Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Fox! NO! Do not pour gasoline on your Switch!
DarkFoxKit: Onyx, don't be silly, this isn't my Switch.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Whoever's Switch it is, you still shouldn't pour gasoline on it! Though if it isn't your Switch, whose is it?
DarkFoxKit: A culmination of every competitive gamer's Switch.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Raises a brow before her eyes went wide with realization* Oooooooh, you've been playing Pokemon Unite again, haven't you?
DarkFoxKit: Probably should talk about something else, since this isn't a Pokemon fanfic.
Andy: *Off camera* Oh come on! Spawn campers AND an AFK TEAM!? What the fudge bars kind of luck is this?!
DarkFoxKit: *Takes a deep breath* Andy~ Would you like for me to borrow your Switch for a moment?~
Andy: *Leans out of his room* There's not much left for you to borrow… I uh… may have melted it in my hands with my ghost rays.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Facepalms* And this group wonders why the monthly electronics bills are so high…
DarkFoxKit: By the way, Onyx, if the cops start sniffing around, tell them we just had a big bonfire.
Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Turns back to Fox and sees her pouring gasoline on the Switch while holding a lighter* No no no n-
*There was a huge explosion inside the castle*
Chapter 114: Delicate Information
"I promise," Danny finally said after a moment of hesitation.
"Thanks. I'm sorry for the secrecy, but it is… a very delicate situation," I explained. "Hope, the same goes for you. Don't tell anyone else about this, alright?"
"Of course, I promise I won't tell anyone." Hope promised. "Especially as it would first mean revealing myself as a living teddy bear, which I have only done with the two of you and Juliette."
I took a deep breath and let it out before I looked back up at Danny. "You know how I sometimes get visions of the future?"
"Yeah?" Danny asked as he turned back to the wall he was carving a magic circle into, one that he said would make the walls soundproof so our voices couldn't be heard in the hallway.
"Well… I've been getting better at using my future sight," I began a little hesitantly. "I've recently begun… seeing more than a few different futures lately. I've been seeing many. The future has a lot of different paths it could take. There are hundreds, thousands- no, millions, probably more, paths the future could take. But one choice of an individual could change those millions of paths in an instant. Just like that, all those paths are gone, and replaced by millions of new paths. For example, when I got caught up in the second accident with you, any futures involving you being a lone halfa in Amity Park had all vanished, replaced by futures with you having a twin halfa by your side, although there have been some paths where we're not always together either."
"That's… that must be quite a lot of information to process," Danny remarked. "Have you been getting a lot of headaches? And are you sure it's safe for you to look into so many futures?"
"I can see these different paths, and yes, it is very overwhelming when you realize just how many different paths there are," I admitted. "But I haven't really studied those futures. I've only really looked at the ones that were closest to me, and were more likely to happen. The farthest I went would be what could happen about a year from now."
"When did you start being able to see these other futures?" Hope asked.
"Not long after our first Death Day," I answered. "I think something about experiencing my first Death Day may have made my future sight stronger, or it triggered something that made it easier for me to control."
"Well let's hope that whatever it triggered has only triggered that," Danny responded. "I'd rather not find out that it also triggered some kind of… curse or something inside you. Also, please try to remember that the future isn't all that matters. I don't want you losing yourself to your visions instead of staying in the present."
"Thanks for the advice, the other Andy said the same thing," I replied. "That's why I haven't spent too much time on it, but I will admit, it has gotten me curious with a few things. I looked at Mom and Dad's futures… and I'm not liking what I'm seeing."
"What are you seeing?" Danny asked as he put his hand on the circle on the wall, which began to faintly glow a little.
"I've seen a lot, some aren't that bad, others are pretty… bad," I hesitated on the word, but decided to settle on 'bad'. "But there was a very likely future that I followed to see where it would lead to the next couple years from now. If Mom and Dad continue to keep their current mindset that ghosts are evil and violent beings, then they are going to break a Core Taboo. They'll invent something that'll force… um… a Dead type ghost to relive their death, and it's an important ghost too, which would upset a lot of Ancients as well. Skipping through a lot of details on what happens after that, Mom and Dad would get taken to a ghost court of some kind. I couldn't exactly see what it looked like and have a theory that blurry visions are visions that I cannot perceive. That would mean that if I haven't been to a place, seen a person, or can't imagine whatever it is I'm trying to see, it will be blurry. But it seemed pretty big, and there were a lot of ghosts, and I mean a lot. You'd see less people in a huge championship football stadium."
I had to take another breath before continuing. "Anyways, Mom and Dad were being stood on trial for breaking that 3rd Core Taboo. We were there, watching, waiting, hoping that their sentence wouldn't be so bad. The sentence itself… I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Danny asked, sounding worried.
"The future kept changing, I couldn't tell what sentence they would get. Some of the sentences were worse than others, but the point is, whether or not the sentence is bad, they will get some sort of punishment that's going to affect us," I explained. "At least if we stay on that timeline."
"Do you know when they would make this invention that would break the 3rd Core Taboo?" Hope questioned.
"The first version of it will be made in about 3 to 4 months from now," I answered. "The day itself may vary, but they will make it eventually within that time frame. The first version won't work, and that's not the one we have to be worried about. It's the third version of the invention that works, and it's the one that will get used on the important ghost."
"So what you're saying is that we have 2 to 3 months to change how Mom and Dad see ghosts?" Danny asked as he turned away from the wall. "Oh by the way, you and Hope should cover your eyes for a second. The energy from the magic circle is about to spread out to the rest of the room and it might get bright."
I covered my eyes and I assumed Hope did the same. I could see light from behind my eyelids and hands, which meant Danny wasn't kidding when he said it would get bright.
After the light seemed to have vanished, I removed my eyes and blinked open my eyes.
I noticed that the magic circle on the wall was gone, likely hidden as part of the magic. I didn't see anything different about the room, but I could feel the remnant magical energy in the air.
"That seems about right," I said, answering Danny's earlier question about how much time we had to change Mom and Dad's perception on ghosts. "There are ways we could prevent that future without having to do that, but there's no guarantee they won't make it eventually and all we're doing is delaying it. Mom and Dad's hatred for ghosts are going to come to a boiling point, so it's only a matter of time before they make something that would break one of the Core Taboos. It would be even worse if they manage to use it on y- the uh… I mean an important ghost."
"What do you think that bright light was?" Mom asked as she walked up the stairs.
"Perhaps one of the boys is working on a science project and it blew up," Dad responded.
"But we didn't hear any explosions, just saw the light from downstairs," Mom pointed out.
"Danny's been working harder at school, so perhaps the light was from a science experiment," Dad offered.
"So it looks like we can hear them," Danny noted as he glanced at me. "Shall we test if they can hear us?~ We can continue the conversation after we've tested it."
I gave Danny a small shrug and a nod.
"Oh gosh, bro! Is that Danny Phantom behind you!" Danny exclaimed and then waited. "Considering Mom and Dad didn't just bust down the door, I'd say it was a success."
There was then a knock on the bedroom door. Danny, being near the door, opened it up.
"Hey, Mom and Dad, what's up?" Danny asked.
"We saw a bright light come down the stairs a few minutes ago and we're just checking everything is alright," Mom explained.
"Ahh, sorry, probably should've warned you that I was experimenting with something," Danny chuckled. "Don't worry though, Andy and I are fine and I've gotten the results I was looking for."
"Well in the future, if you want to experiment on something, it'd be a good idea to do so down in the lab," Mom stated.
"That way we can help you!" Dad beamed.
"That way we can help keep and eye on you and you're working in a safe environment," Mom clarified. "Anywho, since everything is under control, we're gonna head back downstairs."
"Night, Mom and Dad." Danny smiled.
"Goodnight, boys," Dad said as he started to walk away from the door.
"Goodnight, sweethearts, I hope you both sleep well," Mom replied before she too walked away.
Danny closed the door and turned to look at me. "So their hatred for ghosts is the main issue from what you're saying. That's why you were talking about showing them the culture and sentience of the ghosts in the Ghost Zone earlier."
"I'm hoping that by showing them that ghosts aren't all just evil beings like they think they are, and that ghosts have their own laws and civilizations, they would turn their way of thinking around." I nodded. "This way they would also be open to seeing that Danny Phantom and Andy Phantom aren't evil ghosts trying to trick people into believing they're good ghosts or whatever nonsense they think we're doing."
"Especially since you'd rather they not use that invention on me," Danny commented.
"I never said they'd use it on you," I quickly responded.
"You said they'd use it on an important ghost and before you almost started saying 'you'," Danny pointed out. "It's not that hard to deduce that this 'important ghost' is me."
Before I could say anything, Danny gave a frown. "But why would the Ancients get that mad about it? Am I really that important in the Ghost Zone? Last I checked, we were still pretty much enemies with a lot of ghosts."
"I mean you were the ones who were responsible for the defeat of the mad tyrant," Hope reminded us. "As for those ghosts you seem to believe are your enemies… How many times have they legitimately tried to kill you? And how many times have their plans made no lick of sense? I mean, from my outside perspective, it seems some of their plans had no merit to them and were just meant to get your attention. Additionally, from some of the 'lucky breaks' you've gotten, I think there are times where they hold back in a fight or purposefully hesitate for just a moment so they don't outright win."
"And why would they do that?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Because they enjoy fighting you," Hope bluntly responded. "Them winning would mean they would never be able to face you again. Many of the ghosts you fight have a desire to fight other strong ghosts, it's likely another contributing factor to why Amity Park and Casper High get attacked so often. I mean sure, it could be that whole haunt thing, but if they really wanted a haunt then they could just go to the city. They're always specifically going after you. Think about it; some of these ghosts have been around for millennia, and you've been seeing more of them than many other ghosts have in their entire existences within the Ghost Zone. It's not just because there's a Ghost Portal here that the ghosts are coming through. They're here to fight the two of you."
Danny gave a confused look.
"Okay, obviously that wasn't what was going on when you became a halfa during the first few months," I spoke up. "The ghosts were there for their own reasons, and Danny had to fight them off because they were causing trouble for people. I mean how could they know about Danny before facing him, right?"
"They were likely first coming through because a rift was torn in the Ghost Zone that would've been impossible to go unnoticed by the ghosts there," Hope explained. "It's really really hard to tear a whole in a dimension and that kind of event sends out a wave of energy that acts like a dinner bell."
"But there have been ghosts out to legitimately kill me. Skulker for one. Then there's Spectra who just wants to suck everyone's misery to be young. Ember's got that whole brainwashing music going on. Desiree… well, she nearly broke the 2nd Core Taboo just to get rid of me," Danny pointed out.
"Skulker is a bit of a… unique case. One hour he might want to hunt your head because you're unique or interesting, and the next he might just want to have an enjoyable hunt that has no results," Hope stated. "Spectra had a desire of her own to feed on energy that just so happens to most easily come from high schools. Ember… honestly I think she just wanted people to hear her music and not forget her, as her song does talk about remembering her. So perhaps she had some kind of trauma in her past life that led to that desire. As for Desiree, it, like all the others, could've been her Ghostly Obsession driving her. She wants to grant wishes, yeah, but she likely gets some kind of fulfillment out of it. Perhaps she was cursed or perhaps not. The only way you will ever truly be able to find out is by asking them. The only reason why so many of them started going after Danny is because he was there to stop them, to give them an opponent."
"So what, is this like some kind of strength contest?" Danny deadpanned. "These ghosts are coming here, making my life that much harder, because they just want to fight me?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say this was like some kind of test for something bigger," I narrowed my eyes.
"It's possible that they just want to fight you, but I can only make guesses and assumptions," Hope responded. "You will have to ask each ghost what they want and why they keep coming back. And maybe, if you want some time off, you can set some ground rules. As you have been incredibly nice to them up until now and have always released them instead of consuming them, they all owe you. Meaning you could cash in whatever they owe and make them follow your ground rules."
"They wouldn't listen to me. I remember that time I was taken to Walker's prison, and they were all ganging up on me to-" Danny stopped for a moment as if something just hit him. "... They… actually listened to me when I told them how to bust out… and they listened to me pretty easily too…"
"It's possible that, when they aren't listening to you, they're just giving you a hard time," Hope noted. "But if you come to them with a serious expression and tell them you need to set up some rules, they might surprise you by listening. And if they don't listen at first, you might need to incentivize them by putting up some stakes. Like 'if you don't follow these rules, the next time we fight I won't let you out of the Fenton Thermos, you'll be stuck in there, unable to fight me or get what you want for as long as I decide to leave you in there', or some kind of ultimatum like that."
I thought back on how the ghosts would sometimes help us when things got out of control. There was that one time all the ghosts teamed up to help keep Corrupted Danny busy, and Johnny helped me get to Vlad. Then there was that time Pariah Dark tried to take over our world and the Ghost Zone, the ghosts ended up helping us in the end to put Pariah back to sleep for good. Then I was able to talk to Youngblood and his shapeshifting friend about not attacking us anymore, we haven't seen the little squirt since. The ghosts could be reasoned with, though there had been times where it was difficult to try, because they were legitimately putting someone else in danger. Like with Technus and Valerie, Technus almost killed Valerie and I had to shield her from one of his blasts. There were some ghosts who did want to kill us, like Aragon. But for the most part, the other ghosts hadn't been too bad, at least towards us directly.
"So you're telling us we need to be firm with these ghosts?" I remarked.
"It could definitely work, yeah," Hope answered. "And who knows, perhaps setting those rules with ghosts could help you accomplish your other goal of showing your parents the better side of ghosts and the Ghost Zone."
"But that'll take a while…" Danny frowned. "Even if we could establish some kind of peaceful connection with these ghosts, that's going to take more than 2 to 3 months."
"You don't need to get all the ghosts on board, just the most common ones and the ones who are the biggest threats," Hope stated. "Additionally… you are aware that time doesn't flow the same in all parts of the Ghost Zone, right? Meaning you could go to an area and be there for days when it's only been seconds in the living world. Clockwork might be able to help point out one of those areas for you and you could possibly send out a call to the ghosts you believe you can reason with to meet you there. Additionally, you could try and find an unclaimed domain and set it up as neutral territory where nobody attacks one another."
"Perhaps Hope has a point," I said.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"We don't really go to the Ghost Zone very often, so we haven't gotten to know the ghosts there in their own homes. They could act differently there than they do here after all. And we haven't gotten a chance to really explore the Ghost Zone either," I informed. "Maybe we should find the time to start doing that."
"While this might not need to be said, I'm gonna say it anyways," Hope began. "Don't be an idiot and walk into a ghost's lair even if they invite you. You will be powerless in a ghost's lair and they will be as powerful as a god."
I shivered at the idea of being anywhere near a ghost's lair.
"Duly noted." Danny gulped.
"But getting back to the original topic. I don't want you telling anyone about my ability to use my future sight as easily as I can now. Telling them could set off more futures, and it could make things harder to predict if they keep asking me what's going to happen on this particular day or something," I warned. "I'll try my best to use my future sight responsibly and not get too caught up in it."
"I already promised I would tell nobody, bro," Danny reminded me. "Though I'm sure there's one ghost who is already well aware of you now having an easier time with your visions."
"If you mean Clockwork, I don't doubt it. And oh boy, he's a headache with or without future sight," I groaned, rubbing my head as just thinking about the Master of Time was causing a bit of head pain.
Danny nodded before he walked over to me. "Anyways, do you need help with homework? I finished all my homework earlier."
"When?" I raised a brow.
"Before we left school," Danny answered. "A bunch of the homework I was able to do during lunch, and some of it was just finishing up what I had started at the end of each class. If you don't need help, I'll probably just go over all my homework once more and see if there's any way I could get extra credit."
I stared at Danny for a moment.
"What?" Danny asked.
"You're starting to scare me," I answered. I wonder if I should tell him all the possibilities I saw with him? … Maybe not, don't want to scare him.
I wouldn't be the first to admit that I didn't like homework. And I also wouldn't be the first to admit that I was pretty bad at math. Danny used to be pretty bad at math too, even Vlad would point that out when he was mocking Danny. I was sitting at my desk, looking down at my tormentor: a page of geometry homework. I was tapping my pencil on the side of my head, feeling a bit stressed, annoyed, and stupid.
I can figure out how to use telekinesis, and manipulate my own ghost ray into various weapons, yet I can't figure out how to calculate a freaking triangle? I mentally groaned. How did Danny finish this in under 30 minutes?
"Are you sure you don't want help, bro?" Danny asked from his bed, where he was reading some comic books.
"I can't have you helping me with all of my homework. I'd feel like I would be taking advantage of your sudden book genius," I grumbled. Great, he somehow got Jazz's smarts activated in his brain. If only I could do that too.
"Why don't you look in the future for the answers?" Hope suggested to me, who was sitting on the desk beside me.
"That would be cheating," I sighed.
"I mean… not really," Danny replied. "You'd be seeing the answer, but not how you got the solution. You'd still have to work to get to the solution as our teacher is a stickler for showing our work."
"If I got the answer in the future, then I would've wrote out how I got the solution, and I would've seen the solution," I argued back.
"But would you?" Danny grinned. "If you were looking into the future for the answer, then you might not see the actual process and only see the final result. From what I've been gathering about time powers, it's all about the desire behind it. So if you wanted to see the answers, you'd only see the answers. However, if you wanted to see how the problems were solved and worked out, then you would see everything."
"I'm starting to have trouble deciding which of the two of you is the smart one," Hope remarked.
"It varies," I shrugged.
Danny's cell phone let out a notification sound, getting his attention.
Danny reached over and grabbed his cellphone. "Huh, got a text from Sam."
I started to write down what I thought could be the solution.
"What!?" Danny's shout caused me to not only lose my focus, but break the tip of my pencil.
"What?!" I shouted back.
"Sam's going to the Observatory with Elliot, she says she plans to ask him to be her boyfriend there," Danny answered with a frown.
I frowned, seeing Danny looked troubled.
"Why would she text you that…?" Hope tilted her head. "That doesn't really make that much sense. Unless… she's either giving you a chance to stop that from happening, or she feels as if there is something… off about going there."
"Well…" I looked at Danny. "What do you plan to do then, Danny? This could be the last chance you could tell her."
"I think you should do it," Hope stated. "You may live for all eternity due to your ghostly natures. Do you want to have the regret of not telling Sam how you feel about her haunt you for the rest of your life?"
"But… if she really loves Elliot to tell him she wants him as her boyfriend, then I would just burden her if I told her now." Danny frowned.
"No, Danny, it wouldn't." Hope shook her head, raising her voice a tiny bit. "The only one at current risk of being burdened is you. I understand that if you told her, she would have to make a choice. But a choice between love can never be a burden. Unless… you think you would be a burden if she dated you. And if you do, you're an idiot."
Danny didn't look like he knew what to say to that.
"A burden wouldn't be able to fight off tons of strong ghosts, a burden wouldn't be able to help take down one of the strongest ghosts in history, a burden wouldn't be able to do even half the things that you've shown yourself capable of," Hope went on. "And on top of that, a burden is only someone who can't contribute to a relationship. You have so very much that you can contribute, even if you don't realize it!"
"And Danny, love has no right answers. All you can do is speak from the heart," I added. "Yes, it's cheesy, but it's the best I've got. I'm as clueless as you are when it comes to love."
"That was so cheesy that I'm surprised the Dairy King isn't here…" Danny softly chuckled.
"Oh, so this is the thanks I get for trying to encourage you," I huffed.
Danny chuckled a little, and sighed. "I…"
"Danny! Andy! Get down here!" Mom's voice called from downstairs, and she sounded pretty angry.
"That… doesn't sound good." Danny frowned.
"What did you two break this time?" Hope asked.
"We didn't do anything," I replied. "Let's go see what's wrong."
"Good luck!~" Hope snickered before she flopped over on the bed, acting like a regular stuffed animal.
I looked at Hope for a moment before I followed Danny downstairs. She never said any of that nice stuff to me…
I knew the circumstances were different, but I only remember her angry words at me when I discovered she was alive in contrast to the words she said to Danny. While it was a selfish part of me, it did sting a little.
Danny froze at the bottom of the stairs, making me stop as well.
"What's wrong?" I asked Danny, as I couldn't see why he stopped. All I could see is that he was looking towards the front door.
"Guys in White!" Danny hissed, trying to keep his voice low. "At our front door."
I frowned. I would ask 'why are they here', but I already knew why. They were still tracking Danny Phantom, and our house was the most likely next target for them to investigate.
"Danny! Andy! Hurry up, please!" Mom called, sounding impatient.
"We have to do something, if we take too long, the Guys in White will get suspicious," I whispered.
Danny sighed and walked the rest of the way down the stairs. I followed my brother, both of us facing our parents, and the two Guys in White agents.
"Um… what is it?" Danny asked.
"These two… men wanted to ask you some questions about the ghost boy they've been tracking down," Mom informed us.
"You mean the ghost boy who has saved our town time and again?" Danny raised a brow.
Mom looked like she was about to argue, but one of the GiW agents spoke up. "We've tracked down most of the ghost boy's most active ecto-signature. Since we can't seem to find him, we've been looking at places where his ecto-signature is the strongest. We were led here, and we wanted to know if any of you had seen him, or if you've been possibly harboring him here."
"You've tracked his ecto-signature… here?" Danny repeated questioningly before chuckling. "Wow, your equipment must be broken then. From what I've learned from my parents research, ecto-signatures don't stay around for too long. What you likely tracked was the ecto-signatures of the inventions Mom and Dad make because, unlike what I have heard about the Guys in White, they're actually trying to research ghosts and not just hunt them down."
I was surprised at how confrontational Danny was, he was normally a lot more timid around the Guys in White. But then an uneasy feeling started to rise in me, and a worried thought began to whisper in my mind. Does he remember?
"Don't talk to us like that, we don't take lip from a prepubescent child like you. You wouldn't know any better anyways. And we would know the difference between a ghost ecto-signature and devices that use ectoplasm," The other agent snapped at Danny.
"I wouldn't know any better?" Danny inquired. "Well I know for a fact that ecto-signatures are somewhat like radiation trails. Like radiation trails, they can be shifted around by a simple breeze. Because of this, after a certain period of time, ecto-signatures are nearly impossible to track unless you have a way to track the ghost's core."
Mom and Dad both blinked at that, as that was a bit of information that they didn't fully know.
"On top of that, the ghost boy flies all over Amity Park, meaning his ecto-signature would be everywhere, not just a few specific places," Danny added. "But to answer your original question, no, the only times I've seen the ghost boy is at school and around the city. When I'm at home, I'm usually up in my room and Danny Phantom has never graced me with a personal visit."
Well… not necessarily true since the incident with the Fenton Ghost Catcher… I mused, mostly to keep myself from going into a panic.
"I believe Danny told you everything that we would've told you ourselves," Mom took over. "And our sons would never hang out with Danny Phantom, or his br-"
"Yeah, of course we wouldn't!" I spoke up, not wanting Mom to reveal to the agents about Danny's brother.
"I mean, I probably would." Danny shrugged. "No offense, Mom and Dad, but Danny Phantom is pretty cool from what I've seen. Almost any kid in Amity Park would love to hang out with him and be his friend. Would we help him in his ghostly activities? That's an entirely different story, especially with how dangerous things can be around him."
The agents were looking at Danny. I was sweatdropping. This is bad.
"Forgive us, we will be leaving now," One of the agents said before turning around and walked out the door.
"We won't cause you any further trouble, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton," The other agent said before he followed his partner.
"Hey! Uh… if you ever need a Guy in Orange, you know where to find me!" Dad called.
"Dad, don't." Danny spoke up and stepped in front of Dad. "Unlike you, they don't have a moral code. From some of the research I've done on them, they do tests on ghosts that are so horrific that if it was done on any living species, they would be in serious trouble."
While Danny was talking, I went back upstairs, and hurried into our room. I was trying not to freak out at what I just witnessed. I didn't even say anything, other than interrupting Mom to keep her from telling the agents about Andy Phantom. Danny took charge of the situation pretty… easily… and… so unlike him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was Corrupted Danny talking, or at least the confident part of Corrupted Danny. What if he does remember the summer vacation that never happened? Or what if his sudden boost in intelligence and confidence is a sign that mist is activating again?
"Andy, you have that 'freaking out' expression again," Hope spoke up as she sat up. "Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."
"I don't know if it's safe to stay here right now…" I frowned, memories of Corrupted Danny transforming Jazz, Mom, and Dad into ghosts with ease flashed through my eyes. "Danny's acting different… he's… I don't know… gotten more confident and intelligent?"
"I mean… he has been getting smarter," Hope acknowledged. "But that's from all the hard work he's been putting in. As for the more confident thing… What exactly are you talking about? Can you tell me what happened?"
"He just talked to two Guys in White agents, who are hunting his ghost half down, without breaking a sweat, and had them leave," I answered. "That's not normal for Danny, he's usually a lot more timid and cautious with the Guys in White."
I walked over to the window. "Maybe I should warn the others before it starts again…"
"Andy, stop and talk before you make any rash decisions," Hope instructed. "If you make a stupid decision while you're freaking out, you're only going to regret it."
I turned back to Hope, her words from when I first discovered she was alive came back to me.
"I didn't want to be stuck with a rotten child like you! Why did I have to be stuck with a freaky child with a strange teddy bear phobia like you? I wanted to be with someone kind, someone who would love me! Were you dropped on your head as a child? Because your twin turned out just fine! I'm surprised your siblings care enough to deal with your insanity! If I was your sibling, I would've left you to deal with your insanity all on your own! You're nothing but a freaky child."
"Look, try to calm down and talk to me," Hope requested. "I want to try and help you work out what's going on. But I can only do that if you let me."
I shook my head, not even able to look at her. Those words were said a long time ago, and they were out of anger and fear. I knew that, yet it still felt like that was what she thought of me, even if she didn't say it. After all this time, I never really heard her say anything nice to me, at least not about having me as her owner. "Don't worry about me… I'm only a freaky, rotten child after all…"
I didn't mean to say the words out loud, and I didn't know why I even said them. But it was already too late to take back what I said.
"And I'm a ghost trapped inside a teddy bear living in a room with two ghosts who share a household with two ghost hunters," Hope shot back after a couple seconds. "Your point?"
"Maybe I just need some air," I sighed. "I need to clear my mind for a bit."
I opened the window. With the Guys in White still in the vicinity, it would be dangerous to transform into my full ghost form. However, I could use a small bit of my ghost power to help me jump out for a 2 story house and land safely on the ground. I was just about to jump when someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder, stopping me.
"Bro, stop," Danny spoke up. "You can't run away from all your problems. Sometimes you need to take them head on. And right now, your problem has something to do with me. Likely how I talked to the Guys in White downstairs."
How did he know? I frowned to myself, not sure if I should look back at Danny in fear I would suddenly see him in black and red. "I wasn't running away, I was just going to walk around a bit to clear my head."
"You and I both know that I'm not gonna buy that," Danny chuckled in response. "Come on and talk to me, bro."
I managed to look back at Danny, seeing that he was normal, at least in terms of appearance. "Do we have time for this now? Don't you want to meet up with Sam before she asks Elliot to be her boyfriend?"
"I always have time for my brother." Danny smiled. "Besides, the Guys in White are sitting out in front of the house and likely won't go away for a little bit. Rather not lead them right to Sam and Elliot."
Danny then gently pulled me away from the window, then gently pushed me over to my bed. I blinked, a little surprised. Danny sat down on the bed next to me. "Now… tell me what's wrong?"
I wasn't sure if I should be sitting this close to him in case he suddenly turned on me, but… This is ridiculous, I shouldn't be scared of my own brother. Damn these visions and those memories of Corrupted Danny…
"You surprised me with how you handled those Guys in White agents," I started. "It just didn't seem like you… and well… the only other time I saw you getting a sudden shift in confidence like that was when you… weren't exactly yourself…"
"I… admit that I wasn't very patient with them, but I've… honestly grown tired of those guys," Danny admitted. "They go everywhere and act like they own everywhere, and I wanted to try and take them down a peg. I didn't intend to sound confident, I just… didn't have a care to give them. We've faced Pariah Dark, bro. The Guys in White are chumps compared to him. Yet we've treated them like they're waaaay more dangerous than him. Heck, we've treated them like they're more dangerous than half the ghosts we've faced. Sure, they have gadgets, but those gadgets can only get them so far. And, while it's smart to acknowledge what strengths they have, it's foolish to let it scare us. I'm not saying I don't fear what their weapons are capable of, I'm just choosing not to let that fear stop me from talking to them like the complete and utter fruitloops they are. They're the one group of people that I actually consider more insane than Vlad."
Well… Danny wasn't wrong, considering what those Guys in White jerks made us go through. They were experimenting on a child! They chased two children down, and hunted them like animals.
But what made me treat the Guys in White like a bigger threat was due to what happened during the summer vacation that never happened. The Guys in White had been dangerously sneaky, picking us off one by one while we were distracted. And they nearly succeeded too. Danny wouldn't remember that, of course, I made him forget.
"The Guys in White… are more dangerous than you think…" I hesitantly said, not sure how I would be able to explain it. "It would be dangerous to underestimate them just because we fought with the likes of Pariah Dark. Humans are probably more dangerous than ghosts, since we can't really go all out on them unless you're fine with murdering people. We can't just suck them into a Fenton Thermos and release them back into the Ghost Zone. And many of them are relentless when they go after us."
"I'm not saying they aren't dangerous, bro." Danny shook his head. "But I'm saying with all that we've been through, we shouldn't be scared to face them. We're past the point of being weak little ghosts who were learning how to use our powers. I'm trying to be a bit realistic here, and I know that at some point in the future it's going to be an all out conflict between us and them. And if we let our fear of them control us, we won't be able to get the proper information that can help us take them down. As much as I hate to say it, we need to start doing research on them for the war that could very well happen between us."
Danny then frowned as it looked like something just occurred to him. "Or… maybe it wasn't really about being scared of the Guys in White. You're more worried about me, aren't you? And… despite our growth these past several months, you still see yourself as a weak ghost trying to learn how to control your powers, don't you?"
"Well… aren't I?" I frowned. "I know I've been able to train with my ghost powers a lot more since Juliette and Scarlet came along. But I'm still nowhere near your level, and I was only able to beat a lot of the tougher ghosts with your help."
"Well… maybe that's your problem," Danny responded after a few moments of thought. "You're constantly trying to compare yourself to me and my strength instead of focusing on you."
I gave a sigh. "Well, Danny, who else was I going to compare myself to? The Box Ghost? You're always there, whenever we fight ghosts, you're either the first one to attack, or just right beside me when we fight. How could I not compare myself to you?"
"Don't compare yourself to anyone," Danny explained. "Spend the energy that you're using to compare yourself to others to work more on your abilities. Find your strengths and hone them, find your weaknesses and either eliminate them or train in ways to compensate for them."
I rolled my eyes a bit. "Now you're just repeating what Scarlet said. It's not a conscious thing, Danny. It just happens. Besides, you always were the stronger one between the two of us." So much so Vesper wants you.
"I'm physically stronger, yeah," Danny nodded. "But my ranged attacks are awful. Why do you think I'm always trying to close the distance before I use my ghost rays. If I was in a long distance shootout with any ghost, I'd lose. The only really good 'ranged' attack I have is the Ghostly Wail, and that affects everyone and everything and drains way too much energy. If I were a character from a fighting game, that would be my ultimate move."
I snorted a little at what Danny said about being a character from a fighting game.
"There, you see? I'm still me, bro, just a little smarter is all." Danny smiled and patted me on the shoulder. "And maybe a bit more decisive and daring. But I'm still me."
I blinked as I looked at Danny for a moment. I kept seeing some futures where Danny became more confident and was more authoritative, yet he wasn't Corrupted Danny. I guess I just kept thinking 'it's the future, it'll be a while before it happens'. But it's already happening now. The future will soon become the present, faster than I realized. Heh, how funny that a girl we just met not long ago would have this affect on Danny.
"What?" Danny asked when I just kept staring at him without saying anything.
"I'm going to sound like a parent, but… you're just growing up so fast," I said.
"I mean… you could be too," Danny replied. "I mean… you've been working on your future visions a bunch and you've been getting stronger."
"Now show me how much you've grown," I suddenly said.
"What?" Danny blinked.
"Sam is waiting for you, Danny, don't keep her waiting any longer," I said firmly. "If you'd like, I can come with you, but you'll have to talk to her yourself."
"I would like it if you came," Danny responded. "Though we should check that the Guys in White have left first."
"They have," I said.
"How do you know?" Danny questioned.
I gestured out the window, seeing the white jet they used to get here was flying away. "Why do you think I suggested you go see Sam now?"
"Ahhh," Danny acknowledged. "Then let's get going, but carefully. Wanna make sure the Guys in White didn't leave any tracking instruments."
"We can suppress our ecto-signature by using the stealth technique Juliette showed us. Though it will require us to go invisible while we fly," I suggested. "But it would be faster to fly to the Observatory than to walk or use mopeds."
Danny nodded. "Then let's do that."
"Look at you two, being all smart. I don't know why you were so freaked out before, Andy," Hope chuckled.
"Well, I'm a freaky boy with strange phobias," I replied.
"That you are~" Hope grinned.
Dp-Marvel94: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's always fun to write new ghost lore into the world, make it more of an actual living, or ghostly, world. Usually shows leave a lot of their lore vague, just so they can do anything, but sometimes actually creating lore creates more opportunities to do things, which is what Fox and I are hoping to do.
Not many people have ever really documented ghosts, not even other ghosts. Putting a camera on a ghost and letting them do their own thing would be a useful source of information that nobody has ever really seen before.
It's always fun to confirm little things like that, and the idea of a haunt is really something that I enjoyed when Fox brought it to the table. The way they explained it to me was extremely interesting, and I knew we had to add it to the story. This was the best way to add it into the story without it seeming forced or unnatural.
DarkFoxKit: *Comes in with charcoal fur* You can thank a writer called FiveRivers for giving me this inspiration, as I'm sure you know. I've seen you reviewing some of their stories too.
sskgmtbooks: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Heh, this isn't even our longest story, but yeah, 1 mil words is definitely a milestone. However, those 1 mil words likely include the ANs and Reviews.
naminexriu2468: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Unfortunately, that is something I can't answer at this time as it would be spoilers. You'll just have to wait and see.
DarkFoxKit: Besides, right now, this is the Double Cross My Heart episode. You can look up the episode list on google or something to get an idea on when we'll be doing Kindred Spirits.
Mana16: DarkFoxKit: You should read Mortified written by FiveRivers, the parents breaking a Core Taboo came from that story after all. Though I do like your idea of Team Phantom, or someone from Team Phantom, trying to save them after getting arrested. But I can't guarantee that will happen in this story since we already have a lot of ideas for the parents set in motion.
Youngblood is a strange one. It seems to be implied he's a lot older than he looks, and if that's the case he may not be a true ghost child. He could just be a ghost emulating a child and a child-like appearance. But considering we won't be seeing much of Youngblood, theories on him are up for debate.
You know, that's an interesting theory about Frostbite. I've always wondered what happened to his arm, but it was never explained, or asked about. It was just kinda there, no explanation. As for if Frostbite and his people are considered Deathless, that's a tough one. They appear to be people of the Ghost Zone, so they're definitely not Dead type at the very least. So they're likely Deathless or Born types, or maybe both. They could've just existed one day, and gave birth to more ghost yetis. Although… I don't think we've ever seen a female yeti, so… maybe they are just Deathless, or they reproduce asexually.
Glad you enjoyed the lore dump then.
Yeah, the thing with Desiree was that she only really messed with memories, I doubt even with her reality altering powers, would she be able to change the present time like that. Clockwork wouldn't allow at least. Suppressing Danny's ghost powers to the point that he's pretty much human made more sense than somehow just taking away his ghost half entirely, and the second accident only woke his core back up, which is why he didn't pass out or had to be sent to the hospital after that. As for Sam's photos, Desiree likely just erased Sam from Danny's photo, while Sam kept her pictures close to her while wearing the Specter Deflector, so Desiree couldn't get to it. That's my theory anyway.
GhostHex: DarkFoxKit: Lore is always fun, but trying to remember all of it consistently can be a bit of a pain. Relationship drama? Are you talking about Sam and Elliot? Well, we decided to go for the more realistic approach. The relationship dramas don't necessarily always go to the extreme or over the top, but it can affect people quietly.
Anime lover 3593: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': You may want to go through all your notification settings and then go into your emails and make sure that the notifs aren't being sent to your spam folder. I will say, we update approximately every 2 weeks and try to update on Mondays. So if you don't get an email 2 weeks from now, you can check on Fox's page and see if we updated.