*A sudden explosion of white, green, and red confetti fills the room*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Merry Christmas! Well, Merry Christmas Eve!
DarkFoxKit: Heh… you know it's pretty ironic that we actually update the Christmas chapter on Christmas Eve. I promise, readers, I didn't intend for it to be that way. It just kinda… worked out like that.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Chuckles* Mhmm, sure. Anyways, we hope you have all been doing well since the last update. We're working on chapters so we can possibly update more frequently, but we make no promises. We will continue to update whenever we feel ready to. Now, Fox, didn't you have something you wanted to say to a very specific person?
DarkFoxKit: There is something I want to say to someone who left a review on my Child of Mew fanfiction, but I think it might be more fitting to answer them here. Whisper, if you're reading this, then I just want to say that just because you say 'not to be rude' doesn't make you not rude. I understand you prefer reading We Are Phantoms over Child of Mew, but I have said multiple times that we wanted to finish Child of Mew before we start focusing on We Are Phantoms. We can't force ourselves to write either, or the story will suffer low quality writing, we have to be inspired if you want to enjoy the chapter. So please, don't make comments about wanting to read another story on something we've been working hard on for a long time.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Well said, Fox. Now, we hope you all enjoy the chapter, Fox and I are going to head to the kitchen and make some gingerbread cookies and perhaps some frosted pine tree cookies~
DarkFoxKit: Hey, I wonder where Andy went? He hasn't been on the ANs in a while.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': He was on last time I think, but I'm sure he's spending time with his family making sure none of them get carried away by the holiday spirit. Now, shall we let the readers get to the story?
DarkFoxKit: Yes, let's get to it!
Chapter 47: The Busy Season
It's been a few weeks since the incident with Vlad. School was now out for the Christmas Holidays, Amity Park was covered in snow, everyone was decorating their houses with Christmas lights, and the ghosts seems to have quieted down for the Holidays. Christmas usually has people in good spirits, but I find it quite a hectic time of the year. People are always scouring around places like the mall for last minute presents, it's hard just to go out and drive, even with the Fenton RV, due to the snow and ice on the road, and people tend to get a little too excited. But the biggest issue for this time of year was Danny. Danny really dislikes Christmas, and it wasn't because of the Holiday itself, but more for because of Mom and Dad. See, Mom and Dad always have this argument if Santa Claus was real or not every year, and it's only around this time of the season.
In the past, when Danny and I were babies, Mom and Dad were arguing and didn't see a dog pee on us. Yeah, that was gross. And a few years after that, when Danny and I were four years old, and Jazz was six years old, Mom and Dad were so busy arguing about if Santa Claus was real or not, that they didn't notice their radioactive microwave brought a turkey, they were supposed to be cooking, to life. It attacked us, but Jazz was able to… kill it with a broom. Yeah, our sister apparently knows karate, and at age six! Anyways, our parents' arguments is always what sets Danny off.
Jazz and I were a little more… indifferent. Yeah, it was nasty that I got peed on as a baby, and that living turkey that tried to kill us was scary… although I still find Bearbert to be the real evil here, I just found it gross and thrilling. Danny however, he sees it as unfortunate things that happens to us every Christmas. But this only happened twice and they were in-between years, so I didn't see what the big deal was. We fought with grosser and scarier things than dog pee and an angry turkey. I don't hate Christmas, but I don't necessarily like it either. But I do like that it brings our family together, even if Danny simmers about it.
But what I don't like, is being dragged to the mall because Mom and Dad wanted to see 'the real Santa Claus' and argue if he's real or not… in front of the kids. Danny and I were wearing coats since it was cold, although I just wore my usual blue coat, Danny wore a bright red one, probably because he got it during this season. Tucker and Sam actually came with us, and Sam was being very happy and peppy, which was unusual for her.
"Merry Christmas!" Sam greeted to someone.
"Wow, what's got you so cheery?" Tucker asked.
"I can't help it, Christmas just has a certain spirit to it that makes me feel so uplifted," Sam said. "And I don't even celebrate Christmas!"
"Your family celebrates Hanukkah, right?" I said.
"Yup, every year," Sam responded. "But I do love the Christmas spirit."
"Ugh, I can't believe you like this time of year," Danny grumbled.
"How can you not love this time of year?" Sam asked.
"Oh that's right, you don't know about the fight," Tucker said.
"The fight?" Sam asked.
"Danny and Andy's parents fight about whether or not Santa Claus actually exists," Tucker explained. "Their Mom, of course say Santa's not real, while their Dad argues that he is real. They do that every year, and it's really annoying to Danny."
"You know, for as long as you've been friends with us, Sam, I'm surprised this is the first time you're hearing about this," I said.
"I'm usually at home with my parents this time of year," Sam said. "This is the first time they let me out of the house for the Christmas buzz."
"You're lucky then, I rather lock myself in my room until this all blows over," Danny grumbled.
"Oh come on, Danny, don't be like that," Sam frowned. "At least try to be happy."
"Until my parents stop this senseless arguing every year, that's not going to happen," Danny grumbled.
"So they argue about whether or not a fantasy man flies around the world, delivering presents in one night is real, why is that a big deal?" I asked.
"Their arguments always result in them being distracted and then something happens to us as a result," Danny responded. "For instance the frankenturkey and the dog mistaking us for a fire hydrant."
"Yes, I know, but those happened few and far between our lives. Maybe Mom and Dad arguing is how they celebrate Christmas, you don't see Jazz being angry about it," I said.
"Heck of a way to celebrate…" Danny grumbled.
I looked down at the bag of Christmas toys and decorations Danny was holding. "Then why did you buy all that stuff if you hate Christmas so much?"
"To get out some pent up frustrations," Danny said.
"What?" I frowned.
"I'm going to the Ghost Zone to take out my anger on this stupid Holiday," Danny grumbled.
"... Wait, isn't it dangerous to go to the Ghost Zone?" I asked.
"I can handle myself, Andy, I'll make sure I stay close enough to the Ghost Portal to get back quickly if any ghosts try to attack me," Danny said reassuringly. "Now I better go before I explode."
Danny walked out of the mall.
"I still can't believe anyone can be such a grump on this time of year," Sam said. "It's just too happy to be gloomy."
And I can't believe this is the same goth girl who's sour about everything that goes against her agendas. Tucker had that hat on with a small mistletoe hanging over his face. Of course he's trying to use that to get girls to kiss him.
"You gonna go after Danny?" Sam asked. "Cause as much as I trust him- no… you should go after him."
"Why?" I asked. "I'm sure Danny can handle himself at this point."
"Andy, it's Danny, he is a walking, flying trouble magnet," Sam said.
I frowned, Danny does have a reputation of ticking off a lot of ghosts.
"Maybe I should go follow him and make sure he doesn't get himself in trouble," I said with a sigh.
"Hey Andy!" I heard Jazz's familiar voice calling out to me.
"I better get home," Tucker said. "Mom is making her special meatloaf for the Holidays, and I'm not missing out on it."
"Yeah, I should go too," Sam said. "Good luck with your family, Andy."
"Okay, see you two later," I said as they left the mall.
"Andy!" I heard Jazz calling again.
I looked back to see Jazz had a lot of bags. I started at her, she's almost as bad as Sam when it comes to Christmas. She had a tendency to overspend on the Holidays. "Jazz, are you overspending again?"
"No, I got all of these for amazing deals," Jazz said with a smile. "Now come over here and help me carry some of these bags."
Lately Jazz had been getting into finding discounted items everywhere… though I didn't think it would go so far as to getting discounted Christmas gifts. And now I found myself buried in bags.
"Jazz, if you put one more bag on me, I'm going to crash into someone," I grumbled.
"Can't you just use your Spook Sense or something to see around you with your eyes closed?" Jazz asked.
"What? No, how do you think our powers work?" I asked. "I'm not a freaking bat! And it's called a Ghost Sense, okay?"
"Spook Sense sounds cooler though," Jazz said. "Now, I only have to visit a few more shops and then we can take the bags to the RV."
"Jazz, I can't hold anymore of your Christmas junk," I grumbled.
"Don't worry, I'll carry the rest, and it's not junk," Jazz responded. "Some of them are for Toys for Tots. You know, gifts for the less fortunate in the world."
I looked into one of the bags and frowned, "Teddy bears? You're kidding right? Those things will slash off the children's heads at night!"
"You really need to get over your fear of Bearbert, Andy," Jazz said. "If you want, I can help you, I've been reading a lot of therapy books lately."
"No, just you wait, one day you'll see Bearbert's true colors, and then you'll have to believe me," I said while glaring at the teddy bears of death.
"You really need to stop being so paranoid, Andy," Jazz said with a roll of her eyes.
And who's fault it was that made me scared of Bearbert? I didn't say that outloud, but I was definitely thinking it. I may not hate Christmas like Danny does, but I can't say I particularly love having to carry all this crap.
"Come on, Andy, I'll make sure you don't run into anyone while we finish my shopping," Jazz said. "It should only take 20 to 30 minutes more and then we can take the bags to the RV."
I ended up groaning as Jazz dragged me everywhere with her just to be her bag carrier. Wasn't I supposed to be doing something? … Oh right, I was supposed to go check on Danny. How am I going to get out of carrying all of Jazz's stuff?
"Of course Santa's real! He's always been real, and he'll be here on Christmas Eve!" I heard Dad shouting at Mom.
"There is no recorded evidence that Santa is real. The north pole has been visited by explorers many times and nobody has found a workshop of any kind!" Mom responded. "Santa is a fictional character based off a Saint from ancient times. There is no evidence that a jolly fat man flies around on Christmas and delivers presents all in one night! Not to mention that according to the laws of physics, the 'jolly fat man' would have to be travelling much faster than a body can withstand in order to deliver all those presents around the world in one night! As soon as he took off, he'd be torn asunder!"
"But Santa isn't just another person like you and me, he's magic," Dad protested. "And you would know that if you'd stop trying to make Santa Claus into just a normal human being! Andy, back me up here, son!"
"Andy agrees with me, don't you, Andy?" Mom asked. "And I bet Jazz does too."
Jazz sighed, "Come on, why bring us into this argument?"
"Hey! Dad, why don't you carry all this for me?" I said quickly before dumping all the bags on him. I think I may have dropped some on the floor. "Consider it my Christmas gift to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go home, bye!"
I ran out of there like my pants was on fire before they could rope me into something else. I didn't stop when they called out my name, though I definitely heard Jazz calling me a 'traitor' for leaving her behind.
I was relieved I was out of their sight. It might take me too long to walk home from here, and I really needed to go check on Danny. I headed for the nearest bathroom so I could transform without anyone spotting me. I went into a toilet stall and closed the door, before transforming into my ghost form. I turned myself invisible and intangible before coming out of the stall, but not before unlocking it. Someone may need to use this stall after all. Then I flew up through the ceiling and into the sky, heading for home.
Once I got home, I wasted no time and headed straight for the portal to the Ghost Zone. Once I was in the Ghost Zone, I looked around. This place really hasn't changed since the last time I came here. Everything was still green, spooky and weird. How am I going to find Danny in this infinite space? I thought Danny said he'd stay close to the portal…
There was a sudden bright light in a distance that grabbed my attention. I flew towards it, knowing that Danny was somehow involved with whatever was going on.
When I reached the place where I saw the bright light, there was a large library like building, and some ghost man in the middle of keyboards… wait, those are keyboards? He was surrounded by keyboards, and I think monitors. And in front of him was a thick looking green book that floated. The ghost man was laughing, almost maniacally. I wasn't sure if I should even approach him, but I needed to make sure my brother didn't get involved in whatever just happened here.
I looked at the book while the man was still laughing and typing on his… keyboards. The Fright Before Christmas 2, was the title of the book.
"Hey you!" I froze when the man spoke up suddenly. "Don't you know it's rude to peek over someone's shoulder… Andy? You are Andy, correct? That's what it says here."
"What?" I stared at him shock. "How did you know that?"
"Your troublesome brother destroyed my Christmas story and didn't apologize, saying that he hated everything to do with Christmas," The man said. "So I put him into his own Christmas story in order to teach him a lesson and teach him to enjoy the holidays. By putting him into the story, I can see his entire history; his life choices, friends, family, how they act and everything."
"Wait, what?" I frowned in confusion. "My brother… Danny Phantom was here, and he destroyed your Christmas book? And you put him into a book? How?"
"Yes, yes, and using my special keyboard here to turn him into data and download him into a digital character," The man responded. "I am the Ghost Writer, and your destructive brother is currently one of my characters. Worry not, once he has learned his lesson, he shall be released. And to make you worry even less, I promise that no harm will befall him. I am willing to even write up and sign these promises for you if it would make you feel better."
"You put my brother into a book, where you can essentially do anything to him, and you're telling me not to worry?" I frowned.
"That is correct," The Ghost Writer said. "If you want, you can see what I have wrote so far and prove that I am not planning on causing him harm. I am mostly forcing him to face his holiday misgivings and learn to enjoy one of the greatest holidays around."
"And you're doing that to him, but not to me, his twin brother?" I asked. "How do you know I'm not as bad as he is with Christmas?"
"I read here that you don't mind the holiday and actually enjoy a good part of it even after all you have been through," The Ghost Writer responded. "Even though your parents constantly argue over whether Santa is real or not and the… unfortunate events of your past, you don't let that ruin the holiday for you."
"Wait, whoa," I quickly said. "You knew all that from when you… assimilated Danny into your book?"
"Downloaded," The Ghost Writer corrected. "Assimilating him would be taking him in and then turning him into a character like one of my others. I simply downloaded him into my story, he is still himself. But yes, when I downloaded him, I also downloaded all the knowledge he has stored in his brain. And I know you're prone to worry about him, so feel free to look in the book. Just don't destroy it, or you'll destroy him too. But if you would rather see a visual interpretation you can look at the monitor which shows what it looks like instead of just plain words."
I looked at one of the screens to see Danny was back in the mall we were just in. Tucker, Sam and another version of me was in there.
"I'll make sure to keep you in character, writers promise," The Ghost Writer said.
There was dialogue with Danny, where he said, "Hey that voice, it's that ghost whose book I've destroyed. Wait, I'm trapped in his poem? Now I'm really annoyed!"
Then it went on with The Ghost Writer being the narrator, and apparently Danny can hear him. But there was one thing that stood out to me.
"Why are they all talking in rhyme?" I asked.
"The story he destroyed was a Christmas poem that I had been working on for the past decade, I had finally put the finishing touch on it and was about to go take it to possibly get published, but then he destroyed the only copy," The Ghost Writer answered. "So it's only right that he makes up for destroying that poem by being a character in a poem like story."
I looked at his keyboards and monitors, they all look far more advanced than the technology we had on earth.
"So why didn't you save it?" I asked. "You know, save it on your computer?"
"I did, and I would've been fine if he had apologized, but the fact that he didn't apologize made me want to teach him a lesson," The Ghost Writer said. "I plan on printing another fully edited copy when I return home."
"And you're not going to hurt or kill him? And you'll get him out when you're done?" I asked.
"Yes, of course, but only after I type the story comes to a close" The Ghost Writer said.
"... How long will that take?" I asked.
"Considering the current progression and rate that the story is being written, I would say in a few hours," The Ghost Writer said. "Thankfully I don't have to manually write this story, Danny is actually the one doing all the hard work. I'm just keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't end up hurting himself."
"Hmm…" I looked at the book to see Danny was talking and moving around on his own, though he's still talking in rhyme. That's gotta be annoying for him. "Is this going to go on even during Christmas? We kinda need him back home by then."
"I will make sure he is out by midnight at the latest," The Ghost Writer said. "After he is out, I'll do some minor editing and save it. Us ghosts have our own Christmas celebration to go to after all and I for one don't want to miss it."
"Ghosts celebrate Christmas too?" I asked, surprised.
"Yup, every Christmas us ghosts come together and celebrate the holiday," The Ghost Writer responded. "There is even a treaty that protects use from being targeted by another, and I believe it would actually extend to you and your brother considering you are both half ghost."
"Wow, no wonder it's been peaceful in the Ghost Zone," I chuckled. "So you're a writer, huh? You know, I dabble in writing myself."
"Yes, I saw that in Danny's history," The Ghost Writer said. "Though it says you have written quite a few stories, you have never really actually finished any of them."
"I never got the time to, especially since Danny became a half ghost superhero. But I did finish one story, if it counts as a story," I said. "I don't think even Danny knew about it."
"Oh? And what's that?" The Ghost Writer asked.
"My journal," I said. "It's kind of like its own story. I finished my first journal a while ago."
"But if it's your life story then it is always a work in progress, so you just finished the first edition," The Ghost Writer said. "I would be happy to take a look at it and edit it if you would like. And I could possibly even get it published for you here in the Ghost Zone."
"Really?" I said, surprised. "I never thought about publishing my journal as a public story. Would the ghosts even want to read it?"
"You'd be surprised at what ghosts read," The Ghost Writer said. "At least think about it."
I gave a smile at the thought of having a real published book. "That does sound really tempting."
"And I could try to exert my influence on publishing companies in the human world," The Ghost Writer continued. "I'll probably need to brush up on my persuasion skills, but I would be happy to help get your books published. A few human books over the past decade have been books that I wrote under different pen names."
"Huh, I'm surprised you're so willing to publish something of mine even though we just met, and my twin brother… caused destruction to your book," I said sheepishly.
"I'm not going to hold you responsible for something your brother did, even if you do look alike," The Ghost Writer said. "And I always love helping a fellow writer out, we don't have lot here in the Ghost Zone."
"Well, if there's no catch, then thanks," I said. "I'll definitely think about it. Maybe I'll just travel around the Ghost Zone and check on Danny later, since the ghosts most likely won't be attacking me today."
"The treaty only covers Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so make sure you're back home before then," The Ghost Writer said.
"I will," I said. "I won't go too far from the portal. Just try not to kill my brother."
"I made a promise that he wouldn't get harmed and I don't break my promises," The Ghost Writer said reassuringly.
I felt like I could trust him, I just hoped he wasn't lying. Still, there was no use in sitting here and waiting. I should at least try to explore the Ghost Zone while the treaty, that the Ghost Writer mentioned, is still in effect. Maybe I could map out some areas of the Ghost Zone that we haven't been able to explore due to them being territories that some of our enemies kept us out of.
Maybe I could explore Skulker's territory, since according to past encounters, he has one of the biggest and most unexplored territories out of any of the ghosts we've encountered before. I guess I should've expected that since he is the Ghost Zone's 'Greatest Hunter' after all, not that I've seen a lot of Ghost Zone's Hunters.
While I was flying around, exploring the area, I saw something in the distance that glowed a bright blue. It was an odd color since most of everything here is either green or purple. The doors to other ghost territory were purple. So blue wasn't something I saw too often around here. Curious, I decided to fly closer to the blue glow. When I got closer, I was surprised to see a blue cube-like object floating there, and inside the cube was some kind of white goat person. From what I could see, they were unconscious inside the cube, so I slowly approached it, not wanting to fall for any traps.
When I got close enough I saw that the white goat person was indeed unconscious inside the cube, curled on themselves inside their containment. I then remembered the cube that Skulker had trapped Danny in not too long ago and how it looked just like this one. Of course, I didn't know how to disable it, since it was Vlad who disabled the cube that had Danny contained.
I frowned a bit, not sure what to do, but I decided to try and wake up the goat person. I tapped on the cube to make sure it wouldn't electrocute me or something. It seemed to be safe, and solid, at least from the outside. I began knocking against the cube.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" I called out while still knocking on the cube. "Hey! Wake up!"
The goat person shifted a tiny bit, but didn't wake up.
I wonder if I could use my ghost ray to dismantle this thing… but that might hurt the goat person in there. I tried to shake the cube.
"Hey, wake up! Can you hear me!?" I yelled louder.
The shaking caused the goat person to move around inside the cube, eventually bumping into one of the walls. I regretted shaking the box when I saw the goat person get zapped by the inside of the cube. Their eyes shot open as they let out a pained yelp.
I immediately let go of the cube and held up my hands, "Sorry! I didn't mean to get you electrocuted!"
The goat person slowly turned to look at me, making sure not to touch any more of the walls while turning. They looked at me for a few seconds before they opened their mouth to say something. But instead of talking, they closed their mouth and just kept looking at me.
"Um…" I felt a little awkward at how they were staring at me. "So uh… can you hear me in there? I want to help get you out."
"How do I know you're not another one of Skulker's tricks?" The goat person asked with a soft, feminine voice.
"Skulker? Oh, trust me, I'm not with Skulker," I said, hoping to reassure her.
"That's what the last one said, and then they tried to catch me in a net," The goat person responded.
"If I was with Skulker, why would I try to help you out of one of his traps?" I asked. "I would just take you and this cube straight to him."
"Because he'd want to torture me with the 'possibility of escape'," The goat person said. "That's just the kind of ghost he is."
"You're… not wrong there." I frowned, remembering how Skulker captured both Danny and I and chased us down for the sport of it. "But I don't want to leave you here, especially for Skulker. You don't have to trust me, just try not to move while I dismantle this thing."
"Fine… if you are being sincere, then I guess I'll let you help me out of this," The goat person said. "It's not like I have much other choice…"
I put my hands on each side of the cube, "Like most ghost weapons and traps, this one is made of pure ectoplasm. I can probably disrupt its form with my own, but try to brace yourself. I don't know how this will affect someone inside the cube."
The goat person didn't respond, they just sat there and waited.
I took a deep breath and concentrated. I pushed my ghost ray into my hands and let it pulse over the cube. The cube started to turn green, and began to melt into its gooey form. The goat person didn't seem to be in any pain, so I kept going. I went about it slowly, because rushing it could cause it to explode or something. The now goopy cube melted all over the goat person as she managed to move away from the melted cube.
I took my hands away from the goo, shaking them off, before turning to the goat person, who was still covered in ectoplasmic goo.
I gave her a sheepish smile and said, "Heh… sorry about that."
The goat person didn't respond but instead shook the goo off of her, getting some of it on me. I blinked before quickly scrubbing the goo off me with my hands. I'm definitely going to need a shower after this.
"So… are you okay?" I asked.
"I'm fine… thank you," She said.
I nodded to her, it was clear that she was still uneasy around me. "Well, you should probably go home. Today is Christmas, so I don't think anyone will attack you today."
The goat girl looked saddened at the word 'home'.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked, frowning a bit.
"I… I don't have a home…" The goat girl said sadly. "I just… normally go from territory to territory… never really staying in one place."
"Oh… why don't you settle on a territory then? I mean don't most ghost- wait… are you a ghost?" I asked. "I mean you're floating, and you have that ghostly aura, but you don't really look like a ghost, at least not one I've seen. Most ghosts I've seen are usually green, you're pretty white and… well, ironically the only white ghost I've seen is Walker. But you don't look like how most ghosts look."
"Yes, I am a ghost, and unfortunately I can't ever settle down…" The goat girl said. "Ever since I got here, Skulker has been after me."
I frowned, if Skulker is after her, then that means she must be a very rare type of ghost. No wonder I've never seen any ghosts like her.
"Excuse me if I sound rude, but what are you?" I asked. "I mean… are you an animal ghost? Because all the animal ghosts I've seen are usually feral, green and horribly mutated. But you also look… human-like, I mean you're standing…. Er… floating on two feet, your front paws look like actual hands with fur on it. And you're not green, which I like, because there's way too much green here."
"I… don't really know what I am," The ghost girl said.
"Huh…" I guess that's not unbelievable. Danny and I are still trying to figure out what we are exactly. "Okay… do you at least have a name? I'm Andy."
"I'm… Juliette," The goat girl, named Juliette, said. "Can we… leave this area and talk elsewhere?"
"Oh, sure," I said, realizing she probably doesn't feel safe due to being in Skulker's territory. "Any specific place you want to go?"
Juliette just shook her head. "Do you have anywhere safe that I can go?"
"Well, to be honest, I don't think any place in the Ghost Zone is safe," I sighed. "Except for maybe Clockwork's Tower… maybe we could go there?"
"No! Definitely not!" Juliette said loudly, startling me a little.
"What? Why not?" I asked, before realizing something. "Wait, do you know Clockwork?"
"Yes, I've met him before…" Juliette said. "He said he wanted me to be one of his assistants, but I turned him down. He couldn't guarantee I would always be safe from Skulker… so I decided that I would be better off on my own. He still hasn't given up though, every decade or so, he comes back to me and invites me again."
Huh, I wonder why Clockwork wants Juliette to be his assistant… there must be something special about her.
"Well, since there is currently a treaty in place, we could probably just leave Skulker's territory," I suggested.
Juliette nodded and said, "Thank you again for freeing me… and sorry about being so distrustful…"
"Don't worry about it," I said. "I've dealt with a lot of ghosts before, so I can see why you weren't so willing to trust me."
Both of us flew out of Skulker's territory, not that it was easy for me to tell since the Ghost Zone looks the same. I stayed slightly behind Juliette so I wouldn't get too far ahead of her. Juliette seemed to relax once we were out of Skulker's territory.
Juliette stopped before looking around, as if searching for something. "Oh, that looks like a good spot to rest over there."
Juliette pointed at a small floating landmass that was actually just a field of flowers. Wait, there are flowers in the Ghost Zone? How odd, guess you learn something new every day… those better not be man eating flowers. What else was odd was that there were two thrones, at least I think they were thrones, one of them looked like it was still standing strong while the other looked like it was crumbling a little bit and had some vines growing over it.
Juliette flew over to the throne and sat down right in front of it, leaning on it.
"I can't believe this place hasn't been vandalized or claimed or destroyed…" Juliette said softly as she ran a furry hand along the stone throne. "This… is all that's left of my home…"
I landed beside her and looked around. It was just a floating landmass with mostly golden flowers, some of the flowers had different colors, and these two thrones. If this was what was left of Juliette's home… then what happened to it? Was it a castle before? Was she royalty? So many questions, but I wasn't sure if now was the time to ask them. Juliette was really sad about what happened here.
Juliette wiped her eyes with her arm before she looked up at me. "So, I'm guessing you wanted to ask me questions. Like who I am, what I am, and how I got here."
"Well, yeah," I said. "But it's not my place to pry if you don't want to talk about it."
"My name is Juliette Rose. I was the princess of a decent sized kingdom long ago," Juliette said. "I don't exactly know what I currently am, but I used to be a human. I probably ended up like this due to… well it's kind of a long story and I don't know if you have other things to go do."
"No, go ahead," I said. "I'm mostly just killing time right now. I'm interested in your story."
"Alright, well I used to be unable to use my legs," Juliette said. "Something happened when I was very young that left me without the use of my legs. My parents, the king and queen, wanted me to be able to walk again so bad that they tried everything they could. They pleaded to every God and Goddess they could, they tried to have a mage come and heal my legs, they tried everything they really could, but none of it worked. They were starting to give up hope when they were approached by a very strange man who said he could return to me my ability to walk."
"Sounds like it was either be a scam or something really evil." I frowned.
Juliette nodded a little before continuing her story, "My parents were a little suspicious, but I remember them discussing it and saying it was the only option they had left, so they allowed the man to do whatever he planned to do to return my ability to use my legs. He set up a lab in our castle and started to take samples from me for his research, things like blood samples and saliva samples. After a few days of him doing his research, he told my parents that he had something that could fix me. He had been experimenting with the life essence of different species around the world, and he believe that if he injected me with the essence of a goat, he could heal my legs. My parents were hesitant, but they agreed to his tests."
"A goat?" I asked. "Why a goat? And… the fact that your parents would be willing to let this man experiment on you… they must've been desperate."
"He said that nubian goats were renowned for their climbing abilities and if the essence of the goat was accepted by my body, it would heal my legs and make them stronger than ever before," Juliette responded. "So the man had me lay down on a table and strapped me down to make sure I wouldn't possibly get hurt or something like that… I don't remember exactly what he said, all I know is I was pretty scared. The man took out a large vial of goat essence, or as you would call it, blood. But instead of pouring the liquid into my mouth, he poured the liquid into a… I forget what it was called but the modern equivalent would be a syringe. He then injected the goat essence into me and waited."
"I don't like this guy, sounds like he just wanted to use you for his crazy experiments." I frowned. "Then what happened?"
"Well… at first it worked…" Juliette said. "I regained the ability to walk a few days after he injected me. I was fine for a couple of days, I was walking and running around the castle happily… but then one day, I woke up and I couldn't move, at all. I called out and one of the servants came in and saw me there, unable to move. They immediately went to get my parents and the man who experimented on me. He was still in the castle, doing his research. I guess that was part of his agreement with my parents."
I frowned, this didn't sound like it had a happy ending to it. "So you were completely paralyzed? What did they find out after they got that scientist guy?"
"He said my body was rejecting the goat essence and I wouldn't have much longer to live…" Juliette said. "My parents begged the scientist to do what he could to keep me alive for longer, but there was nothing he could do except make sure I wasn't in pain. I don't remember how much time passed between me waking up paralyzed and my death happened… all I remember was lots of naps, my parents constantly bringing me gifts and flowers… and then a big flash…"
A big flash? … Hmm… that could've been either a bright light or an explosion. If it was the latter, I can see why the land looks all broken up.
"So you ended up here, as a goat humanoid ghost?" I asked.
"Yes. After the flash, I woke up here, curled up on the throne… my dad's throne," Juliette said. "I looked around, but… I was the only one here. I didn't see my parents, or any of the servants, or even that scientist man. For a few years, I searched the ghost zone, not really knowing where I was while hoping to find either my parents or someone who could help me. Unfortunately, that ended up with me being noticed by Skulker and I've been on the run ever since… For the past 1400 years, I've been on the run."
"1400 years!?" If I had any water in my mouth, I would've done a spit take right now. She's been here for that long? Then again, why am I surprised? I guess she just seemed so… young, even for a ghost. Then again, so was Youngblood, and he's hundreds of years old. "You've been on the run for that long?"
"Yeah, I've been running from Skulker for 1400 years," Juliette said. "I haven't been able to search for any of my family or any of the servants. Though I have heard that there might be others like me… hopefully those rumors are true and they are actually my parents. Though strangely, Skulker hasn't been hunting me as much lately… maybe he found a target more valuable than me?"
"Maybe he did," I sighed, thinking about how Skulker comes to Amity Park often just to hunt Danny down.
"So what's your story?" Juliette asked me.
"Huh?" I looked at her.
"I told you my story of how I ended up here as a goat ghost," Juliette said. "It's only fair you told me how you became a ghost."
"Oh, it's nothing tragic like your story," I said. "Pretty much what happened was I was electrocuted. I stepped into an invention my parents made, along with my twin brother, and my brother accidentally turned it on, and both of us were electrocuted."
"... you don't look anything like some of the electrocuted ghosts I've seen," Juliette responded. "Usually they let off sparks when they fly and are usually more rigid than other ghosts."
"Really? How weird," I said.
"And come to think of it…" Juliette said as she looked at me. "You don't look like a standard ghost either, your skin isn't green, your hair isn't all that ghostly, except for the aura and the white."
"My situation is a bit… special," I said hesitantly. "So is my brother's."
I contemplated if it was a good idea to tell Juliette about being only half ghost. Maybe I should, she did just tell me something personal about her life after all, it's only fair. And I don't think she would go after my head just because I'm half ghost.
"It's a bit hard to explain, but well, I guess you could say neither of us are actually dead. We're what we call, half ghost and half human," I said, waiting for her reaction.
"Huh… that's very interesting," Juliette said, not as surprised as I thought she would be. "No wonder Skulker might see you as a better prey. You are more elusive than a pure ghost. You can easily exist in both the Ghost Zone and the world of the living."
"I don't know about that, it seems any ghost can just come out of the Ghost Zone and take a vacation in the world of the living," I grumbled.
"Except I assume you can hide among the living," Juliette said.
"Hmm… you know, maybe I can help you find a safe place of your own," I said.
Anime lover 3593: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Andy wasn't going to go with Vlad after what he did, though it still stings.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Betrayal usually does sting. Vlad must've thought that he won over Andy, but Andy was simply playing him, biding his time until he could really do something.
DarkFoxKit: Also, are you trying to give poor Andy a heart attack? As for the Christmas special, I guess you'll be the judge of that. Neither Onyx or I like rhyming, so… yeah, we didn't do that. ^^'
Coco Baldwin: DarkFoxKit: Heh, I never intended to upload the Christmas 'episode' on Christmas, but… guess things turned out that way. ^^' And no, no rhyming. We aren't very good with rhyming.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': To explain why we didn't rhyme is because we decided that the rhyming actually only existed inside the Ghost Writer's book when he pulled Danny in. Since Andy is a writer himself, he wouldn't trash on the Ghost Writer's destroyed story like Danny did, which wouldn't give the Ghost Writer a reason to pull Andy in. We decided to go a different way with the episode, while yes there is the canon episode going on for Danny, it isn't going on for Andy, we gave him an entirely different story for the 'episode'.
DarkFoxKit: At first we were going to have Andy join in with Danny in that book, but after we discussed how Andy would affect the plot, he wouldn't really do much to change what happens in the Ghost Writer's book. He would either be going with Danny while the Ghost Writer torments both of them, or he'd be against Danny for being so bitter towards Christmas. We decided on neither in the end.
Kitty: DarkFoxKit: I'm glad that you understand instead of trying to rush me and Onyx to pump out the chapters as quickly as possible. We do hope to be able to update this story more often again soon.
Andy: *Walks in* Okay, I need a break from my family. They're currently talking about what Santa would look like as a ghost and how Santa actually is a ghost and all that… Danny was smart and slipped out earlier for a 'patrol'. Anyways, I'm here for the AN- … *Looks around* And you're both already on the reviews I see.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah, we decided to do the AN without you and head to the reviews. We honestly didn't think you'd be showing up for these ones.
Andy: Oh… I guess this is what I get for showing up late. What… oh, well this is a pretty nice review, giving some ideas about what I could do.
DarkFoxKit: Well, since you missed the ANs, why don't you answer these yourself?
Andy: Huh? Really? Okay sure. … Hmm… so here are my answers;
1. I've never played chess, but my writer Fox had… she didn't like it. She's more of an abstract thinker, so don't expect me to play chess in the story. That and while yes, everyone in my family are pretty much geniuses, they aren't the type to sit around and play chess, they prefer to always move on from one thing to another. I think Mom and Dad play checkers from time to time, but not chess.
2. Danny and I pretty much eat our cereal in the same way, why would we argue about that? We pour our cereal in first and then the milk, if you pour the milk first you might add more than you want and end up with less cereal in the bowl.
3. Hehe, maybe you're psychic, because that's pretty much what happens in the chapters.
4. Oh don't worry about that, I'll be hanging around Valerie a lot after the Christmas episode.
5. You… want Danny and I to bicker? I… don't know how I feel about that, actually I don't like it. I don't want to bicker with Danny. Though Fox and Onyx… may have different opinions on that.
6. I'm not going to be all happy and willing if Vlad comes over. But if he does come over, I am going to try to be civilized with him. My brother on the other hand… I better keep an eye on him.
7. … What is it with you and this cereal idea? I don't even care if they pour the milk and cereal in the bowl at the same time.
8. … Yeah… sure… Box Ghost.
9. Maddie the cat? Did my mom turn into a cat? … *DarkFoxKit whispers something to Andy* What? … Really? He actually does get a cat? … Wooooow… uh… okay, um… I would very much like to find this cat that Vlad will apparently have later on.
10. Clockwork will appear when he feels he needs to… or I guess whenever Fox and Onyx decides he needs to. Considering there's an episode that Clockwork appears in later on, I would say that it's safe to bet that Clockwork will appear again soon. As for my visions… well, I'm sure Fox and Onyx will get to an in depth explanation about it at their own pace.
I think that about covers it. I'll stick around until the end of the reviews or… until I get dragged back.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': What's this about using our dragon oc idea? Any chance you can remind us, because it could be interesting.
OMNISENSE95: DarkFoxKit: Most people seem to think understanding and agreeing is the same thing, and a character in an anime I watch said that they aren't, which gave me the idea to use that line for Andy.
Andy: You really think I can get through to a man who's been bitter for 20 or so years? You must have a lot of faith in me, even though I'm only a 14 year old boy.
DarkFoxKit: I thought the Christmas special was fine for what it was, but I really don't care for the rhyming. However, it is a lesson that Danny had to learn, which is why we didn't have Andy go in with Danny in the episode. Andy didn't need to learn a lesson, he was fine with Christmas, he just didn't like the crowd and hecticness that came with it, which is normal to most people.
Girlbook: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Well Merry Christmas, here's another chapter! And CoM isn't just a project, it's a huge story, we might be taking a year or two off from posting CoM when we finish The Great War.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, so we can have more time to work on this and any other story we may want to write.
ZAFT Prime: DarkFoxKit: Thank you for understanding. And glad to hear you're coming far with your story too.
Jewel moonstone: DarkFoxKit: It has been a while, huh? Hopefully the next update won't take as long.
Joltik12: DarkFoxKit: That's fine, it's been awhile since I updated a new chapter to this story anyways. Andy is less childlike than Danny, mostly due to what happened during My Brother's a Ghost's story. You're free to re-read the story if you want.
RedHood001: DarkFoxKit: Huh… I'm sorry, I don't watch the marvel movies. I may have seen maybe one or two, but nothing that really stayed with me. I just wanted to make Andy and Danny close in order to give impact to the story in My Brother's a Ghost. I don't know Hela… ^^' Anything that seems similar to these superheroes in Marvel is pure coincidence on my part. I'm not really a big superhero fan, Danny Phantom was just a rare exception. Hah, still hoping for that Dark Andy, huh? Heroes turning bad is a pretty popular concept, so I am thinking about it at least. I just don't have a place for it right now. Andy has always been more open minded than Danny was, but he figured out about the whole 'nothing is black and white' notion from what happened to Danny in My Brother's a Ghost. Though it was never directly said, it was implied in the series. Because Danny never went through what Andy did, this makes Andy mentally more mature but he's also a little more unstable than Danny. Which is why Danny needs to be there to keep Andy from thinking too much and going too far.
Cloud4012: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Fox and I have actually been writing this on and off while writing CoM. We just haven't been posting because we don't have all that much to post and don't want to start regularly posting for We Are Phantoms until we have a good amount of built up chapters. Sure we'll post a chapter or two every so often but we want to build up our stock of chapters to start posting regularly.
Whisper: DarkFoxKit: Oh, I'm so sorry that the other stories that I've been working on isn't good enough for you. Oh and I hope that you read my note to you in the AN. If you didn't mean anything bad by it, the words makes it sound like you do.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Yes, I have seen Butch Hartman's youtube videos on Danny Phantom, the 10 years later thing included. Though if, this is a big if, he does continue the series, I'd rather he doesn't have such a big timeskip. I always hate it when writers do that, it becomes a missed opportunity to grow the characters we've come to know and love along with the audience or show how much they've grown. I don't like seeing a child character suddenly an adult in the next season.
Andy: Tone it down Fox, tone it down.
DarkFoxKit: Right… sorry, just some bad memories with a certain anime that I liked... Anyways, it was fascinating to learn more about what Butch had in store for the Ghost Zone, and I would've liked to see that limbo world that was in-between the real world and the Ghost Zone.
Yeah, I always thought it was weird that Sam didn't know about 'the fight' either. But my guess is that she's usually at home with her parents celebrating their own holiday and didn't see Maddie and Jack fighting or Danny's sour mood about it until now.
Andy: You were close… I think. Wait, Bearbert comes to life? … He must be exterminated at once!
DarkFoxKit: Andy! Don't you dare! … Um… anyways, unlike Danny though, Andy didn't get sucked into the book by the Ghost Writer. Andy is perfectly fine with the holidays, he only doesn't like the crowd and hecticness of it. So why would the Ghost Writer need to teach Andy a lesson too? And there wasn't much we could do with Andy to change the plot of the episode anyways since the Ghost Writer was in control of it, so we decided to give a different story altogether.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Vlad most likely didn't want to bore Andy with his full backstory as it would probably take much too long.
DarkFoxKit: As for the nanobots never being mentioned again… my guess is Butch either forgot, they were removed offscreen, or he might've been saving the nanobots thing for a later plot which never came to be. Take your pick.
mysteryfan4ever: Andy: Can I really? I guess only time will tell, right?
Ultimate Spider Girl: DarkFoxKit: You binge read all my stories or My Brother's a Ghost and this one specifically? Either way, I commend you for reading all that in just 3 days.
Miss Tri: DarkFoxKit: *smiles* It's always nice to see someone reviewing about Andy as a character. It makes me happy to know I did a great job with an OC. Andy's odd personality mostly came from what happened in My Brother's a Ghost, he would've been more like Danny had he gone into the Ghost Portal with him at the same time instead of later on, though Andy still would've been his own person, just more naive and laid back. Andy does have flaws, he still has self doubt about being a hero at all, he still puts his brother on a pedestal when it comes to handling ghosts, and let's not forget that he still has that fear of teddy bears.
Andy: It seems everyone is hoping I would redeem Vlad. There's only so much I can do.
DarkFoxKit: Of course, Andy understands this. It's why Andy went against Vlad instead of going along with him. As for redeeming Vlad, I don't plan on it, at least not for a while. Realistically it will take a long time for someone like Vlad to even want to listen anything Andy has to say, if ever. The fact that you are critical towards this fic shows that you care, so thanks. Yeah, it was kind of odd how everyone turned against Danny, especially after he saved their lives from that giant nutcracker. Why are they mad at him? Because he broke their toys? Toys that were trying to kill them? Then again this was at the point the Ghost Writer had Danny in his book, where he controlled the characters for the most part, so we can't really blame them too much for it. As for why Sam didn't know about 'the fight', my theory is that this is probably the first time she went shopping with Danny close to the holidays, usually she'd be with her parents at this time until after the holidays, when the fighting between Jack and Maddie finally stopped.
Raidentensho: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': There might be, Fox isn't all that knowledgeable on Norse legends and mythology. I definitely want to get the next God of War. And while we won't guarantee that we'll add more Norse mythology references in the future, we will probably add things that truly inspire us like elements from movies, animes, or even the video games that we play.
Guest: DarkFoxKit: Heh, thanks. I did try to bring realism into the Danny Phantom universe in this story, as well as using elements from other fanfics I've read on Danny Phantom that I believe would work well for my story. As for the OC, I was inspired by an OC from a Naruto fanfiction called Dreaming of Sunshine. Their OC is really good too. As for this alternate timeline, I kinda did something like that with a oneshot. It's more of a tragedy though.
seruis: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Did you just start reading it? I agree that its awesome, all of Fox's stories are awesome. She puts a lot of time and effort into the storylines, the plots, and developing her characters. We thought it would be interesting that Vlad shared his backstory with Andy and tried to win Andy over with words. We knew that the readers wouldn't expect that and we like to throw in twists like that in the stories we work on. Of course everyone who watched the episode knew there would be a betrayal of some kind, but I'm sure nobody expected Andy to act like he was on Vlad's side. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as it is our Christmas present to all of you.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, after all what's the point of writing the story at all if it would just be a novel version of the actual show, right? There will be more… diverts from the actual episode as the story will go on, but we will try to keep the core plots of the episodes if we feel it's necessary.