Thank you for the reviews! Here's the replies!
Unlucky Alis: Awesome! Another long review! :D I'm glad to hear you'll be sticking around for it! And, yeah, Val can be frustrating, but as you probably know very well, it is simply a part of her character. She'll learn eventually though. Yeah, Wes is in this, lol he's basically fanon by now, but just like the rest of the characters, he's going to be just a little different in this AU. Haha can't wait to write him in the future XD also, glad to hear that Val's outfit seems to be working well, lol, I was stumped for a while on what to do with her outfit that would fit this story. And yes, they're all idiots, but they can be smart idiots too at times XD
Parselmaster: Glad to hear it! I'm working on it right now! :)
Joy Phantom: Cool! Another long review! :D And yes. This is just all the necessary background stuff plus some more :) That's true, Val will be as close to her canon character as I can get her because of that (mentally, not physically because she doesn't really have her whole suit here, just the board and the guns XD ). Glad to hear you'll be sticking around too! And yes, it's planned to be very long ':D Also, no, unfortunately he won't be getting that symbol in this story, as you can probably understand why. Lastly, no. I'm sorry, but I really didn't want to shove any romantic subplots in because sometimes they can be distracting, and personally, I really enjoy writing more just character driven stories :) However, there may be a few little segments in this story (not the three bigger plots) that have some romance. You'll see when we get there ;)
Thank you all for reading and enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 25
Evolution
Summary: Things are changing in Amity Park
Amity park was slowly and unknowingly to all, being turned upside down. Citizens had become so accustomed to ghosts attacking and ghost hunters or the GIW stepping in to stop them. it had been that way for years.
In the beginning, it was only smaller ghosts that had made their way into town through pinhole sized breaches in the barrier between worlds. They rarely caused much damage back then, but did seem to love scaring the townsfolk for laughs. That was around the time the research organization called the Guys in White first showed up.
At first, the name had only been a joke between the group of college friends who had come up with the idea of doing actual scientific research on the how's, what's and why's of ghosts, since they noticed that they all only ever wore their white lab coats. Of course, it was obvious why they would wear them, but the group simply found it humorous to label themselves as "the guys in white".
When they first began, it was more of like a school club at the college they were attending, but as time went on, they began to slowly change into a private business type of thing. They often travelled to places around the world where ectoplasmic levels in the air were at higher densities, and began actually finding some ground breaking facts. They began publishing articles and even a few books on their findings, which caught them the eyes of thousands, including some government personnel who were becoming slightly paranoid about the problems ghosts might present.
After some more years of the now growing business finding out all these new, genuine facts, they were confronted by some government officials. The people claimed to have seen the work they were doing and asked them if they would be interested in doing a public service by using their knowledge to protect people in areas with high amounts of ecto activity from the ghosts that invaded their towns.
Most of the guys were on board, and agreeing that it would be a great idea, but the original founder, the top guy in their self built business, said no. He claimed to firmly believe that people didn't even need protection from ghosts, because they were not harmful by nature. He thought, that if anything, they should try and form better relationships with them.
The group argued for weeks, but the most heated debates came from the head guy and his best friend, who had become completely paranoid after some readings revealed to him just how powerful ghosts could be. He believed that there was bound to be a day in the future when the ghosts would turn and use their power in a battle against the human race. He only wanted to solve the problem before it could begin.
Despite whatever his friends and coworkers did to convince him, the top guy just wouldn't give in. He refused to see ghosts as a danger or threat with all the stubbornness of a rock. The thing changed it all, however, was when he mysteriously disappeared one night, never to be seen again. His best friend claimed his friend was killed at the fault of a ghost, but there was not a trace of evidence to prove anything.
Eventually, the small company turned to the next in line, the best friend, and there was no hesitation this time. The new top guy almost immediately struck a deal with the officials and sold their company to the government.
From there it was all downhill. The seed of corruption had been planted and over the years it grew and grew until it was nearly in full bloom. Operations became more about greed and power, and less about genuine research and discovery.
Almost all of the articles and copies of books published by the original Guys in White, were lost or destroyed. New information and articles were published years later, but as time went by, they only became even more false.
Other, privately owned and operated ectology based companies began using the published information to base their own theories and facts upon. Most unfortunately didn't even realize they were being fed false information, in fact, it got to the point where even most of the GIW agents themselves didn't know the truth.
Current generations of people were now only being told of how cruel, greedy, and hateful ghosts can be, and most of them believed it. Unfortunately, the ghosts themselves began backing up the GIW's claims because the peaceful ghosts simply stopped venturing into the human realm. The more they became unwanted, the more they stayed away, leaving only the malicious behind.
So, when out of the blue, a ghost shows up in Amity Park, ghost capital of the world, and starts randomly saving people's lives, of course they were confused. Citizens, ghost hunters, and even the GIW all had no idea what to think. Eventually theories began being pumped out most fell back on the idea that it was all some sort of ruse. The ghost just wanted attention, or wanted to gain everyone's trust, love, and support in order to do a turnaround someday and attack them all. Some people didn't even believe that those people on the news were saved by a ghost.
A few weeks after Phantom first showed up, a new figure came into play. She was a young ghost hunter that had somehow acquired cutting edge technology and seemed to have it out for Phantom.
People didn't know what to think of her at first either, but eventually she gained about just over half of the town's trust and support. After a couple weeks with her around, people began to simply call her The Red Huntress, which was a name that ended up sticking with her.
In the end, most people in the city ended up having at least one of them to look up to. Amity Park sure did get turned upside down, but the majority were able to adapt to the new ways their problems or emergencies were dealt with, whether it be a building fire, some rogue evil ghost, a bank robbery, or even possessed hot dogs rioting down 83rd avenue.
Flaming Defeat
Summary: Ember reflects on the past few months.
Everything ached and her energy levels were drained, but the wide grin she wore refused to leave her face. She trudged through the snowy realm, knowing full well she had another at least another three miles to go. Her energy was too low to fly there, so for now she'd have to simply resort to walking, dragging her slightly damaged guitar with her.
"Oooh, you will remember my name…" she sang softly to herself. Ember didn't really know why she'd chosen that song to "take over the world" with, but it'd been fun nonetheless. She'd even gotten to use her best evil laugh.
It had been close. She'd almost had the whole world "under her control". Psh. Yeah right, it takes a lot more than that to actually take over the world. Sure, her music could have a hypnotic effect on human minds, but she couldn't control their every thought and movement, only influence.
Luckily, the little dipstick had pulled through at the last minute, which meant it'd probably be any day now when they could finally come clean with him, and that was a reaction Ember did not want to miss.
Thinking back, she couldn't believe how fast time went. It felt like only last year she had been sneaking around the strange house in Amity, stumbling upon a tiny crying baby in a crib. Maybe that's where her "Babypop" remarks had come from…
"Ember! Ember! Ember!" Klemper chanted, interrupting her thoughts. The greenish blue skinned pajama ghost floated alongside her towards the Far Frozen.
She groaned exasperatedly. " STOP SAYING MY NAME!" Ember yelled.
The ghost only stopped for a moment to stare at her with wide eyes before continuing again.
She huffed and tried walking faster only to trip and land face first in the snow. With a shiver, she sat back up and dusted most the snow off herself. Unfortunately, her core happened to be more warm, fire based, unlike the majority of the Alliance, so it was a bit of a pain for her to constantly keep going back to the Far Frozen. That also must've been why they chose this frozen wasteland for their new headquarters. That plus the fact that all the snow, mountains, and rock around there would make it hard for any Royalists to track their location.
"Please, will you be my friend?" Klemper asked for about the millionth time while ignorantly poking inside Ember's personal space bubble. "We could do everything together! Like have snowball fights, and build snowmen, and fly around, and…"
Klemper kept listing off things they could do, but Ember had suddenly been struck with an idea. "Hey Klemper!" she exclaimed, turning to face him, "If you could just take me about, oh, three miles that way…" she pointed in the direction of some snowy hills and cliff sides, "Then I know a nice little group of penguins who would just love to be your friends."
Around fifteen minutes later Ember dropped back to the snow covered ground with her guitar in hand and waved Klemper off in the direction she knew there were a whole bunch of ghost penguins just waddling around. She trudged up to an icy wall and placed her non-gloved hand on it. A box of light showed up just beneath the surface of the ice and Ember put in her security code. The door appeared in the ice a moment later as it pushed itself open. She grinned as she strolled back inside at last and immediately headed for the kitchen in hopes of finding herself a nice, refreshing zupu to boost her energy.
A/N: This one's a little shorter than I would've liked, but don't worry, the next one is probably gonna be one of the longer ones ;)
Only 5 more after this one until the new story is gonna get started! XD I'm so excited for it, I hope some of you are too! :D
UP NEXT: When Circus Gothica comes into Amity Park, Sam notices there's something suspicious going on.
See ya soon and please, please review if you have the time! :)