WoM- Hey, I'm not dead! (Probably will be once the readers of some of my other fanfics get ahold of me, though... especially SoS. They've been getting antsy.) And guess who's all done with school now? And by all done, I mean diploma and all! 'dances around' Hopefully, that means more time to update until I take off on my annual trip to Kentucky. Oh, and as of June 9th, I'm a legal adult! (That date look familiar to anyone?) Rght, rambling done. Much thanks to Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak for beta-ing this for me! 'glomps' I owe you my soul, kid!
"The average teenager still has all the faults his parents outgrew."
-Unknown
"Well?"
"We haven't made any progress yet on our part." Kayla admitted, sighing slightly. "No one can figure out the boy's password, not even the ghosts we've offered to free if they can crack it." Leaning against a table, the girl asked. "What about you? Any luck looking through their memories?"
"Maybe," Trent smirked, sitting in the seat at the head of the table. He tossed Kayla two files, which she opened curiously. Her eyebrow kicked up at the contents.
"Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson?" she read, shooting her boss a puzzled look. "What do these two have to do with anything?"
"Don't you recognize them?" Trent asked mildly, an amused smirk playing at his lips.
"Well, I know the dorky-looking one hangs around with our boy," Kayla responded, frowning slightly, "but I don't know the Goth chick at all."
"They're his friends," Trent told her, watching her expression carefully as she studied the pictures, especially that of the girl. "They're the only ones who know about all of this ghost business, too. Well, other than his sister, but we'll be disposing of her soon enough."
"Want me to make these two disappear, then?" Kayla asked brightly, beaming at the boy eagerly. "It's been a while since I've had to help kill someone…"
"No," Trent answered. "Not just yet. As it stands, the girl is useless to us and to Phantom, since she's in Europe. We'll handle her as soon as the rest of this gets settled." Trent rolled his eyes as Kayla moaned loudly in disappointment at that.
"Aww…" she sulked. "And here I wanted to slit someone's throat…"
"Later, Kayla." Trent said absently. "For now, though, we focus on our main goal…"
"Duuuude…!" Beast Boy moaned, frowning in annoyance at the TV, which he was watching upside down. Robin and Starfire were out checking out a robbery at Jump City's First National Bank, leaving Beast Boy and Cyborg home alone to recover. (Technically repair, in Cyborg's case…)
About ten minutes after the two had left, Cyborg had lost his patience with the supposedly bed-ridden Beast Boy tampering with his workshop, and banned him from the room as he finished with the repairs he needed to make, ordering the changeling to watch TV instead.
"800 channels and nothing's on…" Beast Boy grumped as he finished cycling through the TV guide for the third time. "Figures…" Sighing, Beast Boy tossed his remote away, turning himself right side up to try and think of some form of entertainment.
Video games? No fun without someone to play against…
Snackage? He wasn't really in the mood for another Tofu hot dog…
Training? His leg was still killing him from Mumbo's attack…
Bugging Raven? He considered it for a moment before dismissing it. The half-demon sorceress sounded pretty serious with her threats, and Beast Boy liked to stay on her good side where he could. She'd get mad if he called her up without a good reason.
…But that didn't mean he couldn't mess with her stuff while she was gone.
Beast Boy grinned widely, standing and stretching. With Raven gone and the other Titans occupied with more important business, this left him with a rare window of opportunity. After all, he hadn't been allowed in Raven's room since the mess with her magic meditation mirror thingymabobber. Passing up on something like this was near criminal!
His mind made up, Beast Boy half-limped to Raven's room, opening the door and proceeding with the most extreme of caution, just in case Raven had set up some kind of anti-theft hexes or anything of that sort.
The room looked pretty much exactly the same as the last time he'd been there, though Raven had acquired a few new creepy voodoo-looking artifacts. And what was the deal with the shrunken head…?
Deciding that he'd really rather not know (especially given what had happened the last time he'd touched something of Raven's when he didn't know what it was), Beast Boy bypassed the artifacts and the bookshelf crammed with texts (most written in some weird squiggly writing he couldn't make heads or tails of) and went straight for the jackpot.
Raven's closet.
Grinning eagerly, Beast Boy threw the doors to her closet open, digging through the outfits he found and examining them one at a time before tossing them precariously over his shoulder and moving onto the next.
"Jeeze…" the changeling chuckled to himself as he worked. "How many leotards does one girl need?"
That wasn't to say that her usual outfit was all Raven owned, though. He found several outfits that he knew were for casual wear as well. In fact, it was as he was whistling at the black off-the-shoulders half top with a glittering silvery dragon twisting around a blue rose that he'd never seen the dark Titan wear that he spotted something that really got his attention.
Half hidden in the back of the closet was a bright yellow box wrapped in shiny pink ribbon, with a card on top that bore Raven's name in Starfire's handwriting. Unable to resist, Beastboy reached for the card to read the other side.
"'Friend Raven,'" he started off, raising an eyebrow as he read on. "'Please accept this token of friendship and gratitude in celebration of Glortis- Glorgtin- Some weird Tameranian holiday. May the bond we share grow stronger with time.'" Grinning down at the present mischievously, Beastboy undid the ribbon to lift the top.
And stared for a good minute and a half before bursting into a fit of laugher.
"BB? You up here?" Cyborg called from the hall, his voice growing louder as he approached the room. "I just finished my repairs, you up for a— DUDE!" Standing horrorstruck at Raven's still ajar door, Cyborg stared at the mess his green friend had made in the sorceress's room. "What are you DOING? Are you trying to get yourself KILLED"
"D-dude!" Beast Boy gasped out between his laughter. "You've gotta see this!"
"I mean, don't you ever learn you lesson?" Cyborg demanded, not paying all that much attention to what Beast Boy was saying, "Don't you remember what happened last time we came in here without permission? Coming in here like this with Raven out of the city, you must have some kind of—!" Cyborg's rant died at his lips when Beast Boy held up the outfit he'd been in hysterics over. "…What. Is. THAT?"
"Star gave it to Rae!" Beast Boy grinned widely at his fellow Titan, holding the sleeves of the dress against his own shoulders. "Ain't it great? I mean, can you imagine Raven wearing something like this?" Cyborg's lips twitched treacherously at the image Beast Boy put in his head.
Starfire's gift had consisted of a fluffy-looking baby blue dress with a poofy skirt, short, puffy sleeves and lots of white frill and lace. It sort of reminded the Titan of the dress Cinderella wore to her ball in that Disney movie, and the thought of the solemn Titan in such an outfit really was quite laughable.
Still, Cyborg managed to draw up enough self restraint to keep himself from falling into hysterics, stepping precariously into the room to begin with gathering the outfits the changeling had discarded.
"This is serious, man," Cyborg told Beast Boy sternly. "If Raven finds out you were in here again, there won't be enough of you left for a funeral." Sighing, the mechanical man began to hang the outfits back on their hooks, sticking them in the closet the best he could. "Now help me get these back up so we don't get into trouble."
"Aw, come on man!" Beast Boy laughed, sitting down on Raven's bed and tossing the Cinderella dress over his shoulder. "Nobody's gonna know we were in here!"
Rolling his eyes, Cyborg turned to respond to this, but stopped dead when he saw the dress fall just short of landing on a bookcase Raven used to store potions, knocking several bottles off the case and onto the floor.
BAM!
Yelping, Cyborg and Beast Boy both took cover under Raven's bed as a bright orange blast blinded them momentarily. When it faded, the two Titans peeked over the edge of the comforter to stare at the gaping hole on the floor where one could see down to the next floor, with a strange black pattern scorched into the carpet, walls and ceiling.
There was a long lapse of silence before Beast Boy made a high-pitched squeaking noise.
"Dude…" he said, his face paling rapidly. "Dude! We are so dead for this!" Tearing his eyes from the hole, Cyborg fixed the changeling with an even look.
"What do you mean 'We?'"
BLACKBIRD
Chapter 16; Hide and Freak
"C-C-C-CUJO?" Danny stammered out, his eyes widening as much as humanly possible.
"Cujo?" Jazz repeated, glancing between her brother and the adorable little ghost dog that was wagging it's tail happily as it burrowed into his backpack. "Where the heck did this one come from?"
"Bark! Bark!" Cujo yipped out happily, coming out of the backpack with a flying leap that hit Danny square in the chest, making him fall backwards to the floor. Jazz covered her mouth to hide her giggles as Cujo began to lap at her brother's face, oblivious to his cries of protest.
"Kids?"
Danny and Jazz both froze at their mother's voice, exchanging panicked looks. Grabbing the puppy up, Danny stood and hid him behind his back with one hand over his muzzle, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jazz just as Maddie entered the tent.
"Mom!" Jazz squeaked out with a nervous smile. "What are you doing here?"
"You promised to be back for your father's presentation, remember?" Maddie reminded the children as she straightened up. "It starts in ten minutes. Did you get what you needed, Danny?"
"Ah, almost…" Danny squeaked out, his heart pounding painfully as Cujo squirmed in his hands. "I just need a little more. You two go ahead without me, okay?"
"That's okay, sweetie. We can wait if you want," Maddie said casually as she started to sit.
"NO!" Danny and Jazz shouted as one, Jazz leaping forward to grab her mother's arm and pull her back on her feet. Laughing nervously at the baffled look on Maddie's face, Jazz began to push her out the flap.
"Ah, I mean, why wait!" Jazz covered brightly as she pushed Maddie out. "I'd die if I missed Dad's lecture! They're always so interesting!"
"You would?" Maddie blinked in a dazed sort of way. "They are?" Looking concerned, Maddie put a hand against Jazz's forehead. "Sweetie, are you feeling alright?" Wincing, Jazz shot the tent an ugly look when she heard Danny snickering from the inside before turning back to give her mom another overly-enthused smile.
"Of course I am!" she said brightly, "I can't wait to hear dad blather on about ghosts! Come on, what are we waiting for? Let's get back to the lecture hall— and away from here— as soon as humanly possible!" And before Maddie could protest, Jazz was hauling her back to the main cabin, leaving Danny and Cujo alone at last.
"Whew…" Danny sighed, sinking down to sit on his sleeping bag and releasing Cujo, who barked loudly as he ran a circle around the ghost boy before stopping in front of him with tail his wagging, eager to play. Danny gave the dog a half-hearted glare, "You know, I'm starting to think you're more trouble then you're worth…"
"Bark! Bark!" Cujo yipped back, licking Danny's hand and rolling over on his stomach to be petted. Groaning, Danny shook his head and rewarded the puppy with what he wanted, earning more tail-wagging for his exertions.
"I'd better take you back to the Ghost Zone before someone else comes looking…" Danny told the dog, lifting him with one hand and standing up.
Turning into a ghost in a flash of light, Danny phased through the tent and flew into the forest with Cujo in his arms, his eyes scanning for the tree Gem had used to open the portal to Ghost Central. That probably wouldn't be too hard…
"…And this is the Boo-merang!" Jack Fenton said cheerfully as he held up the tracking device. "It locks on to a ghost's ectoplasmic signatures and tracks them down wherever they go!"
"Really?" Nene said, clearly hanging onto Jack's every word. "Is it versatile, then?"
"Unfortunately, no." Maddie sighed from where she stood with Jazz. "We're waiting until we get it working to upgrade it." Nene's face fell at that.
"What's wrong with it?" she asked, disappointment heavy in her tone.
"We can't say for sure," Maddie admitted with a thoughtful look, "but for some strange reason, it always targets in on Danny." Nathan snickered slightly, shooting Raven a sheepish grin when she raised an eyebrow at him.
"That kid's a magnet for faulty equipment, huh?" he joked lightly. "I mean, this thing and the Ghost Alarm last night? Must be something in his blood…" Raven frowned thoughtfully at the boy's reasoning as another girl nearby giggled her agreement.
Now that she thought about it, a lot of the Fenton's ghost hunting gear did seem to malfunction around Danny. The Boo-merang, the Ghost Alarm, the Ghost Gabber… They only reacted when Danny was in the room.
It's probably nothing, Raven decided at last. After all, she would be able to tell if Danny was being overshadowed, and there was no way someone who felt so normal could be a ghost.
Then again, her experience with paranormal spirits had been a bit lacking of late before her trip to Amity…
Still, the Titan reminded herself sharply. Danny's parents are leading ghost hunters. I mean, sure I can see a ghost being able to pull the wool over Jack Fenton's eyes, but Jazz and Maddie? They'd know in a heartbeat if something was wrong with Danny, especially with how protective Jazz is.
"How does it work, anyways?" Nene asked. She was pretty much the only person who seemed to be taking the lecture seriously. Personally, Raven didn't see what tracking devices had to do with defensive weaponry, but one thing she'd learned very early on about Jack Fenton was that he tended to get distracted by the first thing that sparkled.
Of course, that was usually because he thought it was a ghost, but that was getting off topic.
"You just throw it and it'll follow the nearest ghost to the ends of the earth!" Jack took a short pause after this boast to add (reluctantly), "Or, at least it's supposed to…"
"Really?" Nene took the Boo-merang to examine it more closely. "You just throw it? You mean like this?" And, oblivious to Jazz's cry of protest from the back of the crowd, Nene gave the boomerang a toss, watching as it circled a tree before disappearing into the forest.
"Nice job, Nene," Katie said sarcastically, shooting her sister a smug smirk. "You just lost Mr. Fenton's weapon."
"Relax," Raven sighed, standing up. "I'll get it."
"NO!" Startled, everyone turned to look at Jazz at her panicked yell, and the red head flushed brightly under the attention. "Ah, I mean… I'll get it!"
"I thought you wanted to listen to your father's lecture?" Maddie said, raising an eyebrow pointedly at her daughter.
"I do!" Jazz said quickly. "But not if poor Rae has to miss out!"
"It's fine, Jazz," Raven said as she made her way towards the forest.
I'm about to fall asleep, anyways, the sorceress added dryly in her head.
"W-well she shouldn't go alone!" Jazz insisted desperately. "I mean, there are ghosts out there, right? What if something attacks her? Someone should go with her!"
"I'll go!" Valerie volunteered quickly, scurrying to her feet. "I mean, I know all about the weapons Mr. and Mrs. Fenton make!"
Front and back, blindfolded, and with my hands tied behind my back, she continued to herself. She'd taken particular care when she studied the Fenton's weaponry, making sure not to miss a single detail.
"I don't know…" Maddie said hesitantly, biting her lip.
"They'll be fine!" Jack said cheerfully. "Make sure to get back here as soon as possible, kids!"
"We will, Mr. Fenton!" Valerie promised as she and Raven headed into the forest. "Come on, we're wasting time. If we take too long, we'll never be able to find the thing."
"Got it," Raven sighed, glancing around them for any signs of the weapon. What she got instead, though, was a strong thrill at the edge of her sixth sense.
A ghost? Her eyes narrowing, Raven focused on the direction the new source of power was coming from, not even acknowledging the way Valerie's watched beeped loudly, or the way it made the girl stiffen.
"Valerie?" Raven murmured absently. "What do you say we split up? To cover more ground? The Fentons never have to know."
"Good idea!" Valerie agreed quickly. "I'll go this way, we'll meet back here in about ten minutes!" And with that, Valerie walked off to the right in a quick stride. Raven blinked after her in surprise before going far enough in the opposite way to ditch her disguise.
Well that was easy… she thought. Not that she was complaining. It was nice, not having to argue with Valerie about something. She just didn't get why the girl agreed so quickly.
As soon as her disguise was gone, Raven flew off in the direction she'd sensed the ghost, her eyebrow kicking up when she heard a hollow noise of metal hitting bone, followed by a loud yelping, then an exasperated groan.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
Raven faltered, not believing her ears for a moment. After all, the camp out was being held miles and miles from Amity Park, so there was almost no way the controversial ghost boy could be there. No way.
Before Raven could consider this any further, she heard a charging weapon and a loud blast, dodging just in time to avoid being hit by a tree that was blown in half by a burst of vivid pink ectoblast.
Whipping back around, the sorceress gaped openly at the clearing that was now in her line of view, where Danny Phantom, a little green ghost puppy and the ghost hunter from the fair were standing off.
…Well, technically Phantom was floating holding the dog and the ghost hunter was on a rather wicked looking jet sled, but that sounded far less dramatic.
Well… Raven thought grimly as she raised her hood. This is going to end badly…
Furious didn't even begin to cover how Valerie was feeling as she aimed her gun at the ghost in front of her.
"Not your dog, huh?" She snapped coolly, restraining her anger the best she could. What Danny Phantom was doing at a ghost hunter's convention she didn't know or care. All she was after right now was some payback.
"V-Valerie!" the ghost said in surprise, tensing at the new threat to his afterlife. Neither hunter nor prey paid any mind to the sound of something falling somewhere behind Valerie. As Valerie charged her weapon again, the ghost boy winced andadjusted his grip onthe puppy in his arms, taking off through air as the forest earned itself a brand new crater.
"You're dead, ghost!" Valerie snarled out as she gave chase, weaving through the larger branches and simply blasting the smaller ones out of her way.
"Valerie, please!" Phantom called back, sounding exasperated and panicked at the same time. "You don't under—!"
"Oh, don't even start that with me again!" the hunter snapped, picking up speed and taking advantage of an opening in the ghost's guard to send him falling to the ground with a cry of pain.
He skidded a few feet after he hit the dirt, twigs and rocks digging into his face. The weird ghost dog fell out of his grasp and flew a little further, yelping pitifully as it hit a tree root. Something else rolled away from the ghost too, but Valerie didn't pay it any mind.
Valerie pulled to a stop above the ghost kid, bringing her jet sled down enough so that she was in point blank range and glowering coldly at her fallen enemy. This was the moment of truth for her, the time where she could get the ghost back for everything he'd put her and her father through, and for putting Danny in danger like he had when she was dating him.
"Good-bye, ghost," she said in an acidic tone as she charged the weapon, the energy gathering at the barrel.
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
The ghost hunter cried out in surprise when a large tree branch suddenly began to glow with a black energy, wrenching itself free to hit Valerie in the stomach and knock her off of the jet sled, her breath leaving her in the force of the blow.
She screamed when her fall was broken by her back hitting another tree, sliding down the trunk to rest at the base. The bark dug into her spinal cord as she tried to shake off the surprise attack to see who'd snuck up on her.
"Wha—?" Phantom groaned as he got back into the air, still looking a little dazed from Valerie's attack. His eyes widened in confusion as a pale teenager in a blue cloak strode into the clearing at a smooth, confident pace, her eyes trained on Valerie. "Raven?"
"Go," the girl said, not acknowledging the uncertainty in the ghost's voice. The ghost didn't move at first, glancing hesitantly between Valerie and the newcomer, but when Raven fixed him with a pointed glare he finally consented, picking up the fallen ghost dog and flying off out of view.
Much to the fury of one of the two teenaged girls he left behind.
"You…" she growled as she got to her feet, glaring at Raven. "I almost had him!"
"And what were you going to do with him?" Raven asked icily. "Kill him?"
"He's a ghost!" Valerie snarled back, her fists clenching at her side. "And a dangerous one, too! Do you have any idea what kinda damage that ghost has caused?"
"No," Raven answered bluntly, "but I know what kind of damage he could cause if he wanted to, and I know that you attacked him without a good reason. And since he didn't blast you a single time in self defense while you were holding an ecto-gun to his head, I think I was within my rights to take his side this time." Valerie bristled at that.
"And who are you to come in here and make that kind of judgment, huh?" Valerie asked coldly. Raven gave her an even look before turning and starting away without answering, only fueling Valerie's temper even more. She was tempted for a moment to blast the pale girl in the back of the head, but resisted the urge to actually do so.
No matter what people said about her attitude towards the undead, she'd never attacked a living person with the intent to cause any lasting physical damage before.
Cocky little know-it-all… she thought angrily as she deactivated her suit. She still needed to find the stupid Boo-merang and catch up with Rachael before the Fentons got suspicious, after all…
Before she left the clearing, though, the sun hit something metallic and made it sparkle, catching the ghost hunter's eye. Belatedly she realized that it must've been what the ghost had dropped earlier when she'd blasted him, but when she actually saw what it was, all of her thoughts screeched to an abrupt halt.
The Fenton's Boo-merang.
WoM- Before anyone asks I'll answer the question for you; Yes, Raven now knows that Valerie is the ghost hunter in red. I had a little too much fun with the intro here, I think, but it was ust too easy to see that happening. ('waggles finger at Beast Boy' Bad Beast Boy, BAD!) At any rate, thanks for all you kind comments and your endless patience and stay tuned for next chapter!
Thanks to;
Crazy Billie Joe Loving Freak, Ant Crown, Seeker Carter, alboc, Light Dragon SunsSong, Missmeliss4251, puppyface, littlekittykat, Petitio Principii, Shadowkeeper113, danica phantom, epobbp, shojobutterfly, Samantha-Girl Scout, Ohka Breynekai, Rob Phantom, kingdomhearts222, Darth Frodo, Sparky the Wonder Weasel, Shiva the Sarcastic, BratCat, conan98002, Zuzanny, The Sole Survivor, Invader Johnny, The Unknown Alias, Fade B., Firehedgehog, phantomshadowdragon, Hakkyou Kuusou, WolfDaughter, Lumias, Rae, Flinchrock, Shadow in the Dark, midnightgoth9, enigmatic penguin, AirGirl Phantom, Halfa-NariMaruko, kikyo AND terra AND palina AND aoyama are bitches and should rot in hell, Jazzy, The Sith, shadowcat86, kdm13, Luna Mae, Krystal, JPElles, Nobody is Somebody, kawaii chibi shun, SamuraiSirius, GoGoJirachi, Baka Hanyou Rahvin, schmidie-lee83, Haikari Archersight, vlad snuffles, The Lost Hibiki, Zarz, Burnning Truth, Katie, Curtis-Ownby, magicgirl45852, Kirstyn.T, benign intent, kingman, xXKairiXx, cayhleenlovestowrite, unknown, KHFREAK14, Shadow49, Cold-heart-Angel23,Itallia, iamratgirl, hammy ham ham, katiesparks, Aniu Blade