DarkFoxKit: *Was relaxing, reading some fanfiction online, when suddenly, a certain dragoness came up from behind her*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Hey Fox~ Whatcha doin there? *Was waiting for Fox to turn around*
DarkFoxKit: Just reading. *Hasn't turned around yet from the computer screen*
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Well how about you take a break from reading and come with me?~ *Grabs Fox and puts a blindfold on her before carrying her off somewhere*
DarkFoxKit: *Yelps from being grabbed and blindfolded* Hey! What are you doing?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Just relax. It's not like I'm gonna auction you off to the readers or something~ *Stops and plops Fox down on a chair* Ready?~
DarkFoxKit: For what?
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': This! *Pulls off the blindfold*
Onyx, Andy, and even a familiar pink cat: Surprise! *Sets off little confetti shooters*
*DarkFoxKit screamed and fell back on the chair before seeing what lay before her. There was a decorated living room with balloons, cake, food, and more. There were numerous figures in the back, minding their own business*
DarkFoxKit: What is all this? It's not my birthday.
Andy: We're celebrating the fact you're done with your treatment.
Mew: We know it took a lot out of you, so we wanted to give you something back. Onyx has been working on this little party for a while now.
DarkFoxKit: Huh? I mean that's really great, and I do appreciate it. But my treatment's been over for about 3 weeks now, and I still need to get checked out to make sure the tumor's gone for good.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': While your treatment has been over for a little bit, we still wanted to make sure to throw a party with you. Besides, this way *Points to the camera* the readers can find out about your current health condition.
DarkFoxKit: Oh gosh, this is embarrassing. Please take the readers into the story now.
Andy: Yeah, they don't need to watch you stuffing your face with cake.
DarkFoxKit: Hush, you!
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I just want to say this, and I think all the readers, and the other guests here, will agree. I hope the tests come back with the tumor gone and you won't have to go to any more treatment. We've all been worrying and praying and hoping for you to recover as quickly as possible.
DarkFoxKit: Awwww, thanks guys. But seriously, we should let the readers get to the chapter now.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Heh, alright. *Turns off the camera*
Chapter 100: How to be Sneaky
"Sooooo… what do you think?" Juliette asked as she looked at me, admiring her handiwork.
"... Remind me again, why am I an anthro black feathered bird?" I questioned, looking at the body mirror Juliette had in front of me. We were back in Rose's opera house.
"Because I figured this would be the best way to have you blend into the world," Juliette responded.
I lifted up my 'arms', which were just black feathered wings that had a bit more dexterity on the end where I could actually grab things, but only if I put a lot of effort into trying. I had a black beak instead of lips, my eyes were still green, but I now had slit black pupils. I was wearing a pink t-shirt, and blue denim shorts. I also had a number of tail feathers sticking out of my shorts. I wasn't wearing any shoes because my feet were currently big talons.
"I don't have hands anymore! How is this a good disguise? Why not just turn me into a different human being or something?" I questioned.
"You can still grab things," Juliette pointed out. "And… I guess I figured it would be better for you to be an anthro than another human? That way there's even less chance that you'll be discovered or recognized at the school. This way also is the best chance of us avoiding the whole 'being seen by someone important of this world' or whatever the rule was."
"Couldn't you have just turned me into a cat or something? I didn't plan on interacting with anyone…" I grumbled.
"Then you'd have to learn how to walk on all fours, not to mention it'll be hard for you to grab the papers you wanted to get," Juliette pointed out.
"It's hard for me to grab anything with these fingerless wings!" I retorted.
"If you practice, you'll get the hang of it," Juliette replied. "We have time, so why don't you try?"
Sometimes I wonder what went on in that goat girl's head. I suppose I had to make the best out of my situation though.
I was nervously walking through Casper High's hallways. Juliette was waiting for me outside, wearing the hoodie again. I wasn't sure if being seen at all counted as a game over or not because Freakshow, of course, always had to be as vague as possible with his darn rules.
"Is that a new kid?"
"Must be, never seen him before."
"Another newbie, huh? I wonder if they'll be as special as Ms. Rosescale and her daughter?"
I was trying not to pay them any attention, though I was feeling quite self conscious right now. I was not used to this body. A part of me wondered if it would've been better if I had just used my ghost powers to come here invisibly. I had no idea who Ms. Rosescale was, so that didn't mean much to me. Though I was worried they might be an 'important character' or whatever.
"I doubt anyone could be quite as special as those two." One student snickered.
"Besides, he looks like a normal anthro raven anyways, at least one of the more feral looking ones with wing arms instead of wings on their back," Another said.
I was starting to come up to the lockers where Danny, Tucker, Sam, and I usually shared. I hoped they wouldn't be there right now. Thankfully it would seem I lucked out this time, there wasn't any sign of them. I sighed in relief for a moment as I continued walking. I decided to head for the multipurpose crafts room. Back in my world, I remembered us having a single crafts room which did everything from photography to woodworking. There was a different part of the school that had a metal workshop, but those courses were for the juniors and seniors only.
I tried to look through the door's blurred glass 'window' to see if there was a class going on in the crafts room. Once I saw there was no class going on, I slipped in and took off the satchel that Juliette had given me. I opened up the satchel and started to collect a small portion of some of the different supplies, hoping that it wouldn't be missed or noticed.
I had a little bit of trouble grabbing onto some stuff with these blasted non-hand wings, but thankfully I was able to get most of what I needed into the satchel. I frowned, realizing I may have made a small bit of a mess, as well as left some feathers behind. When I felt like we had a good amount for what we needed, I closed the satchel and began making my way to the door.
I stopped in my tracks when the door began to open. I nervously glanced around, looking for a place to hide. However, I took too much time looking. I realized I was out of time when I noticed that a familiar girl, one who enjoyed wearing black and purple, was standing in front of me.
She stopped and stared at me in surprise, I was staring back in surprise as well, but I was in more horror. Why didn't I just go invisible!? Did I just cost us the game!?
"Uh… hi there… don't be… uh… scared. You look like you're about to bolt or pass out," Sam chuckled sheepishly.
"I-I'm sorry," I apologized, looking around for a moment, before remembering Freakshow did give us a 10 second countdown. CRUD!
"Why are you apologizing?" Sam asked. "And… how do you look even more nervous?"
"I…" I frowned. "I'm new here. I… get nervous around other people…"
"I see, well I'm Sam Manson, nice to meet you," Sam greeted.
"Uh… I'm… Chad Fox…" I replied, using the same fake name I had used in the first world.
"Strange name for an anthro raven," Sam chuckled.
I wasn't sure if I should be offended by that comment or not. I didn't know the anthro's culture or what they would see as trigger words when it came to animals. I just gave a small light hearted chuckle. "Maybe I'm just odd."
I noticed that it had been longer than 10 seconds, and I wasn't suddenly teleported or put in front of a Game Over screen or something, so it must be safe as long as they couldn't tell who I was.
"Well it would be your parents' oddity, not yours," Sam replied. "After all, it's not like you chose that last name."
"Riiiight… yeah," I nervously chuckled. "Um… so it's nice to meet you, Sam Manson. I should probably go before I'm late for my class."
"What class are you going to? And what were you doing in here? There wasn't a class in here last period," Sam inquired.
Why must you be so freaking insightful? Ugh… if only Tucker caught me here instead, he would've been easier to evade. I groaned to myself.
"I'm going to… uh… literature. And I wanted to pick up some crafting stuff in case I… well… get bored and wanted to draw or something," I answered, hoping it would satisfy her.
"Did you get permission from the teacher to take some art supplies?" Sam raised a brow.
I frowned, realizing that Sam wasn't likely to fall for any kind of lie I could come up with. She had always been the type of girl who was more no-nonsense than the rest of us. While that was a good trait to have, it was making my life much harder right now.
"I was under the impression that art supplies were free to take," I responded, remembering what the craft teacher in our world had as a policy. "As long as we only take what we need and don't hoard the supplies we can use them."
Sam thought about what I said for a moment before she grinned a little. "Good to see you know the class rule. It means you aren't as new as I thought you were. Sorry for not introducing myself until now."
That could have easily backfired on me, but I was just relieved it worked. "Uh… yeah… don't worry about it. I… should go now."
I walked past Sam, and hoped with every fiber of my being that she wouldn't ask me anymore questions. I gave a small sigh of relief when Sam didn't call out to me.
Okay, now I just have to get out of here and get to Juliette so we can start our plan on finding Freakshow… I sighed in relief.
However, as I was walking by a classroom door, there was a sudden surge that went through my core. Although Juliette changed my form to a completely different species, I was still half ghost. So I was shocked when I suddenly felt this weird surge. It felt unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. I looked at the door, wondering why I was feeling like this. I shook my head and hurried on. This was no time to get distracted. Whatever caused that surge, I had to ignore it, it didn't have anything to do with me or this game.
I was glad to have gotten out of the school without any more incidents. I gave a sigh of relief before seeing Juliette was there, waiting for me. I walked over to her. "I got what I needed."
"That's good." Juliette smiled. "Let's head back to the opera house so you can practice."
"Oh, hey, there is something I wanted to ask," I said as we started walking back to the opera house.
"What is it?" Juliette questioned.
"Back there in the school, when I was on my way back, I suddenly felt this weird surge go through my core. I'm not sure what it means though. Do you have any ideas?" I inquired.
Juliette gave a thoughtful look. "You said a surge through your core, huh?"
"Yeah," I confirmed.
"Any other particular feelings?" Juliette asked.
"Hmm… I suppose it was a cold feeling, like my core touched an ice cube or something," I answered.
Juliette shook her head. "I've never felt a cold surge going through my core, but I have felt a wave of heat before. One time I was in an area that Pariah Dark flew past and there was a near burning sensation that practically consumed my core. It wasn't painful, but there was a lot of heat. From what I understood, it was the sensation that one got when they were near a royal of the Ghost Zone."
I shivered at the idea. "Wait, I never felt that way around Dora though, and she's a princess."
"There's a difference between a noble of the Ghost Zone and a royal," Juliette stated.
I still had a lot to learn about ghost culture it would seem. "Right… well… if that's true, then that means there was a royal ghost in the school."
I paled at that. "But what kind of royal ghost would go to Casper High? Other than Pariah Dark, maybe, I don't think Danny and I have ever met with a real royal ghost before. Are they dangerous? Are they stronger than most other ghosts? How do we know this one isn't dangerous right now? Does the Danny and Andy of this world even know about this ghost? Do-"
"Andy… hush." Juliette instructed as she covered my beak with a hand. "There is no danger, otherwise your full ghost sense would've likely gone off. I can't answer the other questions as I don't know much about royal ghosts or why they would do anything. Perhaps Danny of this world has been tasked with caring for a royal ghost child as they go to Casper High to learn about this world?"
Juliette let go of my beak, which was really weird to think about. "I guess you have a point. This world seems to be a bit further into the future than our world too, I think. So this might be something we might even do in the future in our world." That would be interesting, taking care of a royal ghost child while they attend Casper High to learn about this- well, the world of the living's culture.
"Okay, I think I got it now," I said as I held a wing over the origami birds that Juliette made.
My wing was glowing red as it started to fill the origami birds with life energy. I had to make sure I had specific orders in my mind so they would do what I wanted them to do. They were to look for Freakshow, the man I had the image of in my mind that I tried my best to remember as clearly as possible. They were to look for him here, in I Amity Park. And not to get too close to anyone. If they find Freakshow, they were to come back to wherever I was and alert me. I found out, during practice, that these birds could communicate with me, likely because of the life essence I gave them through the Gem of Life.
"You know, I could turn you back now," Juliette chuckled as she pointed at me. "Though it seems like you've gotten somewhat comfortable being an anthro raven."
I rolled my eyes a little. "I just figured it might be safer to be in a form that nobody would recognize me as. It would seem we're safe as long as they don't know who we are if they do see us. Freaking Freakshow not wanting to be specific with his stupid rules."
"That would work for when we're outside, but we're currently back at the opera house and we didn't lose when Rose saw us, so we're safe around her," Juliette logically pointed out.
"Yeah, but that would mean you'd have to change me again later when we go out," I pointed back. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
The origami birds all flew out through the windows, going to scout around town to try to find where Freakshow was hiding. If Freakshow was here, they would find him. If they didn't find him, then he very likely wasn't here in town.
"We could just stay here and relax while the origami birds look for Freakshow," Juliette pointed out again.
I gave a thoughtful look. "Yeah, maybe you're right. I'd rather not have to act like a stranger around the people I know again."
"We also need to rest," Juliette added. "Using the Gems also seems to take a bit of our energy too. Not as much as our ghost powers, but still a bit."
"I guess you have a point," I sighed. I had been practicing with the Gem of Life for a while, so I was feeling a bit tired.
"Maybe if we use the Gems more, the drain will lessen," Juliette optimistically chuckled. "Or at least it will hopefully make it so we can use the powers faster."
I chuckled lightly. "I'm glad to see you're more willing to use the Gem of Form now. You seemed so reluctant to use it before."
"Well now that I can tell it won't rip my core apart or make it so my ghost powers won't come back, I don't see a reason to not use it," Juliette responded pointedly.
I gave some thought as Juliette was preparing to change me back. "Hold on… Juliette, I think I know a good way to relax and still look for Freakshow at the same time."
Juliette raised a brow. "What were you thinking of, Andy?"
"I don't believe I ever gave you a proper tour of Amity Park," I replied. "Though there are some places that would be difficult to get into without adult supervision…"
Then I grinned. "So why don't you use the Gem of Form to turn me into an adult?"
"Are you sure that is wise?" Juliette asked. "I am unsure I would be able to make you look like an adult version of yourself, as I do have difficulties picturing someone aged up."
"Uh… probably not a good idea to turn me into an adult version of myself anyways… wounds are still kinda fresh from facing that future me…" I mumbled. "I'm not sure if this world ever faced a future me, but I would still be quite recognizable. Maybe you could turn me into a different person like you did with the anthro raven thing."
"Oh? Are you sure?" Juliette questioned. "If so… perhaps you should choose your form this time. I chose the raven, but I felt it would only be fair to let you choose your form. You can either choose something specific, or you can describe something to me and let me decide what it'll ultimately look like."
I gave it some thought. "Hmm… maybe something a little more fitting to me this time? Maybe something furry, smart, clever, flexible… something able to see in the dark too, that would be nice. Have sharp ears perhaps as well."
Juliette gave a thoughtful 'hmm' as she began to imagine what form I was after. After thinking about it for about 10 minutes, deciding every minute detail, Juliette gave a nod.
"Alright, ready to transform once more?" Juliette inquired, smiling a bit at the picture she had in her mind.
I nodded. "Let's see what you got."
I stood up in front of her, and waited.
"Close your eyes," Juliette instructed, a beaming smile on her face.
I wondered what Juliette was going to turn me into, she seemed pretty excited about this. I closed my eyes and waited.
"This will take a little bit, as I would like to get all the details down exactly," Juliette warned as I felt my body beginning to shift. "Once I'm done, I'll bring over a full body mirror so you can see."
I could feel myself getting taller, and my wings turning into proper arms again, as well as actual hands. I felt something moving behind me. My sense of smell suddenly became stronger, I could smell a lot of dust and remnants of ectoplasm here. I also smell what I think was yesterday's dinner… pizza.
"Okay, you can open your eyes now," I heard Juliette speak up.
When I opened my eyes, I saw myself staring at a tall red, white, and dark brown furred creature. They had pointed ears on top of their head, the fur of their inner ears were a dark blue near the tips and became lighter towards the base. They were mostly red, the white being centralized on their chest, neck, cheeks, and muzzle. The top of their muzzle was a deep red, like the fur across most of the body. However, there were spots between the red and white where a dark orange lay. The eyes were a vibrant green that seemed to pierce through everything.
The arms, from the tricep downwards, were the dark brown, getting close to black. Like the fur of the inner ears, the claws of the creature were a blue, however these were cyan in color. The legs. from the knees downward, were also dark brown in color, and the claws of the feet were also cyan. However, the nubs that served as the toes were white in color, like his chest, front of his neck, and lower half of his muzzle. The paw pads on the bottom of the feet, from what I could see, were a dark red, like the dark red across their body. And finally, behind the creature swung a large fluffy tail, one that was orange at the base, red in the middle, and dark brown on the end.
I blinked at the anthro fox before me. It actually took me a minute to realize I was looking at a mirror and not at some stranger who came up in front of me. Juliette did her job well.
"Oh… a fox, huh?" I remarked in a deeper voice.
"We'll have to find some clothes that fit," Juliette remarked, panting a little. "I unfortunately didn't have the energy to transform the clothes as well."
"Oh jeez, no wonder these felt tight on me," I pulled against the shirt I was wearing. "I'm surprised you went with a fox, I was actually imagining a cat."
"Oh…. well you should've been more specific then…" Juliette tiredy chuckled.
"Sorry, I guess I thought it was obvious, but a fox is good too," I chuckled. "As long as people don't think I'm shifty or something."
"Well with those clothes, they might think you're some kind of weirdo," Rose snickered as she suddenly walked into the room they were in.
I jumped when Rose suddenly showed up. "Stop showing up out of nowhere like that! And… you uh… know who I am?"
"It's pretty obvious to me," Rose chuckled. "After all, I only gave two people the okay to stay in my house recently and only one of them is here. And I doubt Juliette over there is going to bring home a random stranger when she's in the situation she's in."
"Very excellent deductive reasoning," Juliette complimented.
"Great… as long as you're the only one who figured it out," I grumbled. "... Do you… have any adult size clothing for a man fox?"
"Uhhhh, none here, no," Rose answered. "However, I could go out and try and get an outfit for you. You seem to prefer the non-formal style, so I'll probably get you something more casual. Also… just a tip, probably not a good idea to call yourself a 'man fox'. If you were talking about gender, the best term to use is 'male'."
"I was mostly joking when I said 'man fox'," I responded. "But I am still not quite used to being around living anthropomorphic animals."
"So any particular reason why you chose to be an adult anthro fox?" Rose asked me as I was looking at myself in the mirror with my new clothes.
I was wearing a black T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of shoes. The t-shirt had the design of a white european dragon with short legs and wide wings. It looked really pretty. I was also wearing a blue jacket. I added the jacket since I felt most comfortable wearing one. There was a hole for my fluffy tail at the back of the blue jeans I was wearing.
"Well, the anthro fox was a little unexpected. But I wanted to be an adult, and a different person, the latter for obvious reasons, and the former, it's because I wanted to give Juliette a proper tour around Amity Park. Despite the animal people living here now, it seems to be the same Amity Park that I've always known. And it's also a good way to leisurely look for Freakshow while we're at it. People won't ask me why I'm not at school or with my parents or something either, so that's a bonus," I explained. "There are also places that one could only get in with adult supervision as well."
"Is that why Juliette was in the other room, casting an illusion on herself to look different? Because you two plan on going out to tour the city?" Rose inquired.
"Yeah, we were feeling a bit too restless to sit here and wait for the origami birds to find Freakshow," I answered.
"I'm sorry, what? Origami birds?" Rose blinked.
"Ah… well…" I chuckled sheepishly. "We used certain powers to try to help us look for Frakshow."
Rose gave a small nod. "Smart, something small like origami birds would be much harder to notice. And if anyone does notice them, they could just drop to the ground and act lifeless, like some kid had thrown them from somewhere up high."
"That's the plan." I nodded after I moved around a little. "I think these clothes fit me just fine. It's a good thing you had all sorts of clothes sizes here."
"I uh… actually went out to buy those," Rose informed. "The things we have in your size here… are things you very much wouldn't enjoy wearing. Lots of… suits."
"Oh…" I gave a sheepish look at Rose. "Uh… how much did it cost to buy these?"
"Not much," Rose assured. "That didn't even dent my savings."
"Wow, sounds like you make a lot of money then," I remarked in surprise.
"Nope." Rose grinned. "I work a near minimum wage job at Petsmart. I just don't spend my money all that often, so the savings continue to grow and grow."
Before I could respond to that, there was a knock on the door.
"May I come in?" Juliette's voice called out.
"Yeah, I'm decent," I answered.
"Alright, I'm coming in. Though I am using a new illusion to help blend into the world here," Juliette informed before the door opened and the first thing I saw was a giant white cloud.
Looking a bit closer, I saw that the cloud was in fact an anthro sheep with dark brown arms and legs, the legs ending in feet that seemed to be in a pair of shoes that made it seem like they had large hooves. They were wearing a light pink dress that wasn't too heavy or bulky. And on top of their head, just behind a pair of tiny horns that barely poked out of the white wool, was a light pink bow. They also had their nails painted in the exact same color as the bow and dress.
I nearly squeaked at how adorable Juliette looked. Thankfully I managed to keep my dignity by biting my tongue, though I had to be careful to not bite through my tongue as I had much sharper teeth.
"H-how do I look…?" Juliette nervously asked.
"You look really… um… cute, like a… sheep princess," I answered, trying not to make it sound awkward.
"You look like an adorable anthro sheep child," Rose complimented. "I guess it would make sense you would go with something like this, as goats are somewhat close to sheep."
"Thanks." Juliette smiled.
"At least it's the cool season here, so your fluffy fleece won't make you too hot, I hope," I remarked. "It's summer back in our world."
"You were on summer vacation when this happened?" Rose asked me.
"Yeah, we were on a cross country road trip with my parents," I answered.
"Even if I do get hot, I can always cool off with my magic," Juliette remarked before she looked at me, then Rose. "This game that we are trapped in happened around the same time as the Guys in White began to capture the Fenton family and their friends. Once we finish this game… no, once we win this game, we will go and free Danny and the others from where they are captured."
Rose frowned a little. "They're captured by the Guys in White?"
I nodded solemnly. "Yeah… we're hoping that when we win, we can use the Reality Gauntlet that Freakshow has to free them. Then decide on what to do with the gauntlet after."
"I personally wish to put it somewhere that we can get to, in case we truly need to use it, but somewhere that is ridiculously hard to get to without the proper knowledge and teamwork," Juliette commented.
"Well, whatever you decide, I wish you both luck," Rose said.
"Thanks." I smiled before looking at Juliette. "Ready to go?"
"Yes, I am, but are you?" Juliette asked in response.
"Yeah, of course," I answered.
Admittedly, it was more difficult to get used to walking than I thought due to being taller than what I was used to. I kept stumbling around like I was drunk or something. Juliette had to grab my arm to keep me from tripping over my own tail.
"Relax and just follow your instincts," Juliette quietly said to me. "The shoes are specially designed for anthros with paw pads, from what Rose said. You're used to walking on feet without paw pads, and that is your biggest issue. Don't fight what your body is trying to tell you."
"I think the height is also an issue," I sighed as I stood up straight again. "Everything feels smaller from up here."
Juliette shook her head. "I understand that, but I didn't make you too much taller. You're only 6 feet tall. And again, you would be able to walk around if you stopped trying to force your knowledge of walking onto that body. In a way… it's like trying to play a new game with rules of an archaic game. Some rules could transfer over, but others will make no sense and it would ruin your experience to try and force the old rules onto the newer game."
"I mean that's easier said than done, but I'll try," I stated.
"The key is not trying, actually," Juliette replied. "You're focusing way too much on your walking. Don't you ever notice how breathing feels awkward when you're focusing on it?"
"You have a good point… let's try talking about something else to help get my mind off walking," I suggested.
Juliette nodded. "What would you like to talk about? Perhaps some of the places you plan on bringing me to? Or the fact that Rose was kind enough to give us some money so we can purchase things if we want to, or need to?"
"Well, Rose is really kind and generous to us, though I feel pretty bad that we're using the money she worked hard to save up for herself," I remarked.
"She said it herself, what she gave us was just a week of work, and she has way more saved up," Juliette reassured me.
"I wonder if she's saving up for anything important," I wondered curiously. "And I wonder what her story is. Sure she's friends with this world's version of Andy, but why would she care that much about what happens to us? We're pretty much strangers to her."
"Perhaps that's just the type of girl she is? The one who goes out of her way to help whoever she can?" Juliette offered.
I could help but chuckle. "That sounds like Danny."
I had to admit, not focusing on walking did make it easier, though I did still stumble once or twice a little.
"Okay, so our first stop… the Amity Mall." I grinned. "There's a lot of places you can experience here, including the arcade, the food court, a movie theater, and a lot of different shops."
Juliette gave a nod. "Just make sure to keep track of the time, we don't want to let the whole day go by at just one place."
"Then we'll just browse," I chuckled.
When we entered the mall, it was how I remembered it, though it also appeared to be bigger, and had more shops added to it. Some of the shops made me cover Juliette's eyes though, and push her along. I was supposed to be the adult here after all. Although Juliette was actually a lot older than me. A part of me wondered if this was what some would call a role reversal.
"You seem to be covering my eyes a lot in this section of the mall, so perhaps we should go to a different part of it?" Juliette suggested.
"Uh… yeah, that might be a good idea," I agreed, blushing a little at some of the stores I was seeing.
When we came to another section of the mall, I deemed it safe to let Juliette see what was around us.
"Ah, this place is much more kid friendly," I sighed in relief.
Juliette giggled a little. "Well hopefully not too much so. My appearance is of a child around the age of 10."
"Really?" I asked, blinking at her.
"You can't tell?" Juliette asked.
I tilted my head a little. "I guess it's just harder for me to judge an anthropomorphic animal's age. Or maybe I got used to you looking younger than you actually are."
Juliette covered her mouth and laughed a bit. "That last point is quite a fair one. I had nothing to really base an older form off of, hence why I have been using that one form for so long. And with my human illusion, that's just what I remember of myself from when I was alive. Some details have changed over time, as I don't have perfect memory, but most of the important details are still there."
I nodded before looking around. "Hmm… ah, there's a toy store over there. Why don't we go look over there first?"
"That'd be fine." Juliette smiled.
I wasn't sure if Juliette ever saw modern day toys before, but if she hadn't, this was likely going to bring out her inner child. To make it look more authentic, I took Juliette's hand and walked her over to the toy store.
"Wow, this place is magnificent." Juliette beamed as we walked into the store. "I have never seen such a variety of toys before."
I looked around myself. It had been a while since I really looked at any toys, so some of them caught me by surprise. There were really neat train set toys that looked polished and expensive. There were remote controlled airplanes that looked like the store had taken the real planes and shrunken them down. There were also plushies of anime characters I enjoyed watching back home. There were drones, which was a technology I heard Tucker talk about being in the world. The fact they were on the shelves of a toy store made me think that the technology was a lot farther along in this world.
I found myself attracted to some of these toys actually. I kind of want to buy some of these and bring them home with me myself. I knew Danny would love some of these rocket models. Some of them came with glow-in-the-dark stars he could hang on his ceiling.
"You look like you want to purchase something for yourself~" Juliette teased as she looked up at me.
"Well… some of this stuff is cool," I remarked.
"Remember what Rose said, make a list of things we might and then look it up online, as in store prices aren't always the greatest," Juliette reminded the 'adult' of Rose's words.
I was about to say something when I noticed a few people were looking at us curiously.
"That's a smart daughter you have there~" An anthro panther woman said to me.
I noticed she had a little panther child beside her, so she was likely the mother.
"Oh… uh, yes, she's quite the little genius," I chuckled a little awkwardly, not used to having an adult casually speaking to me.
"With how well behaved she is, I have to ask… do you have her enrolled in a private school?" The panther woman asked as she looked at Juliette. "Her posture is spectacular, she seems to be able to contain any desire to grab at the toys and beg you to buy everything that catches her eye, and then there is the high intelligence for someone as young as her."
It was then I remembered that Juliette was raised as a princess, so it was likely she had been raised to keep herself under proper control in public… even if she had been in hiding and on the run for the past 1400 years. I guess years are nothing to a ghost though.
"She's homeschooled actually," I answered.
"Oh really?" The panther woman asked, surprised. "Well then, you have done a spectacular job in teaching her!"
I didn't teach her anything. She's the one teaching me and Danny. I inwardly muttered. "Well, my… uh… wife does most of the teaching. I just thought it would do her some good if we went out and have some fun."
Juliette glanced up at me and raised a brow a tiny bit, though I could tell the look was more amused than curious.
"I see, well then do let her know that you both have done an excellent job." The panther woman smiled. "My little cub can be a bit of a handful… most of the time. Though he has behaved well for the past two weeks, and as part of our deal he is allowed to pick out one toy under $80."
"Awww, but Mommy, how can I pick just one toy? There's so many amazing toys here!" The panther child whined.
"That was the deal, sweetums," The panther woman replied. "You have quite a lot of choices, so don't just pick out whatever catches your eye first. You should pick something you know you will play with more than once."
The panther child pouted at that.
The panther woman sighed a little. "Sometimes you can't help but want to spoil your kids. Do you like to spoil yours?"
"Uh… yeah, sometimes. I mean that's why I took her to the mall today," I chuckled sheepishly.
The panther woman nodded. "That's quite the reward, not just the toy store but getting to go around the whole mall. If my little cub behaves well, we'll go to the food court. And if he behaves really well, we'll even go see a movie that he's been begging me to take him to see."
"I'll behave, Mommy!" The child quickly promised.
I couldn't help but chuckle, it reminded me of when my mom would tell me and Danny to behave and maybe we would get to see the movie we wanted to see, or get that toy we both wanted. I miss her...
The panther woman pulled out something from her purse and handed it to me. "These are my details. Your adorable daughter seems to be around the same age as my child and I would enjoy setting up a playdate between the two of them. If you or your wife are interested, feel free to call the number on there or send me an email."
I blinked as I looked at the business card she just handed me. Did… did I just get an older woman's phone number and email? Tucker would lose his marbles if he ever found out.
"Say goodbye to these two, little one," The panther woman said to her child.
"Bye bye!" The panther child beamed, waving excitedly.
"Goodbye." Juliette smiled, curtseying a little. "I hope you have a great day."
"How kind~ Goodbye to you both. Hopefully we will see each other again." The panther woman chuckled before she led her child away.
"Uh, yeah… bye, miss! … Uh, ma'am!" I waved.
"Relax, Andy," Juliette softly said before she looked up at me. "Definitely a smart choice to give you red fur there, otherwise your cheek fur would be bright pink right now."
"An adult female panther just gave me her phone number and email address, I can't help but blush a little," I pouted.
"It's a business card, and it's to set up a playdate," Juliette pointed out. "You're both adults when she gave you the card, and you already 'have a wife'."
"I know that, it just…" I grumbled.
"You're not used to it," Juliette chuckled, knowing full well why I felt blushy.
I put the business card in my pocket. I doubted I would see that panther lady again. "Maybe we should go somewhere else. Your royalty training might start attracting more attention to us."
"Where do you suggest we go?" Juliette inquired.
"Let's see… have you ever been to the arcade?" I asked.
Juliette tilted her head at me, a questioning expression obvious on her face.
"Then this will be a great time to introduce you to the arcade." I grinned.
After Juliette and I left the toy store, I took her to where I knew the arcade would be in my Amity's Mall. Thankfully, it looked like it didn't change in this dimension either despite all the… extra stores they had here.
"Here we are, a place where gamers could come and put their gaming skills to the test." I grinned.
"It's…" Juliette rubbed her head. "Quite loud in there."
"Do you need earplugs?" I asked.
Juliette shook her head. "Give me a moment."
Juliette held her hands to her head for a moment before the cotton around her ears got thicker.
"There we go." Juliette smiled.
Juliette and I walked around the arcade. There were a lot of teens here, because the school day was over, there were some kids here too, and a few adults watching them. But otherwise it was mostly full of teens. I was surprised by how high tech some of the games looked. There was even a whole virtual simulator that wasn't in my Amity Mall last I checked. It made me wonder how far into the future we were here. We were likely at least a year or two in the future from what I could tell. Sam was still in high school after all.
Speaking of Sam, I didn't see her, but I did see another familiar face here. "Oh, it's… Tucker."
I pointed at the familiar african american boy who was playing on one of the newer games in the arcade. It looked like a shooter game, since he was using a gun to play it.
Juliette gave a nod. "That it is."
"Alright! Scored the extra kill counts!" Tucker cheered. "I'm so going to beat that high score record!"
"It would probably be safe to say that the high score is already one he set," Juliette chuckled.
I gave a curious look at the game. I wanted to see how well I'd do against Tucker, especially since I've been practicing with my own ecto guns. This might be a monumentally stupid thing I was about to do, but I found myself walking towards the game Tucker was playing.
"Juliette, stay here for a minute, okay?" I said to the disguised anthro sheep child.
"Hm?" Juliette raised a brow. "Are you planning on playing as well?"
"Just a little, just to see if my gun training had been paying off." I grinned before I walked to the second platform and picked up a blue gun.
"Hey, kid, mind if I joined the game?" I said to Tucker.
"Nah, just make sure to keep an eye on the killstreak and don't get yourself downed," Tucker quickly responded, not even looking towards me.
I was familiar with the game, I had played it a few times before in my world, though there appeared to be more features added to it. I could pick out a squad if I wanted to do a team battle. Or I could partner up with the other person who was playing, which is what Tucker had likely assumed I was going to do. I didn't mind partnering up with Tucker, I just wanted to see how well I would do in this game.
I picked a character that seemed most matched to my skill set. They had a variety of guns and most of their training revolved around them. From what I remember of the game, there were actually bonuses to in game skills if you had knowledge of what you were doing.
"You ready to start?" Tucker asked as 'I' appeared beside them.
The system we were using seemed to surround our real selves in some kind of high level hologram, as it felt to me like we were actually on the field of battle. I looked to my left and saw that it wasn't Tucker beside me, it was his character. His character was a super ripped african american with a huge minigun. He was standing in front of a pedestal that had the word 'Go' on it, specifically on what looked like a button.
"Yup," I answered to Tucker before I stood beside Tucker in front of the pedestal.
Suddenly, red light began to appear ahead of us, they were the enemies that were spawning in. The enemies looked to be cybernetic ghost-like creatures. Some of them looked tall and creepy, and they had a tendency to scream. Others looked like they were made out of muscles. We had a health bar, as well as a shield bar. The shields would keep our health from dropping until it breaks.
With the enemies spawned, it was time to begin.
"Mage, take the left side, make sure they can't flank us!" Tucker instructed the NPC before looking at me. "Operator, take up the right side, I'll hold the middle. Keep an eye on the killstreak."
I moved to the right as instructed. I used my gun to start shooting at the enemies. The enemy that screamed like a banshee was perhaps the hardest one to take down due to its strong barriers. I threw a grenade, letting it explode to try to take out the shield, before I used a concussive blast to try to take down its health. When its health dropped to zero, it let out one final scream as electricity surrounded it and its body dropped dead. I stayed down in cover as more enemies tried to shoot at me.
It was quite the adrenaline thrill. Fighting without ghost powers, and fighting in a game world rather than for real. It was thrilling and relaxing in a way. It was limiting to fight without ghost powers, but that also had its own sense of thrill. Because I was limited, I had to be more creative, and use what I have to fight back instead of worrying about if I should fly or go intangible. These weapons I was using would give me better ideas on how to use them for myself later on. Of course, unlike with my ghost powers, I did have to keep an eye on my ammo. I had 'ammo' with ghost powers too, but the ammo was usually my own reserves.
Tucker and I soon finished up the first wave. But there was going to be another wave soon, so we grabbed whatever ammo was dropped and prepared ourselves.
"Hey, you're pretty good at this game," Tucker complimented me while we were waiting for the second wave to spawn.
"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," I chuckled.
"Mage substitution!" The game announced as the mage that was there disappeared before a new one reappeared in its place.
The mage looked over at us, nodded, and looked forward, getting ready for battle.
"Huh, seems that they're summoning two smaller fireballs," Tucker remarked, glancing over at the mage. "That means they're likely offensive instead of a healer or a buffer. Keep an eye on your HP and use medkits when necessary!"
I wondered who the mage was since they were likely a player. The next wave began to attack. I had my shields broken a few times, and had to roll under some cover before using a medkit to heal my HP bar back up until my shields regenerated. This second wave was harder and more aggressive than the first one. A large mini-boss appeared, but was suddenly taken out by a huge fiery explosion, one that seemed to come from the mage.
"Dang, quick to use their ultimate magic. Hopefully that doesn't bite us in the butt later, as it takes half a wave to recharge," Tucker commented. "Either they know what they're doing, or they're a total noob."
The wave ended, as the mini-boss was the last enemy. There was one final wave before we were done.
"You guys ready for the final wave? It'll have a lot more mini-bosses," Tucker called out.
The mage nodded once more, staying silent.
Then the red lights began to spawn the final wave. There were a lot more tougher enemies this time, each with their own armor and shields. There were also a few mechs to take down as well.
Things were heating up quickly. I noticed that our mage, while great with offensive power, and seemed to have a much faster cooldown for their powers, weren't so good with defensive skills. Their shields got shattered quickly, and Tucker and I had to run to them a few times with our Medkits to keep them alive.
However, one of the mechs launched a missile at us that launched us in different directions. The mage was getting up right as one of the mechs got to them and shot a rocket at them at point blank range. Due to the fact their shield was already down, they were instantly eliminated from the wave, leaving just Tucker and myself.
Seeing the mage getting unceremoniously taken down enraged both Tucker and myself and we quickly eliminated the rest of the enemies. It was much easier when I realized that I could use ammo powers on my teammates and gave Tucker an armor piercing ammo, making it so his minigun shred through the large mechs. Once the last enemy fell, there were fireworks that were launched. Tucker looked up and smiled.
"We beat the highscore! Yes!" Tucker celebrated. "That mage was pretty good, though it was obvious they didn't have much experience with working on a team or facing off against enemies like these. They might also not have had much video game experience."
I chuckled as the simulation around us faded away, and we were brought back out into the real world. Tucker blinked, a little surprised to see me. Probably because he wasn't expecting a full on anthro fox adult to play with him. I did try to find out who that mage player was, but I didn't see them on the other platform. They likely left after they were taken out of the game. There were also a surprising amount of people watching us. I guess they were surprised by the highscore.
"Nice job, Dad." Juliette smiled as she walked up to me.
"Wow, a dad was playing the game with me. I thought most adults grew out of these kinds of games!" Tucker said in surprise as I smiled at Juliette.
"It was fun playing with you, T- uh, kid," I said, almost slipping up Tucker's name. "We should play again some time. It also made my daughter's day, watching her dad kick some virtual butts."
"Oh yeah, definitely, maybe we should play one-on-one to see who's the better shot." Tucker grinned.
Juliette rolled her eyes a little. "It was just fun seeing you play some games, since you haven't done that for a while."
"Yeah, been busy with my… job," I chuckled a little, since it was technically the truth. "Anyways, that's enough games for now. How about we head on to the food court? You must be hungry after all that walking."
"If you're going to the food court, might I suggest the Japanese meat place?" Tucker grinned like the meat loving goofball that he was.
"That might be nice to try," Juliette commented with a small smile. "Though for me I will probably go with the vegetarian options."
"Right, because you're more of an herbivore," Tucker remarked. "Well, at least your dad can enjoy the meaty heaven."
"I'll be sure to consider it," I replied.
"I could always change in the bathroom," Juliette whispered to me. "I honestly wasn't thinking too far ahead when I chose this form."
"Let's head to the food court first," I whispered back.
Of course, because this was Amity Park, even if it was from another dimension, there would always be ghost attacks. When Juliette and I reached the food court, we were about to decide which restaurant we wanted to try out, when suddenly a familiar heat came up my throat, and a blue mist came out of my mouth. I frowned, and seconds after my ghost sense was triggered, the entire area began to shake. Meat from the restaurants in the food court began to fly out of their kitchen, grills, fryer, oven, or whatever else people were using to cook them in, and began to gather in the center of the food court. People gasped as they stood up and began running away from the place the meat was gathering.
"You have got to be kidding me." I frowned as I heard a familiar laugh.
"Come now, I know many of you are herbivores, but that doesn't mean you can't have fake-meat! There are plenty of plant based products that taste exactly like the real thing! And for you omnivores eating just salads, you should be ashamed of treating your bodies so badly!"
I could see that it was the Lunch Lady ghost, some things never change, and she created another meat armor, becoming a large, but at least not a colossal, meat monster. She let out a roar, looking like she was enjoying the terror she was instilling into people.
"This needs to stop." I growled as I began to move forward.
Juliette reached out and grabbed my hand, shaking her head. I frowned as I looked at her.
The Lunch Lady created smaller meat monsters to grab onto a lot of anthro people, mostly the herbivore ones, like the antelope or buffalo. Juliette was an herbivore species. I saw some of the meat monsters coming towards her. I grabbed onto Juliette protectively. The meat monsters started to surround us.
"Just relax," Juliette softly said. "Where there's a ghost, you know he is somewhere nearby. Let him take care of it. You can't show yourself here, it's why I'm not using my powers at all. However… you could use your Gem. There are lots of large objects around us that can squish the meat monsters or slice them in half. Or you can build us a wall. Though be careful and make it look like you're using magic instead of any ghostly power. If you choose to use it, tell me and I'll start pouring magic energy out into the area to make it seem like you're using magic."
Sometimes I wonder how the heck Juliette was able to just calmly explain stuff like that when we were in the middle of danger. It almost seemed unnatural.
The meat monsters jumped towards us. I hadn't had to use the Gem of Life on command so quickly before, but I had to try. I felt the power heating up a bit in my stomach as my hands glowed red. I brought some of the nearby tables and chairs to life to attack these meat monsters. The tables and chairs acted like animated four legged animals when they came to life. They jumped at the meat monsters. I noticed Juliette's hands were glowing and a flame-colored energy was flowing to the ground and dispersing, while I was making more tables come to life to create a wall around us.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take into account that the meat monsters were also ghosts, because they were phasing through the wall I made. I growled as I was ready to fight to protect ourselves, consequences be darned.
"Isn't it a bit late to be serving lunch, Lunch Lady? It's nearly dinner time!" A familiar voice bantered, which was a heaven sent for us.
The meat monsters stopped focusing on us and flew out of the wall I made. I had the walls go down so I could see what was happening. There he was, floating there as I always remembered him; Danny Phantom. It was unusual for me to experience relief for having the ghost boy come in during a ghost attack.
"We…. should probably get out of here so we're not in Danny's way," Juliette muttered as her eyes darted around.
"Yeah…" I agreed as I picked her up and began hurrying out of the area.
I felt weird. After using the Gem of Life, my body was starting to feel tingly.
"So much for the food court…" Juliette chuckled a bit as she started to pant a little.
I could hear Danny firing his ghost rays at the Lunch Lady. I felt like I was in a bit of a daze for a second before shaking my head. "Maybe we'll just eat at the opera house again. It's a shame though, I was looking forward to trying that Japanese restaurant Tucker recommended."
Juliette looked at me for a moment after she caught her breath. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah… just a little… dizzy is all," I answered. "My body probably just isn't used to using the Gem of Life so suddenly like that."
"Well… I guess you can consider it practice," Juliette optimistically pointed out. "Hopefully me pouring off so much magic energy made it so Danny didn't sense the Gem of Life being used."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Come on, let's get out of here."
As we were leaving, however, I heard Danny giving a small cry. I looked back, seeing that the Lunch Lady backhanded Danny. Every fiber of my being was screaming out at me to go out there and help my brother. But he wasn't my brother. My brother was in a completely different dimension. This Danny didn't know me, nor would he ever know me. I noticed a different tug at my core, but it was quiet compared to my brotherly instincts screaming at me to help him. I had to tear my eyes away from the fight, I had to remind myself that Danny would be fine, he could handle the Lunch Lady himself.
It was unfortunate that we had to cut our trip at the Amity Mall early, but with Danny there, we had that risk of being found out. And with a ghost attacking, it would be difficult for me to not go in there and help him. I just noticed that Juliette was also talking to me, trying to keep me calm.
"You didn't notice it, did you?" Juliette asked as we walked out of the mall. I had put her down near the exit, knowing she probably would want to walk instead of be carried.
"Notice what?" I questioned.
Juliette stopped dead in her tracks and pointed to my ears. "Listen and listen carefully."
I wasn't sure what Juliette wanted me to listen to. I heard the Lunch Lady roaring, and Danny's ghost rays as well as his banter. But then I heard what sounded like a strong beam going off, it was an unfamiliar yet familiar sound. It wasn't something Danny had in his arsenal, at least not the one I knew. Then I heard another voice speaking, they sounded similar to Danny, but also different. Then I heard more than one ghost ray being fired.
Juliette smiled up at me. "Do you hear it now?"
"Danny… isn't alone in the fight," I remarked.
Juliette nodded and reached forward before grabbing my balled up hands, which I didn't even realize I had been doing. "Meaning you can relax."
"Oh… wow… sorry, I didn't realize how much this would affect me. We didn't have to face this problem in the last two worlds," I sighed, unclenching my hands.
"Maybe we should take a break at the opera house for a bit. It looks like using the Gem of Life as you did drained you a bit," Juliette noted.
"Yeah… I guess it did," I admitted.
"With the money you got, you can always order some food for delivery," Juliette added with a chuckle. "You and Danny were telling me about all the different restaurants you wanted me to try the food of."
"Yes, and it's about time you got to try some," I remarked.
"When we get back, I'll release my form so I can enjoy all types of food," Juliette stated with a chuckle.
It was nice, seeing Juliette eat something for the first time. And because we weren't in public, she didn't have to hide how she felt as much. As a ghost, she didn't need to eat food of the living to sustain herself, but she still could eat it if she wanted to.
"This food is spectacular, Andy!" Juliette giggled as she finished off one of the entrees we had ordered. "I can see why you wanted me to try it."
I chuckled. I was still an adult anthro fox. The stuff I tasted was a little more different than when I ate them as a human. The meat, I noticed, tasted far better than I remembered. While the vegetables tasted… a lot more bland. I found myself having to dip the vegetables in the sauces just to get a decent enough taste from them.
"Did you two have fun today?" Rose asked as she sat down on the couch.
Juliette nodded. "Andy showed me a little bit of the mall. Namely a toy store and an arcade. We would've likely gone to see more, but a ghost attacked the food court of the mall."
"I used the Gem of Life to defend ourselves, since I didn't want to risk using my actual ghost powers," I informed. "But that drained me quite a bit. I'm not used to using the Gem of Life. That's why we decided to come back here."
"Ah… yeah, ghosts can still be a bit of a problem sometimes," Rose sighed. "Though they attack less frequently than they used to."
"Then talk about bad timing for us," I grumbled. "So any particular reason why ghosts aren't attacking as frequently lately?"
"Oh, usually one ghost shows up every day," Rose informed. "They just haven't been showing up every day because a bunch of stuff has been happening in this world."
"Does it have anything to do with the royal ghost we've been sensing?" Juliette questioned.
"Uhhh… maybe?" Rose replied sheepishly. "Look, it'd be better if you didn't know too much about this world, as it could affect your own world."
"You do have a point, but a part of me still wants to know more," Juliette chuckled. "The desire is similar to how someone wants something more when they've been told they can't have it."
I looked at Rose, there had been a few questions burning in my mind about her, but I wasn't sure how to bring those up. The questions were pretty personal, and I didn't think Rose would even want to talk about them.
"Juliette, would you mind giving Andy and I some space? I'd like to talk to him for a few minutes," Rose requested.
"Oh, of course." Juliette smiled. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
I was surprised that Rose decided she wanted to talk to me in private, especially since I was just thinking about if I should ask her that personal question. Juliette phased into a wall, likely into her room. I looked at Rose curiously.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" I asked curiously.
"You tell me," Rose suddenly said, looking at me.
"Huh?" I blinked.
"I could tell that you really wanted to talk to me about something," Rose explained. "You don't need to hold back, go ahead and ask me."
I was surprised that Rose seemed to know that I wanted to ask her something. What I being that obvious?
"Oh… well…" I hesitated for a moment. "It's just… you don't have to answer, but… I've never seen you anywhere in my world. I know this world is set in the future from where I came from, but… would you mind telling me where you came from? How you came to be in Amity Park?"
"Well…" Rose scratched her chin. "I guess I don't mind telling you. I came to Amity Park from a place that the you of this world is quite familiar with. I came from the Void. However, I wasn't trapped in the Void. I had, and have, the ability to step in and out of the Void at will."
"The Void?" I blinked, frowning. "As in the same Void that I almost fell into before? Wait… how much do you know about me anyways? Or I guess… what happened before? Or did it even happen in this world? Is the Void even the same place here as it is in my world? Is anything the same here as it was in my world? How different did the events of our lives go?"
"Calm down before you blow a gasket," Rose spoke up. "You and my Andy both often overthink things. That much hasn't changed between you two I see."
I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult.
"Let's assume that this world followed the same timeline as yours did, but one thing changed," Rose stated. "I assume that since you know of the Void at least, you were in the event that caused you to almost fall into it, correct?"
"Yeah…" I gave an uncomfortable frown, remembering how I almost fell into the Void when I revered time in my world to stop Corrupted Danny's 'utopia'.
"But unlike this world's Andy, you didn't fall into the Void," Rose added. "So that was one of the main points that the paths of our worlds split. From there… with you not by Danny's side, he likely reacted to situations differently. Meaning there are all sorts of variables that landed us here in this moment."
"Wait… you're saying that the Andy of this world… fell into the Void?" I frowned.
Rose nodded grimly.
"But… I saw him earlier, how could he be in the Void if he's here?" I questioned, confused.
"He's no longer in the Void," Rose answered. "He was in the Void for years, but recently got out of it."
That just raised a whole lot more questions for me. I wanted to know how he got out, what it was like for him in the Void, how long he was in the Void, how that affected him both physically and mentally, how that affected the people he knew, his friends and family, if they had forgotten about him like they almost did with me, and if they did, how he was able to integrate himself back into their lives. And if this had anything to do with Juliette, and if they met in the Void, and how they got out, and if there was-
"You still there?" Rose interrupted, waving her hand in front of my face.
I blinked, snapping out of that rabbit hole. "R-right, sorry… that just… I guess those questions I was thinking of isn't something you could really answer… But… I do at least want to know… how did this Andy being in the Void… affect him and the people he cared about?"
Rose hesitated for a moment. "He still very much cared about Danny, and helped keep people safe. However, the Void tends to lock or strip away one's personality and memories. So the you of this world forgot who he was, became a blank slate, but didn't let that stop him. The Void in this world is quite a bit more dangerous than in your own world. The veil between the Void and the living world is MUCH thinner. Meaning the beings of the Void can affect the beings of the living world and the living world itself."
"There are beings in the Void?" I asked, surprised before shaking my head. "Nevermind, that would likely take all day to explain… I should go back to the original reason we got on this subject in the first place. You said you could go into the Void at will? How? Or… is that something you can't tell me?"
"Let's just say that I was at a… crossroads when an event happened and it partially changed me," Juliette explained.
I wanted to know what event she was talking about, but since she was vague about it, it likely wasn't something she was going to go into detail about. Instead, I decided to try to remain focused on what I felt I needed to know. "So… you ended up coming to Amity Park while in the Void… and I take it that was when you met the Andy of this world, right?"
Rose nodded. "That is correct. I surprisingly washed up on the beach of the lake. In a way, it was almost like I was guided to that beach by an unseen hand."
At that, Rose quickly shot a look upwards at the ceiling before looking back down at me.
"What is it?" I asked in concern.
"Don't worry about it, you don't need to deal with the headache I deal with daily," Rose assured.
I blinked at that.
"Anyways…" Rose cleared her throat. "I guess you could say it was fate that I ended up here. I became quite close to the Andy of this world. And I guess he became close to me too, since we had nobody else at the time."
It sounded like something out of a manga, not that I was going to say that to Rose. But that did make me wonder about something. "But… the fact that I… well, the other me of this world, had to be in the Void to even meet you in the first place… what would become of the you in my world? I was never in the Void, nor can I go into it at will… would I just… never meet her? Never… be able to help her?"
"I likely don't exist in your world, at least not yet," Rose replied. "After all, I'm an anthro and from what I have gathered, you don't have anthros in your world."
"I… guess that's true…" I frowned. "But I mean there could be a human version of you… or maybe even a ghost version. I just… I don't know, I want to make sure that you're not left completely alone if there's a chance you could exist in my world."
"Thank you, Andy, it's good to know you still care about me even if you were never taken into the Void." Rose smiled softly. "Though if there is a me of your world, you'll have to find her yourself. If she's in the Void, you will have to try and convince her to show herself and step out of the Void. If she's in the Ghost Zone, she is likely better off there than she would be in the Void."
"But I can't see beings in the Void, so how would I know if she's there?" I questioned.
"You could leave her a sign potentially, on the beach specifically. Or call out to her with your mind," Rose offered.
"Call her out with my mind?" I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "How would that help?"
"Right, I keep forgetting you know next to nothing about the Void…" Rose sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Void beings can hear people's thoughts."
"... That's… not creepy…" I looked around uneasily.
"Only if you focus on it," Rose replied.
Then there was a knock on the door. Rose walked over to answer it.
"Hey, just thought I should drop by to see how everything's been going," My voice stated.
Wait… That's MY voice! I inwardly yelled before dropping off of the couch I was sitting on.
"Everything has been going well," Rose replied. "And before you ask, yes it is fine to come in. He currently doesn't look like you. If you're right, then it won't violate the rules. Let's just hope you didn't interpret things incorrectly this time."
"When did I do that?" My voice asked in a pouty sort of tone.
"Would you REALLY like for me to get the list?" Rose asked. "Because I actually have a list."
It was odd to hear such playful ribbing from Rose. My fox ears lifted up when I heard footsteps getting closer to the living. I wasn't sure if this disguise would be enough, especially if he knows it's going to be me. Due to my worry, my body turned invisible just as Rose and the other Andy walked into the living room.
"Hey there," Andy greeted as he looked at me despite being invisible. "Before you freak out, this won't break Freakshow's rules. Also, I can sense you're there."
"Freakshow said that if we're seen, then we're out. You may be able to sense me, but as long as you can't see me, I should be safe," I answered.
"You're not currently Andy Fenton," Andy replied. "Meaning even if I saw you, I wouldn't be seeing you. I would be seeing the form you are currently taking. By that technicality, I'm not seeing you and it doesn't start the countdown to you losing."
I hesitated for a moment.
"Besides, I doubt you'd be able to keep up your invisibility forever, it gets quite draining," Andy added.
I let out a sigh. "I better not regret this…"
I let go of my invisibility. Andy blinked for a moment before looking up at me. I couldn't help but grin a little when I didn't hear a countdown to game over as soon as he saw me.
"Wow… am I really that short?" I asked.
"No, you're just currently that tall in your form," Andy replied with a chuckle.
"I might be shorter, since you seem to be older than me," I analyzed. "I mean this is set into the future, but I'm not sure by how much."
"Considering you're chasing Freakshow down when he has the Reality Gauntlet, I'd say you're about 3 or so years behind," Andy chuckled.
"3 years!?" I nearly choked.
"Yep," Andy confirmed. "Then again, I also had my growth stunted for that long as I was in the Void. I'm still catching back up to Danny."
"We should also mention that the months are longer here," Rose spoke up. "Meaning a year takes longer to come around than in your world."
"Wow… this world is… the same yet nothing like my world," I remarked.
Rose nodded. "The planet is slightly bigger, each month is 40 days, there are chienthropes and anthros, and there is magic in this world."
"How did that happen? Surely it couldn't just be because I fell into the Void." I frowned in confusion.
"Spoilers," Andy answered. "There were events that happened while I was in the Void, that's all I can say."
I grumbled at that.
"Let me ask… do you know how to control your future visions?" Andy asked me.
"Huh? Uh… no? I just get them randomly, they seem to come whenever they feel like it. I do have a watch back home that allows me to see clearer visions, but it gives me a headache, and sometimes really vivid nightmares," I replied.
"Ah, so you haven't learned how to control them…" Andy noted.
"I can learn how to control them? Like use them whenever I want?" I questioned, intrigued.
"Yes and no. First you will be able to learn to not let them hit you at any time they want, and then you can learn to use them at will," Andy answered.
"Though it's not something you should force or rely on too much," Rose added. "Andy here, my Andy, tends to drive himself crazy with his visions."
"Do not…" Andy pouted.
"Again, do you want me to get the list?" Rose raised a brow.
Andy grumbled. "Fine. While being able to see into the future whenever you want has its benefits, it also has its downsides. You might start to obsess over the 'better path' and how to get to it. You might start to feel like you can't live in the moment anymore, that you must look into the future to make sure nothing bad happens. Truth is, no matter what you do, no matter how much of the future you can see, you can't prevent all the bad things that can or will happen."
I frowned at that. "Really? I mean I always thought if I could see into the future whenever I want, I could help bring us to the best possible future."
"Don't put it all on yourself," Rose insisted. "You have people around you that will want to help, don't be selfish by saying you're the only one who should change the future. And sometimes doing nothing brings you to the better future. One last thing, there is no one 'great' future. There are plenty of different paths that the future can take."
I sighed, but nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. It would be too good to be true if psychics and seers could just lead everyone to one awesome future with little to no strife. Though I managed to get this far without relying on my future visions, so I guess I don't need them. They're just convenient sometimes."
Rose glanced over at Andy. "Why can't you be so easily persuaded? Why do you insist on staying the way you are?"
"What? I've changed, haven't I?" Andy frowned.
I looked between the two of them, wondering what their story was.
"Barely," Rose answered, still looking at her Andy. "Now, is there anything specific you wanted to do while you were here?"
"I wanted to talk to the other me and his Juliette," Andy answered.
"His Juliette is currently in her room, though I'm fairly sure she's taken off her disguise already," Rose informed. "I told you that you should've tried to get here earlier if you wanted to talk to her."
"I would've gotten here earlier, but I had to help with clean up…" Andy grumbled.
I then gave an excited grin. "Oh! What's it like fighting alongside Danny in this world? Is it any better than in my world? Are the ghosts calming down? Rose said that they don't attack as frequently. Are there any differences-"
Rose held up a hand. "Don't you think you're asking too many questions at once? Also remember that you should not ask questions that are obviously going to be spoilers."
"Spoilers for what? It's not like it's guaranteed to happen in my world," I pointed out.
"Just because it might not happen doesn't mean it's impossible," Rose countered.
"Are you able to get along with Danny in your world? How easy is it for you to fight alongside him? Do you ever feel like it might overwhelm you to be beside Danny too long?" Andy asked me.
"Oh gods…" Rose facepalmed. "You know what, I think I'm gonna go grab a snack and let you two… do your things."
"What's her problem?" I asked.
"Both of you," Rose said as she left the room while rubbing her head. "Gods, I might need some Advil or something…"
Andy sweatdropped a bit. "I guess even when I wasn't in the Void, I still tended to overthink things…"
"YOU THINK!?" Rose shouted from down the hallway.
"Erm… well to answer your questions, I think it's been great being able to work with Danny. Although I had trouble getting used to my ghost powers at first, Danny and I have been able to work together quite well. I've been learning how to use my ghost powers in ways Danny usually doesn't. We've been a pretty good team when it came to defending Amity Park from ghosts." I smiled. "Danny hasn't felt as overwhelmed by having to take on ghosts on a daily basis since I started helping him as a halfa myself. As for being overwhelmed if I stayed beside Danny too long… uh… what does that mean? Like getting overwhelmed if I fought with him against the ghosts too long?"
Andy blinked before sighing. "I… have to admit… I envy you."
"What? Why?" I asked, surprised.
"Uhhh… reasons…" Andy vaguely answered.
I frowned, getting the feeling that this Andy and Danny may have a slightly different relationship than my Danny and I had. I guess that was bound to happen since this Andy had been in the Void for years. It made me wonder how I would've turned out if Danny hadn't saved me from the Void.
"Don't ever lose yourself," Andy suddenly said. "You can always improve yourself of course, but never allow yourself to be shattered and lost… recovering from that could take years… and you may not be the same even if you do."
I blinked, but nodded. It really made me wonder what this Andy had to go through, but at the same time, it also made me appreciate that I didn't have to go through it myself… even if I feel a bit guilty that he had to, and I didn't.
"Um… if you still want to talk to Juliette, I could go tell her to put her disguise back on," I offered.
"Uhhh… might be better if I come back tomorrow, I'm pretty sure she's getting close to sleeping," Andy replied.
"She's… a ghost…" I blinked.
"Doesn't mean she doesn't need rest," Andy chuckled. "You… haven't learned that much about ghosts yet, have you?"
"Uh… I've been to one of their holidays," I replied.
"Right… well… ghosts do still need to rest. I'm sure you know that a ghost's core's energy isn't always infinite, especially outside the Ghost Zone, so they're more likely to need rest in the world of the living," Andy informed. "And anyways… if I'm right… a lot of things are going to happen tomorrow, so you and Juliette better get some rest."
I pouted. "Wish I could see that future…"
"Be careful what you wish for," Andy chuckled. "You never know who might be listening."
I paled at that. "R-right…"
Andy then sighed before smiling. "And… Andy? It was good to see… who I could've been had I not fallen into the Void. It was… an enlightening experience."
I blinked, before blushing slightly, thankfully my red fur covered up the blush. "It was… uh… enlightening to meet you too." Sort of? I didn't really get to know you all that well.
"Here are some answers to questions that you could ask~" Andy smiled before putting down a notepad. "Anyways, I'm gonna get going. I wish you luck in dealing with Freakshow."
"Thanks," I said, before he handed me the notepad.
Andy then transformed into his ghost form. Although I had seen myself in the mirror before in my ghost form, it wasn't very often, so it still took me by surprise when I saw his ghost form. It looked like mine, but it was missing the 'AP' emblem. He then phased through the wall and flew out.
"Huh… do I really look like that in my ghost form?" I questioned nobody in particular.
DP-Marvel94: DarkFoxKit: The Danny that Andy was talking to was indeed the real Danny. And yes, they did get to comfort each other. You may have noticed that 'Chad' is no longer reacting or 'speaking' anymore, there's a reason for that. The gems having sentience was an interesting idea, one we'll likely explore later on more.
Luna Lillyth: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I will admit, I did think a bit about the Crystal Gems from Steven Universe. However I was also thinking that these gems are artifacts of the Ghost Zone, a place where pretty much everything has some level of 'life' to it. So… if these gems are as powerful as they are said to be, there might be some consciousness behind them. Besides, if you had a gem that had the power to change the form of anything it touches but didn't have something in place to stop it from changing the form of everything constantly, there'd be a problem. In a way, the beings of the gems help to contain the power and focus it for the proper use.
We possibly will go more in depth with the gems later on, but no guarantees. Besides, there are probably other ghostly artifacts out there that may get some attention.
Mana16: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, Princess Andrea, pretty funny. Ah, we've already pre-written most of these chapters, so sadly we won't get to use your suggestion with the green army men toys, but that is a good idea for future references.
I mean there might've been possible hints the gems were sentient in canon. Remember when they found the Gem of Form? I don't think anyone was using it, it just changed everyone into teddy bear land. And when the Gem of Life brought the space rocket to life, it might've been angry because it made it into a monster. While the Gem of Form made the goths into teddy bears, so it was likely in a very… happy, caring mood. So who's to say they don't actually have sentience in canon? The gems just didn't get used much because… unfortunately, our favorite ghost boy decided to destroy them all along with the Reality Gauntlet.
Butch did say that if Sam or Tucker went into the Ghost Portal and turned it on while they were inside, they would've died. Which is strongly implied in this story too, as in the earlier chapters of We Are Phantoms, Andy and Sam both realized that Sam would die if she tried becoming a halfa. Now, maybe in an alternate universe, or with the Gem of Fantasy or something, maybe Tucker and Sam could've become halfas, like legit halfas and not mutants like Tucker was when Desiree gave him ghost powers. There could be an interesting plot point if either Tucker or Sam, or both of them, suddenly got ghost powers. We'll have to think about it though.