A/N: Gonna be honest. I wrote out these first three all at once, when I had no internet. I've decided screw the schedule, I can put my plan into action at any time. Well, not anytime datewise, but storywise, it might be better to do it later. I can make it more dramatic. And, since my lovely friend who shines like the Moon gave me such nice guesses as to what could happen in the future, I am uploading it, now.
Who Ya Gonna Call
The next class was computer science, which, thankfully, he and Tucker had together. But really, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. After all, they were bros. They did everything they could together. They took that opportunity to work together to work out the final bugs in his invention. This one… This would be the one. They'd finally get that he was like them. He just needed one more screw from the metal shop, which Tucker would probably get him later in the day. Danny stared at the silver goggles with pride. His first invention, and they were sure to be a huge success. Not only in the ghost hunting community, but also with his parents. All too soon, the bell was ringing. "So, find out anything about the new kid?" Tucker asked as he saved all the files he was working on to his flash drive, and shut down his computer. One could never be too careful.
He groaned, dragging a hand down his face, "Only that I have to do a stupid partner project with him in English, and that we have the same free period."
Tucker winced in sympathy, "Ouch, sorry, bro. Well, it can't be all bad. I mean, he could be a ghost, for all we know," he chuckled nervously. There was no way that could happen, as Danny's alarm hadn't gone off at all, yet. But just in case, he knocked on the door frame as they left the classroom.
Danny glared, "Tucker, three things," He said, holding up three fingers, "One, don't even joke about that." He put down his ring finger as though marking it off of a checklist. "Two, he can't be a ghost. Otherwise, the short range ghost radar my parents gave me would be going off." He put down the index finger. "And three." He waved the hand he had been using as his list, which still had the middle finger up.
Tucker waved his hands defensively with a large grin, "Woah, dude. I know I'm handsome, but I'm not into you like that!"
Danny shook his head. It really was a wonder how he put up with his friend. But then, someone had to. "Just think before jinxing us, Bad Luck Tuck."
"It was one time!" He called as the two walked in separate directions down the halls.
Grumbling to himself, he made his way to the library. The librarian greeted him, to which he responded with a nod. At least he didn't hate him. He walked over to the usual seat he sat in, only to glare. Again?! What was with this guy?! He stomped over and practically threw his backpack on the ground. As he sat down, he pointed at him accusingly, causing the older to jump, having been a bit startled by his sharp movements. "I don't trust you. I don't know anything about you, and I feel like you're hiding something." Seeing Andrew raise an eyebrow as a question to his declaration, Danny narrowed his eyes in determination. "I don't know what you're hiding, but it's something."
Andrew nodded in agreement, and that surprised Danny. He wasn't going to deny it? That was weird. But those thoughts were wooshed away when the bookworm spoke. "Well, when you think about it, isn't everyone hiding a secret?" he asked as he closed his book, and set it down. Danny opened his mouth to protest, only to close it again. He made an irritated grumble and crossed his arms. The teen did have a point. "It would make sense for you to be suspicious of me, however." This time, it was Danny who raised an eyebrow. Andrew took this as an opportunity to explain, "I am a new student, and judging from what I've seen, this school doesn't often get transfers."
"Not really," Danny shrugged, studying the teen. He looked like any other fifteen-year-old, besides the fact that his teeth seemed a little too sharp. "We all sort of grew up together, or at least attended the same schools. So, to see someone here that no one knows? Just a tad suspicious."
He nodded solemnly, leaning forward as he did so. "I understand, you just want to protect the people you care about," Andrew smiled. Danny blinked at the quick flash of heavy weight and pain in the other's eyes. It was so fast he had almost missed it, but... "If you believe nothing else I say, at least believe that I mean no harm, to you or anyone."
The younger watched him for any sign of trickery or deceit. Something to tell him he was right, that this person shouldn't be trusted. When he saw none, he finally nodded. "...I believe you." And he did. Danny didn't always have an explanation for the things he did or thought, but he did know a good person when he saw one, and Andrew, while secretive and mysterious, was at least telling the truth when he said he didn't mean harm. So, if that was the case, it was only polite to introduce himself, as a way of starting off fresh. "I'm Danny, by the way. Danny Fenton."
Andrew shook his hand with a smile, understanding his meaning, "Pleasure to meet you, Danny. I'm Andrew, Andrew Riter." The two shared a grin, though the moment was interrupted by a sudden bout of screaming, along with a high pitched beeping. They jumped, startled by the unexpected noise, as Danny cursed and jumped up. "I'm guessing by your reaction this is a common occurrence?"
Danny rifled through his backpack. He pulled out a silver and green Ecto Pistol, as they could hear the loud, but somewhat far off cry of "GHOST!" Attaching a thermos to his belt, he jabbed his finger into his ecto signature scanner, which he just dubbed his 'ghost alarm.' As everything else, it was 'gifted' to him by his parents. After pressing a few buttons, the sounds died down. Danny turned to Andrew, who seemed extremely tense as his eyes darted around the room. Danny cleared his throat, gaining his attention. "Get out of here. Get somewhere safe."
He nodded frantically. "Good idea! That is a good idea! I'm just going to go over there! Where no one can see me!" He ran, not even grabbing his things, and hid behind the science fiction shelf. Once Danny was sure that he was safe from relative harm, he clicked the safety off his Ecto Pistol. You only made that mistake once.
Ready to head out, he stopped at hearing an incessant beeping. He looked back to his scanner with confusion. "What? There's two?! Shit!" Skidding out into the hallways, he looked around quickly, hearing the screaming coming from the gym. It was really useful that, since ghosts had started appearing, the school had allowed him and his sister to carry weapons with them for emergencies like this.
Running faster, his sister joined his side, staff held out and orange goggles over her own eyes. Sometimes, she looked so similar to their mother it was frightening. "I see the hero complex took hold of you again, huh?" Blushing, Danny stuck his tongue out at his sister. Everyone always said he had a hero complex, and they didn't know what they were talking about. At his reaction, Jazz only laughed. "Come on little brother, let's deal with this before Mom and Dad come rushing in." She looked at him, "Still working on those goggles? Sure you don't need help?"
He nearly growled at her words, spitting out, "No! I don't need help! Let's just focus on getting this ghost! I'll distract it, you get the other students and teachers out of here." Jazz nodded, not wasting any time arguing as she immediately called for the others' attention, directing them out of the gym.
He hid behind a bleacher, peaking out to try to get a view of the area. The gym looked as it normally did. The few things that were different were the basketballs, still bouncing and rolling a little, and the unliving embodiment of a shadow floating close to the ceiling. Hearing her gleeful giggle, he leaped out from his hiding spot, "Hey! Creepy shadow lady! Don't you want more of a challenge?!"
She turned towards him, hands clasped, and her smile was sickeningly sweet. "I don't know about a challenge," the ghost purred softly, "But you certainly smell delicious." Danny grimaced at the phrase. There went his appetite for lunch, not that there was much of one to begin with. He aimed his gun up towards her, and let off a blast, cursing as the ghost dodged it. This one was quicker than most, which meant it would be more difficult to weaken her. Oh well. Didn't mean she was unbeatable. All ghosts had a weak point, he just needed to find her's.
"State your classification!" Danny demanded, gun aimed at her again. This time he wouldn't allow himself to miss. He couldn't. "As decreed by the Guys-in-White, each ghost has a code name and classification number! State yours, and tell me why you're attacking these students or I will open fire!" Sure, his parents had at first been unwilling to follow the policies of the GIW, but after a while, even they found it to be more helpful during fights. Made keeping track of the monsters easier, anyway.
The creature scoffed at his speech, "You? You're nothing but a child." She hissed, suddenly appearing in front of him, claws and teeth bared. Danny didn't even flinch as the bright red eyes bore into him, which he was rather proud of. "The name is Spectra, heard of me?" Again, sickeningly sweet. He felt like he was gonna throw up just being this close to her.
"The creepy shadow bastard who sucks out emotions, yeah, I've heard of you," Danny scowled, aiming his gun at her face instead of her core, Spectra only grinning at his reaction. They both knew that that would do nothing but cause pain. Certainly wouldn't disable her. "This school and town are protected by the Fenton Family and an off-branch of the Guys-in-White. By attacking this school, you've declared yourself an enemy of both." Here, Danny's eyes narrowed, "And while the Guys-in-White show mercy on occasion, the Fentons don't." Okay, the first part of that may not have been completely true, but she didn't need to know that. In fact, the Guys-in-White were probably more brutal than the Fentons, if that was possible.
Those happy thoughts in mind, he pulled the trigger, letting off a blast, Spectra cursing as it clipped her shoulder when she darted away. Danny only kept his stoic expression, darting for cover as he saw the ecto blasts coming towards him. Flinching as one just barely singed his own shoulder, he disappeared behind the bleachers again, checking to see that all the students had left. Last thing he needed was another incident like the last time. He shuddered involuntarily at the thought.
"Come out, little hunter," Spectra called tauntingly, flying around the ceiling, looking down below. "My, my, so much negativity I sense from you. The fear that you won't make your parents proud, the fear that you'll fail, and the utter terror of ghosts." Danny flinched as Spectra appeared in front of him. Instead of showing anymore of his fear, he fired again, allowing himself a grin as he nailed her in the chest. She screeched, putting a hand to her chest. She glared at him seething.
He readied his gun again, giving her a determined scowl. "Fentons don't show fear. Our mission is to rid the world of ghosts. Spectra, classification number 358872, you are hereby under ban by the town of Amity Park, and will be withheld as such." Firing one last time, he cursed as Spectra withstood the hit and grabbed him by his shoulders, flying him up to the ceiling. Her talon-like fingers sunk into his shoulder and he bit his lip. Dammit, should have seen this coming. Now, he was gonna hit the ground and break his legs, maybe an arm while he was at it. Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Let's see how well you aim after falling a few dozen feet," She hissed into his ear. Dropping the teen, Danny yelped, wondering how he was going to get out of this one, before he felt himself roughly caught by the back of his shirt. Blinking his eyes open, he saw he was hovering a few inches off the ground, someone breathing heavily from behind him. "You! Why are you helping a ghost hunter?!"
A young sounding voice, assumedly the one holding him up, called, "Because he's only trying to defend the people he cares for, that doesn't warrant his own death." Feeling himself slowly put back down onto the floor, Danny immediately launched into action, firing a blast at a distracted Spectra and pulling out a Fenton Thermos, turning it on and capturing her. In one smooth motion he had turned around and aimed his weapon at the newcomer, look of surprise escaping him. The ghost cleared his throat, "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not be shot at."
Danny only narrowed his eyes, taking in the sight of the new ghost. He looked to be around his age, at least physically. He had messy white hair and glowing ice blue eyes. He noticed pointed ears, sharp teeth, and a purple hood pulled over his head, jacket unzipped and loose on him around a black and white tank top underneath. His somewhat tattered jeans and black converse made Danny think of a punk type teen, were it not for the glasses he wore. If it wasn't for the ethereal purple glow, gray skin, and other small signs of his undeadness, Danny would have thought he was a kid off the street.
"State your classification as given to you by the Guys-in-White." Seeing the ghost give him a confused, and somewhat terrified, look, Danny blinked, shoulders slightly relaxing as he lowered his gun. If this one hadn't encountered the GIW, he was either new, or not a threat. "Each ghost is given a classification name and number upon coming in contact with the Guys-in-White, it's how we keep track."
"I've never run into them," the ghost chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sort of, uh, new around here." Danny was back on guard. That meant there wasn't anything known about this ghost, or its' powers.
"Amity Park is a ghost-free zone. Even if you're new, that should be well known." The ghost only gave a shrug, looking close to fleeing. Strange, ghosts always fought, no exceptions. He should know, it was one of the things that had been drilled into him for as long as he could remember. "You're not allowed to be here."
"Can't you let me go just this once?" he wheedled, looking hopeful. Danny only slipped his gun into a holster at his side before grinning and slipping off his black gloves.
"No. I can't." Launching straight into hand-to-hand combat, he heard the ghost let out a curse in French, moving his arms up to block. Danny had to resist the urge to shake his hand off. That had kinda hurt, having his hand go straight into the ghost's arm. Must be strong. A few minutes into the fight, and Danny could see that the ghost really was new. He wasn't using any of his powers, whatever they may be, and seemed to just be scrambling to block and dodge what he could. Skidding apart the two tensed themselves, the ghost giving him a curious look.
"Why are you holding back on me?" Danny blinked at that, looking surprised to realize that yes, he really was holding back on the new ghost. Hearing the bell for lunch ring, Danny cursed, staring at the ghost before relaxing his stance. "Does this mean I'm free?"
"Keep out of my sight, and stay away from the other hunters… especially the Fentons," Danny muttered, fists clenching at his sides. "Fentons know no fear and do not show mercy." In a flash, the ghost was gone with a troubled expression. Danny cursed as he turned, running back towards the library to grab his bag. "Way to go, Fenton… you just let a ghost escape."
Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face, looking troubled. It felt like that ghost had been familiar. But he didn't even have a classification number! There was no way for Danny to know him… right?
Ugh. Spectra. You have no clue how much I hate her. She's a good character for plot purposes, but anything else... Yeah, no. I don't like her. What? What am I not mentioning? The only important part of that chapter was Spectra. Well, and bro bonding. At least maybe now, Danny will let up on Andrew, a bit, huh? I guess we can only hope. Well, that's all for this chapter. And this is me, signing off. Kasena, out!