I am so so so sorry it took this long for me to write this. What started with writer's block led to homework getting backed up to feeling on my death bed sick. Ugh... But I shouldn't digress. Now as a little bit of a note, if Kira starts to get a little god-modded in the next few chapters, it has to happen. Remember, she's the hero of the story, not Danny. Added food for thought, she's having to learn all the things it took Vlad or Dark Danny (Dan Phantom if you'd prefer) twenty years to learn in only a few months, so she's not going to be the best at all of her powers, but she will have a good starting ground on most of them by the time this story ends and the sequel begins, which is getting closer. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this long chapter and welcome to any new people that started reading in my absence.

Clockwork had said that there would be ghosts willing to help us. After Danny had gone to sleep for the night, I went back to the Ghost Zone by myself. It may have been stupid, but after figuring out about my fire and ice powers, I had to find a teacher. I figured I didn't have long until we flipped dimensions and we were on our own, so I had to learn ASAP. I don't know why I did it without Danny, I just thought it was something I should figure out on my own.

"Hey dipstick," I heard the familiar voice call from behind me, "what are you doing here?"

"Certainly not looking for a fight. Do you know anyone with some control over fire?" I answered, not turning to face her.

"Have you really not seen my hair?" Ember questioned, saying what a stupid question without saying it.

"So, you have fire powers?" I asked, spinning around and floating my legs up, sitting cross-legged as if I were an elementary schooler waiting on a teacher.

"Yeah, I just focus it through my tunes. Why do you care?"

"Have you really not seen my hair?" I mimicked. This raised a frown from her, but she stayed silent, so I continued, "I get you don't like me, but I seriously have no idea what I'm doing. Could we call truce and you help me out?"

"And why would I do that?" she snapped, putting her fists to her hips and pushing her shoulders back.

"Come on, Ember, Ember, Ember, Ember, Ember, please?" The fire of her hair grew and a smirk crossed her face. "See, I can empower you and you can help me control my powers."

"Hmm, play me a song first. It's been a long time since I was in the audience," she said, turning her guitar to a non-dangerous mode and handing it to me.

"Alright, I might be a little rusty. I haven't played in a few weeks," I said, resting it on my leg and striking a quick chord to get ready. My mind flickered back to the day my brother taught me to play "Smoke on the Water." I closed my eyes and pictured my nine year old self sitting on the wooden stool next to my brother, holding his acoustic in my small hands, slowly struggling to find every note and slide my fingers to all the right frets.

The sound filled my ears and I finally opened my eyes, breaking from the trance of my memories. Ember looked impressed, but I didn't much care. I was too lost in the song. I felt like I was being hypnotized. I couldn't stop playing and I couldn't move.

"Now that you've cooled down, why are you really here?" Ember questioned with suspicion.

"I told you, I have no idea what I'm doing. I pretty much just blew up in a ball of flames and now I have fire powers. Nearly burned down Phantom's house a couple hours ago," I said, still unable to break my concentration from the song.

"How'd you stop it?"

"Shoved my hands in the sink and acted like I was cleaning dishes. Now will you take back your stupid guitar already?"

"Nah, I'm really diggin' this song. So why did you come to the Ghost Zone for help?"

"Little ol' Stopwatch thought it'd be a good idea," I said bitterly. "So are you gonna help me or not?"

"I can't see any harm in it, but I need you to do one thing for me."

"What?"

"Get that dipstick Klemper off my back. He's been cramping my life for the past month and a half!" she complained angrily.

"Believe me, I can cover that. So we got a deal? You teach me how to burn stuff and I'll trap the smiley twerp some place he can't get out," I said.

"Sounds like a win-win to me," she said, grabbing the guitar and breaking its power over me. I sighed in relief and stretched out my legs like I was standing in the air again. "Just know if you break our deal, you and your half-ghost boyfriend are getting a love song made just for you."

"Believe me, I'll stick to the honesty policy," I said with a hint of disgust. "Speaking of Danny boy, you mind keeping it on the down-low that you're helping me? Last time I ran off to get help from a bad guy, he didn't seem to take it real well."

"Sticking it to the authority, I like it. Come on, I'll show you to my place," she said, floating off to the left.

Time Skip...

"Uh, Ember, this is Skulker's island," I said as we landed on the hunter's ground.

"We've been dating a while, so I just crash at his place. It's beats sleeping in the garage with the band," she elaborated.

"You don't think he'll mind me being here?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, he'll mind, but he'll get over it," she answered. I was really starting to like her style. "Word is you're from a different dimension right?"

"Yeah, and I have to say, for all the powers and fun this place has provided, I'd still rather be home," I said, jumping across a random line of large stones.

"We're movie characters there aren't we?"

"Cartoon, but yeah, pretty much. What's the big question?" I asked, anticipating her curiosity.

"Did you think I was cool?"

"Ember, you were the coolest! Everybody would crowd the TV when you were on. We all knew your song, and we could listen to it without even getting hypnotized. My love of old fashion punk, pop, and rock is because of you."

"So you're a fan?" she asked with a smirk.

I blushed at the realization that I had been totally fan-girling and was about to say something, but was cut off by the fast impact of a band of ectoplasm that glued me to a nearby tree. Being caught around the arms and stomach, I tried kicking off the tree as Skulker came into view, but it was useless. "What are you doing on my island whelp?" he questioned as he landed in front of me.

"Cool it metal head, she's with me," Ember scolded.

"With you? What are you doing with the ghost child?"

"Ghost adolescent!" I corrected. That earned me a dirty look from Skulker that I returned by sticking my tongue out.

"The kid and I have a deal. Why don't you go hunt a rabbit or something?" she said, swiping a blade from Skulker and cutting my off the tree.

"But that's not fare," he whined. "I had her trapped. She's on my island."

"Count it as diplomatic immunity," I said with a smirk, following Ember as she trudged past him.

"Anything to get rid of that idiot Klemper," Ember muttered.

"Is that what this is all about? I could hunt him for you," Skulker whined.

"So you could keep him in a cage in your room? I don't think so. Besides, haven't you ever heard about doing something nice for someone?" she nagged.

Skulker had obviously lost the argument, but he wouldn't let it drop. "What is she getting out of this deal anyway?"

"Ember's gonna teach me how to burn things without lighting the whole town on fire," I said with a hint of childish excitement, lighting a fireball in my hand. "Well, soon enough maybe even the whole world."

"I thought you and Phantom had the same abilities," Skulker said with confusion.

"We still do, kind of. I'm getting all the powers he'll have in around... ten to twenty years? Mistake in the halfa process I guess. But tell you what, this is so much better than a hazmat suit."

"You look like Kitty," Skulker said with a look of annoyance.

"Thanks Skulky, just insult your guest. Anyway, kinda on a limited time scale, so could we get this under way?"

"Sure kid, follow me," Ember said, grabbing my arm and dragging me before I made Skulker flip a gasket.

"That guy has no sense of humor," I muttered when we were out of earshot.

"I'm fairly certain you're the only person that finds you funny," Ember said as we walked inside of the skull ruins that was Skulker's house.

"Man, as ugly as this place is on the outside, I have to say, it's just as ugly on the inside," I said, looking at all the ghost animal heads on the wall.

"Ugh, I know. I've been telling him that for months and he just won't listen. He thinks his 'trophies' are more important. I ripped the ones out of my room and burned the things."

"Boys," she and I said at the same time.

"Do you ever think they'll grow up?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Never. Come on, my room's just over here," she said, pointing in the direction of a big blue door with a star on the front.

Once we walked in, I saw the awesome room set she had. In place of all of Skulker's trophies she had destroyed was a wall of mounted guitars. In the corner, there was an amp as tall as the ceiling, and everything was blue. But, even with all the stuff in front of me, one question burned in the back of my head. "Why is it some doors in the Zone lead to rooms, and others lead to dimensional pockets?"

"Shadow, I've been a ghost for about thirty years, and I still have no idea how this place works."

"Does any ghost?"

"Well I'd think some of the older ones might. Maybe Miss Freak-Box Pandora or go to the ball dragon but would. They seem like they've been around a while. But I'm sure we're here to talk about powers, not the infinite possibilities of the Ghost Zone."

"Right, sorry. So, what do I need to know?" I asked, getting back on my train of thought.

"Okay, well first, how do you focus your powers you've got?" she asked, dropping down on her bed.

"Emotion, thoughts. Only problem is it's too unstable," I said, awkwardly sitting down next to her.

"That's why you don't see me getting overly sensitive. Have you thought about picking a focus?"

"A focus?" I asked with confusion.

"Focus, obsession, whatever you want to call it. Like I've got the music, Skulker's got his hunting, Technus has his "master of all technology" thing, Box Blunder has his stupid cardboard."

"So you're talking a theme?"

"Yeah, just something to focus your power through. What are you good at?"

"Everything."

"What do you like?"

"Everything but Skulker."

"There's got to be something you like."

What do I like? Computers, but Tech-his-nuts has that. Video games, but that'd be corny. Music, but Ember's got me beat there. I liked comic books, but that'd have to be narrowed down. Let's see, something I can use that's in a comic book...

"A bow and arrows."

"Really, archery?" Ember said as if it were rediculous.

"My favorite comic book hero used one all the time, so I forced my dad to get me lessons. I know how to use one and it'd be the only thing I don't look stupid with," I explained firmly.

"Whatever," she said, standing up and walking over towards a table next to her wall of guitars. I soon followed and she had her hand hover a few inches above the table. "All of my guitars are made by my energy. All you've got to do is concentrate on what you want it to look like."

A drip of green ectoplasm flowed from her hand to the table and started forming a small triangle. A few seconds later, it formed with colour as a purple guitar pick with a skull on it. "That's awesome."

"Try it, just start with something small," she said.

I put my hand over the table and thought. Something simple... I felt a strain in my wrist as a drip started hitting the table. There was a slight pain when it started forming out, but it did form. On the table, there was an ancient looking arrowhead with Ember's name on it. I lifted it up and offered it to her saying, "The first gift from an astounding student?"

"Not really my style, but I'll take it," she said, pocketing the rock. "Now try making an arrow. I'm guessing you're going to need a lot of them."

I smiled and attempted to do what she said. Key word: attempted. What came out was a not-so-straight arrow. "Whoops," I said with an embarrassed laugh.

"It's a lot harder to make longer things. Believe me, it took forever to make just the right guitar. Try again, but focus on the tips and and in what you need to make them connect."

Alright, head, feathers and clip; head, feathers and clip... I tried it with closed eyes, hoping that the added focus on visualizing would straighten things out. Turns on, that's just what I needed. When I was finished and looked at what I had made, it was perfectly straight. There sat a perfect arrow, ready for use.

"Sweet, now I'll teach you how to give your shots power," she said, making space for her to make something new. "For me, my power's changed by a dial on the side of my guitar. You're going to be a bit different. I'm guessing your individual arrows are going to need to have the power in them, unless you can think of something different."

"Actually, I just might have an idea, but show me how to power charge something first," I said, staring intensely.

"Okay. So the only difference is that you have to use whatever ability you want to attach to it while you're making it. You won't actually end up using it because it'll fizzle out, but it does empower the target. Like if I want a whistle that can shoot a fire blast, all I've got to do is make the whistle and charge the blast," she said as green dripped from her hand. The item quickly formed as a whistle with a flame engraved in the side. "Try it out."

I picked up the whistle and aimed at an empty corner of the room where it wouldn't cause any damage and blew. As she said, a blast of fire shot out of it and fizzled out as it hit the wall. My thoughts on how to use this were half genius. I could have a dial on the side of my bow for quick changes in arrow type, which fed into the arrow guide. That way when I mounted an arrow to my bow, the charge would be transferred and I wouldn't have to worry about running out of a specific arrow. Pretty smart, but hard to construct.

I hovered my hand over the table, thinking through all the specifics of my bow back home. Focus on the dial and the arrow guide. The necessary powers: fire, ice, ectoblast, shield, intangibility. After what took five minutes, the target was starting to take shape. It was exactly how I pictured it, it only needed testing.

My left hand gripped tight to the neon green bow as I picked up the one perfect arrow with my right hand. Quickly adjusting the dial to the shield icon, I fed the arrow over the guide and clipped it to the bowstring. I aimed at the empty wall and fired.

The arrow disintegrated on contact, but a bubble of energy blossomed up from its place. Stuck to the wall was a glowing green half-sphere shield. It had worked.

"This is going to be awesome."