Cold air curled in Jazz' lungs, and she paused in her flight. She'd been expecting it, yes, but not this soon. Normally her ghost sense wouldn't pick up on Sidney until she actually entered the school. To have it go off this soon… Was he outside?
Concern niggled in her brain, and she turned herself invisible. She would just check the school grounds and make sure he wasn't in any trouble. During times like these, she wished she was as good as a tracker as Phantom, but apparently that was a hard skill—and a late one.
Luckily it wasn't that hard to find Sidney. He was hidden from the crowd of students, but not actually hidden hidden.
More surprising was the person he was apparently talking with: Valerie.
Jazz bit her lip, hesitating for just a moment. Should she listen in? No, definitely not. That was just… creepy. She could just join it like a regular person. A better question would be, join as Specter or join as Jazz? But that, too, was an easy question to answer.
She ducked into a bush—not too close, but not overly far away—and shifted back to her human form. It was Jazz, after all, that had connections to both Valerie and Sidney, and who had encouraged Valerie to be nicer to ghosts.
A few determined steps brought her back towards her talking… friends? Was friends the right word to use? Sure, whatever, she was allowed to call them friends in her internal dialogue. A few determined steps brought her back towards her talking friends, and Jazz pushed her way through the brush, glancing between human and ghost.
"Hey, thought I heard your voices. What's going on?"
"Nothing," Valerie quickly assured her. Next to her, Sidney nodded. Huh. That was surprising.
Jazz shot them both a doubtful look. "Last time I checked, Valerie, you still thought ghosts were scum, and you only talked to Sidney because he had information about Ember, and only while I was there. What changed?"
Valerie shrugged kind of uncertainly. She didn't say anything.
"Oh, well." Jazz looked at Sidney, but he wasn't any help either. "Would it help if… I told you about how we met? Sidney and I?"
"Yeah, I've been wondering about that, actually." Valerie nodded.
"Alright, so." Jazz clapped her hands together, grinning at Valerie, and ignoring Sidney's nerves. Now, how to tell this story with as little lying as possible but without giving away her secret… "So, ghosts were kind of becoming a generally known thing, right? Obviously my parents already believed in them, but now proof was coming out that ghosts really are real, yeah?"
Valerie nodded along, and Jazz continued. "And I saw some kids getting bullied, and I… I just hate that. Having to watch it happen to other kids, knowing they won't target me, but also being powerless to stop it. So I started wondering… If ghosts are real, who says that the Sidney Poindexter from those Casper High rumors isn't also real?"
"Okay…" Valerie said, slowly. "So then why did he suddenly start showing up? Did you meet him afterwards, and was he—" She turned to Sidney, "You, sorry, were you lured here by something? Why did ghost activity go up so much?"
Sidney shot Jazz a worried glance, then, cautiously, explained. "I have a special portal to the Ghost Zone, and only I can go through it. Jazz found it, and must've guessed that that was it, because she tried talking to me through it. That's when I started becoming active around here, and we actually spoke not too long after."
"I see…" Valerie's eyes narrowed in Jazz' direction, almost suspiciously, but she nodded anyway. "What about Specter and Phantom? They seem pretty set on stopping other ghosts from coming here. Didn't they have a problem with you, or can you avoid them with your portal?"
"It's not like that," Sidney immediately corrected, shaking his head. "It's not— they're not like animals, it's not some kind of territorial dispute. There are lots of ghosts out there that could—and would—hurt humans if left to their own devices. Usually not on purpose, although exceptions exist, but because they don't know any better. Most animal ghosts, for example, and plenty of more intelligent ones as well. It's…"
He made a face. "It's kind of hard to remember, sometimes, how easy it is to hurt a human. If you've been a ghost for a while. Jazz warns me, sometimes, if I toe the line. If my retaliation against bullies becomes a little too much. But not every ghost has human friends, or contacts, or would even care if they accidentally got a little too rough. That is why Phantom and Specter patrol, and help the town. And sometimes…"
Sidney shrugged, smiling a little. "Sometimes they help ghosts, too. They gave me some of the earlier pointers, on how far I could reasonably go, and how to stay safe from ghost hunters. On places I could go to see… the see life, to see the human world, without getting pounced on by ghost hunters."
"I… see." Valerie nodded, slowly, and Jazz could almost see the gears turning in her head. "So there might be… more ghosts, out in Amity, and no one but them would know about it?"
"Possibly," Sidney agreed. "But I don't think many of them stay for long. Natural portals are finicky, and portals like mine are, well, extremely rare, and only work for one ghost. Most of the others that travel to Amity come through the Fenton's artificial portal, but that's…" He made a face. "Well, you kind of have to pass through a ghost hunter's lab just to come and go. Not exactly a risk many ghosts like running."
"So why not just camp out here?" Valerie asked, quirking an eyebrow. "If coming and going is so dangerous, what's stopping them from just setting up base in the city proper, and not returning to the Ghost Zone?"
"They can't," Jazz said, drawing the attention back to her. "Well, most ghosts can't, anyway. They need some form of energy to fuel themselves, or they'll burn out. They usually get it from the ectoplasm in the air, which is high in the Zone, and which the portals expel. It's still kind of high in Amity in general, so ghosts can last a while, but they'll burn out sooner or later. Some ghosts can gain energy from different sources, though. Ember, for example, could draw power from her fans. Other ghosts might draw energy from, for example, human emotions, or even actual electricity."
Valerie shook her head. "But if it's so dangerous, why do they even try? If they have to get past ghost hunters just to come here, why would they risk it? What's so alluring about the human world, or so bad about the Ghost Zone, that ghosts feel like they have to come here?"
"It's curiosity and interest, mostly." Sidney frowned a little, in thought. "I can't speak for everyone, of course, and I'm not sure if I would've come here if I had to go through the hunter's portal, but… the Ghost Zone gets boring, if you spend enough time there. I mean, ghosts don't sleep, usually, so we just spend day in day out in the same place. After a decade or two, or in my case, fifty years, wouldn't you risk potential danger just to see something else? And, yes, the world changed while you were out, and isn't that so interesting? If you had the chance to see what the world looked like in fifty years, and even at some risk, wouldn't you?"
"And you have to remember, Valerie, that ghosts are sturdier than humans," Jazz pointed out. "Just getting hit by a few shots from an ecto-gun isn't that painful to most of them, and they heal faster, too. As long as they don't actually get captured for research, run-ins with ghost hunters aren't that dangerous."
"So it's just like… boredom? Wanting to see something different, combined with the fact that traveling here isn't that much of a risk, even with the ghost hunters?" Valerie's eyes narrowed a little, again, but it seemed thoughtful now. Jazz wondered if Valerie knew how probing her questions were, if she realized how suspicious this all sounded without the background knowledge of Red talking to Phantom last night.
"Basically," Sidney admitted with a shrug. "Some of us have different reasons too, of course. Personally, I greatly dislike bullies because of my experiences with them in life, and being able to stop other kids from suffering through the same… I like that, being able to help. Other ghosts might come here to pursue specific interests, too, or to do things they're passionate about, but can't do in the Zone."
"Right, so—" A loud screeching sound interrupted Valerie, suddenly, startling all three of them. The school bell, Jazz realized. Whoops. She'd gotten so caught up in the conversation that she forgot.
"Ah, shit," Valerie swore, snatching her backpack off of the grass. "Jazz, we have the same class first, right?"
"Yeah." She ran through the contents of her backpack, quickly. Did she have everything? Yeah, she thought she did. "Do you need to stop by your locker?"
"Nope. Come on, let's go!" Valerie already started rushing towards the school when she slowed, turning to call over her shoulder. "And Sidney? Thank you for talking to me!"
Jazz was already hurrying after Valerie when she heard Sidney get over his surprise, and yell back, "No problem! Thank you for listening!"
Danny dove low over some of Amity's buildings, twisting himself into a curling maneuver that was perhaps just a tad unnecessary. So what? He liked flying!
Something in his peripherals drew his attention, and Danny found himself coming to an abrupt halt. It niggled in his mind, somehow, although he didn't know what he'd seen.
He turned, trying to figure it out. What could he possibly have seen—
oh.
Freakshow's giant blown-out face grinned at him, the printed image of the red crystal ball instantly drawing Danny's eyes back to it. It itched in his brain, the swirling—
No!
Danny clenched his eyes shut, trying to draw up mental walls to block the image. No! Not fucking again!
He forced himself to continue flying in his original direction, keeping his eyes shut until he felt confident that he'd gone far enough. When he reopened them, he stubbornly refused to look back, no matter how his mind niggled at him that he should.
It was far enough from FentonWorks—and Casper High—that Jazz wouldn't come across it. Danny could tell her about the ads when they met in the woods, make sure she knew about the danger. He would have to put a little more thought into Freakshow, figure out how they could deal with him.
Well. Not them, that was for sure. He wasn't going anywhere near Freakshow and his crystal ball, and Jazz definitely wasn't.
He touched down in the clearing, Jazz' innocent youthful face greeting him. No, he definitely couldn't let her go anywhere near Freakshow. He'd rather die.
"Sorry, I didn't keep you waiting for too long, did I?" he asked, running his hands through his hair in a hopeless attempt to flatten it some. Just… appear normal, and think it over while training. That'd be alright.
"No, it's fine." Jazz cocked her head, a slight frown to her brow, but didn't comment. "What are we working on today?"
"Well, you've got a pretty good grip on both ecto-rays and shields, so we can move to more advanced techniques." But more advanced offensive techniques weren't really Jazz' jam, were they? "We can see if you can get a grip on something elemental, like electricity, or even ice or fire, or we can try something more neutral. There's this one technique which I can do, but that I've never seen Vlad do, that's like an exploding shield? Like a field which pushes enemies away. You might be able to learn that, if that's more your style."
"Hm. Focusing on more defensive techniques would make my core lean more towards those skills, right?" Jazz twirled a strand of hair, clearly thinking it over. "It would be good to focus on offensive techniques too, especially if I can use them in a variety of situations, but the repulsion field sounds useful too."
Danny nodded. "We can focus on the repulsion field today, and try something elemental the next time. Actually, it might be good to give you homework for that."
"Homework?" Jazz repeated, almost incredulously. "Wow, now you sound like a real teacher. What would homework for this even mean, besides using my powers?"
"Well, elemental powers are finicky. You know how most ghosts tend to focus on a single element, which in turn lead to people concluding that ghost cores must be element-based?" Jazz nodded, and Danny continued. "Right. Obviously that's not the case, but most ghosts still lean towards a single element, or two at max. Beyond that, it gets really complicated to be well-trained in them, and you'll notice that control and power will go down."
"Okay," Jazz said, slowly, drawing out the word, "But how does that factor into homework?"
"I want you to feel out elemental leanings." He formed a shard of ice, holding it up for Jazz to see, then ran lightning over it. "Personally I lean towards electricity, and I picked up ice thanks to a mentor in the Zone. I can do some fire as well, but it's lesser, because I haven't focused on it much. I want you to focus on… well, everything, really. See if there's anything that you particularly feel connected to."
Jazz nodded, and Danny nodded back. "Right, so, that'll be your homework. For now, the… what did you call it? Repulsion field? That's a good name for it, I like that."
She snorted. "Thanks. Can you show it first, so I know what I'm trying to learn?"
"Yeah, of course." He floated up and away a little, making sure that Jazz wasn't too close. Then he curled up in a ball, gathered ectoplasmic energy around himself, like forming an ecto-blast but not in the palm of his hand. The energy gathered, coiling and swirling in a ball around him. When he was satisfied that it was enough for a demonstration, he pushed.
The energy blasted away from him, grass and leaves rustling in the sudden rush of wind.
"Wow," Jazz breathed, but she was grinning when he looked at her. "That's so cool! I definitely want to learn how to do that."
Danny drifted closer again. "Right, so there are a few elements to it, but it's pretty similar to ecto-blasts and shields. First, you'll want to curl in tight—less surface for the energy to spread over. Built up the power like an ecto-blast, but around your whole body, rather than just your fist. But it's gotta be strong like a shield! And then, when you think it's ready—or when you can't hold it anymore—push! Uncoil yourself and shove the energy from a shield into a blast!"
Jazz nodded along. "I think I got it. Like a shield, except you can push the energy out into a blast."
"And curling up into a ball! That's important, since it'll help you make the push. Putting a physical element into it—like thrusting out your hand for a blast."
"Gotcha." Jazz pushed herself off of the ground, but didn't quite curl into a ball yet. "How will I know if it's enough energy?"
"It's just experience, really." Danny shrugged. "Kind of like ecto-blasts, you get used to compare energy to power. You can start off easy and build up. That'll be better for your core, too, and it'll be like a warming-up exercise."
She snorted. "I thought there were no warming-up exercises for ghost powers?"
"Oh, shut up," he said without heat, rolling his eyes. "Feel free to overload your core by accidentally drawing out too much energy if that'll make you feel better."
"I take back what I said, you're a terrible teacher," Jazz joked, curling up into a small purple ball. Golden energy startled swirling around her, slowly growing denser.
When she pushed out, the blast only gave off a little energy, the grass barely waving in its wake.
"Oh," she muttered, quietly. Disappointed. "That…"
"Was a good start," Danny finished for her. "You're figuring out the technique first, and the power second. Better to start off weak, but know you're doing it right, than go for too much and accidentally explode your arm, or something."
"Ugh." Jazz made a face. "Did you really have to go that visceral with it?"
No, but he was probably already in a bad mindset from thinking about Freakshow. He shrugged at Jazz, though, instead of vocalizing that. "It worked, didn't it? Now go ahead, you're not gonna get any better by chatting about it."
She sighed, almost petulantly, but curled back up again.
Danny watched her repeat the move several more times, every attempt growing more powerful. When her blast left the trees wavering with aftershocks, Jazz held up a hand, stopping Danny before he could compliment her.
"What's up with you today?" she asked, frowning at him. "And don't give me that face. You've been distracted the whole time."
He hadn't thought he was that obvious about it, but… well, this was Jazz he was dealing with. She could probably see through him like it was nothing.
"It's… eugh. An upcoming confrontation, I guess." He shrugged, vaguely. "It's this one human guy, except he has an artifact that allows him to control ghosts, including us, in both human and ghost form. I ran into one of his ads today, and it reminded me that we gotta deal with him, except we can't deal with him, and—"
He stopped. Slapped himself in the face, and groaned dramatically. "Of course. We can't deal with him, but we can sic Valerie on him! She'll be immune to his staff, and she'll be enticed to do it because he forces ghosts to do crime, and that's bad."
"Right." Jazz stared at him, her golden eyes piercing right through him. She must've realized how he'd discovered that the staff worked on them. "And that's not… a problem? Sending Valerie to deal with it?"
"Probably not. Sam and Tucker shattered it in my universe, and doing so freed all ghosts under its control," he explained, ignoring the way his stomach curdled. They didn't break it, not like that, but… it was easier than explaining the truth. "I don't know how Val feels about us two, exactly, but if we explain that this guy can make us do terrible things… I bet that that would do the trick."
"Yeah, that seems likely." She frowned, still. "What… How does it work, exactly? Like, can we resist it, somehow?"
"Not… really." He scratched the back of his neck, pushed down the desire to fly away and never talk about it again. "Any command you hear while seeing the crystal ball, you must do. There's no stopping it, it just… drowns you out entirely. Don't even look at the ads, although you might be able to push those out. The TV ads, especially, are a no-go."
His grim tone seemed to function as a wake-up call, because she nodded, and didn't push. "Valerie sounds like a good plan, yeah. Do you want to go look for her now?"
"Nah." He shook his head. "We're training now. I'll talk to her later, and you can do your homework. Like, your real actual homework."
"Yeah, alright," Jazz allowed. "But we probably shouldn't continue for too much longer, in that case."
"Probably," he agreed. "That'd be better for your core, too, if we don't strain it like that."
"One more, then?" She was already lifting up from the ground, curling into a ball.
"Better make it good!"
She laughed as her golden ectoplasm gathered around her. "I'll give you a show, alright!"
The energy burst with such power that it knocked Danny over entirely. The woods rattled with the wind, branches snapping off and raining down.
"Uh, whoops." Jazz laughed sheepishly. "That was maybe a little too much."
"Maybe," Danny agreed, floating upright again. "But you might need that much if you're surrounded by ghosts. It was a good lesson, anyway."
Jazz nodded. "Good luck with Valerie. Let me know if there are any problems."
"I can handle it, Jazz." He rolled his eyes, exasperatedly. "But, yes, I'll let you know if there's anything you need to worry about. Good luck with your homework. Both human and ghostly."
"Yes, Mr. Phantom." She stuck out a tongue, a warm green, but pulled it back in quickly. Too childish, probably. "See you Friday."
She pushed off, and he watched her go. "And avoid those Freakshow ads!" he shouted after her, feeling satisfied at her wave back.
Well. No putting it off any longer.
Danny let himself float up as well, flying back to Amity at a more casual pace. He could go looking for Valerie, yes, but he would probably have more luck drawing her to him. She had ghost scanners, but he didn't have any human scanners.
He hovered over a quiet street—after making sure no Freakshow ads were nearby—and pretended to be looking for something. It didn't take long for the roar of Valerie's hoverboard to reach him.
Ah. He loved it when something went according to plan for once.
"Phantom. Looking for something?" Valerie asked, pulling to a halt beside him.
"You, actually," he admitted easily. "Specter and I could use your help with something."
Her posture was tensed—and had tensed up even further when he spoke—but she didn't raise her gun. "With what?" she asked, shortly.
"Have you seen the ads for that goth circus? With their ringmaster, Freakshow?" He waited for her nod before he continued. "His staff has this weird crystal ball, bright red? It's… I don't know what it is, actually, but it can used to control ghosts. All of the people in Freakshow's show are ghosts he's forcing to participate, and that's not the only thing he uses them for."
"It's not?" Valerie sounded almost incredulous.
"Nah. Apparently circuses don't pay enough, because Freakshow has his ghost army stealing, too. You can follow the trail through the few cities he's been in, and he'll start doing the same here, probably. Might even try luring Specter or I out in the open so he can control us as well, since we're tons stronger than the ghosts he has now. We know better, but, y'know." He shrugged.
"You can't come nearby without getting affected?" she guessed.
"Yeah, basically." He huffed out something that was almost a laugh. "Besides, it would be better to let the human hunter deal with the human enemy. We wanted to call the police on him for the robberies, but someone needs to deal with the staff first. As long as Freakshow has his army of ghosts, he can just use them to escape from the law."
Valerie nodded. "Gotcha. I'll investigate, and if you're speaking the truth—which I bet you are, because this sounds too crazy to be a lie—I'll deal with Freakshow." She made a face. "Ugh, is that really his name?"
"Stage name, I think. I don't exactly do research on my enemies, though." He shot her a grateful grin. "But, hey, thanks. Specter and I really appreciate it."
"I'm not doing it for you," Valerie said, coarsely. "But whatever. I'll make sure you don't have to worry about that crystal ball anymore."
That… seemed like a strange way to word it. Ah, whatever. He was probably just being paranoid, now, driven up by Freakshow's reappearance.
"Right. Well, thanks anyway. Have a good night, Red."
She nodded. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
Her hoverboard roared as she left again.
"Did you hear?" Jazz asked Valerie, once she thought the locker room had gotten empty enough to get away with it. "About that guy's arrest?"
"Who, the creepy ringmaster that could literally control ghosts?" Valerie scoffed. "Yeah. Did your parents go crazy about that?"
"Kinda, yeah." Jazz straightened her shirt, then reached for her hair. Started twisting it up into a ponytail. "I'm glad, though. Imagine how powerful that guy could've gotten if he managed to get his hands on a really powerful ghost, like Phantom?"
Valerie hummed, but didn't say anything. Jazz turned slightly to squint at her.
"What?" Valerie asked, raising an eyebrow. Her expression was… weird, though. Hard to read. "Yeah, I guess that that could've been bad. No point in speculating, though. For all we know Phantom and Specter just wanted us to deal with Freakshow, and are now free to hurt the city."
Jazz felt her stomach roil. "Do you really think that?" she asked, lowering her hands again. The end of her ponytail brushed along her neck, something it didn't do in her ghost form—the strands defied gravity like that.
Valerie seemed to stare at her for ages.
"Not really," she finally said, after what felt like forever. "I just…" Valerie sighed and shrugged, taking her eyes off of Jazz. She walked out of the locker room before Jazz could say anything.
"Weird," she muttered to herself. It was almost like Valerie… knew. But there was no way, right?
Just paranoia. Things were weird, so of course she was overly wary. Nothing to worry about.
*casually drops personal headcanons re: ghost cores all over this fic* Also obviously Phantom wouldn't mess with Freakshow again, and he definitely wouldn't let Jazz come near that guy, either. In the original concept for this chapter, our two half-ghosts would inform her anonymously and sic her on Freakshow that way, but with the changes to chapter 11 Valerie had enough character development to do it like this.
Next week, chapter 13: Doctor's Disorders