And so a new multi-chapter adventure starts! Absurdism is currently planned to be 16 chapters long, but I'm not done writing it yet so stuff might get shifted around. Probably not, though. First chapter is a little short, but they'll ramp up in length afterwards. The story is mostly soft and stuff, but there are occasional bouts of emotions so, y'know, hurt/comfort.

The fic will mostly follow the canon DP timeline (or the episodes, at least), although the first two chapters are mostly for setting up. As of the start of the story, only episode 1 (Mystery Meat) and 2 (Parental Bonding) have taken place. Really, everything should be explained in the fic, but I like covering my bases.

Updates will be every week on Saturday. I'm still writing the story, but I'm also a few chapters ahead, so I should have enough buffer to actually make it through. Maybe.

Jazz rolled her shoulders, shifting her backpack to lie more comfortably on her back. It resettled easily, and she kept up the pace as she walked back home. Sure, she could have asked Danny to drive her, but… well, she liked walking! The fresh air was good for a growing youth like her.

That, and Danny's driving was either far too careful, or not nearly careful enough. And, quite frankly, she wasn't very big on either of those.

So. She walked. It wasn't like the school was that far from home anyway.

If she trusted her new powers a little more, she might consider flying to school instead. It would probably be faster, which would leave her with more time for studying. But, then, there was also the possibility of people seeing her, causing a ruckus. So, maybe not.

Whatever. For the moment it didn't matter anyway. She could barely fly in her ghost form, and not at all in her human form. Well, not on command, at least. Only the occasional bout of accidental floating, although luckily that didn't happen a lot. Not nearly as much as the partial invisibility or intangibility, at least.

If only there was some sort of guidance for this! She had gone through all books she could find, her parents' entire ghost library, but she hadn't been able to find even the slightest hint of this happening before. A human with ghost powers, a ghost/human hybrid… nothing. Absolutely completely nothing!

Hell, she had even tried the internet. Even if the online sources tended to be sketchier, there had to be something, right?

But, no. She hadn't been able to find anything.

So she was forced to figure out herself. Alone.

Sure, she could tell her parents. But… But what if they didn't believe her? What if they thought she was a ghost playing pretend?

Jazz knew her parents cared about her, about their family, but… she also knew how little they thought of ghosts.

As long as it wasn't killing her, and it didn't seem to be, did she really have to tell them? She was smart, wasn't she? One of the cleverest in the school, despite being only 14. She was sure she could figure this out herself, somehow.

Besides, if she didn't know much about ghosts, she was certain that her parents didn't, either. They sure acted like they knew a lot, but Jazz was fairly sure it was based on nothing. For all their bluster, her parents hadn't even seen a ghost.

And she? Well, she most definitely had. Even if the few animal-like ghosts hadn't been anything too spectacular, she doubted her parents' claims about them not being able to feel pain. The screeches of the Ectopi when she punched them sure sounded genuine.

Not to mention the two humanoid ghosts Jazz had encountered so far. Even if both seemed a little more inclined to pick fights that humans, that didn't mean they were malevolent. They just… They just worked a little strangely! They wanted to do good things, but their methods were a little strange. That was okay!

Like the Lunch Lady, she just wanted people to eat well! And even if she had lashed out at Jazz, and at the human lunch ladies, she had calmed down well enough. Had listened to Jazz when she explained the intricacies of a healthy diet, and when Jazz promised that she would talk the school into a more varied menu, the ghost had agreed to hold off and watch.

So Jazz went and talked the school into a more varied menu. Which, really, someone should've done earlier. Even if she agreed with Sam about vegan options, you can't just force that on people. Not everyone can live on a vegan diet, after all!

It took a bit of work, but thankfully Jazz had already found herself the teacher's pet, so she managed to convince them. The menu was changed, the Lunch Lady calmed down, and then she went back to the Ghost Zone.

Which was, of course, the moment Jazz had realized that the Portal was always open. It would, constantly and without ever stopping, let through any ghost who wished to enter Amity Park.

And Jazz seemed to be the only person who cared. Her parents didn't care, or didn't realize how many ghosts might wish to pass through (or liked the challenge, maybe?), and her brother was still somewhat skeptical on the topic of ghosts being real.

The rest of the town? No one knew about the Portal. Not about what it could truly do, what power it held. What kind of danger they were in.

She couldn't let that slide. She was the one who had turned the Portal on, after all. She was responsible.

So she had to stop any dangerous ghosts that came through. Ghosts like the animals that roamed the streets, now, and ghosts like the Lunch Lady.

And ghosts like Dora, who had come into the lab as a giant roaring dragon, but who had thankfully shrunk down once she had removed the necklace.

Dora, who had promised she would stay in the Zone, as long as Jazz gave her the necklace back.

Jazz' core hummed in her chest, suddenly, and she paused. Cold energy gathered in her lungs, then puffed out as a visible cloud of ectoplasmically-tainted air on her next breath.

It was her ghost sense, she knew. But where? How?

Looking around, she couldn't see anything that stood out. She didn't have much experience with ghosts, she had to admit, but still.

Every ghost she had encountered, the humanoid and the animals, no matter their intelligence, they all shared a single behavioral trait. They all sought out civilization. The human ones, like Lunch Lady and Dora, had both come to Amity Park with a goal in mind. And the lesser ones, they all sought to terrorize people, all targeted the human population of Amity.

So why was this one hidden somewhere were she couldn't see it?

Realization clicked, and she looked up.

Yes, there it was. So high up in the air that she could barely see it, a small blurry dot of black and white. Its glow hidden against the bright backdrop of the sky.

She eyed it pensively. It didn't seem out for trouble, true, but that didn't mean anything. Lunch Lady hadn't either, but she still would've caused quite a bit of chaos if she'd been left to her own devices.

Even if this one just hung there in the sky… Jazz had taken responsibility for all ghosts in the city, and that would include this one.

Although she would admit, in the privacy of her own mind, that part of that reluctance might come from how high up the ghost was. So sue her! She didn't even trust her flight to carry her from home to school, let alone go that high up! If it failed, if she was forced back to human form, she would surely die! She was just fourteen! She didn't want to die, especially in a way so grizzly.

So she heaved out a sigh. As much as she didn't want to, she had to go check it out.

Taking her eyes off of the distant ghost, she looked around. Ah, there! An empty alley off of this already quiet street. Perfect!

She ducked out of sight, half-crouched behind a dumpster to make sure no one saw her. Then she tapped into the ball of cold energy in her chest, which thrilled in response. It was still foreign to her, unusual and strange and-

But she had practiced with it, regardless. If these powers would be part of her life, now, she had to be in control of them. And if she hadn't quite nailed that yet, at least she held enough control to shift to ghost form without too much hassle.

Blue-white energy crackled to life around her. Darts of light and electricity, spreading into a single ring around her waist. Then, splitting into two separate rings, flew past her body. Lit up the alley she was in.

Replaced her ordinary clothes with a dark purple jumpsuit, so much like her parents' it was a little embarrassing. Her hands, and most of her arms, were now covered with long white gloves, and her neat shoes were replaced by sturdy white boots. An equally white belt around her waist, a hefty bag attached to one side, balanced by a Fenton Thermos on the other side.

The upward ring caught her hair, carrying it upwards into a ponytail. Dyed it purple, vibrant and unearthly, as its ends started flickering like fire.

As the rings faded, Jazz blinked her even sharper eyes as she refocused. Her senses had already gotten enhanced by the Accident, but they grew even better when she shifted into her ghost form.

Glass crunched under her boot, and she glanced downward, automatically. A ghost met her eyes, warm gold staring back at her, its glow brightening in shock.

Then she laughed, the startle wearing off, and her mirror image did the same. Oh, how embarrassing. At least no one saw that.

She focused her enhanced vision on the ghost, worried that it had left, but no. It remained in place, hovering high above Amity Park. Even now, she could barely make them out. Humanoid, she thought, and dressed primarily in black. The ends of their limbs were white, including what she assumed was their head. How match-y.

Still, she had stalled as much as she could. Now the only thing left was… to go up there. And, hopefully, talk.

Grasping onto her confidence, she pushed off. Like a jump, except gravity wouldn't—couldn't—drag her down. Just a continuous path upwards.

Her flight was a little shaky at first, but she managed to smooth it out a little. She was still climbing slowly, but that was better than rushing and losing control. She just had to get up to the ghost, but at least they didn't seem to have noticed her. Didn't seem to be trying to get away.

At this point, she was willing to take whatever she would get, really.

Now that she was finally getting closer, she could make him out properly. Because he certainly seemed to be a boy. A teenager at most, barely any older than her brother. The black she'd seen was just his outfit. He wore a jumpsuit in all black, of similar make to her parents'. And here she was, thinking they were the only ones who would wear such stuff.

Although, she supposed she was, as well. Maybe he'd gone and died wearing one of those for protection, too. Even if she wasn't sure she counted, herself. She hadn't died, after all. Just become… half-ghost? A human/ghost hybrid? Something along those lines.

Much like her own jumpsuit, the ghost wore white gloves, white boots, and a white belt. Unlike her, however, he wasn't carrying a Thermos. Not that she had expected him to, of course! But it was kind of funny to see a ghost wearing something so similar to her!

Before she knew it she was approaching him, and he still hadn't noticed her. His back was turned to him, his snow-white hair heavily windblown and messy.

His build was lean, and he looked a little twiggy, but there was no denying the muscle definition underneath his jumpsuit. She hadn't seem any such muscle on the Lunch Lady or Dora, but then, neither of them wore such tight clothing.

If this ghost was human, Jazz was sure he could carry a mean punch. She might not know enough about ghosts to know if that carried over, but she didn't feel like risking it. Even beyond his lean muscle, he might possess all kinds of ghostly powers.

Finally she drew even with the ghost, hovering right behind him. He still hadn't noticed her. Hm, well. She was hoping to just talk, right?

She cleared her throat, then said, "Hey, what's up?"

The ghost visibly started, flipping over his own feet in an attempt to turn to face her. He hung upside down, blinking wide green eyes at her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," she assured him, raising her hands placatingly.

He blinked once more, then slowly started to rotate upright again. "It's… okay," he said, slowly, almost hesitantly. "I just wasn't… expecting anyone to be here."

Now that he was finally angled properly, she could make out his face. He was definitely a teenager, losing the softness of his youth. If she had to guess, he would've been sixteen, like her older brother Danny.

But that wasn't the only thing about his appearance that reminded her of Danny.

There was… something about his face. About his facial features, the shapes and the angles and the proportions. It was almost eerie, really, how much this ghost looked like her brother. If she just imagined his hair black and his eyes blue, he might as well be Danny.

He was squinting at her, too. Eyes shifting like he was studying her.

She didn't know how long they hung there in silence. Looking at each other in silence.

But she did know that it was the other ghost who broke it. He spoke up, haltingly, voice questioning.

"Jazz?"

And that just confirmed it for her, really. Because she hadn't told anyone her name. The Lunch Lady and Dora both only knew her as Specter, her (improvised) alias for her ghost form. She hadn't wanted to tell them her real name, and even if Specter was a bit of a stupid name, well. She couldn't go back now.

So she was Specter to all ghosts, and 'ghost girl' or 'ghost gal' to the few humans that knew of her existence.

In front of her, the ghost of her brother frowned, his white brows drawn together.

"Danny?" she finally responded, thrown off. "How are you- What's going on?!"

A select few of you might recognize this chapter, because I streamed it! I was gonna make that a weekly thing, but then I... didn't. haha, whoops. Alternate title options for this chapter were: "Mirror Mirror (On The Wall)" and "Synonym".

To celebrate hitting 250 followers on my writing Tumblr, I'm gonna write a sequel to one of my one-shots! Which one? Well, that's up to my readers! Voting is open until the 4th, and somewhere on the 5th I'll announce the winner - the fic with the most votes! I, uh, would link to the voting form, but FFN seems to hate links, so. Go to my Tumblr (darks-ink - tumblr - com), and you should be able to find a post with the link pretty easily.