Well, here we are with the fourth chapter. I'm sorry it took a little longer than I expected to get it out to you, but here it is. I didn't get to the point in the story I meant to in this chapter, and I'm not sure that I'm completely happy with it, but I'm going to post it now because very soon I'll be busy for about a month. I'm going to try and push out one more chapter before I leave, but I've got a weekend and one day to do so...so obviously no promises on that front.
Contractual Obligations
The next day of school felt like it would never end. From the time Danny woke up in the morning he couldn't help but feel on edge about what he'd experienced the night before. Even for someone who dealt with paranormal beings and events on a regular basis that had been...unnerving. Regardless, when he walked into the classroom that morning he glanced at his two classmates both of them looked decidedly shaken up.
'Well, I suppose that if I was looking for a sign that they saw something strange last night this is like them holding flashing arrows over their heads.' He mused, as he sat down next to Chie, "The three of us need to talk after school." He muttered quietly to her, receiving a quick nod from both of them in response.
From that point forward the day drug on as Danny found himself being called on at least once in each class to answer the various teacher's questions, though he was thankful that he was able to answer each of them correctly, much to the chagrin of Mr. Morooka. Finally, after dealing with the hunch-backed teacher for an absolutely cruel amount of time, the final bell sounded and they were dismissed by their homeroom teacher and while Danny was packing his bag he saw Yosuke stop in front of him, shuffling from foot to foot nervously.
"Y-yo. Umm...it's, uh, it's really not that important, but...well, yesterday, on the TV, I..." The brunette stuttered, suddenly becoming much quieter when he saw Chie approaching them excitedly, "Oh...uh, never mind. I'll tell you later." He finished, laughing somewhat nervously.
Chie didn't seem to catch Yosuke's nervousness as she leaned up against her desk, "Yosuke, did you hear the rumor? Saki-senpai's supposedly the one that discovered that body!"
The grimaced and nodded, "Yeah...I wonder if that's why she looked so down...She doesn't seem to be at school today either."
Yukiko barely glanced at them when she heard Chie's voice before she finished backing her bag and stood up, shrugging it onto her shoulders, drawing a disappointed glance from her friend in green, "Huh? Hey, Yukiko, are you helping out at the inn today too?"
The raven-haired girl nodded tiredly, "Things are really out of hand right now...I'm sorry." She muttered, before slowly making her way out of the class room.
Chie stared after her friend as she left, concern etched onto her face, before turning back to Danny and Yosuke, "I guess they're running her pretty ragged..."
There was a slightly awkward moment of silence, before the girl seemed to realize something and brightened up significantly, "Oh, by the way, did you see...it...last night?"
Yosuke's gaze whipped to her suddenly, obviously surprised, before glancing away nervously, "Huh? I...uh, well...what about you?"
"I did! I seriously saw a girl! But...my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean? I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was a girl for sure...her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform and-"
"Hey… I think that's the same person I saw. I couldn't make out that much detail, though. The image I saw was much blurrier…" Yosuke suddenly said, his former nervousness quickly discarded.
"Wait, so you saw it too? And we saw the same girl...? What's that supposed to mean, do we have the same soulmate?"
Yosuke shook his head and shrugged at her question, "How am I supposed to know?" He muttered, before glancing at Danny, "What 'bout you? Did you see it too?"
Danny raised an eyebrow at their descriptions matching the girl he'd seen too, 'If they both saw the same girl then maybe they also had the other things happen to them?' He thought as he nodded absently, before letting out a small sigh.
"I did...it was weird. I couldn't make her out very well, but before I could really think about it too much I...err, I heard a voice in my head. I can't remember exactly what it said but it was loud...it gave me a hell of a headache." He said quietly, glancing around to make sure he wasn't overheard before continuing, "By the time the pain stopped the screen was blank again and I wasn't really sure that the entire thing had happened, so I touched the screen. It was like I was reaching through jello or something...next thing I knew something had pulled the rest of my arm and my head in, but the frame was too small and I uh...I got stuck. When I hit the frame whatever was pulling me in stopped and I managed to get out." He finished, glancing up at them. He was disappointed to see that they had confused and skeptical looks on their faces.
"Well...it sounds like all saw the same person..." Yosuke said, hesitantly, before shaking his head skeptically, "But weird voices aside, what was that about you getting sucked into your TV...? Were you seriously that out of it last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of your TV."
Danny opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it, and Chie continued on when she saw he wasn't going to talk, a teasing smile on her face, "That'd be one interesting dream though. I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was too small. That's pretty realistic." She said, her voice dripping with mocking sarcasm. "Well, if the TV was bigger the-" She began to continue, before her eyes widened as she apparently realized something. "Oh that reminds me! Our family's been talking about getting a bigger TV."
Danny couldn't help himself as he raised a slightly incredulous eyebrow at the disjointed way the girl's mind apparently worked, while Yosuke smiled brightly at her realization. "Oh yeah? Well flatscreen TVs are definitely in these days. Wanna go check 'em out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month."
"Ooh, definitely! My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I've gotta see my Kung-fu movies on the big screen!" She said excitedly, before spontaneously breaking out a kick "Hwa-taaaa!", Danny was forced to stop himself from putting her on the ground when her foot passed barely an inch away from his face.
Yosuke chuckled at her, a smile stretching across his face, "We've got some pretty big ones in stock. I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into." He said, glancing at Danny teasingly.
The half-ghost let out a small sigh, somewhere between annoyance and relief. 'Well crap...the fact that I'm apparently hearing voices nobody else can and might be hallucinating sticking my head in a TV probably doesn't speak well for my mental health...then again I guess that's to be expected. At least those two are writing it off as a dream...of course on the flip side if they do think I'm insane then they'd probably decide to leave me be...' The thought made a small frown appear on his face as the trio made their way to the shopping center, 'I should be alright with that, right? I mean that's what I want, isn't it? You can't let them get too close, Phantom...you need to stop this before it gains any traction...'
Of course that's what he should do...but for some reason he was finding it difficult to ignore the other voice at the back of his mind nagging at him, urging against it, begging him to just let himself have a normal year for once. 'No...ignore it, Phantom...letting them in will only cause more pain later, and that's that.'
Danny nodded solemnly to himself as they reached Junes and made their way through the stores, slowing down as Yosuke began giving them a tour of the electronics section, quickly coming to the TV displays.
Chie's eyes widened in amazement as she saw the size of several of the TVs there, shaking her head in disbelief, "Wow, this is huge! And...holy crap, it's expensive! Who buys something like this?" She asked skeptically as she gazed at the price tag.
Yosuke shrugged non-committedly, "I dunno...rich folks? Honestly not many people shop for TVs here. That's why we don't have any clerks around."
"Huh...not worth trying then, I guess. At least looking's free." Chie muttered dispassionately, before shooting Yosuke a smirk, which the other brunette returned, and the two of them stepped forward, pressing their hands against the screen gently. The two of them pushed against it for a few seconds each before pulling back, Chie sighing in mock disappointment as Yosuke shook his head.
"...Nope, can't get in. Figures."
Danny rolled his eyes at the two of them, "Yeah, yeah, you two can just screw off." He muttered, somewhat darkly.
Chie laughed at his annoyance, smiling teasingly, "Haha, this proves it. It was all just a dream."
"Besides, these flat-screen TVs are so thin, you'd just end up on the other side…
Argh, what am I saying!?"
The half-ghost opened his mouth angrily, about to make another retort, before thinking better of it and shaking his head silently. Yosuke looked at him expectantly for a moment before smirking and turning to the girl. "So, Chie. What kind of TVs are you guys in the market for?"
"Hmm...well, they said they wanted something that's cheap. You got any suggestions?"
The brunette nodded, plastering a salesman-like smile on his face as he led her further down the line. Danny watched them walk away for a moment, before turning his gaze back to the TV they'd been teasing him with. There was something...strange about it, it looked perfectly normal, but something just felt...off about it to him. He stared at it for a few moments before stepping towards it hesitantly.
'What's the worst that could happen? If what I remember actually happened last night then I'll sneak out later tonight and come back...see if I can actually get into whatever's in there, I'm sure I can handle it. And if it really was just a dream then there's nothing to worry about...right?'
Danny slowly reached out and tapped the screen, jumping slightly when he got the same rippling reaction as he did last night. His eyes widened, whether in excitement or shock he wasn't sure, and he glanced left and right quickly making sure nobody was looking, before plunging his hand fully through the screen.
'Amazing...it's actually working. Why is this suddenly happening? I don't remember ever being able to go into a TV without using my powers before...I'll have to think about that later. Right now I need to stop messing with it before someone se-'
The half-ghost's eyes widened alarm when he heard Chie's high voice squeaking an entire octave higher, though he couldn't tell if it was from fear or just surprise. "You've got to be kidding me...did you really just stick your hand through the screen?!"
"Oh man...this is for real...that's some magic trick, man!" Yosuke said, his own eyes wide in awe, "So how's it work, huh?! What's the magician's secret?!"
Danny swallowed thickly as his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. 'Shit...I really hadn't planned on this...but, well I guess they already know. Maybe a little revenge is in order...' He thought, a small smirk crossing his face as he turned back to the TV.
"I'm not sure...let me try to ask him." He said sarcastically, before leaning forward and plunging his head into the TV, leaning all the way in to his shoulders.
"H-hey, don't do that! What're you doing?!"
"Oh my god!" He heard Chie squeak, both of their voices somewhat muffled and warped, as if he was hearing them through water.
The half-ghost couldn't help chuckling to himself as he glanced around curiously, "Hmm...there's really not much in here, other than empty space a bunch of fog." He muttered, mostly to himself, though he expected the other two could hear him as well.
"Wh-What do you mean 'in here'?!"
"Wh-What do you mean 'empty space'?!"
Danny shrugged at their borderline hysterical questions as if what he was seeing was perfectly normal, which to be fair was at least somewhat true for him at least, "Just that it seems really spacious in here, like there'd be plenty of room to do whatever I wanted."
"Wh-what do you mean by that?!" Yosuke croaked out, at least managing not to shout it this time.
Before he could answer him Chie squeaked at him again, clearly still freaking out, "I mean, what's going on?!"
Yosuke danced around nervously, apparently more freaked out than Danny thought, "Holy crap… I-I think this is all too much for my bladder…"
Danny shook his head inside the TV, rolling his eyes, 'Oh come on, that's a bit over the top. I mean sure, this is a bit weird, but really? This is nothing compared the the ghost zone...or at least this area of it isn't'
"What the- are you serious right now? You're not going to pee your pants are you?" Chie asked, obviously as unimpressed as Danny.
"I've been holding it in all day! I-I haven't had a chance to go...argh! I can't hold it any more!" The boy shouted, dancing a little more before running off to the left. He was only gone for a few seconds before Danny heard him running back.
"Shit! Customers! They're coming!"
Danny's eyes widened and he started trying to pull himself out of the TV, only to find himself genuinely stuck this time, he heard the two behind him panicking even further, "What!? But we've got a guy half stuck in a TV here! Wh-What're we gonna do!?" Chie screeched, the situation obviously stretching far beyond the boundaries of what she was comfortable with.
The half-ghost could hear his classmates behind him shuffling around in panic, he was pretty sure they were running in circles, before he suddenly felt them slam into him. His eyes widened as he felt himself fall further forward, accompanied by Yosuke and Chie, and then they were falling through the darkness. He desperately wanted to go ghost, catch his classmates, and fly out of there but there was no way he was going to risk that after everything else that was going on right now, the two of them might truly lose it if they saw that.
It felt like they were falling forever, the scenery around them slowly shifting to a contrasted mixture of a bright yellow and black, but they eventually found the bottom. Danny landed harshly on his back and, while it certainly wasn't the hardest he'd hit the ground, it wasn't exactly pleasant. The half-ghost's eyes widened as he suddenly heard his two classmates screaming as they fell and seconds later he felt Yosuke's back slam into his chest, followed quickly by Chie, both of them knocking the air out of him.
Danny coughed roughly as Chie growled at Yosuke and, ignoring their protests, quickly pushed them off his chest as he pushed himself to his feet, looking around the area quickly in an effort to ensure they weren't in any immediate danger. He could barely see five feet in front of him, the place was a veritable ocean of fog, but from what he could make out they seemed to be in the middle of an empty TV show set.
The half-ghost glanced to his left as his classmates stumbled up beside him, he looked each of them up and down quickly but couldn't see any obvious injuries, "Haa...so...uh...we're all still alive...right?" Chie huffed out nervously as her eyes darted around the fog desperately.
Danny raised an eyebrow at the question before nodding, looking back to the studio in hopes of finding some kind of clue where they were, "At least half-way there...you two okay?" He asked distractedly, his voice significantly harder than it'd been since leaving Amity Park.
Yosuke grimaced in pain as he rubbed his butt, "I think my butt's cracked..."
Danny rolled his eyes, "Of course it is!" Chie huffed in annoyance.
"Woah!"
"What is it now? You didn't wet your pants, did you?"
"No, stupid! Look around!" Yosuke retorted harshly, glaring at her.
"Yeah...it looks like a set of a TV show, maybe a studio." Danny said, turning his attention back to the two classmates he found himself with.
Chie nodded in agreement, "Yeah...but what about all this fog...or is it smoke? There's no place like this in Inaba, is there?"
"Hell no...but man, this place is huge..." Yosuke answered, shaking his head in amazement.
"What are we gonna do?" Chie asked, crossing her arms under her chest insecurely as Danny turned to look at them, shrugging.
"We need to find an exit and get home. But we're not going to do that just standing around here." He answered calmly.
Both of the brunettes nodded quickly, clearly grateful for his level head, "G-good plan! We need to get home and- uh...wait a minute which way did we come from? I don't see a way in...or out!"
Yosuke spun around, his eyes wide again, "What? T-that can't be right! H-how could that be?!"
"I don't know! Don't ask me! I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!" Chie squeaked, panic setting into both of them again, leading Danny to let out another frustrated sigh.
"Both of you calm down. We fell in, remember? Like I said, we're not going to find our way out if we stick right around here, we need to search the area, see if we can find another way out. If we can't then we'll make our way back here and go from there." The half-ghost explained, doing his best to soothe them, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't notice the somewhat annoyed tone of his voice.
'If it comes to that...and we can't find any clues on how to get out of here, then I guess I won't have much choice. I'll transform and we'll fly out of here, and I'll deal with whatever comes of them finding out.'
Yosuke nodded quickly, a somewhat desperate look on his face, "Y-yeah, an exit! We need to find one!"
"Is there really a way out of here...?" Chie asked, her voice cracking.
Danny nodded, beginning to walk in an admittedly random direction in hopes of finding something. "Of course there is...there's always a way out, Chie. Just trust me."
"I...I guess so, but..."
"If there's no exit we're trapped, so let's just cross our fingers and try to find a way out." Yosuke reasoned, slowly following Danny's lead.
The half-ghost couldn't help but roll his eyes at the brunette's 'encouragement''Way to go, Yosuke...that's exactly what she needs to hear right now.' He thought, as they wandered further into the fog.
The trio had been exploring for half an hour when Danny noticed their surroundings slowly warping into that of a darkened city, the sky taking the appearance of red and black swirls. 'And here I was thinking that the Ghost Zone was the creepiest place I'd ever have the pleasure to visit. Glad to see myself proven wrong.' He mused as he looked out over the railing of the apartment complex-like building they'd found themselves at.
"Is it just me, or does this place feel...different from where we were before?" Chie asked warily, hugging her sport coat tighter to herself.
Danny nodded in understanding, "It does have a kind of...oppressive atmosphere, doesn't it?"
"It looks like we're in some kind of building, but...damn, this fog is so thick, I can barely see." Yosuke muttered, mirroring Chie and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Are you sure we aren't wandering farther away?"
"No, but if we don't check the area out we won't know for sure. Don't worry, I remember how to get back to the studio from here." The half-ghost replied confidently, stepping forward and resuming their exploration, raising an eyebrow as they found the only way forward was into one of the apartments.
Danny glanced around warily before cautiously stepping through the black and red swirling doorway, followed hesitantly by his classmates. The second he set foot on the other side and got a good look of his surroundings he almost wished he hadn't. They were standing in an apartment, just as he'd expected, but there was no exit aside from the one they'd came through, and the entire place looked foreboding. There were posters and fliers scattered across the floor and on several of the walls, accompanied by what looked an awful lot like half-dried blood splatter across several areas. The lonely noose and straight-backed chair in the middle of the room completed the cheerful atmosphere for the apartment.
"Is it just me or is the fog lighter in here?" He heard Yosuke ask, realizing once more that he wasn't alone in the room he nodded absently, still unable to ignore the terrifying decor of the apartment, even as he heard Yosuke flip his phone open, "No signal here either...go figure."
The half-ghost jumped slightly as he heard Chie stomp in behind them, turning to look at her terrified face, "Can't you guys slow down a bit? It's hard enough to see where you guys are going with all this...Huh? What the hell, it's a dead end. There's no exit!"
The other brunet nodded shakily, "Yeah...it just keeps getting creepier the further we get in." He said, shifting in what Danny thought was nervousness before he let out a groan of frustration and ran over to a corner, "Argh! I can't hold it any longer, my bladder's going to explode!"
"Yosuke, what are you doing?!" Chie cried in shock, staring at him wide-eyed.
"I gotta let it out before I piss my pants!" The boy shouted back at her, angrily.
"Y-you're going here?! Oh you've got to be kidding..." The girl spit out, glaring at him.
"T-turn around! I can't go if everybody's watching..." Yosuke whined, prompting Danny to roll his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest and turned around exasperatedly, though Chie didn't bother to extend him the courtesy, leaving the boy to groan again in frustration as he buttoned his pants, shooting a glare at the girl, "Aaargh! I can't do it...it's your fault if my bladder bursts." He muttered to her angrily.
"Like I care..." She shot back, before glancing around the room, apparently taking her surroundings in for the first time, "Anyways...what's with this room? Check out these posters...their faces are all cut out...somebody must really hate this person."
Danny let out a small sigh, nodding even as Yosuke stared at the chair and noose in the middle of the room sadly, "Dude...this chair and rope...that kind of arrangement is never good. It's a noose...is this a scarf?"
The half-ghost couldn't help but look at the two teenagers, somewhat skeptical that they hadn't noticed these things when they first came in, 'Their powers of deduction are astonishing.'
Chie shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before slowly walking back to the doorway, "C'mon, let's go back to where we came from and look somewhere else for an exit..."
"Hey, I think I've seen this poster somewhere before." Yosuke muttered, leaning closer to it, but jumped in surprise when Chie growled at him.
"Who cares? Let's go! I'm sic of this place!" She said desperately, before calming down slightly, "And...I'm not feeling so good."
Yosuke nodded slowly, "Now that you mention it, me too..."
Danny raised an eyebrow at the two of them as they left the apartment and started to make their way back to the studio. 'I wonder if the way they're feeling is tied to wherever we are? But...if it was then why wouldn't I be feeling it too? Maybe I'm not feeling it because of my ghost half? Of course it could just be stress on them...probably that one, really.'
The half-ghost continued thinking on their situation as they wandered back through the fog and was slightly surprised when Chie spoke up again, "Whew...we finally made it back here."
Danny blinked in surprise as he glanced around himself, realizing the girl was right, however he was disappointed to see that there still wasn't an exit to be found on ground level. He let out a small sigh, even as he glanced around one more time, 'Well...I guess it was too much to hope I wouldn't have to go gho- wait what the hell is that?' His thought process was torn asunder as he felt the familiar sensation of his ghost sense going off, though it was somewhat different than usual, shivering as he saw mist escape from his mouth.
"Th-there's something over there!" Yosuke stuttered out, pointing towards the shadow Danny had noticed, slowly moving towards them.
The half-ghost balled his hands into fists and stepped in front of his classmates, preparing to call forward his ghost half if he had to, though his apprehension quickly evaporated when the shape finally got close enough for him to make out. It was a blue-furred bear-like creature wearing a red and white clown suit. Danny raised an eyebrow at it as his classmates voiced his own thoughts.
"What is this thing? A monkey...? A bear...?"
"What in the world...?"
"That's what I want to know! Who are you guys...?" The bear suddenly spoke up, its voice high, somewhat squeaky, and thoroughly un-threatening.
"I-it talked!" Chie gasped, jumping backwards in surprise, before raising her fists in an unconvincing display of strength. "Uhh...w-what are you? Y-you wanna fight?!"
The creature flinched away from the girl, covering it's face in fear, "D-don't yell at me like that..."
Danny let out a small sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, before sending a small glare towards Chie as he stepped forward again, carefully watching the bear, "Hey...I'm sorry she yelled at you. She's just scared because we're lost. Can you tell us where we are so we can get home?" He asked, surprising himself with the amount of gentleness in his voice.
The bear looked back up at him, seeming slightly less afraid but still wary of them, "This place is what it is. It doesn't have a name." He said simply, pausing for a moment before finishing, "It's where I live."
"Wait...you live here?" Yosuke asked in shock, looking around disbelievingly.
The creature nodded silently for a moment before looking around hurriedly, "If I was you guys I'd hurry back to the other side. Someone's been throwing people in here. It's a big headache."
Danny's eyes widened in shock, "Woah woah woah, hold it! What do you mean throwing people in? Do you know who's doing it?" He asked quickly.
"I dunno who's doing it! I just want them to think before they go doing things like that!" The bear shot back, obviously distressed by the situation.
Chie's glare returned and she stomped the ground in frustration, "Hey, what's your problem? What gives you the right to yell at us like that?" She shouted at him, her panic obviously rising again, "What are you!? Where are we?! What the heck's going on here?!" She asked, somewhat hysterically.
The bear jumped back in surprise and fear again, quickly running and hiding itself behind Danny's back, much to his confusion, "I already told you..." He said, fearfully, before continuing on. "A-anyways, you should hurry back."
"Look, what it comes down to is, well you want us to get out of here, right? Well so do we! We just don't know how!" Yosuke replied with a frustrated sigh.
"Urgh! That's what I keep telling you! I'll let you out!"
"Like I keep saying, bear, we don't know where the freakin' exi- wait...what?" The brunette fell short, staring at the creature in confusion.
Danny raised an eyebrow as the bear slowly crept out from behind him, taking care to avoid Chie, and made his way to the center of the studio floor before doing a strange rhythmic tap with his foot. The trio stared at him in confusion for a moment until, a few seconds later, a stack of three TVs fell from above them, landing roughly next to the bear.
Yosuke's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the TVs, "W-what the hell?"
"Wh-where did those TVs come from?" Chie asked, still clearly upset though it seemed she was slowly coming back down again as she and Yosuke followed Danny to stand right next to the stack while the bear fidgeted impatiently.
"Okay, now go, go and get outta here! I'm a busy bear!"
Before Danny could even consider exactly how they were supposed to get out the bear came around behind them and shoved them towards the tower, not listening to either of his classmates' protests. As one final push came from behind his head plunged into the bottom TV and he felt, rather than saw, the world warp again as he fell through nothingness all over again, only to be spit out with Chie and Yosuke onto the familiar floor of Junes' electronics center.
Yosuke's head whipped around in amazement and obvious relief, "D-did we make it back?" The brunette asked, as an advertisement for a sale went off over the intercom, "Crap...is it already that late?"
Danny let out a small sigh as he pushed himself up off the floor, followed by the two brunettes, "Looks like we were in there for longer than I thought." He muttered, quietly.
"I guess so...well, I'm gon-" Yosuke started before falling silent for a moment in shock, his eyes widening as he looked past Danny and Chie, "That's right...that's where I've seen that poster before. Look! It's that poster we saw over there!"
Chie and Danny exchanged a glance before turning around slowly, "What are you...hey you're right, they're the same. I couldn't tell before without the face, but that's Misuzu Hiiragi." Chie said, somewhat nervously, "She's been all over the news recently. Something about...well I guess her husband was having an affair with the lady who died the other day."
"Hey, so does that mean...? That weird room we saw, could it be related to that Yamano lady's death? I mean, now that I think about it...there was that creepy noose hanging from the ceiling." Yosuke shuddered, "Ugh...alright, I need to stop talking about this! I'm gonna go home and I'm gonna wipe what happened today from my brain...my poor heart can't take much more of this."
Chie nodded emphatically as she agreed, before shivering again and saying she was going home, followed closely by the other brunette, leaving Danny alone as he walked back to Dojima's house. Unfortunately he couldn't tear his mind away from what he'd seen, 'That place was creepy as hell...never thought I'd find something that was weirder than the ghost zone, but there we go. And what about Yosuke's idea about the place being related to that announcer's death? I mean...surely that announcer isn't the only one who doesn't like that Miisuzu person, though it does seem like a hell of a coincidence.'
The half-ghost shook his head at the thought, 'What the hell am I doing? I'm no detective...I don't even know where to start on that stuff. That other word...dimension, whatever you want to call it though...that I have experience with. It might be interesting to check it out, without having those two along to slow me down. I'd have to make sure I had a sure-fire way of getting out though. Somehow I don't think getting stuck over there would be much fun.'
By the time he got back to the house, Danny felt like he might have understood what the other two were talking about, when they said they felt sick while exploring the TV's world, his head was pounding and he felt sluggish, though he was curious as to why it had such a delayed effect on him. He did his best to shrug it off as he phased the rain off him and walked through the front door, surprised to see that Dojima was home, as he took his shoes off.
The half-ghost managed to eat a small dinner, while his uncle asked if he'd heard anything about Saki Konishi, before dismissing himself and heading up to bed. His head was pounding as he collapsed onto his futon, too tired to care about the midnight channel as he drifted into a restless sleep.
Danny stifled a yawn as he stood with the rest of the school, waiting for the principle to announce what he'd called the assembly for, "Man...this sucks. Second day in a row that I had trouble sleeping." He muttered, as he let out another unwelcome yawn, ignoring the gossip most of his classmates were indulging in. The half-ghost was easily able to drown out most of the world, up until he caught the last bits of Chie's nervous rambling.
"So that's why she isn't here. Yukiko did say she'd be here after lunch though..." The jacket-clad teen trailed off, her brow furrowing in concern as she noticed Yosuke's slightly worried expression. "Hey...is something wrong, Yosuke?"
The brunette's head shot up at his name, blinking a couple of times in surprise before shaking his head slowly, "Oh...uh, it's nothing." He muttered, non-committedly, earning a raised eyebrow from Danny at his unusually sullen mood.
'He's obviously got something on his mind that's bothering him...it could just be him thinking about things from the TV, but...I don't know, he just seems off.' The half-ghost mused, though his concentration was broken as the second year history teacher, Ms. Sofue, took the stage reluctantly, followed closely by the principle.
"Everyone, please settle down. The assembly is about to begin. First, the principle has something he'd like to say." She announced, somewhat tonelessly, before stepping away from the podium to let the older man accompanying her take it.
The old man stared out at the sea of students silently for a few seconds, before taking a deep, mournful, breath, "I...regret to say, I have a terrible announcement for all of you." He spoke softly into the microphone, silencing the few whispers that had persevered up to that point. "One of our third-year students, Ms. Saki Konishi of class three...has passed away."
Danny's eyes widened in shock, a reaction shared by many of his classmates as whispers erupted throughout the room again, he briefly heard Chie questioning the news breathlessly. He ignored her as his gaze shot to Yosuke in concern, seeing his eyes wide with denial and grief as he stared at the headmaster in silent shock.
The principle paused for a moment as the students spoke among themselves before sighing deeply and carrying on, "Quiet, please, everybody. Ms. Konishi was found deceased this morning...and while there is no news yet on how she died, the reasons for her passing are currently under investigation by the police. If they ask you for your cooperation, I urge you as students of this school to provide only the facts." He said solemnly, taking another moment to pause before continuing, his voice growing slightly harder, "I have been assured by the faculty that there's been no evidence that bullying was involved in the incident. So mind what you say, not only to the police, but to anyone that asks..."
The half-ghost stared up at the man, feeling as if an ice-cube had been dropped in his stomach as the speech continued on, though after the initial announcement it became significantly less important. He shook his head absently as he processed what he'd been told, unable to dismiss the feeling that he was going to be dragged, possibly kicking and screaming, into the middle of whatever whatever had caused the girl's death.
Danny quickly regretted his thought process as he glanced at the boy next to him who was, like it or not, quickly becoming a friend to him. 'Now isn't the time to think about that, asshole...how selfish can you be? Just look at Yosuke...he adored that girl, whether he'd admit it or not. You know that this has probably crushed him, never mind the girl's family, and you're worrying about how it's going to affect you?!' He let out a small sigh as they walked to class together, though Yosuke didn't quite seem to be taking anything in, his eyes looking almost dead.
He hesitated only for a moment, before putting a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks as he turned to him, "I...Yosuke, I'm not really sure how to put this, but I'm sorry. I know it's got to be hard for you, but just...well, remember where your friend are, alright? I promise if you need anything, all you have to do is talk to me." Danny said quietly, somewhat unsure of himself as he offered his support, but knowing he couldn't do any less for him.
Yosuke nodded silently a few times, he could see wetness welling up in his eyes, though to the teen's credit he refused to let any tears fall, before swallowing thickly, "I...thanks." He muttered, before turning and heading forward to class, leaving Danny staring at his retreating back, conflicted at his offer of support.
The rest of the day continued mostly unchanged from the original plan, something that Danny felt both grateful and slightly uneasy about. However easily the worst thing through the day was hearing the students, and often times even the teachers themselves, gossiping about Saki Konishi's death, something that left a sour taste in his mouth which he found almost impossible to ignore. When the final bell came the half-ghost was more than eager to leave the school behind for the day, and not for the usual reasons.
Chie had quickly left Morooka's room with him when he'd grabbed his bag, Yosuke having left early to use the bathroom, and the pair were making their way to the exit, planning to wait for the other brunette at the gate. Chie sighed disgustedly as they passed another pair of students, having the misfortune to hear them gossiping about Saki, "Sheesh...it's so easy to toss around theories and make stupid jokes when you're not personally involved..." She muttered tiredly.
The half-ghost nodded in agreement, opening his mouth to respond only to notice Yosuke walking towards the purposefully, though the pain he'd been displaying all day was still clear in his eyes as he came to a stop next to them, glancing around quickly before speaking, "Hey...did you guys check out the TV last night?"
Chie's eyes widened in shock, "Yosuke! Not you too!" She cried disbelievingly, though Danny merely stared at him silently, a small amount of uneasy suspicion growing in his mind.
"Just...listen for a sec, will you?!" The boy shot back defensively, "Something kept bothering me, so...I watched it again, and...I think the girl on the screen...was Saki-senpai." He mumbled, suddenly seeming to find his shoes very interesting, before looking back up at them, tears beginning to well up in his eyes again.
"There's no mistaking it...Senpai looked...she looked like she was writhing in pain...and then she just disappeared from the screen."
"What...?" Chie stared at him, seemingly torn between disbelief and horror at his story.
"You heard Senpai's body was found in a similar situation as that announcer's, right…? Well, remember that guy you told us about? How he was all excited that his soulmate was the announcer?"
Danny let out a small sigh and ran his hand down his face in apprehension. He felt a small chill go down his spine as he realized exactly what his classmate was getting at, suddenly knowing without a doubt that his earlier thoughts from the assembly were about to be proven true.
"Maybe...just maybe, I think Ms. Yamano might have been on that midnight channel before she died too."
"What's that supposed to mean...?" Chie shook her head in confusion, though it quickly turned to denial as she put together what he was saying, "Hold on...are you saying that people who appear on that TV...die?" She asked incredulously.
Yosuke rubbed his neck uncomfortably at the question, though he didn't back down, "I can't say for sure. But something just tells me...I just can't dismiss it as a coincidence."
The girl just stared at the him, glancing at Danny quickly in disbelief before looking back at Yosuke in shocked silence, while the half-ghost shook his head slowly. "Plus, remember what that bear thing said? How that place was dangerous, and we should leave before the fog clears…? It also said that someone's been throwing people in there." The brunette reasoned, carrying on before either of them could interrupt, "And that room with the posters on the wall…it has to have something to do with the announcer's death. I mean…don't you think there's some kind of connection there? Couldn't that world in the TV have something to do with Senpai and the announcer's death! Well…? What do you think…?" He finished, looking between the two of them, obviously desperate for them to at least consider what he was saying.
Danny ran a hand roughly through his hair, messing it up further than it already was as his mind worked through what his classmate had said. 'God...I want so much to just say he's grasping at straws to try and come up with a reason to why she died, but...what he's saying makes sense. And I've sure as hell seen enough to know better than to dismiss something because it seems impossible at first glance...damn it all to hell.'
Finally the half-ghost nodded slowly, "I...damn it, I hate to admit it, but it makes sense."
Chie blinked in surprise at his acceptance, but Yosuke immediately grasped onto it, "So it's not just me then?" He asked cautiously.
"No...like I said, if what you're saying is true then we've seen more than enough to at least consider the idea."
"Right...if there is a connection, then there's a good bet that the two of them went inside that world. That would explain the posters in that room. Which means...if we look around, we might find a place that has something to do with Senpai too." He said, conviction clear on his face, leading Danny to close his eyes apprehensively as he realized what he meant to do.
'The question now being whether I stop him or not. I'm not even sure he can get in there without me anyways...but if he can then I could easily stop him, all it would take is overshadowing him. But...I don't know, I feel like if I don't help him then he's going to find a way in himself, or at least try to, and then we might have another tragedy on our hands. At least if I go with him then I can protect him...he'd probably learn my secret but...well I'll deal with that when and if the time comes.'
The half-ghost's eyes snapped open as he realized the conversation had continued without him, "You think we can rely on the police, Chie?!" Yosuke snapped cynically, "They haven't made any progress on the announcer's case. Besides, even if we told them about the world inside the TV, there's no way they're gonna believe us!"
The boy took a deep breath before continuing, much more subdued than before, "Look...if I'm completely off-base with this, that's fine. It's just...I need to know why Senpai had to die like this..." He said painfully.
Chie's face softened considerably as his words sunk in, "Oh Yosuke..."
'Maybe...maybe I shouldn't let him do this. But then again...he is right about the police not being able to do anything about this. Uncle Dojima would probably be calling Mom and Dad to ask if I had mental issues by dinner time if I told him about this.' Danny mused, biting his lip apprehensively.
Yosuke continued to make his case for a few minutes, before turning away from the two of them, "I'm gonna go get ready...I'll be waiting for the two of you at Junes."
Danny shook his head as he watched his retreating form, before glancing at Chie when he heard her utter a sad sigh, "Yosuke...I can kinda understand how he feels...but we can't even be sure that we'll be able to get out again. What should we do...?"
The half-ghost raised a questioning eyebrow for a moment, confused at why she'd refer to him when she knew Yosuke better, before realizing the stupidity of the question. He was the only one that could take him into the other world, of course it was up to him. 'Of course...can't have anybody else take charge for once, can we? Guess I'd feel a bit weird being on the other side of the decisions though.' He mused derisively, before answering his classmate.
"Honestly...I think he needs this. I mean, there's no denying it'll be dangerous, but at least if we do it this way then we have a better chance of making sure he's safe than if we piss him off by telling him we won't do it and have him run off on his own. There's no telling what he might do right now...he's in a lot of pain and I really doubt he'd be capable of making a good, rational, decision. At least this way we'll be able to turn him away from the worst ideas."
Chie stared at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed for a few moments, before shaking her head and glancing at the floor, seemingly unsure whether to agree or not, before nodding slowly. "I...guess that makes sense." She said slowly, before letting out a resigned sigh, "I guess it doesn't really matter what I think anyways. You're the one he needs to help him do this, and you seem to be just as committed to it as him, so I might as well help you guys."
Danny offered her a sympathetic smile, "Hey, don't worry too much. It'll be alright...I promise things will get better. It'll just take some time. The wounds are still fresh right now, know what I mean?"
"Yeah...I understand." She nodded, before returning his small smile, "Anyways we should probably get going. The way Yosuke was talking I wouldn't be surprised if he was already there."
The half-ghost let out a small chuckle as they walked through the school gate, "Somehow I doubt that. He's on foot, same as us, and he said he needed to get some stuff anyways, right? Even if he does get there before us, there's not much he can do besides wait.
As it turned out, Yosuke had beat them to the shopping center, though it hadn't been by much. The three of them discussed the plan, Chie trying again to dissuade her friend from going in, though she was entirely unsuccessful. Finally Yosuke had handed the girl a rope after confessing, somewhat hypocritically, that he wasn't comfortable with Chie going in again, and had asked her to keep a hold on it as a lifeline as he tied the other end around his waist.
From there the two had proceeded through the same TV they'd went through before, both in hope that they'd be able to get back out the same way and in an effort to find the bear again. The trip through the TV was much the same as it had been last time and Danny couldn't help but grumble slightly, knowing that if he wasn't so concerned with keeping his ghost half under wraps, he could have a smooth landing every time.
Yosuke groaned lightly, obviously as unhappy as he was with their landing, "Ugh...why does the floor have to hit so hard...?" The brunette muttered softly, before taking the hand Danny offered him and glancing around as he stood up, eyes wide with excitement. "Is this...? Look, we're in the same place as last time! So they are connected from place to place!" He shouted, throwing caution to the wind at his discovery.
The half-ghost was about to warn him against being so loud when his ghost sense was triggered, prompting him to whirl around on his heel as he heard something running towards them from behind him. 'Though I guess I really shouldn't be...I mean this is his home, after all.'
"Y-you guys...why'd you come back?!" The bear asked, clearly unhappy to see them again, before his face hardened into a glare that didn't quite suit him, "I get it! You're the ones behind this!"
Yosuke gaped at the mascot-like animal, hope seeming to shine in his eyes, "You're that thing from last time! We- wait...what the hell did you just say?!"
The bear's face hardened even further, clearly believing his theory that they were the culprits, "Lately, I can tell someone's been throwing people in here. It's making this world more and more messed up..." It explained slowly, "This is the second time you guys came here. And I don't think anyone forced you in. That means you're the most suspicious! You guys must be the ones throwing the people in here!" The bear concluded, sounding off with a small, unimpressive roar.
Danny let out a tired sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance at being accused, once again, of something he hadn't done. 'At least I can honestly say that I'm used to it. There's no point in getting all angry and defensive about it...just tell him what's going on and you might even be able to get him to help you, Phantom.'
"What are you talking about, 'throwing people in'!?" Yosuke retorted angrily, before the half-ghost could think of anything intelligent to say in response, "If someone was thrown in here and they couldn't get out, they might die! Who the hell would do som-" Danny's eyes widened as he realized what Yosuke was saying, the pieces of the puzzle clicking together in his mind.
"That's it..." The half-ghost breathed, the seriousness of the situation coming down on top of him. While admittedly many of the ghosts he fought were intent on killing him, and often times other people, he'd never dealt with a true murder before.
Both the bear and Yosuke stared at him in confusion, "Huh?"
Danny shook his head at their failure to recognize what was staring them in the face, "Think about it, Yosuke...all this talk about someone throwing people in here, Saki and that announcer lady dying after showing up on the midnight channel...somebody threw them in here, Yosuke, I'm sure of it. And I expect whoever did it knew whoever they threw in wasn't going to be coming back."
Yosuke's eyes widened in realization, nodding his head slowly, "Y-yeah...I guess it does make sense, doesn't it? And...that'd mean that whoever was throwing people in here really wanted to kill them...but why? Why would you do that?" He mumbled to himself, clearly upset further by the idea that somebody had intentionally murdered his friend.
Both of the boys were pulled out of their respective thoughts when the bear growled in frustration at being ignored, "Stop mumbling things to yourselves! Why'd you come in here anyways!?" He questioned incredulously, clearly believing them to be stupid, "It's a one-way door! Once you're in you can't get out! Remember? How I had to let you guys out last time?!"
Danny nodded in acknowledgement, even as Youske rolled his motioning at the rope, which Danny noticed had been cut, likely when they went through the TV. "Yeah, whatever. We don't need your help this ti-"
"Youske...the rope's been cut. You probably shouldn't annoy him." The half-ghost interrupted, sighing a his classmate's surprised yelp at the revelation, before continuing. "Look uh...Bear, we're not looking for any trouble, at least not from you anyways. All we're trying to do is investigate what's going on, and we'd appreciate it if you'd let us out again once we're done."
The mascot's face hardened into a glare again as it growled lightly, "I'm the one who's trying to investigate this! I've lived here a long time, but it's never been noisy like this until now. Do you have proof? Prove to me that you're not throwing people in here!"
The half-ghost sighed again, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, "That's not how it works, bear...we can't just prove that we didn't do something like this. Almost everybody has a TV in their homes."
"See! So it is you guys!"
"For the last time, it's not us, so we've got nothing to prove to you!" Yosuke shouted back, his temper getting the better of him, "You'd better answer our questions, bear. This isn't like last time, when we came by accident, we're dead serious now! Listen up, 'cause people have died in our world...every time fog appears, a dead body shows up with it. It's got to be related to this place somehow, so if you know something then tell us!"
"A dead body? Whenever the fog appears?" The bear's face softened in thought for a moment, obviously considering what Yosuke had told him, "Well...I know that whenever it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here. It's really dangerous when that happens...that's when the shadows get violent. Aaah...I get it."
Danny raised a questioning eyebrow, "Alright...so if you understand it, then explain it to us, bear. How does the fog lift here if it appears in our side? And exactly what shadows are you talking about? So far the only things we've seen when we came over here was you."
"That's why I said to hurry back! It's dangerous when that happens." The mascot said exasperatedly, before turning his glare back on them, still obviously convinced they were the culprits. "Alright, no more questions. I know you guys did it, and you'd better stop, right now!"
The half-ghost groaned as Yosuke and the bear went round and round in argument, "Ugh, you keep telling us to prove our innocence, but you're the most suspicious thing here! Maybe you're the culprit! And what's with that stupid costume? It's time you showed your real face!" Youske shouted at him in frustration, pulling off the mascot's head, only to reveal it was empty inside. Not that Danny had really expected much else, truthfully he hadn't expected the head to come off at all, though Yosuke was decidedly less calm about it.
"W-what the hell are you? It's empty inside!" The boy shouted, dropping the head of the costume in shock.
The bear searched around for his head for several seconds, finally managing to place it back on top of himself, before looking up at the two of them, obviously offended at Youske's declaration, "Me...the culprit? I wouldn't do such a thing...I just live here. I only want to live peacefully..." He trailed off, leaving an uncomfortable silence as Danny saw several parallels to some of the ghosts he'd met in the bear, "Okay. I'll believe that you guys aren't. But I want you guys to find the real guy who did all this, you have to stop him. Promise me, or else...I'm not gonna let you guys outta here." He finished with a bright smile, something that grated on Danny's nerves slightly.
"Y-you little-" Youske started, only to be interrupted the bear again as it burst into tears.
"This can't keep going on! My home here will be a complete mess! And then...then...I..-"
The half-ghost stared at the creature in understanding, feeling a small pang in his chest as he remembered how he felt when he first started fighting ghosts in Amity Park. 'Still, there wasn't any need to threaten us. It's not like we're going to turn tale as soon as we get out...alright maybe Yosuke would, but I wouldn't. Still, it isn't the worst deal I've been forced to make. At least I'm not having to sign over-'
Danny's eyes widened in shock as his dream from when he was on the train to Inaba suddenly flashed clearly back into his memory, wincing slightly as he felt a small pounding in his head at the sensation. "It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you."
He blinked forcefully several times, bringing himself back to the present, as the bear looked up at him plaintively. "Please...you're the only ones I can ask. Promise me you'll find whoever's doing this?"
The half-ghost winced, glancing at the ground as he found himself unable to look the creature in the eye. 'Damned thing knows how to play somebody, that's for sure.' He thought, a small spark of annoyance coming as he glanced back at the bear, 'Still...I feel for the guy, and really it's not like I have much choice in the matter. Clockwork sent me here for a reason, after all, and even if this isn't it I can't exactly ignore what's going on here. I mean...look at this thing. There's no way it could stop whoever's doing this on it's own, but I can. What kind of person would that make me if I ignored something like this when I could help?'
He silently wrestled with himself for several more seconds before letting out a small sigh, "Alright...I'll help." He answered, unable to ignore his conscience's prodding as he glanced at the brunette standing next to him, "But you have to let Yosuke go now." He finished firmly, clearly unwilling to compromise with the bear.
The creature's eyes widened gleefully at his answer, nodding excitedly, "T-thank you!" It squealed, surging forward and crushing the half-ghost with a surprisingly strong hug, before letting go and turning to Yosuke, "Alright I'll le-"
"I'm not leaving." Yosuke interrupted quietly, surprise clear on Danny's face when he saw the determination set in the brunette's eyes. "I...I know you're just trying to help me, Danny, but you can't do this alone any more than I can!" He reasoned, forcing the half-ghost to keep from rolling his eyes, "Besides...I-we came in here looking for some answers. Right now we're all pretty much completely in the dark about what's going on."
"Look, Yoskue..." Danny started, only to trail off as his classmate's eyes hardened at his tone. He paused for a moment before letting out another resigned sigh and nodding, prompting a smile from Yosuke. "Alright...if you really want to do this then I can't stop you..."
"That's right. So...look for the culprit, huh? Alright, bring it on! You've got my word too, bear."
Danny nodded slowly, turning back to the ecstatic bear with a small smile forced onto his face, before realizing that while they had been talking for what had probably been a solid fifteen or twenty minutes, none of them had bothered introducing themselves yet. "Well...if we're going to be working together we might as well get to know each other. My name is..." He hesitated for a moment, barely stopping himself from introducing himself as Phantom in front of Yosuke, "Er...I'm Danny Fenton, and my...friend here is Yosuke Hanamura."
The bear smiled brightly at his introduction, "I'm Teddie!"
The half-ghost blinked in a somewhat bemused silence, before letting out a small snort, shaking his head while Yosuke continued staring at Teddie incredulously for a few moments, "Of course it is..." He laughed lightly, shaking his head at his classmate's continued silence, "So...Teddie...if we're going to do this for you then we're going to need something to work with. You got any idea at all how we might be able to stop this guy from throwing any more people in here?"
"I dunno..." Teddie shrugged casually, before perking up at an apparent realization, "Oh! But I do know where the last person came in." He said brightly.
Danny flinched internally as he saw Yosuke stiffen at the words, "The last person...? You mean Saki-senpai?!" He asked desperately.
The bear shook his head, much to the brunette's disappointment. "I mean the person who came in and disappeared last time. I dunno the name. But if you follow me I'll take you there...maybe you can find some clues?" He reasoned as he started to walk away, before spinning swiftly back to face the two teenagers, reaching into one of the many pockets on his clown suit.
"Oh, one thing first. You two should put these on." He explained as he handed over a pair of orange glasses to Yosuke before plunging his hand into the pocket again and pulling out a somewhat dated, though lovingly crafted, pair of goggles. The eyepieces seeming to be carved out of some kind of translucent gem and set into onyx frames that were held together with soft, though seemingly sturdy, leather bands.
The half-ghost raised a skeptical eyebrow as Teddie handed him the goggles, glancing at Yosuke's glasses in his hand and back to his, "Er...why do I get goggles when he gets he get glasses? And better yet, why do we need them?"
The bear let out a somewhat temperamental sigh, "Those goggles were one of my first successful attempts to make effective lenses for in here. I thought I needed a lot of material back then!" He said defensively, "Just put them on already!"
The boys glanced at each other skeptically before finally submitting to his order and putting them on, a task Danny found somewhat more annoying than Yosuke did. As he adjusted the goggles for his face he ignored his classmate's gasp of shock until he'd finished fiddling with the bands. "What's wrong Yos-" He started to ask, looking towards the brunette before blinking in surprise as he realized that he could see perfectly clearly, the fog having disappeared with the assistance of the goggles. "Woah..."
Yosuke nodded in agreement as he cast his gaze around wildly, "The difference is like night and day...with these on it's like the fog doesn't even exist."
"They'll help you walk through the fog. I've been here for a long time...so you can rely on me to get you there." Teddy explained, beaming proudly, though it quickly fell as he shifted somewhat uncomfortably, "Uh...but I can only show you where the place is. You'll have to defend yourselves."
"What happened to relying on you?!" Yosuke asked incredulously, a small spark of panic in his eyes, "Th-there better not be any monsters! You understand?! We brought weapons, but I mean...they're more for show! And besides, we just got here! If it's so dangerous why don't you do something instead of relying on us?!"
"Uh uh. No way. I've got no muscles." Teddy answered in a matter of fact tone, before hopping up and down excitedly, "Oh! Oh! I know! I'll give you guys moral support from a safe distance. How's that sound?"
Danny looked Teddy up and down skeptically, reaching out and gently pushing him away from them, only for the bear to tumble onto it's back. "N-nooooo..." Teddie cried as he struggled desperately to roll back over, though with no success, prompting the half-ghost to raise an unimpressed eyebrow.
"I'm pretty sure we're better off taking his word for it." He muttered, mostly to himself.
Yosuke stared down at their guide forlornly, "I-is this thing for real?" He asked weakly, clearly not excited at the prospect of going into battle, "Ugh, this is so lame...we promised to catch the culprit and this is all the backup we get?"
"I'm sure we'll be fine, Yosuke. Second worst case scenario is that we awaken an ancient evil and it eats us first." The half-ghost replied with a shrug, obviously unconcerned by the lack of backup.
Both the brunette and the bear looked at him in confusion. "What the hell could be worse than that? That's the definition of a worst case scenario!" Yosuke asked, clearly unsettled by his classmate's casual attitude.
The half-ghost couldn't help the small smirk that spread across his face his reaction, even as he offered Teddy a hand to help him stand back up, "The worst case scenario is that we wake up Cthulu and he eats us last." He answered, barely managing to keep a level voice as Yosuke stared at him in horror, before turning to Teddie. "So...you were about to take us somewhere, right?"
The bear blinked in surprise before smiling widely, turning happily on his heel, "Yeah! Let's go!"
Danny followed Teddie closely for a few moments, before realizing that Yosuke still hadn't moved. He glanced back at the brunette curiously, only to see him standing in the same spot, staring at him slack-jawed, "Hey...you coming, Yosuke?"
The brunette jumped at his voice, laughing nervously as he quickly made to follow the bear as well, "Y-yeah...I'm with ya." The boy answered twitchily.
"Hey...you do know I was joking about Cthulu, right?"
Despite the brunette's quick nod, he didn't miss the small sigh of relief the boy blew out, "O-of course I did. I mean...it's not like I was scared or something."
The half-ghost's smirk returned to his face, "Oh. Good. After all, who knows what kind of eldritch abominations we're going to have to fight in here."
There was a small voice in his mind that chided him for teasing the brunette, but it was easily drowned out by his chuckles as he watched the color drain from Yosuke's face all over again.
