Wow, I got a lot more feedback and reviews this time around. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it and it makes me feel awesome. I hope that all of you will continue to enjoy the story as we move forward. Also, writing up the excerpts from various fictional sources is fun. Make sure you read all of them at the start of the chapters. There are some nice hints sometimes of what is going on, information about how the types of ghosts differ, and generally interesting glimpses of how things work.
And I do apologize, but there's a lot of talking/explaining in this chapter. But the heroes do need to know sort of what is going on.
Identifying the variations in ghosts ensures that peaceful co-existence is more manageable. Different subtypes of ghosts require different strategies for interaction and respond to those interactions in different ways.
Most deceased are standard ghosts, displaying traits including but not limited to: evidence of their manner of death, basic powers concerning the manipulation of their immediate surroundings and their forms that may grow more varied with experience, invisibility to most of the living, levitation, and limited haunting perimeters. These are the ghosts most often involved in standard haunted houses and similar locations. These are also the ghosts the living most often attempt to coexist with and are the ones generally described in this book for that reason.
Poltergeists are another type of deceased. The traditional definition, based on the German translation "noisy ghosts," is a type of ghost or other supernatural being supposedly responsible for physical disturbances such as loud noises and objects moved around or destroyed and are traditionally described as troublesome spirits who haunt a particular person instead of a specific location. The definition for poltergeist used by the deceased, and thus the one used here, are members of the deceased who are not provided a definitive haunting perimeter, usually manifest with a greater variety and level of power, and generally display more disruptive behavior towards others. Due to their increased strength, non-limited haunting range, and theoretically more dangerous status, most poltergeists have personalized limits on them to prevent excessive problems. The more powerful and versatile the poltergeist, the more unique and thorough the limitations placed on them.
Ectoplasm-based ghosts have the greatest variety in powers, personalities, behaviors, and basic origins. While some ectoplasm-based ghosts are members of the deceased, others are spontaneous manifestations that gain sentience. All ectoplasm-based ghosts originate from the zone between the world of the living and the Netherworld while other members of the deceased can originally appear in either location. They rarely have haunting perimeters, though they may become obsessed with a location, an object, or a concept. They are also easily seen by the living, making them the most common ghosts encountered. Ectoplasm-based ghosts have a higher ratio of aggressive behavior and varying levels of insanity, making them particularly dangerous for the living to interact with. Furthermore, due to being composed of ectoplasm, many strategies for interacting with the deceased will not work on them and those that affect the ectoplasm-based ghosts may not affect other members of the deceased. Due to these reasons, caution should be taken when dealing with ectoplasm-based ghosts.
-Excerpt from "The Living and the Dead"
Maddie watched the black-outfitted girl flee the basement, unable to find her voice. She, her husband, and the teenagers were too stunned at the moment to respond in any meaningful way. They just stared after her.
Slowly breaking out of shock, Sam said, "We… we should go after her. She just moved here. She could get lost."
"What… right, you're right," muttered Danny, nodding numbly.
They headed up the stairs, though at a far more sedate speed than Lydia used. They were apparently still trying to shake off their reaction to the strange outburst. Maddie knew she was still trying to get her mind around it.
She had already guessed Lydia was similar to Sam based on their wardrobe choices and she knew Sam tended to be vocal and active in the defense of a variety of causes. Endangered animals, plants, and the environment in general were all part of the girl's determined world-saving goal. The idea of someone with similar interests being foolish enough to consider ghosts worthy of such activist tendencies wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility. Too many members of the public, especially outside of Amity Park, were misinformed about ghosts. Some people would defend anything, no matter how crazy or dangerous. Maddie would have written off the entire meltdown as the reaction of an emotional teenage girl with misplaced sympathy for dangerous things.
But then she started using logic. Even in her agitation and unexplained anger, Lydia shifted her rant from an emotional argument to an intellectual one. That was harder for Maddie to ignore. She was a scientist. And the girl was attacking her validity as a scientist in a way that made more sense than the woman wanted to admit.
Maddie remembered back in college, when it was just her, Jack, and Vlad investigating and experimenting with ideas that no one else would even consider, they hypothesized the existence of a parallel world composed of a substance able to interact with and yet would be completely alien to normal matter. Ectoplasm. And just as they considered the idea of the Ghost Zone, they hypothesized the possibility of entities similarly composed of the substance. Of ghosts. Even if their initial attempt at creating a portal backfired spectacularly, the readings from the attempt were enough to prove their hypothesis correct.
They formed a hypothesis. They devised an experiment in the form of the portal. They collected and studied the results. And they drew conclusions based on those results. It was all completely organized, logical, and scientific.
So when did she and Jack stop being quite as methodical? Because Maddie was forced to admit there was a kernel of truth in Lydia's words; they had stopped taking the time to do things perfectly.
Their discoveries sparked off excitement in both of them, the idea of the Ghost Zone and ghosts igniting an overwhelming enthusiasm in the couple. They dismissed the concept of ghosts being the spirits of the dead as being too fanciful, Jack's belief in Santa notwithstanding. Some of their earliest ghosts they managed to find were tiny green wisps that were mindless and barely reacted to outside stimuli. They didn't run into the larger ones properly until later. All of their initial data on ghosts were based on that information and they continued to use it even when faced with evidence that there was a greater variety of intelligence and behavior. They were too excited, too proud, and too confident to consider revising their already established theories based on new evidence. Somehow they found themselves making a fundamental mistake; they were twisting evidence to support the theory rather than adjust the theory to match the evidence.
"Maddie, do you… think she might have a point?" said Jack slowly with a frown. "They're ghosts. But… could we be wrong? It doesn't make sense after all this time… It's crazy. It would be like Vladdy turning out to be a murderous monster. It goes against all logic. But…"
Knowing her husband was making similar realizations about their less-than-ideal scientific scrutiny in recent times, she placed a hand on his shoulder. It halted his disjointed remarks, but the gesture didn't banish the uncertain and worried expression on his face. Maddie suspected he might even be starting to wonder about the full implications of what their actions would be if all of their assumptions were wrong and Lydia's emotional rant was right. She couldn't let him dwell on that possibility just yet.
"I think we should take a step back," she said in a calm and even tone. "We should reevaluate our past results with a more open mind. Maybe devise some models for new tests concerning their levels of intelligence and sentience. Something that won't be biased against organisms that are composed of ectoplasm rather than normal matter and biology. They created the Turing Test to try on theoretical artificial intelligences, so we should be able to devise something. We'll go back to the basics if we have to and make sure our conclusions are solid."
"And if we were wrong?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."
He nodded quietly, looking around the lab with the uncertain expression still on his face. She loved Jack, but she knew he needed a distraction. And so did she.
"How about we go upstairs and I'll bake us some cookies," she suggested, pushing the hood of her jumpsuit off. "This can all wait until tomorrow."
"Yeah," said Jack quietly. "I don't feel like being in the lab right now."
They split up. It was the smart thing to do. By the time he and Sam made it outside, Lydia was already gone. Neither of them knew where the new girl would go and the fact that she knew the truth about Phantom meant Danny couldn't just wait until school the next day. They needed to sort everything out. Besides, she was clearly upset. Her (unbelievably intense) reaction towards his parents proved that fact while also being particularly confusing and shocking to her audience. Having her wander around a strange town in that state would be wrong.
Sam was calling Tucker, asking their tech-savvy friend to hack into the school computers again to look up Lydia's address, while Danny took flight. Their working plan was for him to fly around town while looking at the popular locations and she would head towards Lydia's house on foot. If neither of them spotted her, they would start expanding their search. Eventually someone would get lucky.
As Danny flew past the Nasty Burger, he couldn't help wishing that his job was easier. Her dark fashion sense might make it easier to spot Lydia in a crowd, but there was still a lot of ground to cover and that was ignoring the fact she could be inside a building. It was so much harder to find someone without using his Ghost Sense.
Then, once again proving that the universe had an evil sense of timing, Danny felt the chill of his Ghost Sense activate as he drew near the school. The halfa couldn't quite bite back a groan of frustration. Part of him wanted to keep looking for Lydia, arguing that it was late enough that almost everyone would already be gone and thus the ghost could only do so much damage. But Danny also knew he couldn't turn his back on his responsibility. It could quite easily turn out to be the ghost that freaked out the Box Ghost or someone else dangerous. Besides, it would just be his luck that one of the janitors would end up still being inside and run into the specter.
"Hope you can find her, Sam," he muttered to himself before phasing through the room.
Unlike the last time he investigated a ghost in the school, there were no screams or fleeing students. The familiar, locker-lined halls were empty and silent, the shadows adding an element of spookiness to the location that it lacked during daylight hours. Danny's extracurricular activities, however, ensured that it would take more than an empty school after hours to scare him.
"Okay, I'm only going to say this once," he shouted, his voice echoing through the emptiness. "Come out now and I won't hit you too hard before stuffing you into the thermos."
He braced himself for attack. None of the ghosts he fought tended to go quietly just because he asked nicely. But he figured that his words would provoke a response and he'd at least be able to locate his opponent. If it didn't, he would have to start using generic taunts until he could identify the ghost and use more specific taunts.
But instead of a violent attack, he was met with a worried voice saying, "Don't wig out. And don't hit me. I wasn't bugging anyone. Honest."
Recognizing the voice, Danny felt himself relax as the ghost phased his way out of a locker. Unlike many ghosts, this one lacked any color and was pretty monochromatic. He looked like he flew out of an old yearbook photo. Black-and-white, bespectacled, buck-toothed, and dressed exactly like the old-fashion nerd he was, the ghostly teenager floated awkwardly in front of Danny. The first time they encountered each other, a misunderstanding led to them fighting each other. But as long as he wasn't facing a bully picking on a defenseless victim, the ghost was relatively easy-going and nonviolent. And unlike many, he didn't hate Danny.
"What are you doing here, Poindexter?" asked Danny.
"Hiding," he admitted. "I didn't like what I was hearing in the Ghost Zone, so I decided to split. I thought it be safer here."
Feeling this seemed vaguely familiar, he asked, "Does this have anything to do with a ghost searching for his 'missing Mortal Bride'?"
Poindexter's eyes widened behind his glasses, gulped audibly, and nodded nervously. Danny paused, his thoughts racing over the possibilities. He could go back to searching through Amity Park for Lydia. On the other hand, there were only a small handful of ghosts he could have a civil conversation with, possibly knew useful information about the mystery ghost, and could easily be found to ask. This was a rare opportunity, one that he couldn't afford to miss. And Sam said that Lydia intended to keep his secret…
"Can you tell me more about him?" Danny asked. "His powers? What he looks like? Who or what the 'Mortal Bride' is? Or even his name?"
"No," yelped Poindexter. "Not his name."
He held up his hands defensively, "Okay, okay, you don't have to say it. I still don't see why everyone freaks out about his name."
"Because using his name three times summons him," he said. "Everyone who knows about him knows that. No matter where you are, even if he shouldn't be able to hear you, he'll appear. He follows different rules than the ghosts from the Ghost Zone. He's the self-proclaimed 'Ghost With the Most' and the rumors suggest he can live up to that title… figuratively speaking."
"What do you mean he doesn't follow the same rules as the rest of you? Why? How?"
"He's a poltergeist. He's from the Netherworld," said Poindexter as if it explained everything.
When he saw the blank expression on the halfa's face, the ghost grabbed Danny's arm and pulled him into the closest classroom. Poindexter gestured him towards one of the desks while he took a seat of his own. It was clear that he foresaw this conversation lasting a while.
"You've only dealt with those of us who come from the Ghost Zone, right? Those made of ectoplasm," he said. "And those are the ones who appear in Amity Park the most often thanks to the portal and we're easier for people to see. No one ever mentioned the other ghosts, the ones who don't come from the Ghost Zone?"
"Those that come from that 'Netherworld' place? Where is it? What makes them different?"
"It's hard to explain exactly. Uh… Imagine a jelly sandwich, with this place as one slice of bread, the Netherworld as another slice of bread, and the Ghost Zone as the jelly. Or all three of them as those Russian doll things, with the Netherworld in the center and this one on the outside. But they also overlap at the same time, like tangled up spaghetti. Or how the different color threads in a piece of plaid fabric are woven together," said Poindexter, frowning in concentration. "Sorry, I don't know how else to explain it. But the Ghost Zone is between the two as a buffer."
Danny did his best to visualize what Poindexter was describing, though he could feel himself going cross-eyed at the visual image. He knew his parents would love to learn about this. Then again, considering how Lydia yelled at them about their scientific research and their stunned silence afterwards, it might not be smart to make assumptions about their reactions for awhile. Either way, Danny suspected they would have an easier time understanding the concept than he was.
"So what's the difference between ghost from the Ghost Zone and those from the Netherworld?"
Poindexter smiled wryly, "A few things. We're made of ectoplasm, anyone can usually see us, and we can usually go wherever we know how to reach. Them? Not so much. They're a lot more organized as a whole. They have rules, regulations, and caseworkers assigned to help new ghosts. The biggest difference is all of them are dead."
Danny started to speak, but the long-dead teenager held his hand up to keep silent. Poindexter adopted a vaguely sad smile.
"I know what you're thinking. I probably could have ended up in the Netherworld. I even ended up a lot like those ghosts. Mostly only the basic powers, stuck in the same location for a long time, and even learning some tricks with mirrors… But sometimes we slip through the cracks in the bureaucracy and end up in the Ghost Zone instead." He shrugged, "It was probably for the best in my case. Otherwise I'd end up as a civil servant and no one really likes that gig."
While Danny was curious about that last statement, he managed to keep quiet. Somehow it felt like the question he wanted to ask would be too personal.
"Those that appear here or in the Netherworld first are more traditional ghosts, the ones that show up in scary stories you tell around the campfire," continued Poindexter. "All of them are dead people and most of them are stuck haunting somewhere meaningful to them in life. They generally don't have a large variety or very strong powers. But most of the living won't see them, none of them possess a reflections, and you can't photograph them. They also usually don't cause much wide-spread trouble, if only because they're stuck wherever they're haunting."
"That's it. They really need to make a handbook or a pamphlet about all this information that ghosts need to know," muttered Danny.
"They did. Make a handbook, I mean. They just didn't make it for the ghosts from the Ghost Zone like us," Poindexter said apologetically. "But everyone says it's written like a technical manual or something, so I don't know how helpful that would be."
"Figures," he muttered.
"Bureaucracy has its uses. You can't do things by the book if you don't have a book to work with," said the ghost teen, leaning back slightly in his desk. "The Ghost Zone just isn't as organized. We're like that party mix snacks that popular kids have at their swinging get-togethers. We're a random collection of all sorts of things. We're just the leftovers, the misplaced, the misfiled, the mistakes, the strange twists of fate, the spontaneous events, the lost souls, and the freak occurrences all gathered together. Some are dead people, but others were never alive in the first place like Skulker." He shrugged, "The Ghost Zone is the junk drawer of the universe. But at least we usually get better powers. Well, I didn't, but a lot of us do."
"Okay, I think I sort of get it. Netherworld ghosts are all dead people, not made of ectoplasm, and do the haunted house routine. Ghost Zone ghosts are sometimes dead people, stronger, have lots of different powers, and are made of ectoplasm. So if most of the Ghost Zone ones are tougher and have better powers, why is everyone freaking out about the 'Ghost With the Most'?"
"He's a poltergeist. They're ghosts from the Netherworld too, but they're something more. I don't know what causes some of them to be poltergeists rather than just the usual ghosts," Poindexter admitted. "They just end up different. They aren't made of ectoplasm, but their powers are… more impressive. And they aren't stuck to a specific spot."
"So poltergeists are kind of like a mixture between the ghost types," he summarized. "A dead guy not made of ectoplasm, but with more power and no haunted house. I'm guessing this particular poltergeist is on the higher end of the power scale."
"Unfortunately I only have rumors to base it on, but they say he's one of the most powerful poltergeists in existence. He's supposed to be as strong or stronger than most of the Ghost Zone. He also knows every rule, regulation, and limitation that inhibits ghosts from the Netherworld. And he knows how to exploit every single loophole. The only good thing is that he rarely feels motivated to do more than entertain himself. He usually doesn't do much beyond scaring, tricking, and causing trouble for people. Honestly, most of the stories make him sound like a bully or a real shuckster. He calls himself a 'bio-exorcist' and offers to help other ghosts with their haunting, but he can't be trusted. He has the potential to be very dangerous if he ever decides to do more. And now he's angry and motivated."
"Because of this 'missing Mortal Bride'? Why? Who or what is it and why is it so important to the so-called Ghost With the Most?" asked Danny, feeling confused and overwhelmed even in response to more explanations than he could have ever hoped for.
"Supposedly he needs something to become even more dangerous than before, something that no one in the Netherworld wants him to get. He needs to marry someone alive. A couple of years ago, they said he found her. His Mortal Bride. The details are scarce about her or what happened, but it's assumed that it must have been wild. And now she's missing and no one knows where she could be."
"And since he needs to marry her…"
Poindexter nodded, "He's looking for her. And he's mad, motivated, and very scary. He's probably looking for a way out of the Ghost Zone since his Mortal Bride would probably be among the living."
Danny closed his eyes briefly. The Ghost With the Most wanted out. The portal in his parents' lab was the most convenient and stable way out. The poltergeist would almost certainly try using it as an exit, regardless of where in the world the woman crazy enough to marry a ghost might actually be. That meant Danny would have to deal with him.
But maybe he didn't have to deal with him completely without help. Danny opened his eyes while a tiny spark of an idea flickered though his mind. A little warning when the poltergeist got close could help out a lot. And something about Poindexter's earlier description gave him a smidge of hope that it might work.
"I know you're not the toughest ghost out there, but do you think you can help me a little?" he asked carefully. Spotting a look of panic on Poindexter's face, he hurried to explain, "Nothing dangerous. Just… let me know somehow if he gets near the portal and maybe keep an ear open for more rumors on the guy. Please?"
He could see hesitation from the monochromatic ghost. Poindexter, clearly trying to buy time to think, took the opportunity to take off his glasses, clean them, and settle them back in place. Only afterwards did he try to answer.
"Well, some of the stories certainly make him sound like a bully," he said slowly, just as Danny suspected he would. "And I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't help stop a bully. Did you ever get a new mirror for my old locker?"
Having the bad luck to be assigned to the same locker the ghostly teen once used, Danny nodded uncertainly, "Eventually I did. Why?"
"Good. I'll head back to the Ghost Zone and let you know if I learn anything," said Poindexter. "You can count on me."
A slight rattle at the door caused the pair to instantly turn invisible. They didn't immediately move as a janitor entered the classroom, pushing a mop and whistling cheerfully. Instead, they waited a moment to see if he would leave. But the janitor actually started an impromptu dance routine with his mop as he worked his way across the room, leaving the halfa struggling not to chuckle.
Since it was clear that the conversation was officially over now, Danny silently floated towards the ceiling and phased his way out.
Jack and Maddie Fenton aren't necessary bad people. They just have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to ghosts. Hopefully they'll be able to get past that particular issue as things continue forward and they try to view things with an open-mind.
Sidney Poindexter always struck me as one of the nicer (and least dangerous) ghosts out there. As long as you didn't seem like a bully, he wouldn't hurt you. He also demonstrates a lot of the traits that the ghosts from "Beetlejuice" do. He's definitely someone who used to be alive (he went to Casper High in the 50s). He was stuck haunting a specific location (Casper High and/or the Ghost Zone copy of the school) for quite a while until Danny met him (since he did get out during the events of "Reign Storm"). His powers seem to be limited to floating, invisibility, overshadowing/controlling people, and manipulating physical objects without touching them. The biggest differences are that he can see his reflection in a mirror and he doesn't have an obvious cause of death visible. I figured he'd make a useful source of information to tell Danny about some of the ghost stuff he doesn't know, like how he insisted on telling Danny about King Pariah in "Reign Storm."
On the matter of when exactly this story is taking place in the cartoon timeline, I've finally nailed it down pretty specific. This is mostly set between season 2 and 3, though before/skipping over "Kindred Spirits" to avoid the complication of Dani Phantom. I've addressed her existence in my other "Danny Phantom" story, but I have enough things to juggle in this story right now. Which means no ice powers for Danny so far and no Mayor Vlad yet, but the events of "Reign Storm," "The Ultimate Enemy," and "Reality Trip" have already occurred.
Remember, reviews are always welcome and appreciated. I love feedback.