Darkzdragon 'Onyx': So how is your brand new computer, Fox? Also… *Looks at the camera* Sorry, everyone. We forgot we were supposed to update yesterday.
DarkFoxKit: It's pretty good, it was a pain to set up though. Had to dig out some old speakers. The last computer I was using was an all in one set, so having to hook everything up with this new computer was… well, a lot of trouble. But it was worth it! It's so much faster than the old computer. I look forward to seeing what else I can do with it that I couldn't with the old computer.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I expected you would enjoy the speed of the new computer. Considering you were using an all in one that couldn't update without breaking. That thing was probably over a decade old. What was it running on, Windows 7? Window 8? Well, it doesn't really matter. You got a new computer, now we just need to get you a microphone and camera… and maybe an over the ears headset. So tell me, what have you been playing on your new computer?
DarkFoxKit: I've been playing Spore for the most part. Other than it having better graphics, due to it handling it better, and is slightly faster, it doesn't seem all that different. I think I need to play a newer game or a more demanding game to really see the difference.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Well Spore isn't exactly the most… optimized game. From what I remember, you really want to play modded Skyrim. So I'll help you set up a Steam account, get Skyrim, and then help you get the mods. Oh! To any of the readers who have played modded skyrim on the PC, either Special Edition or standard, what were your favorite mods?
Andy: *Walks in while sipping some soda*
DarkFoxKit: Andy!
Andy: Eh? … Oh! You two are finally doing the ANs? I thought I'd have to wait another week. But it feels like I've been in another story lately… but that's just silly, right?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Snickers* Yeah… just silly~
DarkFoxKit: *Is giggling in the corner*
Andy: … Why are you two snickering and giggling like that? … Is there something I should know?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Starts 'innocently' whistling* Nah, let's just focus on the here and now. How about you give our readers a parting message before they start reading the chapter?
Andy: Hmm… always wash your hands before you eat. Stay safe, stay smart, and stay healthy. Also… if these two are planning something with me that I don't know about, please let me know. Also, please enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 90: Something's Amiss
After the disaster that happened at the museum, our parents pretty much ushered us into the RV. Because they weren't sure if ghosts were involved or if it was something else, they decided it was best we leave as soon as possible. As much as our parents would love to investigate to see if a ghost caused that chaos at the museum, they are trying to enjoy the family vacation with us.
"I still can't believe what happened at the museum. Apparently some airplane turned into a giant robot and started firing missiles and gunshots at people." Mom frowned as Dad was driving down the road. "I'm just glad you kids are safe. I don't know what we would've done if any of you got hurt."
"Guess we just got lucky, huh?" Tucker sheepishly said.
Sam looked a little grumpy, though it wasn't hard to guess why, she was likely not happy that the giant robot interrupted her and Danny's alone time together.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was in the news," Jazz commented. "In fact, Dad, could you turn on the radio? And not to a music channel?"
"Oh, right, I'll get right on that. And hey, if it was a ghost, maybe we could-" Dad started to say before Mom gave him a glare. "Um… leave it… be?"
Mom nodded before she changed the music channel, going over to the news channel. She turned up the volume when we heard a feminine news reporter voice speaking up.
"-only source for up to date coverage on the attack at Cape Canaveral's Kennedy Space Center. For those just tuning in, there was some kind of strange attack at Kennedy Space Center today. According to our sources, one of the exhibits, specifically a modern day attack jet, somehow came to life and, get this, turned humanoid before it started attacking! Of course conspiracy theorists are trying to claim it's a terrorist attack or that it's some kind of government cover up. All I can tell you though is that the museum has been safely evacuated, the museum is now being properly searched, and all those injured in the attack were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment. If you have any information on what happened, please call the local police departments."
"Do they actually think it was a terrorist attack?" Sam scoffed.
"I mean what else do you think they would think it would be?" I asked. "People outside of Amity Park haven't experienced a lot of ghost attacks, they still think ghosts don't exist."
"They probably think Amity Park is just using ghosts as a tourist attraction," Danny sighed.
"Oh! This just in, it seems what stopped the rampaging humanoid jet were two ghosts from a city to the far north called Amity Park. One ghost, Danny Phantom, and the other, who is believed to be either a duplicate or Danny Phantom's identical twin, worked together to make sure as few people got hurt while working to take out the monstrous machine. And here I was thinking that Amity Park was making up those stories about their ghosts to draw in tourism…"
I was a little annoyed that people still thought I was a duplicate even after we made it clear that I wasn't. Though nobody really said anything in regards to the news reporter's comment.
"Though all this does make wonder, was the jet possessed by a malicious ghost? Or was it something else? And why were they here? Perhaps on vacation? Or were they tracking down the spirit that took control of the jet? We'll keep working to get more information for you as time goes on, so keep your ears out and keep your radios tuned to-"
Mom turned the radio off at that.
"The ghost boys were-" Dad started.
"Jack… we're on vacation," Mom sternly interrupted.
"But honey, it's the ghost boys!" Dad whined. "We're right here, surely we could-"
"No, Jack, we are on vacation and the local authorities have the situation covered," Mom responded. "I'm not going to ruin our childrens' vacations because we couldn't put aside our work for a couple weeks."
"Besides, those ghost boys are likely long gone by now," Jazz added. "I doubt they would've stuck around after taking care of that robot airplane thing."
"Kinda strange that they were in the same place that we were though. Don't you think, Andy?" Tucker commented, earning himself a slap on the arm from Danny.
"Ow, what?" Tucker pouted as Danny just glared at him for his stupid comment.
"Like we need to make our parents suspicious with that question?" Danny hissed to him.
"Knowing how their minds work, it would make them less suspicious about you," Tucker whispered. "They'd sooner think that they're being stalked by-"
"That must mean we're being followed by those ghost twins!" Dad declared, inadvertently proving Tucker correct.
"Great, so now they think the ghost boys are stalkers, that's so much better," I said sarcastically.
"Now why would the ghost boys want to follow us for?" Mom asked, frowning. "Are they planning to overshadow our family? Because if they get anywhere near our children, I swear, they are going to wish I was just going to tear them apart molecule by molecule."
"Maybe they're worried about you? Or want to keep you safe?" Juliette spoke up. "After all, you two created the Ghost Portal technology which let them travel between worlds freely. You also created those thermoses that they use to capture ghosts, didn't you?"
Danny and I froze when Juliette said that. I felt my blood leaving my face.
"They're WHAT!?" Both Mom and Dad shouted at the same time.
"Yeah… from what I gathered during my time in Amity Park, they use those containers to catch the bad-" Juliette started to reply.
Danny and I quickly shut her mouth with our hands, nearly causing her to fall back if it wasn't for the back of the chair she was sitting in.
"They didn't know we used any of their technology in our ghost hunting," I whispered to Juliette.
"Please don't say anymore," Danny quietly begged.
"They probably wanted to also make sure you didn't cause any trouble…" Sam muttered softly, not loud enough for Mom and Dad to actually hear.
Mom and Dad were looking at us weirdly.
"Jack! Pay attention to the road!" Mom snapped.
Dad yelped before he turned back around to move the RV back into the correct lane.
"Juliette, what did you mean that those ghost boys were using our Fenton Thermoses?" Mom asked.
"S-she meant that she thought she saw them using something like the Fenton Thermos to capture ghosts," I quickly said.
"Andy, I asked Juliette," Mom pointed out. "So please, take your hand off her mouth and let her speak. Danny, that goes for you too."
Danny and I frowned as we looked at each other, before we, reluctantly, let go of Juliette's mouth, and hoped she didn't make it worse.
"As I was saying, they use some kind of container, which looks similar to a thermos, to capture the ghosts they defeat before, probably, sending the ghosts back to the Ghost Zone," Juliette explained, being honest but thankfully being somewhat vague. "I'm not sure if it's the same container, but the technology does look similar to what I've seen since I've met you."
Mom was giving a contemplating look. I wasn't sure if she knew that Danny and I were using the Fenton Thermos now or not, but she didn't say anything else.
"Jack, when we get back home after this vacation, we better install a new security system in our lab," Mom said to Dad.
"Sounds great to me, Mads," Dad agreed.
Danny and I let out a sigh. I wasn't sure if getting our parents' gadgets was going to be harder or not, but it was a headache to have them know that our ghost forms were using their Fenton Thermoses, now they were going to accuse us of stealing from them.
Danny gave me a small smile before he held out the Fenton Thermos he had with him. I blinked as I looked at him, wondering why he was showing it to me.
"You know that red glowing thing you saw in that robot plane, bro?" Danny asked me quietly.
"Oh… yeah, what was it?" I asked.
Danny looked around before looking back at me. "Let's go to the back and I'll show you."
I nodded to Danny, before both of us stood up and headed to the back. Everyone else, but our parents, watched us for a moment before they decided to start chatting so our parents were less likely to hear our conversation. I smiled a little when I heard Tucker trying to talk to Juliette more.
When we got to the back of the RV, I turned my attention to my brother. He opened the lid of the Fenton Thermos, before holding out his hand. I had always been curious as to whether or not the Fenton Thermos could suck us up while we were in our human forms, however it wasn't something I had wanted to try. The Thermos didn't seem to react to Danny's hand when he tipped the opened Thermos over to get something to come out, though that could just be because he had it turned off. A red gemstone dropped out onto Danny's hand.
"This is what was inside that jet," Danny informed before frowning. "Wait… this thing looks… Bro, does this thing look familiar to you?"
I squinted my eyes as I looked at the jewel. It kind of looked like a ruby, but I wasn't sure, I wasn't an expert in gemstones after all. I could also sense ghostly energy coming off of the gemstone, which felt similar to the ghostly energy that was coming from the giant robot plane. I had to think for a moment on why Danny thought it looked familiar.
"I don't think I've seen it before," I finally said when I came up blank.
"It looks similar to those two gemstones in that book," Danny reminded me. "Though, considering we don't know what this one does or what it's for, I'll think we'll just keep it in the Fenton Thermos."
"Wait… as in one of the 4 gemstones needed to control reality?" I asked, frowning, before my eyes widened. "Oh… that's not good. Even if we keep it, it's still in danger of falling into the wrong hands, and completely screwing all of us over!"
"Bro, relax," Danny instructed. "We'll hide it somewhere in the part of the RV that it won't be found in a million years, and then when we get back to Amity Park, we can take the gem to Clockwork for him to deal with it."
Calming down after hearing Danny's idea, I looked at the gemstone more closely, seeing a bit of my reflection on it. "Considering this gemstone created that robot jet monster… maybe it brings inanimate objects to life? I mean, remember how weird that jet robot monster felt? It felt like it was just an inanimate object, not an actual, living… and I use that term loosely, ghost."
Danny nodded. "And it seems that the gemstone doesn't work inside the Fenton Thermos, so we'll keep it in that. I'd really rather not have the RV come to life because we simply hid the gem on its own."
"Good idea, we should probably tell the others about this too," I suggested as Danny dropped the red gem back into the Thermos before closing it up.
"Maybe not." Danny sighed. "After all, Juliette doesn't have too great a filter and Tucker… well, he can sometimes say things without thinking. Sam and Jazz can be trusted, but the two of them should probably be kept out of the loop for now."
I wasn't sure if keeping the others in the dark was a good idea, but I also couldn't deny that Danny had a point. Tucker and Juliette did sort of made things worse when they spoke to our parents regarding our ghost halves, and it wouldn't feel right to only tell Sam and Jazz.
"Fine, we'll keep it to ourselves for now, unless something comes up that gives us a reason to tell them," I compromised.
Danny gave a nod at that. "Good, now let's get back up to the front. We'll hide it when the RV stops. I may use intangibility to actually put it into one of the walls."
"Nice use of your intangibility there," I complimented. "Hiding things in the wall… which reminds me… have you been hiding anything in our bedroom walls lately?"
Danny blinked before he started to look anywhere but me. "N-no… what makes you say that?"
"I saw some comic books inside our bedroom wall when I was looking for something, and those weren't my comics… considering I prefer manga," I answered with a small smirk. "Not to mention the notes you wrote about different types of ghosts, and the flash drive that had data on the ghosts we've seen. I have to say that I'm a little envious that I didn't think of using my powers like that to hide stuff."
Danny sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he blushed a little. "Fine… you caught me. Yeah, that was me. The security systems in the house, besides being off most of the time, can't actually notice anything in the walls. So a few times where the system went on and I was in ghost form, I simply hid in the wall until Mom and Dad thought I left."
"I'll have to take note of that the next time I need to hide or hide something," I chuckled.
"I've left the wall on your half of the room empty, so you can use those spots to hide things," Danny informed with a small grin. "Now, let's get back with the others."
Besides the chaos at the Cape Canaveral museum, this family vacation was turning out to be quite normal and ghost free. It wasn't long before we forgot about the gemstone in the Fenton Thermos and just chatted with each other or playing games. Tucker and Juliette were speaking to each other more, though they were still a little awkward with a few things. Sam found out that she and Jazz actually had a few things in common, like how Jazz actually likes a lot of dark and gothic music, though she usually hides those from everyone else. Danny and I decided to play a kart racing game together, the CPUs were quite brutal though.
Over the week since our stop in Cape Canaveral we started heading towards Nevada, stopping off in a few different places. My favorite stop by far was New Orleans, which had festivals pretty much every night and had these really delicious dishes called gumbo and jambalaya. Over our couple of days there, all of us got a number of bead necklaces and different souvenirs. At one point Juliette got to ride on top of a float that was taking part in a parade.
Tomorrow we would be driving out to the desert where Gothapalooza was happening, but tonight we were staying in a camping area just outside Las Vegas. We had arrived earlier and Dad had convinced us to do a quick drive out to the Hoover Dam, which was definitely incredible to see, considering how much water that manmade structure was constantly holding back.
After our night outside Las Vegas, we packed everything up and drove to the place where Gothapalooza was happening. When we arrived we saw hundreds, if not thousands, of tents and campers set up all across the desert floor. It took us quite some time to find a spot to park. We ended up parking on one of the outer rims of the area. I had noticed, as we were driving around, that the layout for the area was a giant semi-circle.
I did end up chuckling a bit when Tucker made a comment on how it would be more fitting if the camping areas were laid out in a pentagram instead of a semicircle. However Sam quickly explained that the semi-circle was more for safety purposes than anything as there were large structures that were set on fire and the wind would carry the embers in the direction of the barren half of the circle.
I was actually surprised to see a lot of people out in the desert. I had never been to a huge event in a desert before, so this was all completely new to me.
"Be sure to stay close, everyone, while this place is wide open, it's easy to get lost," Mom warned as we were coming out of the RV.
It's too bad that we can't go ghost here, I'd love to see what this looks like from the sky. I mused.
"Whew, it's pretty hot out here," Tucker commented.
"I'll say, it's boiling." Danny frowned.
"Most of the festivities happen in the evening and at night," Sam informed. "During the day most people just socialize, trade crafts, and explore the different creations and things that people brought. Thankfully we are in a valley here, so it's actually considerably cooler due to the unique constant airflow that stops heat from building up."
Jazz was wearing a white, short sleeve shirt as she came out. It wasn't the kind of shirt I saw on her too often. I looked down at my own shirt, realizing I was still wearing my black shirt. But I didn't feel all that hot.
"Jazz you may actually want to wear a long sleeve shirt," Sam suggested. "Or wear a large hat and a ton of sunscreen. While the airflow keeps it cooler in the valley, the sun can still easily cause heatstroke."
"Oh, I know. I put on the heavy duty sunscreen, while also wearing a hat and sunglasses," Jazz answered as she put on a rather large straw hat, and some sunglasses on her eyes.
"Nice," Sam replied. "Now if you don't mind me, I'm going to go change."
"I'll set up the awning and the extensions on the RV," Dad informed. "We are going to be here for a few days, right?"
"Yep." Sam smiled. "That is, if everyone is okay with staying that long."
"I don't know if I can last that long. I feel way too hot," Danny groaned, already sweating bullets. "Maybe I should just stay in the tent or the RV…"
"Hmm…" Juliette frowned. "Let's go back inside quickly and hopefully I can find something to help you, Danny."
Danny blinked, before nodding. "Sure, anything to get out of this sun…"
"Are you okay, bro? I've never seen you… this hot before." I frowned in concern.
"I'll be fine… I guess maybe I just need to get used to the heat…" Danny answered.
"I'll be changing in the back," Sam stated as she headed for the RV. "So please don't go back there."
"We won't," Juliette promised.
"I'll help you with the setup, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," Tucker volunteered.
"Great, then follow us and we'll show you where to set up and how to use the different features on the RV!" Dad smiled.
Jazz walked over to me, giving me a curious look, though it was hard to tell with those sunglasses on. I looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" I finally asked.
"It's just… seeing how hot Danny got, I was wondering if the heat was affecting you the same way, especially since you're wearing a black shirt," Jazz explained. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel fine. I mean I do feel a little hot, but nothing unbearable," I shrugged.
"I think you should still probably change to a light colored shirt," Jazz suggested. "While you might feel mostly fine now, you could deteriorate quickly if you're not careful."
"I guess… I'll go see if I have any light colored shirts in the suitcases," I sighed, I didn't like having to dig through the suitcases, because they were hard to- Wait, I have intangibility… Why can I never seem to figure out how to use my powers in a more practical manner other than in battle?
I mentally kicked myself before going back into the RV to look for a light colored shirt. When I went inside, I was surprised to see Juliette holding out her hands, a ball of bright icy blue flames, with some pink mixed in, hovering a few inches between her and Danny. It was even weirder to me as Juliette was still in her human disguise while using those flames, it reminded me that she was a ghost herself.
"This will feel weird," Juliette warned. "But it should help you deal with the heat. This is an orb of a special fire that I will put around your core. Yes, I know that probably sounds weird, but hear me out. This type of flame doesn't create heat, but absorbs it instead. It'll keep your core at the temperature it needs to be, in fact it'll keep it just a tiny bit cooler, that way you can be comfortable outside."
"I… need this cold flame to keep my core from… melting?" Danny asked.
"Your core won't melt, no, but it is a type of core that is sensitive to extreme heat," Juliette explained. "Have you felt weak or sick before in situations where you were really hot since you became half ghost? If yes, your core's sensitivity to high temperatures is why."
"Oh… I have been noticing that I've been getting hot a lot easier lately," Danny admitted.
I watched by the door, curious about this conversation. I noticed Danny did seem to have less heat tolerance lately, but I didn't think it might be because of his core. I didn't have any problem with the heat myself. But I should've known that Danny's core might be different from mine, especially since I did learn about different core elements. The question is… what element is Danny's core?
"Perhaps when we get back to Amity Park we can go to one of the Ghost Zone markets and get you a temperature stabilizing enchanted item," Juliette suggested before she looked Danny in the eyes. "Are you ready for this? I need you to stay absolutely still while I do this."
Danny hesitated a little, likely uncomfortable with the thought of having a flame put inside him, but he did nod. "Yeah, if it'll help, let's do this."
I stayed quiet as I watched to see what would happen. A part of me was nervous, I wasn't sure if the flame would help or be painful to him, but I had faith that Juliette wouldn't hurt him, and would stop immediately if he showed any signs of pain.
Juliette gave a nod before she began to slowly move the ball of flames towards Danny. I was honestly surprised when I watched the ball pass right through Danny's shirt and begin to disappear into him. I noticed that Danny tensed up when the front of the ball of flames went through the shirt without burning it.
Juliette stopped momentarily and looked up at Danny when he tensed up. "It's alright, Danny, I know it feels strange but I wouldn't do something I'm not 100% sure is safe."
Danny responded with a slight nod, likely too mesmerized by the fact he had a freaking ball of fire halfway in his chest. I found myself staring in awe as well, it was a phemonimal for my own mind to witness. Juliette did say the flame was cold, but it was still odd to actually see it not burning Danny or his shirt.
Juliette continued moving the ball of flames forward until it completely disappeared into Danny's chest. Juliette stayed still for a minute or so after the ball disappeared before she gave a nod.
"There we go." Juliette smiled. "It is safely in place and you should be able to enjoy the rest of this vacation no matter how hot it gets. Tell me, Danny, are you feeling cooler?"
Danny didn't say anything for a moment, he was rubbing his chest, still looking surprised at what just happened. I was also still in a bit of awe shock of my own.
"Wow… it does feel cool," Danny finally said after a minute or two. "I didn't know flames could even be cold. How long does this last?"
"Until we get back to Amity Park," Juliette informed. "I actually keep it active with a very tiny amount of magic over time. Now, I'll be outside when you're ready. You both should wear light shirts, but… maybe not the same color."
"Both?" Danny asked.
"Yup, both of you," Juliette confirmed without looking my way. "Isn't that right, Andy?"
Danny turned over to the door, and was surprised to see me. "Bro? When did… how long have you been standing there?"
"He saw the whole thing," Juliette answered for me. "And before you ask, Andy, no it's not because I'm psychic or anything, it's because I have much keener senses than the two of you combined."
"I wouldn't doubt it," I chuckled sheepishly as Juliette walked past me to leave the RV. "I kind of figured you knew I was here, but I was just surprised to see what you were doing that I had to watch."
Juliette nodded with a small smile before leaving.
I turned my attention back to Danny. "Is that flame really cold, Danny?"
Danny nodded, though he was blushing a little. "Y-yeah… it felt like touching an ice cube, only it wasn't solid."
I gave a small smile. "Well, I'm glad then that Juliette found a way to keep you cool. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find a lighter colored shirt."
Danny nodded before I headed to where our suitcases were kept. I turned my arms intangible to reach into the suitcase that had my clothes in it. I pulled out a white t-shirt, and shook my head. No… I would look too similar to Danny in that.
I put the shirt back into the suitcase and dug out a bright yellow shirt. Ugh, way too bright.
I put the sunny yellow shirt back in and pulled a light blue shirt. The light blue shirt had a white dragon with blue eyes design on it. It was on all fours, had really big wings, it had a pair of what looked like smaller wings connecting the main body to the base of the tail, and it also had a pair of fins on the tip of its tail.
Huh… Oh yeah, I remember buying this shirt at the mall after Christmas. Why haven't I worn it yet? That dragon looks… cute… huh, didn't think I'd ever call a dragon cute... Why did I buy this again? I wondered to myself before shrugging. Well, I guess a cute dragon isn't too bad, and it'll be good to wear here.
When I finished changing my shirt, I couldn't help but feel both refreshed and a little off putting. I had been wearing my black t-shirt with the blue triangle for so long it felt weird to wear anything else, but it was also kind of refreshing to wear something new. I saw Sam passing me by, wearing a white top and a white mini skirt, similar to her usual clothes, only they were brighter colored. She had some reds and light blues on her clothes, the mini skirt had some red lines on it, while her top had a light blue oval. Sam usually didn't like wearing light colors, but she seemed to be fine with the one she was wearing.
I soon followed Sam out of the RV. Danny looked at my shirt and chuckled. "Hey, bro, cute dragon shirt."
"Oh hush, you." I rolled my eyes.
Danny smiled before he looked at Sam. "Wow, Sam, you look pretty good in that, even though you don't usually wear white."
"I packed these and a couple other pairs of clothes knowing how the days out here would get," Sam explained. "While they don't technically fit the goth category, only someone with half a brain cell would wear black in the middle of a desert environment during the day."
I felt quite annoyed with that comment, since I was wearing black out here and only changed because of Jazz's suggestion, but I decided not to say anything to that.
"Sorry, Andy, by that I meant goths wouldn't wear black clothes, black makeup, and the other metallic and heavy objects we sometimes wear," Sam apologized, likely noticing my annoyance, before she pointed down at her shoes. "See? I've even ditched my regular black heavy boots for more appropriate shoes. But again, you're an exception to what I was saying."
"Nice save," Danny chuckled to Sam.
"Just because I'm not wearing my boots doesn't mean I can't stomp on your feet, Danny," Sam warned.
Danny gave a nervous grin to Sam. "I meant that in a good way!"
"Well, now that we're here, maybe you can show us what to do around here until the evening when things really get started," I spoke up.
Sam gave a smile at that. "I'll be more than happy to~"
Over the next couple of days, we mingled around with the other people here for the Gothapalooza. It surprised me with how many parents were okay with letting their children just be goths and respect their taste and interest. It was very much unlike the situation with a lot of parents in Amity Park that became angry mobs when Freakshow's Circus Gothica was in town… although he was technically evil, thus making those angry parents technically right. It still bothered me how all the adults were acting like their kids would be corrupted and criminals just for going to a circus for goths. I liked how open everyone was here, although I did suspect a few of the older teen goths snuck away from home just to be here.
Speaking of parents being more open, I was also pretty surprised that Mom and Dad were okay with this as well. They had joined that protest of angry parents against Freakshow's circus, so it made me wonder what changed their minds about this in particular. A part of me wondered if they came here in hopes of seeing more ghosts, since goth people, in some lore, attracted the supernatural.
I preferred to think that the reason Mom and Dad were okay with everything was because our parents learned not to be too controlling after the Freakshow incident. Unfortunately, I don't think Sam's parents took that to heart, because if they knew their daughter was here now, they'd be raising hell on Earth, and it scared me to say that I didn't think I was exaggerating.
Regardless, we had a pretty good time here. I got to meet with a fellow anime gee- I mean lover, and both of us may have nerded out a few times over some anime we shared an interest in. Tucker was ten times worse, however, finding another techno geek who shared his enthusiasm with technology. Sam just enjoyed meeting with other goths in general. I think Jazz was interviewing most of the people here. Danny didn't seem to find anyone who shared his passion with space, but he still had a fun time mingling with some people, especially when he found someone who was very interested in learning about real ghosts.
Mom and Dad managed to find a couple of goths that they actually grew to like, considering those goths were actually engineers and mechanics who had constructed giant robotic creations that participated in the nightly events.
Meanwhile, Juliette had pretty much been going around everywhere, managing to 'buy' a couple of items from some of the stands via bargaining. It was interesting to see the things she would bring back at the end of the day; different trinkets, gadgets, gizmos, and books.
Tonight was going to be the last night here, the night of the 'Dark Flame Bonfire'. From what was described, and what I saw, there was a huge wooden structure in the area that would've been at the center of the circle. It was apparently made and coated with a special substance that, when burned, would be a brilliant dark purple. I was pretty excited to see that, fire was always fascinating, but to see it turn dark purple before my eyes was an experience I was looking forward to. It did remind me of that cold fire Juliette put into Danny, though since Danny didn't seem uncomfortable since we got here after Juleitte did that, I figured it was nothing to worry about.
So why do I feel uneasy? I frowned to myself.
It was a feeling that had been at the back of my mind, but I kept feeling bits of worry since we got to the Nevada desert, and I had no idea why. I thought it might be because of the gem we had hidden in the RV's walls, or that Freakshow was loose somewhere likely looking for that gem, but I wasn't sure if that was entirely the case to this nagging feeling I had been getting for the past couple of days. I decided to ignore it, however, because I didn't want my weird paranoia to ruin the vacation, nobody else seemed to be uneasy anyways.
As the sun was starting to set, and early evening was upon us, the goths would show their true selves. With the heat of the sun diminishing, the shadow of the night rising, the goths changed and went wild for the event. It was rather spectacular to watch, it was almost like something out of both a supernatural show and a documentary. Sam joined in as well, and it made me wonder if she might have some kind of hidden magic herself, because one minute she was wearing the white clothes she had been wearing the past couple of days, and the next, she was back in her black and purple clothes, complete with combat boots and purple lipstick.
Everyone was gathering around a large stage with huge speakers, they were going to have a concert before the 'Dark Flame Bonfire', to 'darken up the mood'. I didn't usually go to concerts, and when the band started playing, I was immediately reminded why. While I did enjoy the Dumpty Humpty concert that played near our school, there was still one thing about it that bothered me; the loud noise. Due to these ghost powers, my hearing had become more sensitive, so I didn't like loud noises that much. I liked Dumpty Humpty's music, but the goth music was either too overwhelming like rock or too depressing due to their dark lyrics.
Wanting to get away from the loud music, I turned to the person who was nearest me, though it was hard to see who since it had gotten dark, and shouted over the music. "I'M GOING TO GO GET SOME SNACKS! WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME WITH ME!?"
There was a small movement of the head that looked like a nod before I felt a strangely fuzzy hand grabbing onto mine.
Both of us quickly pushed through the crowd, and tried to move as far away from the stage as possible, so the loud music would be a little more bearable.
"I… I think I may return to the RV…" The person whose hand I was holding stated.
I recognized that voice, and when I got a good look at the person, I realized they were Juliette. Her illusion looked ripply and unstable. I frowned, realizing that if the concert's loud music was bothering me, it must've been incredibly painful to a full ghost like Juliette, especially since she had big ears in her real form. I could only guess Danny was going through the same pain as I was as well, but he likely wanted to stay beside Sam and not have her think he didn't like her interest.
"Do you want me to come and get you when the concert is over? I don't want you to miss out on the bonfire, it sounds like it'll be really amazing to watch," I offered.
Juliette gave a small nod, her illusion starting to look more stable the farther we got away from the music. "I definitely do not wish to miss out on the magical sounding flames."
I chuckled a little. "You can keep Hope company then, and maybe bring her along, as long as you keep her body far away from the fire of course."
Juliette gave a smile at that. "I think I'll do that. And don't worry about the fire, I will make sure not to get too close."
I nodded to Juliette with a smile before we went our separate ways as she headed towards the RV and I was going to one of the food stands. Although most of the people were watching the concert, there was still a line at the food stand. I was fine with waiting, because I didn't really want to go back to the stage where the music was unbearably loud. Eventually, I did reach the food stand, and just got a simple hot dog since I didn't bring a lot of money with me, just pocket change.
When I finished eating the hot dog, I made my way back towards the stage, sighing to myself as I braced my poor ears for the noise pollution. Wait… are they singing a Linkin Park song?
I looked around for my family and friends, and thankfully because my Dad was a big man and wearing such bright colors in this seat of dark goths, it was easy to find them. I had to squish my way through the crowd once more until I reached them. However, when I did, I noticed something was off.
"Where's Danny?!" I loudly asked Sam, who was the nearest one to me.
"Hmm?!" Sam asked over the music. "I think he went to the bathroom!"
The bathroom? I guess Danny couldn't take the loud music after all… I noted.
I decided to see if I could meet up with him or wait for him outside the bathroom, since it was better than being too close to the stage.
When I reached the public bathroom, whoever, I didn't see Danny anywhere. I headed into the men's room to see if he was still in there, but all the stalls were empty and open. I furrowed my eyebrows a bit, wondering if I had missed Danny, before leaving the bathroom. I walked back to where my family and friends were, however, now I noticed Tucker was missing.
"Where did Tucker go!?" I asked Jazz, since she was closest to me.
"I'm not sure!" Jazz replied. "Knowing him, he's probably checking his electronics or getting some food!"
I was starting to get annoyed. I went to go find Tucker now, but like with Danny, I didn't see him anywhere. By the time I got back, I saw Jazz was gone too. The next time I came back after looking around for Jazz, Sam was gone, which was odd since I thought she'd be glued to the stage. I decided to stay with my parents, feeling worried now, even though I was sure that the others probably just went somewhere else to take a break from the loud music and the obnoxious fan screaming.
At some point, Dad left to get some food, because he was prone to getting hungry. It was just Mom and I now. And it was only us until the concert finally ended. I frowned as I looked around, noticing that none of the others came back.
"Mom… where is everyone else? Don't you think they should've been back by now?" I asked in a worried tone.
"They should have, definitely." Mom frowned. "We should get back to the RV and either call some authorities or get some of our gadgets. It's unlikely Jazz would wander off without telling me or your father. It's strange for Sam to have wandered off, especially as she was enjoying herself, however she may have been searching for Danny. As for your father and Tucker… I'm not entirely sure. Perhaps they possibly found some late night eating contest, but that seems very unlikely as well."
I frowned a little, I didn't want to miss the bonfire, but if something was going on, it would be best to get to the RV and make sure we're armed. I needed to get Juliette anyways.
"You go on ahead to the RV, Andy, I'm going to go see if I can at least find Jack or Tucker by the food stands," Mom suggested. "I'm… hoping that they all just accidentally got a little too excited and went a bit too far."
I nodded, feeling worried. Mom and I split up as I started walking back to the RV. However, as I was walking back, I suddenly had a bad feeling about my Mom. I didn't know why, but I started running towards the food stand, feeling like I needed to make sure Mom was okay. Unfortunately, when I made it to the food stand, I didn't see Mom anywhere. Where… could she have gone? She only said she'd be going to the food stand…
I was about to start looking around for her, when I suddenly felt dizzy. I rubbed my head a bit as a vision came to me.
I saw myself looking around the food stand, trying to find Mom, Dad, Tucker, anyone I knew really. Then as I was walking, a shadow towered over me. I gasped as I turned around, seeing a tall, bald man wearing sunglasses looking down at me. He was saying something about some kind of 'protocol', before he suddenly put a cloth to my mouth, it was so sudden that I inhaled whatever was in the cloth, which I suspect might be chloroform, because I immediately felt dizzy and drowsy, and everything went black. The last thing I heard was the man's voice, saying something. "The family involving the ghost boy, Danny Phantom, have been secured. That just leaves the girl in their vehicle."
I opened my eyes, coming out of the vision. I gasped, realizing what was going on. Someone was kidnapping my family and friends, knocking them out with chloroform, and taking them somewhere. Knowing I would be caught if I stayed here, I quickly made a beeline back to the Fenton RV, careful not to use any ghost powers in case whoever was planning to kidnap me was watching me like a predator.
I almost tripped on the way back in my rush, suddenly feeling like I was in real danger. My heart was pumping hard against my chest, and I kept turning my head back, feeling like whoever was watching me was going to strike at any moment. I was grateful to see the Fenton RV, and made a dive towards it, opening up the door before slamming it shut. I quickly locked all the doors, and made sure all the windows were sealed shut.
"Andy? What is going on?" Juliette asked in concern as she rushed over.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I suddenly heard Juliette, because I was on edge. Juliette frowned even more at my reaction. I quickly looked out the window, not seeing anyone, but that only made me more anxious.
"Someone, or a lot of someones, have been quietly kidnapping our friends and my family," I informed, still nervously looking around. "Everyone was starting to disappear one at a time during the concert, and when Mom and I tried to find them, Mom disappeared as well. I had a warning vision that someone was going to use chloroform to knock me out, and I heard him say 'The family involving the ghost boy, Danny Phantom, have been secured. That just leaves the girl in their vehicle.' That means they're after us, and they somehow know we're Danny Phantom's family and friends!"
"And it also means they're likely coming this way," Juliette pointed out with a grim expression before looking around. "I don't suppose you know how to operate the RV?"
"Wait, what?" Hope suddenly spoke up, who had been in Juliette's arms. "Who would know about Danny Phantom's family?"
"I don't know! But we have to get out of here!" I frantically answered, before I turned to the controls of the RV. "... Uh… I… don't know how to drive this thing. I don't even have a driver's permit yet!"
"Then how do we escape?" Juliette questioned. "Are there any buttons or anything that can make the RV drive itself?"
"Mom and Dad never put an auto drive feature." I frowned before I looked to the back of the RV. "Wait… let me check something."
I hurried to the back of the RV, hoping that Mom and Dad kept what they usually kept back here in case they needed to chase ghosts through smaller areas that the RV couldn't fit through. I looked at the buttons on the wall, before typing in the password, praying that Dad hadn't changed it. To my relief, he had indeed kept it as FentonsHuntGhosts. With a satisfying beep, the walls slide open.
"Yes, they're still back here!" I smiled.
Juliette came over to me while still holding Hope.
"What are you talking abo-" Hope started before she stared at the two vehicles.
"The Fenton ATVs," I explained. "Mom and Dad kept these back here in case they would need them to chase down ghosts if something happened to the RV or the ghosts went somewhere the RV couldn't follow. Dad showed me and Danny how to drive these things during one of our… father and sons bonding time."
"Uhh… I don't know how to drive one," Juliette pointed out with a frown.
"Then we'll just take one, it should have enough room for both of us," Andy said before frowning. "It's just… we'll have to travel light, there isn't a compartment to put all our stuff in."
"Are there any relatives of yours nearby? Or do we plan on driving the ATV all the way back to Amity Park?" Juliette inquired.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a far drive with those small vehicles," Hope commented.
"The only relative I know is my grumpy aunt who lives all the way in Arkansas." I frowned. "Vlad is… an option, I guess, but I'd rather not go to him unless we were really desperate… which we might be depending on who's taking everyone. I'm not sure if going back to Amity Park is in our best interest either. The ATV doesn't run on thin air after all."
There was a sudden loud knocking on the door of the RV.
"Andy Fenton! Come on out, we know you're in there!" A somewhat familiar voice shouted. "We have you surrounded!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin, and my heart was pounding harshly against my chest. "H-how did they know my name!? Who are they!?"
"I'm… not sure, but someone that believes they have a level of authority," Juliette replied with a frown.
I quickly looked out the window that was furthest away from the door. I didn't see anyone surrounding the RV, but they could've hidden themselves.
"I believe their comment of having the RV surrounded is a bluff," Juliette stated. "It's a commonly used tactic to make one's target believe they have few options, causing them to panic and make bad decisions."
I turned to Juliette. "H-how are you so calm about this?"
"Because one needs to stay calm in these situations," Juliette answered. "Panic will only lead to us getting captured. We need to put aside our emotions and use logic and strategy for this situation."
I understood Juliette's logic, but it was hard for me to not feel that panicking feeling rising in my chest right now, especially since we were alone. No friends, no family, no Danny Phantom to back me up.
The knocking got harder and more firm.
Juliette put her hand on my shoulders. "Andy, calm yourself. Instead of thinking up a big plan, let's first focus on the smaller goal of getting out of here safely."
"Like maybe get the heck out of here?" Hope added.
"If you don't open this door in the next minute, we will blast through it!" The voice threatened.
"Get on the ATV," I instructed Juliette. "Hold on to Hope, I don't want them getting her too."
Juliette gave a nod and got onto the back part of the ATV. I quickly ran to the controls of the RV, while I didn't know how to drive it, I knew how to activate the anti-theft defenses. The weapons were mostly meant for ghosts, but it would hopefully still sting a human at the very least, assuming our kidnappers were human. There were also some defenses that worked against humans if they ever tried to steal break into the RV. I figured it would buy us some time.
As soon as I activated the anti-theft defense mechanism, the RV started to sound the alarm and weapons appeared out of the now Ghost Assault Vehicle.
"Fall back to a safe distance!" A voice ordered as it ran away from the door of the RV.
"Come on, Andy, now's our chance!" Juliette called out, leaving enough space in front of her for me to get on.
"Give me a minute!" I called before hurrying around the RV, grabbing my orange school backpack, and dumped whatever summer homework I had in there onto the floor until the backpack was empty.
I quickly phased my hand into the kitchen cabinets of the RV, grabbing whatever canned food I could get before stuffing them into the backpack. I also grabbed the Fenton Thermos Danny had hidden in the wall and shoved it into my backpack. Once my backpack was pretty much full, I ran towards the ATV while zipping up the bag and putting it on my back. I quickly hopped onto the front of the ATV and started it up.
Once the ATV was started, I pressed a button on the wall and a hatch opened on the side of the RV. A ramp quickly deployed downward so we could drive out.
"There they are!" Someone shouted.
I glanced upward and saw a telltale while suit standing about 50 feet ahead and to the right. I knew I didn't have time to waste and revved the ATV up before quickly driving out of the RV. The ATV nearly went flying off the ramp with how fast I was going. Once a small distance away, the RV closed up behind us.
"Hold on!" I shouted to Juliette, who quickly wrapped her arms around my waist, squishing Hope between us.
I heard the man's voice was shouting something, but I was too focused on driving to hear what he said. I had to get onto the road and far away from here. Just when I thought we were going to be safe, however, I heard a lot of engines behind us. I turned my head around for a second, and gasped when I saw there were quite a few white vehicles behind us, I think they were white Hummers. I quickly turned my attention back on the road, knowing that we were in for a rough ride if we were going to lose them.
Due to how quick the ATV was, Gothapalooza soon disappeared behind us. However, when it did, the vehicles following us started to shoot ecto weapons at us. I yelped as a laser went past us, almost losing control of the ATV in the process.
These are definitely the Guys in White. I thought to myself as I continued driving as fast as I could handle, not wanting to flip the ATV or lose control. There has to be a way to slow them down.
I couldn't use my ghost powers as that would only put me in more danger since they had strong anti-ghost weapons in their vehicles, no doubt, and I also didn't want them to know I was a ghost myself. Then I remembered that Juliette could use fire, and while I never saw her use fire to attack before, I knew she could use them to fight if she had to.
"Juliette!" I yelled over the winds. "Can you try to slow them down with your fire!?"
"I can, but Hope, you'll need to hold onto Andy!" Juliette responded.
"G-got it!" I heard Hope answering back.
I felt Juliette shift around behind me after I felt a small grasp around my waist from Hope.
"Here we go…" Juliette stated as she took a deep breath.
Suddenly I noticed lights appearing above and ahead of us, small ones simply floating in the air. It took me a second to realize that Juliette was summoning tens, possibly even hundreds, of small fireballs.
"This is what you get for taking our friends and chasing us!" Juliette yelled before, all at once, the fireballs shot towards the vehicles chasing us.
Using the side mirrors of the ATV, I saw some of the vehicles swerve to try and dodge the fireballs. However, due to how many Juliette summoned, all of the vehicles were hit, and one vehicle's engine caught fire.
"That should slow them down…" Juliette panted as she swung herself back around. "That… exhausted me a bit… having to create that many… however, none of the vehicles are still chasing."
"That was… impressive, Juliette, I didn't know you could summon so many fireballs at once," I whistled.
"I didn't either…" Juliette softly chuckled. "I've only ever made 20 at one time before… that was around… 150?"
"Really glad you didn't use that on me… I burn easily," Hope shivered, still hanging onto my waist.
"I wouldn't use that on you," Juliette assured, patting Hope on the head before wrapping her arms around my waist again.
I kept going with the ATV, wanting to get further away from the vehicles.
"We should head for those mountains," Juliette suggested, pointing at the mountains ahead in the distance. "Hopefully there will be some caves that we can hide out in while we come up with a more solid plan."
"Okay, we don't have any better destination in mind right now anyways," I sighed. "Just… can you look back? There isn't anyone still following us, right?
"As I said before, none of the vehicles are still chasing," Juliette replied.
"Okay, then we can afford to stop for a moment…" I said before slowing down the ATV to a stop.
"Why are we stopping?" Hope asked.
"There's an easier and faster way to travel than on the road." I smiled. "It's just… it takes a minute for the ATV to switch modes, so I couldn't do it while we were being chased."
Juliette and Hope gave me a look of interest before I pushed a button on the ATV's controls. The ATV's wheels suddenly stuck out and faced down, before they began to emit an energy from the center which began to lift the ATV off the ground. I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement at both Hope's and Juliette's reaction to the ATV hovering.
"What in the world is this technology?!" Juliette asked, her eyes wide.
"H-how is this thing flying!?" Hope questioned, sounding just as shocked and confused.
"My parents put in a hover mode on their ATVs, since chasing ghosts does require flying most of the time…" I explained. "They are very... brilliant inventors when it comes to ghosts. At least this will make our travelling a lot easier."
I began to move the now hovering ATV towards the mountains in the distance, glad that I wouldn't have to stay on the ground, where our tire tracks could be traced.
We found a decently sized cave for us to hide out in when we reached the mountain. There were a few wild wolves that were in here, but all Juliette had to do was show some fireballs and the wolves went running. I parked the ATV nearby, making sure nobody would be able to see it, before we sat down in a corner of the cave.
I looked through my backpack and pulled out a can of sausages. I realized after a few moments that I hadn't grabbed a can opener in my hurry to pack up what I thought I might need. Thankfully Juliette took the can from me and dispelled the illusion from her hand before using one of her claw tips to cup open the top of the can. Juliette then, while still holding the can, used her fire magic to heat up the can so it was nice and hot for me to eat.
"Be careful, the can is going to be hot," Juliette warned as she handed me the can, which she had wrapped up in a cloth she had pulled out of one of her pockets.
I quickly dug into the heated up can of sausages as I only had that one hot dog earlier back at Gothapalooza to eat. Originally, before everyone got kidnapped, the plan was that we were going to eat a nice big dinner once the concert and the bonfire was over. While I was upset that we didn't get to have the big dinner, I was still grateful to have a hot meal.
While I was eating, I stopped for a moment and looked at Juliette. "Do you want any?"
Juliette shook her head. "No thank you, I'm still full from lunch and I'll be fine for a while. You have to remember, I am a ghost, so I don't actually need to eat to survive."
"I know, but I still wanted to ask," I said before I continued eating the can of sausages.
"So what's the plan now?" Hope asked while she sat on Juliette's lap. "We gonna live out in the boonies until those guys think we've disappeared from the face of the planet?"
"No," Juliette responded. "We have a few possible plans of action. The first one, which is the most reasonable one, is to go find some place where Andy can call his relatives and let them know what's going on and ask for their help. Another is to somehow head all the way back to Amity Park and get whatever help we possibly can from there. The last option, which is the most dangerous, is we go find where everyone was taken, break in, and rescue them."
"We would never find them…" Hope sighed.
"Those guys who chased us…" I spoke up, pausing between bites before swallowing my food. "I think those were the Guys in White. They're a government organization specializing in ghost hunting."
"I figured that was them," Juliette commented. "I remember you and Danny telling me about them, hence why I didn't suggest we go to the authorities."
"But… if those guys specialize in ghost hunting, why did they kidnap everyone? Surely they wouldn't know Danny was half ghost, or you, or that Juliette and I are ghosts ourselves, and even if they did, why take the humans with them? That seemed more trouble than it was worth." Hope frowned.
"I don't know, that's what I've been trying to figure out," I sighed. "The fact that they knew my name also bothers me…"
"If it is in fact the Guys in White, then it's likely that everyone was taken to a nearby facility," Juliette theorized. "Most clandestine organizations usually have secret bases all across the areas they patrol. Thankfully, though, those bases are usually attached directly to large military compounds. Do you know of any military bases nearby?"
"Well… I don't really know where the military bases are, it wasn't something I kept track of in school, but…" I hesitated for a moment. "I do know of one… Area 51, it's the most well known location of any military base."
"That place rumored to be where 'America is keeping them there aliens'?" Hope asked with a snicker, mocking the voice of conspiracy theorists.
"Yeah, or so one the conspiracy theories goes," I chuckled. "Though I guess it's possible they might take ghosts there too, or the ghosts are the aliens."
"How large is the base?" Juliette inquired.
"It's 575 square miles…" Andy hesitantly replied, causing Juliette to frown a little. "23 miles wide and 25 miles long."
"Jeez…" Hope remarked. "That's a bit excessive."
"Area 51 is also surrounded by a ring of mountains," Andy added.
"Meaning there is no way we could easily get in without being spotted unless we went underground," Juliette strategized. "Or… we could get as far as we can and then surrender ourselves when we're surrounded?"
"I wouldn't suggest the latter option. Once you go in as a test subject, you're never going to come out," I warned.
"Then I guess we'll need to go intangible and fly underground," Juliette concluded. "It's unlikely that we'd be able to fly all the way there in the air without being noticed."
"Even if we could get in, what would we do from there? Area 51 has extremely high security, both in and out, once we get in, we'd be in even more danger of being captured," I pointed out. "From a lot of logical sounding theories, while the base on the surface is small, there is a large one underground that could take hours to search. We have no idea where they possibly put Danny and the others, assuming they are even there in the first place, so it would be a lot of searching."
"Sounds like we might need to gather information before we make any hasty decisions…" Hope softly stated.
"How do you suggest that?" Juliette inquired. "Not many people would be willing to speak about their jobs at a secretive military base."
"In fact it's against the law to speak about it," Andy informed.
"Well, maybe not the humans… but ghosts may not have any issues talking about it," Hope suggested. "The ghosts may know more than the humans of this world would, they might be able to tell us something, especially if it involves their own kind. Ghosts could be anywhere at any time, you may not always be able to sense them."
Juliette tilted her head before giving a nod. "That's very true, and I'm a little disappointed with myself that I didn't remember that. Andy, how far of a range does your Ghost Sense work?"
"I… never tested it, but usually when Danny and I sense a ghost, they're about within at least 1000 feet in any direction," I answered.
Juliette frowned. "That's not nearly far enough for what we need… I know this is sudden and not the best of times, but we should train it so you can extend the range if you concentrate."
I raised my eyebrow. "I can… train my Ghost Sense…?"
"You can train any and all of your ghost powers," Juliette answered.
"Huh… I just never knew I could train my Ghost Sense since it usually always activated on its own," I remarked.
"But do we have time to train him?" Hope asked in worry. "We don't know what those Guys in White are planning to do with the people they kidnapped."
"Training his Ghost Sense should be fairly quick," Juliette responded. "Andy, close your eyes and think about your Ghost Sense as that one technology… uh… radar! Focus on imagining it as a radar in your mind."
I blinked at Juliette, before looking down at my can of sausages.
"... After you finish eating," Juliette added sheepishly.
I nodded before I quickly ate up the rest of the sausages. With the can now empty, I put it down, then closed my eyes to try to focus on my Ghost Sense.
I've noticed how whenever I sensed a ghost, my Ghost Sense would send out a hot sensation that came from my chest, likely where my core was. When the Ghost Sense was activated, a blue mist came out of my mouth, and I would be able to sense what direction the ghost was coming from, and roughly how strong the ghost would be. I didn't question too much on how it worked before, but thinking about it now, it was possible my core sends out some kind of heat energy that was invisible to all, including the ghosts, like how a radar would send out pulses of energy, to sense certain beings or objects. Danny's Ghost Sense could be the same, only his sends out a cold energy since he told me his Ghost Sense was always cold.
"Tell me when you've successfully visualized your Ghost Sense," Juliette instructed.
"I think I've got it visualized," I spoke up.
"Now imagine the edges of that radar expanding," Juliette guided.
haloguardian452: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Ah, no. It is not yet time for that. Nowhere near time for that. Glad you enjoyed what we did with the chapter.
DarkFoxKit: I should point out we don't get to the reviews for 2 to 3 weeks, so seeing you ask a question without context would be difficult for us to understand what it is you're asking even if it seems obvious to you. Just something to keep in mind for the future. As writers, we also have to keep in mind to be specific with our details so we don't confuse the readers, what may seem obvious to us may not be obvious to someone else. Case in point, many people thought the dream sequence was really happening even though it felt a bit obvious to us it was a dream with how much was happening at once, and the overreactions the parents had.
lena smith106: DarkFoxKit: Always a pleasure to hear from you. Danny did notice the reaction, but he was trying to pretend he didn't to keep Andy from freaking out more than he already was. It's just since we were doing it in Andy's point of view, we couldn't make that obvious. Andy, however, is trying to get past that, he doesn't want to be afraid of his own brother over something that had happened, and could still happen, that Danny have no control over.
We thought the whole museum thing would fit in more naturally than how in the show they just go after a living rocket and that was that. I like how we're able to take things more slow and have the action happen unexpectedly rather than rushing through everything due to time constraints and the plot of the show itself. It felt more natural this way, and it was more fun to do.
As for the dragon ghost stuff, I will say the brothers will have something unique involving that, but that is all I will say on the matter to avoid spoilers.
Ghostwriter008: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Yeah, loose threads are something that no writer enjoys. It's good that we're able to wrap some things up that were swept under the rug. I mean, they still existed under the rug, so we needed to end up pulling the rug back and cleaning it up properly. We're not really deciding on ships yet, minus the canon Danny x Sam ship.
DarkFoxKit: Heh, though we might have some ships we're tempted to do in mind~
Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Pretty sure you now know what we were talking about in the AN.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we also want to give the brothers a chance to feel like real people. Sure they're half ghost superheroes, but they are still teenagers with lives they want to live, and things they want to do. I can see why Danny in the show didn't want to have to worry about going ghost to do more superhero stuff, but we made it more… 'show don't tell' here in a way. We don't have the brothers outright say they don't want to go ghost and have to do 'superhero work', we just show them wanting to enjoy their vacation, but they still will go ghost and save people when the need for it arises. As for Gothapalooza… you know, a sea of teddy bears would be like seeing a sea of demons in Andy's eyes. XD
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Juliette is trying to keep an open mind for this whole trip. While she is old fashioned, she has been doing lots of research and learning more about the modern world so she doesn't always have to ask for an explanation. When she was introduced to the story, she probably would think that Gothapalooza is some kind of gathering of all the witches covens of the US.
ChaosTheGhost: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Glad you enjoyed the chapter. Also, about Dammy missing the security camera or transforming elsewhere... who knows?~