By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 5"All you need to do is APOLOGIZE." Feralae was telling Tucker two periods later.
"Even if he does I'm still not talking to him." Sam said, sticking her nose in the air.
Feralae turned to Danny. "Danny, back me up on this right, Tucker opened his big mouth, its no big deal right? He does it almost every time right?"
"Sam I'm sure Tucker's learned his lesson, can't you forgive him?" Danny asked her.
Sam pretended she didn't hear and said with a smirk. "You know, I actually LIKED football. It was almost therapeutic." This was said with a menacing growl and a sideways glare at Tucker.
"You are NOT going to follow Dash's example. I won't let you turn into a dumb jock." Feralae told her, grabbing Sam by the ear and turning her head to face her. "You hear me? You're too good for him!" She growled, letting go.
"Who said anything about turning into another Dash, but at least HE approves of women going beyond traditional gender roles." Sam growled at Tucker.
"Tucker, I think we're doomed." Danny stated.
"And its all your fault for opening YOUR big mouth." Feralae growled at him. "ZP, can't you get Sam to see reason?"
"A woman convinced against her will, is of her own opinion still." ZP said sagely, and assumed a posture of blissful meditation.
Feralae turned to Sam. "Can't you just make up? We have to be able to work as a team in case something goes wrong in the ghost zone and somebody follows us!"
"Speaking of which, my parents have a meeting with one of their research sponsors tonight." Danny told them. "Which means that we can use the lab if we have to."
"It also gives Black Velvet and her two thugs a golden opportunity." Pointed out ZP.
"I'll put up the ghost shield so that nothing gets in or out." Danny promised. "No ghosts at least."
"That could also work to your disadvantage." Feralae told him. "What if one of us goes ghost and needs to get out?"
"Then we can slash the connections. It only takes a few minutes to fix them, and we can pin the blame on one of the evil ghosts that got out last night."
"I'm also not letting Vlad in on this jump." ZP told Sam. "He may be a gatekeeper, but that doesn't mean you have to trust him."
"So Benten ISN'T going to assign me as his apprentice?" Sam asked, as if this had been worrying her all morning.
"Nope, its all voluntary." ZP told her. "If you don't want to work with him, what would Benten have to gain by an apprentice who's unwilling to obey or learn from their Master?"
"Right, now I'm feeling a LOT better." Sam sighed, wiping imaginary sweat from her forehead. "Okay, if not Vlad then who?"
"There's an elderly ghost named the Ghost Master in a far corner of the ghost zone. Benten is hoping that she'll take you on."
"Who's this Ghost Master?" Danny asked. "I don't think I've ever fought him."
"Her actually." ZP said with a wry grin. "Benten gave me the lowdown on her last night. Right after she called you from your body Feralae, Benten called me from mine."
"Yes! Score one for estrogen!" Sam said happily.
"The Ghost Master is the ghost of a shrine miko slash martial arts master who died over a thousand years ago." ZP went on. "She's strong enough to send Skulker running home to momma, more clever than Plasmius could ever be, and more feisty in battle than Ember at a mosh pit!"
Sam blinked. "I think I'd like to meet this ghost master."
"You'd benefit from training with her too." ZP told Danny. "She could give you some pointers on how to beat some of your more powerful enemies."
"Okay, I think I'll ask. It wouldn't hurt." Danny said thoughtfully.
"So tonight we hit the gates for some inter-dimensional adven…" Feralae walked right into Valerie. Accidentally knocking the books from her hands. "Oops, sorry."
Danny inched back. "Hey Valerie, what's up?"
"Other than hitting my head, and an F on a French test, nothing." Valerie replied, rubbing her head. "Man you've got a hard skull." Valerie told Feralae.
Feralae looked suspiciously at Valerie.
"What?" She asked.
"Nothing." Feralae rolled her eyes.
"What's your name?" Valerie asked.
"Feralae, and you?"
"Valerie, nice to meet you." Valerie started retrieving her books. Then her watch went off.
Crud, Feralae thought. She's gonna think I'm a ghost, GREAT.
"Well, I gotta go. See you!" Valerie said cheerfully.
"Okay, crash course on Valerie-ness, every time her watch goes off, it does not bode well for us." Tucker told Feralae.
"It went off because of me, maybe its reacting to my Gatekeeper's abilities."
"Vlad must have set it to go off when a gatekeeper's nearby." Said Danny.
Everybody stared at him.
"Look, that one time when Vlad gave her the ring? I figure he's the one who gave her all that ghost hunting gear. He's using her to hunt down his enemies." Danny stated. "Look, it's a shot in the dark, but that's my theory at least."
"We'll have to ask Plasmius next time we see him." Sam sighed. "If you're right then it looks like you have some bashing to do."
"It also gives you some leverage against Valerie. When she finds out that a halfa's been using her to terrorize the ghost realm, then she's not likely to want to hunt for him anymore. And if you let that get out in the ghost zone, then he'll be totally unpopular there as well." Suggested ZP. "Nice theory by the way. I don't know enough about this dimension to know that it's a correct one, but it might be true. Feralae?"
"I don't know, I saw Reign Storm, but it looks like that might definitely be the case." Feralae told them. "I haven't seen the other episodes with Plasmius in them, or the one where Valerie gets her gear."
The bell rang, but that afternoon Danny actually walked home. Sam, ZP, Feralae and Tucker were with him. Sam was sulking in silence.
"Hey, why don't we go to Nasty Burger and get ourselves a…"
Sam glared at him wordlessly.
"Or not." Tucker said sheepishly.
"Oh give it a rest you two!" Growled Danny. "I'm tired of you two going at it like this. ALL DAY! You've been arguing ALL DAY!"
"Let's just get to Danny's house so we can open that gate." Sam said with a sigh.
A shadow fell over them. Valerie was on the hunt again. She pause in front of them. "Okay, which one of you is the ghost in disguise?" She growled.
"You think we'd tell you?" Sam asked, arching a skeptical eyebrow.
Feralae growled. "That's not a ghost your chasing. I know it seems strange, but your gear may be able to do more than chase ghosts."
"What?" Valerie demanded. "But it was made for…"
"There are other creatures, guardians than ghosts you know." Feralae told her, sticking her tongue out at Valerie.
"Watch out Feralae, you're playing with fire." ZP told her.
"I know." Feralae replied, pulling off her gate key. "Is this what your scanner is picking up?" She handed it to Valerie.
Valerie held it close to her scanner. "Yeah, that's it. But ghosts can't fit in something this small." She said as she handed it back.
"There's more to life than ghosts." Feralae told her. "Think on it kid." She told Valerie as she and Danny led the others away.
Valerie floated there, dumbstruck. "Gobsmacked, utterly gobsmacked."