Sorry this took so long! This chapter contains less dialogue than previous chapters, and sadly, dialogue is what I'm best at writing when a story is third person. I hope it turned out okay; please let me know if there's anything that could improve it! The next chapter shouldn't take quite as long.
Thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story! Please review and let me know how I can improve or what you'd like to see - if you send a request for a particular ghost to appear, I will do my best to make it happen!
I do not own Hanna is Not a Boy's Name or Danny Phantom.
Chapter Five - The Chase
"I know who you are, and what you're here for," the floating ghost boy - Danny Phantom - says.
"And I suggest that you don't try to follow me, or I'll shove you someplace worse than the Thermos."
His eyes glow an unearthly green with his words, and he glares at Hanna before flying off. Toni, Conrad, Veser, and the zombie come out from their hiding places and join Hanna standing in the street, watching the ghost fly away.
"Are you going after him or what?" Veser asks.
"Hell yes, I'm going," Hanna says, snapping back to reality and running down the street after the ghost. The other four reluctantly follow him.
All Hanna can see of Danny Phantom is a glowing streak across the sky, going incredibly fast. Hanna chases after the ghost, speeding down streets and around corners, through alleys and around parked cars, keeping his eyes locked onto the glowing streak and sprinting as fast as he can behind it. Toni, Conrad, Veser, and the zombie can only try to keep up with Hanna, whose enthusiasm grants him a speed he doesn't normally possess.
Hanna grins as he chases the ghost. His confidence is growing, building himself back up in his mind. Surely, if he keeps running, keeps his eyes on the ghost, manages to stay on streets leading him towards the ghost and not away, he'll catch up. The ghost can't keep going that fast forever. Sooner or later, its energy will wear out and it will slow - and then Hanna will have another chance to get some information from Danny Phantom.
This trip is going exceptionally well, in Hanna's mind at least - until he runs into a brick wall at the end of an alley and falls to the ground, the breath knocked out of his lungs.
"Ugh," Hanna moans from his spot on the asphalt. The zombie rounds the corner and runs to check on Hanna. Veser, Toni, and Conrad follow, and the five regroup. Hanna, with the help of the zombie, sits up and adjusts his glasses, which were knocked askew but thankfully not broken in his fall.
"Where'd he go?" Hanna asks as soon as he can think again.
"Dude, unlike you, we kept our eyes on where we were running. We were following you," Veser says, leaning against the wall Hanna ran into.
"Well, we're just gonna have to go back out and find him then," Hanna says, trying to stand but wobbling. The zombie catches him and helps him stand upright.
"Thanks, Dominick," Hanna says.
"It's no problem," the zombie responds.
"So, Phantom was heading . . . that way. I think," Hanna says, pointing past the wall at the end of the alley and slightly to the right.
"So," Hanna begins muttering. "We'll need to find a quick way to get around this alley and start heading that way as soon as possible. If we hurry, maybe we can spot his glow and see if there's a shortcut to follow him." The mutters devolve into unintelligible noises as Hanna's planning becomes completely internalized.
"Guys?" Toni asks, seeing if anyone is listening to her. All four turn their heads towards her with varying delays.
"Maybe it's time to go back to the hotel for the night," Toni suggests. "We're not going to catch Danny Phantom by sprinting around around the streets at random."
"Hey, wandering the streets helped us find him the first time," Veser points out.
"No, Toni's right about that. Phantom was going way too fast for us to be able to follow on foot. I was hoping he'd slow down, but no such luck," Hanna says, hanging his head.
"Well, that's great. Just great. Really, I wanted to spend my night chasing down an incredibly fast ghost," Conrad says.
"It's not like you run out of breath or anything," Veser points out.
"That doesn't mean it's fucking fun," Conrad fumes.
"So, show of hands, who's in favor of going back to the hotel?" Toni asks, raising her hand. Conrad raises his own hand, and after a delay, the zombie lifts his hand some.
"Algernon?" Hanna questions, hoping the zombie will lower his hand so they can keep searching.
"At this point, it's most likely best to plan our next moves. We don't know how the next few days will go yet; it would be useful to have some idea what we'll do. And it couldn't hurt to get a few hours of sleep," the zombie explains.
"Fine," Hanna sighs. "We'll go back. Which way is it?"
The five look at each other, hoping someone will speak up and know the answer. Thankfully, they're right.
Conrad sighs.
"Follow me," he says, trudging out of the alley.
"Thanks, Conrad," Hanna says.
"Well, one of us has to know where it is, and after tonight, I don't think it can be you," Conrad says snarkily.
"You're probably right," Hanna admits, now talking to the whole group. "I should have waited until we knew a bit more to try chasing Phantom, but it's not exactly like there's a ghost encyclopedia or something where you can just look these things up."
Toni stops in the middle of the street, thinking. As soon as the others realize she's stopped, they pause as well, waiting for her to continue walking.
"Everything all right?" Hanna asks, wondering why Toni has decided to stop walking.
"More than all right," Toni responds. She smiles and starts walking again.
"How so?" the zombie asks.
"I think I might just know exactly where we can learn more about our new friend," Toni says, smirking.