"You're the worst little sister in the history of little sisters," Danny grumbled without heat. He moved, slumping further into the cushions of the couch.

Jazz snorted. "I can't possibly be that bad."

"No, you are." He somehow buried himself even further. "I bet no one else has to worry about their little sister finding and befriending an alternate universe of themselves, the older sibling."

"That's just an inherent risk of being a Fenton, Danny," Jazz pointed out, quirking an eyebrow at him even if he couldn't see it. "You'll have to blame our parents for that, not me."

"Counter-argument. The befriending part is definitely a you thing."

She blew a raspberry at him. "Like you wouldn't have made friendly with an alternate universe version of me, given the chance."

Danny hummed. "Not if she was as annoying as you."

"Rude." She reached over to swat at his shoulder. "I'm stronger than you, you know?"

He made a derisive noise.

"You suck," she told him, sitting down properly again. "I'm leaving."

Just as she shifted to the edge of the couch, however, their parents appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Hey kids," her dad boomed, pushing his way in first. "We have talk to you two."

Jazz' core whirred nervously. Uh oh. That didn't sound good.

Her mom stepped in after Dad, holding… oh no, was that the Ghost Finder? Shoot, she didn't realize that they had built another one.

"Jack," Maddie said, softly, holding up the invention. He leaned over to look on the screen and frowned.

Danny, next to her, had pushed himself into a sitting position again. He nudged her, gently, in a rather sad attempt at comfort.

It helped, though.

"Huh." Jack turned to frown at her and Danny, but he was clearly still looking at the Finder from his peripherals. "That's strange."

Maddie clicked her tongue, then nodded. She lowered the invention again, and looked at Jazz and Danny directly. "What we wanted to talk about, kids, were the events of a few days ago."

"That weird ghost sickness slash contamination thing?" Danny asked, his confusion not sounding quite genuine enough. "Why? What about it?"

"It… opened our eyes, I suppose you could say." Her mom moved, perching on the arm of the armchair in front of her and Danny. "For years, we believed that humans and ghosts were entirely separate entities. Even if a human could become a ghost, it was a binary process. You were either fully human, or fully ghost. Those two states couldn't be blended, not in the least. Or so we thought."

"But those kids at the school, they all had ghost-like powers because of their contamination," Jack continued. "But they hadn't gone through the entire process, hadn't made the full transition to a ghost. Which made us realize… If they could be humans with ghost-like abilities, caused by some sort of ectoplasmic contamination… Anyone else could be, too."

"And I don't think anyone could deny the similarities between Phantom and Specter and our children," Maddie finished off. "In hindsight, it was glaringly obvious. Only…"

Jazz huffed out a laugh. "But only one of us shows up on the scanner, huh?"

"It makes no sense!" Jack blurted out, waving a hand at the invention. "By that logic, I could imagine that Specter's core is too young, not mature enough, to show up, assuming it gets muted by her… human form? But, no, it's Danny who appears fully human! Only minor ecto-contamination."

"Which is obviously the fault of him not wearing proper protection when in the lab, young man," Maddie chided.

Danny made a face. "Everything in this house is contaminated anyway. What's the point of protecting yourself in the lab if the kitchen is almost as bad? Never mind all the food."

Jazz swatted at him. "Danny, can we please focus on the serious conversation?" She turned to their parents. "Look, it's… complicated."

"God, did he train you to use that as an answer or do you two just spend that much time together?" Danny complained, pushing her with his shoulder. To their parents, he said, "Your scanner is right, I'm no more ghostly than you two. Jazz has a core, but she's more human than ghost, I think. She defaults back to human when she falls asleep, anyway."

"It's his go-to answer for everything," she explained with a roll of her eyes. "But, yes. I'm half-ghost. I think that it's a pretty even balance, but, well. While human—alive—is my standard state of being, my core never goes away entirely. It gets… what did you call it, muted? I guess that that's a good word for it. It's weaker in human form, which makes it harder to use my powers, but it's not impossible. I'm always a little ghostly in human form, and a little human in ghost form."

Maddie nodded, slowly, her brow creased in thought. "So then… who is Phantom? He looks…" She trailed off, looking at Danny.

"Yeah, it's complicated." Jazz bit her lip, looking between her three family members. The conversation seemed to be going alright, but… having someone with more experience with this present would be a help. A comfort, if nothing else. "I can go get him? He can probably explain it better than I can."

Her parents frowned, but nodded their permission anyway. Jazz stood up, then hesitated.

"I, uh. Do you mind if I shift into my ghost form here, or should I leave first?"

They shared a look—more like a silent conversation—before Maddie licked her lips and said, carefully, "No, go ahead. It would be… good. To see, I mean."

"Right." Jazz nodded back, then tugged on her core, ignoring her racing heartbeat. The transformation washed over her in a brief flash of light, and she grinned at her parents, unsure. "Tah-dah?"

"Wow," Jack breathed. Both of them were clearly stunned. "Years of research disproven, just like that."

She hesitated, and Maddie must've realized why, because she waved a hand. "Go find Phantom, honey. We just… It's one thing to know, and another to see."

Of course. She knew that, didn't she? That was why she was so thrown off whenever she saw Phantom in his human form.

"Yeah," she said, letting herself float a little. "I'll be right back, then."

Jazz turned herself invisible—ignoring their startled noises—and phased out of FentonWorks. Look, she had nothing to hide to them, but it would be suspicious if people saw her!

Luckily Phantom hadn't left for patrol yet, lounging on a nearby rooftop. He jerked upright when he saw Jazz, immediately shifting into his ghost form. "Jazz?"

"Hey, so, uh." Suddenly she felt a little silly. Surely she and Danny could've handled this alone? But she was here now, and her parents wanted to see Phantom, so… "Um. My parents figured out my secret? Apparently they had another ghost scanner, but now they're confused because their son is human, and they wanted to know who Phantom was? Could you, uh, come along?"

Phantom's expression had grown increasingly uncomfortable as she spoke, but he still nodded after she finished talking. "Yeah, sure. How did they… react?"

"It was…" She considered it. "Not that bad, I guess? But maybe they haven't quite processed it yet. I figured they would be okay with it, anyway, so it's not that surprising."

"If you thought they would accept you, why…" He paused, dusting off his jumpsuit rather pointlessly. Stalling for time, she figured. "Why didn't you tell them sooner?"

She shrugged. "I wanted them to change their minds about ghosts. Specter, and later Phantom, were the easiest examples of ghosts doing good, and I thought that they would blame everything on us being part human if they knew."

"That… makes sense." He sighed, combing a hand through his hair. "Well, let's go, then."

The two of them flew back to FentonWorks, not turning invisible now. They phased through the front wall, directly into the living room, drawing the attention of the three people still present there.

Jazz landed in front of the couch, shifting back to her human form. Phantom kept his distance, however, and looked rather uncomfortable.

"You're half-ghost too?" Jack guessed, gesturing at the Ghost Finder that Maddie still held. "The Finder suddenly started picking up your core, like something had been muting it but stopped."

Phantom nodded, hesitantly. "I am."

Maddie was staring at him with narrowed eyes. "But you look and sound almost exactly like Danny. I can't imagine that there's anybody in Amity that looks so similar to my son."

That made Phantom shuffle even more uncertainly.

"Phantom," Danny said, still on the couch. "Just tell them, man. Shift back."

The half-ghost made a face, but did as asked. Light flashed, the ring of energy passing over him, and he thudded back onto the ground. Jazz was glad to see that Phantom had borrowed some of Danny's clothes, so he didn't look quite as ragged anymore.

Phantom grinned at Jack and Maddie, and, man. Jazz could feel the awkwardness in the atmosphere.

"Tah-dah?" he offered, opening his arms as if he were showing off an outfit.

"Jazz already did that," Danny commented from behind her, and she kicked him in the shin. "Ow, Jazz, jeez. Just trying to lighten the mood."

Jack made a noise that not even Jazz could decipher, then said, "So. Complicated, huh?"

"I am so tired of that word," Danny muttered, and Jazz kicked him again. "Ah! Are you taking lessons from Sam or something?!"

Phantom snorted, then immediately straightened out, having drawn everyone's attention back to him.

Jazz waited for him to speak up, but after a few moments of silence, cleared her throat. "So… You want to explain your complicated situation, Phantom?"

"I, uh. Yeah. Right." He shuffled his feet, looking wildly uncomfortable. Seriously, it was a little weird, but it couldn't be that much worse than when he told his secret to his own parents, right?

Unless… he had never told his secret to his own parents?

But that would be crazy, right?

"So, I'm, um." Phantom ran a hand through his hair, running it all the way over his head until it ended up in his neck. "I'm… Danny Fenton. From another universe."

"Apparently he's the younger sibling and half-ghost," Danny added when Phantom stopped talking. "He had photos with himself and his own Jazz, and she was like, eighteen."

"But how did he—" Maddie paused, turned back to Phantom. "How did you get here?"

Phantom shrugged, uncomfortable now that the attention was on him again. "I, um. Natural portals form in the Ghost Zone all the time, but they don't just connect to the regular human world. They can go to any place and any time on Earth, and, apparently, to different universes as well. I accidentally flew through one and… I thought I was back in Amity, so I didn't try to go back."

"And portals are too finicky to reliably travel back through," Jack realized, snapping his fingers. "That's why you stuck around! But I don't understand… Wasn't your home… don't you miss it? Wouldn't you want to go back?"

"Of course I want to go back!" Phantom snapped, suddenly, his eyes flaring green. "I want nothing more than to go home! But there's no point in risking life and limb by diving through portal after portal, hoping to find it! If I just stay in one place, they will find me! I just…" The green faded away, his voice petering off into near-silence. "I just have to wait. They'll come."

"Because Sam and Tucker and your Jazz are looking, right?" Jazz asked, softly. "What about your parents? Wouldn't they go looking for you?"

"I…" Phantom jerked his head. "Of course they'll be looking for me! Just not—"

"They don't know," Danny said. "You never told them your secret. That's why you were so hesitant to tell me what was going on, and why you're acting weird now. You're helping Jazz tell her parents, when you never told yours."

Phantom made a face but nodded.

"But you. You've had your ghost powers for two and a half years!" It felt like her core had frozen in her chest. How had he gone so long without telling his parents? Had they held off on changing their minds for so long? Or…

Or was he genuinely scared that they might hurt him? That they would hate him for being half-ghost?

"Yeah, well." Phantom shrugged, weakly. "My only comparison is the guy who's gone twenty-two years without telling anyone about his powers, so."

"We both know he's a terrible example in every way," Jazz scolded. "Seriously, Phantom… Danny. You could've told me. You didn't have to come."

"It's… fine." He looked up again, eyes wandering to Jack and Maddie. "I… I probably should've told mine ages ago. I'm glad you didn't… didn't."

She huffed out a breath, scrambling over the couch to get closer to him. "That's what you're doing the whole time, isn't it? You're not just telling me what I'm dealing with, but you're specifically aiming to have me avoid making the same mistakes you made."

Jazz wrapped her arms around him, and, after a moment of stiffness, Phantom hugged her back. "Wouldn't you?" he asked her, head pressed in her hair. "If you saw your sibling, so young and innocent, before they had made any of your mistakes. Wouldn't you stop them, too?"

"You never said anything," she told his shoulder. "I had no idea how bad it was, Danny. You should've told me! You're not alone, not here."

"I'm never alone." He sniffled, but she didn't comment. "I have Sam, and Tucker. And my own Jazz. I have Wulf, sometimes when I can find him, and Frostbite. Clockwork, even, if it's really important."

A warm bulk reached over Jazz to clap Phantom on his shoulder. She wrenched an eye upwards, meeting her dad's eye. "Danny, kiddo. I don't know your parents, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that family is the most important to us Fentons." The other hand landed on Jazz' shoulder. "Part ghost or not. My kids are my kids, and I love them with all my heart."

"I… I know," Phantom murmured back, keeping his head turned down. "But it's just… hard. To hear them speak so badly of ghosts, of Phantom, and know. Know that that's me they're talking about. Even if I know, rationally, that they wouldn't feel that way if they knew it was me."

"Is that why you never told us, Jazz?" Maddie asked, laying a warm hand on Jazz' other shoulder. "Because you were so scared?"

She shrugged, only a little so she wouldn't throw off the comforting hands. "I… No, of course not! I wanted— wanted you two to change your opinions on ghosts, first, because it would be easier! Not because I was…" It felt like her throat was clogged up. She sniffled. "Yeah… Yeah, a little bit, I think. I just didn't want to…"

"You didn't want to admit that that was why," Phantom finished for her. She couldn't see his expression from where she was pressed against him, but he sounded like he was tearing up. "So you reasoned around it. Because you couldn't be scared of your parents, not really! They didn't mean it like that! But you were. Scared, that is."

"Oh, honey," her mom said, and suddenly another warm body pressed against her. Maddie's arms wrapped around her, and by extension, around Phantom. "Oh, I'm so sorry that we made you feel that way. That you felt like you couldn't tell us even some of this, that we were so set in our ways that you had to hide all of that. And that…"

Maddie's hair brushed against Jazz' cheek, as Maddie turned to look at Phantom. "And that it was so bad that, if we hadn't figured it out ourselves, we wouldn't have known for another two years, at least. That you would've been forced to hide yourself—yourselves—from us for so long."

Then, suddenly, their hug collapsed. Jazz teetered for a moment, before she was drawn against her mom. She blinked in surprise, then realized what had happened.

Phantom stood several steps away. He must've turned himself intangible to escape from the hug.

"I'm glad you're all talking this out okay," he said, his posture stiff but his voice wavering. "But I… I'd better get going. This isn't… my place." He nodded at Danny, who uncertainly stood in front of the couch. "I. Yeah. Later."

"Wait, Phantom!" Jazz shrugged off her mom's arm, stepping closer to Phantom again. "Will you… Are we still meeting for training? Maybe not tomorrow, but… next week?"

He hesitated, visibly, before nodding. "Yeah, I… of course. I'll…" He grinned, clearly fake. "I'll check your homework then, alright?"

"Yeah, sure." She wanted to stop him, wanted to help him, make him feel better, but… her own parents came first. He understood that, right? He would've done the same, had their roles been reversed.

Still, her core wavered in her chest, upset, and her heart felt like a clump of ice.

"I'm sorry we upset him," Maddie said, tugging on Jazz' arm again. "We didn't mean to, Jazz. Upset either of you."

"I know." She wiped a hand over her eyes, shocked to find them wet. "I always knew that you cared, Mom, Dad. That my fear wasn't… wasn't rational. And Phantom is… He's been upset for a long time, I think."

"He misses his home," Danny added, finally speaking up again. "When I talked to him with Sam and Tucker, he could barely look at them. He's been here for months, waiting for them to find him."

Jack's arm wrapped around her shoulders again. "He's worried that they might never find him," he concluded. "That he'll be forced to stay in world where he can't see any of his loved ones ever again. That sounds like a Fenton's worst nightmare."

"Yeah," Jazz agreed, leaning back against her dad's massive bulk. "I can't imagine… And his parents don't even know… Can't imagine why he disappeared like that."

"At least we'll know." Maddie's arm snaked around Jazz' shoulders too, joining Jack's. "If you ever disappear… God. It could've happened to us." Her eyes were watering, too. "It's been months since Specter's first appearance, and we only discovered by coincidence. We could've… It could've been years before we changed our minds enough for you to tell us on your own."

"If ever," Jack mumbled, grimly. "If we ever got evidence convincing enough to break us from years of bias."

Jazz just pressed closer. She wasn't sure if her parents ever would've changed enough for her to feel confident about telling them, no matter what she said.

Somewhere, she was glad that they had found out on their own. She might've put it off forever, otherwise.

"Jazz," Phantom said, grinning at her when she touched down in their clearing. "It's been a while. How have things been?"

"They're…" Rough. Her parents are struggling, it's a lot to wrap their minds around. They're trying but it's hard. "Fine. Things have been fine."

He nodded, already turning around. "Good. I'm… glad to hear so."

Ah, so they were not going to talk about the other thing. Well. She supposed she could give him that much, at least.

"Weren't you going to check my homework?" she asked, lightly.

Phantom paused. Turned back around. "Did you do it, then?"

"It was homework, Phantom. What do you think?"

His lips quirked up in a smile. It felt genuine, this time. "Should've figured. The trick to training you was homework all along."

"I thought it was fine before now, too." She shook her head, but smiled. "Anyway, you wanted me to test for elements I felt connected to. Now what?"

"Uh uh uh," Phantom said, waving a finger. "First you have to give me your homework. So, tell me. Any elements you felt positive—or negative—about?"

"Well, I dunno. I didn't feel a very strong connection to anything, to be honest," she admitted, ignoring the way her core clenched. It wasn't a personal failure, she was sure of that, but it still felt that way. "But… I think electricity was… okay? Better than the other stuff?"

He nodded, and she felt her core relax a little. "You haven't been exposed to a lot of elemental ectoplasmic attacks, so your core might've prioritized learning neutral abilities over elements. Electricity makes sense, though. It was my first one, too, and it's useful for a variety of purposes."

Good. She liked the sound of that. "Okay, so, again. Now what?"

"We need to nudge your core into developing affinity for that element." Phantom paused, then made a face at her. "This is going to sound really bad, but we'll need to expose you to the element in question to do that."

"What, like… like electrocuting me?"

"Not that rough, but…" He shrugged. "Kinda, yeah. Low voltage, closer to a static charge than something that would really hurt you."

She grimaced. "Then why didn't I develop an affinity for electricity sooner? I get static shocks constantly!"

"Needs to be ectoplasmic electricity," Phantom explained with another shrug. "I got hit by Plasmius' electric attacks all the time, and some other ghosts used them too. Technus, for example, or Walker's right-hand man."

He waved her over and, reluctantly, she joined him. "I'll tell you right now, I don't like this."

"We can… not do it, you know?" Phantom laid his hands on her shoulders, lowering his head so he could meet her gaze. "Seriously, Jazz, it's no big deal. You don't need elemental attacks. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I'm not gonna force you into anything."

She sighed, wrapping one of her hands around Phantom's. "I know, Phantom. It's… Well, not fine, but it's okay. I'd rather do this with someone I trust than get shocked by an enemy until I develop this power."

Phantom remained silent for a moment, before asking, quietly, "You trust me?"

"Oh, Danny." She pressed her head against his shoulder, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders. "Even if you're not my brother, you're still my family. You've been taking care of me for months, protecting me and making sure I would be fine even when you left. Of course I trust you."

He drew his arms in closer, until they were wrapped around her neck instead of settled on her shoulder. Buried his head in her hair again. "If," he said quietly. "If I ever leave."

"Don't say that," she chastised, awkwardly patting him on the back. "Of course they'll find you, and bring you back to your universe, and everything will be fine! You can tell your parents and they'll accept you, too, and you'll be okay. Maybe… Maybe the time is weird! That's a thing, right, with the portals? Maybe your universe is just going way slower than mine, and your friends are looking for you, but it just hasn't been that long yet!"

"Heh." Phantom's breath whistled through her hair, mussing it up. "You know… I hadn't even considered that option yet."

"Well, that's what you have me for, right?" She turned her head to grin up at him. "I'm the smart sibling, after all."

He barked out a surprised laugh, drawing away from her a little. "Yeah, I guess you are. Now come on, smarty-pants, you're not getting out of training that easy."

Phantom moved a full step back, until the only contact they had left were their linked hands. Then he lifted his free hand, offering it back to her.

Jazz bit her lip, then took the hand. "We're making a loop? For the current to run through?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, tightening his grip comfortingly. "Tell me if this feels weird, okay?"

"Okay." A tingling feeling started running down her arms, buzzing, hot and cold simultaneously. It danced through her veins, down her arms and into her chest and, oh. Her core whirred, like it was soaking up the energy. "Is it… My core is absorbing it, I think? Is that… bad?"

"It's fine," Phantom assured her. "That's confirmation of an elemental affinity, by the way. Your core is accepting it, and processing it. We'll keep to this level of power, give it the time to figure it out."

She nodded, trying to focus on the energy running through her. On her core, soaking up all the power that Phantom was offering it.

"Say," Phantom said, after a long moment of silence, "have you ever thought about getting a logo of your own?"

"A… logo?" She quirked a brow at him. "What, for my jumpsuit? Like yours?"

"Yeah!" He nodded towards his chest, like she could've missed the vivid white logo. "It's kind of a superhero staple, you know."

Jazz snorted. "No thanks."

"Why not?" he prodded, shaking their arms. "We've got a while, anyway. Might as well talk through it, right?"

"If you insist. First of all, it's tacky. Just not my sort of thing. And second of all…" She kicked him in the foot, gently. "I'm not a hero, Danny, just trying to help."

"Looks like a hero from where I'm standing." He jumped when she tried kicking him again, legs merging into a whispy tail. "From where I'm floating," he corrected, childishly.

Jazz rolled her eyes. Secretly, she was glad to see him bantering, though. Even if it was just a cover for his homesickness… it served a distraction, at least. "Who's the older sibling here?"

"Technically neither of us is," he pointed out. "Even if I'm older than you, I spent almost my whole life being the annoying younger brother."

"You make a good older brother, though." She stiffened slightly as she realized she said that out loud. Ah, no, too sappy! "You're a lot like Dad."

Phantom raised a questioning eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Yeah! You're protective, you value your family—both blood and from friendship—above everything else," she grinned, a little impishly, "you're very interested in ghosts and ghost hunting…"

He flushed green, opening his mouth to counter, so she went for the final push.

"And you seem pretty obsessed with logos." She outright smirked at him. "Pretty sure the next step is using your face as one."

"Oh my god, Jazz, no." Phantom threw his head back, groaning loudly. "That's horrible. You're horrible."

"You started it," she countered, childishly jiggling their arms. "Don't start what you can't finish."

"Terrible. You're terrible." He swiveled his head back around, his green eyes sparkling. "How's your core feeling?"

She stuck out her tongue. "That was a terrible topic change and you know it." Still, that was why they were meeting, she supposed. "It's feeling… full? Full-er?"

"More powerful?"

"Uh." She prodded it, mentally. "No, not really? More… zappy? More zappy than usual, kinda staticky, and more full. Kinda… heavy? But not powerful."

He nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Alright. I'm cutting off the power. Let's see if we can get some electricity out of you yet."

"Sure," she said as the static down her arms stopped. She unlinked her arms, then twitched her fingers. Felt like they were having after-buzzes. "How?"

"How do all your ghost powers work?" he asked scathingly, but with no real heat. "Thought you were the smart sibling?"

"Mh." She tried to recall the static feeling. Prodded her core into replicating that. "Wait, I think…"

Gold sparked between her fingers. Brief flashes of lightning jumped from one finger to another. "Oh, look! I did it!"

"That's a pretty good start, yeah." Phantom grinned at her when she looked at him. "Good job. Your parents would be proud."

Well, there went the mood again. The electricity sparking between her fingers faded, her core making a soft hum, almost like it was sad.

"Yeah," she said, like Phantom could've possible missed the mood drop. "I… Speaking of them, though…" She trailed off, then remained silent.

"What about them?" he asked, frowning. "They didn't—"

"They didn't do anything!" she assured him, quickly. "Not like that! It's just. Everyone's been kind of obsessed with this adult music channel lately, and that's… fine, whatever, you know, but. Mom and Dad have been listening to it a lot, too, saying it relaxes them. But they wouldn't need relaxing if it weren't for— for this!"

Phantom blew out a noisy breath, shaking his head. "Jazz… You can't blame yourself for the accident, or for your parents finding out. Yeah, maybe they're a little stressed, but… but they would probably be, anyway, even if you'd told them from the start. It's not your fault, okay?

"Besides," he added, and he was suddenly next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "They got into something similar in my universe. Practically every adult in Amity was obsessing over that music. And that was even though my parents didn't know my secret. So it's fine, yeah?"

That… wasn't quite as comforting as Phantom had intended it, probably. She sighed. "I guess. What made them stop?"

"I, uh." He paused, drawing back. Frowned in thought. "Um. No— hold on."

"Holding on," she snipped back.

"Got it! Oh, shit, whoops." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, so, don't freak out, but it was totally a ghost thing. And I don't know where to find those guys until they make their move, so…"

"Oh my god, Danny!" She threw out her hands. "That's the opposite of comforting! What does that even mean, their move?!"

He grimaced. "They might… try to kidnap every adult in the city. No, scratch that, they totally did kidnap every adult in the city. Everyone who listened to their music."

"Danny!" She clenched her fists, her core whirring angrily, her glow flickering wildly. "I'm not gonna— I'm going home right now. And I'm not leaving until I'm sure it's taken care of!"

"Yeah, of course." Phantom nodded quickly. "Go ahead, Jazz. I'll meet you when Youngblood and Ember show up."

Jazz stood on the landing at the top of the stairs, staring down at the roiling mass of students in her house. It felt like a block of ice sat in her chest, her core angrily buzzing beneath it.

"Jazz," Valerie said, nudging her. "Come on, glaring at these guys won't make you feel any better. Can't we wait for your brother somewhere quieter?"

"No. I already looked at the ship, and they've got a ghost shield. Phantom and I can't approach until someone turns it off." Valerie quirked an eyebrow at her, and Jazz rolled her eyes. "Val, no offense, but you can't possibly do that alone. It's loaded with ghost pirates, and there are at least two high-powered ghosts on there."

Valerie sighed. "That's fair, I guess. So now what?"

Jazz turned her eyes back towards their classmates, partying below them.

"Jazz, whatever you're thinking, no." Valerie nudged her. "Seriously, you can't plan to involve those guys again. Last time they were already in danger, and they had ghost powers."

"They're already involved," she pointed out. "Their parents are gone, too. We just need to convince them to help us. There's enough ghost hunting gear in FentonWorks to arm all of them, and they don't need to be good, just good enough. If they can distract the ghosts, you can sneak by to disarm the shield."

Valerie gave her a flat look. "Why the 'we'? If you convince them, you'll need to come with, and if you can pass through the ghost shield with them, you and Danny can do it with me, too."

"I don't know, Val. It's a lot of ghosts." She sighed. "And we need to turn off the shield, or Phantom and I can't leave. If we can get more people there, it would help a ton."

"But there's no way the two of us can convince our class to help us hunt ghosts," Valerie pointed out harshly. "Seriously, Jazz. Be realistic. We're both uncool outcasts with a ghost problem. They're not gonna listen to us."

"Yeah, but—" A screech of static broke through the music, then stopped. The music didn't pick back up.

Jazz leaned down over the railing, and spotted Danny standing at the front of the crowd, Sam and Tucker on either side of him. Tucker was holding a PDA, a cable running from it to the speakers behind them. Of course, he must've turned off the music for them, drawing the attention to the three of them.

"Hey people!" Danny raised a hand in greeting, his voice loud enough to carry through the sudden silence. "I know you're all here to party, but I'm afraid we have a bit of a situation! As you all know, just about every adult in Amity Park got kidnapped by ghosts, including pretty much everybody's parents!"

He looked through the room meaningfully, letting it sink in for a moment, before he continued. "Now, you might all think, so what? Specter and Phantom will solve it, just like every other ghost problem, won't they? Or maybe that human ghost hunter on the hoverboard? Well, I'm sorry to say that it won't be that easy."

"How do you know?" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Glad you asked! I know because I actually looked at the fucking ship where they're holding our folks, and guess what? It's got a ghost shield around it! So Phantom and Specter, even if they come to help, won't be able to! And, as much as I might be inclined to trust in the human hunter, she's just one person. There's a small army of weak grunt ghosts on that ship, and at least two higher powered ones, one of which has previously invaded our town, and which required the teamwork of Phantom, Specter, and the human hunter. Now, as much as you're enjoying this time without your parents, are you really content to rely on other people to fix this for you?"

Danny paused, eyes slowly moving over the crowd. "Do you really feel good, partying here, knowing that your parents are working themselves to the bone up there, forced by ghosts? Knowing that the only people that might help are two ghosts that can't actually go there, and a single human hunter? Hm?"

He shook his head, then gestured to Sam and Tucker besides him. "Now, I don't know about any of you. Obviously, since I'm older. But I do know myself, and I know Sam and Tucker. And I know that none of us could live with the guilt, if we spent however long having fun down here, just to discover that our parents died because Amity's protectors got outplayed. So I'll ask all of you one thing. If your parents didn't survive this, could you live with the knowledge that you could've helped, but didn't?"

With his speech finished, Danny stepped back again, Sam and Tucker moving in sync. He turned around, the three of them moving to the edge of the room. Behind them, noise slowly starting coming in again; murmurs of the crowd as they talked. The music stayed silent.

"Damn," Valerie whistled. "Didn't know your brother was such a good motivational speaker, Jazz."

"Yeah," she said, thinking back to Phantom. To the way he must've convinced countless enemies to help him, those times he needed backup he didn't have. Doing all the things she'd done with basically no information. "Yeah, I guess he is."

"Wow, that was almost a compliment," Danny commented, coming up the stairs. Jazz started—when had he gotten there?

"You stole my idea, though." She swatted at him. "And that's rude."

"It's better this way. Besides, I had a better shot at convincing them."

She huffed. "What, because you're such a brilliant speaker?"

"Because I'm older, Jazz." He rolled his eyes, an amused smile on his face. "For kids like these, older teens are automatically cooler. You two might be all the way at the bottom of the popularity ladder, but Sam, Tucker, and I are high up, just because of our age. Doesn't matter that we're not popular among our own classmates."

"Well, whatever." She shook her head. "It doesn't really matter, I guess, because I'm coming anyway."

Valerie grabbed her arm. "No you're not. Don't be crazy."

"Val, I—"

"Jazz. You are not coming," Valerie repeated, shaking her arm. Jazz frowned at the weird emphasis.

"I wholeheartedly agree, Jazz," Danny said from her other side. "I don't want you to come."

Jazz grumbled, slumping on the landing's railing. "You two suck."

"We also both know, huh?" Danny sighed, then leaned on the railing beside her. "Look, Jazz. Yes, I overheard your idea, and decided that I would take the lead. I'll lead the human ghost hunters in the attack on the ship, we'll turn off the shield, and then you and Phantom can come in to actually deal with the ghosts."

"Wait, hold on," Valerie cut in before Jazz could reply. "Aren't you Phantom?"

Danny jerked backwards to look at Valerie over Jazz' back. Jazz also turned to shoot her an incredulous look.

"What? Why are you both looking at me like that?" Valerie frowned. "Seriously, I asked Phantom if he was Danny Fenton and he said yes. And Jazz, you keep saying he's your brother. What was I supposed to think?!"

"Technically, all of that is true." Danny made a face. "It's just… not the complete truth."

"One might even say that it's complicated," Jazz added, just to rile up Danny a little. "I don't know why Phantom would tell you he's Danny but not tell you the whole story, though. He is actually Danny Fenton, yes, but he's from alternate universe, and just staying until his own friends and sister find him." She reached behind her to pat Danny on the arm. "This is my actual fully human brother. Hence why I call him Danny, and the other guy Phantom."

"Ah." Valerie nodded, but the crease remained. "I… see. I thought you were just, I dunno. Trying to separate the two halves with their own names, or something. So you wouldn't slip up and call him Danny while he was a ghost."

"I mean, that's almost the truth," Danny pointed out, lips quirking up into a smile. "Anyway, I should go help Sam and Tucker prep the weapons for your classmates. Jazz, you go find Phantom and come join us before we actually leave, okay? The promise of teaming up with Amity's actual protectors will help convince them."

"I'll get going too, then." Valerie pushed off of the railing, then paused, realizing what she'd said. "I mean, um. I…"

Jazz clicked her tongue. "You need practice with lying on the spot, Val. She's the Red Huntress, Danny."

"The human hunter with the hoverboard?" he guessed, then nodded at her. "Yeah, that'd be good. You can take lead, since you're probably the best fighter among the humans. I'll have Tucker go down to deactivate the shield, and Sam and I can help cover him."

"Sounds like a plan." Valerie nodded back, the tension in her shoulders ebbing a little. "Just…"

"I'll keep your secret, no worries," Danny assured her. "Unless you leak Jazz' secret and get her hurt as a result, but that's just fair turnabout."

Valerie snorted. "Yeah, I think I'd deserve whatever shit I get if that ever happens. Where are we meeting?"

"Up top." Danny raised a finger to point above them. "The Ops Center can turn into a blimp, that's what we'll use to get to the ship."

"Gotcha." Valerie nodded, once. "See you in a min, Danny, Jazz."

They watched as Valerie made her way down the stairs, sneaking through the front door unnoticed.

"I'd better get going too." Jazz pushed herself off of the railing. "See you upstairs."

"Yeah, see you in a minute." Danny turned back to head down the stairs as well, while Jazz went to her room. The moment the door closed behind her she shifted to her ghost form, invisibly phasing out through the wall.

She intercepted Phantom on his way to the house, dropping her invisibility.

"Oh, Jazz," he said, seemingly surprised. "What are you doing outside?"

"We're meeting the teen ghost hunters upstairs," she explained with a shrug. "Danny, Sam, and Tucker are leading my classmates for now, but Val is gonna show up and take lead during the actual attack. They'll probably explain the whole plan for the class in a minute, when we're all there."

He nodded. "Gotcha. To the Ops Center, then?"

"Let's."

They flew up to the Ops Center quickly, but paused right outside it. Valerie, completely suited up and standing on her hoverboard, was already there.

Whoops. Nobody told her how to get in.

"There's a door on the top," Jazz pointed out. "Sorry."

Valerie stared at Phantom for a moment longer before nodding. "Yeah, alright. See you inside."

The huntress flew over to the roof, her hoverboard retracting into the soles of her shoes so she could land. She found the hatch, opened it, and dropped through.

After a beat or two, Phantom nudged her. "Let's go."

Jazz nodded back, and they both phased through the center's metal walls.

The inside of the Ops Center was crowded, but surprisingly quiet. A hush must've fallen when Valerie had come in, and they quietened down entirely when she and Phantom came in.

Valerie hovered at the front—had apparently re-engaged her hoverboard after coming in—with Danny, Sam, and Tucker right with her. Jazz flew over there as well, Phantom right beside her.

"Wow, what a team!" Danny said, a cheeky grin on his face. "Do you see that, guys? Looks like we're gonna show those stupid ghosts what Amity Park can really do!"

Phantom quirked an eyebrow at the speech, his spectral tail lashing lazily. "Do you have a plan? Specter and I would love to help, but we can't, not unless you guys take the shield down."

"As a matter of fact, we do!" Danny waved a hand, and Sam and Tucker rolled forward a whiteboard. On it were crude drawings of the ghosts' ship and the Ops Center, but nothing else was filled in yet.

"Because of the shield, us humans will be taking lead in the fight." He tapped a marker against the drawing of the Ops Center. "We're in the Emergency Ops Center now, which can turn into a blimp. We'll use that to fly us to the ship." He drew an arrow from the Center to the ship.

"Once we're there, we'll board them. The Red Huntress," he gestured over at her, "will lead our main assault. They will fight primarily against the grunts, since the ringleaders probably won't step up that soon. With their attention drawn, the three of us," he gestured at Sam, Tucker, and himself, "will split off. Tucker is our tech-master, and he can disable the ghost shield. Sam and I will cover him."

Danny erased the green circle around the ship with his thumb. "With the shield down, Specter and Phantom are free to join us. The two of them, together with the Red Huntress, will take on the leaders, who will probably come involve themselves by then. The rest of us will take out the remaining minions, then join the fight against… what were their names?"

"Ember and Youngblood," Jazz answered him.

"Right. The rest of us will join the fight against Ember and Youngblood, helping however we can without outright endangering ourselves. These three," he gestured at her, Phantom, and Valerie, "are all packing capture devices. They'll be in charge of catching the enemy ghosts. Once we're all clear, we'll take the ship down carefully. Unfortunately, as you might've noticed," he gestured around them, "the Ops Center is too small to take everyone back safely, so that's what we'll have to do. Any questions?"

He looked over the crowd of teenagers, but no one spoke up. "Good. In that case, come forward to grab weapons from me, Sam, and Tucker. Phantom, Specter, you're free to wait outside, since you won't be in here for the fight anyway. Red… feel free to grab extra weapons if you want."

"I'm good," Val muttered, her voice quiet. Probably trying not to get overheard by her classmates.

"We'll be outside, then," Phantom told Danny, then nodded at her. They phased outside, landing on a nearby rooftop.

The pirate ship hovered high above them, an unnatural green in the overcast skies. The shield around it reflected oddly in the windows around them.

"This fight is gonna be a breeze," Phantom said airily, hands behind his head.

"Yeah?" She turned to look at him, cocking her head. "You sound confident."

He snorted. "I managed without too much trouble. Now I'm more powerful, and backed up by both you and Valerie."

"And a small army of my classmates."

"And a small army of your classmates, yes," Phantom corrected with a laugh. "Seriously, Ember and Youngblood don't know what they've got coming.

Jazz watched him smile, and it felt like a knot loosened in her chest. It was good, to see Phantom smile like that. Confident, powerful, at ease.

They had this fight won before it even started, really.

One of my planning beats for this chapter was literally just "Which is a whole 'nother can of worms because holy shit Danny, what the fuck!" and I think that that summarizes this chapter pretty accurately. Jazz might've thought that Phantom was a shining example of a half-ghost, and all that she could be, but she's slowly discovering that he's an absolute disaster.

Also I totally skipped out on writing the confrontation with Ember and Youngblood, but the reveal scene kind of took over this chapter and I really wasn't feeling the fight scene, so... Their plan was foolproof anyway, they kicked ghost ass and saved everyone's parents, no biggie.

(ps: I also changed the summary of this fic because I realized I had my original summary written down in my planning file and just... skipped over it the whole time I've been writing this. oops)

Next week, the penultimate chapter: Chapter 15 - Reign Storm