DarkFoxKit: Alright, so finally time to update. It felt like it's been longer than 2 weeks since the last update for me.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I know what you mean, it's felt more like a few months since we last updated, just because of how much has been going on lately.

DarkFoxKit: During the summer, it feels like time goes by slower. But now, when holidays start coming, a lot of things happen, and time feels like it's going by incredibly fast.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Though occasionally it just feels like time isn't moving and watching the clock can make it seem like it takes an entire minute for the second hand to move. Though it's more often just speeding by. I can't believe it's already October 18th.

DarkFoxKit: Do you think Clockwork has something to do with it?

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': I don't think so, as he's more a watcher of time than someone who messes with time for the heck of it. The only points in which he's messed with time is because he needed to.

Andy: Besides, time feels normal to me. Although I guess it also feels kinda long… I think that's the right word, lately due to certain… stories you've been writing. Not that I'm gonna tell the readers anything of course.

DarkFoxKit: Nah, you just decided to tease them instead.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': *Looks at the readers* I think that's enough for now. Go enjoy the story!~

Chapter 118: Unexpected Results

I flew into my bedroom, still in my ghost form. I knew that Mom and Dad were likely going out on their patrol soon, they would have no reason to come up here. Hope did jump, startled at suddenly seeing me fly in.

"Sorry about that," I apologized to Hope before I looked at my phone.

I didn't stick my cell phone back in my pocket when I transformed for two reasons. One was because I needed it and I didn't want to change back just to grab it again. And two was because I wanted to experiment a little, to see if the cell phone would vanish along with my clothes if I had it out of my pocket. It didn't. Something I decided I would write in my notes later. I speed dialed Valerie, and waited a second or two for her to pick up.

"You said you needed plastic swords, and what else?" I asked as I put Valerie on speaker phone.

"For the plastic swords, no, I need a number of daggers. As for what else, I need something that looks like a bottle of poison and some candlesticks with candles, though I could probably handle the last part," Valerie answered over the phone.

"Alright, I think I have an old chemistry set in my closet," I remarked. "We could probably use the vials for the 'poison'. Of course after I wash them out thoroughly."

"I didn't know you were into chemistry," Valerie remarked in surprise.

"I… didn't either. I might've gotten the chemistry set for a birthday present," I guessed. "Danny has a starter magician kit in his closet, so we might've got them at the same time."

"I guess it's not too surprising considering your parents are scientists," Valerie noted as I opened my closet and began to dig through some of my old stuff, stuff that I barely remembered using or playing with when I was a child. "By the way, are you alright? It kind of sounds like you're echoing a little."

"Yeah, just have a bit of a windy draft since I left the window open, nothing to worry about. That or it could just be the phone's reception," I replied before I managed to grab onto a box.

I used telekinesis to make my cell phone float beside me so I could use two hands to take out the rather large box. "Ah, there we go. Looks like it's never been opened for a long time."

I blinked as I opened up the box, and was surprised at all the stuff that was inside. There were several vials, of course, but there were tons of small bottles that still had different kinds of liquids inside them. On top of the vials and bottles, there were also several different kinds of tools inside. I thought I had a smaller chemistry set, but this one seemed surprisingly large with a lot more stuff than I thought there would be. It made me wonder if my parents bought me a big chemistry set kit in hopes that I would be interested in getting into science. Then I noticed a few of the bottles had something glowing in them. I picked up one of the glowing bottles and squinted my eyes a bit, seeing that the glowing substance was likely ectoplasm, but there were other components mixed with it. Someone had been clearly using this set long ago.

Okay, just need a clean vial that I can properly clean out and use for water. I pondered as I started looking for a clean vial. Though… if Juliette is drinking the contents, maybe I can actually use a bit of ectoplasm to really make it look like poison. And the right type of ectoplasm might give Juliette a bit of a strength boost too.

Of course, I had to be careful with what kind of ectoplasm I would give to Juliette. I couldn't just assume all ghosts could consume any type of ectoplasm. I would have to ask Juliette first if an ectoplasm sample we have in the lab would be safe for her to consume before I go adding it into the vial for her to drink in the play.

"Okay, so I'll see if we have any prop daggers, or if something my parents made could be used as prop daggers," I said to the floating phone beside me. "Is there anything else I need to get?"

"If you can, the candlesticks and candles," Valerie reminded.

"Yeah, those shouldn't be too hard. I think my parents have a few of the candlesticks and candles. Let's see… as for daggers, I might be able to see what Jazz has. You'd be surprised what my sister keeps in her room…" I remarked, remembering finding a grappling hook of all things in Jazz's room. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since she does keep the devil bear in there too.

"Just make sure you ask before you take her things," Valerie chuckled.

"Yeah, I will," I replied. "If we pull this play off, I can just see the look on Mr. Lancer's face. He might try to recruit us for the drama club."

"Yeah, maybe. I'll have to get a picture of that. But I'm mostly hoping it'll pull our grades up," Valerie replied. "I gotta go, you go ahead and take care of the rest of the props."

"Okay, Val, I'll talk to you later," I answered back before grabbing onto my cell phone and hanging up.

I then summoned my rings on my torso that split horizontally to change me back to human. "Okay, ask Jazz about props I could use for daggers, then see if my parents are still here for the candle stuff. Maybe I could just look in the dining room to see if they still have those candlesticks there…"

I began walking to the door, and heard what sounded like a thumping sound. I blinked before noticing my door wasn't closed all the way like I thought it was, but was slightly opened. That's odd… did we not close the door on our way out?

I opened up the door and walked over to Jazz's door. I knocked, of course, I always knocked. I wasn't going to enter Jazz's room without her permission, especially with her guard bear inside.

"Come on in!" Jazz called out from inside.

I opened the door, and cautiously looked around before seeing Bearbert was on Jazz's bed, as usual. I walked inside Jazz's room. "Did you hear a thumping sound a minute ago?"

Jazz looked up at me with a curious expression. "No, I didn't. Did you need something?"

I wondered if what I heard was a small ghost wandering around, but that couldn't be it, because I was sure I would've sensed it. I decided not to worry about it right now.

"I'm looking for props to use for a project I'm doing. We're doing a play for Romeo and Juliet," I explained. "I was wondering if you had anything I could use as prop daggers. And if you don't, maybe you might know where I could find some."

"Oh? I take it it's a project for Mr. Lancer?" Jazz guessed.

"You'd guess right," I chuckled. "Never been in a play before. I mean I've been in a few school musicals, but I've never had a major role before. I'm a little worried about my acting costing us a few points."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Andy," Jazz assured. "And… give me a bit, I can find some prop daggers that I had from projects of my own. They are metal, so they weigh a bit. As for costumes, I might be able to help you put some things together to be accurate to the setting. There are some clothes in the drama club that I could probably borrow for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "I didn't mention costumes yet, we're just gathering props right now. I think we were just gonna borrow some costumes from the drama club… like you were suggesting, so I guess that works out?"

"Usually someone needs to be in the drama club in order to use their props and costumes and stage furniture," Jazz explained. "I have some ins with the club, so I'd be able to help you if you wanted, baby bro."

I pouted a little. "Thanks for the help, but did you really have to call me your baby bro? I'm only two years younger than you."

"You're still younger than me and I miss calling you my baby bro," Jazz explained with a smile.

"Do you do that with Danny too?" I asked.

"Sometimes~" Jazz grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, well I'm gonna go ask our parents if they have any candlesticks with candles I can use. Hope they haven't left yet for their nightly ghost patrols."

"Mom should be around. I think Dad decided to take a nap," Jazz informed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? Dad doesn't usually like taking naps, he's always too hyper and excited."

"Dad's been doing a lot of heavy lifting and cleaning," Jazz explained. "He actually has been working on recycling a bunch of the old projects he no longer has any plans for. He's even been removing inventions from the shed to break down. I'm glad to see his hoarder mentality is disappearing."

I blinked, surprised to hear that. I hadn't really been paying attention to what my parents had been doing since we got back from our cross country summer vacation trip, so I had just assumed they went back to inventing ghost weapons and stuff and just doing their usual things. But now that I thought about it, I hadn't really heard them talking much about their 'latest inventions' lately.

"Dad actually is planning on figuring out a way to expand the shed so it's a proper garage," Jazz added. "He apparently wants to build some other Fenton vehicles but needs places to store them."

"Wait… Dad is actually… doing heavy lifting and cleaning… without even asking us to do it?" I asked in shock, still trying to wrap my head around that. Dad used to always make me or Danny clean up after him, or move things to the shed. "When? H-how?"

"I mean we've been busy with school, and you and Danny have been participating in afterschool activities, so we haven't exactly been around to be asked to help. I guess he finally decided to stop complaining about needing space for new projects and decided to take care of it himself," Jazz theorized.

Maybe he finally considered what Mom and I suggested to him about exercising more? I wondered. "Well… that's a good thing then, isn't it? He's not… overshadowed or something, is he?"

"I doubt it, you and Danny would've sensed it if he was, wouldn't you?" Jazz asked.

I thought back on the time Johnny had Jazz wear Kitty's outfit, and how the outfit was slowly transferring Kitty's spirit into Jazz's body. Danny didn't seem to be aware of it at the time, and I wasn't half ghost yet.

"Besides," Jazz continued. "With all the sensors in the basement, shed, and house in general set to detect any ghosts that aren't Danny and you, I doubt any ghost could be overshadowing Dad."

"There might be other ways for ghosts to overshadow someone, or I guess, outright possess them in some cases, without setting off any ghost alarms or our ghost senses," I noted grimly. "It's happened before after all."

Jazz frowned, likely realizing what I meant.

I shook my head. "I'll at least check on Dad before going to ask Mom about the candle stuff."

"Again, he's napping right now," Jazz reminded. "So be careful when you go check on him. Mom and Dad's room is one room in this house where we haven't been able to tweak the sensors."

"I know, don't worry, I'll be careful," I assured. "Actually I find coming into your room to be more of a hazard to my health."

Jazz rolled her eyes a bit. "For the last time, my teddy bears aren't going to attack you."

"Uh-huh, that's what they want you to think," I replied before I walked over to her door.

"I'll bring the daggers to you after I find them," Jazz said as I was stepping out of her room. "Oh and make sure to close the door behind you."

"Kay." I waved as I left the room, closing the door behind me. I let out a sigh, feeling relieved and glad to be out of Jazz's room. After collecting myself, I headed over to Mom and Dad's room.

I carefully opened the door to peek inside the room. I could hear my Dad snoring up a storm. I quietly walked inside, careful not to use any of my ghost powers since they could set off the alarms. The last thing I needed was for my Dad to wake up, and accuse me of being a ghost overshadowing one of his children. I walked closer to my dad, and saw him wearing his pink and white striped pajamas, and snuggling with his own teddy bear. I crinkled my nose at the sight of the teddy bear. What is it with this family and teddy bears?

I carefully, and cautiously, placed my hand on my dad's forehead, trying to sense anything that wasn't normal going on in his body. It wasn't something I did often, but Juliette had been training me on how to sense ghosts easier, and how to keen in on my senses. I never really tried looking for a ghost inside a human before, but I was sure I would at least sense something if my dad was being overshadowed, or slowly possessed by the ghost's items like Jazz was. I didn't sense anything was off, however. And the PJs Dad was wearing were completely normal too.

Although, there was one thing I noticed. While I didn't sense any actual ghosts inside Dad, I couldn't help but notice bits of ectoplasm in his system. There wasn't nearly enough to cause him to have any ghostly traits, nor was it very noticeable. If I hadn't been searching for anything ghostly in my dad, I would have never noticed it. I guess I should've figured he might have bits of ectoplasm in his system due to the line of work he has. It's just… surprising. I wonder if Mom has any in her too. And… I wonder how long the ectoplasm has been in them for?

There were a lot of disturbing implications coming to my mind if they had these bits of ectoplasm in their system before they had children. It was also something I did not want to think about right now. I had a play to focus on, and that was what I was going to focus on for the sake of my sanity.

Seeing how Dad was fine, I left the room and went downstairs to look for Mom. I didn't see her in the living room, or the kitchen, so I decided to try the lab. The lab was the most likely place for my parents to be if they weren't anywhere else in the house or out somewhere.

I did see Mom down in the lab, and I was about to call out to her, but I noticed something a little off about her. I saw her staring at a lot of her best ghost weapons on a table. It looked like she had them all out on the table, and she appeared to be contemplating something. It was a little difficult to see her expression since she was wearing her hazmat hood and goggles. But from what I could tell, she seemed pretty tense. A part of me wanted to wait and see what was going on, but the more caring side of me wanted to call out to her to snap her out of whatever mindset she was currently in.

I decided to follow my caring side. "Mom?"

"Oh! Andy!" Mom yelped as she jumped a little. "I didn't hear you come in. I was… concentrating on the weapons, doing a bit of a quick inventory to see what kind of weapons could be developed. Is there something I can do for you, sweetheart?"

I frowned a little as I looked at the ghost weapons she had on the table. There were some particularly nasty ones, like the Fenton Bazooka, the Fenton Taser, and my actual all time favorite, the Fenton Rod. I felt instant nostalgia when I saw the Fenton Rod. These were some old inventions though, Mom and Dad didn't usually go back to their old inventions other than some sparse tweaking here and there, let alone a bunch of them at once.

"Is everything alright, Mom? You seem a little… uh…" I hesitated on the word. "Stressed?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Mom assured. "I was just really deep in thought, so you startled me when you spoke up. Been considering possibly creating a new line of non-lethal weapons to allow us to more easily capture ghosts. Most of the time your father and I are just trying to eliminate ghosts, but I've been slowly realizing that we barely understand them. Sure, they're verminous creatures, but scientists and researchers still study vermin to understand them. For all your father and I know, they might act like spiders, where they have their purposes in the world."

I was really shocked when I heard that. My mouth actually fell open, and if I was a cartoon, it probably would've hit the floor. I had never thought I would hear my Mom say that, at least not any time soon, not any time before Danny and I even tried getting her and Dad to want to understand the ghosts rather than hunt them. But now Mom was deciding this all on her own for some god-only-knows reason. It was as if my plan to jump through a bunch of hoops to get Mom and Dad, or at least one of them, to try to understand ghosts was suddenly thrown out the window and was just handed to me on a very, very unexpected silver platter. I was just staring at this silver platter that really shouldn't exist.

My mind was working a thousand miles per hour now, trying to figure out how the hell this happened. Did someone else work on trying to convince her? Did Jazz somehow talk her into it? Did Danny? Did Juliette somehow do it? She doesn't even talk to them! Did Clockwork send a future version of me and Danny, and our future selves somehow convinced Mom? Wait, that's absurd, Clockwork would damage time if he did that. Then again, that didn't stop him before!

Mom turned to me when I was silent for a little too long, and she pulled back her hood, looking at me in concern with her own amethyst eyes.

"Something the matter, Andy?" Mom questioned. "Are you feeling okay?"

I was trying to gather up my thoughts so I could speak coherently. "I'm… um… just surprised, is all. You and Dad never seemed interested in trying to understand the ghosts before." Usually any attempts to try to get you guys to understand ghosts ends with you saying all ghosts are mindless or evil beasts very vehemently.

"Well, if we're going to truly properly fight them, it's best we understand their strength, weaknesses, and abilities. And while thinking about that I also realized we didn't even know what they do to our world when they come here," Mom explained. "As for your father, he likely wouldn't be a part of this project of mine."

I had so many questions, like what made her decide to try to understand ghosts, and if Dad was thinking the same, though she seemed to have implied he didn't with her last statement. But I wasn't sure where to begin with my questions, or if she even wanted to answer them since I could still see she was pretty tense.

Mom then frowned. "Um… Andy, did you come down here for a reason?"

"Oh…" I remembered why I came down here in the first place. "I wanted to ask if you had any candlesticks with candles I could use for a school project."

"We might have some in the emergency supplies," Mom answered. "At least candles. Not sure about candlesticks."

"Thanks, I'll go take a look," I said.

I quickly went up the stairs, leaving the lab after that. I had a lot of questions, but I also knew now wasn't the best time to ask them. Something happened to Mom, there was no way in hell she would've just come to the conclusion she needed to understand ghosts on her own.

I stood near the kitchen table and tried to look into the future. I couldn't access my future visions as easily as my other self in that other world, but I was able to see into them at will now, I just needed to really focus. I tried looking for those futures that I saw with my parents. Specifically I looked for the future in which they created the specific invention that would land them in serious trouble with the Ancients and the other ghosts. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find it anymore. It was as if all of that, everything that would happen in that future, and anything leading past that, had just disappeared.

I found myself leaning on the kitchen table as I tried to figure this out, if it was a good thing or not. I should've been happy, relieved even, that the future where Mom and Dad basically got taken to a ghost trial no longer seemed to exist. But I was more worried than ever, because something happened, something big, to have changed the future so drastically. And I couldn't tell what it was, it was one of the few times I cursed being unable to look backwards in time.

I shook my head, forcing myself back onto the task at hand. I headed on over to the emergency supplies cabinet in the kitchen and opened the door before looking inside. I quickly spotted some large candles and noticed that a few looked like they had been unused for years, seeing how there was dust covering them. Mom and Dad usually preferred using high tech stuff, so it was rare they would use candles at all. I looked around the cabinets, trying to find any candlesticks for the candles. Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any candlesticks.

Seeing how Mom and Dad rarely used them, I decided to grab as many intact and unused candles as I could fit in my hands. I may have to call Valerie and tell her that I didn't have any candlesticks.

I closed the cabinets, and began to walk. I stopped and looked at the entrance to the lab, the nagging desire to ask questions coming back to me. When I first came up, I had decided I would give Mom some space before asking her what happened. But deep down there was still a part of me that wanted to run downstairs and ask Mom about what caused the change in her mindset.

I frowned and pushed down that part of me that wanted to ask questions. Mom, while she said she was fine, looked like she had a lot going on in her mind. I didn't want to add any more pressure, at least not right away. I took a deep breath to calm myself, reminding myself I could always ask her later when she seemed in a better place to talk.

I was flying back to the opera house in my ghost form, talking to Valerie on the phone again. I told her I had the candles, and Jazz was looking into the daggers. I did tell Valerie how I unfortunately didn't have any candlesticks. Valerie told me she could handle the candlesticks. After she said that I mentioned to Valerie that Jazz was willing to get clothes from the drama club. I soon hung up before landing inside the opera house.

I saw Danny dodging Scarlet's energy spears, and he was pretty good at dodging. He then created an ecto shield in front of him to try to take the spears. While this was going on, I walked over to Juliette.

"Hey, Juliette… what kind of ectoplasm can you consume?" I asked.

Juliette blinked a bit. "That's a very specific and random question to ask."

I transformed back to my human form to put my cell phone away into my pocket. "I found some vials from an old chemistry set I had lying about. I was thinking about adding in some of the ectoplasm samples from Mom and Dad's lab into it to really make it look like poison for the play. I figured since you were playing the part of Juliet, you might be able to drink it just fine, but I wanted to be sure."

"It might not be best to use the samples your parents have in the lab," Juliette remarked. "As they may have tampered with some of them. As for using ectoplasm for the play, that definitely would be quite interesting as it would make the 'poison' truly look dangerous. In regards to what type of ectoplasm I can consume, any type that isn't a concentrated form. Concentrated ectoplasm burns like acid if ingested directly."

I gave it some thought. Juliette definitely had a point that the samples in the lab could've been tampered with, so that option was definitely out. There were some old vials of ectoplasm I in the kit, but those may not be safe for Juliette either as they could've been tampered with or could've possibly gone bad, if ectoplasm can go bad..

"Well, I could either ask my parents if they have any untouched ectoplasm samples around, if not, I guess we'll just stick with good old fashion food coloring," I shrugged. Although, I don't know when I should try asking Mom about anything right now. I may have to wait until tomorrow at the very least.

"Alternatively you could go to the Ghost Zone and get some ectoplasm there," Juliette pointed out. "In some safe zones there are ectoplasm fountains that are similar to the living world's water fountains."

I hadn't been paying attention to what Juliette said, I was thinking about my Mom's expression, and how tense she was before I talked to her. I was still trying to figure out what caused her to have such a shift in her mindset. I knew it wasn't normal.

"Andy?" Juliette spoke up.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, uh, sure," I answered.

"Did you even hear what I said?" Juliette inquired.

"Uh…" I blinked. "Something about the Ghost Zone and a fountain?"

"If you want easy access to ectoplasm, go to the Ghost Zone. Some safe zones have drinking fountains that dispense common ectoplasm that you could bottle up," Juliette repeated.

I gave a questioning look at Juliette. "They have a fountain of ectoplasm? Isn't that kinda like having a fountain of blood for ghosts?"

"No, not really," Juliette answered. "Besides, aren't humans made up mostly of water? Sure, ectoplasm exists inside us, but it isn't just blood, it's also food and drink."

"Well…" I hesitated, still a little distracted.

"What?" Juliette asked.

"Huh? Oh… I don't know if I want to go into the Ghost Zone just to get a bottle of ectoplasm," I answered. "Seems like a lot of effort for one small thing."

Juliette sighed. "Let me be blunt with you, Andy. I'm not going to drink the ectoplasm if you get it from this world. The only ways to get ectoplasm in this world are usually through means that tend to reduce the quality or safety of the ectoplasm. So if you truly are set on using ectoplasm for the 'poison', then you will need to go to the Ghost Zone. And maybe you should only do that after you're done being distracted."

I frowned, and shook my head. "Sorry, Juliette. It's just… I'm worried…"

Juliette tilted her head as she looked at me. "Is it the hybrids?"

Hybrids… Oh, that's right, that Guys in White agent did turn into a true hybrid between human and ghost in front of us. What if maybe… Mom was watching? It's possible, she and Dad do usually go out on patrol to look for ghosts. Maybe she saw the agent turn into a human-ghost hybrid, and now she's confused. Her knowledge of ghosts is being called into question, shattering her perception of them. After all, she and Dad firmly believed humans couldn't possibly turn into ghosts, at least not without dying anyways.

It was a possibility, but even I knew it was a flimsy one. It had happened days ago and Mom and Dad wouldn't have been able to keep quiet about it. Besides, it was just Mom who was acting weirdly. Maybe someone caught it on camera and showed it on TV? Or posted it on the internet and Mom just saw it?

"I don't know right now," I groaned after feeling like my mind was going to explode from all the possibilities. It infuriated me that there were no concrete answers right now. "I mean yes, I am worried about the hybrids, but what I was worried about was my mom. She was acting all tense when I saw her after I came home to get the daggers, vials, and candles."

"How exactly was she acting tense?" Juliette asked while raising a brow. "It must've been completely different from how she normally acts if you noticed."

"She told me she was willing to make non-lethal ghost weapons and actually was planning on trying to understand ghosts," I whispered, not wanting Danny to hear it yet. "I know you don't know my parents that well, Juliette, but that's like Skulker saying he never wants to hunt you or us again. She would never just say that on her own without a reason."

"I may not know them as well as you do, but I know enough about them that what you said is definitely quite out of the ordinary for her," Juliette acknowledged as she rubbed her neck fur a little. "Perhaps she was hit with a moment of sudden realization, or she was thinking back on past exploits and realized there was more to ghosts. Those would be the two likeliest options that don't involve outside influences."

I gave a sigh. "Maybe… But I don't think I'll get any answers from her for a while. I should try to focus on something else…"

"Can you really focus right now though?" Juliette bluntly asked. "Because to me it seems like this is all your mind might focus on."

"I have to at least try. If I don't, I might do something incredibly stupid that could stress out my Mom even more." I frowned before remembering what Juliette said about the ectoplasm fountain. "Maybe I'll go to the Ghost Zone to get some ectoplasm there after all. I am actually curious about this fountain you mentioned, and maybe I should use that time to go to Clockwork to tell him about the hybrid." And maybe ask about that static I saw in my vision before.

Juliette shook her head. "Focus on one task at a time. So for now, go to Clockwork and let him know about what transpired. While you're there, maybe you can get some ectoplasm there."

Does Clockwork keep some ectoplasm in stock? I blinked at the idea. I never saw him eat, does he need to eat? Apparently he's an Ancient, do Ancients need to eat?

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Because now I have a lot of questions for Clockwork," I sheepishly admitted.

I turned to where Danny and Scarlet were training. I saw Danny manage to make a successful duplicate, but it didn't last very long as the duplicate moved too slow to dodge Scarlet's incoming spears. Danny yelped as he created a barrier around himself just before he was bombarded with spears and hit the floor.

"Alright, that's enough training for now," Scarlet announced. "Congratulations, Danny, you've finally made a real duplicate. Now you just have to learn how to control it and yourself at the same time. On top of that, your reaction time and your attention to your surroundings still needs work as I had plenty of opportunities to attack you from behind."

Danny dissipated the barrier and stood up. "Thanks, Scarlet."

"Andy, I see you're back!" Scarlet smiled as she looked at me. "Are you going to train now?"

"Uh, maybe later. I was actually going to ask Danny if he wanted to come with me to the Ghost Zone," I quickly said. "We need to inform Clockwork of the hy- the… uh… you-know-what."

I was hesitant on talking about the hybrids freely, because one never knew who could be listening. And according to what Juliette told us about hybrids, their existence alone already broke more than a few Taboos.

"I could go with you, bro, but I might not be as fast as normal," Danny responded before holding his side a bit. "Scarlet has been ramping up the training quite a bit and it's left me with a good number of bumps and bruises."

"I keep telling you that if you just drink some ectoplasm, you'd heal a lot faster," Scarlet remarked. "Or if you actually eat properly."

Danny blanched at those words. "We don't drink ectoplasm, or eat it. That not only sounds gross, but kinda deadly."

"Besides, you don't have any ectoplasm in stock," I pointed out. If you did, I wouldn't need to go to the Ghost Zone to get a bottle of them from a fountain.

"To a ghost, it's the equivalent of drinking water," Juliette informed before nodding. "Though Andy is right in that we don't have any ectoplasm stored here."

Scarlet gave a certain… look, a look that always worried me.

"In that case-" Scarlet began to say.

"No," Juliette suddenly said.

"Juliette, I haven't-" Scarlet tried to argue.

"No, Scarlet, absolutely not. You are not going to teach them that." Juliette stated in a loud, commanding tone before looking at both me and Danny for a moment. "Just let them go to the Ghost Zone on their own. Danny, while you're there, just take deep breaths. Don't ask why, just trust me that it will help."

Now I was definitely curious to what Scarlet was going to teach us, but Juliette seemed vehemently against it. Again, I have questions but I can't even ask them!

"Uh… okay…" Danny blinked, likely thinking the same thing I was. "Well, bro, let's get going then."

I nodded before looking at Juliette and Scarlet. "We'll probably see you tomorrow."

As Danny and I were flying home in our ghost forms, I decided to tell Danny about Mom's strange behavior. "Danny, before we go to the lab… we might want to make sure Mom isn't down there."

"Isn't this usually the time she and Dad go on their night ghost patrols?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, but not tonight," I answered. "Dad is taking a nap, and Mom is… well…"

I began to explain to Danny about what I noticed about Mom when I saw her in the lab earlier, and what she said about wanting to understand ghosts instead of just hunting them. Danny's reaction was… about what I expected.

Danny stopped flying, stared at me as if I suddenly exploded or had 3 heads, his own mouth dropping down. He didn't say anything for about a full minute, just floated there and stared.

"Are… are you sure, bro?" Danny finally asked.

"Yeah… those were exactly her words. And trust me, I know, it's unbelievably shocking," I answered.

"Wow…" Danny blinked. "Is it possible Mom got replaced? Or we somehow ended up in an alternate reality?"

"I… honestly hadn't considered that…" I frowned before shaking my head. "I really hope not. Let's just see if she's in the lab, and if she is, we'll try to sneak by her and go into the Ghost Zone. Maybe Clockwork will have an answer for this too… or he… would at least assure us Mom isn't replaced or something."

Danny nodded. "Sounds like a plan. You go first, since you're better with stealth than I am."

I blinked, I never considered myself better at stealth than Danny. But I just nodded to him before I turned myself invisible and intangible and flew ahead, seeing Fenton Works in the distance. I flew into the building, flying past Jazz who was walking in the hallway. I did stop for a moment to look at her, seeing her carrying some boxes. I wondered if they were the prop daggers I requested. I didn't linger too long, however, and continued on my way to the lab.

I slowed down, not wanting to risk Mom hearing me fly into the lab. I carefully phased myself through the door, staying invisible. I saw Mom was still in the lab. However, instead of staring at the weapons she had on the table, she was sitting on a chair at a counter. It looked like she pushed a lot of her and Dad's inventions down on the floor from the counter, since I could see a lot of them on the floor beside her. That wasn't like Mom, just pushing their inventions onto the floor like that. She was writing furiously fast on a notebook. It was making me curious about what she was writing. A part of me wondered if whatever she was writing might be related to what caused her to have the change in her mindset about hunting ghosts.

I was tempted to look over Mom's shoulder to see what she was writing, but I looked over at the open Ghost Portal. Danny was waiting, and I also needed to talk to Clockwork about the hybrids as soon as possible. Besides, if Mom sensed a ghost was so close to her, she would freak out. I decided to leave Mom alone for now, and went back out to get to my brother.

Danny was floating above Fenton Works, waiting for me. I flew up to him. I didn't even need to release my invisibility, he already knew I was here.

"So Mom is in the lab, but she's distracted enough to where we could get in," I explained. "So hide yourself and follow me. When we get into the Ghost Zone, we'll head to Clockwork and tell him about everything that's going on."

Danny nodded before he turned himself invisible and intangible as well. Both of us flew into Fenton Works, and headed down into the lab. While I couldn't see Danny, I did sense he stopped for a moment when we were passing Mom. I figured he was likely looking at her in concern. I floated closer to Danny, gently putting my hand on his, what I assume to be, his arm. That was my silent way of telling him we should leave her alone.

Both of us silently flew into the portal, going into the Ghost Zone. When we were past the portal, both of us let go of our invisibility and intangibility, and looked back at the portal.

"She really does seem stressed." Danny frowned.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "And I don't know why."

"Well that's something we'll have to figure out later," Danny said as he started taking in deep breaths like Juliette had suggested. "First things first, we need to tell Clockwork about the hybrids, then we can ask him if we somehow ended up in an alternate dimension or if Mom was replaced or brainwashed. And we'll decide what to do next depending on the answers we get from Clockwork."

"I swear, I'm going to be so angry if we ended up in an alternate dimension somehow…" I mumbled. After going through three different dimensions with Freakshow, I'm not in the mood to go through another one again so soon.

I then noticed Danny was looking a little less pale, and a little more energetic than he was earlier. "How do you feel, bro? You still feeling sore from the training?"

"Definitely better, but definitely still sore and aching," Danny answered as he started flying.

I flew after him, then I looked around for a moment, feeling a bit nervous. I hadn't tried looking for a certain ghost with my future sight, because I was afraid of what I would find. But at the same time, not knowing what that ghost would do ahead of time was also giving me anxiety, as if I didn't have enough anxiety already by now.

"Flying does tend to help me feel better, but there's something special about flying through the Ghost Zone that helps," Danny continued as he kept flying, taking deep breaths as he did. Unlike Danny's normal fast flying, he was going at a more leisurely speed.

I didn't see any signs of her anywhere. Hopefully that meant she didn't plan to ambush us right now. But she did tell me she preferred a challenge rather than just ambushing. Maybe I was being a bit paranoid after everything that had happened in the past few days, let alone the past few months.

"Don't you feel it sometimes, bro?" Danny asked me.

I blinked. "Huh? Feel what?"

"That strange comfort when you fly in the Ghost Zone," Danny responded as he gestured around himself. "When I first came into the Ghost Zone, I was scared out of my mind. But these days, it feels kinda nice, even if it is creepy. There's some level of comfort in flying in the Ghost Zone, and honestly it sometimes feels like coming home after a long trip."

I furrowed my eyebrows for a bit. I hadn't read the chapter in the book about how the Ghost Zone affected ghosts, other than keeping them healthier than being stuck in the living world. It wasn't something that usually crossed my mind.

"I don't really know, it's not something I usually pay attention to," I admitted. "It's not like we usually come into the Ghost Zone to have fun… except when we came here for that flower festival."

"Then maybe we should change that," Danny suggested. "I get the feeling there's so much enjoyment that we could find in the Ghost Zone, we'd just have to have a good guide like Juliette."

I wasn't sure how to feel about the idea. The Ghost Zone had always been this hostile place that was filled with potentially aggressive ghosts who, more often than not, hated us. It was why Danny and I usually travelled together while we were in the Ghost Zone. I almost died a few times when I attempted to traverse the Ghost Zone, looking for Clockwork in the hopes of going back in time to stop the accident from giving Danny his ghost powers. I never really thought of the Ghost Zone as a place of comfort, it was just a place I had to go through in order to get something done. The bazaars, Clockwork's tower, Dora's kingdom, and the flower festival were the only good parts of the Ghost Zone as far as I was aware.

Though hearing Danny talk about how entering the Ghost Zone sometimes made him feel like he was coming home did worry me a little bit. It brought back an old fear I had before I became a halfa myself, the fear of Danny 'moving on' from the living world, so to speak.

"Andy?" Danny spoke up when I had been silent for a while.

"Sorry… I've had a lot on my mind lately," I sighed. "I… honestly don't know. I never really felt that comfortable in the Ghost Zone, so I can't say I'm too… excited at the idea of coming here for fun."

"Well…" Danny gave a thoughtful look. "Perhaps the reason you don't feel comfortable is because you don't have enough good experiences here."

"Like you do?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," Danny responded. "While some of the battles have been tough and there was a lot on the line, they were honestly quite fun. There have been some great ghosts we've met here, there are places we can go to relax, and the Ghost Zone is so expansive I doubt we've ever run out of things to do and see."

"Just don't get too comfortable here," I grumbled.

"Why shouldn't we?" Danny asked. "If we don't get comfortable, at least a little, then we won't be willing to explore. You want to help Juliette find her family, don't you? How do you think you'll accomplish that if you're too scared to go off the beaten path?"

"That's not the point." I frowned. "We shouldn't get comfortable here. We don't belong here. And I'd rather you don't forget that."

"Who says we don't belong here?" Danny questioned. "And why shouldn't we get comfortable? We're half ghosts, we can't just ignore that part of our life. If we don't get comfortable here, we won't be willing to explore. If we don't explore, we won't find out more about ourselves and our powers. And I would like to know more about my ghost half and my powers. Because who knows, maybe there will be a huge threat one day that could only be solved if we know more about ourselves and our powers and just what we can do. I know our home is Amity Park, but the MOMENT we became half ghosts, our home also became the Ghost Zone. If you don't want to explore with me or find all the fun and cool things that exist in the Ghost Zone… then I won't force you, bro."

I looked at Danny, and Danny looked at me. For a long moment, both of us remained quiet.

"Sure, there will be scary things that might exist out there, bro," Danny continued suddenly. "And yes, there are a lot of 'what ifs'. But I don't care. I'm not going to let fear rule my life and I'm certainly not going to let uncertainty take over. If a problem pops up because of something I'm doing, I'll take it on when I take it on."

I stared at Danny a little longer before I finally said something. "When did you start getting these ideas about the Ghost Zone?"

"I've been having them on and off for a while now," Danny admitted. "But… why haven't you? I know we're different individuals, but I also know you about as well as I know myself. I know you have goals that regard coming to the Ghost Zone, and I know that a part of you must be curious about all that's out there. You've shown how fascinated and curious you are to learn more about your ghostly side, and the Ghost Zone itself."

I frowned, and looked away. "It's… it's probably stupid… but… I'm… I'm afraid… of losing you to the Ghost Zone, Danny. I've always been afraid of that since the first accident, when you became a halfa. Hearing you talk like that… it's bringing back that old fear."

"Well, you don't need to be worried, bro," Danny chuckled. "There isn't any siren call coming from the Ghost Zone, Amity Park will always be my home and there won't ever be a day where I won't want to go back home."

I pouted. "Doesn't make me any less worried though."

"Like I said before, I think it might help if you had more good experience in the Ghost Zone," Danny reminded. "You did almost die out here a few times, since you did come out here as a human before… alone, with no guide."

"Thanks for the reminder," I grumbled. "We should talk about this later, we should get to Clockwork's tower before it gets too late."

"It's the Ghost Zone and we're going to see Clockwork," Danny pointed out with a grin. "There's no such thing as being too late."

"Oh hush, just keep going." I rolled my eyes. Though a small bit of weight did feel like it lifted off my shoulders.

ZAFT Convoy: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, that was how we saw the GiW in the show, especially in the Reality Trip special. They were willing to hurt innocent people just to get at Danny, firing missiles, actual freaking missiles in the middle of a concert full of people. I know it's a cartoon, but there's a line that shouldn't be crossed. So that's how we saw the GiW as, people with little to no morals, willing to do whatever it takes to get the results they want. You can see how dangerous of a mindset that is.

The hybrids represent how far humanity is willing to fall just to get what they want. For Danny, Andy, and somewhat for Vlad, their halfa status was created by accident, none of them had the intention to get more power for themselves to reach some kind of lofty goal. They just wanted to live and survive with their new powers. The hybrids are definitely a lot more messed up, and are actual abominations among ghosts and humans.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': One part that I will correct you on is that the boys and Vlad have a core that is dormant, yes, but it is separate from their living heart. With the GiW hybrids, the core and heart are, in a sense, one thing that is overlapping. In previous tests with this, the core and heart likely fought for control, one taking over the other until the person either became one or the other… or they died from the strain put on their body.

GhostHex: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It's definitely going to be an interesting one. Romeo and Juliet is a classic that has been told time and again in different ways. I hope you enjoy what we do with it, as I know Fox and I enjoyed writing what we did.

DarkFoxKit: Though don't expect the play to be a major part of this arc, it's just something to get something else started. And Andy doesn't have stage fright exactly, he's just nervous about getting in front of a lot of people, especially since he's not exactly the most well-liked person in his school. Although that incident in the past didn't help. XD

Dp-Marvel94: DarkFoxKit: Yeah, we decided that was a good time for Danny to confess to Sam. Having questioned his own feelings about Sam when he got jealous of Elliot, as well as support from others to at least try to tell Sam. Though Sam and Danny aren't in a romantic relationship right now, since Sam needed some time off from romance after Elliot left, and both she and Danny wanted to figure things out first before jumping into dating. As for the school project, while it was fun and funny to write, it's not a major focus here. It's meant to get something else started.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Though it was a tiny bit fun to write out and tease something~

DarkFoxKit: Heh, well Andy's a nervous guy, especially in front of a lot of people.

Mana16: Darkzdragon 'Onyx': It took a bit of work to make a really good distinction between the two. But now that we have it figured out, we have quite a lot we can do in the future.

Yeah, I was really happy that we could have Danny confess here. The way they did it in the show… just never felt right. And the reason we were able to split things off between Sam and Elliot was because unlike the show, Elliot wasn't faking it to try and get a girlfriend. He actually was being genuine and it made sense that it would end in a genuine way.

Oh boy, yeah, Mr. Lancer definitely would fangirl quite a bit. Juliette has had the honor of meeting a bunch of different ghosts while she was on the run from Skulker.

As for the story lore take on the holiday, we aren't planning anything special for Halloween. Unless you meant in-story which… *Looks at DarkFoxKit* Were we getting close to Halloween in the story?

DarkFoxKit: Well we know it's already past Summer Vacation, and past August due to that being the boys' Death Day, so it's likely around September in-story.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Huh, okay. Well… still, we don't really have any plans for Halloween at this time. We might surprise you with something, but don't hold out hope for it.

DarkFoxKit: Um… Onyx, I don't think they're asking what we're planning to do for Halloween in the story. They're asking what's this story/universe's lore of Halloween. Like 'how does Halloween affect ghosts and halfas?'.

Darkzdragon 'Onyx': Ahh, well that's something we may share in story later on. We're not just going to lore dump in the reviews. It's better to work lore into the actual story instead of just saying 'this happens'.