Yep, the chaotically-timed updates are starting. Sorry about that, folks.
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Chapter 214: Ecto-Proof
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Explaining Dan to Frostbite (and everyone else who was there) was agonizing and embarrassing. But doable. Which it hadn't been before this whole debacle had started. Danny had avoided even thinking about Dan.
So at least one good thing had come from all this.
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"Anyway, that's Dan," finished Danny. "What were you saying before?"
"Hm. What was I saying? Ah, yes. This is a good environment, and you both have very similar ectosignatures to your siblings-by-theft, by definition. I would speculate that Dan also has a similar ectosignature. Your presence will help stabilize them. Especially if your instincts take over, and you start feeding them energy as family members."
Ellie made a face. "That didn't work before," she said, crossing her arms. "I mean, Danny's had them in his closet forever, and his ectosignature is all over there, and there's lots of ectoplasm in Amity Park. Maybe not as much as here, but still."
"Safety is also a factor in these kinds of things," said Pandora. "As is capacity. The two of you didn't have the strength to stabilize four other children in this state, and Danny knew his house wouldn't be safe for a ghost trying to reform." She gave him a small, almost sad smile. "Both of you are children yourselves, and ghosts, like humans, have built-in limits, so we do not hurt ourselves."
"The rest is a matter of scale and time," said Clockwork. "At least, it should be. We can also lend our power to yours."
"Also, you're stronger, now," said Nephthys. "That crown isn't meaningless."
"Don't forget the things he ate," said Nocturne, listing sideways as if about to fall asleep.
Danny touched the crown, self-conscious. "But then they'd be getting better already, wouldn't they?" Danny certainly couldn't see any change in the contents of the jars.
"Maybe if you didn't have them in ecto-proof jars," drawled Dan. "Don't look at me like that. I remember being you, remember?
"The jars aren't that ecto-proof," said Danny. "We can still feel them. They should be able to feel us."
"Yeah, but they're still jars," said Ellie. "I mean, would you want to rebuild yourself in a jar? Like, what if you got squished?"
"It may also be best to focus on one at a time, as with enemies in battle!" said Fright Knight. His voice was oddly hearty, and Danny wondered if he was trying to make up for being his enemy in the past.
He needn't have worried. Almost all of Danny's allies had fought him at least once. Pandora, Nephthys, and Sojourn were the only exceptions in the room, and Sojourn just hadn't been around long enough. Danny liked Sojourn, but he'd bet that they'd wind up in a fight about something stupid before the end of the year.
Jazz would probably say that he was being paranoid if he brought it up, but he wasn't going to, and if he did, he'd also bring up how he'd gotten into a serious fight with her shortly after they'd come clean to each other about Danny's ghost hunting (and belonging to another species, but that had somehow been less important at the time).
Danny trailed his fingers over the lids of the jars. Ellie and Fright Knight had a point. He picked one up and, very carefully, unscrewed the lid. The ectoplasm in the jar had a slightly different scent than the ambient ectoplasm, and he inhaled deeply. He tried to will his energy to the small core inside. He couldn't feel anything happening, but how was he supposed to tell?
Ellie drifted closer, then, to his surprise, so did Dan. Although, in retrospect, it wasn't that surprising. Dan had said something about sensing the cores, earlier.
Dan had better not be a bad influence on their siblings. Danny would make him regret that.
"Nothing's changing," said Danny, plaintively.
"Give it time," said Clockwork.
All the ghosts, and even Jazz had now gathered closer, all pressing in around Danny, looking at the jar cupped in his hands.
The minutes ticked by, and there was still no change. Danny sagged slightly. Was he doing something wrong? Something should be happening by now, right? He didn't expect them to miraculously and spontaneously reform, but a little extra glowing wasn't too much to expect, was it? Some movement in the ectoplasm? Perhaps a slight increase in the ectoplasm?
He hummed, the noise building in the back of his throat, spiraling up to a keen of distress and frustration. He just wanted them to be okay, and he thought that after everything, something good could happen, something that was just good instead of a mixed blessing.
Maybe he should have known better… Maybe he was just being impatient. Probably, he was being impatient. He sighed. He was being impatient.
When his core had been removed, he'd taken a while to form a body, too, and he'd a bunch of advantages. Like not actually being unstable in the first place and that tub of energized ectoplasm.
Actually, could something like that help?
He mentioned it out loud.
"Possibly," said Frostbite. "It is a good thought, great one. But we do not have that here. Perhaps I can arrange one for one to be brought here, if we are unable to revive them before that."
"Could you?" asked Danny. "Thank you so much."
"It is nothing, great one," said Frostbite.
"Sure, it is," said Danny, shifting so that he could prod Frostbite's knee with his toe. This set off a round of good-natured poking that everyone except Fright Knight (who was very stiff) participated in.
But things calmed down before too long. Now, however, Danny felt a lot less stressed over the whole thing. Leaving his siblings so vulnerable was still unacceptable, no matter how inconvenient it might be for the trial.
He refocused his attention on the core he was holding. It looked a lot like his, which wasn't all that surprising, really. Pale, icy crystal with fern-like patterns creeping over the surface. There were differences, too, though. This core wasn't damaged like his had been, although there were a few blemishes, surface scrapes and scratches… It had fallen to the ground, after its body had melted. He shuddered.
The color was also a little off. This core had a few pinkish highlights and deep red flecks.
Danny rubbed his thumb on the outside of the jar, brushing off a few droplets of condensation. He imagined this core belonged to the skeletal clone. He didn't know. He hadn't labeled the jars at the time, and afterwards had no real basis by which to guess.
Also, he'd been pretty much spent physically and emotionally, after escaping from Vlad's. Part of him had wanted to forget the entire incident.
He closed his eyes and pictured the skeletal clone. What would they look like when they were stable? Danny mentally added flesh to the bones. If he remembered correctly, the skeleton's ribcage had been slightly longer than his own torso, so the result would be taller, but thinner, hips and legs wisping away into a ghostly tail. Red eyes- Or green? It didn't matter. A shock of pale hair.
If they could be human… Danny adjusted the picture. Hair like Danny's... But if they had hair like Jazz- He suppressed a laugh. They'd look a lot like Wes, then, wouldn't they?
They probably wouldn't be half-ghost, but man, that would be hilarious. They'd have so much fun messing with him.
Suddenly, Danny was overcome with dizziness. Clockwork steadied him.
"I think that's enough for today," said Clockwork, softly.
"What?" said Danny, blinking. Oddly, everyone had moved from their earlier positions. Not much, but…
He twisted, trying to find Jazz.
"When did you get to the bed?" he asked, frowning at the book in her hands.
"A couple hours ago," she said, concern in her voice.
"Hours?"
"You were really focused."
"It didn't feel like hours," mumbled Ellie, leaning into Pandora.
Dan looked similarly drained, although he, of course, wasn't leaning on anyone. However, he couldn't hide how much dimmer his hair fire looked.
Danny squeezed his eyes shut against an incipient headache. Hair fire. There had to be a better word for that. Maybe something in a ghost language? He'd have to ask Ember next time he saw her. She'd know.
He wasn't asking Dan.
"Um," said Danny, looking down at the jar in his hands.
A layer of ectoplasm had formed around the core, glass-green and transparent.
"Oh," he said, softly.
"It's good progress," said Nephthys. "You're reminding them how to be, not just feeding ectoplasm. This is going to take time."
"Okay," said Danny, nodding. "Think—" he broke off to yawn. "I think it's time for me to sleep."
"Same," said Ellie.
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"So," said Sam, the next morning, prodding a blade of grass with her toe until it became a meter-tall, saw-toothed monstrosity.
Danny's eyes gleamed. "That is so cool," he said, bouncing in the air.
"How well it works seems to be proportional to how stressed I am, though."
"You'll be invincible," joked Danny.
They had finally set aside some time to show each other their newfound powers. The fact that Sam, Tucker, and Jazz had managed to become even more dangerous in his absence soothed a deep and very ghostly part of him. The more dangerous his friends were, the better.
But he could have done without the audience.
His smile froze as his eyes wandered over to the crowd. Many of the humans who had come from Amity Park were watching, eyes wide and, in some cases, horrified.
Danny really hoped someone else would explain liminality to them. He wasn't up for the job. Not this week.
"Yeah! Now watch this!" said Tucker. He raised his staff, and a great deal of sand fell on the sword-like blade of grass.
"Cool!" said Danny.
"No." Tucker frowned. "I meant to hit it with lightning."
Danny blinked. "Oh. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kind of glad you didn't. Since I'm, you know, flying here."
"I wouldn't have hit you!"
"I know! Just… yeah."
"No, no, I get what you're saying… Why didn't that work?"
Danny shrugged.
Tucker sighed. "I'm still working on this whole magic thing. But the tech side? I can't wait until we're somewhere with proper equipment. I have so many things I want to try."
"Is your PDA still charged?" asked Danny, curious.
"Oh, yeah. Also, I've given it infinite memory, and I'm working on an AI."
"Please do not make Skynet."
"I'm not going to make Skynet! Anyway, if I did make Skynet, you'd be able to take care of it, right?"
"Uh. I guess? I've never fought a computer program before."
"Danny," said Sam. "That's what you do every time you play a video game."
"Yeah, but they're not really fighting me. It's a game. It's different."
"Yeah," agreed Ellie, pulling the sword grass out from under the pile of sand and swinging it back and forth a few times. "Way different. The fruitloop had me do the tech overshadowing thing a few times, way back. Pitted me against his Maddie program. Way different from messing around with video games."
"Didn't you overshadow all of Fentonworks once?" asked Tucker. "That time with the Ghost Catcher? Didn't that include the computers?"
"Yeah, but Fentonworks is mine. And I already knew most of the codes for the computer parts."
Sam clapped her hands together. "Okay," she said. "When we next get some free time—"
Ellie snorted.
"—we're going to test out what Danny can do with regards to computer programs before Tucker's PDA becomes HAL 9000."
"Y'know, I'm flattered that you think I'm smart enough to do that, but I really don't think it's going to happen."
"Look," said Ellie, "if Vlad was able to make an AI, you're going to be able to."
"We've got to be prepared," agreed Danny.
"Fine, fine. Would it make you feel better if I coded in Asimov's three laws?"
"Don't forget to include ghosts in there," said Danny.
"I won't."
"Maybe also something to stop people from randomly hijacking it."
"Yeah, I've got that."
"HA!" exclaimed Jazz. "I DID IT! ALL OF THEM!"
The four younger teens turned to discover that Jazz had acquired something everyone wishes for at least once in their life: the ability to set things on fire with her mind. A dozen glowing hands floated at various distances from her. Each of them, as well as her real hands, was on fire.
She cackled.
(Despite himself, Danny occasionally forgot Jazz wasn't all that much older than he was. However, that was Jazz's goal, so he didn't feel bad about it.)
"Can you burn things with those?" asked Danny.
"I have no idea! Ellie, can you hold that out?"
"Yes," said Ellie, enthusiastically. "Give me a flaming sword, sister!"
One of Jazz's hands grasped the top end of the blade of grass, which immediately caught on fire. This was less impressive than it sounded, however, as the grass had enough water (or possibly ectoplasm) in it to not want to burn. The flame died down to a smolder.
"I can set things on fire now," said Jazz, smugly.
"That will be useful in the future," said Danny, nodding sagely.
Behind Jazz, figure removed herself from the crowd of watchers, walking forward onto the lawn.
"Valerie," said Danny.
Everyone turned. Valerie gave a little wave.
"Hi," she said.
"Hello," said Danny. "Uh. What's up?"
Valerie came closer. "I… I wanted to apologize." She wouldn't quite meet Danny's eyes. "I tried—" She sighed. "Whatever I said before, it wasn't enough. I'm sorry, Danny. I've really… I've done a lot of crappy things to you. Not just these past few weeks but for a while."
Danny saw Sam bristle slightly, but visibly hold herself back. Ellie looked somewhat torn, and she kept glancing between Danny and Valerie.
"I hunted you. And at first, maybe I—I thought I had a reason. But it wasn't a good enough reason. It was stupid and petty, and I shouldn't have done it. I should have realized, after we were kidnapped by that hunter ghost—"
"Skulker," supplied Danny.
"Yeah. Skulker. I should have realized then that what, uh, people were saying about ghosts wasn't right. That you weren't just evil."
"You can say my parents," said Danny. "It's alright. I know. Everyone knows. That's kind of why we're here."
"Oh," said Valerie. "Yeah. Okay."
Danny looked at his friends, but they seemed to be equally at a loss for what to do. Well, Danny was the leader, technically.
He looked back at Valerie. "Would you like to train with us?"
