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by Ithic Ascendant

It's one thing after another. A cosmic freak, caught halfway between life and death. Lies at the worst time, hidden truths long buried surfacing. Everything he thinks he knows comes into question. As Danny Fenton dies, but not all the way, a series of events is set in motion. The young man faces hardships not faced by any on the planet, slowly shaping him into something more. DP AU

23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Events in Motion

November snow lightly dusted the ground, coating the Illinois soil white. All seemed peaceful in Amity Park, kids were playing in their winter wonderland, the holidays were beginning to ramp up, and people were visiting family and friends.

Mind the explosions, and it was a scene of peace and democratic societal success.

A pair of ghosts fought it out downtown over an electronics store called Gadget Gotcha. It's a popular semi-new store that sold both used and new pieces of technology, primarily game consoles, TV's and laptops. For all intent and purposes, it was a tech pawn shop. Tucker frequented it often, at least twice a week, sometimes three if he was in the mood or had the allowance. Danny didn't mind the place, having shopped here a few times in the past with the guy.

But he was really hating it right now.

"Behold ghost child! For with all of this beautiful, new and hip technology, I will rule the world!"

Danny could only stared at Technus, the self-proclaimed master of all technology, absolutely baffled. He didn't seem that bad at first, his over the top ranting and proclamations of world domination was amusing, funny almost, in the beginning, three days ago. It really felt like some comic book shit, and the whole hero thing felt a little more real than before. But today, on a Wednesday in the middle of school, it was downright annoying. He had to bail on Lancer, his favorite teacher, and it's because of this Einstein reject.

And he was monologuing. Again.

"You're gonna need a hip replacement when I'm done with you…" His quiet threat was drowned out by the ridiculous rambling, and several of his fingers on his right hand popped from frustration. Was this a thing now? Having to listen to this shit before a fight? Do other heroes have to do this- listen to this inane bullshit? Box Ghost was doing it, but funny enough, boxes don't make great weapons. Skulker was starting to do it, but he's just arrogant. And Technus? He's a direct counter for Danny, but he's just so… dumb.

Skulker had been coming more and more often as of two weeks ago as well, a whole two days after the Fright Knight debacle. It was like he had newfound motivation to come after him. Every two or three days really, and it was trying his patience something fierce. Neither Halfa's knew how, but the little booger seemed to know whenever Vlad was coming to instill some ground rules into him. They couldn't find his lair, it was constantly moving through the zone, and at this point, possibly cloaked too. The one time he managed to actually get the little shit in the thermos, a sudden run in with this tech-douche had busted the beat up battlesuit out.

Honestly, this was starting to trickle down into a game of 'how many times can Skulker show up in a week?'

And as it turns out, too many to not be annoying, really.

Danny had threatened him, Vlad had threatened him, Desiree even told him in passing that she would retaliate should he continue. No dice. The hunter had told him, and everyone else, that the only thing that would stop him from mounting his pelt would be if he was destroyed down to the last crumb of his core. He was even here earlier today, trying his patience at a blistering five in the morning, and the young Halfa was honestly thinking about his mentor's offer of destroying him. Or at least locking him up in a thermos for days at a time for a little respite.

Actually, that sounded pretty nice, he'd have to try it.

Would the thermos hold power for more than one day?

Technus rambled on though, from the confines of his homemade mech suit, composed of different game consoles, computer monitors, and discarded phones and motherboards. If only the thermos worked at times like this, but the whole suit anchored the tech spirit, so that was out. Danny glanced around, his hood swayed in the freezing breeze comfortably, the negative temperatures comforting him slightly. Must be his ice core, because ever since snow started falling, he had been feeling far more energized than before.

He couldn't get too close to Technus, not when he was in that little 'shield' of his. His normal electricity was bad enough, and the Halfa found himself yet another weakness other than fire. It made sense, in a way, that the thing that practically killed him was one of his more effective weaknesses. It just hurt so much. More than fire! No point repeating that again, but that left Phantom without his most powerful ability: Electrokinesis.

And the irony of that wasn't lost to him: greatest strength and greatest weakness.

Nothing's ever easy for him, it seemed. 'Such bullshit.'

"Are you even paying attention to me?! The great Technus?!" The screen in the center of the robot turned into an angry emoticon, and it honestly made him snicker a little bit.

"Oh yeah, I'm paying attention." He monotoned. Not really. Definitely not. Danny rolled his eyes and dodged an arc of electricity that was sent his way. He frowned, charging up a blast of ectoplasm in each hand.

"How's this for new and hip?!" Phantom sent a barrage of blasts at the pile of machines. The arms raised up to block, and the sound of breaking glass and scraping metal made him cringe. The blasts impacted harshly, breaking off the merchandise into melted slag and jagged pieces of metal and plastic.

Technus laughed, the nasally sound grating his nerves something fierce, "You cannot stop me child! Yes, I am invincible!" Danny let loose another bombardment while circling the retail-mech, stifling a giggle at his last line. Dumbass probably doesn't even know he's quoting a James Bond movie. A cannon popped out from both shoulders, made of microwaves, computer speakers, and a plethora of light bulbs and copper wire.

Eyes bulging in shock, he was forced to hastily dodge a streaking dual-beam of electricity. "Whoa!" Despite the cold, Danny wiped away the sweat that had formed on his forehead. The attack continued past him and vaporized a large majority of a billboard that was behind him. That was close; if a normal shock from his bare hands was enough to reduce him to a screaming mess, then he really didn't want to experience a concentrated attack like that. Another attack powered up, the sound catching his ears, and Danny forced himself into intangibility when the beams thundered his way. Nearby windows cracked from the sound, and he found it reminiscent of an electrical distribution transformer blowing up.

The counter attack was right on the tip of his tongue, literally, along with a possible quip, but he quickly cancelled out his fanged focus when his parents came rounding the corner. The Fenton RV was blasting its horn, one his father no doubt stole from the Dukes of Hazards, and several turrets mounted on top were already firing at the large ghost robot. The mounted guns glowed green, ectoplasm lining the barrels, and fired rapidly. Squelching thuds echoed in the city battlescape, like molten metal hitting solid steel. Slowly the shots chipped into the suit, making the ghost squawk out in surprise.

"What is this?! How dare you!" He aimed one of the cannons at the RV, and Danny just couldn't watch his parents get hit with something like that. Dropping down in front of the armored vehicle, Danny brought up a multi-layered ghost shield. The beams impacted the shield, screeching horribly, and despite the strain, the young Halfa held it. The first shield broke instantly, and the mental strain made him take a step back. The second cracked slowly, before falling too, but the third and fourth held on till the attack ceased.

A little tired, but confident, Danny smirked at the tech ghost, dropping his shields. "Got anything else Boris, or is that the be-" Any retort he had was gone from his lips when he found himself in pain and flying through the air not of his own volition. While in a tumble, he could see the impeccably stunned face of his opponent, openly gaping at what he was seeing. It wasn't until his third spin that Phantom realized what actually just happened.

His parents ran him over with the Fenton RV.

'Motherfucker.' He protected them from an attack he knew would have destroyed them, one they had probably seen on the way here since the billboard was so high up. And they repaid it to him by hitting him with the fucking bumper of what basically amounted to a tank, but faster and somehow street legal. His back hurt the most, but it wasn't debilitating, just jarring. He had taken worse from Fright Knight, that meteor attack had probably been the equivalent of a bullet train hitting him. Once again, Danny found himself thanking his ridiculous endurance. His natural defense was far better than any armor could be, especially against non-ecto based weapons. Sure, the thing had weight, speed, and force, but it's nothing he couldn't handle.

Mid-air, he righted himself, now more angry and emotionally hurt than he's been in a while. In a drift, one of the turrets changes targets from a flailing and confused Technus and aims at him. He quickly goes invisible, but a random spray of ectoplasmic fury from the mounted gun nicks him in the arm, sending him into a short tumble. Danny hisses in pain and returns to the visible spectrum, glaring daggers at the vehicle and ready for retaliation.

That glare fine tunes, turning into visible power, and Danny fires an ocular blast at the specific gun that had hurt him. Anger abates slightly when it blows up in a small cloud of green and black, accuracy on point, and leaving the mounted gun a pile of melted slag, but being run over by dear old mom and dad isn't something someone gets over so quickly.

Stopping, the armored RV continues to fire at Technus, who was having trouble defending himself, the fool obviously hadn't recovered yet. The door is kicked open from the inside and out comes Jack, orange suit and all and toting around a large Fenton Ecto-Launcher on his shoulder. The signature shit eating grin is there as always, eyeing the ghost Danny had been fighting minutes earlier, but it eventually turns to his son.

"Ghost boy!" Jack shouts, dropping to a knee and taking aim, "Stay still and we'll have you prim and proper on the dissection table!"

Not one to listen to authority, especially one with such a sinister desire as that, Danny takes flight. "What the hell is your problem?! I saved your ass from getting dusted!" Danny barely has to dodge the green energy rocket that comes his way, his dad wasn't the best shot, and will probably stay that way for the rest of his life. "And you actually ran me over!" Another rocket veers by, missing by a mile. "Ha! Your aim sucks old man!"

Jack sneers at his prey, "Hah! A tactic to make us lower our guard, but we're ghost hunters! We know your kinds' tricks and we won't fall for them!" The Fenton Patriarch fires three more shots, all of which miss and hit the road behind him. Jack frowns, "My aim doesn't suck either, so stay still ecto-scum! We could be dissecting you right now!"

An explosion makes Jack stumble slightly, and the big oaf pulls the trigger again. Whatever was left of the billboard Technus's stray laser hit was gone now, and Danny had to swat away pieces of falling debris with a wicked frown. Both turn their attention to the RV, seeing a chunk of the back missing, where the rest of the turrets had been placed. The metal curled outward, and if Danny had to guess, Technus probably lobbed an high powered ecto-blast or energy grenade.

Was it wrong that he found himself a little happy at the damage to the family vehicle? Maybe. Maybe it also served them right for hitting their son.

Karma. It's a bitch sometimes, isn't it?

His anger vanished for a moment, worried about his mother who was still driving it around. That irritation returned when she jumped out of the hole, guns-a-blazing and quickly dismantling the makeshift suit Technus had made. Maddie Fenton, his mother was the one to run him over. She was so not getting a mothers day present, or a birthday present for that matter. Reinforced bumper did not feel good!

Nothing needed to be said about Christmas. Fuck that holiday in its entirety.

She glanced over at his direction, not even bothering to hide the sneer of disgust. "Hurry up and deal with that thing Jack. We have projects to work on!" Maddie turned her attention back towards Technus, reigning suppressive fire down on him in generous amounts. Thing. Fucking thing. The way she called him, not even acknowledging his sentience, hurt.

Bristling at the casual dismissal and nonchalant comment on murder, makes his eyes burn green in anger and discontent. Run-ins like these, with his parents, aren't entirely common, but they do happen. Once every week or two. And every time they meet, he's more and more glad that he kept his powers a secret. Years of hunting, capturing and experimenting on ghosts has dulled their empathy towards the undead, and he shutters to think of what they would do to him. They had already experimented on him once anyway, what would be stopping them from doing it again? And they're so different when hunting ghosts, cold and cruel, and uncomfortably vocal in their objectives.

"On it honey!" The cheery smile leaves his face the second the two lock eyes, now changed to a determined grin. With his hearing, even at this distance, Danny can hear the launcher charging up in a familiar whine. Deciding not to bother with the air, he dives down towards the ground. The weapon fires, but Danny's already intangible. The shot passes through him and seconds later, he passes through the ground.

If possible, now would be a good time to try out overshadowing again. It's not a power he uses that often, mainly because it's kind of creepy and horribly invasive. But even after getting smashed by almost four tons of metal and tech, using that on his parents is still a little… uncomfortable, in thought. Still, desperate times call for desperate measures. He didn't like Technus, not one bit, he's a pest and uber annoying, but even he didn't deserve to be put on the dissection table.

That's an awful fate Danny wishes on no one.

Jack doesn't even know what hit him when Danny phased through the asphalt and into his father's body. As smart as the man is, he's not entirely up there, which makes him a prime target for possession. Consciousness meld together, but the overall intelligence and sheer power that Danny possessed, let him easily overpower his father's human mind. And like that, Danny found himself looking through Jack's eyes, in all of his 6' 9" glory. Slightly surreal, Danny wonders if he'll get this tall when he's older. He's almost at six feet as is, a couple more inches and he'll finally be there.

Ooooh, how hard was he going to hit his growth spurt?

Phantom shakes his head, still in his fathers' body, and looks over to his once opponent, Technus. What a sad sight. His entirely human mother, Maddie, had completely demolished him. No martial arts were required, not that it would have helped, but the overwhelming firepower and unending suppressive fire from his mother made his tech-suit wither quickly. Barely in his ball of TV's and iPods, Technus was easily absorbed by one of his parents new and improved Capture Cubes, through the small remainder of his suit.

How frightening. His father was almost a joke when it came to the hunting aspect of their careers, but Maddie Fenton was not to be trifled. The impossibly quick, ruthless and utterly efficient way she dismantled the improvised battlesuit, was downright fucking scary to Danny. Impeccable aim, tactical savvy combatant, and armed to the teeth with cutting edge ghost technology.

She's the main reason he always runs. The man of the house is most definitely the mom of the house. She had mom-power in spades, a lot of spades and maybe some diamonds and clubs too.

She seems to be lacking any heart, however.

Quickly, Maddie noticed the lack of Phantom and called out to him. "Honey! Did you finally finish that filthy undead?" The sheer excitement on her face and in her voice was also quite scary to the teen.

Danny can feel his mouth twitch from annoyance, along with his eye, but he waves it off with his father's trademark jovial attitude. "Of course not! He got away, unfortunately."

Eyes flicker over to the capture device, and pity forms in Dannys' stomach, though in small amounts. Annoying or not, and he's definitely annoying, even Technus didn't deserve to be dissected. Not the way his parents did it. "Did you get your target Mo- Madz?"

Maddie narrows her eyes in suspicion, feeling like something is off, but answers nonetheless. "Got him right here," she hefted the cube up in her palm, like a trophy from a hard-earned battle, "he wasn't too hard."

In reality, Technus was probably too confused to even respond. He seemed more like a 'my pace' sort of guy, and while Danny was happy to oblige and let the guy rant and rave some of the time, his parents just went right in, no fucks given. It was respectable in a sense, but the way they intruded on the fight left something to be desired. Like humility, restraint, and not running over the guy that fucking saved them!

Keeping the growl in his throat, Danny responded as the man he was impersonating. "Awesome! Can't wait to take him apart, molecule by molecule!"

He felt confident in his response, it was definitely something his father would say… but for whatever reason, Maddie didn't seem to buy it. She eyed him with suspicion again, and in accordance with his fathers' character, Danny tilted his head to the side. "What is it Madz?"

"Hmmm…"

Not exactly a comforting response, but she wasn't outright attacking him yet, so that's a plus. Not many of those in his half-life.

Keeping the act up, his attention turns to the RV, and he frowns. "Fudge. That'll take some work."

Maddie turns her head, letting suspicions die down for now, and hisses at the sight. "At least it still runs, but you're right. We're going to be working on that for the next few days."

Instincts kick in, this felt like a dialogue trap he got in video games sometimes, and Danny dug through his mind for a proper, Jack Fenton response. Feeling almost proud of himself and his so far amazing acting skills, Danny opens his mouth. "Aww. I really wanted to start on this project I was thinking of…" For added effect, he lets his shoulders sag dramatically.

Maddie's guard lowered visibly, evident by the holstering of her weapon. She rolled her eyes and patted his back affectionately, "We've talked about this before honey, you have to finish your projects first before going onto new ones."

Hook, line, and sinker. Just act like an over dramatic, oblivious goof, and it's too easy to emulate Jack Fenton. "I know…"

They walked back to the vehicle, and Danny got an up close look at the damage. The whole thing smelt of burning metal, plastic and ozone. From the split and broken walls, wires stuck out and sparked every once in a while. He kept Maddie in the corner of his eyes, watching the cube. She was standing on the table that was built in the mobile home, inspecting the damage to one of the monitors that was closer to the point of impact.

Overshadowing someone takes energy, more than he's used to, and it's not a skill he practices often. So when his mother placed the capture device on a shelf by her, Danny felt the opportunity rise. He extended his hand, still in his father's body, and willed the Capture Cube to him. Telekinesis is a rather easy skill to get the hang of, even in his human form. But using it in conjunction with overshadowing someone, is terribly staining. He could feel his control slip slightly, and Jack's rather feeble mental rebellion found a footing to push him out. The cube shook slightly, before flying off the shelf towards him.

Danny ditched his puppet, leaving the older man dazed and confused as he tripped over his own mind. The cube was caught without a sound, and feeling victorious and a little vindictive, Phantom left with his captured enemy and another new capture device. It never hurt to have too many of those.

At about fifty feet away and in the air, Danny can hear his parents yelling at him. Looking down, he spots his father, visibly showing his anger and firing an ecto-rifle at him. Dodging wasn't even necessary, each shot flying far too wide to be threatening. He could hear them, their insults and intentions, wanting to tear him apart molecule by molecule…

Danny left the scene with his mood thoroughly ruined, tired, hurt, and angry.

Though, just to be sure they knew he was disrespecting them, he flashed them his middle finger, one for each. That was kind of funny at least.

---

A detention. He should have expected it. Two classes were skipped practically, and the last one he was in, he fell asleep. Sam and Tucker asked about what happened, but he brushed them off. It's fun hanging out with them, but the boundaries are still up and staying there for now. Besides, the bathroom excuse works wonders, and so does the nurse excuse as well. So long as no one actually bothers to check those areas when he's gone, it should be fine.

Danny didn't even realize he was stomping through the front door until Jazz called out to him. "Danny? Are you okay?"

His tired and frustrated gaze lands on his sister, and immediately Danny can feel the irritation that was bubbling out subside slightly. His sister, even if incredibly nosy and in his face as of late, didn't do anything to him. She's only been supportive and by his side, though a little too much as of late. He smiled at her, a genuine one, "Yeah, I'm alright Jazz. Just a long day at school."

Jazz got up from the couch and placed her book down on the coffee table. For a moment, his eyes flashed green and his vision increased, letting him catch the title of her read. 'How to Better Understand the Psychology of a Teenager.' Of course, what else would she read? Why isn't it anything actually normal with his sister?

Blinking away the small iota of power in his eyes, his attention shifted to his sister. She had a stern expression on her face, but a caring undertone. He had to look up at her, for now she was still taller, but soon he would tower over her. Soon!

"You got a couple scuffs on you, was it those nasty bullies again?" No, no. It was mom and dad, and the front bumper of the Fenton RV, but he can't exactly say that now can he? Maybe his ass imprint is on it, could they identify him via butt?

Chuckling at his inner monologue, he waved off her concerns, "Yeah, but I got out after cup checking the guy holding me." A half-lie, he really did knee Dale in the balls earlier, he's not taking that kind of shit lying down anymore when he's got superpowers.

"Did you try to tell a teacher?" He shook his head, the only one that seemed to give a shit was Lancer so far, and Danny was pretty sure those smoke breaks Falluca took during class were with weed and not cigarettes, so he was pretty useless too. The guy reeked of the stuff, no matter how much cheap cologne he has on.

Jazz sighed in annoyance, standing at attention and straightening out his appearance. He protested her actions, but didn't do anything outside of playful slapping. "Jeez, can you stop? I'm just gonna go get changed in a second anyway."

Her expression remained flat, like she was thinking over something really hard. Danny raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off and made his way over to the stairs. One step up and he nearly tripped when she grabbed the sleeve of his blue flannel. He looked back at her, now actually annoyed and confused. "Yes?"

"Is something going on Danny?" She had on her psychologist face, the one that told him she was going to be far more nosy and up his ass than usual. What was this, the tenth day in a row she's asked this? It was really starting to get to him.

Frowning slightly, Danny took the sleeve from her grasp and turned to face her more, "No, Jazz. Nothing is wrong. Why do you keep asking?"

Taking another step up the stairs, mainly in the hopes of ending the conversation here and now, he failed spectacularly when he actually tripped up the stairs, just on his own two feet this time. Danny growled in frustration, and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his sister flinch back at the sound. Shit, did he let some of his ghost side into that?

"Danny, you're clearly frustrated about something. You keep dodging the question whenever I ask, and you never join me or our parents for breakfast anymore." Jazz took a step up the stairs now, grabbing his shoulder to help him up. "I just want to know what's going on with you. I'm worried."

Jazz watched her brother brush off her attempts to help for the umpteenth time. Everyday it's like this. She asks, he denies, she tries to help in some way, and he disregards it completely. It hurts to see him like this, so secretive and distant. All Jazz wanted was for them to be like old times, when she practically raised him and they told each other everything.

His mannerisms, the way he acted and carried himself, his confidence and trust; it's all different and constantly changing. Maybe that little incident with Sam and Tucker affected him more than he thought. She should have chewed them out more, ten minutes of screaming into a phone did nothing to abate her annoyance and frustration with them.

And their parents, that was a whole other issue Jazz didn't even know how to tackle. Of course, neither Jack or Maddie noticed. They're too thick-skulled for that, denser than lead and oblivious to anything human. She saw how he looked at them, the slight shiver and wince, distrust blooming more and more almost by the day. He was… afraid of them, untrusting and hurt, almost betrayed. The older sibling didn't know why, or what could have caused this, but she was desperate to know, to help her baby brother.

There was an inkling of the why behind his actions. She had, at one point, been afraid of them too. Watching them wrangle in struggling ghosts as if they were rabid dogs was one thing, that could really scare someone, especially a growing boy and girl. The noises that followed from the labs were another thing altogether. Their dissections on the ghosts, while not on living things, did not make it any better. The screams and howls they made, the wails and pleading some of the more intelligent ones made…

In a way, Jazz could understand why Danny would view them with emotions akin to fear. But she didn't understand the look of betrayal and hurt that crossed his face for mere moments. Besides, they had been experimenting on ghosts for years, their entire lives, and if Danny was going to show any adverse reactions to their actions, it would have been sooner. He seemed to get over it all by the time he was ten, probably because they took the extra mile to soundproof and armor the lab. Without having to hear and feel the resistance, fear and pain, it made it much easier to ignore.

Clearly, he stopped ignoring it recently. And the emotions that crossed his normally sweet and docile features: anger, pain, hurt, sadness, the lack of faith; it's like only she could notice them. Kind of like the look he had on his face right now-

'Oh shit.'

Quicker than she thought possible, Jazz turned around to the front door. Her parents were walking in mid-stride, carrying a bundle of equipment and broken parts from who-knows-where. They were talking about something in grumbled whispers, and her father looked more frustrated than she'd seen him in a while.

They said nothing as they walked by their children, not even greeting or glancing at them, and heading straight to the lab, completely absorbed in whatever it is they're doing. Jazz could feel her lips curl in a partial snarl, twitching to go all the way, but she had more pressing issues. Like her brother.

Jazz turned back around, and got a real good look at the expression Danny had on his face. Where she had tried to hold back her snarl, Dannys' was going full blast and she could hear his teeth grinding against each other, an awful and organic, grating sound that sent chills down her spine. Jazz winced at the noise, and her eyes traveled down to his hands. One was clutching the wooden railing, and she would swear that it was indenting under his grip, and the other arm was clutching his side, almost protectively.

Before she could question him on his behavior, he turned around and stormed up the stairs, stomping up three at a time with surprising speed and leaving her behind. The last glimpse of something had caught her attention, and it stopped her from even trying to chase after her little brother. His teeth… they looked longer, almost like fangs. Had she just not noticed, or was that just a trick of the eye? Jazz bit her lip in thought, as instead of answers, all she got was more questions.

Damn it, she wasn't getting anywhere. Her worries kept increasing, nothing was getting answered, and Danny kept getting more and more distant. Maybe… this wasn't something she could handle on her own. Jack and Maddie are worthless for this, if anything they only make it worse when they enter the same room as their son. And it adds on when they ignore him like that.

Jazz winced when she heard the door upstairs slam shut. This didn't have anything to do with being a rebellious or angsty teenager. This seemed personal and deep, and the oldest sibling just didn't know what to do…

Perhaps it was time to get professional help, whether Danny wanted it or not.

---

Down in the lab, both parents were looking at the large screen displaying the Fenton RV. The turrets were destroyed beyond repair, either completely disintegrated or turned into melted slag. And the armor was clearly not enough, they would have to revise, improve, and refit the vehicle.

"A complete design overhaul might be in need." Maddie typed in commands while Jack brought up a list they had made on the way there.

Scratching his head with the eraser side of his mechanical pencil, Jack read through the possible changes and ideas. "Okay, so we obviously need more armor. Preferably heat shielded and insulated to repel electricity. While not primarily electrical in nature, that ecto-blast that hit the RV pretty much destroyed anything in the initial radius." He frowned in disappointment, but it slowly changed into a determined grin.

Any failure is a gateway for improvement. At least that's what Vlad says. He has to have a point considering there aren't many men or women that get anywhere close to his level of wealth and success. Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor and Vlad Masters were the names of success in the business world, and any advice from them meant something.

"At least it's still drivable…" She bit her thumb for a moment, before continuing entering prompts into the main console. "What's the progress on the Specter-Deflector? The sooner we get the small scale going, the sooner we can start really getting into shield tech."

Setting the notepad down, the Fenton patriarch walked over to one of the workshops and picked up a white and silver belt. "It's almost ready. Still got some kinks to work out," As if on cue, it sparked along the buckle, it's main power source, "but hopefully we can get it done within the week."

Maddie nodded, happy to take one more step forward. "Good. In the meantime, we can keep the Fenton RV in storage and work on it in spades. It still runs, but there are currently no defenses or en-route offense."

Humming to himself, Jack looked over a few of the newer weapons that had been made. "The turrets were a bit old, but I didn't think they would suck that much." He turned to his wife and grinned at her, "We need to fix that! Go big or go home, and nothing says big like a rocket launcher!"

The screen flashed over to a new program, and Maddie found herself laughing at her husband's antics. He had been wanting to add more weapons, new and improved, to the RV for a while now. Having all of the old ones literally destroyed was as good a reason as ever, "Oh fine. Just remember, Phantom is fast. He can dodge those rather easily, so put in some ecto-lasers. They may not hit as hard, but they'll at least hit."

Their review went on like that, and the two scientists found themselves falling back into a routine. Hyper-focused in their work and oblivious to their surroundings. It's times like these where Danny would find some new ghost hunting equipment while they distracted themselves. So unobservant to their surroundings, they don't even notice a ghost taking their stuff.

Or a ghost coming through the portal.

Neither parent noticed, the portal opened with a quiet swoosh, bathing the immediate area in its iridescent green. Unlike the first time it was fully functional, the mist did not spill out over the floor, and the noise was heavily reduced. It wasn't a pair of legs that stepped out, but a green ghostly tail. Dull grey and blue armor barely reflected the Ghost Zones glow, but the emblazoned emblem on the chest and shoulder pads shined proudly in the dim lab: A shield emboldened GZPF.

The enforcer shifted his large grey riot shield, uncaring for the two scientists doing their own thing. It mattered not to him, he had a target for his boss. He flew through the lab, the roof, and the rest of the building. Now in the air above the house, he takes out a picture, blurry and made on cheap paper. White hair stood out, as did the combat uniform, though the exact details of the armor weren't available with such a shoddy quality. What was clear though, was the ghost boy fleeing the scene of a crime, one made in Walkers prison.

That just couldn't fly.

The face itself is blank and barely distinguishable, the mouth curled back into a snarl, with a ghostly growl to go with it. "Punk."

Putting the picture away into the shirt pocket, the ghost looks around the mortal world. He sighed and strapped the shield to his back. Without any real direction or indication, he flies off to continue his search.

The ghost boy would be brought in and pay for his crimes, just like everyone else. The damn kid just had to be found first.

---

Danny found his irritability running its course well into the next morning. The further he got from his house, and subsequently, his parents, the better. Jazz getting caught in the crossfire sucked though. He felt bad about the way he's been avoiding her recently, maybe he should find some way to make it up to her. A gift perhaps? The only thing she would like would probably be a psychology book.

He knew why he was so mad. It was obvious. In all the encounters he's had with his parents, they rarely have gotten a hit on him. The only one that was an actual threat was his mother, her aim and close-combat skills were amazing, and his fathers… were lacking, putting it nicely. But he wasn't in the mood for nice, so Danny could confidently say his dad sucked at ghost hunting.

And the one time he actually protects them, showing that he doesn't mean harm to them, and they fucking hit him with their stupid RV. Any family trips he had in that thing, which weren't many, instantly stopped being fond memories. The Halfa was almost a little sad that Technus didn't vaporize more of it. Even thinking about it made him grind his teeth.

As if trying to trust them wasn't hard enough, especially after learning their dirty little secrets. They just… kept piling more and more against themselves. The indiscriminate attacks, ignoring Jazz and him, the secrets- all of it was mounting, making it even harder to actually want to care about his parents. And damn it all, even after all of this, he still cared- still loved them. They're mom and dad, they can't be replaced…

But it's getting harder and harder not to hate them. Inside of him, Danny could feel the slow trickle of love gradually turn to ire and anger.

Everything in life wasn't even that bad right now. He had a teacher who he met with three times a week for his powers, and both could tell the immediate improvements. Grades weren't slipping, but his attendance was starting to take a hit. Gradually, his relationship with Sam and Tucker was getting better, even if still strained slightly. Jazz was being nosy and annoying, a little more than usual for sure, but that was par for the course; she's his sister. He was standing up to his childhood bullies and they couldn't actually beat him up, he had these powers and there was no way he'd take a beating with them. Lancer was even on his side, a teacher!

Jack and Maddie Fenton just kept making it worse.

RING!

The first bell ring of the morning pulled him out of his brooding. He sighed and trudged along out of the library and to his class. It's not often he's early, Danny's normally a right on time sort of guy. Getting here early only made navigating the halls easier, especially when there's no waves of people thronging the halls.

Or a group of jocks trying to shove him in a locker.

That one took time to deal with, assuming they were looking for him.

With ample time to spare, Danny walked the halls to his class. He ignored everyone like they ignored him as he walked, focusing on his ghost side. The cool of his core calmed him when he focused on it and his pace slowed. He could feel the familiar tug of his ghost sense wanting to release itself, but it didn't for some reason. Was the ghost trying to conceal himself, but only doing it half-assedly?

Danny followed the pull, bringing him to the stairs and up to the second story. Another turn and he found himself in front of one of the many computer labs in the school. He eyed the door suspiciously and looked around. There were a few kids walking around, talking, but they seemed to not notice the noise coming from inside. Checking his phone, he noted he still had time before class. Maybe this wasn't a ghost, but someone that felt like a ghost.

Opening the door, the sight before left him speechless. The room was fucking wrecked. Each computer tower was broken and irreparable, the monitors smashed and their warranties were probably expired too. Chairs were smashed, tables halved, and pretty much everything in the room was broken. His jaw dropped at the sheer contained destruction, and then he spotted the guy in the middle of the room.

Short, stout and with gray hair, the little man dressed as a butler looked to be in his mid forties, though he has a rather dandy handlebar mustache. He looked angry, like seriously pissed off, and when they locked eyes, the midget smirked. For a moment both were silent, and Danny was at least glad that he wasn't a ghost, then he threw the table full of computers he was next to at the wall and dropped through the floor with intangibility. The noise made him flinch, because the door was still open and someone definitely heard that.

"Okay, it was a ghost." That was covered at least.

But man, what an amount of destruction. A waste of money too. Danny eyed the room again, still a little taken back, then brought the phone he was holding up. He took a few quick pictures, sent them to Sam and Tucker, along with a 'Look what I found!' text to match. Having seen enough, he turned around and was ready to walk away.

"DAVY JONES LOCKER!"

Danny jumped, slightly startled from the loud screech. Standing right before him in the doorway, with all the anger, surprise, and sadness a man getting close to his midlife crisis could muster, Lancer looked ready to tear someone apart. It was almost funny, if the realization of the situation came crashing down on him.

Oh.

Of course, his sister was there too. Because, why not? She looked just as horrified and affronted at the blatant and severe vandalism as Lancer. And here, right before their eyes was Danny Fenton, phone out and taking pictures not even a minute or two after that crash was heard. So of course he only had one response. "T-this isn't what it looks like, I swear."

---

"I'm glad you could meet me with such short notice, Mr. Lancer."

Laughing it off, the pot-bellied man patted her shoulder. "Nonsense Jasmine, you're the best student I've ever had. Just ask and I'll help any way I can."

Jazz smiled and readjusted her books. This was a last resort sort of thing, and maybe an overreaction, but it was better to nip whatever this was in the butt as soon as possible. "Thanks. To be honest, I'm here about Danny."

The bald man nodded, "Yes, Daniel has been missing classes lately, which is concerning since he doesn't have a habit or record of doing this before." Once or twice in a semester didn't mean anything, everyone had a bad day or was late once or twice, but the recent habit the young man had was concerning.

Wincing, the aspiring psychologist had to agree. "How bad is it recently? I know it's been happening more often, just not how much."

They rounded a corner, nearing the stairwell. Lancer shook his head in disappointment, "At this point, it's at least one class a day. I have him for two of his four current classes, but sometimes he even misses both of mine."

Oh shit, what the heck Danny? That's really bad. "Does he at least say why?"

Mr. Lancer rolled his eyes, "So far it's the bathroom, nurse or ghost." The man would have scoffed at the last option, had he not had first hand experiences with the undead. While skeptical, he was a man that believed things with evidence. Witnessing an actual spirit of the dead fight it out with other spirits was enough of an eye opener. He could see what they could do, the damage they did, and the potential for even more. Good lord, what was this town coming to?

So, the ghost excuse was getting more slides than it reasonably should be getting.

Deciding to break the silence that had fallen, Jazz decided to offer her solution. "I think maybe talking to a professional will help him. I've tried, but he's distant and doesn't want to answer anything I say." She frowned and tapped her fingers on the spine of her textbook. "He's gotten really good at dodging questions lately."

Professional help… "Ah!"

The redhead looked over, curious on the sudden exclamation. "I may have a solution Jasmine. Have you heard of our new guidance counselor?"

That does ring a familiar bell, now that she thought about it. She could have sworn she read a school newsletter or update email recently talking about a new member of the staff. If she recalled right, her name was… "Ms. Spectra, right?"

Nodding, the larger man went into detail of the newest member of the Casper High teaching staff. "Ms. Penelope Spectra. She has several doctorates and a PhD. She's very bright and pleasant from what I've gathered so far. Nice young lady."

Not one to miss obvious clues, Jazz dives right in. "Do you think she can help?"

As the bell rang, they continued their walk through the school. Mr. Lancer made several stops along the way, talking to both students and faculty alike. He also had to visit both of his classrooms. Certain classes had to be in certain areas, otherwise new and confused students would never make it to class. While he could get away with having two classrooms for four different classes, spreading them out even more was both financially impossible for a public school, and unreasonable. It was already annoying enough having to travel down a floor just to teach the next class.

"Yes, I believe she can. Her specialization is in Teenage psychology, and counselling if I remember right. She's the best resource either of us could afford in immediate reach, as far as professionals go."

Jazz hummed into her hand, "That may be what we need. Let me talk to Danny about this first, maybe I can-"

CRASH!

Both student and teacher jumped in surprise, startled from the sudden noise. They hastened their pace to get to the source, rounding another corner and finding a door open. Mr. Lancer, catching something from the small crack he saw first, rushed forward, blocking her view. She ran behind him and stopped in the doorway next to him to observe the damage.

She gasped loudly at the sheer amount of vandalism of school property, and by accident her books slipped from her hands. The Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup in the teachers hand dropped to the ground, as did his jaw. "DAVY JONES LOCKER!"

And in the center of it all, with his phone out and recording the whole thing, was her brother. The thin green hoodie he had on was stretched thin on his growing body, and his jeans looked like the same ones from yesterday. Did he just wake up and throw on the jacket? He looked startled and confused and tired and-

It just clicked for him. He turned around to look at the damage real quick, looked to his phone, then to the guests. Panic rushed to his face next, and the young boy seemed to fumble on his words. Eventually he figured out what he wanted to say, "T-this isn't what it looks like." He smiled weakly, like a child that just got busted, "I swear."

---

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" Danny shoved his phone into Lancers face, "Look at my texts! I literally just walked in there." He sat back down and crossed his arms, "This is bull."

Mr. Lancer looked down at his watch, then back towards the complaining fourteen year old. "Daniel, I believe you, I don't think you're the kind of kid to do something like that."

Danny looked grateful, it was nice to have a teacher on his side for once. "Tha-"

"Not to mention, there's no way you could have lifted some of those things. You're far too scrawny lad." He smiled, and turned to look at the door they were waiting for.

Looking far less grateful than before, Danny finally said his thanks, though the tone was much flatter than originally intended. Still, "Why am I here then? I already gave my account from my perspective for your report."

Jazz walked back in from the hallway, drinks now in hand. "That's my idea little brother." She handed him a bottle of soda, and she immediately opened her drink and started downing it.

Danny's right eye twitched, once again the question was being avoided. What were they stalling for? "Look, I need to know what I'm doing here, or I'm going to class. Mrs. Medley wasn't in a great mood the last time I saw her, and I don't wanna skip another class. I can still make it." It didn't need to be said that the last time he saw her was two days ago.

As if having just remembered something, Mr. Lancer snapped his fingers. He quickly went out of the room and into one of the staff cubicles. A minute later he returned with a couple notes in hand and handed them to Danny. "Here you go Daniel. Thank you for reminding me." He glanced to Jazz and then back to her younger brother, "I have class starting soon, and I can't wait any longer. The top note will excuse you from your first block class, anything after that and you'll need explicit permission from Ms. Spectra."

As the man walked away, Danny quickly turned to his sister. "What the fuck is going on Jazz? Who is this Spectra person you and Mr. Lancer kept talking about?"

"Ms. Spectra is the school's new guidance counselor who specializes in teenage counselling." Jazz finally answered, "While I believe you Danny, we still don't know if you did it or not. And with your recent habits of skipping class, this was decided to be the best option to deal with your new… whatever is going on with you."

Danny rocked back in his seat with wide eyes, but they quickly narrowed. "You signed me up for fucking therapy? Really?" The Halfa leaned forward and propped his head up with his right hand. "Quite the leap there. Is jail next?" He chewed his lip for a moment, "Or maybe it's execution?"

Sarcasm aside, he was seriously pissed. Already, his day has gone to shit like the last few, and it just gets even better. Therapy? Therapy! She somehow got him to go to fucking counselling, get it approved by the teacher, and already schedule him! What the hell was going on?

Admittedly, he's been distant lately, but come on. Isn't that a harsh leap to just go straight to guidance counselling? And he knew how that looked back there, bad, but neither thought he did it, but with no other suspects…

His eyes trail down to the note in his hands and he weighs his options. Jazz still wasn't talking, her eyes were moving back and forth, so she was probably choosing her words. So, he can at least get out of art class. That's lame, why not for one of the boring ones, like Biology? And obviously he's not getting out of this right now.

Danny wasn't happy about that, it was pretty obvious and he made it clear. But he'd still take some opportunities when they come. He's fourteen, a teenager, and overall still doesn't want to be at school. He'd take any chance to skip a class, if only because he was still confident in being able to do the work. On the days he doesn't sleep in class, he's been getting pretty good and doing the homework during class.

Splitting his attention wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it's the most difficult thing in the world to do. Vlad said multitasking was a good exercise for when duplication training starts, and this seemed like another way he had tried. The results will see in time, but being able to complete at least half of the homework in class was a great way to save time. His notes were getting messier though.

"Look Danny," Jazz finally spoke up, "I've been trying to help you for a while now. I'm concerned." Her serious face was on, so that meant business, so Danny reigned in his anger a tad. Blowing up on her now wouldn't be productive and he didn't want to be a dick. "This works as a compromise for me and the school. I haven't been able to get through to you, but maybe a professional can. And for the school, you've been acting out in classes lately and they want to curb that. Mainly Mr. Lancer, but he can't keep marking you present for classes you skip Danny."

Fuck, he was doing that for him? That's really nice and made him feel guilt for skipping, but what could he do? Let a stray ghost possibly hurt someone?

If Vlad was nearby, he'd take care of it, but even with duplicates, it's still a chore to do that takes time and concentration. And Vlad Masters is a man who uses and abuses his powers to the limit, all of his wealth and power was built on it. By using duplication to the limit, he runs his company with maximum efficiency. Any more than that disrupts his concentration and can make a hiccup in his expansive little network he had going on.

Danny sighed in defeat. He was tired and angry, but he felt bad for ditching the only teacher that's ever really liked him so far. "I'm not tryin' to be a flake Jazz, but I like my privacy as of late and I don't wanna talk about this to anyone."

Jazz checked her phone for the time, she'd have to leave soon for class. Lancer had to leave earlier since he had to prepare for class, but she could stay maybe another ten minutes. Her first block teacher was a prude that wouldn't accept any skipping, but his class was nearby. Plus, she wanted to keep her record. But before all of that, she wanted to at least get Danny setup with Ms. Spectra.

And that answer he's given isn't the most confidence instilling response she was hoping to hear. "Danny, you should take this chance to be respon-"

The door opened finally and a rush of cold air flooded out. Jazz shivered for a moment, finding it strange, but was stunned when she saw who the new guidance counselor was. A fellow redhead for sure, but not an ounce of child anywhere on her body. She seemed like a woman in the prime of her life, with confidence to match. She smiled widely at the duo waiting out front. "Are you two my first appointment? I thought Mr. Lancer said it was only going to be Danny…"

Danny looked at the woman who walked out in shock. There was someone this hot working for the school? He looked down at the note again, then back up at the peppy redheaded woman in front of him. Yeah, a much better solution to Mrs. Medley. Hot young woman any day over crotchety old lady, the decision was barely registered in the teens mind.

The aspiring psychologist got up immediately, happy to see the new school psychologist was not only a woman but a red head as well. Like looking at an older version of herself, Jazz was all too excited to get to know this new inspiration. "Hi! My name is Jazz Fenton, this is my little brother Danny."

Danny stands up, less unwilling than before, but still sour about the whole counselling thing. His backpack shifted a little too much, so he righted it by yanking on it.

Spectra observed the two in front of her. One was oozing concern, love, inspiration, and mild annoyance. The little brother though… she licked her lips. He was practically a waterfall of bitter and negative emotions, which was amazing, because he had just as many emotions on the opposite spectrum. Like a walking conundrum almost!

What an interesting case! While seemingly happy, content and excited, the boy was at the same time spiteful, angry, bitter and in pain. How curious, how curious!

And delicious.

Now more used to being… hunted than before, Danny was getting accustomed to be watched. And when it's by a woman like Ms. Spectra that's ogling him like that, it's hard not to notice. So, while hesitant, he stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Hi, I'm Danny. Danny Fenton. It's nice to meet you Ms. Spectra."

It was when she took his hand that he realized she wasn't human. A shock ran down his spine, and he could feel his ghost sense pushing to come out. His core was pulsing erratically, sending warning messages that he was already well aware of. Honestly, Danny was beginning to think the acid green eyes were dead giveaways, because no one seemed to have them otherwise. He has them, Skulker and Ember too. The little shit from earlier has them, and so does… Ms. Spectra, or whatever her name is.

But Danny likes to think he's more mature than his age says. Not many have the amount of responsibility he has, nor could they carry it. It doesn't have to end in a fight; as Vlad says, 'Diplomacy is always a way to get what you want'. Not exactly the right context, but meh, that didn't matter too much. So he'd snoop around, investigate, maybe hear her out, find out why she was here. This decision had nothing to do with how attractive she was.

Not at all.

Smiling as bright and peppy as ever, she shook his hand up and down, quietly taking the negative emotions as a sample. "Hi Danny, nice to meet you! I'm Penelope Spectra, feel free to call me Ms. Penny or Ms. Spectra." She raised an eyebrow when he quickly retracted his hand. There's no way he could tell she was leeching off of him, right?

His sister took the conversation from there. She kept glancing at her phone, checking the time probably, before handing his new guidance counselor some papers and running off. She gave him a quick hug, one he returned even if he was peeved at her. She was still his sister, the ginger had just overstepped her bounds a bit too much.

Plenty of time to bitch at her later, when at home and not in a public setting.

Danny found her office to be quite comfortable, especially the near freezing temperatures. The room itself was surprisingly large, he's not sure how a public school counselor has an office bigger than the principles, but he could question that later. The room was cold, so cold he noticed Jazzes breathe… but barely his.

His core body temperature is much lower than a normal persons, so while a small cloud of fog came out, it was more similar to the amount his ghost sense makes. Actually…

Danny checked his core again, looking for that ever familiar feeling. It comes on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. And lo and behold, it was activating every time he exhaled. A ghost was nearby, though he already figured that out. That just confirmed it.

She was reading through the papers Jazz gave her, flipping through with a hum. He had to tear his eyes away from the very tight red suit and mini-skirt she wore to keep his decency. Not that a fourteen year old had that much, but being caught checking her out would be mortifying, especially if she decides that fighting is how she'll get what she wants.

God, getting teased while fighting a ghost isn't something he wants to experience anytime soon.

"I gotta go Danny, but when you get home I want to talk about today, okay?" Danny turned his attention to his sister. He stared at her for a moment, but didn't reply. The waiting room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, and the staring contest could only be described as awkwardly angsty.

"No." Especially after the shit she pulled to get him here. "Maybe next time talk to me before tossing me to therapy as the first try."

She bit her lip and glared, but said nothing to that. She'd pester him when he got home, probably, but jokes on her, he has ghost powers! If he really wanted, sneaking by would be easy… but using his powers to avoid his sister felt genuinely petty and small. He can summon the elements(really just one) and bend them to his will, fights ghosts almost everyday, and even has a nemesis(cockroach) that keeps popping back up like a cheap cartoon gag. But he has to avoid his very mortal and normal sister whose only threat is her incessant need to pick his brain?

Not very heroic. And kind of sad.

Jazz stormed out of the room, and Danny let himself feel smug about one upping his sister for once. It left quick enough and his new… 'counselor', was left alone with him. She stared at him curiously and with what he could only describe as… hunger? A part of his teenage mind said lust, but this is a ghost, and he really needed a different time for puberty to start poking at him.

With her head tilted like that, she almost resembles a cat. But the big ear to ear grin is unsettling when used like that, and knowing she's a ghost almost makes it worse. Almost, because he's pretty sure she doesn't go around eating cores like he does. Actually, Desiree seemed pretty freaked out by that, and so did Youngblood and his ghost parrot thing.

It was probably a safe bet to say she wouldn't actually eat him, but then again the only things that have ever actually tried to eat him were ghosts. And technically, he does eat ghosts, in a way, so never judge a book by its cover. After being ushered into her office, which was bigger than the damn principal's office, he took a seat across from her desk. The chair was stiff and made of wood, but ultimately uncomfortable.

Spectra took a seat on her desk across from her newest 'patient'. She put her hand to her chin and tapped it thoughtfully while staring at him. The silence was clearly getting to him, if his shifting posture and slight twitches were anything to go by. But he wasn't cold, which she found odd.

Every student, parent or teacher that's entered her office so far was a freezing mess almost immediately. For good reason, she was probably the only one in Illinois using an air conditioner to cool her room in fall. Snow was still falling everyday, but here she was, cranking the dial down even lower than the current outside temperature. 'I'm so sinful.'

Danny jumped when she chuckled, going on the defensive. She didn't mean to startle him, so she ended the little quiet game they had going on. "No need to be so nervous Danny, I won't bite your head off."

He stared at her with unhidden suspicion, as if he didn't believe her words. Which was nonsense, everyone believed her and listened to what she said. But there's a first time for everything. Along with social anxiety, she added trust issues.

"... Yeah, sure." Was the eventual response. "Look, I don't mind staying here for the first block, or even second, but there's nothing really to talk about."

Spectra raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow, "Are you not here because you vandalized one of the school's computer labs? You were signed up by both your teacher and sister." Perhaps he was a liar too. She glanced at the paper again, taking in the recent offenses. Mainly a large amount of absences, but there were reports of possible fights and threats. On more than one occasion he had been spotted with bruises on his neck, or with a black eye.

Negative emotions rolled off him easily. Anger was the primary emotion she felt, strong and justified. He was a little vindictive, sadness and frustration was mixed in there too, but no guilt or shame or misery whatsoever. 'A pity.' Spectra frowned, but ate up the tasty feelings nonetheless.

Rage was spicy, like jalapenos, and it's honestly the easiest reaction to get. The vindictive depression was bitter, like coffee or dark chocolate, but there was a consistency to it like that of caramel, and the aftertaste was sweet like a peach. 'So tasty~' That's not bad, it's not all that often that someone has a blend of sentiments like that.

A shiver went down his spine, and Dannys' eyes flashed green. He could feel something leave him, even through the sudden calm. They stared at the psychologist in front of him, eyeing every single reaction, waiting and watching. The Halfa could feel the ectoplasm in his veins react to the sudden intrusion. Blinking, ectoplasm faded back below the surface and green turned back to blue. He kept his frown on, it felt right for the moment, but kept up the act anyway.

From the looks of it, she didn't know he was a ghost. And guessing half-ghost would probably get an actual ghost laughed at, his kind were mere legends at this point. Fantasy and barely known… for now, at least. "I didn't vandalize anything, Ms. Spectra. There's no proof that I did, I don't have a history of it, and I have text records saying otherwise." Well, they seemed to point to his innocence; Danny shrugged, "I saw who did it, even told Lancer too, and he's on my side. I don't even know why I'm here."

She could feel his emotions subsiding, becoming more focused and less reactive to her touch. It immediately peaked her interest, even if it came with a modicum of annoyance. This was a first honestly, at least for humans; ghosts tended to be able to resist her on some level, or completely if powerful enough.

Moving the conversation along, she continued to question the black haired boy. "Then who was it if you don't mind me asking? I trust Mr. Lancers' judgement, so I'll believe you for now, but I am still curious."

A little surprised that she believed him so quickly, he didn't think twice about talking. "Thanks, I guess. And the guy was a midget, he had to be. He was old. In his forties, grayed hair, nice looking mustache. The guy was even wearing a butler's uniform." He turned his head midway through his description to look at the degrees she had hanging behind her desk, but he kept her in sight.

Wow, those are even more impressive than Lancers. If she's a ghost, are those real? They look real, even had her name… though the date is kind of smudgy.

And then he caught it. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her eye twitch. Her nails dug into her suit sleeves just a little, and her smile seemed a little strange. She knew him… the question was, why did she seem so annoyed with him? "Hmm… quite a character to be running around a high school."

If that was her way of dismissing his claim, he's heard better. "Say what you want, but I saw it. I'm also pretty sure the guy was caught on camera, I'd be pretty dumb if they didn't have one there. That was one of the more expensive rooms in the school, wasn't it?" Oh, bullseye.

Spectra moved from her seat and to the corner of the room. She bent down and opened the mini-fridge she acquired through school funding, grabbing an iced coffee for herself and a bottle of water for the boy. She turned around and found him staring at her, he seemed suspicious, or perhaps untrusting. "Would you like some water?" Or maybe he was checking her out, Danny was fourteen after all.

The teen glanced at the water, then at the coffee, then at her, before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure. Thanks." She smiled at him and walked behind her desk to take a seat. Danny would have preferred the coffee, he was still dead tired- pun intended, but it wouldn't kill him to go without. It's not like he wasn't used to it after all.

To be honest, he didn't really know what to do in this situation. She was here, she's a ghost, but like Desiree, she's not attacking people willy nilly. If those degrees are real, which was questionable considering he was dealing with a dead lady, then she was most likely intelligent. Like, really intelligent. Definitely more intelligent than him, probably even smarter than his sister, since this is literally where she wanted to be eventually: A personal office with a plethora of psychology related degrees and subjects to practice on, both willing and not.

Oh fuck. What if this ghost was like his sister, and just wanted to pick brains apart. He could barely handle one Jazz, he didn't need an older, smarter version of her with authority! That sounded like a nightmare, he'd rather deal with a swarm of Skulkers. And that's saying something.

After taking a sip of water, Danny placed the bottle on the carpeted floor. Moving his feet, he could instantly tell it was the cheap porch carpet they used in the library and computer lab. "So I gotta ask, with the computer lab thing out of the way, what now? Can I just go?"

Spectra chuckled lightly, "Who said that was the only reason you were here Danny?" He ignored the light clicking her nails made on the armrest of her chair.

"What else is there?" It was a dumb question, he knew there was plenty to pin on him. And judging by the smirk on her face, Ms. Spectra knew that too.

"How about the string of absences you've had in several of your classes?" She began, "We also have reports of possible violence against students, insubordination, and recently, even some of your grades are slipping," She smiled sinisterly, "no?"

Danny bristled, but he fought down any annoyance. He could call her out now, or use his human form to gather information, no matter how small. And he liked the sound of it, using his other half as a hero. Danny's a Halfa, part human and part ghost; using both halves just sounded right. He had good control over his powers, so going as Phantom and beating up the bad guys was always the easiest option. But easy isn't always best, and this is the perfect opportunity to do some… espionage.

Okay, that sounded cool. It makes it even better.

So, he played along, even if her comment annoyed him. "First off, violence against other students: What bullshit."

Spectra raised her eyebrows in surprise, the kid didn't seem the type to cuss. Had a real innocent look to him too, though he was rather suspicious. It probably had to do with his ghost hunting parents. The kid felt different than humans, and while she could interpret his emotions just as easily, actually affecting and absorbing them was easier said than done. Maybe his parents made a gadget for him on the off chance he met a ghost, or they could be every bit of mad-scientist they portrayed themselves as and did some… tweaking.

"Sorry for the language," he continued, "but the idea that I'm getting in trouble for violence is laughable." Spectra could feel anger bubble under the surface, but it was suppressed quickly. Suppressed doesn't mean that it goes away, however. "I've been bullied for years and nothing's ever been done no matter how much I've reported it. And when I finally start sticking up for myself, I get questioned?"

Oooooh! A bully victim, how delicious! The boy was clearly strong willed, the normal emotions that went with that title were there, but they were overpowered by stronger feelings. Anger, pride, conviction, slight arrogance, and a crafty deviousness that almost seemed Machiavellian. The boy was a basket case of surprises and mental strength, and his case intrigued her inner psychologist as if she was still alive.

Feeling her curiosity tickled, Spectra leaned forward and pressed the boy for more information. "This is all new to me Danny, I haven't been here that long, remember? So the more I hear, the better. Have you reported those individuals by name?"

Danny nodded, "Multiple times. It's amazing what you get away with when your school likes sports a lot."

Ugh, was that practice really going on still? Honestly, Spectra thought that sort of thing died in the late eighties or nineties, but clearly not. Nearing the end of 2018, apparently it was still a thing.

Leave it humans to continue such a barbaric tradition. For a moment she sympathized with him, her former humanity coming back to knock, but then her hunger for emotions got the better of her again and she pushed him some more. "I see. I'll look into it if it makes you feel any better, now onto the insubordination?"

"I don't get it, what's the insubordination coming from?" Danny tilted his head to the side and made a sour face at her, "The only teacher I've really had a problem with is the gym teacher, Ms. Tetslaff. And I noped outta her class real quick."

Ah, teenage lingo and dialect. How fun to listen to. "The insubordination is mainly in lieu of your frequent absences and refusal to state their reasons. Lancer is forgiving, and Falluca is lazy, but your art teacher doesn't seem pleased at all."

Danny winced and sucked on his teeth. "I take it that's where the falling grade is coming from?" First period has been taking the brunt of his ghost hunting hits.

"Nice guess." She took a sip of her drink, smirking, "Is that also the reason your sister was so insistent on you having sessions with me?"

Oh. A spike in emotion.

Lime green eyes shined with mirth at her discovery, a weakness. A chink in his mental armor. She had an in now, and honestly, the rest of the claims to his record seems bogus. Danny Fenton's record was squeaky clean, and those lobbying complaints against him had multiple infractions and offences. It would lead to nothing and the boy obviously wasn't so bothered by it. No point trying to cut her way in with a dull knife.

"What does my sister have to do with this?" Danny kept his voice calm and level, holding fast to Vlads teachings.

Spectra smirked, talking about his sister got to him. Anger and annoyance, guilt and regret, a little shame sprinkled in with a feeling of safety and protectiveness. What an interesting cocktail of sentiments. Absolutely delicious.

Spectra wanted more… but the boy obviously doesn't trust easily, especially for authoritative figures. Since teachers never helped him before, why would he trust her?

A slow gain then, uphill battles aren't bad every once in a while. A challenge in the right way can be quite entertaining, especially when she considered the last few students to come in for a session were so fickle and open, like a book without a cover. As nice as it is to have easy meals, it was getting boring.

Before she could reply, Danny opened his mouth again, this time with a little more heat. "Actually, she doesn't have anything to do with this. I've talked about what I needed to." He got up and pulled his backpack on from the floor.

"Okay." Spectra shrugged her shoulders, obviously not bothered by his attitude. "If that's what you want, today was just an introduction day anyway. Just know, you've been signed up for two sessions a week."

Danny almost tripped over himself on his way over to the door. He looked back at her with his mouth open. "What? I don't have time for that!" He shook his head, "And I didn't sign up for it either!"

With a soft chuckle, Spectra waved her hand at him. "Oh, that doesn't matter. It's already been approved by both the faculty and your family." She smiled softly at him, though he wasn't buying it. "So I'll see you Tuesdays and Thursdays. The times will alternate between your first and second block classes every other meeting you don't fall behind."

Oh, she was enjoying his confused and flustered face. It was cute, and it made her want to tease and torment him till those delicious emotions poured out. Hmm, hopefully her next appointment had a lot of pent up depression, she could really go for some right about now.

"I-" Danny looked to the ground, then back at the peppy ghost psychiatrist. His mouth opened again, but the words died on his tongue. "Whatever…" It gave him an excuse to keep 'investigating' her, but the Halfa would have really preferred to be able to do it on his own time, not because he was forced to.

The door closed with a soft click, leaving the redheaded ghost by herself. Her smile fell almost immediately, replaced by what her friends called a resting bitch face. It made sense, if only because she was a bitch and proud of it. Seconds later, a number was dialed and the line began to ring.

Finally, after seven rings too many, it was answered. "Hello? Who is this?"

Spectra grunted dismissively. "Bertrand, you fucking idiot, who do you think this is? I'm the only one who knows your number." She scoffed at him, taking every chance to belittle the short ghost, "Get over here now. We need to have a talk about destroying property where I WORK!"

She could hear a whimper from the other line, and it really did give her a little satisfaction. She was an S all the way, but now wasn't the time for it, and after absorbing the boys spicy anger for their short session, she thought it was fair that it be dished out on her little servant. "I don't know what goes through your head, honestly. I told you to not attract attention or mess with anything where I'm haunting. And what do you do?"

"I-"

"Shut the fuck up, it was a rhetorical question, you midget." She snarled over the speaker, "Now get over here so we can have this conversation face-to-face."

Another whimper, "I'll be right there."

The line was dead before he got half-way through his sentence. Tossing the phone onto her desk, it clattered against the wooden furniture as Spectra perused through her schedule for the day. "Ugh, it's so hard to find good help."

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A/N: Wow, it's been a while. And I'm really tired. Got another job, so I'm back to two! Yay. My days off aren't many. And I hope this chapter is up to snuff, writing it out over such a long period of time could have dulled the fluidity. Sorry for not posting for either of my stories, but I'm just busy. As if that wasn't enough, I picked up several classes for college, so goodbye more of my time!

To any high-school kids reading, take this advice: Join the fucking military(Air force pays the most, though the Navy is apparently easy AF). Do it, it's worth it. It cost me nearly fifteen-hundred dollars for three damn college classes, not counting the damn book costs. Which aren't worth it at all. Also, financial aid is such a bitch it's not even funny. They've asked for document after document and can't seem to figure out what exactly it is I need to qualify. Apparently earning barely enough to pay the bills doesn't qualify you for a lot.

So, if you wanna go to college, trust me when I say the military is a great option. It can keep you in shape, sharpen your body and mind, give actual training to defend yourself, and practically unlimited financial aid. I go to a community college and I get ripped off hard, forget a university. I could never afford one unless I won the lottery.

Another reason that it took me a bit to write this out, is that one of my monitors crashed and they won't accept the warranty. My other monitor was on the fritz and kept flickering. It didn't bug me much at first, but eventually I kept getting headaches the longer I stared at the malfunctioning screen.

Well, enough rambling.

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TTGG03: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I would be shaken up too if I came across the embodiment of time. It's a scary concept to wrap your head around, but Vlad is smart enough to know his place. Always hated how in fanfics Vlad never seems to be afraid of the ghost of fucking time.

OechsnerC: Thank you! Sorry for the long wait.

Hassan504: Thank you! Fight scenes are what I'm best at, overactive imagination and all that. Unfortunately, I'm a social introvert, so I'm not great at putting together dialogues between characters. I can flesh out the main characters just fine, but the supporting and side characters are hard to make seem real, and that's what I'm constantly working on to improve.

As for immortality, ghosts are immortal spirits given power based off their strong desire to not just die. They can be spawned from ambient ectoplasm in the ghost zone, and some even gain sentience after enough time, but many are spirits of the dead. (Obviously, not all of them are human though.) Danny and Vlad are not immortal, yet. Vlads accident was made with incredibly unstable elements, and while he is powerful, he is not stable and won't be for a few more years. For Danny, after his core completely forms, he will age for about ten to eleven more years, before reaching full stability. It's not really that big a secret in the story, being half-dead just means he's not immediately immortal. Oh, he can still be killed, but age won't be what does it.

I don't think any of that counts as a spoiler. It's another cool perk of being a Halfa, but ultimately doesn't affect the story that much in the long run. Book two won't be spanning thousands of years, so it'll just be a perk that will only be mentioned mostly in passing.

kimcat: With proper training, he could have had some in the actual show, and that always bugged me. Hell, with proper common sense, he could have had some. Desiree was only his enemy because he was an idiot with his powers and overacted to what really amounted as a harmless prank. The Fright Knight is sealed back up in his pumpkin currently, as per the curse placed on him.

He only gets out on Halloween, even if he is a good boy.

Justice of the Martyred: I personally see myself as struggling to make the characters seem real, but I'm glad I'm doing a good enough job that people feel them as believable. This chapter itself was mainly plot setting and character building, along with exploring another power that I hadn't gotten to explore yet. Possession is a more subtle power better used for manipulation, so considering Danny is taking his role as protector rather seriously, it doesn't get too many opportunities to shine.

As for the comic relief, I'm glad someone likes it. I don't think I'm that funny, but banter is one of Danny Phantoms bread and butter shticks. Plus, what superhero doesn't know how to have a battle of wits with his foes? Even batman can have a sarcastic tongue on him, and he's the dark knight! The guy doesn't even smile lol.

Z: I have plans for for Dani's conception, though she will still be cloned by Vlad. I've laid a little groundwork for it already, though she won't be coming around for a while. As for Spectra, I flipped a lot of coins with her. I know I didn't want another fight, I wanted it to be more meaningful. If Danny just beats up all of his enemies, which he will do a lot of, then it could get boring and repetitive. Some have to stay enemies: Skulker, Walker, Fright, Pariah, etc. But for Spectra, I eventually settled on wanting to use the human half of Halfa to do some hero work. Danny is a coin himself, with two sides quite literally, and I think letting it play out this way offers more character development and a smoother introduction. And as for whether they're gonna be allies, you have to wait and see!

Dp-Marvel94: He won't get them all as allies, but he'll get some. The teamwork dynamic was new to write, but I didn't hate it. It added another dimension to the fight, giving it a more panoramic feeling. I thought of that scene at the last second, right before I was gonna post it, and it fit as a much better ending than what I had before. Glad you liked it!

The18thDoctor: Here you go my friend!

Guest: Had to look up who that was, but no, I wasn't going for her. I may include her in the story however, now that I know she exists. It seems like someone Danny would meet. I still don't think anyone really knows what direction I'm going with this fic, and no one will guess what the second ones end is gonna be.

sissuel: Sorry for the delay, and I hope this chapter lives up to expectations.

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Alright, that's all the comments. Overall, this ends at about 14k(almost 15k but not quite) with the A/N. I'm going to bed now, since I have to go to get up at 4 in the morning. For anyone interested in my other fic, No Choice, it's about halfway through. The chapter for that should come in a week or two. Good night and stay safe.

And please don't attend any riots or protests, that's how you get the 'Rona. Don't be a dumbass like those mooks.