Mortified will be on hiatus for the next few weeks. I will most likely start posting again in March.

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Chapter 232: Belligerent (Fight-y)

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Ishiyama could have cried when the Merchants arrived. Partially because their arrival was literally the salvation of Amity Park (no matter how many seeds they took from farm stores, or how much corn was in those warehouses, there was no way it would sustain the whole city in the long term), and partially because everything they were selling was expensive.

Not monetarily. The Merchants that came largely seemed to operate on a barter system, but the things they wanted wouldn't be easily replaced under the present circumstances.

She actually did cry when the Epimelides and the Kodama, tree spirits eager to work freely with living wood, arrived. By the time the 'Emissaries of the Murdered, Merciful, and Munificent Shridevi' came, she had control over herself again.

They were going to live.

Other than the Merchants, some of the ghosts who came made it quite clear that they wanted things. Places to haunt, for the most part. Others just. Showed up and did things. Which Ishiyama didn't trust at all. They had to want something.

But it wasn't like they had a lot of options.

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"I really, really don't like the idea of us splitting up again," said Sam.

"Yeah," agreed Danny, "but we kind of have to." They were sitting on the carpeted floor of Danny's room, just himself, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Ellie, and Damien. Damien was sort of there by default more than anything else. Fright Knight had taken it upon himself to guard the door.

"I don't know," said Tucker. "I kind of agree with Sam. Even Clockwork's not going to be around as much, because he's getting his stuff back together, and you're sort of sending everyone else away."

"Not everyone," said Danny. "There will still be plenty of people here to watch me. There's just," he scrubbed his hands through his hair, "a lot to do, and not much you guys can do here. There's not much I can do here, only I have to be here. Besides, there will still be a lot of people here, looking out for me. Like Fright Knight. And Damien."

"Yeah, but Damien is, like, three days old," said Tucker. "No offense."

"Actually, I'm technically older than Ellie," said Damien. "But point taken."

"Jazz will also be here," said Danny, "and she can set stuff on fire with her mind, now."

"He's got a point," said Tucker, shrugging at Sam.

"And I'm not sick anymore," said Danny. "I can look after myself, too."

Sam pointedly looked at Danny's foot.

"It would also make me feel better to know that there was someone else looking after all the people who are going home," said Danny. "Since they're not needed for the trial, either."

"I'm not sure what I can do that the ghosts escorting them can't," said Sam, crossing her arms.

"Act as a bridge," said Danny. "A buffer, I guess. Someone who can negotiate if there's a problem."

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it again. "What if something happens?" she asked. "You can't exactly pick up the phone and call us."

"I know," said Danny, miserably. That fact went both ways, and the idea of his friends being out of reach was giving him anxiety. "But… We have to take care of things other than the trial. We've got everything going on back in Amity Park, ghost diplomacy, your powers—"

"I think we're mostly good on that one, really," said Sam.

"We're still not entirely sure what all of your powers are," objected Danny. "But speaking of powers, you can also take pictures of us from a distance, so you can sort of see what we're doing." He wiggled his hand.

Sam crossed her arms. "I don't know," she said.

Danny squinted at her. "You don't think I'm asking you to go just because of your plant powers, do you?"

"Um," said Sam.

"Sam, you and your parents control angry mobs better than anyone I've ever seen. Amity Park is going to have lots of angry mobs. Especially if there's a food shortage. Or a meat shortage. There's definitely going to be a meat shortage. There's probably already a meat shortage. And yes, I know you're not the only vegetarian in Amity Park, but, like, you know all the substitutes and dietary stuff."

"There are literal nutritionists in Amity Park," said Sam. "Like, people who do that for their job."

"And I'd still feel better if you were there," said Danny. "Which is probably weird, but…" He waved his hands, trying to indicate his feeling. "Like, if you could be here and there at the same time, that'd be best, but I'm pretty sure you can't duplicate."

"Even if you could, even we can't hold duplicates that far apart," said Ellie, joining in the conversation. "That's crazy far. Anyway, I think we all agree that Sam going to Amity Park makes sense. But the rest of us? I don't get why you want me and Pandora back in Elysium. I mean, I know Pandora has to go back, anyway, now that her part in the trial is over, but what about me and Tucker?"

"Tucker has the same problem as me, but smaller scale," said Danny. "That is, he's got a kingdom full of ghosts to run and no idea how to do it."

"They've been getting along just fine for thousands of years," said Tucker. "It can't be that urgent."

"So has the Ghost Zone," said Danny, gesturing to his overflowing desk. As if to illustrate his point, a letter chose that moment to flop off onto the floor. "That doesn't seem to have helped anything in terms of urgency."

Tucker made a face.

"Also, they've been waiting for you for that long, too. They've got to be getting impatient. Plus, it's better to go now, while things are relatively calm and I can get people we trust more, like Ellie, to go with you." He paused. "Or at least follow up with you. I think Ellie might have to testify at the custody hearing. Because Vlad."

"Should I testify, too?" asked Damien.

"Probably," said Danny. "I really, really don't want Vlad to have any custody of me at all."

Damien hunched his shoulders and looked away. "Okay," he said.

"Maybe you could ask one of the Ancients to go with Tucker," said Ellie. "If I can't."

"They're busy, though."

"Not that busy," said Ellie. "Probably not Nephthys, because she's dealing with Dan, but Pandora? Sojourn? Frostbite?"

"Frostbite would do it, but I think it'd be pretty miserable for him in such a hot place. I'm having Sojourn do something else, and with Pandora… the Greeks and the Egyptians don't always get along very well. Do you think it would be okay?"

"Huh?" said Tucker, clearly not expecting to be addressed, even though the conversation was about him. "Yeah, I think most of our problems back then were with Mitanni, um…" He trailed off, blinking. "Yeah…" he said, slowly. "Mitanni. Pandora should be fine. Foreign dignitary, yeah? Plus she's an Ancient."

"Cool," said Danny. "I'll ask her."

"What do you have Sojourn doing, though?" asked Ellie.

"Oh. I want him to try and open negotiations with the US and other Earth nations." He ran his hand through his hair again, nervously. "I still think letting Desiree and the others go through with attacking the GIW is the right decision, they started it, after all, but I don't really want to wind up with some kind of ghost/human war, so… diplomatic channels."

"Speaking of which," said Jazz, "do you know how that's going? The whole ghost army thing?"

"No idea," said Danny. "Haven't heard from them since Desiree." He licked his lips. "It's only been a couple days. Should I be worried?"

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Battles were loud affairs, and this one was only made louder by the ghostly penchant for drama. The noise also tended to cover up the activities of more subtle ghosts, some of whom had taken inspiration from various modern horror movies. True, some acts were made less feasible by all the anti-ghost technology, but the more straightforward ghosts were doing quite a number on that as well.

There was blood on the ground. Smoke in the air.

The GIW had great and terrible weapons. Weapons that ripped at ectoplasmic flesh and sought to flay the very souls of their opponents. They were clever and cruel and had for years been able to hone both of these traits unchecked.

Ectoplasm splattered the walls and roads, turning to vapor in the sunlight.

The sharp reports of shotguns echoed over the electric zataap of ectoblasts. There were bodies. There were injured. Humans and ghosts. Ghosts and humans.

War had been seen before, among some of them. War and death and pain, and this was only more of it. Only more of something likened to hell.

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Lydia did not brave the battle personally. Her tattoos blended in with the other ghosts almost perfectly. For the most part, all she had to do was have them flit in to and out of openings the others created.

She had yet to find Freakshow.

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The GIW leadership knew the value of securing assets.

Frederich Isak Showenhower was an asset.

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"I don't think so," said Jazz. "Armies move slowly, but I think that if something bad had happened, someone would have escaped and come back, since individuals move more quickly."

"I need, like, one of those guys who are obsessed with military history or something," said Danny. "I don't know this stuff."

"Shouldn't be too hard," said Ellie. "You can find people Obsessed with just about anything, here."

"Yeah, but, like, just the strategy part," said Danny, "or the logistics part. Not the actual wanting to start wars part. I don't think I'd be able to trust a guy like that."

"Oof. That'd be harder," said Ellie. "Ghosts are kind of fight-y."

"Combative," said Jazz.

"Fight-y," repeated Ellie.

"Belligerent," suggested Jazz.

"Fight-y."

"Aggressive."

"Fight-y."

"There are real words for that concept!"

"'Fight-y' is a real word!"

"We all understand what you mean, anyway," said Damien, patting her shoulder.

Jazz sighed heavily.

"Anyway, Sojourn used to do the diplomacy thing in the past, so he's probably okay at it, at least."

"But that was forever ago, wasn't it?" asked Ellie.

"Like, the theory should still be the same, right?"

"Danny," said Jazz, "when was the last time Sojourn was even on Earth?"

"Hm," said Danny.

"Was it before or after the US became a country?"

"Okay, yeah. I don't know." He frowned. "I don't think he mentioned it. I should probably find someone more modern to help him." Danny pinched the bridge of his nose. "Maybe a couple someones. Or… Actually, Tucker, how do you feel about Nocturne going with you?"

All the teenagers, sans Danny, blinked and turned to the bed, which Nocturne was still napping on. They had forgotten he was there.

"Yeah," said Tucker. "That would work, I guess. If you can wake him up long enough for him to go."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, that might be better. He doesn't have a Realm to run, like Pandora does."

"Would you send Pandora with Sojourn?" asked Damien.

"No, that wouldn't work well. I think a mission like that needs a clear leader, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," said Damien. "Like you're the clear leader of the Ghost Zone."

"Um," said Danny, feeling a headache take root just behind his eyes.

"What Danny means to say," said Ellie, "is that you're absolutely right, but he's still in denial about being ghost king."

"Ghost prince," said Danny, rather urgently.

"Fright Knight is pretty sure you are king," said Damien, rather earnestly. "I think he'd know. It's kind of part of his job, isn't it?"

"You're not wrong," said Danny, "but, officially, I'm the prince, not the king."

"You know, the two terms are basically the same, depending on the country and system," said Ellie. "There are princedoms as well as kingdoms."

"Dude," said Danny, "you are really stressing me out. Can you not?"

"Sorry," said Ellie. "Where were we?"

"Sam and Tucker leaving to go stabilize Amity Park and part of Ghost Egypt respectively," said Jazz.

"Yes. Please," said Danny.

Sam sighed deeply. "Well. I guess someone needs to keep our classmates out of trouble, at least."

"Yeah," said Tucker. "I still don't know. I mean, you're completely right, I should go check in on what's apparently my kingdom, but there's still my parents to think of."

"Oh," said Danny. "Right. And they're staying for the character witness part."

"Yeah. I think they want to be involved in the custody part, too, maybe. I've heard them talking… But I don't know how serious they are about that."

"That's really cool of them," said Danny.

"Yeah. Anyway, I'm not sure if I should leave them here while I go off to do past life stuff." He made a vague wiggle motion with his hands. "That seems kind of uncool."

"Maybe they'd want to go with you," said Jazz.

"Yeah, I don't know how I feel about that. The Egyptians are cool, but… Hotep-Ra was cool, too."

All the teens hummed in agreement.

"Talk to them about it, then," said Jazz. "You did tell them about the Duulaman thing, right?"

"Yep. They took it surprisingly well."

"Maybe they'll take this well, too?" said Danny.

Tucker shrugged.

Sam sighed. "I guess I should go get packed," she said, standing.

"Do you need help?" asked Danny.

"It isn't like I have that much stuff." She paused. "Maybe help me find a bag?"

Danny nodded.

(At last, something small and doable.)