I don't own DP, end of story. I'd like to thank the following for their reviews:

enigmatic penguin- sorry I didn't mention you in ch.6, but by the time I caught wind of your review for ch.5 I'd already submitted ch.6. Thanks for adding me to your favs. Yes, I've always enjoyed my pizza cold with a cardboard crust (not!). And yes, all those different terms I used do relate pretty much to ecto-goo.

the sleep warrior- YOU HAVE NOT ONE, BUT THREE OF THOSE BIG COMFY BUSINESS CHAIRS! Sorry about that. Actually, no, I've never really found Star Wars to be my thing, although I do enjoy the odd Star Trek. I know they're not the same thing, but still. I don't know jabba's eye-colour either, so don't feel bad.

Now, on with the show!

Chapter 7 (The Triple T Trouble)

Two weeks rolled by. I'd never known that the Japanese town we lived in celebrated Halloween before that year. Early October brought with it cooler weather, and skies started growing dimmer earlier.

The people loved the season, the cold, the closeness, the approach of Halloween, and the spiritual nuances of their own traditions. And with the Halloween season came ghosts.

Their numbers increased gradually over time, but I did notice that there seemed to be more of them. With every ghost I thwarted my reputation with the locals grew.

I did notice the grateful, awe-inspired looks the people gave me as I gave them the deliverance they so needed. Mom grew more concerned for our safety than ever. She bought us "Fenton Specter Reflectors," belts we were forced to wear that prevented ghosts from touching us, and deflected ghost energy. The only good thing I noticed about them was that they wouldn't spray me with ghost-goo every few minutes.

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I was at my locker that afternoon, getting ready for final period gym. Just as I was grabbing my gymbag I sensed someone behind me.

"Morgan-san," I heard a very small yet familiar voice ask, "I would ask your help with something."

"Uh, Tai, is that you?" I asked, almost unsure of who I was hearing, "What exactly do you want?"

"Morgan-san, I mean no disrespect," he said, and given the position of his voice, he sounded as if he was bowing, "I only meant to ask your help with my math homework after school. I have a test coming up next week and I am not quite ready for it."

My head was reeling. No one had ever treated me with this kind of respect before. This was especially the last source of that respect I expected.

"Uh, I don't think I have anything occupying me after school for the next few days. My place or your place?" I asked without thinking.

"You would let me into your own home?" he asked quietly. I nodded, and he rose, bowed again, then said, "Thank you, Morgan-san! I shall not forget this!"

I stood there for a second, utterly confused. Then the bell for classes rang, I cursed under my breath, and ran as fast as my legs would carry me for the gym.

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"I mean really, sis," I explained to Ronnie on the way home after ghost practice, "First this guy treats me like the gum on the bottom of his shoes, then he totally avoids me, now he's actually asking me for help with his schoolwork. Did I really hurt him that bad?"

"I don't think that it's how badly you hurt him, Tirrell," she pointed out, "I think it's how effectively you healed him."

I arched one of my eyebrows, and she explained further, "Perhaps, when he thought you were going to finish him off, or when he thought you were going to get him sent to juvie, and you didn't, something about that so extremely opened a new point of view for him that he never even knew existed. I think you've done more for him already than anyone can imagine."

"Oh, by the way, I'm going to get my campaign together for my "Save The Endangered Animals", or STEA, fundraiser next week. Now, here's a list of everything we're going to need..."

I heard her bookbag drop to the ground as she rummaged through it. Finally, she came up with a braille notebook that weighed in at about fifteen pounds and handed it to me.

"Uh, Ronnie, this is great and all, but I'm already helping Tai with his schoolwork every night after school. I'm sorry, but I just can't help."

"But you always help me with this fundraiser," I could feel the youthful energy shoot from her with extreme speed. She accepted her notebook back and started walking.

"Look, sis, I'm sorry," I said comfortingly, laying a hand lightly on her shoulder, "But I promised him I'd help. If I had any spare time I'd gladly-"

The breath came out of my lungs in a "whoosh" as a set of fully-trained "tiger claws" rammed into my stomach and lifted me bodily off the ground.

"Tirrell C. Morgan!" she shouted, "You can ditch me to help some ex-jerk of yours, you can tell me to stand watch while you duke it out with some ghost-sorceress, but don't you ever, ever, try to patronize me again! You got that!"

I was still trying to get my breath back a few minutes later, after she had stormed off.

"Oh man, this is definitely not the best day of my life." This observation was quickly confirmed when my eyes sparked, and quickly as I could I headed for the nearest dumpster. Having then transformed, I flew off in the direction of the disturbance.

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People were running and screaming, which is always a sure sign of some kind of civic threat or disturbance. Just as I zeroed in on the location, something large and white zipped by me.

I whipped around, but saw nothing. There were still people screaming down below, so I ignored it and flew down.

A huge black tiger had cornered three people, two of which were my classmates. The stripes across its body were a light blue, and it bore a white collar with black spikes studding its circumference.

I flew behind the beast and, in an attempt to distract it, shouted, "Kwobba kwobba kitty kitty?" before ramming into its back with both feet. I leapt off its back and landed in front of my terrified classmates.

"Run!" was the only word I needed to utter before they took off. Without thinking I turned and whipped out my dagger, its ghostly blade translucent in the light of the late afternoon.

The black tiger rose from the pavement, shook itself off, and snarled in a deep, intimidating voice, "FOOLISH CHILD. NO ONE DARES STRIKE TARRA AND LIVE! YOU SHALL DIE FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!"

We circled each other like experienced hunters, each looking for an opening. I misstepped, and the cat charged with lightning speed.

I barely had time to roll out of the way before its jaws clamped clean through the pavement I had been lying on a second before. My foot flicked up and out, catching the beast in the side of the head.

It responded by leaping on top of me and trying to chew through my dagger. I only just barely held back its slavering jaws, having wedged my blade against the back of its mouth.

When its enormous fangs were no more than an inch from my face I groaned, "Get Off!" and kicked out with both feet. It flew a short ways before it landed on its back.

I rose to my feet and was just about to banish it back to the Ghost Zone when something rammed into me from behind and knocked me to the ground. When I regained my feet, the beast was gone.

"Hey, it's him," I heard someone say behind me. "It's Yurei Ninja."

I turned my head and saw a considerable crowd, some ticked, some overjoyed, and some with expressions of awe on their faces. I bowed low, then phased through the ground. I went invisible, then phased back into the open air and left the scene.

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"I'm home," I called as I stepped in the door. I heard my sister's flute-playing in the background, so I had nothing to fear for the moment. I walked into the kitchen and took off my jacket as I asked, "So mom, what's for dinner?"

"What happened to your sister today?" her question caught me offguard, "She slams the door, mumbles something about some jerk, then stomps up to her room."

I sighed, then sat down and explained everything that had happened. "What am I going to do?"

"Your sister can be pretty headstrong sometimes, a tad inconsiderate, and she's tougher than most grown men twice her size," she said as she prepared supper, "But underneath it all she's rather sensitive, if you know where to needle her."

"I didn't mean to needle her mom," I said defensively, "But I promised someone that I'd help them, and as you know, my word is my bond. I can't go back on that."

"I know that sweetie, but this is one of the most important events your sister celebrates every year. And to her, a big part of that event is seeing your combined efforts complement each other. You two work as a team. One of you can't function at optimum without the other."

"Remember two years ago in Zimbabwe, while Veronica was holding her fundraiser, and you dressed up as Tora the Endangered Tiger, and all the children worked together and strung you up by your tail and used you like a pinata? That was a huge hit!"

"Yeah, no pun intended," I said as I rubbed my back, "But do you really think that Dad and some of his students there counted as children?"

"That's not the point," she said quietly, putting down her cooking equipment for a moment, "The point was that it was her idea, but you carried it out ingeniously. You two work best together."

"You have a point," I conceded, "But why do I absolutely have to sacrifice hours and hours of my own time just to satisfy my sister's strange habits?"

To this I received no reply, and if the heavy, almost deranged breathing behind me was any indication, I could understand why. The high-pitched whistle of Ronnie's flute had stopped.

"My sister is standing behind me with the look on her face that earned her the nickname "tiger claws" isn't she?"

Before I realized what was happening I was heaved bodily from my seat, high into the air, and chucked down the stairs with the sentence "Good guess, Tora!" ringing in my ears.

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"And here we are," I said, throwing my arms wide, "The Morgan abode. It's not much but it's what we call home. What think?"

"A place worthy of sheltering its occupants," Tai replied, "So, when do we study?"

"As soon as we get a snack," I answered, walking up to the front porch and unlocking the door. "Hey mom," I called, hearing cooking equipment running, "What's for dinner?"

"Pizza, with every flavor imaginable on a separate piece," she answered, "Oh, is this the modest young man who wants my son's help in school?"

"Mom, stop embarrassing me in front of my peer," I edged as my hand groped for the cookie jar. I grabbed us each a couple of cookies as we rushed up to my room.

"So where do you want to start?" I asked, plopping down in the seat beside my desk, while I offered him the chair.

Before he could answer I heard loudly from downstairs, "Mom! I'm back from the six separate stores all across town, grabbing everything I'm ever going to need for my STEA fundraiser next week! I'll be down in the basement beating the stuffing out of a punching bag I've made to look like some little jerk's head!"

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hall to Ronnie's room. Within a few minutes the footsteps had left, descending into the basement, where some scrap of fluff would undoubtedly suffer for my crimes.

"What was that all about?" Tai asked as he turned back to his work.

"Just my sister getting ready for some fundraiser," I answered, "Relax, she does that from time to time."

"Yell, or prepare for a fundraiser?" he joked. It was actually the first joke I had ever heard him say that didn't have me as the butt of it.

"Both," I replied with a chuckle, "And this time she's mixing them."

We both laughed for a while, then got back to work on Tai's studies. He did need help with his math, though not nearly as much as I had expected.

Suppertime rolled around, and we asked him to stay for supper. He declined, thanked us for our hospitality and left.

"Are you sure that he's the same guy that always ran your nose into the dirt?" mom asked.

"I don't think even I'm all that sure about it anymore," I answered, "Either way I'm not complaining."

"So, where's Ronnie?" I asked as I sat down in my usual seat.

"Still downstairs as far as I know," she answered.

"How long can she be down there relieving stress?" I asked no one in particular.

"She's got a lot of stress to deal with sweetie, not including all her preparation for the fundraiser, her judo testing is coming up, and she has to study for a big test she's going to be having in a few days. The fact that you're not helping her with her fundraiser is only increasing the stress that she has to deal with."

"Yes, but why do I have to feel like I'm the guilty party here? I'm not the one in the wrong!" My breath caught in my throat as I was rudely heaved from my seat.

Amid a great deal of tooth-grinding I discerned the words, "Let's try an under-hand shot this time!"

I was whirled around once, twice, then heaved down the stairs, again.

"Well, at least her distance is improving." I said to myself.

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Suppertime came and went underneath a tense silence, then I went upstairs and did my homework.

Just as I was dropping off to sleep a couple hours later my eyes sparked.

I sat up in bed for a second, thinking, "Can't these guys at least take the evenings and weekends off like everybody else?"

As I knew was my responsibility I got out of bed and flew off into the night sky. The stars were out, the moon was full, and the street lights below set the entire city aglow with cool blue light.

The eye-sparking grew worse, and I soon found myself over an intersection in the middle of town.

"Intersections. Why is it always intersections?" I asked as I cloaked myself and descended to the street. Once again something white flickered past my face, but I paid it no heed.

Fortunately almost no one was around, though given the amount of screaming these six people in a minivan could do that was soon to change.

Tiger boy was at it again, and this time I gave him no warning. I just rammed into his side as hard as I could.

"I thought I made myself clear last time," I said, uncloaking myself and drawing the dagger at my waist.

"THAT IS A KEEN BLADE, WHELP," the beast spoke, "BUT IT IS NOTHING TO TARRA'S CLAWS." That said Tarra started to grow, and it wasn't until his huge muzzle towered fifteen feet over my head that he stopped.

Very slowly his enormous claws unsheathed, and swept down at me with surprising speed. I leapt out of the way and struck my blade against his claws. There was a resounding ping as I was thrown backwards by the impact.

I landed on my toes, then backflipped as his claws came down on me again. I rolled to one side and slashed my blade across his foreleg.

There was a resounding whump as a huge length of white light shot from my dagger and struck Tarra full on in the chest. He roared in pain as the force of my attack threw him backwards. When the sparks and dust cleared Tarra was lying on his side at normal size, a narrow gash across one side of his chest.

I looked down at my dagger and saw that it was glowing a brilliant white, and it almost seemed to be humming with power.

A tiny shudder from my adversary snapped me out of this reverie, and I approached him, my left hand extended. I uttered the banishing word "Kassil," and within a moment the ferocious feline vanished.

A few people, including a policeman or two, had started to gather, so I cloaked myself and departed the scene.

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I had not gotten much sleep that night. And it showed. I returned the scathing glare that I knew Ronnie kept flashing me, which is something that if I had been fully awake I would never have done.

I slept through almost all of first period, and a good chunk of second. Lunch hour came and went and I was still in a bad mood.

I was so mad that I actually ran the 1500m twice in third period gym, and burned through last period without quite picking up what we were doing.

As I was putting away the stuff in my locker I heard Tai ask, "So, Morgan-san, when do we leave?"

"If the rest of my day has been any indication, never," I hissed, and headed towards the door without another word.

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Things went about the same as the previous day's events, we studied, I helped Tai finish his homework, and we joked around for a bit.

This time, when asked if he could stay for supper, Tai accepted the invitation, and we sat down to eat within the next half hour.

At first the meal seemed to be going well. Ronnie was talking gregariously with mom, whilst Tai and I talked as well.

The storm broke as I reached over for the salt and accidentally tipped the pepper shaker. By sheer bad luck the lid popped off and covered Ronnie's plate with pepper.

Before I could twitch her claws were on my wrist and I was shoved forcefully onto the floor. I was then picked up by the front of my shirt and heaved against the wall, her twisting one of my arms behind me.

"Is there a problem, dear brother?" she hissed venomously into my ear, "Or are you just trying to make my life even more of a living hell?"

The two pressure fronts met. The anger I had been feeling earlier that day returned in an instant, and I thrust backwards as hard as I could, overbalancing and falling on top of Ronnie.

Skilled though she was she was still lighter than me. I rose from that position and turned around once I was in a standing position.

"Would you just get off my back already!" I roared, "I've tried to be considerate, I've tried to hold my temper in check, but this is the last straw! I'm sorry I couldn't help you, but I have a life outside your stupid little fundraiser, okay!"

In the background I only very dimly heard Tai say, "Uh, I'd better leave now. Sayoonara!"

Once he was gone I stormed down to the basement in a fit of rage. I almost feel sorry for my punching bag, seeing as I was down there for a fair while. I stopped only after the chain holding it to the ceiling snapped and broke. Then I stormed up to my room and stewed for a while.

I was interrupted from my stewing as my eyes sparked severely, indicating that a ghost was very close to my present location.

I went out and hunted for it a while, until I landed in an alley behind a sushi restaurant, and heard someone sniffing through the dumpster behind me.

"Uh, hello? Who's there?" I asked from a short distance away. A revolting stench accompanied a strange little guy sticking his nose up over the edge of the dumpster.

His skin was green, and he was dressed in some sort of grungy jeans and a t-shirt.

"Can I help you?" I offered, pinching my nose to try and stifle the gagging stench.

"Beware, mortal! For I am the Eunagi Yurei!" he exclaimed in a rather dumb-sounding voice.

It was all I could do to keep from laughing. "Dude, you do realize that eunagi is a kind of eel, right?" I asked through my fits of hilaric gagging and snorting.

"Insolence! You have disrespected my calling! Now prepare to face the wrath of my gross, slimy legless minions of doom!"

My laughter faded instantly as I was slapped across the face with a dead eel.

"I don't have time for this," I sighed, then hefted the little ghost into the air with a swift uppercut. After that, it was basically just a game of "Keep the annoying little Ghost from hitting anything but your Fists," which proved to be very stress-relieving.

After a while I finally grew tired of my fun and banished the little guy back into the Ghost Zone. Then I high-tailed it home.

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Since I had ended up on the opposite side of the house I decided to save a little time and phase through Ronnie's room to mine. I was greatly surprised by what I saw.

Decorations, lists, almost anything imaginable for a fundraiser, was crammed into her room, on almost everything save her bed. She occupied that space right at that moment, crying her lungs out.

Her eyes were red, and there was a certifiable mountain of tissues in her garbage can. She didn't notice my presence, so I just continued on to my room and sat down on my bed.

"Great. Just great," I hissed at myself, "Why don't I go the whole nine yards and slap my mom across the face or make my dad roll in his grave?"

"Okay Tarra," I warned, "We can do this easy, or we can do it real easy. Take your pick."

He responded by leaping at me with a huge roar. One blow from my suped-up dagger threw him against a building, and he fell to the ground, beaten for the third time in as many days.

"Great, my sister's fundraiser is the day after tomorrow and all I can do is hunt ghosts," I thought to myself after I had once again returned Tarra to the Ghost Zone, "I seriously need to get a hobby."

"Yurei Ninja-san?" someone asked. I turned around and was confronted with a small boy, no more than eight, holding a pad of paper and a pen. "Can I get your autograph?"

"No, but I'll sign that piece of paper for you," I joked. I signed the slip of paper "YN" and then flew off, waving back at the numerous people who were whistling and chanting my praises.

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"How on earth could this be happening?" I asked myself, "How does Tarra keep coming back from the Ghost Zone? I've faced twenty separate foes, most of which I only beat out of sheer dumb luck, and of them, only two have returned more than once, including Eunagi Yurei."

"And I have got to get my vision checked. It's like every time I turn ghost a white blurb shoots across my vision."

"Tir, sweetie, it's time for supper!" mom called. Since I knew that it was "wing night," I made it to the dining room as fast as I could go.

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"Morgan-san?" Tai asked while we were studying. He was getting considerably better with his math. As a matter of fact, I was surprised he still asked for my help. He would most certainly get very high marks on the test.

"Have a hard problem there?" I asked, flipping through the pages of Ronnie's "Ghosts for Total Stink-Bugs," book, written by Jack Fenton, who states on the back cover, "Ghosts! Where!"

"In a manner of speaking, Morgan-san," he answered.

I sat up on my bed and asked, "So, what's the problem?"

"Be honest with me," he said, "Why is your sister so mad at you?"

I sighed, then said, "My sister is mad at me because she sets up a fundraiser every year. It's sort of become a tradition of hers."

Tai nodded, and I continued, "And part of the tradition is that I have to help with it. Instead I'm here helping you with your homework and studying. That's why she's so ticked off with me."

Tai sat silently for a moment, contemplating what he had just heard. After a moment he clapped his book shut and got up.

"Let's go."

"Go? Go where?" I asked.

"To your sister's fundraiser, of course," he answered, "My studies can wait. I'll pass the test anyway."

"Tai my man, I like the way you think," I said, practically jumping off my bed, "Now let's go trim the tiger's claws!"

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We made our way up the steps to Hitori Hall, where the fundraiser was being held.

The building was as old as it was large, built over five hundred years ago, without a single fire, typhoon or otherwise severely damaging it.

It was one of the first buildings in town, and was the town's namesake.

Hundreds of samurai and their commanders had dined in this hall, and some had even stood trial here. Fukashin Hitori himself, the founder of the town and overseer of the construction of the hall, had been a very prominent shogun, one of the most powerful in Japan.

But that was a long time ago. I had asked Tai to describe everything to me after this point, so he worded it along these lines.

Now the hall was packed full of people. A ring of tables encircled the edge of the hall, each with several donation boxes and platter upon platter of food.

At every table there was a different style of food, so that no one would go hungry or discontented. The actual dining tables were set up in the center of the hall, with a head table at the far end.

The mayor of the town sat at the head of the table, with several other people I didn't know sitting on his right side. On the left sat the mayor's wife, several more people I didn't know, and Ronnie sat at the far left edge.

We had only just taken our seats when a bell was rung, and everybody's attention went to the front of the hall.

"Konichiwa," the mayor greeted the hall, "I would like to thank everybody for coming and making a donation to the local STEA committee, without whose efforts we would not be having this joyous feast."

I noticed that he didn't mention Ronnie's name, though she had probably put the most of her time and effort into this evening. She just sat there, frozen smile on her face, probably trying not to cry.

I was interrupted from this thought as my eyes clicked. "Psst, Tai," I hissed under my breath as the mayor went on. He leaned over and I whispered, "cover me and if anything unexpected happens, get my sister out of here as fast as you can."

I didn't wait for him to reply before I ducked under the table and turned ghost. Just as the blue light faded I heard a loud crash, followed by many, many screams.

"These guys are ghosts. Can't they just phase through the wall instead of knocking it down?" I asked as I shot through the tabletop to face my feline foe.

Dagger in hand I taunted, "Hey Tarra, back for more!" He seemed bigger than he had before.

"NOT BEFORE YOU, WHELP," he countered, as something rammed into my back from behind.

I hit the ground, then pulled myself back to my feet.

"Well, this explains almost nothing..."

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Note: I just love putting up cliffhangers and messing with your minds like this. It's actually pretty fun if you've ever tried it. The next chapter adds a couple of new aspects to the plot, so stay tuned.