Fenton Works Laboratory
Dallas Carter sat in the darkest corner of the lab, her face buried in her arms. Her green eyes burned, her mind overwhelmed with confusion.
How is this possible?
The question echoed in her head. She didn't know what confused her more: the fact she was a half-ghost freak, or that she hadn't the slightest idea how she got that way.
What should she do? Should she tell someone? Should she stay hidden? Should she try to get rid of her ghost half? Should she keep it?
So many questions. And yet, not a single answer could be found. Then, the biggest question came into view.
"Who am I?" Dallas asked herself. She felt a chill go up her spine.
"You are Dallas" a gentle voice replied.
Startled, Dallas turned invisible as she looked up to see who spoke.
Standing in front of her was a tall woman.
She had long black hair, violet eyes, a purple long sleeved shirt, cameo green pants, and black combat boots. She appeared to be in her late thirties.
"It's ok," she said, "I'm not going to hurt you."
The woman knelt down reaching out a hand which came to rest on Dallas's knee. Dallas whimpered before turning visible again. The woman smiled gently.
"H-how do you know my name?" Dallas asked.
"Let's just say I've known you since the day you were born" the woman replied.
Dallas cocked her head with puzzlement.
"How did I get like this?"
"You will learn in time. For now, do not fear your gift. Embrace it. Learn to use you powers for good, to protect others . . . . . just like Danny" the woman replied as she stood up and turned to leave.
"Wait! How do I change back?" Dallas asked after her. She stood up and walked a bit towards the lady.
"Think about."
Dallas shut her eyes and focused, hard. A bright, blue ring soon appeared around her waist and halved across her body. She opened her eyes and looked at herself in the blackened control monitor. Black hair, blue eyes, all the looks of her human side.
"Yes! It worked!" Dallas exclaimed. She turned to face the woman. But she was no longer there.
"Aw. I didn't even get her name . . . ."
Casper High (the next day)
"I can't believe she stood us up. You'd think she would've kept her word" Nicole Baxter complained.
She and Mathew Foley were standing by Dallas's locker in the hall, wondering if she would even show up for school.
"C'mon, Niki. She must have a good reason for not showing. Give her a break" said Mathew.
As if on cue, Dallas walked up to her only friends.
"Well, look who decided to show" Nicole said with high annoyance.
"Hey. . . .guys," Dallas yawned, "What's up?"
"What up!? Why not you tell us Miss What's up" Nicole coldly replied.
"Oh, right. Look, I'm really sorry. I got tied up in something and wasn't able to get back to you."
"Why didn't you answer your cell? I called about six times last night."
"I, uh, lost it."
Nicole raised an eyebrow. The bell rang.
"I'm, uh, gonna get to class. I'll, uh, see you later. Bye" Dallas said as she hurried away.
Nicole and Mathew exchanged suspicious glances. Something was up and they were going to get to the bottom of it.
However, it wasn't easy. After their little chat, Dallas began avoiding her friends whenever possible. She would disappear every so often, and come back, too tired or busy to talk to them. It went on like that for about a week.
Casper High (one week later)
Dallas rushed to her locker, struggling to open it, when she felt two pairs of eyes bore into her skull. She turned around to face her annoyed friends.
"Heh, heh. H-hey guys" she said nervously. She tried to move away, but they wouldn't budge.
"We've had enough Dally. What's going on? Why are you avoiding us?" asked Mathew.
"And you better not blow us off, like you've been doing all week" Nicole added.
Dallas stared at her friends. It was clear she didn't have much of a choice. She sighed.
"Ok. I'll tell you. But not here. Meet me at Fenton Works right after school. I'll explain everything" Dallas replied.
"Ok" Nicole agreed.
"Will do" Mathew said.
Fenton Works
Mathew and Nicole stood outside the abandoned building patiently waiting for their friend to arrive.
"Guys, up here!" Dallas called to them. She waved to them from a window on the second floor.
The pair exchanged glances before heading inside. The stairs creaked with every step as they made their way up. Once at the top, they walked down the hallway to the only open bedroom door.
Torn posters dotted some of the walls. Bits of paper and plaster littered the floor. A broken model of a space shuttle lay discarded in a corner of the room. A worn down computer occupied another corner. A rickety old bed stood across from the door. Dallas was perched on top of it.
"Ok, Dal. You got us down here. What's going on?" Mathew asked.
"Yeah," Nicole added, "What's going on with you?"
"I'll have to show you. You won't freak out, will you?" Dallas asked.
"I promise I won't freak" Mathew said.
"Me too" promised Nicole.
"And it's really, really important that you don't tell anyone. Promise?"
"We promise. We won't tell a soul."
"Good. Ok, you guys ready?"
"Ready."
"Ready."
Dallas got up and stood a few feet away from her friends. She shut her eyes tight and focused. A bright, blue ring appeared and halved across her body. Her hair turned white, her eyes became green, and soon wore a black and white jumpsuit. She hovered a few inches in the air. Dallas braced herself, expecting to hear her friends scream.
Strangely, that didn't happen.
"Guys?"
She mustered a peek at them. They were just standing there, mouths agate. Dallas began to panic. Her eyes watered.
"Guys?"
Oh god! I freaked them out! This was a huge mistake!
Without thinking twice, she turned and fled out the window. She sped out of hearing range as her friends shouted, "Dally, wait! We're sorry!"
Nicole and Mathew watched helplessly as their friend flew away. At the first sign of panic, they realized their mistake. They reacted almost exactly how Dallas knew they would.
"Math, we have to go find her" Nicole said.
"I know, I know. We shouldn't have looked so freaked."
"Where do you think she went?"
"Where she always goes when she's upset."
Amity Central Park
Dallas sat on the top railing of the old swing set. She had turned invisible to prevent prying eyes as she sobbed quietly.
"Dallas? Are you alright, dear?" someone asked her.
Dallas looked down to see the woman she met once before looking up in her direction. Apparently, she had heard Dallas's crying.
"Oh, it's you," Dallas said, "I'm . . . ok I guess. . ."
"You don't sound Ok. Did something happen?"
"Kind of. . ."
"What?"
Dallas told the lady what had happened with her and her friends. She explained why she chose to tell them about her ghost half and how she thought she had freaked them out. Then Dallas said:
"I'm a freak aren't I?"
"No you're not. Just because you have a special gift, doesn't make you a freak. It sounds like you were afraid your friends would think you are one. Did they say you were?"
"Well, no. They looked like they did by the way they stared at me."
"Maybe they weren't freaked out, but were merely shocked. I would be too if I found out my best friend was half ghost."
"I-I guess that's true . . . "Dallas sighed, "I should given them a chance."
"Dally! Dally where are you?!" called Mathew and Nicole. Dallas looked behind to see her friends in the distance.
"I should go talk to them" Dallas said.
"Yes. I believe you should" replied the woman. She turned and walked away.
"Wait! I never got your name."
The woman looked over her shoulder and smiled.
"Just call me, Sam."
And she walked out of sight.
"Dally! Where are you?!" Mathew called out.
"I'm over here!" Dallas replied back. She turned visible for her friends to see.
Nicole took notice and ran after her. Dallas flew of the swings to greet them. She tackled Nicole and Mathew, arms around them as them fell backward. They landed in a heap, laughing among themselves. After a few minutes, they picked themselves up.
"Dally, we're sorry we upset you" Nicole apologized.
"Yeah, we're sorry" Mathew added.
"No, I'm sorry. I should've given you guys a chance."
"Well, we're still sorry. We don't think you're freaky at all. In fact, we think it's really cool that you're half ghost" said Mathew.
"Not cool," added Nicole, "We think it's awesome!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! You're our best friend! We would've accepted you, no matter what" Mathew said.
"I'm glad to hear that. I would've told you sooner, but I was afraid of what you would've thought" Dallas confessed.
"Well now that that's settled, would you mind telling us how it all happened?" Nicole asked.
"Gladly."
Carter Residents
"Whoa. That's crazy. So that's why you couldn't meet us" Nicole said.
Nicole, Mathew, and Dallas were sitting on the floor of Dallas's room. Once she had finished her story of her trip to the Ghost Zone, her friends gaped with astonishment. They were quite amazed, but were concerned as to why Dallas had gone alone. She merely stated that she didn't want to see her friends get hurt.
"So you don't know exactly how you got your powers, but you think you've had them this whole time?" Mathew asked.
"Well, what else could it have been? I didn't do anything that would have caused it to happen. I didn't accidently turn the portal on while I was in it. Nor did I suffer a case of ecto-acne. It just happened" explained Dallas.
"Maybe it was because you were in serious trouble. Maybe that's what triggered your powers."
"Yeah, maybe," Dallas said, "But that's not the only thing that concerns me." She blew a black strand of hair from her face.
"What is it?" Nicole asked.
"That dark figure I saw. It reminds me of something I might of seen before. In my dreams maybe?"
Dallas's gaze drifted to a corner of the room. For a moment, it appeared to have shifted, almost as if someone was sitting there. When she and her friends had first entered the room, the cold blue mist had escaped her mouth. She became highly alert, but dismissed it when she supposedly found no sign of ghost activity.
"Well whatever it was, it helped get you out of the Ghost Zone" said Nicole matter-of-factly.
"Yeah . . . . but it was still weird. It felt like he knew me."
"Hmmm . . . . weird. But I wouldn't worry too much," Mathew said, "Hey, since you're half ghost, what are you gonna do?"
"What'd you mean?"
"I mean what are you going to do about your new gift?"
"I think I'll use it to protect others, fight bad guys, and stuff."
"Be a hero? Cool," added Nicole, "But you'll need a name. What'd you think of: "Spectra Lass"?"
"Or maybe something like: "Ghost Gal," or, "Kid Plasma"?" Mathew suggested.
"Um, not that those aren't "cool" names, I was thinking of something like: "Phantom Girl."
"Huh . . . . . that could work. Simple, yet classy" Nicole said.
Dallas raised a brow as she and Mathew exchanged glances. Nicole coughed.
Something suddenly caught Dallas's eye.
Was it her imagination, or did something in that corner of the room move?
She squinted hard at the corner. But nothing there moved.
Boom!
"What was that?" Nicole asked.
She, Dallas and Mathew sprang up and scooted to the window. A few blocks down, a funnel of smoke rose up from a building as sirens blared.
"C'mon. Let's go check it out" Dallas said. She grabbed a cylinder-shaped container from under her bed and ran out the bedroom. Nicole and Mathew quickly followed.
Amity Park Streets
The scene at an electronics store was something to behold. Partly because something had blown a huge hole at the front of it. As the trio approached the site, Dallas gasped a familiar mist. Mathew gaped at the size of the hole.
"Noooo! Not Cyber Express! I get all my tech here!" he shouted in defeat.
"Guys, there's something here" Dallas said.
"Nah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" A maniacal laugh erupted from inside.
A strange ghost emerged from the store. He had a mullet hairstyle, black shades, and a cape. The ghost looked like a scientist. He carried bags of various electronics in each hand.
"Puny underlings, I, Technus, shall now wreak havoc on your fair city with your own technology!" the ghost declared.
The electronics in the bags floated out and began whirling around him, fusing together to create a bulky battle suit. The people below panicked, running in every direction, screaming, shouting, and seeking safety.
"Guys, cover me" Dallas said.
Her friends stood back to back with Dallas in between. A bright, blue ring appeared and halved across her body. She leaped into the air and sped off to confront the ghost.
With an energy coated fist, Dallas met the battle suit with a powerful uppercut. Technus reeled back, surprised to have been attacked with such force.
"What's this?! A ghost female playing hero?! Never has a girl tried to challenge me, Technus, to a heated battle!" stated Technus.
"Oh, yeah?! Well then, let this be a first for both of us!" said Dallas, "Tech-head against me, Phantom Girl!"
"Very well, challenge: ACCEPTED!"
As a heated battle broke loose, people down below watched in awe as the two fought. Nicole and Mathew watched under an awning as their friend flew around Technus's head and blasted him with bursts of energy.
"Wow, Dally's doing pretty good" said Nicole.
Technus swatted at Dallas, knocking her clear out of the air. She crash landed on the pavement, forming a large divot. She stood up, slightly dizzy.
"Gah! This guy's tough," panted Dallas, "Time to deactivate. Math, toss me your PDA!"
"What!? I've got three payments on this one!" Mathew protested. He held his PDA as if it were a helpless child.
"I'll buy you a new one, just give it to me!"
Mathew sighed and threw the PDA. Dallas caught it, and extended the connection cable. She took off and eyed Technus's back. It didn't take long to find a drive insert. She plugged in the cable and hit "deactivate."
"What're you doing!? You are no match of my awesome pow-w-pow-pow-. . ." Technus stuttered. The screen that showed his face went fuzzy as he began to short-circuit. Sparks flew off his battle suit, metal plates rattled as he teetered.
"Ahhh! Noooooooooo. . . . ." he shouted as he shut down.
His screen face went blank, his limbs went limp, and with a single kick, Dallas tipped Technus over the pavement with a crash. He emerged from the suit with small tears and bruises.
"I, Technus, have been defeated by a mere child, how-" "Ahem"
Technus turned to see Dallas floating next to him with a devilish grin on her face.
"Bye, bye!" she said sweetly as she pointed the cylinder-shaped container at him. A bright vortex enveloped him as he was sucked inside.
"That should hold you" Dallas said. She sealed the container with the lid and swung it back over her shoulder.
As she looked up, a large crowd had formed a big circle around the fallen battle suit. At first they just stared her, dumbfounded. Mathew and Nicole took that time to approach Dallas.
"Wow! You defeated that horrible ghost!" she declared. She elbowed Mathew.
"Yeah, uh, thanks!"
"Um, no prob?"
The crowd began to cheer. Some pulled out cameras and snapped pictures. Dallas weakly smiled. After a few camera flashes, Dallas took off, flying away from the crowd. Some tried to follow but she proved to be too fast.
"It's a new beginning" Nicole stated. Mathew nodded in agreement.