A/N: Whoo! Feb already and I was able to get this up! Perfect! Well, not too much to say at this time other than to please R&R ^_^

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Rara Animis 10

Who's Afraid Of Ghosts?

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Science class was, in a word, fascinating. Danny had learned a good number of things from the Far Frozen Institutes and Research Labs, (colloquially known as The Frills) but he'd never seen these types of theories or images. He was thankful for the textbook, truly, it gave him something to read to help him block out the incessant chattering that was Tucker.

The other teen had been pestering Danny about what had happened with Dash, even after he was told, insisting he be given a play by play retelling of the events. As such, these images and notations on how matter interacted with other forms and the like were heavily interesting.

Not to mention how he could see how the elements he was familiar with in the ghost zone could be translated to how the material elements reacted and interacted with one another. It was also interesting in the sense of how their cultures looked for answers to a problem. Humans seemed to search inwards out, starting with what was closest to them, often running into personal bias as they went, and having to rule those out later.

Danny was quite content to go through the textbook, reading through the tome with fervour, even eliciting a strange look from the teacher, who came by more than once to check to see that, yes, he was in fact engrossed in the textbook and not something else.

When the bell rang, Tucker and Sam had to prod Danny more than once to get him to move and relinquish the hold on the book. Danny pouted but complied leaving the book back on the shelf where he had gotten it from. It was just starting to talk about the moon landing and the solar system too… And such clear images!

"There was a whole section dedicated to the Andromeda galaxy!" Danny chirped excitedly when the other teens asked what he was so enamoured with. "With non-speculative distances but approximations in light years! There were diagrams on the shuttle they used for the moon landing too, as well as the equations for how one would measure an atoms variants in the table." Danny continued a child-like wonder on his face. "All in that one four-hundred and sixty-eight paged book."

"Yeah, um, textbooks man… whoo-hoo?" Tucker offered with a confused lackluster smile.

"Seriously those things are probably over a decade old, they're probably out of date," Sam piped in slamming her locker shut after having retrieved her bookbag.

"Still, the pictures were clear and it was easy to read," Danny huffed, somewhat disappointed that his new friends didn't seem to share his enthusiasm.

"Easy to read? Seriously man? Where the heck did they build you?" Tucker asked. As Danny began to retort Tucker waved him off. "Nah man I'm calling it. Robot sent from the future that I built and you're here to protect me from the evil robots sent to kill me."

"Tucker he's not a Terminator," Sam sighed.

"I assure you I am of mostly flesh and bone," Danny offered awkwardly.

"Well, best way to test it out is by getting a triple mister meaty!" Tucker said, excitedly pointing off down the road.

"A what now?" Danny asked, searching off in the distance. He had assumed they would need to stay on these grounds until the warden came to fetch him but these two were keen to leave and had no misgivings about the matter then he figured he would go with it.

"No, what you'll want is a salad," Sam opined.

"You've never been to the Nasty Burger I'm guessin', right? Well, you need to experience the full pleasure that is the triple mister meaty, or, heck, even the double with extra sauce. Either is a joy on the pallet, really."

"Do you mean food?" Danny asked skeptically, and, upon remembering what happened earlier in the cafeteria, he added, "I still have none, you had provided me with things to eat remember?"

"No funds? Right." Tucker said with a frown.

Danny shook his head and Sam rolled her eyes. "Well if you get a salad I'll buy it for you," she said.

"Now that's extortion!" Tucker accused, and thus started an argument between the pair as they walked.

Unable to take more than five minutes of the nonsensical noise, Danny interjected. "Perhaps tell me what I may be able to trade for the food?"

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look, before Tucker said, "Nah, man, it's cool. Just get us back when you can."

Danny nodded, while Sam scoffed. "'Us?' there is no us we both know you're going to default this to me," She said with a roll of her eyes as she opened the door of the burger place to let them all inside.

"Well, Miss Sam, you are-"

"Shut it!"

Danny looked about the restaurant as he entered taking note of the odd decor and separated bench seats. "This is an odd dining hall," he muttered more to himself than anything. While the school cafeteria had still been segmented the long interconnected tables and assortment of chairs were at least similar to the dining rooms he had been in. This, on the other hand, was far more isolated, it did not seem to be built to promote camaraderie.

There was even a single human off to the side eating a sandwich by his lonesome. What was wrong with him? Did he have something contagious and needed to be given space? Why were there others scattered about more content to be alone than with their peers?

Before Danny was able to voice his thoughts however, Tucker hooked his arm in Danny's and dragged him forward. "What do you like in a burger, my man?" he asked, grin bright as he gestured vaguely to the numbered sign.

"I- I do not know?"

"What do you mean you 'do not know'?" He asked before a look of enlightenment passed over his features. "Oh, I mean do you want everything on it?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Extra nasty sauce."

"Alright? I will go with that." Danny frowned unsure. "Er, a three…" He added after when prompted to pick a number on the board. He honestly had very little idea what these things were exactly.

Sam placed the orders and handed the boys each an empty cup. Danny frowned at it but didn't voice his confusion. Instead, he mutely followed them to a dispensary machine and copied their actions, to receive his sweet-smelling liquid. He had no idea what this brown stuff was but the others were happy to ingest it so it had to be safe… Right?

It tasted sweeter then it smelled and fizzed like the festive drinks he was given around the holidays or for anniversary celebrations, but retained its water-like consistency. He clicked his tongue to rid it of the fizz before he voiced his question about the drink. "Is there something we are celebrating?"

"Um. no?" Sam said her lips pulling down into a frown. "Why? You want to do something cheesy like toast to new friendships?" she teased.

"I'm in! Cheers!" Tucker said with a grin holding his cup up towards Danny and gave it a little shake.

The halfa grinned at that. Finally, something he recognized! He brought up his paper cup and bumped it to Tucker's, popping off the plastic lid as he did so. "Kalos!"

"Ugh don't encourage him," Sam complained, through a small smile pulled at her lips. Tucker shot her a smirk before grabbing her arm and raising it up. While she didn't struggle from the motion, she wasn't exactly helping either, and her elbow hung limply as Tucker puppeteered her arm.

"Clink," Tucker said as he finally touched her cup to theirs.

"Idiot." She sighed, though her fond smile stayed as she turned to grab the tray of food as their number was called.

Sam marched the boys to an empty booth and dropped the tray into the middle of the table, launching a few fries free from their paper sleeves.

Danny slid into the seat beside Tucker and a burger was placed before him. He stared at the wrapped food in interest a moment eyeing the others out of the corner of his eye as he unwrapped the food. He takes a curious bite and nods. It was an odd amalgamate definitely, but it was a tasty one.

"Well, how is it?" Tucker asked after he had scarfed down half of his own burger.

"Different, to be sure," Danny admitted.

"Accurate," Sam chided as she mixed about the dressing on her salad.

Danny frowned blinking down at the burger before giving a shrug and resuming his meal. He was too hungry to worry much about the thing anyway. Plus the human next to him had inhaled his and seemed to be doing fine still. Tucker started downing his fries in a similarly voracious manor.

As Danny finished his burger, wiping his mouth along his sleeve he made a rather confused face to Tucker similarly mirroring Sam's exasperated and disgusted one. "Is it a culture thing I am not aware of that one gets more food upon one's person rather than into their mouth, as though an animal?" Danny asked flicking away a piece of semi-chewed soggy fry that landed on the table a little too close for comfort.

Even during the 'war' feasts with denizens of The Far Frozen, where the literal point was to steal food from your comrades, to get the desirable morsels while using the less savoury ones as weapons, like some sort of all-out edible king of the hill or capture the flag game, he'd never seen someone eat so hastily and so messily.

Sam snorted out a laugh. "It is for him," she said, a smirk pulling her lips. "Just keep your palms flat if you try to feed him a treat."

"Not funny" Tucker huffed around his mouth full of fries sending another chunk flying at Sam. she held up the lid to her salad quick as ever to block the assault.

"And thus we see why these are called nasty fries," She snarked, before flicking the lid and launching the fry off of it and back towards Tucker.

"Hey! At least I'm eating actual food, not the stuff food actually eats." Tucker remarked pointing a fry towards Sam's salad.

"I'll have you know-"

"Please discontinue this pointless banter!" Danny groaned pinching the bridge of his nose. "Truly, I have no idea why what you consume is an issue for you both. Should you not just be content with the fact you do not live in a time of famine where you have the option to actually choose what you wish to eat?"

The two teens exchanged a glance before they both had the decency to look away from one another ashamed. "I… Your right about that," Sam was the first to speak after being reprimanded. "But still, there are so many reasons why vegetarianism and-"

A glare from Danny made her snap her mouth shut, and she shuddered visibly as a small bit of cool air hit her.

Tucker gulped visibly and looked between Danny and Sam. "So um, Doomed?" he asked before shoving the straw of his drink into his mouth.

Sam's eyes snapped to Tucker just as a screech came from somewhere outside the restaurant. "Ghost?" she asked, instead of responding to his earlier question.

Tucker shuddered and turned to look out the window seeing people fleeing away from the hulking green and purple armoured ghost heading down the street. "That's a huge yes. We need to move!"

Danny perks up and swivels his head around to examine the oncoming figure. He frowns not recognizing the armoured knight that was heading their way. The large purple plated metal was smooth and polished, with green lance and shield held at the ready. Large plumes of coloured feathers coming from its head melded into the blood-red cape the knight had.

The insignia on the shield seemed to ring a bell in Danny's head but he couldn't seem to pinpoint where he had seen it. Most likely it was only in passing at a Christmas party or something…

Before he could ponder on it further, Tucker had grabbed Danny's upper arm and started pulling him to his feet. "Come on dude! We gotta get outta here. You so don't wanna be caught in the crossfire of a ghost attack. Or the crazy Fentons' decontamination procedures afterwards for that matter."

Danny's lips pulled down into a scowl as he eyed the knight. He wasn't really 'attacking' per se, but it also seemed he had little regard for whatever was in his path, easily climbing over the cars and knocking over the metal poles or whatever else lay in his wake as he methodically continued forward.

As much as Danny hated to admit it, he was currently useless. If the ghost needed to be prevented from causing more destruction he was not currently the one to do it. While Frostbite and Pandora had taught him how to fight as well as dodge and block without ghost powers, his human form wasn't nearly as durable as his spectral one… if going off how a simple piece of paper had injured his finger earlier …

"A tactical retreat then?" Danny asked as he stood. Twin nods came in response and Danny was instantly following the other two out of the restaurant and onto the street getting swept up in the flow of the crowd.

The knight's head swivelled about before he seemed to pick up his pace towards the fleeing people. Danny turned just in time to lock eyes with the ghost's disembodied red irises, which seemed to crinkle upwards and narrow as he bore them into the halfa.

Danny could feel alarm bells ringing in his head as the knight seemed to zero in on him. He could feel the pressure from the knight's ghostly aura directed at him, despite not being able to access his core at the moment. Danny curled his lips in a snarl. Why was this ghost after him?

The ghost lowered it's lance, aiming its tip towards the group of teens. With more speed then it looked like the ghost should be capable of, he charged forward with a roaring battle cry.

"Run for it!" Sam shouted, grabbing Tucker's arm and booking it.

Danny followed their lead for all of three steps before he tackled the other two out of the way of the ghost's lance. The trio rolled over one another while the ghost impaled its lance into the side of a brick building. Danny pulled the two humans up to their feet just as the ghost phased it's lance free from the building, head snapping towards them before the body twisted to follow.

"Is it just me or does that guy seem to be targeting us?" Sam asked, nervously gripping Tucker's arm with white knuckles as Danny moved in front of them.

"Amusing. Then again curs often protect higher beings," the knight spat out, deep voice vibrating their bones.

"I do not know why you are attacking, but you need to stop before someone gets injured!" Danny growled out, glaring at the opposing ghost.

The knight huffed. "Injuring is the idea!" he spat and lowered his lance again towards him before he lunged.

"That hardly seems like an honourable thing for a knight to do, attacking unarmed civilians!" The human halfa barely had time to dodge out of the way, the lance narrowly missing him as he jumped to the side.

The knight growled before swapping out his lance for a bow and arrow, firing towards the defiant boy. It whizzed by his head managing to slice a few hairs as the teen ducked.

"Not much of a talker, then?" Danny mused as the ghost rounded at him, sweeping out Danny's legs with his shield.

"Talk is cheap, the way of battle is what I speak," the knight growled back, morphing his bow into a shortsword and making another stab for the halfa as he recovers from the loss of footing.

"Danny!" Tucker and Sam called together as the teen narrowly avoided being skewered, by bending back almost right to the ground. Vulnerable now the ghost changed his weapon into a spear and directed it down onto Danny. The halfa's eyes widen as he grabs the spear by the shaft and begins to struggle to keep it away from his exposed chest. The ghost threw his weight forward into trying to pierce the boy.

Danny grunted, arms shaking, as the tip of the spear draws ever closer. The knight lifted his heavy leg and brought it down hard on Danny's shin, causing him to call out in pain, but his grip on the spear held firm.

"No!" someone called, Danny was too focused to figure out where exactly it came from.

"Die, you abomination," the ghost spat as he whipped the spear from Danny's grasp, changing the weapon to a mace, intending to bring it back down onto his head. He grounded his heel further into Danny's shin making the teen yell as he could feel his very bones straining under the weight.

The insult made Danny's eyes narrow, and he tried his best to sneer as he readied himself to try and curl away from the attack, only to blink in confusion as a metallic clang sounded off from the back of the ghost's armour. It seemed to get the knight's attention as he paused mid-swing to round on his new challenger.

"You dare attack me, you inferior creature?" the knight spat as he glared down its armoured nose at the woman who'd struck him.

Danny wiggled about and managed to just barely catch a glimpse of the blue-clad huntress brandishing a large ecto-rifle. She fired again with a growl, but the knight was ready this time and brought up his shield to disperse the blast.

Danny couldn't help but stare at the woman as something seemed to pull in the back of his mind. She was clad head to toe in teal and blue with goggles drawn making her look almost like an insect, with their reflective red glass. Her posture was defensive and she looked ready to lunge, fierce and dangerous with hate and disgust etching into her features, as she squared her shoulders against the knight.

Danny was mesmerized by the woman, unable to look away as everything else seemed to mute and fade into the background, and he could almost no longer feel the crushing pain in his leg once her semi-hidden gaze snapped to his prone form. He felt his heart speed up and had no understanding as to why. It felt like when Pandora caught him sneaking out to play with the Cerberuses, that disapproving look maybe? It had to be. But the huntress wasn't aiming her anger towards him…

"You dare think you can come here and attack us? You have no right to this plane of existence, ghost! I'll make sure to wipe you from it!" the huntress spat, snapping Danny out of his reverie as she began firing at the knight again after tweaking a dial on her gun. Again the ghost blocked, but the force of the blast caused him to stumble back, giving Danny the few precious seconds needed to pull his leg free from under the knight.

Tucker lunged for Danny as he crab-walked backwards towards the other teens, and hauled the halfa up between him and Sam. Once Danny was safe, the blue-clad huntress lunged at the knight. "Missus F's got him now! Let's go while we can!" Tucker whimpered shaking like a leaf from the close encounter.

"Yea, right! Can ya walk?" Sam asked shaking Danny's shoulder and snapping his focus away from the human woman's fighting styles with a dazed series of blinks.

"Is that one of the Fentons?" he asked eyes wide. The ghost hating Fentons, the ones who could end him if they wanted to, and who was currently fighting off the ghost that tried to double kill him?

"Yeah man, and unless you fancy getting covered in slime we need to book it!" Tucker said pulling Danny's arm, trying to help to get him off the ground.

The ghost knight is slammed into the ground, The huntress now brandishing a long bo-staff in her hands instead of the blaster. The knight's own weapon, now looking like a three balled flail, clattered down on his head, as the huntress smirked at the events. The huntress' lip curled into a sneer as she twisted something along her staff, causing the weapon to spark to life with bright green electricity.

Danny tried to move back, eyes wide at the sight only to put too much pressure on his injured leg and stumble back into Sam and Tucker. "Lightning..." he gulped out miserably. Even though the woman had not been aiming the weapon to him, nor was close enough to do so, the halfa swore he could smell the ozone burning along with the sweet and sour smell of spilled ectoplasm.

The knight refused to stay down. As the huntress approached he threw his shield out to trip her, exactly how he had done with Danny earlier. The woman was prepared, however, and turned her stumble back into a somersault, springing back to her feet and smacking the weapon down into the ghost's neck releasing the built-up electricity into his metallic armour.

The knight howled in pain and fell to his knees before collapsing forward face down in the dirt. Mrs. Fenton panting heavily, pulled out a collapsible containment device from her hip pouch, looking much like a small portable dustbuster vacuum, and sucked the knight ghost inside. Her fierce look dropped instantly as she turned to the children she had been protecting, pulling her goggles up and letting her kind violet eyes roam over each one, before settling on the strange teen in the middle.

"Are you all right?" she asks, taking a few steadying breaths to calm her breathing before coming closer to the trio.

"Fine!" both Tucker and Sam chirped out instantly, before sharing a glance with one another.

The woman crossed her arms and stared at them with a scrutinous gaze eyeing Danny's leg knowingly. "And you?" she asked in a clipped tone, cold and professional, but Danny could sense the genuine worry there.

"A sprain perhaps, but nothing you should trouble yourself with," Danny said in earnest. So long as his ghostly healing abilities were still working behind the scenes of his other powers, it would be healed by the end of the evening at the latest.

"A sprain is still serious enough to get sent to the hospital. Who're your parents?" She asked, continuing her professional tone.

"They are not in this city, but you need not worry about this truly. This is not worth-"

"Nonsense, sit down and let me at least give you a splint until you can get to a doctor," Mrs. Fenton ordered, her tone leaving no room for argument. "And you will go and see a doctor still."

"Course Missus F! We'll take him soon as we're able! Um, Right Sam!" Tucker said quickly nudging his friend, and flashing a too bright overly forced smile to the huntress.

"Yep! And we'll make sure to, erm, tell his parents too!" Sam agrees, nodding far too many times under the calculative purple irises.

Mrs. Fenton hummed and nodded before coming to Danny's leg. "You better make sure of that, I don't want another ecto-virus spreading throughout the town," she said rolling up Danny's pant leg to bandage the teen's foot. "That stupid ghost broke my portable contamination scanner so you'll have to get a check-up there for that too." Mrs. Fenton muttered.

She made sure the elastic bandage was secured with the clips before standing back up, hands on her hips and looking down her nose at the teens, looking very much the part of a disapproving mother. If I find out from his mother that you didn't take him I swear I won't hesitate to pull you two into community service again." She glared at them causing Tucker to shudder.

"Thank you for your help," Danny said quietly forcing himself to look away from his foot and into the eyes of the woman. Their eyes locked, and, for what felt like an overly long time, no one said anything.

Mrs. Fenton broke first, blinking and turning her gaze away from Danny. "It was nothing dear, just be careful and don't strain yourself. Get into see a real doctor as soon as you can and get a note for gym." She shook her head and turned away from the teens looking to be a bit in a daze herself. "Be safe, you three."

Danny watched her go blinking slowly until she turned the corner no doubt to return to her vehicle. "That was odd…" Sam said breaking the tense silence in the group.

"Yea, I know what you mean. She looked spooked when she looked you over dude, What did you do to her?" Tucker responded with a shake of his own head.

"I- I do not know, but she feels familiar…" Danny said with a sigh, running his hand through his hair before turning his gaze to the clouds overhead.

"Well she's been on a lot of magazines and book covers dude, maybe you've seen her on T.V. or something like that?" Tucker tried with a shrug. "Not to mention they are literally everywhere in town to the point I swear they've made clones of themselves."

"I-... Perhaps you are right. A book of some sort…" Danny said with a sigh. He had no idea how to say he'd never seen her before in his afterlife, because he'd never been to the human realm before, and not single himself out for being a ghost. Maybe that's why she was staring at him for so long? Did she know?

"Come on… We still gotta set up Doomed right?" Sam's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. It seemed to have the desired effect on Tucker as he suddenly snapped back to normal and soon was pulling along the other two towards his house with vigour.

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"Hey, Mads you look a little down hun, what's wrong?" Jack asked as he sat down at the table for dinner, poking the meal his wife presented the family, a semi burnt pork chop with a green mush that may have at one point been a mixed vegetable medley. Maddie was never the best cook but whenever she has something on her mind her meals take a real turn.

"This is borderline inedible mum…" Jazz pipes up from Jack's left, poking at the crispy edges of the dinner.

"Sorry you two, I just... There was a boy today… He was with that protesting goth girl, he just… He reminded me so much of-" she trailed off shaking her head and turning to poke at her own food with her fork.

"Oh, Mads…" Jack reached across the table to rub her hand.

Jazz stabbed hard into her pork chop hitting the plate with a loud clank as she glared at her parents. She never really managed to forgive her parents for what happened to her baby brother all those years ago. Maddie flinched and turned her head away. "Black hair and blue eyes…" The mother muttered softly.

"You have to stop this. It's your fault you get like this every time you see a kid around what age he should have been with black hair and blue eyes. You need to accept that he's not coming back and no amount of searching and torturing information out of ghosts will help that." Jazz spat. "He's dead. He's not a ghost! Just let him rest in peace and let this die like he did."

"Jazzy, ple-" Jack started only to get shot down with a harsh glare from her boiling daughter.

"Don't! Just… Just don't." She hissed before pushing herself away from the table and storming upstairs, leaving the parents to sit in stew in silence.

Maddie bit her lip and looked to her husband. "I know she's right but I just… I just can't let it go…" the unspoken it's our fault hung in the air like a noxious gas lingering overhead, threatening to descend upon them at any moment.

"I know, honey… He's a Fenton! And Fenton's are survivors through and through, and no lousy ghosts are gunna take him down! If anything he's gotta be the most strongest ghost by now!" Jack boomed encouragingly.

Maddie gives her husband a bittersweet smile. "I just hope that if we do find our boy's ghost we'll recognize him…"

"We will, hun! I know we will!" Jack said moving to squeeze his wife.

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