The Infinite Realms

by DarkFoxKit

Based off of the ending to My Brother's a Ghost. What if Danny wasn't able to save Andy from falling into the Void? What if the world had been changed due to the Reality Gauntlet? What if a different kind of threat arrives in Amity Park? Read on to find out. WARNING: Rated M.

7. Chapter 7: Meeting the Fentons

Darkzdragon: Back at it yet again with another update of this story.

DarkFoxKit: I know we ignored the story for… years… but we are trying to make it up by updating weekly, or at least try to.

Darkzdragon: Our aim is to get at least to a certain point in the story, the end of an arc. We haven't decided what we'll do from there yet.

DarkFoxKit: I guess it depends on you guys. If we get reviews of people enjoying the story, we'll probably continue past that arc. If not, then we'll stop there. Seems like a fair deal, why keep updating if nobody wants to read it, right? But if people are interested, then we'll give them more.

Darkzdragon: Sounds fair for the time being. Though if things change in the future, we'll have to decide then.

DarkFoxKit: For now, let's get into this big, weird, wacky world that is The Infinite Realms.

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Chapter 7: Meeting the Fentons

The moment Juliette stepped into Fenton works, she saw a huge orange thing, and a smaller teal thing right up on her. Juliette quickly recognized the colored things as Jack and Maddie Fenton respectively.

"Oh, so this is the kitsune girl you've been talking about, she's adorable, Danny!" Maddie smiled.

"I knew my son would bring home a girl one day!" Jack said proudly.

"Dad, I bring home Tucker and Sam all the time," Danny deadpanned.

"Of course, but as you told me time and time again, you guys are all just friends," Jack pointed out.

"Ugh, Dad, Juliette is not my girlfriend! She's also a friend, and I'm just going to tutor her," Danny groaned.

"H-hello…" Juliette hesitantly waved.

"Hi there, you must be Juliette Rosescale, right?" Maddie asked.

"That's correct…" Juliette nodded. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Fenton."

"Oh please, call me Maddie," Maddie insisted.

"And you may call me Jack!" Jack boisterously introduced. "Danny's told us about you~"

"Dad! Knock it off!" Danny hissed before he noticed something behind Jack's back. "Dad… what's that behind your-"

"This is the Fenton Scanner," Jack suddenly spoke up, showing the device proudly. "It'll allow us to scan any being, human, anthro, chienthrope, or ghost, and show us a quick summary of what their biology and powers may be."

"Oh, so we're on that path," Echo noted. "Oh boy, this is going to be quite fun."

Juliette, who had put her mental barriers back up, sighed inwardly. Great… better start coming up with possible answers.

"Dad! I told you, no experiments on the guest!" Danny hissed.

"Don't worry, Danny, it's just a quick scan. It's like getting an x-ray at the doctor's!" Jack reassured before he pushed a button.

"Just hold still, sweetie," Maddie suggested. "I apologize if this is making you uncomfortable, but my husband wouldn't settle down if I didn't at least let him scan you."

"It's… not going to irradiate me, is it?" Juliette asked, legitimately concerned by the fact Jack related it to an x-ray.

"Oh, no, it doesn't use any form of radiation," Jack chuckled. "You'll be completely fine."

Echo roll his eyes when he heard the word 'probably' in Jack's mind.

The Scanner started to light up, then it began to scan Juliette's body from head to toe. Juliette stood still, waiting for something to happen. The scanner then beeped a little, before showing words appearing on screen.

Jack and Maddie's faces were intrigued as they read the words, but then they started to frown.

"Here it comes…" Echo warned softly.

By the time Maddie and Jack finished reading, they both looked up at Juliette. Danny looked at his parents, likely noticing the suspicion in their eyes.

"Uh… Mom… Dad… is… everything… alright?" Danny slowly and cautiously asked.

"Danny… come here, sweetie," Maddie instructed.

Danny frowned as he furrowed his brows. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"We'll tell you when you come here," Maddie replied.

Danny cautiously approached Maddie, half expecting her to suddenly pull a gun out at him.

Juliette looked worriedly at the three Fentons. "I-is something the matter…? Why are you looking at me like that…?"

Maddie put a hand on Danny's arm, cautiously dragging him closer to her. Then Jack held up a blue and silver cube.

"Here, maybe you should take a look at this," Jack replied to Juliette before he lightly tossed it to her.

Juliette instinctively reached out to catch the cube, however, before she could catch it, the cube suddenly expanded around her. It covered and trapped her entire body except for her head.

"H-hey!" Juliette yelled out as she shook her body. "What's going on?!"

"And there it is," Echo sighed.

"Did you think you could fool us, ghost?" Jack snapped. "Tricking our son into being friends with you, then taking you home, so you could sabotage us."

"What? No! Mom! Dad! It isn't like that!" Danny quickly spoke up.

"What are you talking about?!" Juliette shouted, scared of what Jack and Maddie might do to her.

"Danny, I understand that you don't want to think badly of your friend. But the Fenton Scanner picked up traces of ghost in her, that means she's a ghost hiding herself in that form," Maddie said, still holding Danny's arm.

"Traces of…" Juliette started to repeat before she thought about it. "O-oh! I think I know what your scanner is picking up on! As I'm a kitsune, I have some spirit magic, which is often confused for ghostly powers!"

"How do we know you're not lying?" Maddie asked, suspiciously.

"I can call out to spirits," Juliette stated quickly. "I can show you if you want!"

"No way, that'll just give you a chance to summon those ghosts to attack us," Jack hissed.

"Wait!" Danny spoke up. "Mom, Dad, the scanner just picked up traces of ghost in her, right? Not a lot, just a little."

"Yeah, so?" Maddie asked.

"So that means she could be like me. You've picked up traces of ghost in me, remember? Heck, you've picked up small traces of ghost in each other before. A lot of people in Amity Park have a few traces of it due to the mass exposure to ghosts and ectoplasm, especially after the entire town got pulled into the Ghost Zone at one point," Danny explained. "So it's not that weird to say she could've had expose to a lot of ectoplasm herself."

"P-please let me go!" Juliette begged. "I swear I'm not a ghost, if you'd like I'll even swear to a god, which I don't think ghosts do."

Jack and Maddie both frowned as they looked at Juliette.

"Well… you haven't done anything ghostly…" Jack decided. "So I guess you're telling the truth."

"You haven't reacted violently either…" Maddie noted.

Jack pushed a button on the cube, and it unassembled until it returned to the smaller form it had before.

"We're terribly sorry about that, Juliette," Maddie apologized. "Ghosts often disguise themselves as people, so we always have to be cautious."

Juliette was shaking a little, out of actual fear, her fur on end. I… would've been stuck in there had Danny not helped me… I wouldn't have been able to go into the Void…

Echo frowned, noticing that Juliette was shaken by this. "You're fine, Danny wouldn't have let them done anything to you."

I don't care if I'm fine! Juliette mentally shouted, her barriers coming down automatically. It doesn't change the fact that I was helpless! I absolutely abhor feeling helpless! It… it's one of the things I commonly have nightmares of… being helpless to scientists… being helpless to Anise… being helpless to… to Void Creatures…

"Mom, Dad, maybe you two should leave us for a bit," Danny suggested. "I think Juliette needs some time to… recover."

Juliette heard Danny's words and gave a small nod to that, her fur starting to relax a little.

"Oh, alright. If you need us, we'll be in the kitchen," Maddie stated.

"Maybe you should head down to the lab," Danny recommended. "Especially if you're going to be working."

"Yeah, it might be best if we headed into the lab," Jack sighed.

Maddie and Jack both knew they screwed up with Juliette, so they were willing to give her some space. They walked towards the kitchen, heading for the stairs that would lead down to the lab.

When they were left alone, Danny looked over at Juliette. "Come on, let's go sit down in the living room."

I'm… sorry for yelling, Echo… Juliette apologize before she looked at Danny. "Yeah, okay… And… don't worry about me, I'm a little shaken… but I'll feel better soon enough."

Echo sighed as well, but hadn't said anything to Juliette.

Danny lead Juliette to the couch, letting her sit down before he sat down beside her. "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't know you had some ectoplasm or ghostly traits in you. If I had known that, I would've told my parents before bringing you over."

"It's… from what I said before to you," Juliette informed. "The fact I can consume energy from Wisps. I've consumed from enough to have some permanent traces of ghostly matter inside of me."

"I guess I should've thought of that, but I kind of forgot that little detail," Danny groaned. "That was stupid of me. Mom and Dad's hatred of ghosts is really starting to get out of hand… Um… Juliette, if you want to go home and find another tutor, I'd totally understand."

Juliette shook her head. "No, I'm already here. I can forgive your parents'... actions this time. Let's just hope they don't confuse me for a ghost in the future…" If they do… I might not be so friendly…

"I'm glad they didn't scare you away," Danny chuckled lightly. "Jazz is going to be sure to scold them for this later though. But maybe you should relax a little before I let you meet her. I promise she won't jump you like my parents did. Heck, my parents once thought Jazz was a ghost and jumped on her multiple times."

Juliette gave a nod. "Perhaps I can… go get a drink of water?"

"Oh, sure. You sit there, I'll get you a cup of water," Danny replied before he got up. "You can turn on the TV if you want. I could get some extra pillows too."

"Umm… actually would you mind if I went to grab it?" Juliette requested. "I usually start feeling better when I move around."

"Are you sure you want to? The kitchen is just over the lab," Danny informed. "Mom and Dad sometimes come out to grab a quick snack or drink."

"I'm sure," Juliette answered. "I don't like sitting still when I feel on edge… it makes the problem much much worse."

"Alright, just shout if you need something," Danny said. "The cups are in the first cabinet to the right of the fridge."

Juliette nodded before she headed to the kitchen. She found the cups in the cabinet Danny told her. She went over to the sink and turned it onto cold, waiting a few moments before beginning to fill her cup. While she was there, Juliette let down her mental barriers. Echo, go find the Mortifier. I need to know where it is to destroy it.

Juliette finished filling her cup and started to drink from it. Echo slowly came into the kitchen, looking hesitant. He stood a bit of a distance from her as she finished drinking her water.

"The… Mortifier is in the lab," Echo finally said.

So I'll need to get Maddie and Jack out of the lab to destroy it… or somehow destroy it from up here. Juliette planned. Echo, what's the fastest, least suspicious way to get Maddie and Jack out of the lab with them leaving the device behind? I also need to do it in a way that doesn't make Danny suspicious.

"There are a few ways you can do that," Echo stated. "One way is to scream out there's a ghost outside. That should get them to leave long enough for you to get to the device. Another way is to wait until they get hungry enough to leave the lab to eat. You could also ask them to show you the Mortifier, though that one's less likely to happen."

All three of those sound… honestly stupid. Juliette remarked. If I wait for them to eat, I'll still need to sneak past them to get to the lab, unless you're saying they're going to leave the house to go grab some food. If I scream for a ghost, most likely Danny will call bullshit and sense something is off. And it would be absolutely strange for me to go from just having feared them to wanting to know what their latest project is.

Juliette turned to look at Echo taking a sip of her water. Why are you standing so far away?

Echo shrugged, before frowning to himself. "You don't really need me, I'm sure. You're not helpless, you can figure it out on your own."

Juliette stopped sipping her water. I'm sorry… excuse me?

"Why are you even asking me these things? I'm useless, I can't do anything to help you," Echo said.

You aren't useless, Echo. Juliette mentally responded. Where did you get that idea from?

"Of course I'm useless, I always have been, always will be," Echo muttered. "But you aren't. You aren't helpless, even if you think you are."

You aren't useless, Echo, in fact since we've met, you've helped me quite a bit. Juliette pointedly informed. You saved me from the Void Creatures on my first night, you showed me around, you help me get a job, you helped me get out a suit I was trapped in, and you're currently helping me to help you and Danny.

"Stop trying to comfort me," Echo spoke up. "I'm trying to comfort you."

Juliette stared at Echo for a few seconds before she snickered. Then you're doing an awful job at it…

"I do not need you to criticize my poor social skills. I observe, not socialize, and the fact that I can't read your mind and feelings make it difficult to know how to comfort you exactly. People have different ways of being comforted," Echo ranted.

Look, I appreciate the effort, but I'd rather not have you trying to comfort me by taking a jab at yourself. Juliette responded. I… just need a few moments to regather my thoughts to calm down. I don't need you telling me that you're useless, because you definitely aren't and it won't make me feel better. And… I know I'm not helpless, but when someone is scared, logic and sense goes out the window.

"Yes, I know you were experiencing fear back there. I just… never really saw you get scared before," Echo sighed. "At least not to the point where you would snap if I said anything. I'm… just not used to getting snapped at."

I'm sorry I snapped at you, Echo. Juliette mentally apologized. I… don't usually get scared because I… honestly am a bit of a coward. I try my hardest not to end up in situations like the one I was in there. It probably doesn't help that Anise likes to try and make me helpless and it honestly terrifies me to think what she is capable of or just how far she might go. Being a coward is the reason I learned Void Barrier so quickly… I wanted to be able to put a wall up between me and Void Creatures and run away. It's… also why I like to try and act in control.

Echo looked at Juliette. "I don't think you're a coward. It's natural to be scared of those things, especially when they can't be in your control. I just… it's still unusual for me to deal with the emotional roller coaster of a living, so that's why it just came as a surprise for me."

Juliette let out a sigh before she took another sip of water. So… any other possible options besides those three you previously gave me?

"There isn't much you can do," Echo said. "But instead of relying on future visions, we should try to figure this out ourselves. Future visions don't always happen unless we can think of another way."

There any kind of alarm or something I can press upstairs if I excuse myself to the bathroom? Juliette asked. Something that would get them out of the lab and perhaps even put Danny on defense?

"Hmm… if I remember right, they do have an alarm in the Ops Center… no, I doubt you're allowed up there… ah, there is a button in the hallway between Danny and Jazz's room. It was installed there in case one of the children gets attacked. You can press it and it'll trigger an alarm all over the house. Jack and Maddie will come running up to check on the kids, while Danny will be looking for whatever triggered the alarm," Echo informed.

But that would lead them to me… Juliette noted.

"You can hide while they rush up there. There are closet doors you can use to hide while they run to check on Danny and Jazz, then you can take that time to quickly make a beeline for the lab," Echo replied. "They may even go the check the Ops Center as that is where the control panel for the button is."

Yeah, but what about Danny? Juliette pointedly questioned in response.

"He'll be searching the house, but he'll only do that after his parents check on him, you should be able to get to the lab before then," Echo answered.

Except… he's currently on the couch. Juliette reminded. Should I suggest we go up to his room to study?

"I was just about to tell you to do that. Danny will likely do it since you did just get attacked by his parents, so his room would feel safer for you," Echo stated. "Ask about his sister to make sure she's in her room too. You wouldn't want to run out there, push the button, only to see she was just across the hallway or coming up the stairs."

Perhaps while I get Danny upstairs, you can check to see if Jazz is in her room. Juliette recommended as she filled her glass back up with water. "Sorry I'm taking so long, Danny, just a bit thirsty!"

"It's fine!" Danny called back. "Take your time!"

"I can see that this path has a 78% chance of success," Echo remarked. "It has a 29% chance of being caught. And a 3% chance that you either couldn't get to the Mortifier, or you fell into another dimension. Don't ask me how that might happen."

Those odds are good enough. Juliette chuckled before she started walking back to Danny with the cup in her hand. Let's put this plan into action.

Juliette noticed that there were extra pillows on the couch.

"Oh, hey, I just thought you might want some more pillows, so I decided to get some," Danny responded when he saw Juliette.

"Actually… I was thinking," Juliette began. "Could we possibly… study in your room?"

"My room?" Danny repeated in a questioning tone.

"Yeah…" Juliette nodded. "I think I'd feel safer if I was just a little farther from your parents. Perhaps behind an extra door…"

"Oh… alright then." Danny nodded in understanding. "Again, sorry about them. They're the type of people you have to get used to."

"It's fine," Juliette assured. "I've forgiven them. I'm just a bit shaken up still…"

"I'm glad then. Alright, I'll take you to my room. There's more than enough space there for us to work anyways," Danny chuckled as he stood up, picking up his backpack.

Juliette nodded, picked up her book bag with her free hand, and looked to Danny. "Ready to go. I hope you don't mind if I bring this cup of water upstairs, I'm still really thirsty… Is that a side effect of whatever your parents trapped me in?"

"I doubt it, but it's fine if you bring the cup of water with you. Just try not to spill it on anything," Danny answered.

"Maybe I should leave it down here for now then…" Juliette said before she put the cup of water on a coaster on the coffee table near the couch. In a place I can easily get to it.

"Okay, but don't forget about it, otherwise it'll go stale," Danny remarked.

Juliette chuckled. "It's just water, it'll take a while for it to go stale."

Danny lead Juliette up the stairs, leading into a hallway with a few doors. Danny lead Juliette to a door with a few stars on it with the sign that said 'Danny's Bedroom'. The sign looked like it had a pretty big empty space on it, like someone cut out a chunk of a word on it.

That spot is probably where your name was, Echo. Juliette observed.

"I don't buy it, and enough with the theories of me being Danny's brother!" Echo grumbled.

Juliette chuckled a little at that. Juliette then noticed Danny staring at her. "Oh uh… sorry, I was just laughing a little that you have that whiteboard on your door and your name takes up so little space on it. It looks like you're saving room for someone else to put their name."

Danny blinked before he looked at the whiteboard, and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure why. I probably could've fixed it or used another sign, but I just felt too lazy to."

"I think it's kinda interesting," Juliette commented. You gonna just stand there, Echo? Or you gonna go check on Jazz?

"Fine, I'm going," Echo responded with a small huff before he walked to Jazz's bedroom door.

Danny opened his door. "Welcome to my bedroom."

Juliette had first seen the room in darkness before, so it was refreshing to see what was actually in the room. There was a bed to one side of the room, a bookshelf, though not at big as Jazz's, a lot of posters and pictures of astronauts, rockets, and cartoon shows about space. There was even a diploma of Danny being a junior astronaut in school. Danny also had a poster of a rocket called Hartman.

Besides the posters, there was also a small TV with a few video game consoles attached to it. A couple of desks, but only one had stuff on it, like books, a computer, and a handheld game system. There was also a basketball hoop at the top of the door.

But there was almost a pretty big portion of the room that was a bit empty.

"Huh… what's that over there…?" Juliette asked, noticing something pink.

"Hmm?" Danny looked back at Juliette as he was setting out books on his desk.

"That pink thing peeking out from beneath your bed," Juliette clarified as Danny walked over to pull the pink thing out.

"Huh… how did Hope get under there?" Danny frowned as he took the half white and half pink teddy bear from Juliette.

"Hope?" Juliette questioned. "That's an adorable name for her."

"That was the name the girl gave her when she gave Hope to me," Danny informed as he took Hope over to his desk, and pulled out a small yellow brush, he started to brush Hope. "The girl cherished this teddy bear, but when I sa- I mean, helped her out of a very dangerous situation, she decided to give it to me as thanks. I told her she didn't need to, but she insisted, with the puppy dog eyes I might add. So I took it upon myself to take care of Hope."

Juliette smiled at that. "That's so cute~ The story and the fact you take care of her."

Danny blushed a little. "Just don't tell my sister, she'd never let me live it down."

"I promise to keep your secret." Juliette giggled. "You can definitely trust me." Perhaps this will lead to Danny revealing his secret to me later on. "Let's get started with the tutoring. I'm sure you have some things you want to do tonight and I shouldn't stay out too late." If I do this right, perhaps I can do the 'tutoring', then when I'm about to leave, set off the alarm, hide to get downstairs, and then soak the Mortifier with the glass of water I left on the coffee table downstairs. After I soak the device, probably by dunking it in the water, I should get out of the house… Perhaps through being in the Void.

"Yeah, okay. We can probably sit at the empty desk, so there'll be more room to work with," Danny suggested.

Echo was looking at the teddy bear as Danny finished brushing the dust off her fur. Echo gave a small sad smile at Hope. It was then Juliette realized Echo must've came into the room at some point while she was planning on what to do.

I'd like to know Hope's story later, if you're willing to tell me. With how you're looking at her, I can tell she has a bit of a story. Juliette said to Echo, her mental barriers still lowered.

"Yeah…" Echo sighed. "I'm glad, though, that she's happy with Danny at least. By the way, Jazz is in her room, reading. So everyone's in place."

Danny took out his science book from his backpack and placed it on the empty desk. "Okay, Juliette, so what do you need help with?"

Juliette spent most of the next couple hours explaining to Danny what she needed help with, and how he could help her. Danny was patient with her, and seemed to enjoy teaching her something he knew. There had, thankfully, been no ghost attacks so far, allowing Danny to relax.

"I should probably get going," Juliette commented, looking up at the clock. "It's getting late and I don't want Mom getting concerned."

"Oh, wow, I didn't realize how much time had passed," Danny chuckled. "No wonder Jazz found tutoring to be fun. Oh, speaking of Jazz, you haven't met her yet. I should introduce you before you leave."

"Actually… if you don't mind, I'd like to use your bathroom before I get going…" Juliette said with a sheepish smile. "All that water I had is finally catching up with me. As for your sister, perhaps I can meet her next time? It's already late and I need to get home before Mom decides to mess with my dinner."

Danny frowned a little before sighing. "Right… okay. Jazz is going to be mad that she missed out on meeting you, but… she goes to the same school as us, so maybe you can meet her there tomorrow."

Juliette nodded excitedly. "And if I don't meet her tomorrow, I can come over on Saturday to do more tutoring. I have work tomorrow through Friday after school."

"Sounds great. Hopefully you won't be so shaken up around my parents by then, and meet them properly," Danny stated.

"Maybe," Juliette chuckled. "Though I might carry a taser with me just in case~"

"I have a personal bathroom in my room, but if you prefer a different one, there's one downstairs, attached to the living room," Danny informed.

"I'll probably go use that one then," Juliette replied as she packed her stuff up. "See you tomorrow at school, Danny. And thanks for the help studying and earlier with your parents."

Danny nodded. "Of course, any time you need help, just ask."

Echo gave a small smile at that. "Danny loves helping people, especially those he considers his friends."

Juliette smiled and waved a little before she left Danny's room, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door was closed, Juliette heard Danny talking softly to Hope about how naughty she was for crawling under the bed.

Okay… note to self, everyone in the family is a little crazy… Juliette chuckled.

"Excuse me, who's the crazy one?" Echo raised an eyebrow.

A good number of people in this town. Juliette answered as she glanced around, spotting the closets she could hide in. Where's that button at, Echo?

"It's hidden in this wall, to get it to open, you'll have to tap the wall twice," Echo answered, pointing to a specific spot on the wall. "Right here specifically."

Juliette nodded and tapped twice on the spot Echo was pointing at. The wall slide open, showing a red button underneath with the words 'in case of emergency, push this button'.

Will the button automatically rehide itself after I press it? Or do I have to tap the wall again? Juliette questioned. I don't want them to see it was this button that activated the alarm.

"You'll have to tap it again, twice," Echo replied. "Be sure to be quick, but don't knock against the wall, that's different from a tap. Once you push that button, you'll have about 10 seconds to hide before the parents will rush up here to check on the kids."

Juliette gave a nod, opening the nearest closet before she went back over to the button. Juliette took a deep breath and let it out before she pressed the button, this caused the alarms to start blaring out loudly, forcing Juliette to press her ears against her head. Juliette then tapped on the same spot on the wall twice more. As the button hid itself again, Juliette ducked into the closet she had opened previously and closed it behind her, making sure no part of her was obvious as she continued to hold her hands against her ears.

Echo stayed outside to keep an eye on things, though the alarms were loud, he didn't need to cover his ears. Maddie and Jack rushed up the stairs, their hands holding onto large guns, ready to shoot at any ghost or intruder that dared to set off the alarm.

"Jack! You check on Jazz!" Maddie instructed loudly over the alarms.

"On it!" Jack yelled out.

Maddie rushed into Danny's room, while Jack hurried into Jazz's.

"Okay, Juliette, now's your chance!" Echo called through the alarms.

Juliette gave a small nod, quickly leaving the closet, closing it behind her, before she ran as fast as she could towards the stairs. As she got into the living room, she grabbed the glass of water from the coffee table, putting her hand over the top to make sure water didn't spill out, and ran to the lab door, which was wide open in the kitchen. Juliette hopped down the stairs two at a time before she reached the lab.

"Which one is the Mortifier?!" Juliette shouted over the blaring alarms.

Echo quickly looked around the lab, trying to find it. "It's… it's… uuugh, where did they put it!?"

Echo looked at all the counters and tables, he started to look through the boxes, sticking his head through each one.

"Echo, it's their most recent invention, it should be somewhere in the open where they can actively work on it!" Juliette reasoned.

"If they want to be secretive about it, they'll likely hide it!" Echo frowned. "Come on, come on…"

Echo stopped as he noticed a metallic box near the Ghost Portal. He rushed over to the box and looked inside. "It's here! Juliette, it's in this box!"

Juliette ran over to Echo, her hand still on top of the glass. "How can I get to it if it's in the box?!"

"Put the glass of water down, and open the box, it's not locked," Echo quickly said.

"O-oh…" Juliette blushed as she put down the glass of water on a nearby table before she opened the box. Juliette then grabbed the Mortifier and moved it to over the glass. "Clear!" Juliette then dropped the device into the water.

The device began to spark, then it smoked, causing a bit of noise in the process.

"Come on, die already you damn device!" Juliette growled.

The device sparked some more before the glass blew up, the water turning to steam. When the steam cleared, there were a few device pieces where the glass had been before.

"That works…" Juliette thought before she carefully poked the pieces.

The alarm suddenly went off, it became deathly quiet. Then they heard footsteps running down from the second floor.

"That's your cue to get the heck out of here!" Echo quickly warned.

Juliette grabbed the pieces which weren't sparking and put it back into the box before closing it. She then quickly reached into herself, slowing down her heart rate as she grabbed at the static heart inside of her. As she held onto that static heart, Juliette stepped forward, entering into the Void.

Juliette had stepped into the Void not a moment too soon, because as soon as she did, the door was flung open. Jack and Maddie came rushing downstairs.

"Holy shit that was a close one…" Juliette remarked before she glanced around. "Oh good… no cameras. I was worried for a second that I had been spotted and recorded and that my ass would be grass."

"Yeah…" Echo hesitated. "Good thing…"

Juliette turned around slowly to look at Echo. "Are there… cameras, Echo?"

"I'm not entirely sure. There aren't any cameras down here in the lab, but Vlad once bugged the lab with his little bug cameras before. I just hope he didn't do it again, or at least not on this day," Echo answered.

"Perhaps later you should go check…" Juliette recommended.

"Yeah," Echo agreed, before seeing Maddie and Jack frowning.

"What caused that alarm? There weren't any ghosts or intruders in the house…" Maddie frowned.

"Maybe it was a short in the alarm system?" Jack shrugged. "Or… perhaps it was that kitsune girl… she had just left according to Danny, so it was possible that the alarm went off because of her."

"Why would the alarm go off because of her?" Maddie questioned.

"Maybe because she's a ghost!" Jack replied.

"Jack, if that was true, the alarm would've gone off as soon as she stepped into the house," Maddie pointed out.

"Perhaps she's a ghost that can hide that she's a ghost!" Jack theorized. "Perhaps it only went off after she left because she felt it was no longer necessary to hide herself!"

Echo frowned as he looked at Maddie. "Depending on what Maddie says here, this could lead to some complications in the future for you with them…"

Maddie was thinking about what Jack was saying. Juliette gave a nervous look, she didn't want her relationship with the Fentons to be more complicated due to the parents gunning for her because they believed she was a ghost.

"If it helps, Danny's had to put up with this for the past 3 years. He might be able to help you with them if it gets out of hand…" Echo said quietly, noticing the nervousness on Juliette's face.

Finally, Maddie gave her answer. "I think we should wait and watch first, Jack. We already made a bad first impression by accusing her of being a ghost, in front of Danny. Let's just see what happens before we go accusing Danny's girlfriend of being a ghost again."

Echo gave a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm not his girlfriend…" Juliette growled. "I'm a friend who's a girl, but not a girlfriend."

"They're parents, they like to do that any time their child brings home someone who's the opposite gender of them," Echo chuckled.

"Yet parents don't do the same with bringing home the same gender," Juliette commented. "No 'oh that must be my son's new boyfriend' or 'that must be my sweet little angel's girlfriend'."

Echo raised an eyebrow. "I know that same gender romance is a thing, but it doesn't happen often among school children, hence why they only tease the opposite genders."

"It actually happens more than you believe," Juliette remarked. "Americans are just so fucking uptight that they teach their kids that its not okay to be gay."

"Do you… have some issues or something?" Echo asked.

"Let's just say that when I was passing through India, I nearly tore out some bastard's throat because his daughter wanted to get married to someone she really loved, but that person was female and the father nearly had the daughter's lover killed," Juliette explained.

Echo sighed. "I see… well, I don't think there's much we can do about that. I mean gay marriage is already legal in America, so… progress, I guess. I don't care much for things like that though, I don't think I really can, being where and what I am."

Juliette took a deep breath and let it out. "I guess that's a future concern. For now I want to see if they notice the broken device as I'd like to know how they react."

The two of them watched Maddie and Jack. Jack was still thinking Juliette could be a ghost, but decided to listen to Maddie and wait and watch for now. They both didn't want to cause more trouble for someone who may not be a ghost again.

The two of them had ended the conversation and went back to working on some new ghost weapons. Echo and Juliette watched and waited. Juliette was getting a little anxious, but Echo seemed calm and patient. Echo had been doing just this very thing for 2 years, so of course he would learn how to be patient.

"Juliette, I have to wonder… can you hear thoughts and sense feelings from others while you're in the Void?" Echo brought up curiously. "You sometimes ask me stuff like how others are feeling or thinking, so I just wonder if you could hear them."

"No, I can't," Juliette answered before she looked at Echo. "You know, while we're waiting, I'm going to do something that I've never done before."

"Uh-oh, here comes the crazy. What are you going to do?" Echo questioned.

"I'm going to put my mental barriers back up," Juliette informed. "But, I'm going to do it where you can still hear my thoughts if I want you to hear my thoughts. Normally I try to block all thoughts from getting out and so far I've been having to manually raise and lower my defenses, but I think I can trust you enough to leave a gap in a wall just for you."

"You can do that?" Echo blinked.

Juliette sighed and closed her eyes, imagining her mental barriers going back up. After they were back up, Juliette imagined there being a small hole in one of the walls that was always facing Echo. She then added a small little flap above the hole that she could open or close with a thought.

You tell me. Is it working? Juliette mentally asked, hoping what she did worked.

"Uh… yeah, I think so. Nothing's changed for me, so I assume that me hearing you just now confirmed it," Echo responded.

"Yup." Juliette smiled. "Now I don't have to keep lowering and raising my defenses."

"Of course, this means now I can hear your thoughts unless you bring all your defenses back up," Echo pointed out.

"Actually, I shaped the hole with a little flap over it that I can open and close just by thinking about if I want to direct my thoughts at you," Juliette informed.

"Huh… you know, I've got a lot to learn. How to block my own thoughts and the thoughts of others, how to make a Void Barrier, and whatever else you could do while in the Void," Echo noted. "But you'd need a lot of time to train me, so it might only work on during the weekend and your days off from work."

Juliette gave a nod. "It might take a while, but I'm definitely willing to teach you, Echo."

"Thanks, those will definitely help me for when I have to face Void Creatures again." Echo grinned.

The two of them noticed Jack getting close to the Ghost Portal, where the box with the now broken Fenton Mortifier inside was.

"Jack, could you bring the Fenton Mortifier over here? I want to check out the bugs in it. I want to make sure it's ready for the school assembly next Wednesday," Maddie requested.

"Yeah sure, I'm sure we worked out all the bug...s…" Jack trailed off as he opened the box. "Dang… I was so sure I had worked out this problem already…"

"What happened, Jack?" Maddie questioned.

"Looks like the Fenton Mortifier blew up…" Jack sighed. "Again…"

"It blew up?" Maddie repeated, frowning. "I thought we worked that out already…"

"As did I," Jack replied. "At least you were smart enough to suggest we store it in the blast box. If we hadn't done that, the whole lab would be a smoldering ruin now."

"Just how much power did that thing have inside of it?!" Juliette asked in concern. "I mean, it apparently had enough energy to blow up the lab… meaning it easily could've turned me into red paste…"

"If there was a chance of it turning you into paste, I would've warned you," Echo assured. "With the amount of water you dropped it in, it wouldn't be enough to cause it to explode."

"Oh… that's a bit of a relief then…" Juliette smiled. "I guess we can go now?"

"Just… one second more," Echo requested as he looked at Maddie and Jack.

"Should we try rebuilding it again?" Jack inquired.

"Even if we rebuild it now, we wouldn't have it ready in time for next week's assembly," Maddie answered. "So for now, let's put the Fenton Mortifier on the back burner and work out a different plan for what we can show off besides the Fenton Ghost Shield, the Fenton Stun Stick, the Fenton Personal Ectopistol, and the Fenton Antighost Raygun Taser."

"We could always postpone the assembly," Jack suggested. "The Fenton Mortifier was going to be the crown jewel of our inventions in the assembly. It just doesn't feel right to go on without it."

"We can't postpone the assembly, Jack," Maddie replied. "If we postpone it, the school might get attacked and they would be defenseless. We need to have it next Wednesday so we can also install a Ghost Shield into the school and train the teachers on how to use the weapons. Besides, we've already made a commitment for Wednesday and I doubt Principal Ishiyama will be willing to let us reschedule. We had to practically beg her to let us do this assembly in the first place."

Jack gave a sigh. "Alright, alright, we'll figure something out. But that doesn't mean I'm ready to throw the Fenton Mortifier into the pile of discarded ideas."

Maddie chuckled at that. "Remember the Fenton Leaf Blower? It made the leaves come to life…"

"That was quite the autumn season for us that year," Jack laughed.

Echo looked over at Juliette. "I think we can leave now."

Juliette gave a nod. "Let's head home then. Though, if you'd like, you can stay here with Danny and I'll head back to the opera house on my own."

"You sure you don't want me to stay with you again?" Echo asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Juliette answered, making sure the flap on the hole to Echo was closed. I'd like to have a chance to talk to Anise alone. I'm sure she's waiting at the opera house for me right now.

"Alright. I'll stay with Danny tonight. As nice as your opera house is, I feel more comfortable in Danny's room," Echo replied.

"You mean your room~" Juliette smirked as she headed to the stairs and began to walk up to the ground floor.

"THAT ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Juliette heard Echo shouting behind her.

Heh, it's so easy to mess with him sometimes… Juliette chuckled to herself as she walked out of Fenton Works and headed to the opera house.

---

When Juliette made it to the opera house, she already felt a furry hand grabbing her arm and yanked her out of the Void.

"Ugh…" Juliette gagged as she felt that same nauseous feeling as she had the first time. "At least let me brace myself next time…"

"You know I like surprising you~" Anise smirked. "Also, welcome home, sweetie. How was your tutoring session with your fellow non-kink-believer boyfriend?~"

"He's not my boyfriend and I am not your sweetie…" Juliette grumbled. "And my tutoring session went fine… Now, before you put me in whatever situation you have in your demented little mind, I have some questions."

"You insult me then tell me you have questions, what an interesting way to ask for someone's help," Anise remarked.

"Last time I asked for your help you put me in a diaper," Juliette countered. "Now, my two questions are this. One, will you take off this collar? And two, how do you think I should go about testing Echo's real name… because I may have figured it out."

Anise raised an eyebrow. "Well, first of all, no. That collar is staying."

"For how long…?" Juliette quickly asked.

"Hmmm… until you get a real owner~" Anise answered.

"I'm not getting an owner, Anise, and I'd rather not be captured by some freak," Juliette responded. "Hence why I want the collar to come off."

"Too bad, it's stuck on you unless you have another way for me to get it off you." Anise shrugged. "Now, on to your next question. You say you may have figured out our Void Boy's name? How so?"

"I met someone who I think was supposed to be his clone and she knew her name," Juliette explained. "You see, Danny has a clone named Danielle who was made by Vlad Masters. Apparently Echo was also supposed to have a clone as well, and her name is Andrea. So, by going off of what clues I had as well as Andrea's name, I figured out two possibilities, which are technically the same name but in different forms."

"If you think you've figured it out, why not say the name to Echo?" Anise questioned.

"Because I don't want to overwhelm him," Juliette replied. "Remember what Clockwork said? If I overwhelm Echo, he could die from the shock. I want to test out the name before I even consider using it around Echo. Perhaps… I could try it with you first? But I would only do it if you make a pact to not repeat it to anyone or anything, including yourself."

"I'm not sure if I'm the best test subject," Anise spoke up. "Something will only happen if you speak the boy's true name to someone who once knew him. I certainly didn't."

"Hmmm… I guess you'd be right… but perhaps I should start with someone who vaguely knew about him or only met him once or twice…" Juliette pondered aloud. "Maybe Paulina? Or Dash? Actually… no, not Dash. If Dash bullied Danny there is a chance he did it with Echo as well, so he would have move interaction with him. Dash can be number 2 or 3. Maybe… Star…"

"How about you make a list then decide on who to try it on," Anise suggested.

"Because if I make a list there is a chance Echo can find it and then he might be able to look into the future and hear his own name which would overwhelm him," Juliette pointed out. "Yeah, I already thought of making a list and ended up with that conclusion, especially as I now know how his future visions work better."

Anise gave it some thought. "Then maybe you can try a teacher, like Mr. Lancer or Mrs. Heart. They likely knew Andy, but not enough to cause anything major to happen."

"I'll try Mrs. Heart and her daughter," Juliette replied. "Mr. Lancer… could also be a good choice. But I kinda want to mention the name around Paulina and Star first. I get the feeling they would've had the very least interactions with Echo but may have still known about him. Valerie is definitely off the table as she seems to be pretty close to Danny meaning she could've also been close to Echo. And I most definitely will not be mentioning it to Vlad Masters at any point."

"Well, it looks like you've already got this figured out," Anise shrugged before she smiled. "Meaning we can get to the fun~"

Juliette took a deep breath and sighed. "Can I at least put down my book bag first?"

"Fine, but don't take too long," Anise replied.

"Thank you," Juliette gratefully said as she headed up to her room. When she reached her bed, she got a little bit of a headache, causing her to reach up and hold her temples.

"Something wrong, Juliette?" Anise questioned.

"Just a little… headache," Juliette answered as she strangely began to remember her weird dream from the other night. "And strangely I'm remembering a weird dream I had last night or the night before… honestly it was truly weird and vivid. A weird black-green dragon with what looked like fairy or some other kind of wings calling me… Artemis or something…"

Anise's eyes widened a bit before she frowned. "You saw that… in a dream?"

"Yeah," Juliette confirmed, still rubbing her head with one head as she put her bag down with the other. "It started off with me in a weird liquid then proceeded to the liquid being drained and the dragon talking to me, calling me Artemis, then something was lowered onto my head and… the dream went fuzzy there."

Anise's frown deepened. She began to mumble something, so softly that Juliette could only pick up bits and pieces of her words. "... Hundreds of… ago… remembering… now…?"

"What was that?" Juliette raised a brow as she sat down on her bed.

Anise shook her head. "Nothing you should worry about right now. But if you do have a dream like that again, or you see anyone from your dream, let me know."

"You know… that dragon did look… kinda like the shape of that shadow dragon I ran from a while ago," Juliette informed. "The one I told you about… what… 6 years ago?"

"How… interesting. But like I said, you should tell me if you have another dream like that again," Anise stated.

"Is it a dream that I shouldn't be having?" Juliette asked, noting Anise's slightly worried tone.

"In a sense…" Anise slowly said, trying to figure out what to say to Juliette.

"Is… it some kind of deadly Void sickness?" Juliette questioned softly, wondering how bad it was as Anise wasn't answering her outright.

"No, you can't get sick in the Void or be sick from it," Anise assured. "But this dream… you know how Echo can see into the future, right?"

"Yeah…?" Juliette answered questioningly.

"Well, unlike Echo, you're seeing the past… through… another perspective," Anise informed.

"So… I have some kind of past vision…?" Juliette surmised. "That seems… completely useless. Well… maybe not completely useless, but pretty useless."

"It's just something that you have, like how Echo has Clockwork's future visions," Anise shrugged. "It might be useful for information on that dragon though."

"Is that dragon important?" Juliette inquired.

"Considering that dragon chased you before, they might be," Anise answered. "Just keep an eye for it in your dreams."

Juliette gave a thoughtful expression before she nodded. "I will keep you informed in exchange for you setting an actual timer on how long I have to wear this collar and for every dream I have and tell you about, you have to remove time from the timer."

"Juliette… it might not be a good thing to have those kinds of dreams often," Anise commented in concern.

Juliette pouted. "Fine… then I'll tell you if it happens, but I still want a timer on this damned collar…"

Anise chuckled. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better and keep me posted on the dreams, I'm willing to do that."

"That doesn't mean strapping a timer to it or making it have a timer," Juliette quickly clarified. "I simply meant a time limit for how long this collar will stay on, not a physical timer. And it can't be excessive either, no decade long collar."

"Awww, you're no fun," Anise pouted.

"Do we have a deal?" Juliette asked, holding out her hand, which was no longer holding her temple.

"Fine," Anise sighed as she shook Juliette's hand. "We have a deal."

"How long is the timer then?" Juliette questioned as she continued shaking Anise's hand.

"Would a full year be too much for you?" Anise asked.

"I was thinking more around 6 months at most," Juliette replied.

"Okay, 6 months, on the condition that you don't get an owner by then." Anise smiled.

Juliette sighed. "I… guess that works."

"Good~" Anise smirked. "Now, it's time for your dinner, doggy~"

As soon as Anise finished saying that, Juliette found herself in a restrictive leather bondage outfit on her knees and elbows standing over a bowl that was filled with the kibble Hannah had given her.

"Really…?" Juliette groaned.

"Yup! My little girl has to stay fed after all~" Anise grinned. "If you don't want to feed yourself, I'll have to do it for you~"

"I'm trying to feed myself! That's why I got the job in the first place!" Juliette shouted. "I don't want to eat this kibble! It makes me feel… feral."

"Well, here's how this is going to work," Anise stated. "You eat that bowl of kibble now and a bowl in the morning otherwise you're going to school in that outfit and you'll be my class pet for the day."

Juliette growled a little. "So if I eat this bowl and the bowl in the morning, you will take me out of this bitchsuit and let me wear regular clothes?"

"Yes, only if you eat all of it too," Anise replied.

"Fine…" Juliette surrendered, beginning to lower her head towards the bowl, her gag automatically vanishing as she did so. "But no adding more food to the bowl as I'm eating!"

Anise smiled as Juliette began to eat from the bowl, and decided to pet her head. "Good little Juliette~ You'll be both a perfect daughter and a perfect pet~"

"Don't tempt me to bite the hand that feeds me," Juliette softly growled as she ate the kibble.

"Perhaps I should add a little something extra for another time~" Anise commented.

"What 'extra' are you talking about…?" Juliette hesitantly inquired.

"You'll find out if you still refuse to log into KinkQuest tomorrow night~" Anise smirked. "Though… I have a feeling that will solve itself~"

"Are you sure you're a goddess and not some kind of succubus?" Juliette asked.

"How rude, maybe I SHOULD punish you for that," Anise pouted. "You should watch what you say and think, Juliette, cause I can still punish you."

"Yeah, yeah… you'd probably just punish me anyways because you felt like it…" Juliette retorted.

Anise gave a cat-like smirk. "But now I have a reason to~"

"Fine, Mistress Anise, I'll be the perfect pet for you!" Juliette responded with a small snarl, seething venom at the words 'Mistress Anise'.

"Heh, looks like the kibble does make you more feral~" Anise giggled. "Good to know~ I wonder if the dog equivalent of catnip works on you as well?"

"Don't… try…" Juliette muttered, having to try really hard not to threaten Anise.

"Oh? And how would you stop me if I wanted to, hmmm?" Anise asked.

"I'd drop out of school," Juliette replied. "I mean I technically have no reason to continue going there now that I know Echo's possible name."

"Then you'll also have more time for me to personally play with you~" Anise pointed out.

"Except you'll be busy teaching school," Juliette responded.

"I'm a goddess, Juliette, do you really think that I couldn't be at school and play with you at the same time?~" Anise said.

Juliette let out a small whine at that. "Can you actually do that…?"

"Would you like to find out?" Anise questioned.

"No…" Juliette replied as she finished eating the kibble, the gag reappearing in her mouth. Juliette didn't notice, but her two tails and ears lowered submissively when she said 'no'.

"Good, Juliette~" Anise grinned. "Now, you better get some sleep. It's already late, and you don't want to be too tired for another day at school, do you?"

Juliette raised her head and looked around, seeing her bed was across the room from her. "Really…? Do I have to walk all the way there?"

"Yup, unless you rather sleep on the floor," Anise remarked.

Juliette let out another whine before she began to slowly move towards the bed.

"Thankfully this isn't your first time walking in a bitchsuit~" Anise smiled. "I can see you learned pretty well how to walk from the last time. Perhaps a few more sessions and you'll be able to walk perfectly on both your regular legs and on your knees and elbows~"

Juliette didn't respond to that, instead she focused her mind on getting back to her bed.

After what felt like a long, grueling struggle, Juliette finally reached her bed. She struggled a bit to climb onto it, but when she finally got on the bed, she felt so relaxed that she didn't want to move anymore.

At least… this is leather and not latex… Juliette mentally yawned. Had it been latex… or rubber… I would be having a sleepless night…

Juliette felt the blankets coming onto her.

"Goodnight my adorable little pet~" Anise grinned. "I'll be back for you in the morning… after I finish grading your classmates' essays~"

Juliette was already drifting off, so she didn't hear any of Anise's words.

---

Echo was laying on the floor beside Danny's bed. Danny actually had to go catch a ghost that was causing havoc, it was a feral animal ghost. Those could be vicious, but nothing Danny couldn't handle. Danny got back after releasing the ghost animal back into the Ghost Zone, and fell asleep quickly in bed. Echo was just relaxing on the floor next to Danny, he gave a small smile as he looked at the unique pink and white teddy bear snuggling in Danny's arms.

This is nice… Hope thought peacefully as she snuggled into Danny's chest a little. Perhaps I can reveal myself to Danny soon…

Echo smiled more, he liked Hope, she always thought to herself since she didn't want anyone to know she was alive, technically speaking. Hope just wanted to be loved, she was almost like a Void Creature without the corruption. She's starving for love, but she's not twisted with it. She loves being with Danny, he takes care of her.

"I wonder how Danny would react to Hope if she reveals herself to him?" Echo wondered out loud. "I could look into the future, but I think it'll be better if I just see for it myself."

Echo frowned a little. "Speaking of the future… I wonder if destroying that Mortifier really stopped that future that would lead to a lot of complications?"

Echo hadn't tried to look, in fear that nothing had changed. Juliette had done her best, risked herself in front of the Fentons, and snuck around the house just to help him destroy it. Echo wouldn't know what to do if he found out it was all for nothing.

"Still… I guess maybe I should at least try to peek something up ahead in that path…" Echo sighed as he sat up, and looked at Danny. "I wonder what would you do…"

Echo suddenly felt a little dizzy, he knew what that meant; a vision that he didn't call on was coming. He didn't like those, they always showed a very likely path that he didn't like.

Echo could see what looked similar to Amity Park's hill. There were clear stars in the night sky, and a bright moon. The stars looked green, however, which was unusual. The moon itself was far too big to be the actual moon. There were people lying on the hill, appearing to be either asleep or unconscious. These people appeared to be Danny's classmates. Dash, Paulina, Star, Valerie, Mikey, a few others Echo didn't remember off the top of his head, and of course, Tucker and Sam. Strangely enough, Jazz was there too. But Echo didn't see Danny at first.

Jazz was the first one to wake up, she seemed confused. Then Echo saw Jack and Maddie, unconscious, and vines were moving around them. Blue glowing flowers popped up from the ground, as if they were leading Jazz somewhere. The vines seemed to be fishing out all of the Fenton weapons Maddie and Jack had, and the ground swallowed it all up. Jazz looked worried, but then she called out to Danny. The flowers popped up on the hill, making a road for Jazz. Jazz, hesitantly, followed the road of flowers, until she came to a large patch of blue flowers. The patch moved aside, showing a curled up Danny.

Echo blinked as he came out of the vision. He gave a frown of concern and confusion. "What… was that? Where… where was that? Where was Juliette?"

Echo rubbed his head a little, trying to focus on the vision he just had, but he couldn't bring it back. Echo groaned. "I hate it when my visions show me something like that, then just decide 'sorry, we're not showing it to you again!' Like come on! Why show it to me in the first place!?"

Echo grumbled to himself as he remembered the weird plants that appeared to be alive in wherever it was Danny's classmates were. "Are they somewhere near Undergrowth? … That doesn't seem right, Undergrowth would've trapped them in giant flowers to prepare them for feeding. The flowers in the vision seemed to be helping Jazz find Danny, and the vines… didn't seem interested in mind controlling Jack and Maddie, they just wanted to take away the weapons and dispose of them. The ground eating up the weapons is quite disturbing though. I wonder… is that the Ghost Zone? Were they in some part of the Ghost Zone or in a ghost's lair? … I can't imagine things ending well for them if they were trespassing in a ghost's lair. Maybe the ghost knocked them out and put them there?"

The boy sighed as he shook his head. "Too little information and context to draw a proper conclusion. The vision won't come back. Well, if it is a likely future, I just hope they're not in hostile territory when it happens…"

Echo was about to just relax again, when he heard some noises coming from just outside the window. Echo sat up again, frowning.

"That didn't sound like a ghost…" Echo frowned. "And Danny's ghost sense isn't going off…"

Echo got on his feet and looked out the window. "Oh… my… gosh… Voice Creatures!"

There were a lot of Void Creatures, hissing and growling hungrily as they approached Fenton Works. Echo hissed, he had never seen this many Void Creatures coming at once.

As soon as the Void Creatures jumped through the walls and windows, Echo immediately called upon Foxfire's cloak, and began to fight them off. It was a long, grueling night for the fox boy, he had to protect Danny and the rest of the Fentons from the invasion. Echo was scrambling around all the rooms of the house, making sure the Void Creatures didn't latch onto any of the Fentons. Echo thanked all the gods out there that he couldn't get tired while in the Void, but his Foxfire power was still somewhat limited after long uses. When Echo couldn't use the Foxfire cloak, he transformed into his ghost form to fight back instead. When Foxfire was ready, he summoned her again. Sadly, it seemed even the normally welcomed morning sun wouldn't drive away these determined Void Creatures.

---

When Juliette came to school the next day, she was surprised she didn't see Echo following Danny like he normally would.

Too bad I didn't stay around long enough in Japan to learn how to summon and tame a Void Familiar… Juliette sighed as she walked into homeroom. "Hello, Mrs. Heart."

"Good morning, Juliette," Mrs. Heart greeted. "Just so you know, Juliette, instead of your study hall today, you will be going to see Mr. Carbon."

"Oh?" Juliette raised a brow. "Is there a particular reason?"

"Sorry, Juli, all I know is that you have the appointment, not why," Mrs. Heart responded with a small sheepish chuckle.

Juliette gave a nod. "Understood, Mrs. Heart. I'll make sure to be at his office at the start of my study hall period."

Mrs. Heart nodded in approval before Juliette took her seat.

Danny gave a tired yawn.

"You okay, Danny? Did you not get much sleep last night?" Sam asked in concern.

"I slept relatively well. But I couldn't help but get the feeling that something was wrong," Danny sighed, combing his hair back a little with his hand, though his hair flipped back to the front. "I'm not sure why though. There weren't any… you know, ghost attacks or anything. Maybe I'm just getting a little on edge lately."

Juliette looked over at Danny. "Perhaps you were simply just sleeping awkwardly." Like I was…

"Maybe… I don't know. I just hope I get better sleep tonight. I hate being tired during school," Danny grumbled.

"If you want, I can use my alarm to wake you up if you do fall asleep in class again." Tucker smiled.

Danny glared at Tucker. "No. The last time you did that, I almost blasted a hole in the ceiling. Uh… I am of course, exaggerating that."

Juliette chuckled a little at that. "At least you aren't the only one tired… I may not look it, but I didn't sleep all that great either last night… My mom… punished me for having such bad grades…"

"Oh… that's harsh. What did she do to you?" Danny asked.

"I… don't think you'd actually want to know…" Juliette replied, blushing a little as she wished she didn't know herself.

"Now you got me interested." Sam smirked.

"Perhaps I'll tell you later, Sam…" Juliette sighed before giving a small yawn. "Mainly because I feel you'll pry it out of me if I don't tell you on my own."

"Seems like you already know Sam all too well," Tucker remarked.

---

By the time lunch was over, Juliette was called to Mr. Carbon's office. Though she was a bit anxious to see Tom, she was growing more concerned about why Echo still hadn't shown up yet. It wasn't like him to miss out on Danny's school day unless he was feeling upset.

Juliette decided she would go look for Echo after school as she had one hour between finishing school and needing to be at PetSmart. For now though, she had to attend her appointment, so Juliette reached up and knocked on Mr. Carbon's door.

"Mr. Carbon, it's Juliette," Juliette informed. "I'm here for my appointment?"

Mr. Carbon open the door, and greeted Juliette with a kind, reassuring smile. "Please, come in Juliette. And it's just Tom. Mr. Carbon was my father."

Juliette gave a semi-lethargic nod before she walked into Tom's office. Note to self… don't eat as much school food as I did otherwise I will feel exhausted…

When Juliette came into the office, Tom closed the door before he walked over to a loveseat next to a couch and sat down. "Please, take a seat, Juliette."

Juliette gave a nod before she sat down on the couch.

"So your mother, Ms. Rosescale, told me you've been having some trouble with her class. What are you having trouble with exactly?" Tom asked in a curious tone.

"It's not that I'm having trouble," Juliette clarified. "I just don't want to put on the helmet or play the game because I feel that my mother has most likely tampered with both…"

"Oh? The VR helmet?" Tom questioned for clarification.

"That's right," Juliette confirmed.

"I see… why would you think your mother tampered with it or KinkQuest? Do you have trust issues with your mother?" Tom inquired.

"Yes, yes I do," Juliette openly admitted. "My mother… over the past few years, has been trying to… essentially turn me into the perfect pet which also happens to be her daughter. I fear that if I put on the helmet, I may be subject to hypnosis that will make me follow my mother's every command. That or she might make the game auto select the pet kink and make it so I can't log out or switch kinks until I've accepted my place and become submissive."

"Hmm… I see. It is rather troubling that your own mother would do that to you without your approval. We want students to accept their kinks willingly, not be forced into it. I could talk to Ms. Rosescale about it if it'll help you feel better. But I'm sure that's not the only reason, is it?" Tom stated, writing notes down in his notepad. "It sounds like due to your mother's pushing, you want to push back, you don't want to get into any kinks because of her. And that is also what's preventing you from even daring to try KinkQuest despite it being important to your grades."

"It's not just because of my mother's pushing though…" Juliette sighed. "It's also because I don't want to waste the time trying out kinks when there are other things I have to do that are much more important. In my eyes, kinks are nowhere near the list of essentials."

Tom gave a small chuckle. "Believe it or not, Juliette, there are many people who agree with you. While kinks have been accepted into our culture now, it's often seen as mindless distraction. Much like how video games and TV are. But then, why do people still play video games or watch movies if they're time wasting? It's because they're enjoyable, entertaining, and fun to indulge it to get away from the mundaneness of life."

"No, it's because those people have the free time to do those things," Juliette countered. "I don't. I'm only in my sophomore year of high school and I already have a full time job, I have all my homework to do, and I have a bunch of extracurricular activities outside of school that keep me away from home until late."

"Why would you need a full time job?" Tom frowned a little.

Juliette looked away a second before looking back. "Simply put, personal reasons…"

"I believe this gives you even more of a reason to try out KinkQuest then," Tom stated bluntly.

"How do you figure?" Juliette questioned, wondering what kind of logic Tom was using.

"From the sound of it, you're doing a lot of stuff, and it's causing stress on you. Stress that a child your age shouldn't be handling," Tom answered. "Indulging yourself in something that would be enjoyable to you, will help you relax, and have a clearer mind so you can do the things you do without it being so daunting. I don't need to explain the dangers of overstressing and overworking yourself, do I?"

"Yeah… I'm not stressing myself or overworking myself," Juliette responded.

Tom shook his head. "I don't claim to know your life or the full extent on what you're going through. I can only give you advice on how to help relieve some of your stress. Would it really kill you to at least try out KinkQuest? You might find something you'll like, and you'll forever regret it if you miss out on it."

"It won't… kill me," Juliette admitted. "But I still don't really have any time for it."

"Then you should make time. While it may seem like a waste of time to you, it is a required homework for you here. What would you do if your job might require you to do something kinky one day? Would you reject it and risk getting fired because of it?" Tom questioned.

"Umm… my job is working at PetSmart," Juliette informed. "Not sure what kind of kinky jobs they would have that wouldn't drive customers away."

"Ah, so you must be working for Ms. Famili, correct?" Tom asked.

"Does everyone know everyone in this city…?" Juliette questioningly chuckled.

"It's a small city, but Ms. Famili is pretty well known," Tom answered with a chuckle of his own. "She was one of the first chienthropes to own a business here in Amity Park. She's very nice, yes, but she's also kinky. Knowing her, she will eventually find a way to make you do something kinky. I remember going to the PetSmart one time, and she had one of her employees swallow live fish in front of an audience who paid to see some vore. Another time was when she had an anthro dog employee wear a doggie diaper for what she called the 'pet diaper day sale'. All anthro and chienthrope employees were to wear pet diapers that day to show off the pet diapers for sale and how well they work. So believe me when I say if you continue to work there, you are bound to do something kinky."

Great… so I need a new job already… Juliette inwardly growled.

"But you shouldn't let that make you stop working at your current job. It would reflect badly on your resume, and Ms. Famili is one of the best bosses you could ask for," Tom stated. "You shouldn't let your disgust and fear of kinks drive you away from others and your responsibilities."

"I'm not fearful of kinks," Juliette remarked. "A bit disgusted maybe, and a little turned off by them, but not fearful."

"Oh? Then tell me, are you planning to get another job because I told you what Ms. Famili may make you do?" Tom asked.

"N-no," Juliette replied, frowning a little inwardly. "I'll probably just talk to her and request she not do those kinky things with me…"

"And what if she refuses the request?" Tom inquired.

"Then… I'll ask to be assigned to a job that is hard to do kinky things with," Juliette answered.

Tom sighed a little before he wrote down in his notepad. "Well, I can't force you to accept kinks, nor can anyone. But… would you at least try KinkQuest?"

Juliette raised a brow before looking towards Tom. "What reason do I have to try it?"

"If grades aren't enough of a reason, then think about it in a different way. Perhaps by finding out what you actually do or don't like in the KinkQuest, you'll find out more about yourself, what you could be capable of, and what is your limit. You'll never know if you refuse to try it," Tom answered.

Juliette sighed.

"Here's another possibility you can think of, Juliette," Tom continued. "Perhaps at some point in the future, all jobs will require some level of kink to them. If you refuse to get into kinks, you could be left without a job and I'm sure you don't want that."

Juliette had to admit, she'd rather not be out of a job as she needed to make money for food. I'd… rather not become some feral or beggar in the future…

"Not to mention, as time goes on, the world will be even more accepting of kinks. In fact, it may become so accepted at some point that people who aren't into kinks will be looked down on," Tom added. "From what I understand, kitsunes live for a really long time, so you would see the world changing before you."

Juliette frowned as she had always hated the reminder of how she would live much longer than most people. "I… guess you have a point… a few good points in fact…"

"So I will ask you one last time… would you be willing to at least try KinkQuest today?" Tom asked.

"I… have work today…" Juliette informed with a small frown.

"Then perhaps you can try it right now or in the actual kink class," Tom suggested.

"I… guess that would work…" Juliette responded. "But… if I do it during kink class, my mom has to agree to take the helmet off me at the end of class so I can get to my job on time."

"Of course, I will be talking to Ms. Rosescale about it," Tom assured. "I'm sure she'll be thankful you are willing to at least try it."

"I do want to clarify, I'm only willing to try it," Juliette stated. "If I don't like it, I won't continue to use it."

"That is fine, we only want you to try it to see how well you might like it," Tom responded. "Now, is there anything else you might want to talk about while you're here?"

"I… can't think of anything off the top of my head that I'd like to talk about," Juliette answered. I mean there isn't much in my life right now. The only thing a shrink like you would want to know is my problems, which outside of KinkQuest, is mainly that I'm working hard to get food as I'd rather not be starving all the time… and I'd rather not eat the kibble my 'mom' is feeding me.

"Would you mind if I asked again why you need a full time job?" Tom inquired. "I know you said it is personal, but I am curious if its for savings or necessities or frivolous purchases."

Juliette raised a brow. "Well, it's not for frivolous purchases, I can tell you that. And… I guess I can tell you that I'd both like to save up my money and spend it on necessities that we really don't have at home…"

"I see… are you able to eat well at home?" Tom asked. "Is your mother feeding you a healthy amount of nutrients?"

"I'm eating… decently at home," Juliette responded. "And my mother is definitely feeding me… nutrients."

"You seem a bit hesitant there. Do you not like the food you're eating at home?" Tom inquired in a concerned tone.

"Honestly, no," Juliette answered. "The food that we have at home definitely wouldn't even be on my choice menu. If I had the choice, I wouldn't even eat it if my life depended on it. … Well, I might eat it if I was dying, but I wouldn't enjoy it at all."

"I see… that's unfortunate that you dislike the food that's giving you the nutrients you need. But you should eat more of it until you can afford more food at home, because you are looking too thin for a kitsune your age. I've seen a few kitsunes in my days, so I know you're too thin to be healthy," Tom pointed out. "It is something you'll have to put up with, but I can't in good conscious just tell you to ignore it until then."

"It'd be nice if my mom spent her money from school on some actual food from the grocery store," Juliette growled a little. "Right now I'm eating danged dog kibble!"

"Dog kibble?" Tom repeated, sounding a bit surprised.

"Yes, dog kibble…" Juliette sighed.

"And you hate it that much?" Tom questioned.

"Every time I eat it, I temporarily feel like I'm not in complete control of myself," Juliette informed. "It makes me feel… less evolved."

"So you're worried that you feel more like a feral for eating dog food?" Tom concluded.

"I'm concerned that it actually does make me feel feral," Juliette clarified.

"There's nothing wrong with that," Tom said.

Juliette stopped and stared at Tom for a few long moments as her brain processed what he said. "I'm sorry… WHAT?!"

"Calm down now," Tom said calmly. "Just hear me out. I know that humans often see ferals as unevolved, mindless beasts. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Anthros evolved from animals, but they still have that wild spirit inside them. Why keep it caged up ? Because society said so? The more you cage it up, the more likely you'll let it loose at a more inappropriate time. There's nothing wrong with wanting to just let go of your human-like mind, and just be wild and free."

"Frankly I don't care how anthros or humans see it or how I 'shouldn't cage up my feral side', the fact of the matter is that I don't like feeling feral," Juliette bluntly replied. "I don't want to feel feral at all."

"You don't know what you're missing," Tom sighed, sounding disappointed by Juliette's answer. "I find the fact that anthros have such a wild side like that to be beautiful, and it's a shame they keep it locked up and are ashamed of it."

"I'm worried that if I ever did go feral or 'release my wild side' that I wouldn't be able to stop, that I would permanently stay as a mindless animal," Juliette informed.

"That is a misconception, as I said earlier, the feral state does not make you mindless. You are still you, but you just feel more free and able to do the things you truly want to do that you'd normally hold yourself back on," Tom remarked with such passion that Juliette wondered if Tom was some kind of wild animal enthusiast. "Here's another way of looking at it. Humans may not have a wild side like anthros do, at least not a natural one, but they love the idea of just letting go and running free. That's why so many of them get addicted to drugs, they love that feeling of being free from the world and from themselves, even if it's temporary. Anthros won't lose themselves to it, they will just get closer to nature, and understand how their feral counterpart lives. There's nothing to be worried about, or be ashamed of."

"That may work for regular anthros, but it might not be the same for a kitsune…" Juliette weakly reasoned, trying not to admit that Tom actually sounded… correct.

"I've met a nice anthro kitsune during my travels," Tom stated. "She was a nice one. She had about 4 tails if I remember right. She was the one who got me interested in the anthro's wild nature. She took me to a big open field, a place where she told me anthros felt safe to be closer to nature. That was where she showed me how she let go, and run through the field. I had never seen her look so happy and carefree before that moment. She was able to communicate with the other feral animals, and they even formed a hunting pack to go after some prey. But you don't have to do that if you yourself don't want to. As I said, you'd still be you of course, it's just a freer version of you. A more… natural you."

"Was she still able to speak English or whatever her native language was?" Juliette questioned. "And… who was she… because I'd… personally like to meet another kitsune…" Who knows… perhaps she's my actual mother…

"She spoke Japanese, and yes, she was still able to speak. She just preferred to use her natural animal noises while being in a feral state. Talking disrupts the sound of nature from what she told me." Tom replied. "Her name was Kyoko Inuzuka."

Argh! That means I was close to another kitsune at one point! Juliette shouted at herself.

"Though she spoke Japanese, I met her in Australia. She was likely visiting some of the more unique animals in the desert region," Tom added.

Oh… okay, then I wasn't that close. Juliette mentally calmed down. Never been to Australia.

"But I hope this talk helped you a little with yourself. You can actually test out your feral state in KinkQuest safely, in case you were worried about hurting anyone," Tom informed. "Just in case you were interested in at least seeing what it would be like."

Juliette gave a thoughtful look at that before the bell went off.

"Looks like that's the end of our session today," Tom noted.

"Wow… that went by fast then…" Juliette remarked, thinking it had only been like 5-10 minutes.

"Heh, time flies when you're focused on something," Tom chuckled. "Now you should get going, I wouldn't want to keep you from your next class."

Juliette gave a nod as she stood up.

"If you see Danny Fenton in the hall when you leave, could you send him in?" Tom requested.

"Yeah, sure," Juliette answered as she headed for the door.

When Juliette walked out, she thought she saw Danny in the hallway, and approached him.

"Hey, Danny!" Juliette called out over the noise of the hallway. "Tom is-"

Juliette stopped herself when she noticed 'Danny' was gray.

Oh? Echo? Is that you? Juliette mentally asked.

"No, I'm Danny's duplicate. Of course it's me!" Echo answered, sounding a bit grouchy.

Juliette noticed that Echo looked a little disheveled.

Are you… alright? Juliette hesitantly asked.

"Me? I'm perfectly fine," Echo replied. "I would say that I'm exhausted, because I had to pull an all nighter in defending the entire Fenton family from a Void Creature invasion, and also throughout the entire morning and noon! But you know, I can't get tired. Still, it took a while to destroy all the Void Creatures in Fenton Works. They just wouldn't stop coming!"

Juliette frowned at that. There were… that many Void Creatures…?

"Yeah, there was like a pack- no, more like an army of them all charging into the house. I was worried that if that many Void Creatures got their dirty claws on the family, they would've committed suicide," Echo answered with a frown.

I'm… I'm sorry… Juliette apologized, looking down in shame.

"What the heck are you sorry for?" Echo asked.

It… was my fault, Echo… Juliette responded. It was my fault that there were so many Void Creatures…

"But you weren't there. They all just showed up hours after you left," Echo pointed out. "How could that have been your fault?"

Because my energy was still there… Juliette sighed. Whenever I step into the Void, I create a temporary beacon… I should… ask my next teacher if I can go talk to Anise… she might be able to do something to keep the Fenton family safe.

"Juliette… don't put the blame on yourself, I understand that they were attracted to your energy, but even so, that many Void Creatures wouldn't come if it was just because of your leftover energy. There's more than one beacon in Fenton Works," Echo pointed out.

Actually… you're wrong… Juliette quietly informed. I've had… hundreds of Void Creatures swarm me at one point just because I stepped into the Void.

"Then why haven't they swarmed until just that night? You've stepped into the Void quite a few times already in Amity Park," Echo questioned.

Because there were barely any Void Creatures in the direct vicinity. Juliette answered. The Void Creatures you've been facing probably aren't even from the area…

"I see… how interesting then…" Echo remarked thoughtfully.

Perhaps… I should think about simply staying in the opera house for now… Juliette thought. Stop coming to school and don't leave the opera house until I get you out of the Void.

"I don't think you can stay in the opera house," Echo bluntly said.

And why not? Juliette questioned.

"Anise," Echo simply answered. "I don't think she's too willing to let you just stay cooped up in the opera house for the rest of your days."

It won't be for the rest of my days, Echo, it would be only until I brought you back to the living world. Juliette reiterated.

"Yeah, the rest of your days," Echo repeated.

Thanks for your faith, Echo… Juliette growled.

Echo raised his hands peacefully, giving a sheepish grin. "I'm just saying I rather you didn't stay in the opera house. You'll certainly be missed in school."

Echo… it's… Juliette started before she trailed off.

"What about your job? What about food and water?" Echo pointed out. "Can you really just stay cooped up in one place for a while?"

I can figure something out, Echo. Juliette stubbornly stated. And I think I'd prefer to stay in the opera house if me being outside will be putting the entire city in danger. Until I free you from the Void, I have to stay in Amity Park.

"Do you think you can free me from the Void by staying in the opera house?" Echo frowned. "Because I will say that you won't succeed any time soon in that future."

Juliette let out an auditory growl. Look, I don't care if it takes me all of my extended fucking life, Echo! I will free you from the Void and then I will leave so Amity Park is no longer in danger!

"So what you're saying is if Amity Park is safe from the Void Creatures, you'll allow yourself to come out?" Echo asked.

No, I'm not going to say that, because it sounds like it might be the start of you inheriting my crazy. Juliette replied.

"You're already too late on that." Echo smirked.

You're not taking on every single Void Creature that comes, Echo. Juliette adamantly stated. Because there are Void Creatures out there that will kill you simply by glaring at you.

"Now it's my turn to thank you for the vote of confidence." Echo frowned.

This isn't a joke, Echo! Juliette shouted. I've… I've seen villages wiped out because of my curse of being a beacon. I've seen Void Creatures that would have killed me if multiple squads of fucking Void Creature hunting gods and goddesses hadn't stepped in!

Juliette was now shaking a little. I don't want you taking on dangers that take multiple gods and goddesses to handle, Echo… I don't want to see more people die…

Echo let out a sigh. "Juliette, calm down and hear me out, I wasn't going to go fighting every single Void Creature that comes into town. Although you may have given me some of your crazy, even I'm not crazy and stupid enough to do something like that. And I can't die, they would just corrupt me. What I was saying is perhaps I can find some help in defending this town. Danny's got some back-up for defending against hostile ghosts, so perhaps it's time I looked into finding some help of my own."

That won't be enough… Juliette softly said, still shaking. Unless you happen to find some gods or goddesses who like hunting Void Creatures just laying about… there is no amount of back-up that can help you if the strongest of the Void Creatures come…

"I know that it's impossible for it to be completely safe, Juliette. But you can't live life on paranoia like that. Not everything that could go wrong will go wrong, and if you keep thinking it will, you are actually inviting the worst to come. The more you think it will happen, the more likely it's going to happen. You have to relax, and believe in the people you've come to know and trust to help, Juliette. Because pushing them away is only going to lead you to a life of misery and loneliness, which would be an even brighter beacon for the Void Creatures. I understand that you're scared and worried, but just as you want me to trust you to free me from the Void, I want you to trust me to handle the Void Creatures that are here right now, not the big scary ones that would corrupt me in a blink of an eye, okay?" Echo softly said.

Juliette didn't respond to Echo's words.

"And there's one more thing…" Echo quietly added. "You might want to answer the two very concerned people behind you."

"Juliette?!" Someone yelled before there was a hand on Juliette's shoulder.

Juliette spun around to see Danny and Tom standing there, both looking concerned at her.

"Are you okay, Juliette…?" Danny worriedly asked.

"S-sorry…" Juliette muttered as she tried to stop herself from shaking. "I was… just… I'm… not feeling all that well"

"In that case, perhaps you should go to the Nurse's Office," Tom suggested.

"Y-yeah… maybe…" Juliette nodded. I'll think about what you said, Echo…

"Yes, please do," Echo responded.

"Would you like for me to get someone to escort you there?" Tom offered.

"N-no… I think I can make it on my own," Juliette declined. "Thank you for the offer though…"

"Be careful on your way there, Juliette…" Danny said in concern.

Juliette gave a nod as she began to walk away. "Thank you, Danny."