Dreamscape Alternate: My Life Going Ghost
I apologize for confusing anybody in the previous chapter and for taking so long to update. It should clear up with this one (I hope) or by the end of the fanfic.
Basically what's going on is that Mona is trying not to alter anything crucial to the storyline and she's starting to feel guilt about wishing herself to Amity Park in the first place while there is building character turmoil/conflict between herself and the main character…
…I'm also starting to enjoy tormenting my original character…sort of…almost…not really…is that a bad thing?
Chapter 12: Spectrum of Despair (Part 2)
PART 2
TUESDAY…
1st Person POV – Jazz
"Did you see that?!" I pointed up at where Danny had just flown from, "Tell me I didn't see what I just saw!"
Tucker, most likely panicking, blurted out: "It's not what you think, Jazz—" before Sam forced his ice-cream cone into his mouth.
"Of course it's not," Sam added. "Ghosts aren't real. Jazz, you're starting to sound like your father."
Okay, so I spotted a ghost-bug yesterday and just witnessed my brother turn into a ghost. That was definitely not a coincidence or a figment of someone's deranged imagination. Danny's friends were acting oddly suspicious, including Monica…Mina…Mona; his newest friend…considering every few seconds she would glance back at the drug-store. That aside, something about what they told me struck a chord.
"He keeps some things to himself." Sam had told me earlier.
"We're Danny's friends; that means we keep his secrets from you." Tucker had added on.
"Jazz…?"
That settled it: I was going to check on Danny later. Whatever was going on, I had to get to the bottom of it. "Oh! Of course…my parents are such loons it's wearing off!" I immediately took a quick glimpse of my watch, not to actually check the time but to provide something more of an excuse. "Is it that late? I've got to work on my Spirit Week Speech!"
And I made my leave. I could have sworn I heard relieved sighs from both Sam and Tucker. Mona was…silent.
Weird…
3rd Person POV
Paulina continued her never-ending make-up application at the counter, not particularly taking any notice in Bertrand who appeared behind her. The Hispanic frowned from his presence and turned about.
"Do you mind?! I was here…" Paulina's eyes widened in fright, "…first…?"
Bertrand's blob-like-state abruptly roared, scaring the daylights out of Paulina and the cashier who both screamed aloud. Fortunately for the both of them, Danny dive-bombed feet-first at Bertrand, sending the blob crashing into a rack of sunglasses. Evelyn landed with a fighter stance next to Danny keeping a watchful eye on Bertrand, who pulled off a pair of sunglasses that landed on his face.
"Mr. Blob-man, we've missed you." Evelyn quipped, resulting in the blob snarling irritably.
"The joke's overdone, Evelyn." Danny rolled his eyes.
"But it fits the mood." The bluenette replied.
"Whatever you say—OOF…!" Both halfas were abruptly swatted backwards; Evelyn careening into a clothing rack while Danny's back met the bookshelf sending books and clothing articles flying upwards. Everyone in the building promptly took the initiative and made frantic escapes, leaving the two half-ghosts to deal with the blob, with the exception of a certain trio.
"This is a lot different than the episode…" Mona cringed from her place in the doorway. "It's a lot worse!"
Danny and Evelyn got back to their feet, either dodging Bertrand's ectoplasm blasts or returning fire. Evelyn jumped at Bertrand, aiming her best kick into the ghost's side only to have the blob's hands grab her ankle, briefly spun her 180̊ and then let the female halfa crash into the pharmacy part of the store.
Bertrand didn't have enough time to admire his handy work as Danny had suddenly appeared from his left and punched the ghost down. "Didn't your parents teach you not to hit a girl?"
"Oh please, I merely dodged." The blob swatted the teenager aside and dodged another one of Evelyn's flying kicks, having her crash land next to Danny, both teenagers knocking down several backpacks off a rack. "You're both not very good at this are you?"
"We don't have to be in order to beat you!" Danny and Evelyn got back on their feet. Bertrand only smirked before his greenish mass morphed into a more catlike appearance with his narrowed red eyes fixed on the two halfas. The feline charged with claws outstretched and fangs bared as Danny and Evelyn flew out of the way. Bertrand's feline talons skidded on the linoleum, allowing the ghost to stop before noticing that Evelyn was standing directly behind him while Danny was blocking him from going forwards. "Not so tough now that you're surrounded, huh…?"
That left the three humans wide open. Bertrand grinned at the sadistic plot forming before making a beeline towards Mona, Sam, and Tucker, aiming with his claws outstretched. The three teenagers dove out of the way, Sam and Tucker springing to their left while Mona dodged right, miraculously avoiding the claws that only tore off a small amount of her left sleeve.
"GAH…!" The brunette skidded with her back coming in contact with the nearby wall, gripping her left arm with her right as Bertrand merely flicked the small amount of fabric off his claws. "A centimeter more and I would've been disarmed…literally!"
"Ah…very skittish aren't you?" Bertrand grinned and got into a ready-to-pounce stance with his long tail swishing back and forth. "Well, it is obvious why…liar."
"…!"
"Keep your claws to yourself!" Evelyn flying tackled Bertrand into the nearby wall, enabling her friend to get a safe distance away, before finding herself at the opposite of said claws. The feline's talons abruptly raked across Evelyn's side and the halfa recoiled, losing her grip on Bertrand before he knocked her backwards into another shelf. The bluenette gripped her side, wincing from the pain due to the wound, as the green-shaded feline flew at her only to be intercepted by Danny at the last second.
"Leave my friends alone or else!" Danny shouted while he and the ghost were in a deadlock during their tussle.
"Or else what…lo-ser…?" Bertrand mocked. "Are you going to cry like a baby?"
"I'm not a baby!" The halfa snapped; the memories of the Casper-High-Spirit-Baby (as Dash pointed out) costume, that brought mass humiliation, came flooding back before he lunged forwards sending them both tumbling onto the linoleum floor. Danny blocked a potential slash-motion with one arm while his free fist socked Bertrand in the stomach region. Bertrand leapt backwards, both startled and in pain from the attack, before lunging forwards at him again. Likewise, Danny charged at Bertrand.
"They're ripping each other apart!" Sam kept watching Danny while she and Tucker hid behind a counter.
"Danny! He's trying to psyche you out!" Evelyn attempted to get back on her feet but resorted to going intangible in order to avoid debris that were sent flying at her.
"This is my fault. Why didn't I say anything about this? I even knew this was going to happen!" Mona ducked back down as a fire extinguisher sailed over the rack she was hiding behind and clattered onto the floor next to her. The brunette glanced at the metal container and looked back in time to spot Danny getting pinned down by Bertrand. "I've got to do something useful for once!"
Without thinking twice, Mona grabbed the Fire Extinguisher's nozzle and got to her feet.
Danny kept glaring up at Bertrand, the feline still snarling with glee at him. "Incredible. Are you still trying to win?"
Evelyn got back up, using the shelf she had collided with as support, just as Mona swung the Fire Extinguisher. Bertrand yowled at the attack before turning on the human girl and slashing the metal apart with his hind claws. The brunette yelped and fell backwards, coughing as the fumes stung her nose, as Sam and Tucker rushed over.
"Nice plan, Mona! Next time throw a brick at a beehive!"
"You okay?" Tucker got the halfa into a sitting-up position.
"Never mind us! What about Danny?" Evelyn winced.
"Isn't that cute, the little lo-ser ghost has a few baby helpers!" Bertrand mocked causing something within Danny's psyche to snap.
"Do. Not. Call. Me. A LOSER!!" Danny yelled before throwing the feline off him. Bertrand crash-landed a ways away as Danny floated into the air before charging a ghost-ray that he fired directly at the other ghost. Bertrand leapt out of the way in time as the blast, which had increased in strength, destroyed a large portion of the concession stand.
There was a bit of a long silence as smoke steadily rose from the destroyed section of the store; Danny floated back down in front of his friends just as Bertrand reappeared just meters away.
"I think that's enough damage for one afternoon." The feline chuckled before reverting into his previously formless state and making a swift escape through the ceiling. "Ta!"
"I sure hope they're insured." Tucker commented as he helped Evelyn stand up. At the same time, Jazz continued watching from outside before ducking back down. The bluenette halfa reverted into her pink-haired state and shuddered from the slash wound on her side, some blood making dark spots in her black and gold jersey. "You okay?"
"I've handled worse." Evelyn cringed. "But thanks for asking."
"That was the third time he got away," Danny grumbled, "another ringing endorsement for the town screw-up."
"It's not your fault," Sam tried to reassure him while Mona stood up, declining any help while still clutching her injured arm. "I mean, this isn't the first ghost who got away."
"Yeah, with any luck we'll find him again." Tucker added.
The words "find him again" resulted in the halfa looking up at attention before looking at Mona. "I'm not getting the whole story here…"
"Mona," The brunette looked up from her feet and at Danny who had approached her after changing back into his human half. "We need to talk…alone."
At the sound of the back door opening, Jazz immediately took cover behind a corner. Peering around it with as much stealth as a cat, she caught sight of her little brother walking out the back door while leading, or pulling her with his left hand gripping her right, forwards the brunette she saw earlier. Danny had a look of seriousness on his face while Mona looked squeamish to the point she looked as though she wanted to yank her hand loose and bolt for the nearest hiding place; there was also an invisible aura of guilt hovering around her.
Eventually, once they reached the center of the alleyway, Danny released her hand with a sharp jerk and about faced making the girl recoil as blue eyes dug into brown.
"Mona, whatever you're not telling me you'd better tell me now!"
"What…?" Mona took two steps backwards.
"I heard him, that ghost, call you a liar and I want to know why!" Danny all but shouted as the brunette nervously averted her gaze.
"I…I'm not supposed to tell you…" Mona's grip on her left arm tightened, being a nervous habit she picked up when unnerved or fearful.
"Not supposed to tell me…? Who the heck told you that?"
"Nobody…I…I mean…it's just that—"
Danny abruptly grabbed her right hand and forcefully yanked it from her left, stopping Mona from worsening the injury. "Then why aren't you telling us anything?! The ghost, the fact that you're from another dimension," Jazz held back a gasp at the information but refrained from making her presence known as her brother continued interrogating the other teenager, some desperation in his voice underlining the frustration, "and you know everything that happens in this…dimension! You didn't even tell us all this until you were bitten and kidnapped by the Queen of Spiders!"
"I was going to tell you! I didn't even know that spider-woman existed until I got bitten! I'm not even sure about Evelyn; she wasn't even here when I last checked!" Mona tried to stand her ground but faltered again. I'm a coward…a liar…just like he said… Internally, she could feel the stress from the past few days building up while the lit fuse reached the base. "I mean I didn't even know she was half-ghost and that Arachnea existed either…It's just that…"
"Would you just spit it out already?! Just what is stopping you?"
"THE TIMELINE!" The brunette finally exploded making Danny, even his hiding sister, jump at the volume of her voice. A light shade of red formed on her cheeks as she continued venting out the frustration vocally. "IF I TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, THE TIMELINE WILL BE MESSED UP! If something goes wrong, it'll affect your future like you turning an evil homicidal maniac and I am already making a mess just being here!" Mona stepped backwards again after finishing her outburst and her right hand unconsciously went back to gripping her left arm's injury.
Danny's sharp look began to fade into a more worried expression. The brunette in front of him was shaking subtly from a mix of depression and guilt coursing through her bloodstream. "My future…?"
"You want to know what happens next; look at Tucker's PDA, you'll figure out the rest from there. Just look at it tomorrow morning and you'll see why…" Mona gritted her teeth before walking past him, trying to maintain her calm façade despite her quaking shoulders and tightened grip on her left arm. "I'm just going to go back h—"
She stopped short just as her train of thought halted. The house in Amity Park was not her home. Even if Mona had grown accustomed to the town, she knew that it would never truly grow on her…and it was not a great place to be as she originally thought.
"—to the house…just back to the house…" Mona finished before walking out of the alleyway, not so much as uttering a simple "later" to Danny, as she made her brisk (yet slumped in posture) walk back to the house she previously called a home not too long ago. Danny remained standing in place, looking towards the direction the brunette had walked away with a blank expression before frowning at himself.
"Great…more problems…this just can't get any worse…" Danny all but forced his palm into his face before a question slipped out: "What's happening to me?"
Upon getting back to the house and stepping through the front door, Mona slammed it shut behind her and forced her back against it. The brunette sighed aloud, throwing her head up and biting her lip before one hand reached behind the back of her head and with one swift movement: tugged off the navy blue headband she had worn since she first arrived.
"What am I doing here?" Mona looked at the headband in her hand before throwing it down to the side and looking into the house's living room area as she walked to the closet and kicked her shoes off sluggishly. "Desiree! I'm h—back!" The brunette wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, silently berating herself for being too sensitive, and proceeded forwards after getting no response. "Desiree? Are you here?"
The house was quiet…too quiet for the brunette's current liking and state of mind. Mona stopped at the stairs, looked around, and walked up them to her room and closed it shut behind her just as she did the front door. Her backpack immediately landed with a dull thump on the floor and the brunette gritted her teeth while her watery eyes squinted before both palms clamped over her face and she slumped onto the floor.
"I wish I could go back home…my real home…why did I wish myself here in the first place?!" One of her hands, her left, clenched into a fist and swung into the wall eliciting an audible bang before she screamed: "I'm such an idiot!"
Danny couldn't eat.
The teenager had his fork in hand but none of the food had left his plate. The metal fork made faint scraping sounds as Danny poked and prodded his food with an upset expression as he hunched over the kitchen table. In his current state from the past two days, and in deep thought about what Mona just told him (the turning into a homicidal maniac bit was unnerving), the raven haired halfa did not notice his sister walk into the kitchen until he caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye. Jazz and Danny stared at each other, Danny with an antagonized look and Jazz with concern.
Although Jazz had just found out about her brother having ghost powers and that his friend (whom he just had an argument with) was from another universe/dimension, Danny's older sister had made the silent decision to let him tell her when he was ready. Danny kept his frown focused on Jazz, much like a cat would when faced with a bucket of water on bath day, clearly not enjoying his personal bubble being poked.
"What?"
"Nothing," Jazz smiled disarmingly before taking cautious steps forwards with Danny keeping his eyes trained on her. Jazz stopped at least a foot away from him, observing silently before reaching a hand out.
The raven haired teenager immediately jolted in his seat, silverware clattering noisily when his knee struck the underside of the table, his hair almost standing on end once he felt Jazz pinch his upper right arm. "OW—WHAT?!"
"Nothing," She held both hands up as Danny gripped his arm tightly while keeping both eyes on her. "Uh...so…Danny? I know I've been hard on you lately. But you know I think you're great, right?"
"Yeah, right," Danny removed his hand from his arm and rested it on his face, leaning against his palm moodily, recalling Spectre telling him otherwise. "That's not what I hear."
"Then you've heard wrong!" Jazz replied with a calm smile, "I know you think I'm pushy, and I'm a know-it-all, I know you think I can be a jerk sometimes." Jazz paused and looked down at her brother, who now had a smug smile on his face. The strawberry blonde immediately frowned.
"You know you can stop me at any time!"
"I know." Danny smiled before it faded back into a scowl as Jazz continued.
"All I'm saying, Danny, is that I'm your sister, and I care about you." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "And even though you think I don't understand, you can talk to me about anything."
Danny, now feeling ashamed for his current mood, the outburst at the back of the pharmacy, and reacting to Spectra and the blob's words, looked down at his plate of uneaten food. The halfa chewed the inside of his lip in thought before speaking up. "Um—"
BOOM!
Moment ruined…
Danny and Jazz turned towards the living room, surprised by the sudden noise, and all but ran over to the other room's perimeter.
"I'm just saying that if we find that ghost at Jazz's school we could've peeled that ghost like an onion!" Jack Fenton pointed at a charred and smoldering piece of furniture which could have been the couch, all but incinerated by the Fenton Peeler, while his wife, Maddie, held her hand in her head.
"Well we can't completely vaporize it. Don't you want to at least examine the remains?" Maddie asked with a shrug.
It was times like this, whenever his parents created a new anti-ghost weapon, Danny could feel both his blood and ectoplasm freeze at the same time. The halfa shortly snapped out of it, realizing Jazz's hand was still on his shoulder and swiftly removed it.
"I…I don't feel like talking about it." He grumbled before walking back towards the table to finish his uneaten dinner.
"Yeah, I'd imagine not." Jazz smiled after him before walking over and gently kissing the back of his head prior to walking out of the room. Danny, staring after his sister, couldn't help but smile now that he knew what Spectre told him about his sister was a lie. Only moments later, Danny realized what had just happened…
"Aw, gross!"
WEDNESDAY
"Is it me?" Sam gestured towards the hallway behind her as Danny, Tucker, and Evelyn looked on. "Or is this the worst Spirit Week in the history of Casper High Spirit Weeks?"
True to her words, despite the cheery Spirit Week banner hanging overhead, the students looked worse for wear. Most of them had bags under their eyes, were groaning sullenly, or were hunched over in place. One of the jocks stuck his foot out sluggishly and a random student lackadaisically tripped over it sending books and papers flying and fluttering to the ground. As this was happening, Dash and Kwan stumbled past the group of four.
"Another day, another twenty-four hours closer to pumping gas…" The blonde groaned.
"At least you'll have a job." Kwan retorted. "Apparently I'm going to end up a hobo." The muscled teenager immediately began shaking and cried out: "I didn't know they had hobos anymore!"
"Did you know wrinkles can start emerging as early as your early twenties?" Paulina worriedly asked Valerie as they briskly passed by from the other direction. Evelyn frowned and turned towards the trio, clearly unnerved by the scenery.
"I have a question." She asked, "Have any of you seen Mona around lately?"
Danny immediately frowned and looked to the side while Sam answered both worried and confused, "I only caught a glimpse of her in the hallway this morning and it was like she was trying to keep a far distance from us."
The female halfa half-frowned in thought, "why would she do that…?"
"Yo, Danny, you still in there," Tucker waved a hand in front of the halfa's face, snapping him out of it.
"I'm fine, I'm just feeling iffy, and to make it worse, we're all going to have to sit through Jazz's idiotic speech when she tries to put the I back in SPIRIT," The raven-haired teen grumbled before turning slightly to his right and half-pointing at Jazz who was, despite the current scenery, skipping happily through the dismal hallway of Casper High with a smile on her face. Although he was slightly happy about Spectra's comments about his sister's point of view being a complete lie it did not excuse the fact that he was having a really bad week so far…and it was only Wednesday. "What the heck is she so happy about?"
"Don't ask me, I'm usually the sour one around here." Sam remarked, jabbing her thumb towards the depressing scene behind her, before smiling, "but compared to everyone else, I'm the Goth bird of Happiness."
"Me too," Tucker smiled, "and we're the only two who haven't had a session with Doctor Spectra."
"I'm glad I haven't either," Evelyn cringed as she watched another jock held out a fist and yet another student unenthusiastically walked into it…and even more school supplies were sent flying, "because THAT is starting to get creepy."
At that point in time, Danny remembered something crucial Mona had told him previously and snapped to attention.
"You want to know what happens next; look at Tucker's PDA, you'll figure out the rest from there. Just look at it tomorrow morning and you'll see why…"
"Wait a minute." The teenager briskly walked over to Tucker and snatched up the PDA from his friend's hand. "Let me see something." Immediately after pressing a button on the hand-held the picture of Danny in the ridiculous Casper High Spirit costume came up along with something very important that he had overlooked.
Tucker nervously smiled as he leaned over and pointed at the image, "I was going to delete that."
"I'm glad you didn't," he replied, scrutinizing the image and zooming in on a certain point. "Look right there. I kept thinking I was seeing my breath, that it was still cold. But what if that's my ghost sense?"
Evelyn and Sam, who had gotten closer looks at the image, moved backwards along with Tucker as Danny looked back up. "What if Spectra is somehow making people more miserable? What if…she's a ghost?"
"There's only one way to find out," Sam declared.
"…and I have a feeling I shouldn't…" Evelyn squinted.
Soon enough, Sam and Tucker forced open the door leading from Spectra's office to the hallway, both clearly as gloomy and depressed as the rest of the students…
"I hate my life…" Tucker groaned.
"I hate your life more." Sam muttered as both she and the techno-nerd walked away with Spectra walking to the door with a cheery expression, although her face sported some wrinkles and her hair color was faded, as she held the doorknob.
"Buh-bye, and remember there's only an "I" in misery if you spell it that way!" She called after them before closing the door shut, unable to see Danny and Evelyn who were intangible.
"See, that's why I didn't want to go in there!" The currently blue-haired halfa whispered, gesturing towards Sam and Tucker, before Danny shushed her and they slipped through the door quieter than a ghost-mouse. Both intangible halfas observed as a green mist floated above the counselor before Spectra literally breathed it in and let out a content sigh as her youth became restored.
"Man, that's good!" Spectra beamed as she sat at her desk and looked down at two folders containing Sam and Tucker's files with a sinister look. "I'm going to miss these kids when they graduate. They're a waterfall of misery."
Danny squinted, feeling a rush of anguish aimed towards Spectra, as Evelyn's eyes widened and she had to hold both hands over her mouth to suppress a squeak at what she just saw. Not long afterwards, they both caught sight of Bertrand, still a blob, phase through the nearby wall and land nearby.
"There you are," The, recently discovered, red-head ghost turned her attention to the blob-ghost nearby before gleefully holding both hands up at face level, "did you hook up the device?"
"Of course," Bertrand replied smugly with a wave of his hand. "And when the Spirit Sparklers go off vaporizing one of the only two chipper kids left in the entire school—"
Danny froze horrified, instantaneously realizing who they were talking about, and shuddered while Evelyn's hands tightened around her mouth successfully keeping her jaw shut while one of her eyes twitched.
"—there'll be enough misery and anguish in that room to keep us looking young forever!" The green mass grinned and put both hands together. Immediately afterwards, though, all four of the room's occupants looked up at a new sound coming from outside.
"Well, there's the bell!" Spectra got off her desk, keeping a not-so-innocent smile on her face, and walked to her assistant before leaning over towards him. Both ghosts immediately held each other's hands, "Shall we listen to a speech and bum some more kids out?"
As soon as that question was asked, both fiends dissolved into a stream of green colored energy and slipped through the wall. Both halfas became visible and Evelyn dropped her hands before nervously asking:
"One of the only two…Danny, you don't think they're talking about—"
The currently white-haired halfa kept his gaze trained on where Spectra and Bertrand were standing previously, "Jazz…"
Elsewhere…at the opposite wing of the school,
"Why did I come back here? I could have just stayed back at the house and nobody would care. Danny's mad at me, probably even hates me, and Evelyn, Sam, and Tucker must think I shouldn't even have come here as well…guess the only thing to do is keep my distance and hope I don't worsen things…like that's even possible." Mona thought miserably, sitting cross-legged in front of her locker with a ringed notebook on her lap and a pen in hand. The black and white image drawn onto the lined paper was of Danny Phantom…only his back was facing her, one eye visible and glaring straight at her, and his arms were folded in front of him. "All of this is my fault anyway…"
Spectra and Bertrand, now in his human-like form, walked casually down the hallway towards the gymnasium chatting all the way.
"And after we destroyed everything, you up for a cappuccino?" Bertrand asked cheerfully.
"Ooh, that's a marvelous idea." Spectra agreed, adjusting her dark glasses before putting a hand to her chest right before an energy blast struck her short and pudgy assistant, sending him flying backwards. The red-head immediately turned towards where the ectoplasm energy blast came from and caught sight of Danny Phantom and Evelyn Stryker floating just in front of them. One of Danny's hands still had a harsh green glow to it.
"Figured it out, finally…" He glared, "You feed off misery don't you?"
"I'm sorry," Spectra half smiled disarmingly, "can I help you?"
"No thanks," Evelyn kept both arms folded across her chest.
"And I'm sure you can't." Danny kept himself from charging forwards, "you can't help anyone but yourself." He and Evelyn split in two directions, avoiding Spectra who almost got her hands on them, and floated just in between her and Bertrand.
"You find that one thing a kid's afraid of: their future—"
"If I tell you what happens next the timeline will get messed up…it'll affect your future like you turning into an evilhomicidal maniacand I am already making a mess just being here!"
"—their looks, their confidence—"
"Great…another ringing endorsement for the town screw-up,"
"Isn't that cute, it looks like the little lo-ser ghost has a few baby helpers!"
"—and you pick at it and pick at it while your snippy little ghost assistant—" Danny gestured towards Bertrand who was getting back on his feet. "—feeds on it!"
"Actually, judging by how Spectra practically inhaled the stuff earlier, I'll bet she gives the old man table scraps." Evelyn quipped.
Clearly insulted, Bertrand shot upwards, "HEY!"
Both halfas swiftly turned their attentions back to Spectra; the red head cheerfully applauding them with a smile on her face, "Very good!" However, they were not prepared for the counselor's eyes to turn a bright red and "dark flames" to form around her and then flow upwards until she was engulfed by them. "Although I fear you both missed a few details!"
"Actually…we sort of knew that," Evelyn meekly pointed out before Bertrand, who turned into his cougar form while their backs were turned, flying tackled her into Danny and the trio went through the nearby wall with Spectra not far behind.
Meanwhile…in the gymnasium…
The morbid crowd, including Sam and Tucker, continued listening to Jazz Fenton's speech as Mr. Lancer stood off to the side.
"In this, our centennial year, we pay tribute to the past with these ceremonial dominoes," she gestured towards the dominoes in front of her. The way the black and white chips were arranged, the last one would fall on the "big red button" and activate the Spirit Sparklers. Of course, none of the room's occupants knew the danger that was going to be set off. "Each of which will fall into the next and finally trigger the ceremonial Spirit Sparklers."
Noticing the dismal audience's silence, Lancer attempted to get an enthusiastic response from them and pumped both arms into the air "Woo-hoo!"
Cricket…cricket…
Well, he tried. The professor dropped both arms, clearly disappointed, and sighed before flicking over the first domino which toppled into the next…
Danny and Evelyn found themselves thrown to the ground outside the building as Bertrand landed in a crouch, snarling at both of them. Danny got back to his feet while Evelyn flipped forwards from her back and got back upright in a fighting stance next to him.
"Here kitty-kitty-kitty…!" Evelyn made a beckoning motion with a hand. The green shaded feline squinted and lunged forwards. Danny braced himself, Evelyn dodging to the side, catching Bertrand's claws with his hands only to get forced back against a tree.
"You thought you could stop us? You? You're both just frightened little kids!" Bertrand raised up a claw and brought it downwards.
Danny phased backwards into the tree resulting in claw marks marring the bark where his face was earlier. Bertrand landed back on all fours, confused, before the ghost boy shot out of the ground and aimed a solid punch to the feline's stomach sending the cat flying. As Evelyn flew after Bertrand, Danny was caught from behind by Spectra who got him in a choke hold.
He immediately strained to free himself from her grip. "Let go of me!"
"Why would I do that?" The female phantasm hissed gleefully, "Your doubt! Your misery! It's delicious!"
"More like disgusting," Danny glared as Spectra dragged him towards a window looking in on the gymnasium and giving them a clear view of Jazz, who was unaware of the death-trap.
"And the best part is: as soon as that silly speech is over, and that last domino falls and the Sparklers vaporize the speaker, we'll leave you here to take the blame!" The "guidance counselor" cackled while making sure her prey wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "And by the time I'm done with you, you'll be sure it was all your fault!"
At the same time, just as Mona got the resolve to get up and leave the school grounds, Bertrand phased through the ceiling and crashed into the floor. The brunette backpedaled into a wall, startled, and dropped her notebook on the ground, catching the ghost cougar's attention. "Well, well, well…if it isn't the little tattle-tale who didn't keep her jaw shut!" Bertrand swiftly got on his paws and slowly advanced, swiping the ringed notebook away with a paw which made loose papers fly loose.
"What do you want from me? If both you and Spectra wanted me to be miserably pondering why I even exist, mission accomplished!" Mona got enough nerve to snap back before Bertrand forced his paws against the wall making her swiftly fall into a half-seated position with him towering over her.
"Well, if the Spirit Sparklers don't vaporize that speaker, we'll need another tragedy to take place and provide some more misery." Bertrand sneered and removed a paw from the wall, the claws extending and glinting in the light, "how about a hungry wild cat got into the school and disemboweled a student who was alone?"
Fortunately, that did not happen.
Bertrand found himself at the opposite end of an ectoplasm energy ray which threw him into a wall which he didn't phase through and dented the lockers.
"Quit picking on my girlfriend!" Evelyn Stryker landed in front of Mona, a fingertip still sparking from the energy that was abruptly blown on in a mock western fashion. "Hey, you okay?"
The brunette nodded weakly before realization hit and her previously scared expression turned to a puzzled look, "girlfriend…?"
"Friend who's a girl, thought it fit the situation and it's a favorite quote," The bluenette smiled at her before frowning at Bertrand. "And as for you…" Taking several strides forwards, Evelyn grabbed the feline by the scruff of his neck and held him up. Noticing the not-so-hidden fury in the halfa's expression, Bertrand weakly attempted to reason with her.
"Now, now, can't we just talk about this?"
Evelyn's fingers curled inwards and she reached backwards. "Talk to the fist."
POW!
And Bertrand was sent flying into a wall.
"Wow, they're right!" Evelyn's furious expression switched to a happy one. "Cats ARE therapeutic!"
[After posting the chapter, numerous cat lovers formed a gigantic mob before invading the authoress' home and proceeded to attack her with numerous sharp objects. Her last words were: "I was just kidding…"]
"Man, I am so tired of you dumping on me," Danny grimaced as Spectra kept her grip on him and forced the halfa to watch the dominoes topple, "and I am so tired of tired of dumping on myself. Jazz never did that, even when I was mad at her…"
Spectra, due to keeping Danny in a choke hold, was close enough to sense the increase in ghost energy flowing off the halfa, "and I won't let her down!" Danny shouted and two energy rings formed around his middle before flying upwards, forcing Spectra off just as Bertrand was sent flying from inside Casper High's walls.
"Bertrand! Sic im!"
Following the command, although slightly dizzy and recovering from a punch to the face, Bertrand leapt from the ground and reformed in mid air; the cougar transforming into a…ninja.
Danny was obviously not impressed, not even caring how skilled the ninja-ghost was.
"I so don't have time for this…"
And Bertrand was sucked into the Fenton Thermos. Finally having trapped the wayward ghost after the fourth try, Danny closed the lid of the thermos and beamed triumphantly at Spectra while rattling the cylindrical container. This was turning out to be a good day.
"You're through!" Spectra snarled, flying at him with clawed hands outstretched. Danny flew out of her reach but closed his hand around her tail and gave it a hard tug.
"And you're done telling me what to do!" He retorted and, in a swinging motion, threw her face-first into a dumpster which promptly had its lid slam shut. Danny, although basking in his rediscovered confidence, remembered what was currently going on in the building. "Jazz!"
Once the last domino had fallen off its perch and landed on the switch, the two receptor dishes (Spirit Sparklers) began to glow an ominous red which illuminated the stage Jazz was standing on. The strawberry-blonde, with her eyes on the red glow, did not expect for something invisible to fly at her and pull her off the stage just as the Spirit Sparklers fired. The next thing she knew, she was not in the gymnasium anymore and her little brother, in his ghost form, was carrying her to safety.
Once they reached the safety of a storage room, Danny set Jazz back down and took a step back. He noted his sister's shocked expression but smiled warmly up at her, glad she was safe…before he was grabbed from behind and harshly pulled into another room until his back met the wall and two familiar red eyes glared into his own. The former Doctor Spectra was severely irritated from her plans being foiled and the amount of misery in the entire school was steadily dwindling.
"Look at you!" Spectra swatted the Fenton Thermos out of Danny's hands before he could trap her inside. "What are you, a ghost trying to fit in with humans or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?" The last question made her grin noticing a twinge of confusion from the halfa in her grip.
"Both!" Danny blurted out before trying to rephrase his answer, although awkwardly, "Neither! I don't know!"
Spectra laughed at the halfa's uneasiness, "You're a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy!" Danny felt a wave of dizziness before she dropped him onto the ground, taking joy from the misery collected. "Who cares for a thing like you?"
"Excuse me." Jazz, who had been standing in the doorway, immediately spoke up causing Spectra to turn around as Danny's older sister held up the Fenton Peeler. "I don't know this kid, but I hope it's okay if he gets a second opinion!" She pressed a button on the device which resulted in metal to form around her until she was fully protected by the armor and a glass visor shielding her face. Jazz took aim with her right hand pointed at Spectra as the "gun" charged and the floating ghost let out a yell as a green ray engulfed her.
The first wave peeled off her ghost form revealing her more human state. The next layers that were removed revealed Spectra being stripped of her youth till she was just an old woman with white hair and a face covered with wrinkles.
Danny, who had moved out of the way and got his hands on the Fenton Thermos, squinted at the view that both himself and his sister were presented with. "Talk about having nothing within."
Spectra looked down at her aged hands in horror before clutching her face and wailing as she felt the wrinkled skin underneath her fingertips. "I'm nothing without my youth!" She screamed even louder as Danny activated the thermos and trapped her inside. Mission accomplished. The armor, that Jazz adored earlier, swiftly unhooked itself and disappeared back into the device in her hand.
"Hey, it worked! But it's still weird…" She smiled and walked over to Danny who had the thermos on a strap over his shoulder. Brother and Sister kept their gazes locked on each other, the halfa feeling worried as she did so. What was he supposed to tell her? Danny was caught between telling her it wasn't what she thought it was while having the urge to fly out of the room. Fortunately, Jazz understood enough and broke her stare.
"Aaahhh, ghost," Jazz held both hands up in the air and about faced before making a "run" for the door. Once she reached it, however, Danny's sibling turned towards him and smiled fondly. "You'd better go." Then she disappeared from sight.
Danny, who had been holding his breath the entire time, released it in relief. Now that that was over, things could go back to normal…or how normal things could get. He turned to his right—right into a stack of boxes. The halfa clutched his face, grumbling from the stinging and strange lemon smell in his nose, as he took a step backwards to steady himself. That pretty much reminded him of one more thing he needed to fix. "Ow…oh, right." Danny dropped his hands before becoming intangible and flying through the ceiling.
Jazz Fenton, who was standing behind the doorway, watched as her brother disappeared from the room. "He can tell me when he's ready."
"So, you and Danny got into a fight yesterday." Evelyn, who had shifted back into her human form, put the pieces together as Mona collected the notebook, containing a page filled with negative images regarding the situation (a sort of catharsis), and crammed it into her backpack.
"It was my fault anyway. He was right and I should have said something sooner about…this." The brunette sighed, gesturing to the Spirit Week banner just behind her before her hands dropped to her sides. "I shouldn't have shouted back at him either. He probably hates me."
"Hates you?" The pink-haired teenager frowned. "Mona, he was only frustrated. I mean, if he did you'd be stuck in that spider-lady's lair and most likely eaten. We've been friends long enough to know…sides, I knew you would tell us what was wrong sooner or later."
"Yeah, I know," The brunette looked down to the side, clearly not convinced and willed herself to keep a straight face, "but I just can't face him right now."
"I think you should talk to him," Evelyn placed a hand on Mona's shoulder as a sign of support, "because if you keep running it's only going to make the problem worse…although that example should be reversed when it comes to me."
"You really think so?" Mona looked back up.
"In fact, sorting things out right now is not such a bad idea." The halfa smiled before stepping backwards and walking away. "See ya later Mona; you too, Danny!"
"Thanks and we'll see you later Evelyn,"
"Yeah, see ya—" The brunette's slight smile abruptly switched to a startled expression before nervously turning around. Danny Fenton had been standing right behind her the whole time. It was needless to say an awkward silence ensued, considering they were alone in the hallway, with both not sure how to start…
…
"So…" Danny spoke up, then faltered, and tried again, "…ah…"
"Look," Mona blurted out, uncomfortable with the silence, making Danny jump upwards, "I really should have told you what was going on in the first place considering most of what you went through with the evil spider-lady and making the wish to come to Amity Park was my fault and I really should tell you what's going to happen next just so you'll be prepared and I also want to say—"
"It's not your fault," Danny tried to apologize at the same time, "you didn't know Vlad was going to notice and you didn't know the spider-lady existed and I don't hate you I was just really frustrated I shouldn't have taken it out on you and Spectra was picking at my confidence and you don't have to warn me about the timeline or what's going to happen next so—"
"I'M SORRY!" Both teenagers yelled simultaneously, drowned out by the applause coming from the gym, before hunching over in place, worn out and trying to catch their second winds.
"Okay," The halfa stood up straight, "you really thought I hated you?"
"Sorry, I…have this thing where I get scared of people when I think I've pissed them off…" Mona uneasily rubbed her left arm and glanced off to the side. "And I shouldn't have yelled about you becoming an evil homicidal—"
Danny raised a hand up, motioning for her to stop, "whatever future you're talking about, don't tell me, I'm fine with not knowing about it." He dropped his hand. "And as far as the timeline goes, whatever happens happens…but if you know something bad is going on—"
"I'll try…but there's just this thing with a formula where you fight a ghost, exchange in witty banter, catch the ghost or they escape, and there's a moral learned…" Mona replied, biting her lip. "You get the general idea…"
"Alright, fair enough," He half-shrugged before realizing Mona had stuck her right hand out.
"I...err…I'll promise to tell you the truth from now on." She forced herself to look Danny in the eye. "And I really should be the one apologizing…so…we're still friends right?" Danny's frown switched to a small smile, in understanding, and closed his right hand around hers.
"Friends," He replied before their hands released each other's and went back down to their sides. Both teenagers were silent for a while, the applause in the background still adding a happy note.
"Danny, I need to ask you something important." Mona broke the silence, her voice carrying worry.
"What is it?"
"Have you heard from or seen Desiree around?"
"No, actually I haven't." Danny responded. "Why?"
"It's weird, I haven't spotted a trace of her since Monday." Mona frowned. "I'm really starting to get worried, what if something bad happened to her?"
"She's probably back at your house right now," Danny tried to lighten the situation despite a nagging feeling at the back of his skull. "But we, as in Evelyn and I, will keep an eye out for her when we can if you don't hear from her."
"Thanks Danny," The brunette smiled, although still carrying a twinge of worry, before they heard the bell ring. "I should head back to the house and double-check. I'll see you later, and thanks!" She took a step back before making a beeline for the front door.
"Desiree? I'm home!" Mona opened the door to the house and stepped inside. The brunette closed the door behind her and took note of her surroundings. The dark blue headband, which she had stopped wearing since yesterday, was still discarded on the ground while the entire house was silent. Mona stooped down to pick up the headband before standing back up and walking further into the house.
"Something just doesn't smell right." She frowned as she stepped into the living room and cupped a hand to her mouth. "Desiree? Are you here? Seriously, this is getting creepy!"
"Your housemaid isn't here…" Brown eyes widened in recognition of the voice and Mona looked upwards at the high ceiling, dropping the headband in surprise and horror. "…and by the looks of things you are all alone and defenseless, just as I had planned."
Vlad Masters, "The Wisconsin Ghost", "Packer's Fanatic", "Multi-Millionaire", "Fruit Loop", etc was hovering just fifteen feet from her in mid-air while smiling sinisterly. Mona was frozen to the spot, fear making her legs forget how to move, while she stared at him.
"Help…"
To be continued…
Danny: "Finally, another chapter completed!"
Me: "Yes, that's good…ho ho that's dandy…now can you please untie me from the chair?"
Danny: "Not just yet."
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