said, her eyes stayed on the combination dial.
"That, that thing with your friends. What was that?"
Ophelia bit the corner of her lip.
"Um…well, you know….teenager stuff."
"I don't know teenager stuff, you're suppose to teach me teenager stuff. That's how our dynamic worked to begin with."
"It's….it's like normal stuff except it involves teenagers so there's more drama."
"That still doesn't explain to me what was that all about."
Ophelia rolled her eyes and groaned.
"Okay, fine, Wal was laughing because….Owen likes someone."
Richard had a small look of surprise that turned into a smile.
"He does?"
"Yeah, but he's not quite aware that he has a crush on this person, so please don't mention it."
"Well, who is this object of his unknown affections?"
Ophelia's eyes widened and flashed a pale green, though lucky for her Richard couldn't see this reaction.
"You wouldn't know her, she's…a friend of his." She opened her locker. "Look, I don't want to talk about this. He's not aware of his emotions, and so doing anything about this crush would be too risky."
"'Better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all' there's a reason why they say that."
"To make themselves feel better about getting their heart broken?"
"Because the pain of regret is a lot worse than the pain of rejection."
Ophelia said nothing as she finished sorting through her locker and backpack.
"It's too late now. She's already with someone." And with that, she slammed her locker shut.

Ophelia was the first out of class and into the cafeteria. She bought her lunch and read quietly in wait for her friends to fill the empty seats of their lunch table.
"Mind if I sit with you?"
Ophelia looked up. To her surprise, Em stood in front of her with her own tray of food.
"Um, sure, of course, go ahead." She stammered.
Em took her seat across from Ophelia.
"I'm sorry for my mom the other day."
"I'm sorry for my dad the other day."
"Why are you sorry? Why are you sorry, my mom called you guys degenerates."
"She called ghosts degenerates, so technically we're somewhere in between."
"I swear, she's not always like this. It's just that my dad has been hospitalized for the fifth time in six months and then there were all those ghost attack at school and-"
"Em, don't worry about it I completely understand. I don't condone her behavior, but I understand why she acts like that. And I'm not holding anything against you, I know you don't think like that."
A smile cracked into the corner of Em's mouth.
"Thanks, Phé. You know, just because we can't go to each other's houses doesn't mean we can't hang out with each other at school."
"EMELIA ASAMI YUME!"
"But this probably will."
The two girls turned to see the source of the voice. Mrs. Yume stood in the cafeteria doorway. Ophelia had never seen a human being look so angry in her life. Mrs. Yume walked up to the girls and grabbed Em by the arm.
"You forgot your gym clothes, Emelia." She threw the wad of red and white clothes on the table , away from the girls food. "I cannot believe you! I told you to stay away from that mutt and now I catch you sitting in the same table! I expected this kind of thing from your father, but you?"
"But Mom, she's my friend-"
"She is no friend of yours! She'll get you killed! Her whole family is nothing but fanatics and mutants!"
"Don't talk about my family like that!" Ophelia shouted.
Both Em and Mrs. Yume looked at her like she grew a second head.
"What did you say?" Mrs. Yume asked.

"I said don't talk about my family like that. Just because you're scared for your family doesn't mean it makes it okay to take it out on mine. We have done nothing to you but try to be good neighbors and friends you blame us for the misdeeds of others. I'm sorry that Mr. Yume's hurt, and I'm sorry that Em had been put in risky situations in the past couple of months, I really am, but do not call me a mutt!"
Mrs. Yume narrowed her eyes at Ophelia. She turned to Em and said: "We'll talk about this at home." And then left the room. Em's brown eyes were little dots in the shock of the ordeal. Ophelia bit her lip.
"I guess that didn't help at all." Ophelia grumbled.
Em eyes went from the door and to Ophelia. Ophelia lost some of her opacity from such and unnerving glare.
"What?"
"Why didn't you tell me you spoke Japanese?" Em asked.
"Uh, 'cause I don't." Ophelia said.
"Yes you did, just now, you spoke Japanese."
Ophelia's eyes flickered. She was very confused.
"What are you talking about? I was speaking English, so were you."
"No, I wasn't, neither was my mother. She was yelling in Japanese, and you understood it."
"No, I didn't. I can't speak Japanese, I can only speak English. I only know English!"

"You sure you can only speak English?"

"Yes, I can only speak English!"
Em smiled.

"That wasn't English, Ophelia, you just spoke Japanese again."
Ophelia slapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes went pale, flicking and darting around as she tried to understand what was happening.
"Ophelia, could it be possible that this is another power of yours?"
Ophelia's eyes widened. Her hands shot to Em's and held them in a death grip.
"This never happened, I can only speak English. I don't know any other language. Please, Em, don't tell anyone about this."
"Okay, okay, this never happened, I won't tell anyone."
"Promise me, Em, promise me you won't tell anyone."
"I promise."
Ophelia phased through the table and gave Em a hug.
"Thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me."
"No problem" Em choked out, "Now please let go, you're crushing me."

"Oh, sorry"

After a stressful day like today, Ophelia would sneak out of the house and spend the whole night flying. And flying is what she did. Through the clouds and amongst the stars. She even zigzags around tall buildings at top speed if she felt daring (thus starting the Fenton's "in case Ophelia smashes through another building" budget). She was floating in the clouds. She liked how the condensation collected on her skin as droplets of water, slowly but surely soaking herself through. The water reminded her that she was still a tangible, existing being while the dense mist made her forget the rest of the existential plane. Oh, how simple it was when she felt she was the only one in the world. But she knew she'll eventually have to come down to the living world, being a tired, cold, and damp girl alone in a sleeping town.
Her moment of meditation ended when a familiar chill hiccupped across her body. She opened her eyes to see a familiar blue wisp escape her mouth. She shrugged it off and lied back into a lounging position.
"Probably just someone passing through," Ophelia thought aloud, "If not, it's not my problem."
The next moment, there were flashes of light in the clouds. An area close to her was cut through with a laser. Ophelia formed a ghost shield around herself to prevent friendly fire. She waved it off within the safety of her ecto-bubble.
"Just a few missed shots, still not my problem."
Through the little hole in the clouds were the shot was made, something came through. It was a portly little thing, where a grey dock worker's uniform. Ophelia let out an exasperated groan when she recognized the ghostly nuisance.
"Okay, now it's my problem." She said to herself, "But he's definitely not worth the effort."
"Foolish human, your puny weaponry is no match for me!"
"Hey, Box Ghost!"
The pathetic specter turned his head to her. If a ghost could turn pale, he was certainly doing it now.
"Look, dude, it's been a long day, I'm tired, I'm stressed, and I don't want to deal with your stupidity tonight. So how about we skip the part where I beat you to a pulp and you can just turn yourself in to the police. Okay?"
The Box Ghost blinked, she can she the cogs in his mind trying to work out her simple demand. After a few minutes, he raised his hands to the side of his hand and waved them.
"Beware!" he shouted before darting back down to earth.
Ophelia rolled her eyes aggravated.
"Oh, for the love of – Why can't that guy ever do things the easy way!"
She shot back down to earth like a bullet out of a gun. It didn't take long to catch up with the blue nuisance. As soon as he caught sight of her gaining on him, he started picking up the speed.
"He may not be much of a threat, scratch that, he may not be any kind of threat, but the guy sure can fly fast."
He was pulling out all the tricks to escape her tonight. He weaved around buildings, flung any and every box at her that he could find on the street (including the mailboxes), he even shot a few ghost rays at her, but all attempts only managed to slow her down a little.
"Come on, dude," Ophelia called out to him, "You're just tiring yourself out by doing this."
They soon made their way to the park, where he used the trees as his means to shake her off.
"You really think a bunch of trees will help you get away from me-"
Just when she said that, she came out of the thicket of trees and rammed straight into the park fountain. Water spewed out like a geyser. Just when she was dried out from being up from the clouds, she was thoroughly soaked by the fountain (or at least the pile of rubble that was the fountain).
Ophelia rubbed her head, which throbbed horribly from hitting the fountain first. She was grateful to find that she was not bleeding and, as far as she could tell, had no concussion.
"That was extremely lucky," she murmured to herself.
The Box Ghost floated above her, prepared for his ever so annoying rants.
"Haha, foolish ghost-child, you cannot capture me. I am the Box Ghost!"
Ophelia's eyes flashed through her dripping wet hair.
"For Pete's sake," Ophelia shouted at him, "I already have a headache thanks to you, no need to add another one!"
She raised a glowing hand to open a portal behind him. She shot him into the portal right when he was shouting another "Beware!" and the portal closed behind him. Ophelia fell back into basin of the fountain with a loud splash that nearly irritated her headache further. She stayed there for a few minutes, letting the cold water ease her aching head, before a bright light was shined in her direction.
Ophelia sat up and the light flashed directly and painfully into her eyes. The light was far too bright for her eyes to adjust, so she could not see the holder of the light. But her insight immediately recognized the person's psyche and it made her nervous.
"Oh, um, hello, Officer Yume, fancy seeing you here. How's your arm?"

"Fine, Ms. Fenton. Care to explain why you're sitting in the middle of the rubble that once was the park fountain?"
"Sure, but could you not shine that light in my face, I've got a migraine coming on."
Officer Yume aimed the flashlight away from her face. Her eyes blinked, her pupils dilated in response to the lack of light.
"Now, why did you destroy the fountain?"
"Could you please whisper, and I didn't mean to destroy the fountain. I saw you guys were after the Box Ghost, and you know how the Bystander Contract makes me help you when I'm involved in some way (and technically dodging your shots makes me involved). So I chased him to the park but I couldn't hit the brakes in time, so I, uh, kind of crashed into the fountain."
Ophelia ended her story with a nervous laugh. She rubbed the back of her head partly because of the headache, partly because of the stress of the situation.
"So then, where's the Box Ghost."
"He's with the GZPD, I knocked him into a portal."
"So you have nothing to validate your story? You do know that destruction of public property is a crime?"

"Go ahead and put it on my tab."

Ophelia's head felt like it was going to split in two at the sound of the cell door slamming shut.
"Are you kidding me!" Ophelia screeched despite her headache.
"I told you that destruction of property was a crime." Said Officer Yume
"Yeah, which you send me home and we have to pay for the damages. You do not lock me up in a cage with a stupid cuff on me!"
"This is how we treat everyone who breaks the law, don't think you're special because your godmother is captain of the precinct."
"I don't think I'm special because of Auntie Val, I think I'm special because I'm the only minor legally obligated to fight crime with the police. That same obligation absolves me from sitting in a jail cell because I did your stinking job for you!"
"I can see why my wife wanted to keep you away from Emelia."
Ophelia's eyes flashed.
"Please, tell me I'm wrong, but does this have anything to do with that dispute my dad had with Mrs. Yume?"
"Of course not, that would be completely unethical of me to arrest someone because of a personal issue."
"It does, doesn't it."
"I am calling your parents so they know where you are. With any luck, you won't spend the whole night here."
Officer Yume walked away. Ophelia kicked the bars in her frustration, causing the whole structure to shake.
"You are so lucky Auntie Val is off tonight!" She shouted. "And you could've at least given me a towel to dry off!"

"I can't believe Mr. Yume locked you up."
Abi and Darcy met up with Ophelia the next morning after her night in jail.
"It's fine, really. I was only in there for like two hours. What was worse was when my dad picked me up. I swear, I thought he was going to knock him out then and there."
"This feud thing is getting way out of hand." Darcy said.
"I know, Dad said he was going to get Mr. Yume fired, that he was going to sue him for locking me up. I don't want that."
"How do you think Em is going to take this?" Abi asked, "What if she makes us take sides! I don't wanna take sides, we just got our whole group set up!"

"Ophelia!"
Abi flinched at the sound of Em's voice. Ophelia looked over to Em on her blades rolling herself over.
"I heard about what happened last night, I'm sorry. My dad finally heard word from the GZ prison after you and your dad left. They confirmed your claim about the Box Ghost, and so did the officers that were initially chasing after him. They saw a flash of light dart out of the clouds after him, I'm guessing that was you?"
"Yeah, it was."
"My dad's so sorry about last night. He just got transferred into the 13th precinct before his injury, he didn't know the protocol for you and your dad. He thought he had no choice but to take you in-"

Ophelia raised her hand.
"Just forget it, please. I want to forget about it."
"Please, Phé, he's not like my mom, he doesn't have any prejudice against ghosts. He actually likes them a lot, even if a lot of his injuries are from him getting caught in the crossfire of GHCU."
"I said forget it, alright!"
"I'm just trying to apologize-"
"I forgive you! I forgive him! Okay, just please drop it!"
Ophelia stomped off, too upset to deal with anything. Em watched her leave, wide eyed in confusion.
"What's up with her?"
Abi leaned on Em's shoulder and shook her head.
"Prison, man, it changes people."

Sam knocked on the Yume's door. Mrs. Yume answered the door, her eyes narrowed at Sam.
"Hello, Helen," Sam said sweetly.
"What do you want, Fenton, you here to serve my husband with the lawsuit your husband was screaming about?"
"Actually, I'm here to apologize for my husband's behavior. You see, we used to live in a couple of town that did not accept ghosts like Amity did. In fact, one of them accused me of being a witch, believe it or not." Sam laughed to lighten the mood, but Mrs. Yume was having none of it. Sam cleared her throat and continued.
"But you see, he gets sensitive to any anti-ghost stuff. So he kind of overreacted, and I'm sorry for that. But you have been overreacting too, you have to admit."
"So, your daughter had her outburst too. You should've heard he tantrum she had when she was in the holding cell."
"That's understandable, she's only a child after all. But we're full grown adults, we're suppose to set a good example for our kids, but instead we've been making them miserable over our petty arguing. How about we make amends and be done with this feud, for our daughters' sakes." Sam stuck out her hand. Mrs. Yume stared at it, he arms folded. "We don't have to like each other, we just have to tolerate each other enough to have our kids over."
Mrs. Yume unfolded her arms and used her finger to lower Sam's hand.
"I am not having my daughter play with your ecto-mutt of a daughter. She's a privileged, spoiled brat that destroys half the town. I had my husband arrest your kid in hopes that she would learn to behave, but all it did was show the whole precinct how much of a brat she is."
Sam scowled.
"So you're saying you had your husband arrest my daughter because she's half ghost?"
"No, I had her arrested because she's a horrible ghost brat."

"That's all I needed to hear."

Sam put a hand to her ear and pulled out her earring, a silver and green earring that looked a lot like a communication piece. Mrs. Yume's eyes widened.
"Here's how it's going to go, Helen, we are ending the feud, our daughters are going to be friends again, we are allowing them to go to each other's houses, and you are not going to called my baby a mutt or I will take this confession in and charge both you and your husband with a hate crime."
"You wouldn't."
"I certainly would."
Helen and Sam just stared each other, seeing who would crack first. Without breaking her stare, Mrs. Yume said.
"Your house or mine?"
"How about yours first, and maybe we can invite you all over to dinner on Saturday. I'll cook some meat for you guys."
"Fine, but I'm bringing a dessert."
"Deal."

"Deal."

With that, Mrs. Yume closed the door. Sam smiled and put the Fenton-phones in her pocket. She walked back to her house with a spring in her step. Danny was at the doorway when she came in.
"And that's how you end a feud." Sam said smugly.
"Hmm, blackmail," Danny said sardonically, "who knew?"