Concert-astrophe
Monday morning in Brighton started out as all mornings did, with the sun rising, the birds singing, and the low-hanging specter of realisation that the weekend was over, and it was time to get back to school or work. For most, this would be the worst part of the week. Not so much for one resident of Brighton, namely, one Molly McGee, who was already up and dressed by 7:00am. She was eating breakfast at a pace that only track runners could keep up with.
"Someone's eager," Sharon, Molly's mother, commented.
"I haven't seen you this excited since we moved in," Pete, Molly's father, added.
"Yeah, can you please keep a lid on it? Some of us are trying to catch our morning snoozes," Scratch, Molly's ghost bestie, bemoaned.
"I can't help it. Today's the first day of Brighton Middle School's Spirit Week," Molly replied. This made Scratch rise up to attention.
"Spirit Week? Oh boy, is the Council going to be there? I'm not ready! I'm not ready!" Scratch panicked.
"Not that kind of spirit, silly. This day starts a whole week of events organised by yours truly to put smiles on everyone's faces, get them fired up and jazzed on community spirit," Molly teased.
"That's going on now? You've been planning this since you enrolled. Spirit Week wasn't even a thing until you showed up," Darryl, Molly's younger brother, interjected.
Flashback begins
Molly was in the principal's office (no, she wasn't in trouble) pitching Spirit Week to the principal. She brought in a whole vision board of events and ideas that she came up with to energise the students of the school and residents of Brighton as a whole. She was just summarising the whole week.
"…..and that is why my Spirit Week will be sure to revitalise school spirit, improve the mood of both students and faculty, and generate buzz in this otherwise sleepy little town," Molly concluded. The principal just sat there rubbing his temples with his fingers.
"Molly, you have been in here for an hour. I have other things to do, and you need to be in class. If I allow this Spirit Week, will you please leave my office? I have your brother outside. He tried switching out the school lunchmeat with pizza, again!" the principal conceded.
Flashback ends
"3 months of planning and one whole week of persuading the principal to allow it, and it will all be worth it," Molly summarised.
"You say 'persuade', he probably said 'badger'," Scratch joked.
"To-may-to, to-mah-to, now for the first event, a musical showcase at the bandshell. This will give the music club a chance to show what they can do," Molly joyfully said. Darryl seemed excited at this.
"Finally, I get to take this on tour," Darryl presented his Obnox-a-tron and started playing all manner of crude sound effects which always got a giggle out of Scratch.
"Oh, you are going places with that thing, kid," Scratch complimented. Molly laughed awkwardly, approached Darryl, then yeeted his toy across the room.
"Errrrrr, nope. This will feature works ranging from classical Mozart recreations to blood-pumping modern rock ballads. If you wanna take part, I know a group doing an Atomic Pink cover that could use a back-up dancer," Molly offered.
"Consider my interest restored," Darryl replied.
"Goodie, I'll put your name down. Better check in with Libby and the volunteer force," Molly stated. She had put Libby in charge of co-ordinating all the various volunteers that signed up to put on the concert. The music clubs and performers that would put on the shows, the AV club offered to help with equipment, even Andrea Davenport of all people wanted to help with the publicity by featuring the musical showcase on her vlog. Libby found her motivations slightly suspect, but Andrea merely said that this was her way of repaying Molly for saving her from what she calls the 'nougat incident'. Libby was at the bandshell organising everything when she got a call from Molly.
"How's my troop doing?" Molly inquired.
"We're almost done, just need to run a few tests on the sound equipment and we're all set," Libby updated.
"Is Andrea behaving herself?" Molly asked cautiously.
"Surprisingly, yes," Libby responded. She then turned to see Andrea filming her vlog using her phone.
"Here we are, Fun-dreas. I am at the first event of Brighton's Spirit Week, organised by town treasure Molly McGee. Half an hour until showtime. Be there," Andrea notified her followers, who came in droves.
"At least she's giving you credit this time," Libby observed.
"You can tell her we're even now. I'll be there soon," Molly responded.
"See you later," Libby wished and hung up. She then noticed a boy approach the bandshell. He looked around the same age as Libby and Andrea, had jet-black hair and blue eyes. Andrea was immediately enamoured of him.
"Woah, who's the hunk? If I knew this event would bring in hotties, I would've volunteered ages back," Andrea gushed. Libby did not harbour such feelings for the newcomer. Even though Libby did not recognise him as a local, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she had seen him, or someone like him, somewhere before. Before Libby could think on this further, the boy spoke to her.
"Excuse me, are you Libby? I was told to come to you if I wanted to help with the concert," the boy requested.
"Sure, the AV guys need help with the sound tests. Check in with them," Libby instructed.
"Will do," the boy acknowledged. Andrea then got a glimpse of him from behind, which she greatly admired.
"Just so you know, I saw him first," Andrea asserted.
Cavendish and Dakota had worn many career hats in their time. At first, they were nut guardians, assigned to protect the pistachio nut from future extinction. Then, they were alien janitors, although the line between alien and human trash sometimes got blurred. In both of those instances, they were under the command of a Mr. Block, from different times. However, their new jobs were even strangers than those assignments. They had been recruited by these beings that called themselves Sentinels to watch for signs of an evil group of sorcerers called the Malefic Order. They had already made their presence known when they bewitched scores of girls into stalking and harassing their friend Milo Murphy. Ever since, they were scared for him, afraid of what they might do next. Once or twice, Cavendish requested/begged to be placed on protection duty for the boy, but Chief Annie told them that Milo was under the watchful eye of Star Butterfly, a magical former princess of a dimension called Mewni, and her friends, which alleviated their fears. The two men were summoned to the Sanctum, the Sentinels' home base, by Amy, one of Chief Annie's sisters, and found themselves in her lab, where she worked on all manner of devices. Amy had brunette-coloured hair and was dressed not in her usual signature colourless lab coat, but this time, in a bright red jumpsuit, like the kind car garage workers wore. This, Cavendish and Dakota thought, was very odd.
"Ah, you have come at Chief Annie's request. Good. I have everything ready for you," Amy notified.
"Ready for what? The Chief never said what our assignment would be," Dakota recalled.
"Yes, she did seem to be in quite a hurry," Cavendish added.
"Before we begin, do any of you two believe in ghosts?" Amy asked.
"We've dealt with pistachio monsters, triangle demons from other dimensions, and aliens. Why am I not surprised ghosts exist too?" Cavendish responded.
"Well, they do, and they've been busy. Zella's paying a visit to their realm because Chief Annie and the Court has observed some unusual activity. We'd like you two to rendez-vouz with Zella and pick up her report on the situation that is developing," Amy briefed.
"The situation being what, exactly?" Dakota inquired.
"From what I could decipher from Chief Annie's rushed briefing delivery, the Ghost Council and the Chairman are fixated on this 'Molly McGee' person that lives in some nowhere place called Brighton. Zella's gone to find out why. The hope is that you two will work with her to formulate a plan should one be necessary," Amy clarified.
"Sounds easy enough. Does Chief Annie or the Court suspect Malefic Order activity?" Cavendish probed.
"It's a possibility. One we haven't discounted," Amy answered. She then showed Cavendish and Dakota to a room adjoining her lab, which looked more like a garage than anything scientific. "To enable you to explore the Ghost Realm safely, I have built you this specialised exploration vehicle," Amy presented Cavendish and Dakota with what looked like an airspeeder, but it has had a number of modifications made to it.
"Certainly more impressive than our old ride," Dakota complimented. Amy opened the vehicle and pointed to various improvements she had made to it.
"That right there is the interdimensional communication system that will allow you to talk to us whenever you need," Amy pointed out a device that looked like a police radio. She then pointed to a small display on the dashboard. "That will tell you the status of the spectral shielding. There's a lot of spectral radiation in the Ghost Realm, but don't worry, the shielding plus the hull should keep you safe. Also, to help keep hidden, this baby comes with a cloaking device, so you shouldn't run into any trouble if you put that on," Amy assured. She then popped open the glove box to reveal two folded-up suits. "Finally, should you need to venture away from the vehicle, these anti-spectral suits should provide adequate protection from said radiation, but they're not as good as the vehicle's protections, so please keep any foot excursions to a minimum," Amy cautioned. Cavendish inspected the suits.
"We've worn worse outfits," Cavendish remarked.
"I must state for the record that these have never been field-tested, nor does the vehicle have any sort of weapons systems. We're not looking to get into a war with the Ghost Realm over nothing. Try to keep interactions with the residents to a minimum. Better yet, don't mix with them at all, just keep to the shadows," Amy concluded her briefing.
"Just one thing; who's this 'Molly McGee' person?" Dakota quizzed.
"Annie is observing her. No need to worry about Molly. You have your assignment," Amy replied.
"Meet up with Zella, find out what she knows, come up with a plan, if necessary," Cavendish reiterated.
"Very good. Move out, team," Amy instructed. Cavendish and Dakota got into the vehicle, started her up, and in front of them, a portal to the Ghost Realm appeared. Aside from some structures and outcroppings, the zone was largely green in colour.
"Well, here goes nothing," Cavendish said, and the vehicle moved through the portal into the Ghost Realm.
Back at the bandshell, Molly and Darryl had arrived after being dropped off by Pete. Darryl went to find the group doing the Atomic Pink cover, while Molly checked in with Libby and Andrea. She was also surveying the volunteers going about their work and liking what she was seeing. Scratch was also looking around, though his priorities shifted towards finding the snack table.
"How are we for scheduling? Everyone agree to the order of presentation?" Molly asked Libby.
"Yep, all the acts are ready to go and the equipment's all in working order," Libby updated.
"Andrea, how's the publicity going?" Molly inquired.
"Better than ever. #SpiritWeek is trending all over Brighton. If it's not too much trouble, Libby, I'd like to live stream this for additional coverage," Andrea requested.
"Do what you want. We could use the added cheer, especially you, Molly" Libby allowed. Molly had another reason for organising these events. Last week, Molly's grandmother Nin's home city of Los Angeles was attacked by a robot army led by a giant salamander in a mech suit and a fleet of flying fortresses. Fortunately, the invaders were beaten back, thanks to some unlikely heroes, but the fear of having almost lost a loved one still haunted Molly. This Spirit Week was her way of taking her mind off what happened. True, she had it in the planning stages for months, but the 'frog-vasion' was the driving force behind Molly's push to have this week. Before anyone could speak further, the black-haired boy approached the girls.
"We're all set, Libby. Waiting on your word," the boy notified. Molly had never seen this individual before, anywhere in Brighton. Many questions raced through her mind, along with other thoughts.
"Thank you. Molly, this is a new face to Brighton. Let me see here, says his name is Danny Fenton. Danny, this is Molly, the mastermind behind our Spirit Week. Molly, this is…..MOLLY!" Libby tried to introduce Molly to Daniel, but Molly was too busy staring at him, a goofy grin on her face and love hearts in her eyes. Scratch saw this and waved his hand in front of Molly's face to try and snap her out of it. Even snapping his fingers did nothing.
"Oh great, I have to deal with this now," Scratch complained. Danny merely outstretched his hand.
"Hello, I've heard so much about you. You've got quite a reputation around here," Danny stated. Molly took his hand and shook it.
"Gee McMolly. I mean, Molly McGee. Of course, Libby already told you that. I'm kind of a local celeb around here," Molly bragged.
"You managed to get yourself and your entire family banned from the County Fair," Danny replied.
"Why dwell on the past when we can look to our future, I mean, the future. If you're new here, maybe I can show you around sometime. Grab a pizza, see a movie, find a lonely hill to have a romantic picnic on…" Molly rambled.
"Oh brother! Molly, the costume designers need your input. Why don't you go see what they need," Libby interrupted. Molly managed to snap out of 'crush mode' at that point to register Libby's suggestion.
"Is there a sequin shortage? There must be sequins!" Molly asserted before rushing off to the costume area. Danny just stood there, not knowing what to make of this girl.
"That's Molly McGee? That's the girl the Ghost Council wants dead?" Danny thought to himself. While all this was going on, from a distance, Annie, Chief of the Sentinels, was observing. She had brunette hair and dressed all in blue.
"Danny Phantom in Brighton? This just got interesting. On a side note, while I do find Molly's infatuation with him cute, sadly, he's spoken for" Annie noted. This would make a good update for the Court of Ancients. The presence of Danny Phantom in this world plus the increased activity from the Ghost Realm could not be a coincidence. There was something larger at work here. Annie very much looked forward to hearing Zella's report once Cavendish and Dakota had picked her up.
In the Ghost Realm, specifically, the Creepy Coffee Shop, Bullet was waiting on his contact to arrive. Bullet had chosen this place to meet because it attracted little attention and was considered beneath the Council's notice. While he was looking at his order, Bullet reminisced about his previous life as second-in-command to Warden Walker. He then found himself flashing back to the last instructions Walker ever gave him.
Flashback begins
Walker and Bullet had just seen the Nightmare Army's advance on the Ghost Prison. Walker then turned to Bullet, a look of urgency on his face.
"I'm going to be real with you, Bullet. This prison will fall, it is inevitable, and chaos will run rampant all around the Ghost Realm as a consequence," Walker confessed.
"Don't say that, sir. We can win this," Bullet urged.
"I like your optimism and your loyalty. It's why I chose you to be my number one, but I'm a realist. At best we can delay the Nightmare King for a few hours, but there's no stopping this. I have one last command for you, and I need you to follow it to the letter," Walker pressed.
"Always, sir," Bullet replied.
"I need you to flee this place, keep order in the Ghost Zone however you can, and seek allies to help in that endeavour, whomever they may be. Above all else, make sure the Human Realm is not affected by what happens here," Walker ordered. Bullet then looked his boss in the eye and gave a non-verbal salute as a signal that the orders had been received. With what humans would call a heavy heart, Bullet fled the prison moments before the attack began. He flew away, not looking back.
"I won't let you down, sir," Bullet said to himself.
Flashback ends
Those were the hardest orders he ever had to follow, even more so when the Chairman and his Council took charge of the Ghost Realm and implemented their human-scaring regime, so when Skulker came to him with an offer to join the efforts to take them down, Bullet accepted without hesitation, knowing Walker would not abide by the Council's rule. As if on cue, the Coffee Shop's door opened, and a sole ghost made his way towards Bullet with a file in his hand.
"This was all I could find. Everyone who volunteered to take on the Council's contract," the ghost notified. Bullet then took the file and opened it to find a list of names, four in total.
"I'm surprised there aren't any more," Bullet remarked.
"The bounty is considerable, and enticing, but many ghosts fear the price of failure," the ghost explained. Reading the paper, Bullet saw that the reward for successfully taking out Molly McGee earned you an after-lifetime immunity from the Flow of Failed Phantoms, but failure would result in immediate banishment to said Flow. Bullet then understood why so few had agreed to take on the task. Most ghosts prefer to be left to their own devices; the Chairman was the one that implemented mandatory scare duties, with few exceptions.
"Is this list final?" Bullet asked.
"Yes sir, the deadline for applications passed yesterday," the ghost answered.
"Then we'll need to intercept these ghosts before they can carry out the deed," Bullet resolved.
"One small problem, sir. One of the ghosts is already in Brighton," the ghost disclosed.
Bank at the bandshell, Danny had snapped out of his confusion long enough to decide that he should continue keeping an eye on Molly. After all, she was why he was here in the first place. He made his way to the costume department where Molly had run off to and found her fitting the performers for their costumes, which she insisted on adding sequins and glitter to. However, Danny also saw a ghost hovering beside her.
"What the- doesn't look like any ghost I've ever seen before," Danny muttered quietly so as not to attract attention. He was ready to pounce the second this ghost tried anything, but the way he and Molly spoke, it was as if they were friends, or at least cordial with each other.
"Molly, you know I hate glitter, right? Whenever I get this stuff on me, it takes ages to get it out again," Scratch whined.
"Oh Scratch, don't be like that. A little more and I could make you look like a disco ball," Molly replied. She then started spinning Scratch round and round, which he did not care for. One performer, however, shared Scratch's concerns, even if they could not see or hear him.
"Can we lay off this stuff? It does a murder on washing machines afterwards," the performer requested.
"Oh OK, fine," Molly conceded. The last thing she needed was the ire of angry parents coming after her for having to shell out on a new washing machine after trying to get all the glitter off the performers' clothes. Andrea then came in with some alternate costumes on racks.
"Borrowed these from Daddy's store. These are rentals, though, so you can't keep them, unless you buy them, of course," Andrea presented. Molly had to admit, the clothes did look impressive, and Andrea's help was most appreciated.
"Are your parents here now?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, but they're mostly on their phones, again," Andrea responded sadly. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport, in Molly's view, seemed like the kind of parents that never really paid attention to their child, prioritising their wealth, prosperity, and their social status, on and off-line, over their daughter's needs. This saddened Andrea and infuriated Molly, but Molly just took a deep breath and returned her focus to the musical showcase preparations.
"Hey, Molls, I never really apologised for the whole 'nougat' thing, and for hogging all the credit for your hard work, and for hijacking your horror movie," Andrea lamented.
"Awwww, water under the bridge. I kinda get why you did it. You were trying to get your parents' attention," Molly replied.
"But I went about it the wrong way. When you covered for me on the school steps, I didn't know what to think. You had the opportunity to ruin me, something you would've been justified in doing after what I had done, but you chose to save me," Andrea recalled. She then hugged Molly tightly and started crying into her shoulder. "You wanna know what my parents said when I told them I was volunteering for Spirit Week? 'Can't wait to see how many likes this gets'! Not 'That's great, Andrea, we're so proud of you' or 'Atta girl, way to give back to your community'! Sometimes I even forget they're my mum and dad, with the way they act," Andrea vented. Molly then did something she never thought she'd do. She hugged Andrea back.
"That must be heart-breaking," Molly consoled.
"Sometimes I wish I never started being an influencer. That was something my parents insisted I do. I just want real friends, not tons of followers that don't even know the real me," Andrea continued.
"I can be a real friend, if you want," Molly offered. She then wiped away Andrea's tears with her thumb as a sign of affection.
"You're a good person, Molly. Someone I want to have around," Andrea accepted.
"Well, I'm of the school of thought that the best way to defeat your enemies is to make them your friends. It's never too late to start over," Molly soothed. The two girls then broke apart.
"Anyone ever tell you you're too good for your own good?" Andrea joked.
"Yeah, me, all the time," Scratch sassed, but Andrea could not see or hear that.
"Maybe once or twice," Molly answered coyly.
"Better question; who's that guy in the costume rack?" Scratch probed. Molly turned to look and saw Danny emerge from the costume rack. Like Libby, Scratch couldn't shake off the feeling that he had seen Daniel somewhere before.
"Oooooooooooo, I think you have an admirer, Molls," Andrea teased playfully.
"Oh, stop. You really think so?" Molly inquired hopefully.
"My advice; make a move before I do," Andrea egged Molly on. Before anyone else could speak, Libby came in.
"There you are. We have a late entry. She was very insistent on being included and we had a space open. Hope you don't mind," Libby informed.
"Not at all, this event's open to everyone. Who are they and what will they be playing?" Molly conceded.
"All they said was their name; Ember McClain," Libby replied. Upon hearing this, Scratch and Daniel sported looks of panic on their face.
"Uh oh," Scratch said and left in a hurry.
"Uh oh is right," Danny muttered to himself, and he also left in a hurry. Scratch raced around the stage, centre and back, to scout out Ember. Sure enough, he spotted the ghost rocker, disguised as a typical teenage girl in rebel rock star attire. Before he could be seen by Ember, Scratch hid behind a wall, as ghosts could see other ghosts, even when making themselves selectively invisible to mortals.
"What are you doing here, Ember?" Scratch wondered to himself.
"Funny, I was going to ask the same question about you," came a voice from behind Scratch. It was Danny.
"You can hear me?" Scratch asked.
"And see you, yes," Danny remarked. He then shifted into his ghost form and pinned Scratch against the wall. "What are your intentions towards Molly McGee?" Danny demanded.
"Intentions? She and I are cursed together, bound for all eternity. At first, it stunk, but I've since come to realise that it's not that bad. If I hadn't done it, she and I might not be friends right now," Scratch explained.
"Wait, friends? So, you're not trying to kill her?" Danny asked, perplexed.
"Kill her? Why would I do that? It's against the rules. Ghosts can scare mortals, just not to death. We can welcome new additions to the afterlife, but not add to the number ourselves," Scratch clarified.
"And the Council makes these rules?" Danny inquired.
"Yep, passed down by the Chairman himself," Scratch replied.
"Then please explain to me why he's willing to break his own rules to bump off your little friend," Danny rebutted. This greatly confused Scratch.
"Woah, woah, woah! Are you telling me the Chairman wants Molly dead?!" Scratch probed.
"Yeah, and he's probably sent Ember to do it. For a moment, I thought you were going to do the deed. I'm here to protect Molly, by any means necessary," Danny disclosed. He then let go of Scratch, convinced he wasn't any danger to Molly.
"But why would he do that?" Scratch wondered.
"That's what I want to know," Danny answered. The two then saw Ember take the stage as Molly introduced her as the opening act.
"I'll get Molly out of here, you deal with the hack, hybrid" Scratch advised, now realising where he had seen Danny before. Scratch remembered the wanted posters that his face was on all over the Ghost Realm, and he had also heard of Danny's reputation as an expert ghost fighter, and that he was part-human.
"One other thing; don't tell Molly she has ghosts trying to kill her. She needs this Spirit Week, more than you know. I don't want her retreating inwards because the Chairman's put out a hit on her," Scratch requested.
"Only if you never call me 'hybrid' again," Danny rebuked as he made to deal with Ember. Scratch found Molly after some searching and tried to usher her away from the bandshell.
"Molly, we have to leave, now!" Scratch directed.
"Already, Scratch? I know you're a grumpy sourpuss but we only just got started," Molly objected. Hastily thinking of a reason to get Molly to leave before the fighting started, Scratch said the first thing that came to his head.
"Just did an inspection of the bandshell and it's structurally unsound. We should probably go before it collapses on us," Scratch lied. On stage, Ember made to begin her performance while discreetly scouting out for her target, Molly McGee.
"Good morning…." Ember then took out a flash card detailing the name of the town she was playing in. "….Brighton! Who's ready to kick off Spirit Week?" Ember riled up the crowd, who cheered excitedly. She looked out and around again for Molly and found her, with a ghost of all beings. This raised serious questions in Ember's mind, but she was here to do a job. Any queries about potential ghost companions would have to wait. "Alright then, this is a song I like to play whenever I need to get the blood pumping! 5-4-3-2, GO!" Ember began playing her song, which was a very loud rock number. It reverberated so well; Molly could feel vibrations beneath her feet.
"Woah, she's good," Molly complimented. What she failed to notice was the brickwork coming loose and plummeting towards her. Scratch formed a dome over Molly's head, shielding her from the impact. This made Molly take notice. "OK, maybe you're right, time to leave," Molly urged, but she found that wherever she tried to go, vibrations in the floor unbalanced her, keeping Molly stuck in place. Danny could see this going down from the air and knew that Scratch could only keep her safe for so long, so Danny decided to unplug Ember's amplifier which was creating the vibrations.
"Nice opener, but I'd rather skip to the finale," Danny quipped. Ember turned to see her old foe and was surprised at his presence.
"You! What are you doing here, hybrid?!" Ember demanded.
"Working concert security. I'm afraid I have to ask you to leave," Danny joked.
"Not until I get my solo!" Ember retorted. She then played another tune with her guitar weapon, making Danny recoil and jam his hands over his ears to block out the sound. Molly steadied herself enough to get out of the way of anything that could fall on her, much to Scratch's relief. She saw Danny in his ghost form squaring off against Ember.
"Who are they?" Molly asked.
"The one on stage is Ember McClain. She's a bit of a rebel-rouser in the Ghost Realm, real piece of work and terrible taste in music," Scratch explained.
"Uh huh, and the cute one in black?" Molly inquired. This made Scratch face palm in disgust.
"Someone who has experience dealing with these sorts of trouble-makers. Best leave then to it," Scratch pressed. Back on stage, Danny mustered up enough strength to fire off an ecto-blast from his hand and damage Ember's guitar, easing the damage from her sonic attacks.
"Ugh, this was vintage!" Ember said as she used the now-broken ghost guitar as a melee weapon and engaged Danny in close combat, Danny grabbing a microphone stand to use as a counter. The melee continued for a while until Danny got the upper hand, disarming Ember, flying up and then, in a split second, slammed down on her hard with full force, taking her out of the fight.
"Thank you, and good night," Danny sassed before getting out his Fenton thermos, his dad's invention for trapping ghosts, and turning it on, sucking Ember inside. While the audience was confused as to what just happened, there was universal praise for getting Ember off-stage. Danny ignored it and flew away, eager to question Ember. After the chaos had subsided, Libby emerged, clipboard in one hand while using the other to massage her aching ears. She approached Molly.
"I think I'm going to be hearing that ringing in my ears for days after that," Libby stated.
"You were right, Scratch, her taste in music is terrible," Molly said.
"Told ya, she's not exactly popular in the Ghost Realm either," Scratch responded.
"She was a ghost?" Libby asked.
"What gave that away?" Scratch answered sarcastically.
"I'd like to know more about that ghost boy. He's a real hero," Molly gushed.
"Oh, no," Scratch reacted with disdain. Before anyone could ask any more questions about Ember and the ghost boy, Danny showed up, in his normal form.
"Is everyone alright? That was quite the opener," Danny probed with a concerned tone. Molly went right back to crushing on Danny, rather than the ghost boy that fought off Ember.
"We're fine, thanks for asking," Molly replied. Scratch sighed heavily upon seeing Molly in full-blown gaga mode.
"I think I need to be….somewhere else right now," Scratch notified.
"I should probably check on the other performers, and co-ordinate with the health and safety team," Danny suggested. He made to leave, but Molly took his hand, pulled him back, then handed him a piece of paper. "What's this?" Danny inquired.
"My cell phone number," Molly eagerly answered.
"What for?" Danny asked, scared of the answer.
"Health and safety, of course. You be health, I'll be safety," Molly flirted.
"That's it! I'm gonna go puke!" Scratch resolved and flew off before he could see or hear anything else he found discomforting. Danny chuckled nervously.
"Molly, I-" but before Danny could break it to Molly gently that he was spoken for, Libby broke up the affair.
"Molly, don't you think you should address the crowd and introduce the next act?" Libby posed.
"Oh right, that I should. TTYL, Danny," Molly agreed and rushed off with Libby in tow, waving Danny goodbye.
"If the Ghost Council doesn't kill her, Sam just might," Danny remarked before heading off the interrogate Ember. Still, having Molly on speed-dial would help with his mission to keep her safe. He entered Molly's details into his phone, then went to find a secluded area to ask Ember some questions. He found an empty corridor backstage, where Scratch, who had been following Danny, was waiting for him.
"You didn't start without me, did you?" Scratch asked.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Danny answered. He then let Ember out of the thermos, but only her head. "Alright you, out with it! Why does the Council want Molly dead?!" Danny demanded.
"Should've known you were here about her. She's been the talk of the Ghost Zone lately," Ember back-talked.
"What do you mean?" Scratch interrogated.
"That business with Howling Harriet, Abraham Lincoln, the Ice Princess. The Tugbottom fiasco really got ghosts talking," Ember clarified.
"What are they saying?" Danny probed.
"Questions are being asked as to whether or not ghosts are scary anymore or need to be. It's not just Brighton that's seeing lower misery numbers these days," Ember explained.
"That's why the Council put out a hit on her? Lower misery numbers?" Scratch inquired.
"That's what they told us when we signed up for this mission," Ember confirmed.
"'Us'?! There's more of you?" Danny realised.
"Three others. We've each been given one shot at the girl. You may have stopped me, but can you stop the rest?" Ember taunted.
"This makes no sense. The Council doesn't put out hits on mortals because of low misery numbers. They just send the ghost in that town to the Flow," Scratch stated.
"The Flow?" Danny queried.
"Flow of Failed Phantoms. Any ghost that gets sent there by the Chairman is never seen or heard from again. Horrifying place, even by ghost standards," Scratch answered.
"Any ghost that succeeds in killing the girl gets an after-lifetime free pass from the Flow, but if you send me back to the Ghost Realm empty-handed, that's where I'm going," Ember almost begged Danny not to send her back.
"You missed the part where that's my problem," Danny rebuffed. Scratch opened up a portal to the Ghost Realm and Danny released Ember through it, then Scratch closed the portal.
"Three other assassins? We have our work cut out for us," Scratch observed.
"Yes. Yes we do. Look, I have to check in with my contacts and let them know what we've learned. Can you keep Molly out of danger in the meantime?" Danny requested.
"Count on it," Scratch agreed and left to find Molly.
In the Ghost Realm, Cavendish and Dakota were driving their cloaked vehicle through the Realm, fascinated by what they were seeing. If they weren't on an important mission, they would stop and see the sights, but since spectral radiation levels were high in this part of the Realm, they decided not to risk venturing out to take photos. Cavendish kept an eye on the dashboard, specifically, the shielding levels. The indicator remained green but was slowly turning amber, meaning their vessel's shielding was dropping. They had been waiting for Zella to meet up with them for half an hour now.
"I do hope she didn't get lost," Cavendish wished.
"Please, it's Zella, the mistress of the dark. She probably knows this place better than we do," Dakota dismissed.
"Still, I'm getting a hostile vibe from this place. It also seems very, shall we say, barren," Cavendish described.
"It's a Ghost Realm," Dakota rebutted.
"Exactly. If this is the afterlife, where is everyone? You'd think a place like this would be packed with every soul that has ever lived throughout history. This Realm is practically deserted," Cavendish observed.
"On that, we agree," came a female voice from the shadows. From the dark corners of the speeder, Zella emerged from the shadows, scaring Cavendish and Dakota.
"Must you do that?!" Dakota asked in a panicked state.
"Yes. Everything I've learned is in this file. The situation is…worse than we thought," Zella replied. She handed a file to Cavendish, who inspected Zella's notes on her findings. Zella was right, this did make for disturbing reading.
"Oh my. I think we'd better get back to Chief Annie," Cavendish resolved.
"What about this Molly girl? Shouldn't we evacuate her to the Sanctum?" Dakota postulated.
"The Court would never go for that," Zella shot the idea down.
"To heck with the Court! A teen girl's life is at stake!" Dakota argued. An alarm from the speeder put any further discussions on hold. The shielding indicator had turned red and was soon on the verge of depleting.
"We'll work it out later. Right now, we need to get out of here before we're exposed to spectral radiation," Cavendish concluded and the three left the Ghost Realm in a hurry.
Author's note: Yep, on some level, a cross-over between Danny Phantom and The Ghost and Molly McGee seemed inevitable. Well, here we are. I'll be real with you, I'm still not sure what the Chairman's deal is. I'm sure we'll find out once more of the show is released to us. Also, I'm certain Andrea will get a redemption arc in the show. It's only a matter of time. The usual disclaimers, I own nothing. All properties belong to their respective owners. Enjoy.