DarkFoxKit: Andy? What are you doing?
Andy: Taking this to Onyx. She says her back has been hurting lately, so I thought she'd appreciate this.
DarkFoxKit: You mean that giant plate you're carrying? What's even on that? You have a lid covering it up.
Andy: It's a surprise. *Goes to the living room where Onyx was lying on the couch* Hey, Onyx, just thought I'd bring you something nice to eat.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Smiles* Thanks, Andy! I hope you don't mind if I continue to just lay here. Rather not aggravate my back any more than I apparently already have. Heh… I probably shouldn't have pushed myself trying to get that one box to the highest shelf possible…
Andy: Yeah, you should be more careful. Anyways, I thought I should try my hand at baking you something nice while you're recovering.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Raises an eyeridge* You baked me something? *Sniffs the air a little* Hmmm… whatever you made smells good.
Andy: I did have some help. *Opens up the lid, and Onyx suddenly saw living, glowing green cookies trying to bite her nose off*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': No! Get those ghostly cookies away from me! *Starts to sit up but feels a way of pain in my back* Owwwww… Fox… help… get rid of the cookies…
Andy: *Is frantically trying to grab the cookies off of Onyx*
DarkFoxKit: Really? *Sucks the cookies up with the Fenton Thermos* Huh… where did I even get this thermos?
Andy: I'm so sorry, Onyx! They weren't alive when I baked them earlier!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Andy… just a recommendation… don't get cooking or baking help from your family… and don't use the tools. From what I remember of the show, everything cooked in the Fenton Works' kitchen, or anything cooked or baked on appliances that the Fentons 'improved', came to life…
Andy: *Eyes widen* Oh boy… then I uh… should go check on something. Fox, I need you and the Thermos.
DarkFoxKit: Andy… what did you do?
*There was a loud roar that shook the whole house*
Andy: *Chuckles nervously* I uh… may have made a multi-layered cake for Onyx as well…?
DarkFoxKit: *Twitches* That's it! I'm banning all uses of ectoplasm or anything of the sort from the kitchen! Why did you even use ectoplasm to cook!?
Andy: I didn't know I had used ectoplasm! There was a container that said 'baking powder'! I… did wonder why they were glowing green, but I thought it was because it was filled with some kind of magical, healing flavor or something, that's just how it goes here!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I have my magical ingredients clearly labeled. *Groans and slowly pushes herself up* I think we'll probably also need a new oven…
Andy: Uh… why…?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Points to the kitchen* Because it's currently coming towards us with green fire spewing from its mouth.
Andy: Oh… crapbaske- *There was a screeching noise before the camera went static*
Chapter 92: Another Reality
After I had accepted Freakshow's challenge, the Gem of Fantasy glowed brightly, so brightly that I had to shut my eyes. I felt confused and worried. When I managed to open my eyes again, I found myself, Juliette, and Freakshow floating… somewhere. It was just a black void with some kind of purple light moving across the otherwise endless abyss of darkness. I didn't see Lydia, Hope, or that Ursa Major she was riding on anywhere.
"I brought us here so I could explain the rules," Freakshow explained.
"How do we know you'll tell us the true rules?" I asked in suspicion.
"Well, in order to properly initiate a shadow game, it does have to be fair to both players, and that means, since I challenged you to this game, it's my job to give you the real rules," Freakshow informed.
"He is speaking the truth," Juliette confirmed as she looked at me. Juliette then turned her attention back to Freakshow. "So, what are the rules?"
"You will be going to three worlds," Freakshow explained. "In each world you will have to find one of the three pages in my posession. When you find the pages, they will take you to the next world. If you can manage to catch me in any of the worlds before I go onto the next, then the game will automatically be over and you two will have won. However, if you do not catch me by the end of the third world, I will have won. Oh and you don't need to have the page in order to catch me. The page will stay in the world it is in until you find it. And I won't start the countdown to leaving the next world until you get there. I do still have to be fair after all."
"That sounds-" I began to say.
"Don't you say it," Juliette interrupted in a stern tone.
"Easy…" I finished.
Juliette let out a groan. "Of course you'd say it…"
"There is another stipulation~" Freakshow smiled. "If you two interact with any of the major people of the worlds you will be going to, then you automatically fail. By major people, I of course mean the friends and family of yours in those worlds~"
Juliette glanced over at me, shooting daggers out of her eyes. "Did you really have to say it?"
I sighed, before giving a sheepish grin. "I guess I was just… hoping?"
"After all this time, have you not learned that you never EVER tempt fate?" Juliette groaned.
I grumbled a little to myself. "I… kind of surprised myself when I said that…" That sounded like something Danny would've said, not me.
"Are there any questions?" Freakshow asked.
"Well actually-" I began to say.
"No? Good! Have fun!~" Freakshow grinned before he waved the gauntlet in front of himself.
Both Juliette and I noticed as the world around us started to shift, warp, and distort.
"Remember what he said, no getting spotted," Juliette reminded. "Remember the lessons I taught you. He likely doesn't know that we have that ability."
After a bright flash of blue light, I found myself standing in the sky. I wasn't floating, I was literally standing in the sky. I looked around, confused. "Juliette? Hello?"
I walked forward, hesitantly, it felt like I was walking on glass or something. "Okay, this is really weird, this is not how gravity works!"
"One last thing," Freakshow's voice popped into my head, which made me jump. "At the start of each world, you and Juliette will be separated. So it's not only a search for the page and myself, but also a search for each other."
"Screw you and your game, Freakshow!" I snapped.
I didn't hear Freakshow anymore, and I sighed. "Okay… maybe I need to find a way to get down from… the sky?"
I tried to turn myself intangible, but I wasn't able to phase down from whatever invisible platform I was standing on. It must be ghost proof…
I felt curious about something, which prompted me to look to the left, and I saw something blue glowing. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, not sure if I should approach it, but something inside me was urging me to check it out. I decided that since I was stuck here, and this is a game, it might be better to check it out than to leave it alone. I walked over to the glow. When I got close to it, I could see it was some kind of gem.
Is that the Gem of Fantasy…? Am I supposed to touch it to start the game or something? I frowned to myself before I, cautiously, reached out and touched the supposed Gem of Fantasy.
However, as soon as I did, the gem flashed brightly, and suddenly I was falling. I yelped as I tried to fly, but to my horror, I couldn't seem to access my core. I suddenly changed back to human as I was falling.
"I… have one… thing to say right now…" I said to myself before I took a deep breath and shouted. "SCREW YOU FREAKSHOOOOOOW!"
Suddenly something in my mind told me I wouldn't die and that I would be safe.
I didn't know when I landed, but I felt a splitting headache. Everything was dark around me, or it could just be because my eyes were closed. Uuuuugh… that… hurt...
"Good, it looks like you're safe."
When I managed to open my eyes, I saw green… grass. I was laying facedown on some grass. I groaned as I slowly moved my arms and hands under me to push myself up. I felt disoriented from the sudden fall, and fell to my butt when I managed to push myself up. "Ow…"
"Come on, we have no time to waste."
"Wah?" I blinked, looking to where the voice was speaking, and was surprised to see it was Juliette. "Oh… hey, Juliette, didn't realize you were below me."
"If you mean you didn't know I came first or was underneath your fall, then that's fine," Juliette nervously chuckled before she looked around. "It looks like we're in Amity Park. But at the same time I can tell it isn't our Amity Park."
I looked around, seeing we were in central park. No wonder I landed on grass. I didn't see any visual differences, but I did feel there was something off about it, something unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time.
"Whoa…"
Both of us blinked before we turned to see a little girl looking at us in awe.
"That was awesome! You fell high from the sky! Are you an angel?" The girl asked me, before she looked at Juliette. "And are you an angel? I've never seen a goat person before! Oooh, maybe you're from the world of the clouds?"
Juliette looked over at the little girl and smiled before kneeling down. "You were actually right the first time, sweetie. I am an angel. But you can't tell others I'm down here. I'm doing important work for the big boss you see. And it needs to stay super duper top secret."
"Yeah, and I'm her assistant angel," I added.
The girl smiled so wide that I was worried it would split her face. "Soooo coooool! I promise to keep it a secret."
Juliette reached over and patted the girl's head softly. "Thank you, little one."
Juliette and I stood up as the girl was happily skipping away.
"Wow, I didn't know you were good with kids," I chuckled.
Juliette stood up and shrugged a little. "It's not that difficult with children that age. You simply need to work with their imagination and thoughts."
I then frowned a little. "I guess we should try to find Freakshow or one of his pages. But look at how big Amity Park is, it could take ages to find him or a page, that is assuming they're in this Amity Park in the first place. Couldn't he have left us hints or some kind of riddle to where to find him or the page? That would make it a little more fair. Besides… he just had to make me fall from what should've been a fatal height, nearly giving me a heart attack!"
"Why didn't you fly?" Juliette raised a brow. "I was able to."
"I… wasn't able to. I suddenly seemed to have lost my ghost powers and shifted back to human while I was falling," I answered.
"Wait… did you poke the Gem of Fantasy?" Juliette asked. "Or touch it in any way?"
"... Don't tell me, I wasn't supposed to?" I questioned.
"Nope." Juliette shook her head. "It's usually unwise to poke a very powerful ghostly artifact."
"How was I supposed to know? I couldn't get down to the world below the sky until I did something. I just sort of assumed it was the 'start' button," I grumbled.
"I just stood there," Juliette informed.
"Well… good for you then," I sighed. "Well, I can't use my ghost powers right now, I guess that gem short circuited my core's power. So… uh… maybe we can just walk around for a bit?" Seriously, what sick psychopath leaves the gem there for someone to see and touch? Oh, right, Freakshow.
"We should do so stealthily," Juliette responded. "It looks like its afternoon instead of night, so there will definitely be people walking down the streets. We should make sure to also not take any routes you, Danny, or the rest of your family or friends would take on a daily basis."
"Right, got it," I said.
I really wish I had my hoodie with me right now, the hood would've made this a lot easier… I sighed to myself.
Juliette and I began to walk around the familiar yet different Amity Park. I still couldn't say what about it that made this Amity Park different, there was nothing different visually, but there was something definitely different. Juliette and I were careful to avoid places like the Nasty Burger, Casper High, the mall, Fenton Works, or any place that I knew my friends and family would likely be. Unfortunately, this severely limited the places we could look.
"I don't think this is working, Juliette… I think Freakshow is more likely to be hiding near where our friends and family are, he never said he'd lose if they caught him, and we don't even know if there's a Freakshow in this… reality for them to recognize him." I frowned.
"Well then… perhaps we should split off," Juliette suggested. "You can go look for the page while I go look for Freakshow? I still have my powers, so I can go invisible and mask my energy. Hopefully the Danny and Andy of this world haven't been trained to sense even the most faint traces of energy."
"That is assuming there's a me here," I grumbled.
Juliette blinked at that comment. "Hm? What exactly do you mean?"
"Remember that weird fanfiction site we read? Most of them didn't have me in it," I informed.
Juliette frowned. "That would make it even more awkward if anyone spotted you. If we're in worlds where you don't exist, you wouldn't be able to blend in as yourself."
"Oh gosh…" I paled when I realized what this implied.
Juliette gave me a sheepish smile. "Hey, on the bright side, my energy isn't anywhere in this Amity Park, so we're in the same boat."
"At least you can go invisible. I'll keep looking around here, and hopefully find the page," I sighed. "Just try not to set off Danny's ghost sense… assuming he's still half ghost in this world."
"If I sense him, I'll stop and put all my energy into hiding said energy," Juliette promised before she vanished in front of my eyes. "Oh, by the way, let's meet up at the opera house in an hour if we don't find either goal."
"Right, sounds good," I agreed.
I walked alone, going into a library. I knew that none of my friends, and Danny, would ever come here unless they really had to, which wasn't likely. The only person I would have to look out for was Jazz, but she would be easy to spot with her bright orange hair. The library was the ideal place to hide a page.
When I entered the library, I was greeted by the librarian, of course, and I headed inside and started to look around. I checked some books, but wasn't having any luck. I sighed to myself. I can't check all of these books, there's way too many.
If my brother was here, my real brother, I know what he would say. "If we only knew how to use duplication, we would get this done in no time!" I couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, feeling like I was actually hearing him say that now.
I shook my head, and took out another book. I noticed this one was labelled 'Ghost Envy'.
"Danny? What are you doing in the library?"
My heart stopped for a second when I heard my sister's voice. Please, please, PLEASE don't let it be Jazz!
I slowly turned my head around, and gripped the book to my chest before jumping back. It was indeed Jazz, and she was looking at me in shock, probably at my reaction to her.
"Woah, Danny, you look like you've seen a…" Jazz stopped and chuckled a little. "Was about to say 'ghost' there, but that's pretty daily for you. You look like you just saw Vlad pull off his suit to reveal a leotard before he started dancing ballet."
Did I already lose us the game!? How could I have been so careless!? I was too busy freaking out to pay any attention to what Jazz just said.
"Danny, you there?" Jazz frowned. "Jazz to Astronaut Danny. Come in, Danny."
Wait… why isn't the game ending…? I wondered as I noticed that I wasn't suddenly transported away. Could… could it be that… talking to them is okay? … Freakshow didn't specify… so maybe talking is fine, but… touching might be what would lose us the game. Either that or Jazz isn't considered a 'major person'? No… I better not chance it.
"Uh… h-hey, Jazz…" I nervously greeted.
"You're… not Danny, are you?" Jazz suddenly questioned.
"What… what makes you think that?" I fearfully asked.
"Well, your clothes are much different from what you normally wear, your eyes are green, and you're in a library holding a book," Jazz pointed out. "So… who are you and why are you here?"
A part of me was annoyed that it was just like Jazz to pay so much attention to Danny. What Jazz said made me realized two major things; Danny was still half ghost in this universe, and it was indeed a world without me. That last part stung a lot.
"I'm not here," I suddenly said.
"You definitely are here considering you're talking to me and I can see you," Jazz replied. "So… be honest, what's your deal? Are you a clone? A rogue duplicate? A Danny from an alternate dimension?"
I'm not any of those things, though she was pretty close on that last one. I mused.
"I'm none of those things," I answered honestly before putting the book on the shelf. "And I'm leaving."
"Look…" Jazz sighed. "You can tell me who you are or I can go home and let my family know that there's someone who looks pretty similar to Danny walking around Amity Park. And I can tell by your demeanor that you'd really prefer it if you stayed a secret."
"You really want to do that? Get the Fentons involved? You know how they get if they think there's a ghost out here who looks like their son, and they're not likely to find me anyways, they'd just cause a lot of ruckus in town," I retorted. "Their equipment is for tracking ghosts, not humans. And before you ask, I am human." More human now since I can't access my ghost powers at the moment anyways.
Jazz crossed her arms. "Do you really want to play that game with me? You seem to know me, so it's likely you know that I'm willing to go to any extremes to keep my family safe."
"Then you don't have anything to worry about. I'm not a threat, I'm not going to take over your little brother's life. I'm just looking for something," I explained.
"How am I supposed to trust the words of someone that won't tell me who they are?" Jazz questioned. "Seriously, stop trying to weasel your way out of this."
"Look, the reason why I won't tell you who I am is because I can't," I said softly.
"You can't? Or you won't?" Jazz questioned.
"I can't and I won't, because I don't actually exist…" I frowned bitterly.
"What do you mean you don't actually exist?" Jazz asked.
I hesitated for a moment, seeing how this Jazz was pretty much exactly like my Jazz.
"Wait wait wait…" Jazz stopped herself. "Does this have to do with time travel? Reality hopping? Or is it part of some mysterious life or death game that depends on your identity being kept a secret?"
"... Wow, you're good," I couldn't help but compliment.
"I'm a Fenton," Jazz remarked.
"Well, you were pretty spot on with that last guess," I said.
Jazz gave a thoughtful expression. "Let's see… Issitoq, Freakshow… not Clockwork. Who else could it be…?"
I blinked. "Who's Issi… um… nevermind. It's Freakshow."
Jazz sighed. "Reality Gauntlet?"
"Reality Gauntlet," I confirmed.
"Yeah… that would explain it," Jazz noted. "He must not be in the situation he was in during this timeline if he's resorted to measures like this."
"I guess not," I said before I started to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jazz questioned.
"Um… leaving? Now that you have a better understanding of my situation, I just thought you'd let me go now so I can finish this game?" I answered hesitantly.
"You definitely have Danny's headstrong attitude…" Jazz chuckled. "No, in fact, I won't just let you go. Wanna know why?"
"I get the feeling you'd tell me even if I said 'no'," I sighed.
"You're right." Jazz smiled. "I plan on helping you reach your goal."
"Uh… thanks, but… I rather you didn't," I stated. "For starters, I don't want you to get attached to me. Because once I find what I'm looking for, you'll never see me again. And second, you're kind of a danger to me to losing the game."
"What are you looking for?" Jazz inquired, seemingly ignoring what I said.
I found myself thinking that she really is my sister, and that she was even more headstrong than Danny. I just gave a sigh. "A page from a torn out book, it's likely about the Reality Gauntlet itself or one of its gems."
"Do you have somewhere you are hiding during Freakshow's game?" Jazz questioned. "Or at least somewhere I can deliver the page to if I find it?"
I hesitated, not sure if it was wise to let one of the people who could give me a game over in a second know where Juliette and I were planning to stay while we were in this world. It wasn't that I didn't trust Jazz, it was that I didn't trust myself to not put Juliette and me in danger due to my connection with my family and friends. I was tempted to accept Jazz's help, and tell her everything, tell her about the opera house, and ask her about our family of this world. I came close to doing just that.
Then I had to pull away. I turned around. "I'm sorry Jazz, it's best you don't see me anymore."
I quickly ran before Jazz could reach out and grab me.
"Wait!"
"Forget about me!" I yelled back, ignoring that 'shhh' I got, before hurrying out of the library.
Knowing that Jazz would run after me, I had to get away from the library as quickly as possible. I ran further away, not stopping until I was almost on the other side of Amity Park. I stopped to catch my breath. I bent down, my hands on my knees while I was panting.
"Hey, kiddo, you look out of breath," A guy at a nearby hot dog stand commented. "Come on over, you can have a bottle of water on me."
I didn't recognize the guy, so I figured it was safe to interact with him. I walked over to the hot dog stand, and the guy gave me a cold bottle of water.
"T-thanks…" I said gratefully before I opened the water bottle and guzzled down the cool liquid, it felt nice against my dry throat.
When I stopped drinking, the bottle was already half empty. It was also then I remembered that I had swallowed the Gem of Life earlier, and it worried me about keeping it in my stomach for too long.
"Thanks again," I said to the man. "I really needed that."
"No problem," The hot dog vendor smiled. "There a reason you were so out of breath?"
"I was running… uh… you could call it a game," I answered. "I guess I ran a little too far and a little too hard."
"You look like you were running from something, not for something," The hot dog vendor remarked.
I gave a shrug at that. "Do you know where I could get some… uh… hoodies? They don't have to be new or fancy, just something I could wear."
"Well it depends on how much money you have," The hot dog vendor answered. "There's a pretty nice store down near the beach. Or you can go a little more towards the actual city and stop at one of the department stores. However, if you don't have much money then you could probably check out one of the goodwill stores or army surplus stores."
"Thank you, I'll probably check out a goodwill store," I gratefully responded. "Thanks for the water bottle again."
"You take care of yourself, kid, and be sure to get home before it gets dark. Your parents would get worried about you if you're out too long," The hot dog man said.
It was at that good intentioned comment that made me realize the heavy weight of the reality I was in. Because this wasn't my world, and, from what I gathered with Jazz, I didn't exist here. Which meant I was pretty much an orphan in this reality. The realization of that hit me hard, it made my stomach churn, or that could've been because of the powerful ghost artifact I swallowed.
I decided to try to push those thoughts to the back of my mind as I walked on. I couldn't get distracted now. Juliette and I would win this game, and we would save everyone with the Reality Gauntlet, and we would be back home, and all this would just be a bad memory.
I wish Danny… my Danny was here, at least I would still have someone from my family to be with me through this awful game… Strangely, I felt a sense of comfort, though I wasn't sure where it came from.
After a while of looking around town, finishing the rest of the water bottle, threw the bottle into a plastic recycling bin, and still not having any success with the page, I sighed and decided to just go to the opera house. Judging from the position of the sun, it was becoming late afternoon, Juliette was likely already waiting for me.
I was relieved to see the opera house was still here in this reality, and still abandoned. I walked to the door, about to knock, before remembering Scarlet didn't live here. I wasn't even sure if Scarlet ever came here in this reality. I pushed open the door. However when I tried, I found that the doors were locked, just like they had been when Juliette first moved into the opera house from our world.
Is Juliette here? I wondered to myself before I knocked on the door to see what would happen.
After a few seconds, a white, furry hand came through the door, temporarily turned intangible, grabbed onto me, turned me intangible, and pulled me through the door. I gave a surprised yelp.
"I was worried something bad had happened, Andy," Juliette commented as she returned us to solid matter and let go of my arm. "We said we'd meet up here in an hour, yet you were gone for 3."
I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. "Sorry, Juliette… I sort of forgot with… everything that was going on. I… accidentally met up with Jazz."
"Yeah, I sort of figured you forgot…" Juliette trailed off as she turned to look at me. "Wait… say that last part again…?"
"I accidentally met up with Jazz," I repeated.
Juliette groaned. "Of course you did… at least the game didn't end."
"My guess is that we only lose if they touch us," I concluded. "So we can still let them see and talk to us at the very least. But it would be a lot harder to avoid them if they do see and talk to us. And… there's also the fact that my face is a bit too familiar with them, even if an 'Andy' doesn't exist here, I still look too much like Danny for them to ignore me."
"So what's the plan?" Juliette asked with a concerned look, "If you're too easily recognized then it might be best if I went out on my own. If this world's Danny is anything like our Danny then perhaps I can ask him for help to search for the page but explain that under no circumstance can I touch him."
"I'd rather not have them get involved with this game." I frowned. "Even if they do help us find the page, what if by touching the page, that counts as them catching us and we lose because of it? Freakshow wasn't clear about if only we could touch the page or not. And… I accepted this game to help you, not to hide away while you do all the work. I just… have to find a way to hide my face. Like a mask, a cloak, or a hoodie."
"Well…" Juliette chuckled. "There are all the old stage costumes. You could dust one of those off and put it on. Though if the wardrobe is anything like the one I went through in our world, there will be very few male options left."
"I'll look for one I can use," I said. "Just show me which wardobe have the stage costumes."
Juliette gave a nod and lead me behind the stage to the hallway that lead to different dressing rooms. "The wardrobe with the most intact costumes is the one in here. However most of them are… probably embarrassing for you. The other room has only a few costume pieces, like a cracked mask."
I looked at the different wardrobes in the dressing rooms, seeing all sorts of different costumes and masks. There were a lot that were fancy, I could tell they were used for a castle setting, or ballroom dancing. There were some that looked like dragon or pony costumes, likely set more in a fantasy setting. There were some that I found... a little questionable. However a good majority of the costumes I saw had lots of holes in it caused by hungry moths.
I grabbed onto a purple cloak, seeing a few holes, but it was still in pretty good shape. And after digging around for a mask, I picked up a white and red fox mask.
"Hey, what do you think of this?" I asked Juliette, holding up the fox mask to my face.
"I'm… not sure how well that would go over, considering there are no fox people walking around," Juliette commented. "However, it should work for now, considering we are trying to stay out of the public eye."
"Besides, it's just a mask. Anyone would see I'm not a fox person," I remarked.
"Fair enough," Juliette replied with a small shrug. "Now that you have found a disguise, it's time we come up with a plan. I believe it would be a good idea to keep our gems hidden as it may be dangerous to have them out in the open. Taking into account the fact Freakshow has the Gem of Fantasy and the Reality Gauntlet, if we have the gems out in the open he may be able to just snatch it up."
I was reminded of where exactly my gem was, and felt self conscious about it. "You're right about that, but I don't feel very comfortable with the idea of having the Gem of Life inside me for very long. Besides, yours is in your pocket, that's probably not the safest place for your gem."
"Then I'll just have to do something similar to what you did," Juliette remarked as she reached into her pocket. "While you might not feel very comfortable, the safest place for the gems are inside our bodies."
As Juliette said this she pulled out the yellow Gem of Form and quickly turned her hand and the gem intangible. She then moved her hand into her torso and released the gem before pulling her hand out. I wasn't sure whether to be grossed out or surprised at Juliette's action. This also made me wonder about how a ghost's digestive system worked. However, I decided to stay focused on the here and now rather than a ghost's biology, even if it was fascinating.
"Okay… now that we have our gems hidden," I chimed. "We'll need to think of a game plan. I don't think searching blindly in Amity Park is going to help us find that page very easily without sheer dumb luck. Not to mention we're also at risk at being caught by someone we know. I'm not entirely sure if people like Dash or Valerie counts, but it might be best to stay away from them too just in case."
Juliette gave a thoughtful expression. "We… could try to get to the Ghost Zone and talk to the Clockwork here. While I despise the idea of going to Clockwork for help, I feel his help could be invaluable during this test. And due to the fact that we're from another world, it should stop him from trying to get me to be his assistant. After all, he wouldn't want to cause a paradox."
"If this is a different world, chances are this Clockwork is different too. I wouldn't know how different, probably not that much different since Jazz didn't seem all that different. This might just be the same world as our's, just without me in it. Meaning you and Scarlet never came here…" I noted as I tried to figure out the world we were in. "But going to Clockwork is risky itself. There's no guarantee he'll know who we are, and there's a chance he might see us as a threat to the timeline and try to eliminate us, depending on how strict he is about it here. Besides, it's dangerous to seek out a powerful ghost like him without an invitation."
"He watches time, does he not?" Juliette pointedly questioned.
"He does, but that doesn't mean he's omniscient, it's also hard to say if he can see us now or not since we're not a part of this timeline," I replied.
"Fine then let me rephrase," Juliette responded. "Isn't it Clockwork's job to be on the lookout for paradoxes?"
"Maybe, I don't know the full details of his job," I answered.
"My plan is to go to Clockwork," Juliette stated firmly. "If you can think of a better plan, then feel free to share it."
"Before you do anything hasty, I think we should gather intel about this world first. While Jazz may have appeared similar to my Jazz, there's still no guarantee everyone is the same. Clockwork could be someone else entirely for all we know," I said.
"I get where you're coming from, Andy," Juliette acknowledged. "However, we have no guarantees that time spent in here isn't time wasted in our world. It's possible that if we take days or even weeks in each of the world, it could be the same amount of time back home. Meaning all sorts of things could be done to Danny and everyone else."
I nodded. "I know… but even if we try to go to Clockwork as soon as possible… how would we get there? We have no easy access to the Ghost Portal right now. My core has been short circuited for who knows how long, FentonWorks isn't… isn't my home right now. There's also bound to be anti-ghost security in that house that might work differently than the one back at my world, and we can't disable it easily without risking ourselves to Jazz or Danny."
"I can try to get Danny's attention and when he comes out to capture me or chase me down, I can explain that I'm trying to get back to the Ghost Zone but if anything touches me, including the Fenton Thermos, I will die," Juliette offered. "Or I could just be honest with him and tell him that Freakshow has us participating in a game to win the Reality Gauntlet and the Gem of Fantasy and ask if he'll help."
For a long moment, I didn't reply to that. I was trying to think of what our best course of action should. Is it wise to get the Danny of this world involved? Freakshow wasn't very specific on what 'getting caught' means. What if there's a time limit to how long someone can talk to us before it's considered being 'caught'? Vague rules like that could completely screw us over if we're not careful. While time is precious, we can't afford to be hasty about this either. We only have one shot at this after all.
Assuming that the Danny of this world is still half ghost like he is in our world, he could easily pick up Juliette's ghostly aura if she allows him to. So summoning Danny isn't the issue… it's gaining his trust. He doesn't know anything about us after all. Juliette is a strange new ghost, and I… well, I'm a masked figure, or I'm someone who looks like a clone to him. Neither are very good options for us.
"If it would help, I can put on a disguise as well," Juliette suggested. "That way Danny seeing me won't possibly considering as me being 'caught' as he would have no idea who I am."
"I don't know how trusting the Danny of this world is, so you'll be putting yourself at risk, with or without a disguise," I spoke up. "I understand the urgency to try to complete this game as fast as possible, but we can't rush it, that would only make us lose faster. Since you're good with stealth, you can try to find out where Danny or his friends are, and tail them for a while. Try to see what their personalities are like first, then we'll know how to persuade them the right way. It's dangerous to try to go in blind, with too little or the wrong information to go off of after all."
"With my stealth I could also sneak into Fenton Works," Juliette pointed out.
"Alright. Let's say you use your stealth to try to sneak into Fenton Works," I chimed. "First off, will you be going alone or would you take me with you? How good is your stealth if you have someone else with you to focus on as well?"
"I wouldn't be using stealth on you, Andy," Juliette replied. "After all, I taught you how to be stealthy on your own. If you truly concentrate more than you've done before, you should be able to make yourself practically unsensible."
"Remember, Juliette, I do not have my ghost powers right now. Meaning, if you want to go there as soon as possible, you will either have to go alone, or you'll have to use your ghost powers on me as well," I reminded. "Humans can't go invisible or intangible."
Juliette frowned. "Then I likely will have to go on my own."
"Then there are more obstacles. First off, there is a chance that they have the Ghost Shield up for whatever reason. You wouldn't be able to get through it. And even if they don't have the Ghost Shield up, you'd have to traverse the Ghost Zone alone. You would have to meet Clockwork alone. And if you run into a ghost that could track you even with your stealth, you're going to have a hard time escaping or fighting them off, depending on how powerful the ghost is. Meanwhile, I'm at risk at being discovered myself. If my powers come back while I'm here, waiting for you, then there's a chance I will be sensed, especially if a ghost decides to attack me because they think I'm Danny, it's happened before, it would definitely happen again," I listed. "This isn't a game we should separate long term, it's far too risky."
Juliette let out a loud sigh and grabbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "I get your caution, Andy, I do. But we're already in constant danger of being found out just by being in this world. Yes, there are a lot of risks, but we can't play everything super safely. Because guess what? Being too safe is its own risk. You're so focused on what could happen that you miss what is happening."
"That's not it. I realize we are going to have to take some risks, but I am trying to minimize it by playing smart, not playing safe," I informed. "Instead of you asking Danny, I will talk to him. You can make better use of your time by scouting Fenton Works if the Ghost Shield isn't up, but don't go into the Ghost Portal by yourself. Wait until I get there. If I'm able to convince Danny, he should let me in by introducing me as a friend to Mom and Dad."
"Except you're missing key features about your parents that may be the same here," Juliette logically stated. "Your father has a habit of at least attempting to hug new people he meets while your mother has an extremely keen intuition. You mother also isn't afraid of being hands on with guests. I can almost guarantee you that being touched by anyone counts as being caught."
"I know the risks," I said. "It's why I said I wasn't playing it safe. However, that's why I said I'll be talking to Danny before he takes me to them. I could tell him I have a skin condition, where touching would severely hurt me. He could then explain that to our… his parents. But even then, I know I'll have to be careful. Assuming Mom and Dad are the same here as they are in our world, Mom would be curious about it and try to poke me, or Dad might try to tap me just to see what would happen. But… unless you have a better way of getting me in Fenton Works, that's the only thing I can see working."
"Hmmm…" Juliette gave a thoughtful look. "Why not try a combination of our strategies, just with a few tweaks? Instead of having Danny introduce you to his parents, you can request of him to get them out of the house and make sure the Ghost Shield isn't on. You might also be able to convince him to make sure the internal defenses of Fenton Works is turned off. If all of that works, then I can take you into Fenton Works and we can look around."
"While that sounds good on paper, there's a problem with that plan…" I frowned. "Unless I tell the whole truth to Danny, he'll be suspicious as to why I'm asking him to get his parents out of the house, and shutting off the anti-ghost system."
"So… why not tell him the truth then?" Juliette inquired.
"Vague rules," I replied.
Juliette raised an eyebrow.
"Jazz found out… most of the details on her own. But because of Freakshow's vague rule of 'not getting caught', that could also mean not telling them the truth of what we're doing," I said. "Because it would be too easy to have them work with us, now isn't it?"
"Then don't tell him everything," Juliette commented. "Tell Danny what he needs to know, not about who you are. The rules stated that if we got caught we would lose. Not that we would lose if the game was revealed."
I sighed. "I'll try, but he might ask for specific details, that's what I'm worried about."
I walked over to one of the doors and glanced out the dirty glass, seeing the sun had gone down, and night was upon us. "... Time might not be in sync here as it is in our world. It was night in our world, yet it was afternoon when we arrived here."
I turned back to Juliette. "Well, what do you want to do then? Do you want to execute this plan now or the next morning? Time is of the essence after all."
"You need to rest," Juliette stated. "There's a chance the plan could drastically change. Perhaps all you need to regain your powers is to rest."
"I take it there are beds to sleep on in here?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"There are some… less than stellar couches in the dressing rooms," Juliette informed. "However there is no bed. That was something we added back in our world. Also, going back to what you said before about Jazz, what exactly did she say?"
"What exactly do you want to know?" I asked for clarification.
"Just tell me about the whole encounter," Juliette instructed.
"Might be difficult, I didn't memorize the entire conversation. So, I will just tell you what I thought was important," I shrugged.
I told Juliette about Jazz recognizing me as 'not Danny', and figured out that Freakshow with the Reality Gauntlet was responsible for my appearance in this world, apparently there was a Freakshow here who also used the Reality Gauntlet, but didn't do the same thing as our Freakshow did.
"Then… hm. It sounds like, due to Jazz figuring out we were dealing with Clockwork, that the Reality Gauntlet event already happened in this timeline," Juliette reasoned. "Meaning it is possible that the world we are in could be considered the future. That would explain the difference in time of day."
"Then that makes it even more confusing how much time is in sync with our's since this is apparently the future as well," I mumbled. "Maybe it's best not to worry about that right now. Let's get to those couches, it's been a long day."
Although it was difficult to sleep on an old, dusty couch, I somehow managed. By the time I woke up, however, I felt a little sore on my back. The couch was really stiff. I only had the cloak to keep me warm. I didn't really feel all that well rested, but I rested enough to not be all that drowsy for the day.
As I got off of the couch, I saw Juliette sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, seeming to be in a meditative state.
I stretched myself out. "Morning… did you… meditate all night?"
Juliette shook her head as she opened her eyes. "No, I made a small bed out of the mostly intact costumes. Speaking of which… you and Danny from a distance would look pretty much the same as you are the same height, width, and build. You might want to consider stuffing some items into your clothes to make it so people don't mistake you for Danny."
"Someone would have to pay really close attention to detail for them to think that my height, width, and build is similar to Danny," I remarked. "Most people would pay attention to facial features, the more obvious places of the human body, for them to recognize someone. Besides, stuffing items in my clothes would just make it hard for me to move around."
Juliette gave a shrug. "It was just a suggestion. Tell me, has your core recovered?"
I mentally felt for my core before shaking my head. "I feel a little bit more ghostly energy, but not enough for a transformation or anything."
The ghost goat girl frowned.
"Well, now that we're up, we should probably get started as soon as possible," I said. "I'd like to be able to change my clothes and brush my teeth again soon."
"Wait here for a little bit," Juliette ordered. "I'm going to do something I will regret later, but I need to for now for the sake of us winning the game."
"What are you going to-" I started to ask, but Juliette already turned herself invisible, and likely flew away. "... Right…"
I sighed as I looked over at my cloak and fox mask on the couch. My core felt weak, and my stomach hurt from hunger. I doubt having a dang gem in there was very nourishing. I wonder if that Gem of Fantasy made it so I wouldn't have my ghost powers for this world…
I felt a sense of dread and comfort at the same time. Though it didn't feel like it came from me.
There was suddenly a sweet scent in the air before Juliette appeared in front of me holding a large rectangular box in one hand. One top of the box was a design of a bunch of different donuts, so I could almost immediately guess what was inside. In Juliette's other hand was a large bag from Nasty Burger that smells of deep fryer oil and way too much salt.
Juliette hadn't even opened the box or bag and I already felt myself drooling. My stomach made an embarrassingly loud growl when I smelled the aroma of food.
"Where… how did you get those?" I asked.
"I…" Juliette sighed. "I stole them."
I had a feeling that was going to be Juliette's answer, but hearing her confirm felt like a stab to the gut. Have we really fallen that far now that we have to resort to thievery to survive?
"I am disgusted with myself that I had to do it, but you're half living and you need food to survive," Juliette explained with a shiver. "Under any other circumstances I wouldn't condone stealing. The last proper meal you had was a couple days ago by now, and from what I understand you need more than a can of sausages to properly sate your hunger."
I sighed. I didn't like the idea of stealing either, and I wanted to tell Juliette to give the food back, but just smelling the food right here made me want to give in to temptation and hunger.
"You need to eat, Andy," Juliette firmly stated, seeing my hesitation. "We're not enacting any plans until you eat."
I felt a sense of guilt and comfort from the unknown source once more. I couldn't help but thank it for trying to comfort me, even if it was just a feeling in my head.
"... Just this once…" I finally said.
As soon as Juliette handed me the bag of Nasty Burger food, I didn't hesitate to dig in. I knew I needed to eat and I wasn't going to be able to stop myself. I did always liked Nasty Burger food, but this time it tasted so much better for some reason. My hunger was likely a big contributor to that. When I was finished, Juliette gave me a piece of wax paper to pick up the donuts from the box she was holding open. I never realized how much I loved donuts until that very moment. If we ever get home, I'm so asking Mom for more donuts.
"Heh… you look a little like a child who just got to taste some cake for the first time," Juliette observed with a small giggle.
"When you're hungry, anything will suddenly taste 50% better," I remarked as I finished up the last donut. I feel a lot better now. Though I also feel dirty for having to eat stolen food. Danny would be so disappointed with me right now…
I felt a slight bit sickened, before I felt sudden comfort from the unknown source deep inside me. I was starting to think I should give this unknown source a name.
"Is that a scientific fact or a guess?" Juliette inquired.
"Mostly a guess," I answered. "Um… thanks, Juliette… I really needed that."
"I figured you did," Juliette said with a small chuckle. "It's why I was willing to do something I honestly hated. Now, how do you and your core feel after your meal?"
I took a moment to check my core. "Better, but still not enough ghostly energy. Do… ghosts eat? I mean like do they need to absorb a source of energy to keep their core nourished?"
"I'm not sure if you want me to answer that question." Juliette frowned.
"Let's just hope my core will recover soon and leave it at that," I sighed.
"If you do need that ghostly nourishment, then we'll need to go to the Ghost Zone," Juliette informed.
"Well then, let's start our plan. First thing I need to do is seek out where Danny is," I said before I put on the cloak, and the fox mask on. "Meanwhile, you go scout Fenton Works. No going into the Ghost Zone without me. If I don't get there by… let's say an hour, then come back here, because likely something went wrong."
"It's a weekday," Juliette informed. "So Danny is likely on his way to school if school is currently in session. And I promise I won't go into the Ghost Portal."
I looked at Juliette. Juliette gave a nervous grin as I kept looking at her.
"... Uh-huh… no using loopholes or technicalities either," I finally stated.
Juliette grumbled. "Fine."
I smiled under my mask. "Good. Now that that's settled, let's go out there and try not to make an impression!"
"That's probably easier for me than it is for you, considering you'll be walking around in public with a mask on," Juliette pointed out before she turned intangible. "One hour, Andy, if you're late I'll come back here."
"Got it, Juliette," I chuckled before she flew out the wall.
I walked to the door, before sighing to myself. "Considering that this is Amity Park, a place full of weirdos, hopefully I won't have too much trouble blending in…"
As I walked around Amity Park, I started with going to Casper High. Of course, because I had a mask and cloak on, I got a lot of weird looks from the other students who saw me. Nobody said anything to me, but I could hear them whispering, wondering what a 'weirdo' like me was doing. They probably thought I was a fellow student in this school who decided to cosplay. A few commented how I must've been a 'drama nerd', others were joking about me being part of a circus act. That was all fine by me, though, if they thought I was just a weird, nerdy student who was cosplaying, or in the drama club, then I wouldn't have to talk to anyone I didn't want to.
I did have to steer clear of the jocks, however, that included Dash. Dash, who was my friend in my world, and a former bully, here… seeing how he just stuffed Mikey, Ricky, and Nathan into their lockers together, it was easy to come to the conclusion that this Dash Baxter stayed as a bully. I didn't need the alternate dimension version of my friend stuffing me into a random locker, or risk him pulling my mask or cloak off. He would have probably mistaken me for Danny, and unlike Jazz, I doubt he would've realized I wasn't Danny.
As I passed by Paulina, I could hear her snickering about how much of a freaky loser I was to hide my face behind a mask, playing 'dress up'. I rolled my eyes. Paulina was just the same as ever in both dimensions. But now that I thought about it, I haven't seen Paulina being mean to anyone lately in my world. Then there was Valerie. From the annoyed, stuck up looks I saw that Paulina, and the other 'popular' girls, were giving Valerie, I knew that this Valerie was considered an outcast here as well. I suppose that meant she remained as the Red Huntress here, so some things just never change. I began to wonder if this was less of a different reality and more of a parallel universe, a 'what if' where I was never born or one where I did actually disappear fully into the void after stopping Corrupted Danny.
My musings ended when I saw two more familiar faces, standing by their lockers. I had timed this visit perfectly, everyone was out of class at the moment, trying to get their books ready for their next period. I didn't intend to talk to them much, lest I risk exposing myself to them. I had no way of knowing if Tucker and Sam would recognize me as 'not-Danny'. I just hope I could get the right amount of information from them. I didn't see Danny with them, so that was already a bad sign. I stopped, and considered my options for a moment.
I could try talking to them without the cloak and mask, try to trick them into thinking I'm Danny. If their memories are the same as the Tucker and Sam in my world, just minus me, then it shouldn't be too hard to ask what I want to know. However, there's a chance that Sam or Tucker would recognize me as 'not-Danny' like Jazz did. And even if they don't, the real Danny could come back at any moment. I would be in real danger then if the real Danny came back while I was trying to pretend I was him to his friends.
I frowned as I thought about the other option. On the other hand, trying to talk to them as a faceless stranger would put them on guard. I doubt they would be willing to give me any useful information regarding where Danny currently is, of course they wouldn't, especially since they've been keeping his secret for… however long it's been here. I… could possibly play the whole 'drama geek' to my favor though. Explain to Tucker and Sam that I've been wanting to talk to them for a while but have never been able to build up the courage, but the mask helps me be courageous enough to talk to them.
I knew I couldn't waste too much time trying to decide my best course of action. I didn't want to risk breaking their trust by pretending to be Danny, so I decided to go for the more dork approach. It should help put them at ease if nothing else, and I just have to ask the right questions.
I approached Tucker and Sam, and they stopped talking to each other when they noticed me.
Be the first one to greet them, or they'll get suspicious or creeped out. I decided. "Hello… uh… Foley and Manson."
"Hello there…?" Sam asked in a questioning tone. "Who are you?"
"My name is…" I quickly thought of a random name. "Chad… Um… Chad Fox."
"Chad Fox?" Tucker raised a brow. "I don't think I've heard of you."
"I mostly keep to myself… my name is easy to forget," I shrugged. "Uh… anyways… I know you two don't know me, but I've watched how you two fought with ghosts before whenever they invaded the school. Or sometimes I would see you two team up with Danny Phantom in Amity Park to capture the ghosts. I have to say, I really admire how you're both were able to just team up with the ghost boy and battle the ghosts alongside him. It must take real courage to do something like that."
At this, I silently prayed that my theory of this being a parallel universe was correct, and that there weren't any major changes here other than the fact I didn't exist in this world. If I was wrong, then I had just made myself look like an idiot. At least I could make the excuse I'm role playing or something if I am wrong.
Tucker gave a prideful smirk at that. "We're pretty much Danny Phantom's best friends."
Sam elbowed Tucker in the side.
"Ow…" Tucker groaned.
"We try to help Danny Phantom when he needs us, but we don't really know him all that much," Sam informed. "We do know a little more about him than most people do, but we're only acquaintances with him."
It felt weird to be back on the 'Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom aren't the same person, honest!' route. Though it did spark a bit of nostalgia and bitterness in me.
I felt a sense of guilt coming from the mental mysterious source that I would be calling 'Chad' from now on. Chad suddenly gave a feeling of shock and humor.
"Still, it is quite an achievement to be helping a real life superhero, someone with 'superpowers' and is willing to help people by fighting with hostile enemies," I remarked. "I've been wanting to talk to the two of you for a while now, but I always felt a bit… timid and intimidated. That's kind of why I'm wearing a mask. It helps give me some… much needed courage to talk to two people who helped Danny Phantom keep the town safe. It's much easier to talk when you can hide your face after all."
"Oh? Would you say you look up to us?" Tucker asked, a grin plastered on his face.
Sam just rolled her eyes at Tucker.
"Yes, you could say that. I look up to Danny Phantom quite a bit myself," I chuckled lightly.
"So what do you think of Danny Fenton? You know he hangs around with us a lot too, right?" Sam asked, giving me an analyzing look.
I could tell that Sam asked me this to try to figure out what I knew about Danny Fenton, and if I had made any suspicious connections to him and Danny Phantom.
"I know he's a good guy, he's close to both of you. He's been struggling quite a bit in school though, and left the classroom a lot at random. But I never saw him out there helping you or Danny Phantom with the ghosts," I shrugged, hoping that this Danny was the same as mine.
"The reason Danny doesn't help when Danny Phantom shows up is quite simple," Tucker stated, the grin still on his face. "Danny's parents are ghost hunters, if word got out that he was anywhere near Danny Phantom, his parents would freak out. Knowing Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, they would likely start homeschooling him instead of letting him come here for school."
"I suppose that makes sense." I nodded in agreement, remembering how my parents were always telling me and Danny to stay away from Danny Phantom and his brother Andy Phantom. "Speaking of Danny Phantom, do either of you two know where he is now?"
Sam frowned. "Well… Danny Phantom was fighting a pretty tough ghost earlier. However, from what it looked like, the ghost Phantom was fighting managed to hurt Phantom. Phantom thankfully beat the ghost and sent them back to the Ghost Zone, which is where ghosts come from, and I think he said he needed to heal. We've never witnessed him healing before, so we have no clue where he went or how he heals."
That last part was likely a cover up. I doubt that Danny wouldn't let them know where he went to recuperate after getting hurt. He wouldn't ever want to worry his friends like that… I decided to squash down the treacherous memory of Danny never telling me he was half ghost. That doesn't count.
Chad gave a sense of guilt once more, but also agreement.
Glad you agree with me, Chad. I inwardly smiled. But of course… Sam and Tucker would never tell a stranger, especially one they just met, where exactly he went to heal. Danny and I never needed to really heal after a battle. Our ghost halves usually healed themselves pretty quickly. So whoever this ghost was must've used some kind of poison or got Danny really good. I'm not looking forward to facing whoever this ghost is one day… Then again, since Danny doesn't have a twin here, he had to fight by himself, which makes him more prone to getting severely injured. But this puts me in a dilemma. Apparently Danny went into the Ghost Zone, seeking help from someone he trusts over there to heal him. Assuming we're not too far into the future in this world, that would most likely be Clockwork or Dora. But if we are further on in the future, like a year or so, then there's a higher chance Danny could be somewhere else with another trusted ghost. This is not enough information to go by, we would have to go by trial and error at this rate. And without Danny here, I can't get into Fenton Works.
Chad gave a sense of frustration and curiosity.
"You've been pretty quiet… everything okay?" Tucker asked in concern when I hadn't spoken in a while.
"Hmm? Oh… yeah, sorry, was just deep in thought about something," I chuckled sheepishly. "I'm interested in doing research on ghosts. So I was fascinated to hear that Danny Phantom can get hurt enough to retreat back in the Ghost Zone to heal. I don't know that much about ghosts, but I remember reading that ghosts had lairs and domains in the Ghost Zone. Maybe Danny Phantom went to his own lair or domain, or maybe he went to one of his allies' lair or domain and have them heal him. It's only a theory though, I can't say that I know enough either way."
"Who's to say he went to the Ghost Zone at all?" Tucker questioned. "I mean, Danny Phantom always seems to be able to immediately respond to any danger here in Amity Park. So perhaps he has somewhere in Amity Park that he can go to heal."
That's possible, but very unlikely. There's not much in Amity Park that would heal a ghost from a severe injury or sickness. Mom and Dad built things to destroy ghosts, not help them. The closest I could think of would be the opera house, if Juliette and Scarlet were living there, which they're not here. So unless there are other ghosts living here that I'm unaware of, Danny going into the Ghost Zone to heal is the most likely option. I decided. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be getting anything more useful out of Tucker and Sam on the whereabouts of Danny.
"Thank you for indulging me with this, Foley and Manson," I said in a grateful tone, and mused to myself. Heh, if we were Japanese, I'd be adding 'san' or 'sama' to their names right now.
"Of course," Tucker chuckled. "If you ever want to come talk to us again, Chad, feel free."
"Thank you, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," I said. "But don't feel bad if you don't remember me. I am pretty easy to forget after all, especially to brave heroes like you two."
Before Tucker or Sam could say anything, the bell rang. It was time for the students to get back to class. Which was perfect timing.
"Which classes are you in, Chad?" Sam inquired as she closed her locker.
"Oh, here and there, it's not important. You probably wouldn't know if you saw me, because I won't be wearing this mask and cloak during classes. The teachers would get on my case after all," I chuckled.
"Uh… huh." Sam nodded suspiciously. "Who are you really, Chad? Because you sound remarkably familiar to our friend, Danny."
At that I froze. It was a minor detail, something that I never noticed before. But being Danny's twin brother meant that not only our faces looked similar, but our voices sounded similar as well. How did I not think of that?!
Chad was feeling frantic and panicky.
Calm down, Chad! You're not making this any easier for me! I hissed.
"What are you talking about, Sam?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't sound like Danny. Besides, he couldn't be Danny."
"Exactly," Sam stated. "This couldn't be Danny… but it could be another one of those."
Tucker narrowed his eyes. "... But… didn't Danny say that he destroyed… you know… all of them except the girl?"
"He did, but you know how their… creator works," Sam quietly pointed out. "Their creator could've already rebuilt and started over."
I had no idea what they were talking about, but I knew this wasn't good. They were already getting suspicious and making assumptions.
"Foley! Manson! You're late for class!" A familiar booming voice shouted. "And other kid I don't recognize, you need to return that mask to the drama department and get to class as well!"
"Y-yes, Coach Tetslaff!" All three of us said at the same time, not even needing to see the loud gym coach to know it was her.
Tucker and Sam ran in one direction, so I went the other. If this school's layout hadn't changed between dimensions, then I made it look like I was going to the drama classroom, but when I turned the corner, I quickly started heading to the front door.
I was thankful I managed to make it out of Casper High without any more of the school staff stopping me. At least I wouldn't have to deal with a suspicious Tucker and Sam now. At least, I hope I won't. What were they talking about earlier back there? About Danny destroying them all except 'the girl'? Who's this girl? What did he destroy? … Well, this is apparently in the future from my world, so whatever it was, it hasn't happened with me yet. I'm sure I'm bound to find out if it does happen in my world.
Deciding it was best to take my leave before Tucker and Sam decided to sneak out of school to find me, and I knew they were more than capable of doing that, I quickly started leaving school grounds. Well Danny isn't here, he's in the Ghost Zone. So this whole plan was a bust, we have no way of knowing when he'll be back. And since I already got Tucker and Sam suspicious, they're bound to tell him and he'll get suspicious too. That… would really hurt a lot… having Danny suspicious of me, especially of… whatever it was Sam and Tucker thought I might've been… I better wait for Juliette back at the opera house… hopefully she had better luck than I did.
I noticed that Chad felt worried, and then I felt a sense of comfort from him. I mentally thanked Chad for his comforts, they did help me feel a little better.
But as I was walking, I noticed some glowing colors from the corner of my eye. I blinked, before turning my head to see these different colored floating looking spirits.
I recognized these things, they were what Scarlet called 'Will-O-the-Wisps'. I had only seen them once, in the Ghost Zone, at the Ghost Flower Festival. What on Earth are these… Will-O-the-Wisps doing here?
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is wiping soot and burnt cake off her face* Yeah, we thought we would do a little bit of twin connection stuff. And you do make a good point, but since this is based off a Yu-Gi-Oh shadow game in a way, Freakshow has to be able to do something along the lines of fulfilling his end of the deal. If he does… well let's just say that the universe is the 'house' in this form of gambling. *There was an explosion in the background, and more cake frosting landed on Onyx's nose*
Jewel moonstone: DarkFoxKit: *Shakes her fur* No, I suppose it wouldn't end well.
Andy: What was that? Did you say something about Danny? *Runs from some flames from the oven*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': They said that they hope Danny is safe. *Leans towards the camera and whispers, cake frosting still on her nose* Shh, don't let Andy know. He'd freak out if he knew what was really going on.
Dp-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Wipes her face off again* Okay… let's keep going. We did decide it would be something cool. Having the brothers have a connection that transcends space is something we have actually been testing out in The Infinite Realms to an extent.
DarkFoxKit: *Lands on Onyx's head, covered in soot* Oh, by the way, if you don't know what The Infinite Realms is, it's kind of like an alternate universe, mature rating story using My Brother's a Ghost and this story as the base. It's a story where we do anything we want, no restrictions. It's also a good place for us to test out certain ideas and arcs that we could use and refine here as well. I'm glad you liked the battle with Freakshow, we were trying not to make it too easy or too difficult, giving Andy a bit of a handicap did help. Heh, as for Andy's reaction to swallowing the gem, yeah, it was fun doing his reaction to that. I can't blame him for freaking out though. XD
Irusha the Kitsune: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Picks Fox off her head and puts her on the couch* Yup! Andy gulped it on down by accident, though Juliette convinced him to leave it inside him for safe keeping. As for how it would affect Foxfire… likely not as much as you think it would. I can't go into the actual reasons because spoilers and whatnot, but I can say that Foxfire, if she were there, would be fine.
Andy: *Covered in cake frosting* First off, please stop talking about how I swallowed that stupid gem. Second, I could really use Foxfire right now.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Chuckles* Too bad this isn't the AN for TIR, otherwise you would have no problem. But uh… eh, why not? *Throws Andy a little button* Push that and you'll temporarily have access to Foxfire for as long as it takes to clean up your mess.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: *Is outside of the burning house* I have no idea what Onyx was thinking about giving Andy the ability to use fire while battling against a fiery oven monster. Anyways… Yeah, I know you didn't mean to confuse us, it's just easy for words to be misinterpreted. I know I confuse my readers on more than one occasion and have to explain it to them through this.
The GIW are usually portrayed as those kinds of people, where they see test subjects instead of people. There could be some members who disagree with that method, but still do as they were ordered because they needed the job or money for one reason or another. Your idea on how the GIW got started is pretty interesting. I can't say it's really something we thought about, but it is fun to use them for a more serious threat than have them as an annoyance or comedic in the canon episodes. Though there had been a few times where the GIW were a legit threat in the canon episodes.
Andy: *Comes out of the house* Uh… well… I don't know if swallowing the Gem of Life would have negative effects, but I'm about 99.9% sure it's going to have some kind of unwanted side effect on me later.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Is seen sitting in the actively on fire house, drinking tea* Probably! Guess you'll have to find out about the whole Freakshow knowing where Juliette's parents are! Also, Andy, perhaps try using Foxfire's powers to not create more fire, but to control what's there?
Andy: *Grumbles* I'm not TIR Andy! I don't know how to use Foxfire!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Strange, that button should've given you the knowledge to use the powers… unless you somehow stupidly fought against the knowledge that was trying to be given to you… Oh geez… that's exactly what you did, isn't it…?
Andy: What? I have no idea what you're talking about!
DarkFoxKit: Can we please focus? The backstory with the Reality Gauntlet was something we just came up with while we were writing for it. It is nice to give Freakshow more of a role though, and a reason to go after the gauntlet and the gems rather than because he's just a power hungry psychopath. And it also shows how he even knew about it in the first place.
*The house was suddenly no longer on fire and Andy no longer had Foxfire's powers*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': You can come back in! I had TIR Andy come and help! He's gone now, don't want our two Andys meeting one another.
Andy: *Sighs* About Sam, yeah, she inherited, or at least was influenced by her parents' pushiness. I can't blame her too much on that, but someone has to make sure she's aware of what she's doing before she takes it too far like she did with the whole replacing meat with vegan stuff instead of just adding to it like a sane person. I wouldn't know what Sam would grow up into, anything is possible, she might even have multiple jobs concerning ghost fighting and helping the wildlife.
RedHood001: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'm sorry… what is this in response to? I vaguely remember Xiaolin Showdown, but I can't really respond without the proper context.
DarkFoxKit: *Walks back into the burnt out house, the only area untouched being around Onyx* We need to rebuild our house and get our TV fixed… Anyways, I get the reference, I used to watch Xiaolin Showdown when it was on TV. Basically it's when two people grab these mystical and powerful objects, and challenge the other to a magical duel where the environment and rules will change depending on the challenge, which they call a Xiaolin Showdown. It's similar to that, but this game is much longer, and it's not a duel exactly.
Anime lover 3593: DarkFoxKit: *Manages to find an undamaged chair to sit down on* Thanks. We didn't want to leave Danny completely out of this, and it was a good way to show more of the twin connection. As for how Andy will figure it out… you'd be surprised.
We mostly play DnD with a group of people using Discord's voice chat, and using Roll20 as the game board. I'm still fairly new to it though.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I'd say to ask around your friend or game groups. Though you can go to Roll20 and create a free account and try to join open games there. I do recommend going in with a single character sheet already completed. Or at least an idea for a character.
DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Andy's just not getting a break lately. It's also fun to mess with him. :3
Andy: You're a sadist…
DarkFoxKit: So uh… you may have misunderstood something. Just because we're using a shadow game from Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't mean they're going to be dueling via card game. That was a one time only thing because of how fitting it was with Duul Aman. A shadow game means any game the challengers wants to make, not specifically a card game.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Heck, the guy's name sounds like Duel A Man. So we just went with it. For our shadow game, we are more using the Yu-Gi-Oh season 0/early manga definition of a shadow game. Where it is a general competition with high stakes.
Guest: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': We update on a schedule. Currently it is every 3 weeks.
DarkFoxKit: But who knows, we may make it shorter again once this special is over. It's just we needed the 3 weeks due to how tough it's been writing lately, and also because of how long each chapter is. Alright, now that the ANs and Reviews are done, time to clean up and fix the house!