Andy: Fox! Onyx! I think you've forgotten about something!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Leans out of her bedroom door with a tired look on her eyes* Huh…? What are you talking about, Andy?
Andy: You forgot to update last week.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Did we…? *Narrows her eyes, trying to remember* I… guess we did, but we've been a bit… sidetracked by Fox's treatment schedule. The early bedtimes and super early mornings have been throwing us off.
DarkFoxKit: *Gives a sleepy look as she leans out of her own bedroom door* I'm a night owl by nature. I absolutely despise this early bedtime and these super early mornings. It's also been messing with my writing quality.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Before we were going to bed at… what…? 2AM? 3AM? And now we're going to bed at 9PM or 10PM because you're getting up at 5AM.
DarkFoxKit: This shouldn't go on for too much longer… I'll be free of this torment soon, I hope. Though this week is going to be absolute murder for my already complicated schedule.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Fully comes out of her room wearing fluffy pajamas* It might be absolute murder, but I'll try my best to help where I can. For now, I guess we should update WAP before we delay it by another week.
Andy: I agree. I should probably find a way to help remind you two of the update schedule while you're… going through all this.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Or better yet… don't… Because you might anger a dragon that's nearly at the end of her rope… *Flashes a tired toothy smile*
Andy: R-right… I'll be going now.
DarkFoxKit: Alright, let's get this updated so I can go back to bed.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Nods* I already want to go back to napping…
Chapter 98: A New Yet Familiar World
I was looking at the throne room. One step towards the throne, and the game would begin. A game of not getting caught. A game of 'tag' in a way, only much less fun for me.
"I don't know if I can last that long out there with two of them. I know they said they're not going all out, but I can imagine they'd still go pretty freaking fast, and there's two of them," I whispered with anxiety.
"Just relax and look around," Juliette softly instructed. "I think I'll be going with the Down-Under stealth strategy."
"Yeah… but I have to keep them distracted or they'll sense both of us out, mostly me since I'm not as good as you with the stealth," I sighed before looking at Corrupted Danny and… "What am I supposed to call the other Andy?"
"Just keep calling him Echo," Juliette answered. "Also, you could go with that small spell I taught you. The one you thought was a failure because it kept blowing up in your face…" Juliette lowered her voice even more. "And blinding you."
"It was a failure." I frowned as I recalled what Juliette tried to teach me before.
Flashback
"This is a simple spell, Andy," Juliette stated. "Most humans in my time could at least manage this. I know you can do it. Just channel the warmth and energy from your body into your hands. Once it is concentrated there, imagine creating a small ball in between your hands with all that heat and energy."
I was hesitant about this. When I came here today, I thought we would be doing more ghost training, but Juliette suggested she would teach me how to use fire magic, or at least teach me the basics of fire magic. Danny was out training with Scarlet right now.
"I don't think I can use magic, Juliette. Maybe it was different in your time, but magic is all but non-existent in humans nowadays," I remarked.
"You won't be able to use magic if you set yourself up for failure, Andy," Juliette informed. "I can sense the potential for magic within you, but you need to accept that you have this potential and believe in yourself."
I gave a sigh, I had read a lot about magic in fairy tale books, I even saw people use magic in anime and other media. But to actually use magic in real life myself was utterly ridiculous. But then again, I had to remind myself what I was. I was a walking paradox; dead, yet alive. I was literally living in a world where I could go through solid matter, fly, and shoot ecto beams with a thought. Perhaps using magic wouldn't be as farfetched as I thought it to be, even if I find it unlikely. It couldn't hurt to at least give it a try.
"Alright… I'll give it a shot," I finally decided. "So what do I have to do?"
"Start by trying to focus on the non-ghostly energy in your body," Juliette patiently guided.
To say it had been difficult to find this non-ghostly energy inside me would be an understatement. It took me a good hour or two to find what Juliette wanted me to find. Juliette had to help guide me, she had me touch her hands to know what her magic would feel like, and gave me a better idea of what I was looking for.
"Okay… I think I found it. The energy that isn't from my ghost side, and feels more similar to the magic you had me feel… though it's pretty small," I stated.
"Start to call out to it, but don't try to grab at it," Juliette instructed.
I did so, it felt similar to when I try to use one of my ghost powers slowly.
"While it is not sentient, magic can be scared off if you try to grab at it," Juliette explained. "It reacts to your actions as if it had a will of its own. By guiding it out and calling out to it, you are encouraging the reaction of reaching back out to you."
It took awhile for me to be able to get the hang of trying to call out my supposed magic. When I was finally able to do it, I noticed my hands were glowing a slightly white color.
"Don't worry about the glow, that happens with most first time users of magic. Once you learn to control magic better, the glow won't show up unless you want it to," Juliette quickly assured, likely wanting to make sure I didn't celebrate and lose control.
"Okay… well… now what do I do?" I asked.
Juliette had been extremely patient with me throughout the lesson. I was grateful for it, though a part of me wondered if I should be using my training time to learn how to use magic, considering it was unlikely I would ever really use it in battle with how weak my magic felt.
"You are already guiding the energy towards your hands naturally, likely as part of your knowledge of how to use ghost rays," Juliette acknowledged. "So now I want you to focus on the warmth and heat within your body that is always there, the warmth and heat that you've gotten so used to that you don't pay much mind to."
I gave a slight nod. I did notice there had been a sort of warmth and heat in my body since the accident, though I wasn't sure if that was from my ghost side or if it was something I had all along and was more aware of it because I became half ghost. I focused on the warmth and heat, bringing it towards my hand. I noticed that the white glow started to change color, it turned orange and red before something red and orange began to flicker above the palm of my hand. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as I tried not to get too excited and mess this up. I was close, I could feel it.
The little flame flickered a few times as I concentrated on getting it to exist just right. After a few more attempts, and some sweat, I managed to create the orange and red fireball. I smiled, and was about to ask Juliette what she thought, when suddenly the fireball flickered rapidly, turning white and pink for some reason, before it exploded. I yelped, and I could hear Juliette gasping as the bright light that came out of the explosion blinded me. I had to shut my eyes until the light died down.
For a second, I was worried that the fireball was burning the opera house, but when I managed to open my eyes, there was no fire.
"Okay… so… that wasn't a fireball, but a light bomb…" Juliette stated as she rubbed her eyes. "Yep… definitely won't be able to see for the next little bit… At least not clearly."
I frowned. "I'll try it again, but you should probably keep your eyes closed."
Over the next few attempts, I managed to create the fireball much faster, but it still always ended up exploding in that absurdly bright light. I gave up after a while, figuring maybe magic just wasn't my thing after all.
"You're likely being too forceful with your magic, Andy," Juliette said, now wearing a small blindfold over her eyes to stop herself from being blinded. "Like I said before, magic is something that reacts to your actions. By forcing it, a more forceful result will occur. But for your first time training with magic, you did pretty well."
I sighed. I was being as gentle as possible with my magic, but I just figured maybe it wasn't for me. But I decided to take the compliment. "Thanks. Maybe next time you can teach Danny some magic while I train with Scarlet."
"Maybe," Juliette chuckled in response as she took off the blindfold. "I still do want to train you more, but I think we can be done for now."
End of Flashback
"Why do you want me to use it? To blind them?" I asked after remembering how blinding the fireball always became when it exploded.
Juliette gave a nod. "If you close your eyes, you can create one after the other and keep them stunned for long enough for me to get to the throne."
"I suppose I could try…" I frowned a little.
"What's wrong?" Juliette asked.
"It's just, I'll be flying a bit blind too since the light flashes don't go away right away, and it also takes me a bit of time to make the… light bomb as you called them," I answered. "And until the game starts, I'm pretty sure it's against the rules to start trying to blind them right now."
"It's still the best strategy we have," The goat girl pointed out.
I sighed. "I suppose. We'll just have to hope for the best."
"You could also start gaining the energy," Juliette softly pointed out. "Just have your hands where they can't see it. Don't form the ball right away, just hold the energy in your hands."
"Alright… I guess I can do that…" I replied.
It had been a while since I practiced using my magic since I had given up on it, but thankfully, it wasn't too hard to remember what to do to get the magic back to my hands. I could feel Chad feeling a little surprised, and excited.
"Tell me when to go," Juliette instructed as she turned back to look at the Danny and Andy of this world.
I took a deep breath. I had my magic ready, but I was still nervous about this. I didn't want us to get caught and fail, I didn't want to lose to Freakshow, and thus ruining the world forever. I didn't want my family and friends being held captive by the Guys in White. Although I was scared… no, I was downright terrified of having to face Corrupted Danny again, even if he wasn't my Danny, as well as a corrupted version of myself, I knew I would have to if I wanted to give Juliette the chance to grab that page at the throne and get us the heck out of here.
"Okay…" I finally said. "When I fly towards them, that's when you go."
Corrupted Danny and Echo looked at us, waiting for us to make our move. I waited a few more seconds to steel myself. I could feel Chad trying to encourage me the best way he could. Then finally, I took the plunge. I zipped into the throne room as fast as I could. My legs had instantly turned into a ghostly tail. C. Danny and Echo began throwing red ghost rays at me, to which I managed to dodge pretty easily, but the closer I got, the harder it was. They were throwing their ghost rays faster the closer I got. I got a few graze on me, but it didn't take me long to get in close with them.
I created two fireballs on each of my hands. I held out my hands as C. Danny and Echo gave me a surprised look at how I would suddenly come up to them like this. "Surprise fireworks!"
I made sure to close my eyes before the two balls of fire exploded and filled the room with light. I heard Echo and C. Danny cry out in pain. At the same time I noticed that I no longer sensed Juliette's presence and figured she was well on her way to the throne.
Alright, we've started off strong… I just hope I can keep this up. I thought to myself as I quickly flew away from them before they could try to reach out and grab me.
"The fudge was that?!" C. Danny shouted as he rubbed his eyes.
"Some kind of solar flare attack?" Echo answered, also rubbing his eyes.
"How cheap, other bro!" C. Danny snapped, though his eyes were closed, he managed to aim at me with his ghost ray.
I knew it was because C. Danny could still sense me, but I couldn't afford to try to hide my ecto-signature, I needed them to focus on me while Juliette was trying to get to the page. I flew up to try to avoid the ghost ray, but another ghost ray came towards me from behind, Echo had likely shot that one. I let out a cry as I felt a burning pain on my back. I knew I wasn't going to last very long against both of them, but the best way was to keep them somewhat crippled with this light bomb.
My head felt fuzzy, and all of a sudden, I could see C. Danny suddenly flying up to me with such fast speed that it almost looked like he teleported, and he grabbed me with his tail. I blinked, finding myself free of C. Danny, and it took me a few seconds to realize what I saw was a warning vision. C. Danny looked at me, and I could tell that my warning vision was about to happen. Acting quickly, I turned myself intangible just before C. Danny flew up to me to wrap his tail around me. My body was through his tail, and I was thankful his tail wasn't somehow intangible proof.
I powered up my ghost ray and fired at C. Danny to throw him back. I suddenly had another warning vision of Echo flying behind me. I quickly created an ecto barrier around me just before Echo could grab me from behind. With my ecto barrier up, I started making the fireballs in my hands again. C. Danny slashed his claws at my barrier, which caused it to break easily. Thankfully, I managed to make the fireballs I needed. I shut my eyes as I heard the two of them gasping just before the bright light went off.
I flew down, trying to get away from being in-between the two corrupted brothers. I could not get between them, that was a death sentence. I let out a scream when I felt something hot and piercing hit my shoulder. I looked back for a moment, seeing Echo had an ecto gun floating beside him. Despite being blinded by the light bomb, he likely sensed where I was and used the gun to fire at me. I grabbed onto my bleeding shoulder as I nearly crashed into the ground. I knew I was a sitting duck, that ecto bullet somehow weakened me.
I was about to try to fly again, when I suddenly found myself in a crimson bubble. "What the heck!?"
"Caught you~" C. Danny smiled.
"We caught him… but where's the Juliette of his world?" Echo asked, noticing that I was alone in this bubble.
"You may have caught Andy, but you still lost~" Juliette's voice announced.
We turned to the throne, seeing Juliette waving a piece of paper with writing on it. I had never been so relieved to see her holding a piece of paper.
C. Danny and Echo both sighed but they stood up.
"Heh, so we have," C. Danny chuckled.
"Good game, you two." Echo clapped. "Maybe you could come back and play again with us some time~"
"I think that's gonna be a hard pass from me," Juliette remarked.
"Yeah, me too…" I sighed, relieved to see this was over.
Juliette and I were starting to fade from this world.
"Who knows… maybe we will meet again, or maybe you'll have your own versions to deal with~" Echo smirked a knowing smirk.
Before Juliette or I could ask, the world around us vanished.
What did he mean by 'your own versions'? I frowned.
I found myself floating in a starry sky. I was surprised to see Juliette was with me as well. Freakshow himself appeared before us, looking quite annoyed.
"So you've managed to actually get past the second world. I didn't expect that," Freakshow remarked.
"We're not going to fall that easily," Juliette replied with a scowl. "We have one more world to traverse through. We will catch you in that world, I swear it."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, goat girl," Freakshow hissed. "This last world will be the hardest one of them all for you two."
"As you said before," Juliette acknowledged. "If I remember right, we cannot be seen or talked to by 'protagonists' there. Is that correct?"
"Meaning the people we know?" I asked for clarification.
"Yes," Freakshow answered.
"Does it only count if they know it's us?" I questioned again for clarification. "Are we allowed to be seen if they don't know it's us, or do we lose if they see us period?"
"You lose if you are spotted," Freakshow informed with a smirk. "I did say this would be the hardest one. However, I guess I will grant you a small ounce of mercy and say that if you do get spotted, you have about 10 seconds before the game is over. Make it a little more climatic that way, see what you would do in those desperate 10 seconds. I would say if you get recognized, you'd lose… but I really don't think you'll get through this world before I reach the exit."
Great, so even if we're in disguise, we still lose if someone we know sees us… that's almost unfair. I frowned.
"But… you know, I'll actually make it just a wee bit easier, after all I am a ringmaster, I'd like a good show." Freakshow grinned. "If you don't know the protagonist, you can communicate with them all you like. But if they call you out for not being of that world, you lose~"
I suddenly had a bad feeling about that.
"Now then… are there any other questions before we start this final game?" Freakshow asked.
"Are you ready to lose?~" Juliette smiled.
I wished I had Juliette's confidence.
"No, but I am ready for you two to lose~" Freakshow smirked back. "I'll see you in another Amity Park once again!"
Freakshow waved his Reality Gauntlet, the blue gem glowing before Juliette and I suddenly fell from the sky. I was unable to change into a ghost for some reason, and Juliette was unable to fly as we fell towards the Earth below us.
"He's trying to kill us!" Juliette shouted as we fell. "I can't seem to fly and I'm not entirely sure how we can survive this fall!"
I felt Chad was just as frantic as I felt. "I can't seem to transform either!"
As we were falling, we could see a continent coming into view. "Juliette! You have the Gem of Form, right? Can't you use it to turn us into birds or something!?"
"How am I supposed to do that?! I've never used this gem before!" Juliette shouted, her normal calm composure completely gone, which unnerved me a little.
"I don't know! Maybe you have to think it? Freakshow seems to know how to use that Gem of Fantasy pretty well!" I yelled back.
"You have the Gem of Life, why don't you use it to make it so we can't die!?" Juliette retorted back. "And before you say it, yes, ghosts can die if our cores are damaged or broken!"
Well, we were completely screwed.
"Didn't you say that it was against the rules for the host to kill off the players in a shadow game?" I reminded as the continent was getting closer.
"Normally it is, yes!" Juliette yelled in response. "But there are loopholes that one could try to use. Since you're half ghost, you likely would become a full ghost. And my core might not necessarily break. And if it did, he could probably use the Gem of Fantasy to make it come back together, but I would serve him!"
There had to be something we could do to land safely. The continent was close, so much so that I could already see buildings coming up. Since we couldn't use our powers, the gems were the only thing I could think of to save our hides.
Juliette shut her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't notice herself starting to glow yellow, but I did. I was looking at Juliette in surprise, noticing the glow was mainly coming from her torso, where the Gem of Form was. I could feel that power of the gem becoming active.
Chad felt surprised, but also encouraging. If Juliette could activate the Gem of Form, it could save us from the fall.
I pushed myself in the air to get closer to Juliette. We were already getting into Amity Park's sky, the buildings were rapidly getting closer. I managed to wrap my arms around Juliette.
"It's going to be okay, Juliette," I assured her, trying to help her get to a point where she could concentrate a little better. "The ground won't hurt us, I know you won't let it. Just keep imagining the ground as something soft, very soft, so soft that it couldn't possibly hurt us when we land."
Juliette didn't answer but the glow did get stronger. I hugged her a little tightly, hoping that the Gem of Form would work and that we would be okay. I could tell Chad was feeling the same way.
"The ground is soft, the ground will save us from this fall," I said in Juliette's ear as we were now falling into Amity Park, passing the buildings, the ground was rapidly approaching us. "The ground will not hurt us!"
I shut my eyes and braced myself. However, there was no impact, there was no pain, or death… at least from what I could immediately tell. Instead, I felt something wrapping around me… actually it felt more like I was sinking into something soft and warm. I opened my eyes, blinking in surprise. I found myself on the paved ground, but instead of actual concrete, it looked like I was sinking into a pit of super soft pillows. Juliette was still against my chest. I would've felt embarrassed if it weren't for the fact that my mind was still trying to wrap around what I was seeing, feeling, and also the relief that came from not going splat on the ground.
When I recovered enough to speak, I stuttered a bit. "O-okay… um… Juliette, I… I think we're okay now."
"A-are we r-really…?" Juliette shakily asked, her entire body trembling with her eyes still closed shut.
"Y-yeah… yeah, look, we're okay," I answered softly, patting her back gently to try to calm her down a little.
Juliette shook her head. "I-I don't want… to look… I-I'm… worried… that when I do…"
I frowned a little, seeing that Juliette was still pretty shaken up. I pushed us up out of the pillow-like concrete, still holding onto Juliette. "I'm moving around, see? We're fine, we're safe on the ground, and not splattered on it. And… we should probably move soon, before someone sees us."
"D-do… you promise we're not… gone…?" Juliette gulped.
"Of course I promise," I said gently. "But you have to open your eyes, Juliette. Preferably sooner rather than later."
Juliette gulped again and began to slowly peak open her eyes. First one eye opened up, then the next.
I looked at Juliette as she took in her surroundings. "Well? Do you feel… um… not-dead?"
Juliette raised a brow at that before she looked around. "I guess… but… you're right, let's uh… let's move… I'm… I'm gonna be okay, Andy, so you can let go…"
I blushed a little, before letting go of Juliette and sighed. "Well, at least we know the gems still work."
Juliette stood up and rubbed her torso a little. "I feel a little weird after using the gem… also… Andy, I'm sorry… I'm sorry that I came across as so weak… and lost my composure."
I shook my head. "It's fine, Juliette. Everyone has their limit. Heck, it was a miracle you stayed as calm as you did during the past two worlds. And you just saved both of us from a nasty fall."
"Yes… but at what cost…?" Juliette muttered as she continued lightly rubbing her chest.
I gave a small, concerned frown. "Is something wrong, Juliette? Do you feel uncomfortable or any kind of pain?"
Juliette nodded a little. "Uncomfortable… likely due to using the power of the Gem of Form… it feels like energy is going out into my core…"
I furrowed my eyebrows at that. Is it possible that by using the gem, she might be absorbing some of it as well?
"Is it hurting you in any way?" I questioned in concern.
Juliette shook her head. "Nope."
"Then let's go find some place to settle down for a while and gather ourselves, then we'll figure out if the gem is doing anything to you," I suggested, not wanting to stay out in the open for any longer than we were now, especially since just being seen by someone we know would end our game.
"Shall we try the opera house again? Or go elsewhere?" Juliette softly inquired.
"Let's try the opera house, it was our safest place in the first world," I answered. "I don't know what's changed in this world though… it looks about the same as the first world did." Thank goodness, I don't think I could handle another Corrupted Danny utopia world.
Chad, for some reason, felt dejected at that comment, which made me raise an eyebrow.
"One thing that's changed is pretty obvious…" Juliette quietly informed before she pointed across the street from us.
I was blinking, unsure if what I was seeing was real or not. There was an anthropomorphic white furred leopard woman walking around town like it was normal. She wasn't a ghost either, there was nothing ghostly about this furry person.
"Either we're in a world of people cosplaying with the most advanced costumes I have ever seen, or we're in a world where animal people are a thing," I remarked.
"Uhhh… then maybe we should avoid the opera house," Juliette suggested. "After all, it looks like it's early morning, before school normally would start. We don't know what time of the year it is, nor the day, so it could be a school day. And the opera house is close to the route Danny normally takes to get to school."
I frowned at that, though Juliette had a point. "Then let's go somewhere more secluded."
I ended up leading us to an alleyway between apartment buildings. Not many people would usually come in here. It was also the most secluded place I could think of that didn't involve us going to the outskirts of town, or the Ghost Zone itself, which would be too dangerous for us to get to right now.
"I know it's a little disgusting, but this is probably the most secluded place we could go to right now," I sighed.
"It's fine, Andy," Juliette assured. "When I first moved into our world's opera house, it wasn't all that much better than this area is."
We both sat down against the walls, taking some time to recuperate now that we were no longer out in the open. I was currently in human form, I noticed. I had likely changed back to human after Freakshow pulled us into this world. Though my core felt a little funny. It was likely still a bit overcharged from the last world.
"I… don't know if I'll be able to use any powers while we're here…" Juliette frowned. "My core feels… like it's… locked in a way? Freakshow might've made it impossible for me to use my powers…"
I frowned. "Why would he do that? Wait… Did he do the same to me?"
I stood up and tested it. I pulled on my core to try to transform. The rings of light appeared on my torso and split horizontally, changing me into my ghost form just fine. I looked down at myself for a moment before I floated a few feet from the ground. I turned myself invisible, then intangible, then I had a ghost ray glow on my hands. After testing out my basic ghost powers, I saw I could still use them just fine, it was only when we were falling that I couldn't.
Knowing that Danny would likely sense me, however, I deactivated my core and shifted back to my human form, landing on my feet since I was floating a second ago.
"It might be the Gem of Form then…" Juliette commented.
I frowned. "You sure that we shouldn't remove it then? It could be messing your core up."
"It… might be a blessing in disguise that my core is being blocked," Juliette remarked. "Actually… can you sense me with your ghost sense?"
I paused for a moment to see if I could sense Juliette's ghost energy. It was difficult, it was still there, but I had to be really looking for it to even notice it. "A little bit, but it's really hard to notice."
"Then like I thought, this might be a blessing in disguise," Juliette stated. "After all, you know what my energy feels like, so you can reach out for it. Danny, someone who has never met me in this world, doesn't. So it's possible he won't be able to sense me."
I nodded. "Yeah, I suppose so… but if the feeling of that gem gets any worse, let me know right away and I'll remove it before it does any harm."
Juliette mumbled something I couldn't hear but nodded a little.
I sat back down, feeling tired, but also too energized to even want to sleep. I didn't like that feeling, it was like I was caught with being too tired and too energized to be comfortable.
"How are you holding up?" Juliette asked me. "You went through a few traps back in that castle in the last world, were you caught by any of them?"
I sighed. "Yes, I was. I ended up getting quite a bit of those micro cores injected into me. I felt so hyperactive, it was difficult to think straight. There was this ghost maid who had me touch this orb that helped take away some of the excess energy, but I still feel a bit overcharged."
Juliette frowned. "Hopefully since you're already a halfa, there won't be any permanent effects. And hopefully that overcharge will fade away quickly."
"Yeah…" I sighed, feeling like I would be freaking out about the whole thing if I wasn't so exhausted as well.
Juliette raised a brow at that. "How can you be both exhausted and overcharged at the same time?"
"It's kind of like how I'm both human and ghost. My ghost side is overcharged, but my human side is exhausted. When was the last time we actually rested, or slept well?" I asked. "I don't think we really rested or ate in that last world. Too busy trying not to get caught."
"I would offer to let you take a nap while I kept watch, but I fear we don't have the time to rest," Juliette said with a small sigh.
"I don't think I'd be able to sleep with how overcharged I am anyways," I sighed. "It'd be a restless nap, if that."
I then looked up for a moment. "What are we supposed to do? How can we find Freakshow in this world if we don't know where to look? We can't even ask for help from our friends or family."
"We can do this without having to get help from anyone." Juliette confidently smiled. "Just ask yourself, where in Amity Park would Freakshow hide? It would be unreasonable of him to be on the opposite side of the planet. In order for the game to be fair, he has to be at least near where we are."
I looked at Juliette, surprised to see that she had gained back some of her confidence, or at least was able to put back the confident mask she had on. I gave Juliette a small smile of my own. "Yeah, it's too soon to give up now."
"You know Freakshow better than I do, Andy," Juliette pointed out. "So can you think of possible places in Amity Park where Freakshow might go? As well as the places he'd least likely go, minus Fenton Works and Casper High."
There were a few places that came to mind. One of the most likely places was where Freakshow had set up Circus Gothica when he came to Amity Park. Though one of the least likely places would be a public place like the Nasty Burger or the mall. I told Juliette about where I thought Freakshow was likely and least likely to go to.
"Then those are the places he's likely at," Juliette acknowledged. "He'd either go to a place where he wouldn't think you would look, IE one of the least likely places for him to be, or he'd be in the places he feels most at home or safe."
I nodded. "That's some clever thinking there, Juliette. I can see why you were considered the strategist to Danny and Echo in the last world."
Juliette looked down at that, seeming a bit upset by what I said.
I frowned. "I'm sorry, Juliette, I didn't mean that in a bad way."
Juliette shook her head. "Let's not talk about the last world… okay?"
I sighed but nodded, the last world wasn't exactly easy to talk about anyways. It did make me wonder though, what made Juliette upset about it. Chad felt troubled about something.
Juliette and I spent about half an hour in the alleyway, trying to figure out what was our best approach to finding Freakshow as discreetly as possible. We decided on checking the area where Freakshow had set up Circus Gothica first, since it was the safest place for us to look around with the least possible risk of someone we knew being there.
Juliette and I looked around carefully before we left the alleyway and walked through town. I almost flinched at every person that moved near us, which was almost every 5 seconds or so. I was still surprised to see animal people walking around us like it was normal.
There were people whispering while pointing at Juliette. Some of these people were animal people, like anthros out of some animes and movies, and others were seemingly half animals. There were people with tails, some fur, animal ears, or a more animal-like face, but the rest of their bodies were human.
"Am I still some kind of rare being…?" Juliette quietly asked as she glanced around. "I heard a couple people say a couple names, but they don't exactly make sense to me. They sound like the names of my parents, but also much different…"
I frowned a little, shaking my head. "I wouldn't know, I'm not familiar with this world…"
We started to walk a little faster.
"Maybe next time I should make us both invisible…" I muttered.
Juliette gave a small nod. "For now, let's just keep moving."
The animal and half animal people kept looking at us, but they thankfully left us alone after a while. We, thankfully, hadn't seen anyone we knew as we were heading towards the train tracks, where I remembered Freakshow had set up his Circus Gothica tent. However, when we got there, there didn't appear to be anything here.
I frowned as we looked around. "Perhaps this was a dead end…"
"Perhaps he is nearby?" Juliette shrugged a little. "I mean there are train tracks nearby and you said he owned a train before. So perhaps it's parked somewhere nearby?"
It might be parked nearby if this world's version of it wasn't derailed or something. I thought to myself. "We can try looking… though I doubt he would make it obvious since he does have the Gem of Fantasy, and clearly knows how to use it, he could've put an illusion over it."
"Well…" Juliette gave a thoughtful look, "Maybe… you could use the Gem of Life to find him? Perhaps it can lock onto his lifesigns?"
I raised an eyebrow at Juliette. "I don't even know how to activate it other than when we used it to lure Freakshow."
"I mean… it could just be a conscious desire kind of thing," Juliette guessed. "I'm pretty sure that's how my gem activated."
"Maybe… I don't know if the Gem of Life could be used for tracking, but I guess it couldn't hurt to try…" I remarked hesitantly.
I turned my right hand intangible and started to reach toward my stomach.
Juliette held up a hand. "Don't pull it out. Remember, we don't know if he could reach out and grab the gem if it's outside of us. I was able to use the gem while it was in me, so I'm fairly sure that you could do the same."
I frowned at that. "But it might be risky to use the gem while it's inside me. I mean I don't know what it would do. What if it makes my insides alive? As in sentient or something? Or what if it does the opposite and sucks the life out of me? Or what if it messes with my core to the point of destabilization? Or-"
"Andy, please relax," Juliette interrupted. "You're being uncharacteristically paranoid and illogical. If the gem is willpower activated, then none of that would happen unless you wanted it to happen."
"I'm uneasy about the whole powerful, reality-bending artifact being inside me to begin with. And I'm not that much more comfortable with the idea of using it while it's still inside me," I grumbled. "Too bad Freakshow isn't a ghost, it'd be so much easier to locate him even if he tried to hide his ecto-signature…"
Juliette's eyes widened a little before frowning. "No, that wouldn't work. For one, you wouldn't wish that upon anyone. For another, you don't know how to use the Gem of Life."
"I meant with my ghost sense, it'd be easier to find him without needing to use the Gem of Life," I clarified. "And… no, I guess I wouldn't wish Freakshow to be a ghost, because that would mean he'd be dead. Though I can't say the same for Freakshow himself… from what I could tell about him, he might have ghost envy."
"I was talking to myself when I said 'no, that wouldn't work'," Juliette informed before she tilted her head a little. "What do you mean by ghost envy?"
"I studied a little bit about ghost envy with Jazz," I replied. "It's when someone shows a lot of jealousy towards ghosts and their powers. Freakshow seemed to have shown some of that jealousy when he was fighting with me and Danny in our ghost forms. The comment he made about how teens are becoming ghosts these days because it was all the rage already showed signs of jealousy."
"I don't know him all that much, so I can't really say anything on the topic," Juliette sheepishly admitted.
"But…" I realized something. "That could also mean that Freakshow may potentially be in, or at least go, to the Ghost Zone. Where's a better place to observe the very thing you wish you could be? You go straight to where that thing resides."
"But if he has the Gem of Fantasy, why not simply make himself a ghost?" Juliette pointedly asked. "If he has fantasized it as you say, then it would likely be easy to use the Gem of Fantasy to make it a reality."
"The Gem of Fantasy can only do so much on its own. He's already using it to its fullest by taking us to these different worlds for his game," I pointed out. "Perhaps it would take more than a desire or fantasy for him to become a ghost, or at least a powerful ghost. He could potentially use the gem to make himself ghost-like, so he'd be 'one of the ghosts' while he observes the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. He also knows that it would be really difficult for us to follow him to the Ghost Zone, and it's not breaking the rules since the Ghost Portal is in Amity Park, and therefore, the Ghost Zone is within the area."
"So… we should probably find out what day it is, see if it's a school day, wait until Danny and Jazz are at school, and then come up with some kind of… thing that makes Maddie and Jack leave Fenton Works as well?" Juliette surmised.
"Assuming that everyone is the same as they were in our world and in the first world, that's the plan," I answered.
Juliette suddenly started giggling after a few seconds.
"What are you giggling about?" I inquired.
"Well… this world has those animal people and half animal people… so what if Danny, and the rest of the family, are animal people?~" Juliette asked with a smile. "Just imagine Danny with fur and a fluffy tail. It fits him so well!"
I blinked, and blinked again. Suddenly, my mind immediately imagined Danny as a black and white furred anthro cat, with big adorable blue eyes staring back at me. I could totally hear him purring as 'I' started to pet his head. It probably didn't help that I saw Danny purring when Clockwork was petting him in that first world.
Chad was suddenly feeling incredibly embarrassed and indignant.
"Oh gosh, now you got me thinking of Danny as a cat person, a literal cat person," I sighed, trying not to laugh.
"I was more imagining a dog person," Juliette informed. "Danny is excitable and energetic, like a dog. When I think of a cat…" Juliette started laughing again.
"What? What is it?" I asked, seeing her laughing.
"When I think of a cat… I think of you; relaxed, logical, and calm," Juliette explained after a few minutes of laughter.
Now Chad felt humored himself while I just stared at Juliette.
"... I'm not a cat person…" I eventually said.
"There could be a you of this world who is a cat person," Juliette pointed out. "After all, I could see Maddie as a cat and Jack as a dog. If they were that, then there would possibly be a chance of one twin being a dog and the other a cat, if they had twins. Which… if Maddie is a cat, would be more likely as cats normally have litters."
"Alright, that's enough speculations," I grumbled, trying not to blush at the idea of me being a cat, let alone my mom being a cat and having large 'litters', that made me shiver. "Let's just get out of here and try to find out what day it is."
Juliette gave a nod to that. "After you."
I turned around for a moment before realizing something. "You taught me how to hide my ecto-signature. During training, Danny had to really hone in on me to find me, and that's if he knew he had to find me. Perhaps I could do that again while flying us around town invisibly? We'd be able to get around quicker and find out what we would need to find out, and hopefully the Danny of this world hadn't been trained enough to sense me while I'm hiding my ecto-signature."
Juliette gave a thoughtful look for a moment. "That… might work. It could also get rid of that excess energy of yours."
I nodded before I looked around to make sure we were absolutely alone, and also to make sure there wasn't a hidden camera somewhere since I was 90% sure that was what got the Guys in White's attention on my family in the first place. After a thorough check of the area, I deemed it safe enough to transform. I tugged on my core's power, causing a familiar ring of light to appear on my torso, which split horizontally, turning me into my ghost form.
Now as a ghost, I held out a gloved hand for Juliette to take. The goat girl smiled a little as she took my hand. I turned both of us invisible before I flew us into the sky, keeping my ecto-signature hidden. I was thankful for the stealth training, it was definitely going to come in handy now. In the first world, I couldn't use my powers, in the second world, I had to hide my ghost form and my ghost powers. It felt freeing to be able to use them again, even if it was just for stealth reasons.
I flew us through Amity Park, heading for the opera house this time. It was already noon from what I could tell, so it should be safe for us to check out the opera house now. However, when we got there, I noticed something strange about the opera house. We landed outside the door, but I still kept us invisible just in case someone we knew was nearby.
"The… opera house looks… clean… and lived in…" I noted as I was looking at the not-very-abandoned opera house.
"Then… maybe we shouldn't go in…" Juliette said in a concerned tone. "Something about the place feels… off… it's strangely somewhat familiar… almost like the magic of a powerful mage. But… it's way stronger."
"Well… there goes our safe haven then…" I sighed. "But who would be living here? … Unless there's another version of you living here as well?"
"I don't think there is another me here. I don't sense my magic anywhere nearby," Juliette replied.
I couldn't help but frown a little, there was someone living here for sure, but they were likely not home right now. I did feel some residual ghost energy coming from the opera house though. Whoever was living here was likely a ghost or had ghostly traits. But if it's not another version of Juliette, who else could it be? It may not even be someone we know.
Still holding Juliette's furry hand, I flew us back into the sky.
"Great… we don't have shelter now," I sighed as I was flying us.
"We don't really need a shelter though," Juliette pointed out. "We don't have time to waste on resting."
"It would still be nice to have a place to go to though…" I replied. "We still don't know what day it is and how long we'll have to wait for a good opportunity to go into the Ghost Zone. We could try going to the school, that would be the easiest way to find out what day it is without going into another person's house. Or I guess we could try a store and see if they have a calendar on their wall or something."
"Might be best to go with a store that nobody we know would go to," Juliette suggested.
"Alright…" I looked down. "There's a Petsmart down there, we can look in there first."
I flew us down, turning us intangible to phase into the Petsmart. I saw that we had landed in front of the hamster exhibit and found myself smiling. These little critters were so adorable to watch, it made me wish we had a hamster for a pet.
"This looks like a good place to find the date," Juliette remarked as she looked around. "We could ask one of the employees, so long as they aren't someone that could make us lose."
"Yeah…" I agreed before I walked us to an isle. "But first I need to find a place to change back."
"You could try a restroom," Juliette offered.
"Yeah, I'm looking for one," I replied before I let go of her, which returned her to visibility. "For now, how about you look around? I'll meet up with you after I change back."
Juliette gave a nod. "I'll likely head up to the front after looking around for an employee for a little bit."
I nodded to Juliette before I walked around on my own, looking for a bathroom. Thankfully I was able to find some signs that were pointing me to the bathroom. I phased into the men's room, and went into an empty stall. Once the door was closed, I shifted back to my human form, making sure to drop my invisibility as well. I then opened the door and walked out like a normal person.
When I left the bathroom, I began to look around at my leisure. I always liked animals, but we could never get a pet because Mom and Dad's work were too dangerous for animals.
"Hello there, can I help you look for something?~" A cheerful sounding voice greeted from behind me, making me jump as I didn't hear anyone coming up behind me.
I turned around and saw that the person who spooked me was an anthro fox. She had black and silver fur. Though what caught my attention about this fox girl was that she had one pink eye and one red eye. She was wearing a Petsmart uniform of a blue shirt with the logo of the company and a pair of beige khakis.
"Oh, uh… hello. I was just browsing," I answered the employee fox girl, it was still odd to be talking to a non-ghost anthropomorphic person.
"Oh? Is there anything you were browsing for specifically?" The fox girl asked.
I looked around a little and saw that the fox was wearing a nametag that read 'Juliette'. For a moment, my heart stopped and my stomach dropped. I was worried for a second that this was another version of my Juliette, and I just lost us the game.
"Are you… okay?" The fox girl frowned. "You look like you just remembered you left your stove running… no your expression is more of 'oh gosh, I just realized I made a monumental, potentially life threatening, mistake!' look."
I blinked, realizing that this Juliette fox girl was still talking to me, and that I hadn't been taken by Freakshow due to losing the game. 'Juliette' wasn't an uncommon name, but it still took me by surprise to find someone else with the same name.
"Hello…?" 'Juliette' waved a hand in front of me. "Oh geez, perhaps I should call an ambulance…"
"N-no!" I quickly spoke up before sheepishly rubbing the back of my head. "S-sorry, I… uh… just remembered something. Uh… anyways, I…"
I then remembered why we came here, and decided to ask the employee since she was here. "This might sound like an odd question, but… what's the day of the week today?"
"Wow… you sure I shouldn't call an ambulance?" 'Juliette' questioned, her expression filled with worry.
I frowned. "I'm fine, I just need a reminder on what today is, that's all."
"Well… okay." 'Juliette' frowned. "Well, it's currently Thursday."
So that means tomorrow morning is probably our best bet to try to get to the Ghost Zone and find Freakshow… I noted to myself. "Thank you."
I was starting to walk away before 'Juliette' reached out and grabbed my arm.
"I'm sorry, until I can be sure that you don't need medical attention, I can't let you out of sight," 'Juliette' explained when I turned back to look at her. "You are experiencing symptoms of some kind of brain injury, and it would not be right for me to just leave you."
Chad gave a surprised and confused feeling, and I shared those feelings myself.
"What? I don't have brain injury, I only asked you what day of the week it was," I replied.
"After you spaced out for a few moments," 'Juliette' argued. "You also had that look like you forgot or figured out something that's really important to you. In a way, it looked like you were having an existential crisis."
"That's nothing to get worried about," I sighed. "I'm fine, okay? Look, I have a friend who's waiting for me, and I need to get to her before she starts to worry."
"Then I will take you to go see her," 'Juliette' informed.
I grumbled a little at the fox girl's insistence on staying with me. Note to self; don't show any surprised emotions or ask dumb questions in front of this fox girl…
I remembered Juliette… my Juliette said she was going to go to the front, so I walked there with this fox 'Juliette' girl walking beside me. For an employee, she seemed far too comfortable helping out a supposed 'brain injured' kid she had never met before. It made me wonder if she was just naturally nosy.
"My name is Juliette Rosescale by the way," 'Juliette' introduced herself. "What's your friend's name?"
"Her name is also Juliette," I answered. "She's…" What am I supposed to call anthro people? I don't want to offend her by saying Juliette is an anthro goat or something… "She's a… white furred nubian goat person."
"Goat… person. So she's a white furred chienthrope?" 'Juliette' asked.
"Chienthrope…?" I muttered in question.
Chad was just as confused as I was.
"Wow… you really must have a brain injury if you can't remember what chienthropes are," 'Juliette' commented. "They've been around for years. They're the people who are half human and half anthro. Usually the children of a human and an anthro."
Oh crud… I shouldn't have made that sound like a question! So… that's what those half human and half animal people are called? Chienthrope? That's a new one. And I guess they really do call themselves anthros. I frowned.
"Hmmm… well… perhaps it's not a brain injury but a medical condition…" 'Juliette' muttered aloud. "I'll have to ask his friend… if she really exists."
I narrowed my eyes a little. "Juliette should be around here somewhere… and no, she's not a chien… thrope, she's an anthro."
"An anthro nubian goat? That sounds kinda like someone I know that teaches at the local high school," 'Juliette' remarked.
So there are more of them here? I wondered to myself.
I had to send out my ghost senses to try to locate my Juliette. I couldn't help but notice two very faint ghost auras in this store, one of them wasn't too far off, it was definitely my Juliette since I recognized her ecto-signature. But the other one I wasn't familiar with, and it felt very close. I turned my head over to where I was sensing that other ecto-signature, and my eyes landed on the anthro fox employee. Wait… is she a ghost?
"Let's see…" 'Juliette' looked around, not noticing my gaze. "I don't see your friend, are you sure she said she'd be up here near the front?"
I wasn't sure what to think of this 'Juliette', especially if she was a ghost in disguise. She didn't appear to be hostile, and I knew plenty of ghosts that were living in Amity Park that just wanted to live out their afterlives in peace. I decided that unless 'Juliette' gave me a reason to be wary, I should just treat her as normal.
"She's likely around here…" I said as I started to follow the ecto-signature that was my Juliette. "I think she's somewhere in this direction."
"Lead on." 'Juliette' smiled. "Oh, what's your name, by the way? Do you remember your name?"
I grumbled. "I don't have brain injury or amnesia. Yes, I 'remember' my name."
"Then what is it?" 'Juliette' asked.
I was about to tell her before I stopped. I was in a precarious situation here, if I told her my name, then there was even more of a chance someone I know might try to look for me. Especially if I told her my last name. But I wouldn't be able to come up with an effective name without making myself look worse.
"It's Andy," I answered, hoping that the fox employee wouldn't ask for my last name too.
"Oh? Well that's a nice name," 'Juliette' responded.
"I guess…" I replied, since I felt 'Andy' was more of a common, generic name.
"If you had forgotten your name, I probably would've started calling you John or Chad," 'Juliette' commented.
'Chad' felt humored from that comment while I inwardly rolled my eyes.
"That won't be necessary," I sighed as I kept walking towards my Juliette's ecto-signature.
I was relieved to finally see the white fur of my Juliette, who was looking at some dog toys.
"Ah, there she is." I smiled before I called out to her. "Hey, Juliette!"
My Juliette stood up and turned to look at me, seeing the fox girl beside me as well. "Oh, hello, Andy. Who is this?"
"She's an employee of this Petsmart," I answered before looking at 'Juliette'. "Her name is Juliette too…"
I stepped aside to let the two Juliettes greet each other.
"Ahh, hello there." My Juliette smiled. "My name is Juliette Quartz."
"Very nice to meet you, Juliette~" The fox girl giggled. "My name is Juliette as well, though it is Juliette Rosescale. So tell me, what's an anthro ghost and a living boy doing together?""
My Juliette raised a brow before glancing at me questioningly.
I frowned a little, before I walked up to my Juliette and whispered to her. "I think she's a ghost. I sensed that she had an ecto-signature, even if it is faint."
"I'm actually a half ghost," 'Juliette' informed. "One of the few in the world. And before you ask, no I'm not somehow related to Danny Phantom."
My Juliette and I jumped from 'Juliette's answer.
'Juliette' pointed at her ears.
"Heh… so you are…" I smiled nervously, realizing that since she could hear me, she likely knew I was half ghost myself or a ghost at least with how I was speaking about sensing ecto-signatures. There's another halfa in this realm? How many halfas are we going to run into before this game is over? I feel like there was an overflow of them in the last world.
"Are you two okay?" 'Juliette' asked.
"Yes, we are," My Juliette answered. "As for why we are together, we are friends and allies."
"Are you sure you're okay?" 'Juliette' raised a brow. "You two are both a bit scratched up, wearing somewhat damaged clothes, and there's what looks like a gas mask partially sticking out of Andy's jacket pocket."
I looked down at myself. My poor dragon t-shirt was a bit torn and dirty. And I had forgotten about that gas mask.
"You two look like you could use a bit of a safe haven," 'Juliette' continued. "Perhaps, if you don't have anywhere to go, you can come to my place."
"Wait… not that we're ungrateful, but why are you offering to help us?" My Juliette asked.
"Because I can tell you two have something going on and it might not be wise to just let you stay anywhere," 'Juliette' informed.
I suppose I couldn't blame this fox girl for being concerned about me earlier. Now that I was looking at myself and my Juliette, we did look like we'd been through a warzone, which we kinda did in the previous world. I wondered how bad I looked, and if there were bags under my eyes due to the lack of a restful sleep in the past… however long it had been since this game started. My sense of time was completely thrown off by now.
I looked at my Juliette, who looked just as wary as I felt. It wasn't that we didn't trust this 'Juliette', but we had been screwed over before by trusting someone we thought was trustworthy. Looking at you 'Echo'.
'Juliette' raised a brow at that. "Look, if I wanted to cause you any harm, would I really have gone to the trouble of helping you two when you're at a low point? You both need time to recuperate, you need food, and you need clean clothes and a shower."
Those sounded heavenly to me right now. It felt kind of sad that after a… few days… maybe… I already felt like those simple things in life, like hot food, a shower, and new clothes were a luxury. It made me wish I could control my future visions so I could see if this would lead us into a trap like Echo did. I was so tempted to take 'Juliette' up on her offer. But I had to stay in control of myself.
"Would you mind if Juliette… uh… my Juliette and I talked it over first?" I suggested.
"Take as much time as you need, I need to go feed the hamsters," 'Juliette' answered. "Oh, and for the sake of ease, how about you call me Rosescale or Rose?"
"That would be a good idea," My Juliette responded. "Thank you for your offer and we will discuss our options."
"If you don't mind, I think Rose sounds pretty on you, like your eyes," I complimented.
Rose rolled her eyes a little. "Complimenting me won't get you anything extra, except maybe a gift for your friend."
I suppose I wasn't much of a romantic, but I did actually like Rose's eyes, they looked unique in a good way. "Uh… sorry then."
I turned to Juliette before we walked away a little, feeling like we needed the conversation to be a little more private.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Rose was walking back the way we came, not seeming to have much of a care in the world. She thankfully didn't look like she was in a bad mood, so I hoped my compliment wasn't taken as an insult. I couldn't help but notice that Rose's tail was very fluffy and bushy, I didn't think it was normal for a fox to have a tail that big and fluffy, but I decided I didn't know this world enough to really question it.
After I felt like Rose was far enough away, I sighed as I looked at Juliette. "What do you think, Juliette? Would it be wise to take Rose up on her offer?"
"We don't really have much of a choice," Juliette responded. "We have no safe haven here. We do need to rest and recuperate. While we don't have all the time in the world… it may be necessary to take some time to fully recharge. However… perhaps you should not ask my advice… after all, I was the one who first suggested we follow Echo in the last world."
"It wasn't your fault, Juliette, neither of us could've known that Echo was corrupted," I assured. "Well… if anyone should've known, it should've been me since I could see into the future."
"Except your visions haven't been helping all that much lately, have they?" Juliette pointedly asked. "You don't have much control over them."
"I just meant that I'm as much to blame for what happened," I sighed. "Though I guess Echo was a pretty good actor… I also didn't want to see myself as corrupted."
"At least we know Rose isn't someone who can make us lose the game," Juliette remarked. "After all, we would've lost by now if she was one of the people that counted as this world's 'protagonists'."
"Yeah… we don't really know her, and that's part of the problem. We don't know what she really wants, or if we could really trust her," I said, before giving a tired sigh. "I… really don't want to have to be wary though. That last world took a lot out of me. This world seems to be more at peace though… and it would be nice to have a place to get cleaned up, and get some real food. Oh, and today is Thursday, meaning we'll have to wait until tomorrow to get to the Ghost Zone to look for Freakshow anyways."
"Hmmm… perhaps we shouldn't go tomorrow," Juliette replied. "On most Fridays, your parents are at home for the most part. And the weekends definitely wouldn't work as someone is usually always there."
"There is a chance the family could decide to go out together to eat at a nice restaurant or do an activity, mostly ghost hunting, though it is a slim chance," I admitted.
"There is that chance, yes," Juliette acknowledged. "However, I do not believe that it would be wise to go to Fenton Works tomorrow without at least watching the place for a while. Make sure everyone goes out and nobody goes in. We also don't know for sure if Freakshow is in the Ghost Zone. Like I said before, to make the game fair, he has to be somewhere nearby."
"Yes, I know. That still doesn't exclude the Ghost Zone, at least the area near the Ghost Portal. But it would be wise to stick around here and keep looking for a while. Having a place to return to to rest and recharge would definitely help though," I acknowledged.
"Then I suggest we take Rose up on her offer," Juliette recommended. "To be safe, we can sleep in shifts so there is always someone who can keep an eye on her."
"Do you need to sleep?" I asked, remembering that Juliette didn't sleep in the first world when I tried to sleep.
"Not normally… but I have felt drained as of late. I need some time to meditate at the very least," Juliette answered. "And I either need to go to the Ghost Zone to absorb ectoplasm or eat living food, as I can survive off both."
I remembered that ghosts did eat actual food when we were at Aragon's castle, though it still surprises me whenever a ghost mentioned they could eat living food.
"Alright, then we'll take up Rose's offer. Let's just hope it doesn't come back and bite us in the butt later," I stated, starting to feel a little woozy.
The extra boost of energy was starting to wear off, and the lack of proper sleep, not to mention going on for almost 24/7, as well as the extra boost of energy itself, was starting to hit me hard. I hoped I wouldn't pass out suddenly, especially out in the open where I would draw a lot of attention. I could feel Chad's concern wash over me.
"Have you two reached a decision yet?" Rose asked from behind me, making me jump once more as I again hadn't heard or sensed her approaching.
"D-do you enjoy sneaking up on me?" I hissed.
"A little," Rose chuckled.
I frowned a little.
Juliette decided to speak up before I could.
"We have reached a decision," Juliette stated. "We'd like to take you up on your offer for rest, food, a shower, and some new clothes. Though if possible, could we get our current clothes cleaned and repaired?"
"I can probably work that out for you," Rose answered. "And I'm glad to hear you'll take me up on my offer. I have about 10 more minutes in my shift, so how about you look around and play with some of the animals while waiting? Or you could look for items that are actually sold for anthros like yourself."
"Oh?" Juliette raised a brow.
"Nail, claw, and talon trimmers, fur and tail brushes, and things like that," Rose informed. "If there's anything that you want, I don't mind buying it for you. I have an employee discount as well as a bunch of money saved up."
Juliette looked a little surprised. I wasn't sure if Juliette ever got into using nail trimmers, or whatever she would use for herself, I had never seen her use… any of the accessories most girls would use.
"Sounds interesting, I'll have to look around," Juliette replied. "Perhaps you'd like to join me, Andy? Or would you rather go play with the animals like Rose recommended?"
"I'll go play with the animals, you go ahead and do some shopping," I chuckled. "It might be cathartic to just relax and do whatever we want while we're here."
Juliette gave a small nod before she walked off.
I walked through the Petsmart, looking at the other animals. I looked at the birds, though their loud chirping usually hurt my ears. I looked at the lizards in their tanks, the fishes swimming around in their tanks, and I saw some cages with cute cats in them. I could see some were big adult cats that were lazily lying on their little cat beds. I could also see some kittens that were playing with each other. It was all adorable.
I then saw some kind of big area, there were some dogs roaming around there. I smiled as I looked at the dogs. One small dog in particular caught my attention. The dog was a chihuahua, its fur was black and white. It was standing on its hind legs, looking at me while wagging its tail.
"Aww, aren't you a cute one?" I cooed.
Chad was feeling joyful as well.
"She's quite the playful one," Rose suddenly said from behind me once more, though this time I managed not to jump. "Her name is Panda. She was to be adopted at one point, however the person never showed up. So instead the store owner decided to adopt Panda and make her the store dog."
"Oh, really? Panda seems like such a friendly dog," I noted. "Also, will you stop sneaking up on me?"
"Oh she definitely is," Rose confirmed. "As for sneaking up on you, no."
I grumbled. I might have to leave my ghost sense radar on whenever Rose was around. Though now I realized that I couldn't sense Rose even though she was right beside me.
I decided to turn my attention back to Panda, seeing that she was still begging.
"Would you like to go into the enclosure and play with her a little?" Rose offered.
"Yeah," I answered. "Just for a little bit." At least she seems more tolerable than Cujo.
Chad gave a feeling of agreement.
"Then come over here," Rose instructed before she led me over to a double gated area. The first wall that went around the entire enclosure was a tall wall that not even the most athletic dogs could jump over. The second one inside the enclosure was something that a person could step over.
When I was in the enclosure, since Rose stayed outside, Panda ran up to me right away. She was happily panting while her tongue hung out, and her tail wagged. I slowly held out my hand to her, which she sniffed a little then started to lick it right away. Panda's tongue was very smooth and wet. I thought it would be gross, but the licking felt kind of good. I used my other hand to start petting her, which made her tail wag more. Panda stood on her hind legs again and put her front paws on my leg to keep herself balanced, and on me.
"Yeah, she definitely likes you," Rose chuckled.
"Well, I'm glad she does." I smiled. "I like her too."
"Do you have a dog where you come from?" Rose asked.
"No, sadly I don't," I sighed. "My parents' work is too dangerous to keep a pet around."
Panda worked her way up to my chest when I kneeled down to pet her more, she was trying to lick my face now.
"Oh? Well that's too bad," Rose replied. "Though you could probably find a pet that would thrive off that dangerous environment. With how technology is getting, you could probably get a robot pet."
I raised an eyebrow at that. I knew of toy robot pets, but those were never quite as advanced as the commercials made one think. Maybe this world's technology is just more advanced. Though… wasn't there that super robot pet back at Valerie's dad's place of work? I wonder if it's going to be released to the public soon…?
As I was playing with Panda, I felt a wave of dizziness for a moment. I had to shake it off.
"You okay? You seem a bit wobbly," Rose stated. "If you're feeling unwell, you could sit down over on the bench by the wall."
"Yeah… maybe I will," I replied before standing up and started walking to the bench.
Panda trailed after me cutely. When I sat down, Panda looked at me with her puppy dog eyes.
"What?" I asked her.
"She wants to be in your lap," Rose informed.
"But you hardly know me," I remarked.
"It doesn't matter if she knows you, she's already decided that she likes you," Rose responded with a chuckle.
I sighed a little, before chuckling. "Alright, just this once then."
I bent down and picked up Panda before putting her on my lap. Panda's tail was thumping against my legs, but I didn't mind it, it felt kinda nice actually.
When I blinked open my eyes, I realized I had likely dozed off. I frowned, hoping that I hadn't fallen asleep for too long. I rubbed my eyes, before realizing a warm weight was on my lap. I looked down at my lap, seeing Panda had curled up on my lap. I couldn't help but smile a little at that.
"I know it's a bit of a hassle, but could you please stay at-" I heard Rose's voice was asking before she was interrupted.
"Don't worry, Juliette, I already know what's going on. You'll have the place all to yourself for as long as you need." A familiar voice stated.
"Thank you, Andy." Rose's voice gratefully said in response.
I gasped when I heard her say 'Andy'. I picked up Panda, which she lazily leaned against my chest as I carefully looked towards the source of the voice, glad that the enclosure was mostly made of some clear material, though it definitely wasn't glass.
I could see who Rose was talking to, and he wasn't an anthro or a chienthrope. He was definitely me, a very human, most likely half ghost, me. I paled before I quickly got down on the floor, cuddling with Panda.
"Heh, I guess to this world I might be considered a deuteragonist," Rose chuckled.
I heard the other me let out a sigh. "If you're a deuteragonist, then I'm a cannon fodder. Though apparently it would be game over if I ever laid eyes on them."
"Which is why I'm making sure you aren't looking at the enclosure," Rose replied. "It's why I grabbed onto your shoulder and turned you to look away as soon as you arrived."
"I know," The other me chuckled. "Well, I wish you luck then. You're likely gonna have your hands full for a little while. I'll also try to make sure I keep the others away from them as much as possible."
What…? Why is he talking like he already knows what's going on? I frowned to myself. It's almost like with Echo, he knew what was going on too before we even met him.
"I already got Anise to agree to my request," Rose commented. "I'm surprised she agreed to it so easily, but she said she had a new little toy she wanted to play with."
"I… feel really bad for that 'little toy'..." The other me said in a way that made me imagine him shivering.
"Ehh, I don't really care, so long as Anise's attention is off me for a bit," Rose admitted with a chuckle.
"Oh, I also recommend that you get them to your house as soon as you possibly can," The other me suddenly warned before he started to whisper so I couldn't hear what he said.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll take care of it," Rose replied.
"Anything else you want to say before I leave you to it?" The other Andy inquired.
"Your fly is down~" Rose snickered.
"What!? How long has it been like that?! Did you let me go through the whole conversation like that!?" The other Andy exclaimed.
I raised an eyebrow. I would have definitely been embarrassed as well if my fly was down that whole time, though I was pretty surprised at the overreaction, he was nearly shouting it. Though from what I could hear from Rose's snickering, she teases him a lot. I guess it would explain why she enjoys sneaking up on me. She and this world's Andy have some kind of close relationship.
But… wait… does that mean she knows about me being from another world? I wondered.
"Oh boy, it seems we've given the other Andy some wrong impressions," Rose commented.
"I blame you for having this conversation so close to the enclosure," The other Andy grumbled.
"By the way, I think he's the version of you that didn't end up in the Void," Rose stated.
"Really? How can you tell? … Did you… you know?" The other me questioned.
"Because he isn't freaking out like you do," Rose chuckled. "And he also doesn't have any Void energy in him… well there's a trace, but it's extremely tiny."
"I see… he must've come from the universe where Danny successfully saved him from falling into the Void then…" The other me sighed.
I frowned at this. They definitely knew who I was. Wait, does that mean… this is the universe where I fell into the Void? But… he's right there, he's not in the Void.
"Yep, though he's also from the past from what I can tell," Rose informed before she began whispering. After whispering for a little bit, she spoke back up. "You better get going, I've gotta clock out, buy the other Andy's friend what she wants, and then take the both of them home."
"Okay, you do that, and good luck," The other me chuckled before I heard footsteps going somewhere, until they slowly faded away.
I was a little startled when Panda's tongue started licking my chin. I chuckled a little, glad to see she had been nice and quiet when I was hiding, even though I apparently didn't need to hide. Like with Echo before him, this Andy knew what was going on. It was possible this Andy learned how to control his future visions as well, which made me a little envious.
"Hey, Andy, hope you're awake!" Rose said after she walked over.
From what I could tell, a couple minutes had passed, meaning Rose had probably clocked out.
"I'll be right back after I buy Juliette the items I saw her looking at. When I'm done with that, I'll come back here and we can head to my place. Please try to stay awake," Rose requested. "I'd rather you not pass out in the dog enclosure."
I stood up on my feet when I deemed it safe. I was still holding Panda. I saw Rose walking away, likely to but the items Juliette had interest in. Pass out? Was it because I dozed off for a minute? … How much does Rose know though? She… made it sound like she knew what I was thinking… and that other Andy… did he really fall into the Void? But why is he here if he was in the Void? Did someone take him out somehow? … Ugh, I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!
I then felt really dizzy, my eyelids felt heavy. I shook my head, not wanting to suddenly pass out. Panda started licking my face again. "Good dog, please keep licking me to help keep me awake."
"We're back!~" Rose announced as she walked into the enclosure and came over to me. "Time to put Panda down and come home with me so you can rest. If you need to, you can lean on myself or your Juliette on the way there."
I looked at Rose for a moment, before I pet Panda. "I have to go now, okay, Panda? You be a good girl and stay here."
I put Panda down, she gave me a small whine, but she sat down.
"I'll come play with you on my next shift, Panda," Rose promised.
Panda started wagging her tail again. If I ever did get lucky enough to get a dog, I would want one like Panda.
I walked over to Rose, heading out of the enclosure.
haloguardian452: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, don't worry, Corrupted Andy was right there. XP It's an interesting take, having both brothers being corrupted instead of just one or the other. But they still decided to play fair at least.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It was SOOOOOO much fun to do that twist. We were holding out hope that we'd be able to pull the carpet from underneath everyone and, for the most part, it looks like we succeeded.
RedHood001: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, the world has been twisted quite a bit. I do like how so many people seem to like how Danny and Andy were actually corrupted here instead of it just being Danny. And showing how Andy played others for fools, showing just what kind of person he'd be if he ever got corrupted. And also how dangerous the combination of Danny and Andy could be if they ever turned rogue/evil.
The god complex mostly came from their mindset of wanting to make the world a better place, which is different depending on who you ask. Since Danny and Andy have such powers, of course they would try it, and mostly succeed, or I guess, succeeding since it's an ongoing process. But yeah, you can tell they're having fun but also overworking themselves, they are still Danny and Andy even while corrupted.
That last test was something Onyx and I had to talk about a few times before actually doing it. We wanted to make sure the test was actually thought provoking, while also fitting into the story and Andy's character, what his greatest test would be. A test of oneself is usually one's greatest test. As for exploring more of these types of villains, we usually like complex villains like these, and who knows, we might do more in the future. :3
Dp-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Really happy you enjoyed those tests, it was super fun to come up with those. Andy needed to see how his brother truly was and that Danny isn't some invincible hero. Even the strongest of heroes have some weakness, like Superman and Kryptonite. I do think that Andy acknowledging Corrupted Danny could be a step towards getting over his fear, but Andy will still always have some level of fear in regards to Corrupted Danny. It's similar to how there are some fears out there that will still be present in someone even if they have gotten over it for the most part.
DarkFoxKit: At least the fear isn't crippling Andy like it used to. It shows how much he's grown as a character since the beginning of We Are Phantoms.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Oh, definitely. He's gotten to a point where he won't let it stop him, which shows the progress he's made and the determination he has to become a stronger person.
DarkFoxKit: Heh, also, considering some of the stories I've read from you, Dp-Marvel94, I figured you would like the whole Andy talks to himself thing. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And yes, the twist at the end, where Echo turned out to be just as corrupted as his brother got a lot of people by surprise despite the hints we gave.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': One thing I do want to mention about 'evil Andy' is that he's simply evil in our Andy's eyes. In his eyes, he's doing what makes sense to help the world. Sure, he's being a tiny bit cruel by playing the game with the resistance. But at the same time, if he hadn't gotten involved then it would be likely that a lot of people would've fully died from the chaos and aggression that would've followed the fusion of the Ghost Zone and Amity Park (or the entire world). Glad you enjoyed the twist and yeah, hindsight definitely helps you see things you wouldn't notice in the moment. Like the hints we gave about Echo.
Mana: DarkFoxKit: Seems we surprised just about everyone with that plot twist. XD We did put in subtle hints though, so you can go back and look at them if you want to see how we built up Echo being Corrupted Andy. Also, yeah, Danny mentioned Nocturne despite our characters not having met him yet. Juliette may or may not know about him already though, since Nocturne is one of those Ancients who's as old as time.
I liked Gravity Falls, it was definitely an interesting show, and something I would like to use elements of in my own stories. Though I doubt I'll ever do a true crossover with it these days. Crossovers are a bit complicated, and I'm already doing one with Danny Phantom and Digimon, and that's taking a lot of effort to do. I think I prefer focusing on one franchise as opposed to multiple.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Fox has yet to see Owl House and I do have it on my list… my long… long list of things to show her. And I hope to someday watch 'Star vs' with Fox. From stuff I had seen on Twitter and other places, which may have spoiled me a little, it looks pretty amazing in the later seasons.
DarkFoxKit: As for your ideas… they're very interesting. Perhaps something you could write in the future if that's what you plan to do. However, if you have ideas, you should PM one of us about it instead of writing it in the reviews. Reviews are meant for you to share your thoughts on the story you read, not ideas on something completely different. PM us if you have ideas, and we can talk about it in a more direct way.
Jewel moonstone: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Tilts head in confusion* I'm… not exactly sure what you're saying here. That you can't believe what you read? That you couldn't wait to read it? Your comment is unfortunately a bit all over.
DarkFoxKit: If you're writing with your phone, you should try to double check what you wrote so people can understand what you're writing. ^^'
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Autocorrect is a blessing and a curse. However it's up to the person on the phone to make sure what they wrote is what they meant. However if you didn't write this on your phone… then I'm not sure.